Friday, March 21, 2014

Five ways to participate in philanthropy week | The Albion College Pleiad Online

Five ways to participate in philanthropy week | The Albion College Pleiad Online: March 18-21 marks Albion College’s yearly celebration of “philanthropy week” — a time when the campus community rallies around the importance of financially supporting the College we love. The goal is admirable; every monetary gift helps to make Albion a stronger college

Google CEO Says He’d Give Billions to Elon Musk, Not Charity – Philanthropy Today - Blogs - The Chronicle of Philanthropy

Google CEO Says He’d Give Billions to Elon Musk, Not Charity – Philanthropy Today - Blogs - The Chronicle of Philanthropy: Larry Page, the chief executive officer of Google, said Wednesday that he would rather donate his fortune to the billionaire technology entrepreneur Elon Musk than to a philanthropic enterprise, Business Insider and Wired report.

Offbeat Productions Bring New Patrons to Denver Theater - Face of Philanthropy - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

Offbeat Productions Bring New Patrons to Denver Theater - Face of Philanthropy - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: When hundreds of Denver residents went to see “Wheel of Misfortune” at a local nonprofit theater, they were ready to play, not just sit in the audience.

Volunteers from the crowd competed in the event, which was a cross between a “Saturday Night Live” game-show sketch and a reality show.

Duke Haddad - March Madness Brackets for Fundraisers : FundRaising Success

Duke Haddad - March Madness Brackets for Fundraisers : FundRaising Success: Have you ever thought of how you could relate this concept to your fundraising program?

Think of walking into your development conference room with a large bracket on the wall facing you. You see 68 donor prospects on the board. The ultimate goal of this process is to move these prospects in such a way to maximize their time, talent and treasure for the benefit of the organization you serve. These prospects are chosen through research. Some are picked via their online or direct-mail activity. Others are picked through special events, grant potential, net worth ability, linkage plus ability and interest. Still others are chosen through major-gift history, planned-giving intentions and other possibilities.

Maine pet charity bequeathed $395,000 - San Antonio Express-News

Maine pet charity bequeathed $395,000 - San Antonio Express-News:The Bangor Humane Society said Thursday that the $395,000 left to it by former volunteer Shann Gillespie was an unexpected donation. Gillespie, who died unexpectedly in March, made the gift through her will.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Archbishop of NY Lobbies for Tax Credits for School Donations and Scholarships - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly

Archbishop of NY Lobbies for Tax Credits for School Donations and Scholarships - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly: A leader of the original nonprofit—the Catholic Church—is advocating for change in New York.

The New York Times reports that a proposed state tax credit for donations to schools and scholarship programs is gaining traction in the state capital, and “turning the archbishop of New York, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, into something of a lobbyist.”

The proposed “education investment tax credit” would create a new state tax credit for those who donate money to public schools or to scholarships for poor and middle-class students attending private schools, including religious ones. It is a much larger credit than the deduction that now exists for such contributions.

Pamela Barden Charity Overhead Myth, Mystery or Just a Misunderstanding? : FundRaising Success

Pamela Barden Charity Overhead Myth, Mystery or Just a Misunderstanding? : FundRaising Success: f you've been paying attention to the both the trade publications and consumer media, you've probably noticed a more frequent focus on overhead — that combination of fundraising and general and administrative (operations) that costs money that is then not available for programming — than, you know, fulfilling your mission.

But let's face it — overhead is a fact of life.

Museums Courting Young Donors Find Big Generational Shift – Philanthropy Today - Blogs - The Chronicle of Philanthropy

Museums Courting Young Donors Find Big Generational Shift – Philanthropy Today - Blogs - The Chronicle of Philanthropy: Museums Courting Young Donors Find Big Generational Shift

Officials at museums of all sizes are worried that young people aren’t prepared to support them with gifts and patronage and are not equipped to assume leadership roles, reports a New York Times piece that is part of a special section on museums

Soliciting Funds From the Crowd? Results Will Vary - NYTimes.com

Soliciting Funds From the Crowd? Results Will Vary - NYTimes.com: ESTABLISHED museums like the Smithsonian Institution are increasingly turning to crowdfunding appeals to help pay for exhibits and programs that tight budgets might otherwise preclude.

Individual artists have been soliciting donations from the public for years, using Internet fund-raising platforms like Kickstarter, Indiegogo and Razoo to defray the costs of producing their work. Museums, long reliant on corporate sponsorships, gifts and bequests, have been more hesitant to raise funds digitally because the substantial commitment of staff time required for such campaigns does not always produce a big financial win.

To give or not to give: Here are the stingiest tech gazillionaires | ZDNet

To give or not to give: Here are the stingiest tech gazillionaires | ZDNet: Inside Philanthropy has a fascinating list of the top philanthropists in the tech industry. (You’ll be surprised at who is at the top: Leonard Bosack and Sandy Lerner, the original founders of Cisco Systems).

It also includes the six least generous (a generous way to say, “the tightest and least charitable”) tech billionaires.

High-Speed Trends in Philanthropy: An Oxymoron

High-Speed Trends in Philanthropy: An Oxymoron: In this new world that is driven by the interchange of thoughts and opinions flying back and forth across the globe, philanthropy has taken on a new guise.

Let's explore one of these trends that I find particularly exciting.

"Giving while living" is the new mantra for many family funds. The trend is simply to spend down the corpus of a family fund within a set period of time. The debate continues between the idea of giving in perpetuity and the instant gratification that comes with giving it all away in the near future. This discussion, which can become quite heated, has been going on for decades, but it seems to have accelerated in the past several years as more family funds are inherited by a generation of individuals wanting to see quick returns on their investment.

5 Lessons Moses Can Teach Us about Fundraising | Michael Rosen Says...

5 Lessons Moses Can Teach Us about Fundraising | Michael Rosen Says...: 5 Lessons Moses Can Teach Us about Fundraising

Moses can teach us a number of important things about fundraising. Yes, that Moses, the prophet revered by Jews, Christians, Muslims, and other religious faiths throughout the world.

Consider just one story from the Bible that usually receives little attention.

Mom sets world record for most donated breast milk | Indianapolis Star | indystar.com

Mom sets world record for most donated breast milk | Indianapolis Star | indystar.com: The Illinois woman has donated 16,321 ounces of breast milk — the equivalent of 816 Venti Starbucks cups or about 241 two-liter soda bottles — to the Indiana Mother’s Milk Bank over the past seven years.

That does not include the 7,000 ounces Boomker, 36, pumped after her first son was born nine years ago. That milk was shipped to a North Carolina breast milk bank.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Denominations Downsizing and Selling Assets in More Secular Era - NYTimes.com

Denominations Downsizing and Selling Assets in More Secular Era - NYTimes.com: he actions follow a period of relative stability. Churches moved frequently from the Colonial era through the 19th century, but less often in the 20th century, as they became wealthier and acquired better holdings, according to James Hudnut-Beumler, a professor of American religious history at Vanderbilt University. But now denominations are pondering whether some properties “have outlived their usefulness.”

“They’re finding themselves pressed for finances, and making some hard choices about property, and so we’re seeing more sales in the last decade than we had for the last century,” Professor Hudnut-Beumler said. “The first things to go were camps and conference centers, and now there is some downsizing of prime-location land, churches and facilities.”

Meet the 12 Most Generous Tech Leaders. . . And 6 of the Least� - Tech Philanthropy | Donors | Foundations - Inside Philanthropy

Meet the 12 Most Generous Tech Leaders. . . And 6 of the Least� - Tech Philanthropy | Donors | Foundations - Inside Philanthropy: On balance, we think that generosity is important no matter where one is in their career trajectory. And what we'd say to super wealthy techies who are perplexed by where to give their money is: Get a cause. There are plenty around, and you can always switch later. Also, you don't need to be a big innovator with your philanthropy. Just do some good.

Okay, enough throat clearing. Here's our list of the most generous philanthropists, in ascending order.

Will Andrew Forrest convince Australia's billionaires to open their wallets? | Christopher Baker and Helena Liu | Comment is free | theguardian.com

Will Andrew Forrest convince Australia's billionaires to open their wallets? | Christopher Baker and Helena Liu | Comment is free | theguardian.com: Will Andrew Forrest convince Australia's billionaires to open their wallets?

Compared to their counterparts overseas, Australia’s super-rich are stingy. Let’s hope the media glory afforded to Forrest’s Global Freedom Network helps persuade them to share their wealth

Natalie Morales: I'm running Boston in honor of the bombing victims - TODAY.com

Natalie Morales: I'm running Boston in honor of the bombing victims - TODAY.com: As part of TODAY's Shine a Light series, a campaign to support worthy causes throughout the year, Natalie has chosen to shine a light on those still recovering from the horrific events of last year's Boston Marathon.

Research charities before giving | The Baylor Lariat

Research charities before giving | The Baylor Lariat: As graduates of a university that fosters a sense of civic responsibility, some of these fledgling Baylor professionals will be looking to give a portion of their future salary to charitable organizations or not for profit entities to fulfill their aspiration for giving back.

How should we, as future young professionals, go about investing hard-earned money toward a cause of choice with proper foresight?