Our View: Charities thrive on optimism, generosity � Editorials � The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Our View: Charities thrive on optimism, generosity � Editorials � The Free Press, Mankato, MN: "t should be no surprise that the recession has brought a drop in charitable giving.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported this week that charitable donations in the United States went down 11 percent in 2009, the biggest drop in 20 years.

Against that backdrop, it is heartwarming to see some local charities optimistically forging ahead with major fund drives to expand and enhance their services."

Symbiotic Ways Private Foundations Use Community Foundations and Other Organizations | Planned Giving Design Center

Symbiotic Ways Private Foundations Use Community Foundations and Other Organizations | Planned Giving Design Center: "As philanthropic advisors, our job is to recommend the best method to meet our client's charitable objectives. If a direct gift is not appropriate, we generally begin to weigh the pros and cons of public foundations (i.e., community foundations or supporting organizations) and private foundations. All too often, the final recommendation tends to be one vehicle over the other when, in fact, using a combination of vehicles may be the perfect way to meet the client's needs. What follows are ten planning ideas, with accompanying case studies, that illustrate the synergies created by private foundations utilizing community foundations. Community foundations, in this context, will extend to religious foundations, colleges and universities, healthcare institutions, national donor advised funds or any nonprofit sponsoring donor advised funds."

Fundraising Well — October 2010

Fundraising Well — October 2010: "s Your Organization’s Constituent Information Being Shared?

It’s generally understood that information in your constituent database — especially data such as giving history and social security numbers, is private. But do you know what happens when a trustee, who happens to be in sales, calls your data entry staff and asks for a list of names, addresses, and phone numbers of constituents within a specific ZIP code? Perhaps the data entry staff member wants to please the trustee, who is a major donor, and emails him a spreadsheet of 250 constituents from your database."

Millionaire club charts a new course for giving | StarTribune.com

Millionaire club charts a new course for giving | StarTribune.com: "Those early philanthropists took risks and changed with the times,'' he said later. 'We should, too.'

The club will continue recruiting Minnesota millionaires, much like Microsoft founder Bill Gates began doing with the world's billionaires this year. But it also wants to crank up its public profile, enlist younger leaders and prod its members to volunteer more with their chosen charities."

Gates' giving helps build United Way center in Alexandria

Gates' giving helps build United Way center in Alexandria: "But it is her name that graces a new $17 million conference and learning center at the Alexandria headquarters of United Way Worldwide. Her husband, Bill Gates Sr., and son, who founded Microsoft, were at the conference center's unveiling last Wednesday to talk about the status of philanthropy today and the creation of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, considered the largest charitable foundation in the world."

Athletic department receives $5.5 million – The Maine Campus

Athletic department receives $5.5 million – The Maine Campus: "The Memorial Gym and Alfond Arena — the two primary athletic buildings at the University of Maine — received a $5.5 million gift from the Harold Alfond Foundation on Friday.

The seven-figure gift is the third largest philanthropy gift in the university’s history. It also increases the total amount of giving that the Alfond Foundation has bestowed upon UMaine to a"

LSE, Reliance Foundation to set up universities in India - The Economic Times

LSE, Reliance Foundation to set up universities in India - The Economic Times: "LONDON: The London School of Economics will collaborate with Reliance Foundation, run by the promoters of India's largest corporate house, for setting up world-class universities in the South-Asian nation.

Reliance Foundation is the philanthropy arm of Indian billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries group, while the LSE is one of the world's most reputed business schools."

Nonprofit Email Benchmarks in 2010 - eMarketing Essentials

Nonprofit Email Benchmarks in 2010 - eMarketing Essentials: "Nonprofit Email Benchmarks in 2010
Posted: Oct 15, 2010 by Naomi Hamilton | with no comments

I have just finished reading the 2010 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study. While focusing on U.S-based organisations, I thought it had some very interesting findings. I also thought it wasquite a relevant study to take a quick peek at as we head into the last quarter of the year.

Some of the key benchmarks from the study include:"

Open Community, the little book of big ideas for associations navigating the social web — SocialFish

Open Community, the little book of big ideas for associations navigating the social web — SocialFish: "Open Community

A little book of big ideas for associations navigating the social web

Available November 1, 2010

Written for the complicated and quirky world of associations and membership organizations, Open Community is about how associations can—and why they should—build community online. (Not to be confused with building a successful private social network. That’s just one small part of a really big picture.)"