Friday, January 31, 2014

Make philanthropy advice another string to your bow... - Professional Adviser IFAonline

Make philanthropy advice another string to your bow... - Professional Adviser IFAonline: Working across a range of areas and introducing new specialities could create valuable extra revenue streams and help to build better relationships with clients. Being able to give sound philanthropy advice is one such stream that could make an adviser stand apart from the crowd.

Opinion: Disaster Donors Should Consider ‘Everyday’ Crises – Philanthropy Today - Blogs - The Chronicle of Philanthropy

Opinion: Disaster Donors Should Consider ‘Everyday’ Crises – Philanthropy Today - Blogs - The Chronicle of Philanthropy: The philanthropic outpouring that follows natural disasters is notably less effective in saving lives than charity aimed at tackling the thousands of preventable deaths that occur daily due to disease and unsafe drinking water, the author of a recent book on giving writes in a Los Angeles Times opinion piece.

The Controversy Bubbles Over: ScarJo Quits Oxfam for West Bank’s SodaStream - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly

The Controversy Bubbles Over: ScarJo Quits Oxfam for West Bank’s SodaStream - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly: magine you’re Scarlett Johansson, a talented movie star. You reportedly earned a record $20 million for your appearance in the upcoming Avengers 2, topping the previous single-film high payment for an actress ($19 million for Angelina Jolie in The Tourist). A website that monitors and reports on celebrity wealth estimated your 2012 net worth at $60 million, not just from films, but also endorsement deals with L’Oreal ($3m a year), Calvin Klein ($1m a year), Reebok, Dolce & Gabbana, and Louis Vuitton. In fact, a lot of your income has been from endorsement deals—including a deal with SodaStream, the home carbonated soda maker with a factory in an Israeli settlement on the occupied West Bank. Your SodaStream commercial, to be aired during the Super Bowl, is already in the can and is considered vital to the Israeli soda-making firm, whose business performance in the U.S. has been lackluster.

Annual Reports | Agents of Good

Annual Reports | Agents of Good: Two words that send eyeballs rolling, directors scurrying, donors yawning…

I’ve talked to fundraisers who would rather shine the leather shoes of the world – twice! – than work on their annual report for their charity.

I don’t blame them.

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Strong Nonprofit Hospital Philanthropy Stems From Staff, Culture

Strong Nonprofit Hospital Philanthropy Stems From Staff, Culture: For nonprofit hospitals and health systems to sustain successful philanthropy programs, they must invest in fundraising staff and build a culture that demonstrates a commitment to the field, according to separate reports from the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy.

Obama's Misguided SOTU Call To Philanthropy: A Smothering Embrace - Forbes

Obama's Misguided SOTU Call To Philanthropy: A Smothering Embrace - Forbes: Those concerned about the vitality and independence of America’s private philanthropy can take some solace from what President Obama did not say in his State of the Union address Wednesday night. He did not, for instance, as he did in regard to aspects of the corporate tax, call the charitable tax deduction a tax loophole that needed to be closed, because the wealthy are the ones who most often claim it. That sort of tax “reform” would likely

Work-life demands intense for CEOs at nonprofits - Cindy Krischer Goodman - MiamiHerald.com

Work-life demands intense for CEOs at nonprofits - Cindy Krischer Goodman - MiamiHerald.com: When you lead a nonprofit, where the end game is about making the community a better place to live, the workload can be immense and the emotions intense. It’s a big responsibility — and one that people in their 20s and 30s aren’t rushing to undertake.

President’s Speech Urges Foundations to Support Young Children and Black Men - Government - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

President’s Speech Urges Foundations to Support Young Children and Black Men - Government - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: President Obama’s unusual pitch in his State of the Union address seeking to get foundations more involved in supporting education for young children and increased economic opportunities for young black men is drawing praise from the nonprofit world.

Donors are Giving, but Box Office Is Down at the Met - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly

Donors are Giving, but Box Office Is Down at the Met - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly: These are such “interesting times” for large arts organizations because the formulas are all in flux. For instance, the New York Times reports that for the past five seasons, net donations to the Metropolitan Opera have increased from $111 million to $142.5 million and revenues from its HD presentations of operas in movie theaters increased from $22 million to $32.5 million. And that is all good—except that actual opera attendance is falling.

Making Charitable Money Flow: Mixed Results with Donor-Advised Funds - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly

Making Charitable Money Flow: Mixed Results with Donor-Advised Funds - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly: Why do donor-advised funds (DAFs), as an instrument of charitable or philanthropic giving, so often seem to stir up a hornet’s nest of commentary and complaints? One would think that as the conveyer belts moving billions of dollars from charitable donors to charitable recipients, accomplished with a few cursor movements and a click, DAFs would be widely applauded for making charitable giving easier, faster, simpler

University Study: 5 Musts For Corporate Partnerships | The NonProfit Times

University Study: 5 Musts For Corporate Partnerships | The NonProfit Times: iaonan (Coco) Kou suggested those factors from a case study of a partnership between a local nonprofit in China and a U.S. company that made its first grant in 2006. The case study was part of a session, “Giving Beyond Borders: A Study of Global Giving by U.S. Corporations,” during the 26th annual symposium at Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, “Taking Fundraising Seriously Timeless Values in a World of Change.”

Your news release should sell your story � Philanthropy North Carolina

Your news release should sell your story � Philanthropy North Carolina: While digital technology has radically changed the way news and information are delivered, traditional news media still represent powerful vehicles you can use to get your nonprofit’s message to a broad audience.

So write news releases that make the most of that opportunity.

A news release should show a news organization why its audience should care about your news.

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Looking Beyond the Membership Numbers: Associations Now

Looking Beyond the Membership Numbers: Associations Now: Let’s step back, though, to ask a different question: Do free online community members count the same as paid association members? The answer depends on what exactly an organization is doing with those members and what those members are doing. In other words, it depends on your mission.

Fidelity charity arm awards $2.1b - Business - The Boston Globe

Fidelity charity arm awards $2.1b - Business - The Boston Globe: Fidelity Investments said clients of its charitable gift fund requested distributions of $2.1 billion last year, a record level for the fund and a 29 percent increase from 2012.

The donor-advised fund, which operates as an independent public charity, made grants to more than 80,00

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Doing Business with the Government: Administrative Challenges Faced by Nonprofits - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly

Doing Business with the Government: Administrative Challenges Faced by Nonprofits - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly: Nonprofit organizations face a variety of challenges that begin with fundraising and can in�clude a range of issues, including meeting growing demands for services to complying with requirements set forth by their backers. For nonprofit recipients of federal funds through grants or contracts, government agencies require highly specific reporting and accountability structures to avoid fraud, waste, and abuse. Adhering to these government requirements can generate significant challenges and increased administrative burdens. What do some of these challenges look like, and what can you do to help mitigate them?

Nailing major gifts in 365 days - Information, research and resources for fundraisers and their leaders

Nailing major gifts in 365 days - Information, research and resources for fundraisers and their leaders: Major giving may be the pinnacle of professional fundraising. Cultivating and closing a major gift is both an art and a science, and those fundraisers who are good at it become valuable in the charitable sector. But it’s not easy; especially when your time cycle is a mere 365 days long, when we fail or succeed at achieving our targets based on an arbitrary line in time, called “the year-end.”

Endowment Gains Still Trailing Equities Markets | The NonProfit Times

Endowment Gains Still Trailing Equities Markets | The NonProfit Times: Endowments of the nation’s colleges and universities rebounded last year from negative returns in 2012 to gain nearly 12 percent but still trailed one-year returns for most major indices. The 10-year returns for smaller endowments — those with less than $1 billion in assets — continued to lag their targets.

Nonprofits flunk online fundraising test � Philanthropy North Carolina

Nonprofits flunk online fundraising test � Philanthropy North Carolina: he inaugural Online Fundraising Scorecard, a study by Dunham Company and Next After, reviewed the websites of 151 organizations over nine months in 2013, signed up to receive emails, and made an initial $20 gift.

The study looked at 56 key indicators in four key aspects of online fundraising, including email registration, email communication, the donation experience, and the gift acknowledgement process.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Polar Plunge totals remains well ahead of 2013’s record pace - Murray Ledger & Times: News

Polar Plunge totals remains well ahead of 2013’s record pace - Murray Ledger & Times: News: In addition, the number of participants committed to taking the jump into Kentucky Lake is also well ahead of this time last year as well. Miller reported that 255 participants are in hand now, about 60 ahead of last year’s number, which eventually totaled more than 500 people.

Adrian Sargeant to lead philanthropic psychology research centre at Plymouth University | UK Fundraising

Adrian Sargeant to lead philanthropic psychology research centre at Plymouth University | UK Fundraising: Plymouth University is opening a new research centre that will be the first to focus on philanthropic psychology. Led by fundraising academic Professor Adrian Sargeant, the Centre for Sustainable Philanthropy will examine the social and psychological drivers of giving and derive practical applications for fundraisers from them.

Individual Finns’ charity donations on the rise | Yle Uutiset | yle.fi

Individual Finns’ charity donations on the rise | Yle Uutiset | yle.fi: Individual Finns’ charity donations on the rise
Human suffering, and especially the plight of children motivates Finns to make donations to charity. Non-profit organisations report a pronounced increase in individual donations. At the same time, the ending of the direct debit system is posing challenges to non-profits.

New nonprofit alliance will have big impact in Florida | Tallahassee Democrat | tallahassee.com

New nonprofit alliance will have big impact in Florida | Tallahassee Democrat | tallahassee.com: The Nonprofit Symposium held Jan. 15 by the newly created Florida Nonprofit Alliance was time very well spent and I was sorry so few of the local nonprofits attended. FNA is the newly created statewide nonprofit advocacy organization.

There are 36 other states that already have a statewide organization recognized by the National Council of Nonprofits and Florida is finally getting our own. It’s ridiculous we haven’t been one of the national leaders.

PGA Tour Surpasses $2 Billion in Charitable Giving | Golf Channel

PGA Tour Surpasses $2 Billion in Charitable Giving | Golf Channel: SAN DIEGO – The PGA Tour announced Wednesday that it has reached $2 billion in charitable giving.

After passing $1 billion in total dollars raised in 2005, the Tour needed only eight years to reach this latest milestone.

Sacramento Philharmonic And Opera Receives $500,000 Lifesaving Donation � CBS Sacramento

Sacramento Philharmonic And Opera Receives $500,000 Lifesaving Donation � CBS Sacramento: Tannenbaum was planning on asking the city for a subsidy.

“And my CFO comes into the room and she looked a bit dumbfounded,” said Tannenbaum.

A gift of a half-million dollars came in the mail.

“There was a moment of what, what, until she put the checks on the table. And there was $250,000 for the opera and $250,000 for the philharmonic,” said Tannenbaum.

Harvard business grads teach for charity � Philanthropy North Carolina

Harvard business grads teach for charity � Philanthropy North Carolina: CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For the past 11 years, using the case method pioneered at Harvard Business School, graduates of the school have taught decision-making skills to mid-career executives in the Charlotte area.

Working as volunteer faculty through the Harvard Business School Club of Charlotte, those alumni, including presidents and founders of companies, have taught executives from over 120 local firms.