Philanthropy conference is ‘eye-opener’ for international attendees: Adventist News Network

Philanthropy conference is ‘eye-opener’ for international attendees: Adventist News Network: The Seventh-day Adventist Church’s world headquarters sponsored several international scholarships to a philanthropy conference in an effort to promote the profession’s best practices in more denominational institutions.

Headquarters contributed $15,000 for a dozen international attendees to participate in this year’s PSI Conference on Philanthropy, which is being held June 24 to 27 in Baltimore, Maryland. Nearly 350 fundraisers and nonprofit leaders are in attendance.

Red Cross Says Hurricane Sandy Fundraising is ‘Trade Secret’ – Philanthropy Today - Blogs - The Chronicle of Philanthropy

Red Cross Says Hurricane Sandy Fundraising is ‘Trade Secret’ – Philanthropy Today - Blogs - The Chronicle of Philanthropy: The Red Cross is fighting a public records request filed by ProPublica to disclose how it raised and spent $300-million in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the investigative news organization reports.

The Red Cross gave some information about its Sandy-related activities to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, but has resisted publicly releasing details, arguing that they are a “trade secret.”

[INFOGRAPHIC] 2nd-Half of the Year Fundraising Advice

[INFOGRAPHIC] 2nd-Half of the Year Fundraising Advice: Can you believe that 2014 is almost halfway over? How would you assess the year so far? Are you exceeding your fundraising goals, or do you find yourself falling short?

We recently asked a few of our friends – Ryan Woroniecki, Anne Davis East, Erica Waasdorp, Rachel Muir, Marc Pitman, Pamela Altmeyer Alvey, Tina Cincotti and Mally Vu – what folks should concentrate on in the second half of the year. Here’s what they said!

Bush Foundation charts new course – again | Star Tribune

Bush Foundation charts new course – again | Star Tribune: The Bush Foundation, one of the state’s largest charitable givers, is once more helping nonprofits, both large and small

With A Boost From Bill Gates, Vietnam's Entrepreneurs Put Profits Into Philanthropy

With A Boost From Bill Gates, Vietnam's Entrepreneurs Put Profits Into Philanthropy: Sharing is not a strange idea for ordinary Vietnamese, but big-scale altruism is rare so far, given that serious wealth accumulation started in Vietnam only in the past two decades. Le–who holds interests in real estate development, golf courses and mining–belongs to the first generation of entrepreneurs who started businesses after the Vietnam War. He survived the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis and began giving money to various charities and causes a decade ago. Now nearing age 70, he’s considering whether to devote most of his time to philanthropy.

For Hong Kong's Nellie Fong, Charity Begins Aboard A Train

For Hong Kong's Nellie Fong, Charity Begins Aboard A Train: Fong’s goal is to reduce blindness among the poorest of the poor in China. In 1997 she started Lifeline Express EXPR 0.85%, eye hospitals on trains that travel to the most far-flung corners of China to provide free cataract operations. Doctors have performed more than 150,000 operations on the trains, while the organization also has opened 36 cataract clinics for walk-in patients, 15 ophthalmology training centers in remote villages and 80 centers for taking the exams to become an ophthalmologist. It’s brought the latest technology to rural villages, disbursed medical scholarships for overseas studies and persuaded hundreds of top doctors from around th

Oliphant elected chair of the board of directors of the Center for Effective Philanthropy - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Oliphant elected chair of the board of directors of the Center for Effective Philanthropy - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Grant Oliphant, president of the Downtown-based Heinz Endowments, has been elected chair of the board of directors of the Center for Effective Philanthropy, effective Jan. 1, 2015.

The center is a nonprofit that provides data, research and programming to philanthropies. It has offices in Cambridge, Mass., and San Francisco.

Philanthropy Watchdog Examines The California Endowment and Daniels Fund on New Crowdsourcing Website -- WASHINGTON, June 25, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --

PRESS RELEASE

Philanthropy Watchdog Examines The California Endowment and Daniels Fund on New Crowdsourcing Website -- WASHINGTON, June 25, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --: Today, the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) unveiled the latest pair of foundation assessments for Philamplify, a new project aimed at bursting the isolation bubble in philanthropy by delivering honest feedback to grantmakers. The new reports, assessing Los Angeles' The California Endowment and Denver's Daniels Fund, are the second set of Philamplify assessments since the project launched in May.

Is The Donor Pyramid Really Dead? An Open Letter to Claire Axelrad from Andrea Kihlstedt | GuideStar Blog

Is The Donor Pyramid Really Dead? An Open Letter to Claire Axelrad from Andrea Kihlstedt | GuideStar Blog: Is The Donor Pyramid Really Dead? An Open Letter to Claire Axelrad from Andrea Kihlstedt
June 25, 2014 � by Courtney Cherico � in Nonprofit Leadership and Practice. �

Inspired by her recent posts on the death of the Donor Pyramid in Fundraising Success Magazine and Maximize Social Business Blog

The Arts Index from Americans for the Arts | Local Arts Index

The Arts Index from Americans for the Arts | Local Arts Index: he LAI provides a set of measures to understand the breadth, depth and character of the cultural life of a community. It provides a framework for relating arts and culture to community priorities and aspirations. Those community priorities may range from economic development and revitalization through jobs or infrastructure, or to youth, education or health concerns. As we know, most American communities regularly struggle with all of these challenges. The LAI can serve as a tool to frame questions about the roles or arts and culture in pursuing these priorities and aspirations, as well as show where a community may stand in relation to national norms.

The Local Arts Index was developed in partnership with arts leadership organizations in over 100 communities and is comprised of a variety of indicators to understand who we are as a community and how that manifests itself through cultural activities and participation.

Can philanthropy make good television? | Deseret News

Can philanthropy make good television? | Deseret News: How to share that with the 60 percent of Americans who don't have a passport or the means to travel? The natural solution for Sawalich, who has a background in entertainment and his own production company, was to form a crew and bring cameras along. That's the concept behind "Operation Change," a 10-part series created by Sawalich that premiered Monday on OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network.

Weaving Nonprofit Capacity Building Into Philanthropy: An Interview with Kathy Reich | Social Velocity

Weaving Nonprofit Capacity Building Into Philanthropy: An Interview with Kathy Reich | Social Velocity: In today’s Social Velocity interview, I’m talking with Kathy Reich, Director of Organizational Effectiveness Grantmaking at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Kathy leads a cross-cutting program to help grantees around the world improve their strategy, leadership, and impact. Her team makes grants on a broad range of organizational development issues, from business planning to social media st

Aviation Museum Inks Deal to Save ‘Rosie the Riveter’ Plant – Philanthropy Today - Blogs - The Chronicle of Philanthropy

Aviation Museum Inks Deal to Save ‘Rosie the Riveter’ Plant – Philanthropy Today - Blogs - The Chronicle of Philanthropy: The Yankee Air Museum in Michigan has signed an agreement to purchase a portion of a historic former factory associated with the “Rosie the Riveter” army of women who built bombers during World War II, The Ann Arbor News and the Associated Press report.

Gaming Can Mean Big Revenue, Little Profit for Jewish Groups – Philanthropy Today - Blogs - The Chronicle of Philanthropy

Gaming Can Mean Big Revenue, Little Profit for Jewish Groups – Philanthropy Today - Blogs - The Chronicle of Philanthropy: Several Jewish charities have reported losing money on bingo and poker fundraising in recent years despite taking in millions of dollars in revenue on the games, according to The Jewish Daily Forward.

Volunteerism up at United Way, down in U.S. � Philanthropy North Carolina

Volunteerism up at United Way, down in U.S. � Philanthropy North Carolina: The rate of volunteerism has grown at local United Ways in the U.S. but dropped in the U.S. overall, a new report from United Way Worldwide says.

Most volunteers are not volunteering for work likely to make the most impact in addressing priority community needs, says Volunteering: The Force Multiplier for Community Change.

PTA Thrift Shop grows, plans nonprofit center � Philanthropy North Carolina

PTA Thrift Shop grows, plans nonprofit center � Philanthropy North Carolina: ARRBORO, N.C. — Since it was created in 1952 to help generate funds for arts education in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, the PTA Thrift Shop has raised and donated an estimated $7 million to $8 million to local schools.

In December, it opened a new 14,000-square-foot flagship store in a 22,000-square-foot facility it built at 125 West Main St. in Carrboro to replace a smaller building built in the 1940s as a grocery store.

Is it time for churches to go high-tech with the offering plate?

Is it time for churches to go high-tech with the offering plate?: "One of the phenomena that we've seen is that there's been a shift to people giving online," he reports.

Among charities that work with Dunham and Company, as many as 50 percent of people who receive fundraising mailings still go online to make their contribution.

Pittsburgh Suburb Tries to Restrict Door-to-Door Solicitors - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly

Pittsburgh Suburb Tries to Restrict Door-to-Door Solicitors - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly: Don’t knock on doors in Baldwin, Pennsylvania to solicit money for a nonprofit unless you’re carrying your registration. Stephanie Hacke reports for the Tribune-Review that Baldwin has passed an ordinance requiring members of nonprofit, religious, and charitable organizations to register with the Baldwin police before they solicit for anything on a door-to-door basis.