Friday, October 03, 2014

Audit Faults Nonprofit’s Handling of Millions in Katrina Aid – Philanthropy Today - Blogs - The Chronicle of Philanthropy

Audit Faults Nonprofit’s Handling of Millions in Katrina Aid – Philanthropy Today - Blogs - The Chronicle of Philanthropy: "Federal auditors say a nonprofit University of New Orleans research organization failed to account for most of the more than $19-million it received from the U.S. government to repair damage it sustained during Hurricane Katrina, The Times-Picayune writes. The University of New Orleans Research and Technology Foundation is disputing findings that it did not follow federal contracting guidelines on holding an “open and free competition” for repair projects and allotting work to women- and minority-owned small firms, the newspaper also reports."



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Saddling up for charity - Halifax Courier

Saddling up for charity - Halifax Courier: "Chris Appleyard, alongside friends Chris Nuttall and Nick Simpson, took part in the ride to raise funds for the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

The cause was one close to Chris’ heart after Janice Ainsworth, the mother-in-law of Chris Nuttall, was diagnosed with MND and passed away in February."



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Technological Innovators Are Changing Philanthropy: Insights From The Giving Pledge | Brookings Institution

Technological Innovators Are Changing Philanthropy: Insights From The Giving Pledge | Brookings Institution: "Who are the Billionaire Givers?

In a recent paper with Jana Sadeh, we shed some light on the characteristics and motivations of very rich philanthropists. To do this, we exploit the Giving Pledge, a philanthropic venture launched in June 2010 by Warren Buffet and Bill and Melinda Gates that encourages billionaires, from the U.S. initially and worldwide later, to donate at least half of their wealth in pursuit of charitable causes of the pledger's choice. As of May 2014, 127 families and individuals from 12 countries with an estimated net worth of $600 billion have signed the Pledge. Twenty-three of these families made their fortunes in technology."



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Apple Employee Match Raises $50-Million for Charity – Philanthropy Today - Blogs - The Chronicle of Philanthropy

Apple Employee Match Raises $50-Million for Charity – Philanthropy Today - Blogs - The Chronicle of Philanthropy: "Apple’s program to match staffers’ charitable donations, instituted three years ago as one of incoming CEO Tim Cook’s first acts, has raised $50-million for nonprofit groups and is now being expanded, writes the San Jose Mercury News. The tech giant announced plans Thursday to expand the program to all countries in which it operates and to begin donating money to organizations where its workers volunteer."



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Thursday, October 02, 2014

Questions I'm Most Often Asked About Case Statements

Questions I'm Most Often Asked About Case Statements: "Excerpted from Making a Case Your Donors Will Love

I'm not a writer.

That's what makes me a good choice to write about case statements.

Let me explain.

I don't earn my bread and board with a pen but I love to write. Long ago I found in me cacoethes scribendi—the urge to scribble."



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Wednesday, October 01, 2014

Answer These 12 Questions About Your Organization - The NonProfit TimesThe NonProfit Times

Answer These 12 Questions About Your Organization - The NonProfit TimesThe NonProfit Times: "Answer These 12 Questions About Your Organization
By The NonProfit Times - September 30, 2014
Developing winning grant proposals requires a deep understanding of your organization. “You’ve got to understand the organization’s capacity, expertise, and place in the community,” said Barbara Floersch, executive director of The Grantsmanship Center in Los Angeles. “And, you must be able to provide a concise, thorough overview of the organization, highlighting its fit with the proposed program.”"



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Boosting Fundraising Skills with Assessments and Training - Resource Center - AFP

Boosting Fundraising Skills with Assessments and Training - Resource Center - AFP: "A Charity of Choice

Like most charitable organizations, the American Red Cross relies heavily on volunteer and community donations to deliver its mission of preventing and relieving suffering, domestically and abroad, through five key service areas: disaster relief, military family aid, blood services, health and safety education and training. In an increasingly crowded non-profit arena however, the American Red Cross needed to reaffirm its position as a “charity of choice” among individual, corporate and foundation donors. To accomplish this, the development group looked to introduce a program to improve the fundraising skills of individual employees by providing them with a formal process for engaging prospective donors and expanding existing donor relationships."



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Twenty-First-Century Communications versus the Illusion of Control: An Epic Battle - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly

Twenty-First-Century Communications versus the Illusion of Control: An Epic Battle - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly: "Segregating Communication Is So Five Minutes Ago

The degree to which nonprofits neglect or marginalize their communication functions seems, if you believe in the notions of public benefit and the common good, both wasteful and immoral: communication is, after all, core to the associational and democratic purposes of the nonprofit sector. Communication helps build the intelligence of whatever enterprise one is engaged in. It creates energy and interest in that enterprise; builds an understanding of issues and of ways to take people- supported action on those issues (reframing when the public impression of the issue is off-kilter); and, of course, helps advertise the enterprise to those who might support it. Communication also serves to provide those who are meant to benefit with a way to help guide the enterprise."



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Gear your communication to your audience, not your peers « Philanthropy North Carolina

Gear your communication to your audience, not your peers « Philanthropy North Carolina: "To meet their goals, charities must meet the needs of their constituents.

Yet instead of gearing their communications to the audiences they need to reach, far too many nonprofits and foundations are locked in the inbred and insulated vocabulary of their own organization and field of interest, and of the world of philanthropy."



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massnonprofit news ::

massnonprofit news ::: "September 25, 2014 — A newly published nonprofit compensation study shows that, nationally, compensation for female CEOs lags that of their male counterparts – just as in Massachusetts.

The 2014 GuideStar Nonprofit Compensation Report, released this week and said to be the most comprehensive nonprofit compensation study available, found that for the fourteenth consecutive year, median compensation for female CEOs lagged behind that of male CEOs by up to 23% depending on organization size. "



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Game Theory: One Tool For Understanding Donor Motivation | Fundraising Compass

Game Theory: One Tool For Understanding Donor Motivation | Fundraising Compass: "Development professionals often say fundraising is both an art and a science. Allowing for a blend of some art and some science leaves a lot of room for interpretation. There are no magic proportions of art and science in order to succeed. I might adjust my blend multiple times during my career, during a campaign, or even within a single cycle with a donor."



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Game Theory: One Tool For Understanding Donor Motivation | Fundraising Compass

Game Theory: One Tool For Understanding Donor Motivation | Fundraising Compass: "Development professionals often say fundraising is both an art and a science. Allowing for a blend of some art and some science leaves a lot of room for interpretation. There are no magic proportions of art and science in order to succeed. I might adjust my blend multiple times during my career, during a campaign, or even within a single cycle with a donor."



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The problems with ROI and the need for new rules

The problems with ROI and the need for new rules: "re you having tough conversations with colleagues in finance to secure investment in fundraising? Or has finance already won and you’re putting short-term targets over long-term strategy? By Jenna Pudelek.
These questions formed part of the debate at Fundraising Magazine’s latest Fundraising First Thing event on measurement and looking beyond return on investment. It turned out fundraisers were having these debates and seeking to educate board members and those setting targets, about their fundraising needs.
"



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Tuesday, September 30, 2014

University looks to expand Corcoran donor pool - The GW Hatchet

University looks to expand Corcoran donor pool - The GW Hatchet: "Millionaire philanthropist Wayne Reynolds has never donated to the Corcoran, despite rallying behind the arts institution in court this summer and giving more than $100 million to other arts and education institutions since 2000 through his family foundation.

Reynolds, chairman and chief executive officer of the philanthropy organization Academy of Achievement, is more than a feisty witness who opposed the merger – he’s the type of deep-pocketed arts donor GW hopes to gain from its merger with the Corcoran."



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University of Chicago establishes Civic Leadership Academy for non-profits, government agencies - Education News - Crain's Chicago Business

University of Chicago establishes Civic Leadership Academy for non-profits, government agencies - Education News - Crain's Chicago Business: "A new fellowship program at the University of Chicago will help develop leaders at local nonprofits and government agencies, training them to manage projects efficiently while helping move the Hyde Park institution further beyond the ivory tower.
A $300,000 grant from the Searle Funds at the Chicago Community Trust will jump-start the initiative, called the Civic Leadership Academy. Collaborating with the U of C are the neighborhood development-oriented Local Initiatives Support Corp. and the Civic Consulting Alliance, a corporate-backed adviser to the public sector. "



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Mozilla: Just 5 percent of computer science kids go into nonprofits. We’re going to change that. - The Washington Post

Mozilla: Just 5 percent of computer science kids go into nonprofits. We’re going to change that. - The Washington Post: "Public interest groups say there aren't nearly enough tech geeks working for nonprofits and in government. New research from Mozilla and its partner, the Ford Foundation, finds that barely 10 percent of computer science students wind up working in those sectors. The vast majority — 70 percent — go to big, wealthy tech companies. While that's great for Google and Facebook, Mozilla believes building good public policy around technology means attracting more technologists directly to public service.

So the maker of the popular Firefox browser is kicking off a fellowship program designed to put young engineers in a position to affect how tech policy, "



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The Non-Profit That's Using Technology to Put Itself Out of Business | WIRED

The Non-Profit That's Using Technology to Put Itself Out of Business | WIRED: "Ferrari is the CEO of Heifer International, a non-profit that donates things like livestock, seeds, farm equipment, and other essentials to farmers in the developing world, helping them become self-sufficient. Heifer, founded in 1944, always has believed in the teach-a-man-to-fish model. But after 70 years of giving people fish and teaching them how to fish, the organization is now connecting farmers with computer technology so they can sell the fish, too. Under a Heifer pilot program in Peru, farmers are using things like Excel, Photoshop, and Facebook to sell goods online and off."



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How Do We Fund Nonprofit Leadership Development? | Social Velocity

How Do We Fund Nonprofit Leadership Development? | Social Velocity: "Something pretty exciting is going on. Perhaps I’m an eternal optimist, or I’m suffering from confirmation bias, but it seems to me that more funders are starting to talk about investing in the capacity of nonprofits, particularly around nonprofit leadership development."



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Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen Wants to Teach You How to Give - The Chronicle of Philanthropy - Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen Wants to Teach You How to Give - The Chronicle of Philanthropy - Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: "Her latest effort is a massive online open course that debuts next week and whose main goal is to show that anyone of any income level has the power to bring about social change through smart, strategic giving. She has enlisted the stars of the nonprofit world, like Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, Scott Harrison, founder of Charity: Water, and Premal Shah, the first president of Kiva.

The seven-week MOOC, called Giving 2.0, is part of "



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The AFP Blog-Better Together

The AFP Blog: "Better Together
As a Scot, I closely followed the recent referendum on Scottish independence and was pleased to see that a majority of my native country wanted to stay in the United Kingdom.

For me, it’s a situation that is somewhat analogous to many others, to Texas and the United States, or the relationships within multi-national organisations – like our own AFP: states and provinces that possess their own unique strengths and culture, but at the same time share similar traditions and connections with another country."



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Monday, September 29, 2014

Nonprofit attempts to revive school libraries - The Philadelphia Tribune: News

Nonprofit attempts to revive school libraries - The Philadelphia Tribune: News: "A nonprofit organization seeks volunteers and donations to support reopening libraries in public schools facing strained budgets.
David Brown, executive director of the nonprofit West Philadelphia Alliance for Children, explained his vision and networked with guests who attended an Open House this past week in the nonprofit’s administration offices in the Philadelphia Business Technology Center, 5070 Parkside Ave."



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Innovative Fundraising: Donation-Based Voting Music Competition : FundRaising Success

Innovative Fundraising: Donation-Based Voting Music Competition : FundRaising Success: "Let's be clear, being innovative does not necessarily mean reinventing the wheel. It simply means coming up with a different, intelligent way to fundraise.

That's exactly what the Doing Good Network is doing with its Bands4Good Challenge. Taking a cue from the popularity of singing competition hits like "American Idol" and "The Voice," the Bands4Good Challenge harnesses the population's desire to interact and vote on winners for such competitions"



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More Doctors Volunteering for Duty in Fight Against Ebola – Philanthropy Today - Blogs - The Chronicle of Philanthropy

More Doctors Volunteering for Duty in Fight Against Ebola – Philanthropy Today - Blogs - The Chronicle of Philanthropy: "More Doctors Volunteering for Duty in Fight Against Ebola
A fear-fueled shortage of doctors and nurses willing to volunteer to battle the Ebola virus in West Africa is easing, reports The New York Times. But experts say it will be a long time yet before field hospitals being built in the region by the U.S. military are sufficiently staffed with trained medical professionals to keep up with the outbreak, which is growing by 600 new cases a week."



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The Essence of Sports Philanthropy - Third Sector Today

The Essence of Sports Philanthropy - Third Sector Today: "There’s been so much attention focused on the negative actions of a few athletes lately, that it seemed a good time to bring focus to those who do good, and illustrate how sports philanthropy can have impact. Additionally, it provides a great lesson to any type or size nonprofit who is interested in finding a way to increase awareness and support."



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[Herald Interview] Philanthropy is about finding shared value: UWW chief

[Herald Interview] Philanthropy is about finding shared value: UWW chief: "Philanthropy is not about society’s “haves” giving their wealth to the “have-nots,” but about inspiring governments and corporations to find value via their contributions, according to the chief of the world’s largest nonprofit organization.

“Philanthropic activities are just like business projects ― one should first find the value, set a detailed goal and take the most cost-effective actions,” Brian Gallagher, president and CEO of United Way Worldwide, told The Korea Herald in an interview. "



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United Way reaching potential donors in a new way | Local News | The Olympian

United Way reaching potential donors in a new way | Local News | The Olympian: "United Way of Thurston County has launched a campaign this month to raise the nonprofit’s profile and mission in the community with help from its partners.

The partners include banks, credit unions and other nonprofits to help spread the word about United Way, United Way of Thurston County Executive Director Paul Knox said."



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