Friday, June 06, 2014

Warren Buffett's charity lunch auction bid tops $1 mln and may rise | Reuters

Warren Buffett's charity lunch auction bid tops $1 mln and may rise | Reuters: The $1,000,300 high bid is for the 15th annual auction to benefit the Glide Foundation, which provides food and services to the poor and homeless.

The high bid often surges in the last hour or two before the auction on eBay closes. The auction ends Friday at 10:30 p.m. EDT (2:30 a.m. Saturday GMT).

After Growth Plan Fails, a YMCA Files for Bankruptcy - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly

After Growth Plan Fails, a YMCA Files for Bankruptcy - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly: June 4, 2014;Milwaukee Business Journal

The YMCA in Milwaukee has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to allow for restructuring of the organization. According to the bankruptcy petition, the organization has amassed $29 million in debt and has deemed operations to be unsustainable. The filing is intended to allow the organization to maintain operations, pay salaries, and stop creditors from suing for payment.

Thursday, June 05, 2014

Pamela Barden - Camels Aren't Good Fundraisers : FundRaising Success

Pamela Barden - Camels Aren't Good Fundraisers : FundRaising Success: Although the original source has been lost over time, the maxim lives on: “A camel is a horse designed by committee.” Most likely, you have your own camel story — the fundraising activity that sounded good at the start but metamorphosed over time to barely resemble the original plan — let alone accomplish the original goal.

Overall Charitable Giving to Nonprofits Increased in April | Blackbaud News

Overall Charitable Giving to Nonprofits Increased in April | Blackbaud News: – Providing the most up-to-date information on charitable giving, Blackbaud, Inc. (NASDAQ: BLKB) today updated The Blackbaud Index with charitable giving trends through April 2014 as well as announced the launch of a new higher education specialty index that tracks fundraising revenue for colleges and universities.

Based on data from 4,138 organizations that raised more than $13 billion in the prior 12 months, The Blackbaud Index reported that overall charitable giving grew 1.3 percent for the three months ending April 2014, as compared to the same period in 2013.

Among 3,281 charities that raised $1.8 billion online in the prior 12 months, online giving grew 7.9 percent in the same three-month period, as compared to the same period in 2013.

Wednesday, June 04, 2014

7520 Rate for June Drops to 2.2% | Planned Giving Design Center

7520 Rate for June Drops to 2.2% | Planned Giving Design Center: 520 Rate for June Drops to 2.2%
News story posted in Revenue Rulings by Lee Hoffman on 28 May 2014| comments
audience: National Publication | last updated: 28 May 2014

Salaries on the Rise at U.S. Foundations - Foundations - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

Salaries on the Rise at U.S. Foundations - Foundations - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: Worker pay at grant makers is improving, according to a new survey by the Council on Foundations.

Bolstered by strong stock-market returns that have boosted foundations’ assets, the median salary across all full-time positions at grant-making organizations was $74,061 in 2013, up from $72,000 the previous year.

Shouldn't 'Best' Practises Do Better? � 101fundraising

Shouldn't 'Best' Practises Do Better? � 101fundraising: Have you ever noticed that no matter how hard you work, no matter how you segment your file, and no matter what ‘story’ you tell nothing ever changes? It doesn’t matter what agency you use or what you test, year in year out net result is predictably and depressingly, the same. Yes, there are shining exceptions, but they’re exactly that. On the whole our sector hasn’t seen real mission impacting growth since the 1970’s (in other words since before many of us were born!)

Good Works, Good Policy �Blog

Good Works, Good Policy �Blog: The facts speak for themselves – good things happen when secure retirement and charitable impulses meet. That is, when a pragmatic tax incentive like the IRA charitable rollover prompts retirees 70 1/2 years and older to share a chunk (up to $100,000) of their surplus wealth with the charitable cause of importance to them.

Six In 10 Charities Raise More Funds in 2013 Than in 2012; Rising Giving Seen Across Many Different Sources - Resource Center - AFP

Six In 10 Charities Raise More Funds in 2013 Than in 2012; Rising Giving Seen Across Many Different Sources - Resource Center - AFP: Sixty-two percent of charities raised more funds in 2013 than they did in 2012, according to the Nonprofit Research Collaborative’s Year-End 2013 Fundraising Survey, released today at the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ 51st International Conference on Fundraising.

The finding is part of a larger trend of increasing giving, as a year ago, just 58 percent raised more funds. This year’s result of 62 percent is the highest since 2007, before the global recession.

Six In 10 Charities Raise More Funds in 2013 Than in 2012; Rising Giving Seen Across Many Different Sources - Resource Center - AFP

Six In 10 Charities Raise More Funds in 2013 Than in 2012; Rising Giving Seen Across Many Different Sources - Resource Center - AFP: Sixty-two percent of charities raised more funds in 2013 than they did in 2012, according to the Nonprofit Research Collaborative’s Year-End 2013 Fundraising Survey, released today at the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ 51st International Conference on Fundraising.

The finding is part of a larger trend of increasing giving, as a year ago, just 58 percent raised more funds. This year’s result of 62 percent is the highest since 2007, before the global recession.

The Long (and Continuing) Travels of the Charitable IRA Rollover - Press - AFP

The Long (and Continuing) Travels of the Charitable IRA Rollover - Press - AFP: The Long (and Continuing) Travels of the Charitable IRA Rollover

The Charitable IRA Rollover was approved last week by the House Ways and Means Committee as part of a package of tax extenders, and is now headed to the full House for a vote. But the journey for the now expired provision is far from over.

Since being first approved in 2006, the IRA Rollover provision has expired—and been reinstated—several times in a process AFP and other charities have gotten used to. “It’s not been a great way to develop policy,” said Jason Lee, AFP’s general counsel. “Charities have not been able to plan their fundraising with the IRA Rollover effectively, much less market this key charitable giving incentive, when it is constantly expiring and working on the premise that it will be reinstated and made retroactive.”

Tuesday, June 03, 2014

Global Donors Commit $80-Million for Wild-Cat Conservation – Philanthropy Today - Blogs - The Chronicle of Philanthropy

Global Donors Commit $80-Million for Wild-Cat Conservation – Philanthropy Today - Blogs - The Chronicle of Philanthropy: Four philanthropists from around the world have pledged $20-million each to wildlife charity Panthera to fund a 10-year program to protect lions, tigers, and other species of big cats, writes the Associated Press.

Merger Creates Leader In Strategic Philanthropy Education

Merger Creates Leader In Strategic Philanthropy Education

Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland launches new strategy

Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland launches new strategy: Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland has launched a three-year strategy that includes a new focus on working with communities in underfunded “cold spots” and setting up a social enterprise to support other funders.

The grant-maker’s two main funding programmes, the Henry Duncan Awards, which support grassroots charities, and the Partnership Drugs Initiative, run in partnership with the Scottish government, will continue.

Congressman Gets Mad After Finding Out Americans Are Less Charitable Than He Thought

Congressman Gets Mad After Finding Out Americans Are Less Charitable Than He Thought: Rep. Kelly was accurately referring to the 2013 World Giving Index, published by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), which clearly ranks the United States as No. 1 among the world's most generous nations," Qualtere said. "The full report by CAF states plainly that the U.S. 'once again tops the index' and affirms that 'proportionally more Americans gave in some way than in any other country.' A quick and honest Google search by Mr. Blumenauer or anyone else could've revealed this."

Indeed, the report ranks Americans at the top overall, thanks to a No. 1 score in helping strangers, No. 3 in volunteering and No. 13 in donating money, which was the topic of discussion at the Ways and Means hearing.

Monday, June 02, 2014

Annual Warren Buffett lunch auction begins

Annual Warren Buffett lunch auction begins: The 15th annual lunch auction starts Sunday with a $25,000 minimum bid on eBay, and continues until 9:30 p.m. CDT Friday.

The lunch auction has become an important source of money for Glide, which has an $18 million annual budget. Glide's co-founders, the Rev. Cecil Williams and Janice Mirikitani, hope the lunch will draw another seven-figure price tag, but they also appreciate the exposure.

Adam Grant: The Giving Revolution: Associations Now

Adam Grant: The Giving Revolution: Associations Now: Workplace giving” is no longer about philanthropy, according to social scientist Adam Grant. Rather, it’s about getting work done—your work, your organization’s work—and done well. Givers, it seems, are anything but doormats: They’re powerful drivers of business success.

Enid Ablowitz: Anonymity and Giving - Boulder Daily Camera

Enid Ablowitz: Anonymity and Giving - Boulder Daily Camera: What does anonymous mean? Does the anonymous donor know or determine the recipient? Is the recipient a known individual or organization? If the donor is anonymous to the recipient, is the recipient anonymous to the donor? If both are anonymous, who serves as the intermediary? Is the gift then no longer anonymous?

Philosophers have waxed eloquent for eons about charitable intent. The ladder of giving, described by the 12th century rabbi, Maimonides, is informative as a testament to early attempts to characterize some kinds of giving as better than others.

Presenting at a conference: Why the pain is totally worth it | CoolData blog

Presenting at a conference: Why the pain is totally worth it | CoolData blog: his post is not about my kidney stone. But it is a little bit about Bernardine. Like I said, she knew stuff. She diagnosed my condition from 40 feet away, and she was also the first person to suggest that I should present at a conference.

At that time, there were few notions that struck terror in my heart like the idea of talking in front of a roomful of people. I thought she was nuts. ME? No! I’d rather have another kidney stone.

But Bernardine had also given me my first copy of Peter Wylie’s little blue book, “Data Mining for Fundraisers.” With that, and the subsequent training I had in data mining, I was hooked — and she knew it. Eventually, my absorption with the topic and my enthusiasm to talk about it triumphed over my doubts. I had something I really wanted to tell people about, and the fear was something I needed to manage. Which I did.