In Eastern Europe, homegrown giving and volunteerism is taking root | JTA - Jewish & Israel News

In Eastern Europe, homegrown giving and volunteerism is taking root | JTA - Jewish & Israel News: he raising of substantial funds locally is a sign of something that was almost unthinkable just a few years ago in former Soviet bloc countries. For years, the Jewish communities there subsisted on Western help for welfare and community building. But as these communities grow up, they are becoming increasingly self-reliant -- something that’s evident both in the growing culture of local volunteerism and homegrown philanthropy.

“Over the past few years, we see more volunteering by young Jews and more donations, which are aspects of the same trend of giving,” said Matvey Chlenov, deputy director of the Russian Jewish Congress.

Watchdog Plans Review of Charity Fundraising Appeals - Prospecting - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

Watchdog Plans Review of Charity Fundraising Appeals - Prospecting - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: A prominent charity watchdog is stepping up its efforts to protect donors from fundraising appeals that include misleading or false statements.

The BBB Wise Giving Alliance said this week it will begin to review direct-mail solicitations, commercials, and telemarketing scripts from randomly selected charities beginning in January. The group will also review materials from nonprofits that have been the subject of complaints to its local chapters or that have been singled out in media reports.

Watching the Charity Watchdogs: Vignettes from the NAASCO Annual Meeting - NPQ – Nonprofit Quarterly - Promoting an active and engaged democracy.

Watching the Charity Watchdogs: Vignettes from the NAASCO Annual Meeting - NPQ – Nonprofit Quarterly - Promoting an active and engaged democracy.:Regardless of which candidate wins on November 6th and no matter what Congress and the President decide to do or not do regarding sequestration, the unresolved question of how to bolster nonprofit accountability through sector self-regulation and governmental oversight will persist. Neither party has a bead on the issue. In fact, neither party nor their bevy of candidates for office seems to have anything to utter on the topic.

Whatever conversation there is on this topic occurs in meetings of the state charity officers located in attorney generals offices. These are the government officials for whom charity accountability is their bread and butter. The one-day public session of the National Association of State Charity Officials (NASCO) on October 1st didn’t include much commentary from the state charity officials themselves, who were relatively close-mouthed about their work (for fear of getting into specifics about ongoing investigations). But the various presentations and Q&As revealed much about the current debates in nonprofit accountability—and some issues that should be debated thoroughly in the sector. What follows is a series of vignettes documenting what we heard at the NASCO gathering.

Steven Culbertson: Young People Who Serve Have Right to be Heard This Election

Steven Culbertson: Young People Who Serve Have Right to be Heard This Election: We need youth ASAP this election! That's my way of saying that we not only need youth to be engaged as soon as possible, but also that we need youth Awareness, Service, Advocacy, and Philanthropy. To really address big issues, we need youth to employ all four strategies: public education and awareness raising, direct volunteering and service, advocacy and policy change, and philanthropy. When combined, these strategies will lead to lasting community change.

Audi Motorsport Blog: A closer look at The Arc Audi Racing Program with Don Istook

Audi Motorsport Blog: A closer look at The Arc Audi Racing Program with Don Istook: The team have been supporting The Arc, a national organisation for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Running under the entry name of The Arc Audi Racing Program, the team employs crew members with disabilities to show what they are capable of, and to be part of a professional racing team. The Arc also sends a group of members to the race meetings to introduce them to the team and its crew.

Kevin Riordan: Musicians will gather in Cherry Hill for charity performance - Philly.com

Kevin Riordan: Musicians will gather in Cherry Hill for charity performance - Philly.com: nd starting Friday, his Jacobs Music store in Cherry Hill will host a three-day, outdoor "perform-athon" featuring 70 professionals, semiprofessionals, and students playing for charity.

Holocaust charity refuses donation funded by sale of Nazi memorabilia

Holocaust charity refuses donation funded by sale of Nazi memorabilia: A UK charity set up to protect the memory of the Holocaust has refused a donation from an auction house after it sold Nazi memorabilia.

National Conference on Philanthropic Planning | Nonprofit Community

National Conference on Philanthropic Planning | Nonprofit Community: This year’s conference features a number of our Wiley nonprofit authors participating in a variety of sessions, panels, and author signings over the course of three days.

Sessions/Panels

Several Wiley authors will be speaking at the conference this year. Brian Sagrestano will be speaking about the need for philanthropic planning as a result of changing generational cohorts and Julie Walker is leading a session of how to make your board effective members of the fundraising team. Robert Wahlers takes part in a panel on building your career in philanthropy. Be sure to check them out!

Why Nonprofits Should Invest More in Advertising - Dan Pallotta - Harvard Business Review

Why Nonprofits Should Invest More in Advertising - Dan Pallotta - Harvard Business Review: otal annual U.S. marketing expenditures for all purposes are estimated to be about $730 billion. A rough estimate of annual nonprofit sector marketing spending puts it at $7.6 billion. Take away nonprofit universities, museums, and other quasi-businesses, and a liberal estimate of annual health and human service nonprofit marketing spending is $1.9 billion — one dollar for charity, $384 for something else. In 2005 Save the Children (one of the larger charity advertisers) spent about $6.4 million on advertising. The Walt Disney Company — or Entertain the Children — spent about $2.4 billion — 359 times more — about the equivalent of the difference in height between the Sears Tower and a 4 year-old child. It's a testament to the dearth of advertising in the sector that the I.R.S. Form 990 doesn't even have a specific line item for reporting it.

Former President Clinton gets $2 bln in pledges to tackle world's woes | Reuters

Former President Clinton gets $2 bln in pledges to tackle world's woes | Reuters: With its theme of "Designing for Impact" and an emphasis on improving the lives of women and girls in the developing world, heads of states, business leaders and humanitarians at the eighth annual Clinton Global Initiative made 150 new pledges valued at about $2 billion to tackle some of the world's woes.

Edgar Allan Poe House to Get Lifeline From Train Museum - Philanthropy Today - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

Edgar Allan Poe House to Get Lifeline From Train Museum - Philanthropy Today - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: Edgar Allan Poe House to Get Lifeline From Train Museum

October 4, 2012, 10:43 am

Baltimore’s Edgar Allan Poe House, threatened with closure by municipal budget cuts, will get a lifeline via a city-funded plan to enlist another local cultural institution to help promote the literary landmark, The Baltimore Sun writes.

The city’s Board of Estimates approved a proposal Wednesday to pay the B&O Railroad Museum $180,000 to put the Poe House on th

NY appeals court: Philanthropist Vilar can be freed on bail pending appeal of conviction - The Washington Post

NY appeals court: Philanthropist Vilar can be freed on bail pending appeal of conviction - The Washington Post: NEW YORK — An opera-loving philanthropist convicted of a multimillion-dollar fraud will soon be freed from prison on bail after a federal appeals court signaled on Tuesday he might be succeeding in proving his case deserves a second look.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a one-page order requiring Alberto Vilar and a co-defendant, Gary Alan Tanaka, be released before it issues its opinion on the legality of their convictions.

The AFP Blog: Enhancing Inclusion in Philanthropy

The AFP Blog: Enhancing Inclusion in Philanthropy: One of the most exciting projects AFP has ever undertaken regarding inclusion is a new three year program just launching in Ontario that is designed to increase giving among a number of ethno-cultural and immigrant groups, First Nations/M�tis/Inuit peoples, women, youth, individuals with disabilities, Francophone-Ontarians and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered populations.

Sources of Attitudes on Nonprofit Compensation: A Conversation with Paul Light - NPQ – Nonprofit Quarterly - Promoting an active and engaged democracy.

Sources of Attitudes on Nonprofit Compensation: A Conversation with Paul Light - NPQ – Nonprofit Quarterly - Promoting an active and engaged democracy.: Editors’ note: NPQ contributing editor Jon Pratt sat down with NYU’s Dr. Paul Light to talk about social attitudes about compensation in public service jobs. In his usual integrative style, Light provides an excellent overview of the frameworks Americans use when they think about executive pay. This follows a string of articles and commentaries on concepts of nonprofit compensation by Lester Salamon, Tom Pollack, and Rick Cohen, which continue to provide strategic guidance in the area. Light is the Paulette Goddard Professor at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University and an online columnist for the Washington Post. He is also author of, most recently, Driving Social Change: How to Solve the World’s Toughest Problems (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2011).