Pamela Barden-A Hiker's Guide to Fundraising : FundRaising Success

Pamela Barden-A Hiker's Guide to Fundraising : FundRaising Success: With appreciation to Jerold Panas (FundRaising Success' 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award winner), who stimulated this article with a short piece he published several months ago comparing fundraising to white-water rafting, here are some tips from a hiker to energize your work as a fundraiser this fall.

Foundation Endowments Grew 12% in 2012 - News - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

Foundation Endowments Grew 12% in 2012 - News - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: Foundation Endowments Grew 12% in 2012

By Doug Donovan

Endowments at private foundations grew by 12 percent in 2012, a significant improvement after they lost a little under 1 percent in 2011, according to a study of 140 funds released today.

But that’s still less than the S&P 500 gain, which was 16 percent last year. Many foundations continue to seek to regain the nearly 26 percent loss in value they sustained during the 2008 financial crisis.

PittsburghGives | The Pittsburgh Foundation

PittsburghGives | The Pittsburgh Foundation: The 2013 Day of Giving is October 3, 2013. What day will it be for you? With over 600 participating nonprofit organizations, make it a day of giving. Starting at 12 AM and lasting until 11:59 PM at http://pittsburghgives.org.

Pittsburgh hosting 2014 arts conference - Pittsburgh Business Times

Pittsburgh hosting 2014 arts conference - Pittsburgh Business Times: Pittsburgh was selected to host the National Forum on Arts Education in America, scheduled Sept. 11-12, 2014, the Arts Education Partnership and the Arts Education Collaborative announced Tuesday.

The Heinz Endowments, among Pittsburgh’s largest foundations, awarded a $10,000 grant to fund local planning efforts for the event, which will convene leaders in arts, education, business and philanthropy.

How to Use SROI to Show Your Nonprofit's Impact

How to Use SROI to Show Your Nonprofit's Impact: The SROI: What Is It?

SROI is the acronym for Social Return on Investment, a relatively new (to the U.S. at least) and interesting tool for communicating the value of your nonprofit’s impact on the community. According to The New Economics Foundation, SROI “captures social value by translating outcomes into financial values.”

Many Large Arts Organizations Still in Recession - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly

Many Large Arts Organizations Still in Recession - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly: NPQ has been noting what appears to be ongoing financial strife at a significant number of large arts organizations across the country—performing arts institutions and museums, primarily—and this report would tend to back up that impression.

Americans for the Arts’ 2013 Arts Index shows that the recovery has not brought much for the better to those organizations. In 2013, 44.2% of arts organizations had operating deficits, as compared to 36% in 2007 before the recession—an 8.2% difference. At the height of the recession in 2009, the number of groups with operating deficits was 45%, which makes the recovery, as measured here by deficits, only 0.8%. The Index reports that organizations with larger budgets were more likely to run a deficit than those with smaller budgets, and that there was no predictable pattern based on any specific arts discipline.

Boston Medical Center Gets $100K as Nonprofit Innovator

massnonprofit.org ::: The 496-bed Boston Medical Center (BMC) won the 2013 Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation, given each fall by the Drucker Institute to a nonprofit that best demonstrates “change that creates a new dimension of performance,” a definition of innovation developed by the internationally famous management consultant.

What Could You Do with a $50 Million Gift? Harvard Got 16 This Year - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly

What Could You Do with a $50 Million Gift? Harvard Got 16 This Year - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly: In what appears to be an institutional version of the wealth gap, Harvard University has already raked in sixteen gifts of $50 million or more.

Let’s just reflect on that for a moment or two.

Repost: Pre-Holiday Donation Page Workout | DonationPay

Repost: Pre-Holiday Donation Page Workout | DonationPay: Repost: Pre-Holiday Donation Page Workout
September 17th, 2013

Note: this post was originally published in September of 2011. I thought the workout would still be relevant in useful in these waning days of 2013, as we all get ready for the holiday season. Enjoy! -AJ

Okay, folks, it’s September. Every day from now until January is a day you should be thinking about how best to maximize your holiday fundraising season.

Harvard Seeks $6.5 Billion as Gifts Over $50 Million Proliferate - Bloomberg

Harvard Seeks $6.5 Billion as Gifts Over $50 Million Proliferate - Bloomberg: The number of so-called mega donations to U.S. colleges is rebounding just as Harvard University begins a $6.5 billion capital campaign, the largest in the history of higher education.

4 Ways to Cure Your Technological "Distraction Addiction" | Co.Create | creativity culture commerce

4 Ways to Cure Your Technological "Distraction Addiction" | Co.Create | creativity culture commerce: ou don't have to purge technology from your life; Alex Soojung-Kim Pang argues that you can get the Information You Need and the Communication You Want, Without Enraging Your Family, Annoying Your Colleagues, and Destroying Your Soul. Here's how.

PhilanTopic: The Transparent Spend Down

PhilanTopic: The Transparent Spend Down: The Transparent Spend Down

The following post by Charles R. Bronfman, chairman of The Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies (ACBP), is the first in a new blog series, "Making Change by Spending Down," produced by ACBP in partnership with GrantCraft, a joint service of the Foundation Center and the European Foundation Centre. In the post, Mr. Bronfman explains how he, his late wife, Andrea, and ACBP president Jeffrey Solomon arrived at the decision to spend down the foundation by 2016; why he and Solomon decided to take extra steps to create transparency around the spend-down process; and what they hope the added measure of transparency will accomplish.

The positive effects of charitable giving

The positive effects of charitable giving: What are some current and emerging community needs throughout Canada? How can we begin to solve them?

ANSWER With respect to breast cancer, awareness is much higher today than it was 20 years ago and 5-year survival rates for the disease have improved significantly over this period,from

Fundraisers get in a spin for charity (From Swindon Advertiser)

Fundraisers get in a spin for charity (From Swindon Advertiser): Fundraisers get in a spin for charity

8:00am Monday 23rd September 2013 in News
Fundraisers get in a spin for charity Fundraisers get in a spin for charity

MORE than 40 cyclists attempted the gruelling task of travelling the length of the Great Wall of China at the weekend.

Using several gym bikes, 12 teams set about trying to cycle 5,500 miles in just over nine hours at the David Lloyd Gym.

Entrepreneur Sir Tom wins prize for his philanthropy | Herald Scotland

Entrepreneur Sir Tom wins prize for his philanthropy | Herald Scotland: One of Scotland's top �entrepreneurs will be honoured for his philanthropic work next month.

Sir Tom Hunter will be one of six recipients of this year's Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy.

Described by some as the Nobel Prize of philanthropy, the medal goes to those who use their wealth for public good and is given biannually to global figures.

IRS Asked Inappropriate Questions Of Nonprofit Applicants | The NonProfit Times

IRS Asked Inappropriate Questions Of Nonprofit Applicants | The NonProfit Times: Fallout from the way the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) singled out certain groups applying for 501(c)(4) status under the federal tax code prompted a spirited exchange when Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer and conservative activist, went head to head with John Pomeranz, a lawyer advocating for more bright lines in how the IRS makes its determinations, and Marcus Owens, a former director of the IRS Exempt Organizations Division, a unit that Mitchell would like to see abolished. “Just rip it out,” she said.

Deal Close in $300-Million Huguette Clark Estate Dispute - Philanthropy Today - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

Deal Close in $300-Million Huguette Clark Estate Dispute - Philanthropy Today - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: he main parties in the court fight over reclusive mining heiress Huguette Clark’s $300-million estate have tentatively agreed to a settlement that would keep a proposed California arts charity as her main beneficiary, reports NBC News.

Why philanthropy is R&D for business | McKinsey & Company

Why philanthropy is R&D for business | McKinsey & Company:


Commentary
Why philanthropy is R&D for business
Targeted giving can help companies lay the groundwork for future commercial success.
September 2013 | byDoug Conant

We often measure the impact of corporate philanthropy by counting the number of individuals who are helped by a particular program. In my experience, however, philanthropy can also help companies reduce business risk, open up new markets, engage employees, build the brand, reduce costs, advance technology, and deliver competitive returns.

Investing in talent: How and why foundations are supporting professional development

Investing in talent: How and why foundations are supporting professional development: Anyone who knows anything about the nonprofit sector knows that nonprofits attract passionate, committed, caring people – but that those people must operate on a shoestring budget, where needs perpetually exceed resources. This “nonprofit starvation cycle” is described by the Stanford Social Innovation Review, as quoted in a sector white paper:

Good Works in Retirement - WSJ.com

Good Works in Retirement - WSJ.com: The Rev. Patrick Ward and his wife, Barbara, are feeling confident about their financial future.

Now that Ms. Ward is fully retired, they are more concerned with helping other people live out their dreams.

Easter Seals UCP mulls strategy to offset Food Lion loss � Philanthropy North Carolina

Easter Seals UCP mulls strategy to offset Food Lion loss � Philanthropy North Carolina: But after this year’s campaign, which was held in February in Food Lion stores in 10 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states, Easter Seals UCP learned Food Lion was dropping out of the partnership as part of a new corporate giving strategy.

“Easter Seals is a wonderful organization with many contributions to the community,” says Christy Phillips-Brown, director of external communications and community relations for Salisbury-based Food Lion.