Friday, October 17, 2014

Editorial: New hospital name reflects a long legacy of charitable support - TwinCities.com

Editorial: New hospital name reflects a long legacy of charitable support - TwinCities.com: "Generous people make a difference every day, all around our region.

We recognize their commitment, in particular this week, with word of a new name in Twin Cities health care: the University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital.

The change recognizes a gift of $25 million from the Minnesota Masonic Charities and a legacy of support -- spanning the last 60 years -- that now exceeds $125 million. The gifts make the Masons its largest donor, according to the university."



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Breaking up the pledge drive: Boston’s WBUR wants to build a new model for public media funding » Nieman Journalism Lab

Breaking up the pledge drive: Boston’s WBUR wants to build a new model for public media funding » Nieman Journalism Lab: "This fall, the station is starting to put together the team for BizLab, a strategy and technology incubator that will focus exclusively on finding new revenue streams to make WBUR more sustainable. The project is funded by a $250,000 grant from Knight Foundation, with matching dollars from the station. Kravetz said he hopes BizLab won’t be a long-term project — that they will find viable ideas and products to ensure future stability for the station. But Kravetz told me they’ll raise additional money to operate BizLab for three to five years. “We are healthy — we are financially sound now, as a lot of big public radio stations are,” said Kravetz. “So"



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Thursday, October 16, 2014

Kennedy Center’s new leader wants to showcase contemporary artists - The Washington Post

Kennedy Center’s new leader wants to showcase contemporary artists - The Washington Post: "The Kennedy Center’s president, Deborah Rutter, suggested that changes are coming to the country’s busiest arts center, including raising the profile of living composers and artists, exploring a new format for the center’s free venue and nurturing its affiliate symphony and opera programs."



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Legal challenge over charity donations creates controversy at co - Tucson News Now

Legal challenge over charity donations creates controversy at co - Tucson News Now: "he issue revolves around how some tax dollars are spent. The board voted unanimously on Tuesday to release a county attorney's opinion whether supervisors can give excess money from their office budgets, tax dollars, to nonprofit organizations of their choice.

The attorney's conclusion was supervisors may legally make small monetary awards under certain conditions. Each supervisor gets just under $400,000 a year to manage his or her office."



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A Giving Pledge, Ralph Nader Style - News - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

A Giving Pledge, Ralph Nader Style - News - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: "Now, lawyer, consumer advocate, and five-time presidential candidate Ralph Nader is trying to organize a sort of giving pledge of his own, this one aimed at the policy arena. The concept: Band together super-wealthy Americans with shared birth years from 1924 to 1944 to make major gifts to civic and democratic institutions."



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Does Organizational Staff Size Affect Grant Activity?

Does Organizational Staff Size Affect Grant Activity?: "fter a recent State of GrantseekingTM webinar, an attendee asked about differences in grant awards and grantseeking styles, based not on annual budget but on organizational size when measured by number of employees. It was a good question because we know that a lack of time and staff is the most frequent impediment to successful grantseeking, regardless of organization size. The following is a synopsis of grant activity as defined by number of employees: all volunteer, 1 to 5 staff members, 6 to 10 staff members, and, as a counterpoint, more than 200 employees. Here is what we've learned. ...

Let's start with some basic, and unsurprising, demographics: to state the obvious, organizational age and budget size increased in conjunction with staff size."



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Fundraising leadership is 'pale, stale and male'

Fundraising leadership is 'pale, stale and male': "Fundraising is facing a leadership crisis and the sector must act now to address deep-rooted cultural problems in charities, delegates at the International Fundraising Congress in the Netherlands heard yesterday."



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Create a communications advisory board « Philanthropy North Carolina

Create a communications advisory board « Philanthropy North Carolina: "Whatever the size of your nonprofit or foundation, consider creating an outside advisory board to advise you on your communications.

Some charities have a standing communications board committee, or make communications part of the responsibility either of a standing committee that has other roles as well, or of the entire board."



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How to Make the Most of Your Nonprofit's Special Events

How to Make the Most of Your Nonprofit's Special Events: "May 14, 2007 - Updated Sept 17, 2014
It's Not Always About the Money

A widely cited study by Charity Navigator in 2007 suggested that special events are not good sources of funds. In fact, according to the study, the average charity spends $1.33 to raise $1 in special event contributions."



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After restaurants shuttered, McDonald’s charity now faces Russian legal troubles - The Washington Post

After restaurants shuttered, McDonald’s charity now faces Russian legal troubles - The Washington Post: "Now the legal wrangling that began with questions about the quality of the Filet-O-Fish sandwich and continued with the closure of several McDonald’s restaurants on health grounds this summer is embroiling McDonald’s charitable activities as well.

For the company that has been a symbolic face of America in Russia since the waning days of the Soviet Union, the level of scrutiny "



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Tuesday, October 14, 2014

How Does Zuckerberg’s Ebola Pledge Measure Up To Other Bigwig Donations? - The Daily Beast

How Does Zuckerberg’s Ebola Pledge Measure Up To Other Bigwig Donations? - The Daily Beast: "Mark Zuckerberg is putting $25 million towards tackling an epidemic that has paralyzed the world. On Monday, the tech scion announced he and his wife, Priscilla Chan would be gifting some of their millions to the CDC Foundation in the fight against Ebola. Posting on Facebook (where else?) that the disease  “is at a critical turning point,” Zuckerberg wrote of hopes to avoid a drawn-out global health crisis like HIV or polio. "



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Time v money: is your charity making the most of Generation Y’s habits? | Voluntary Sector Network | Guardian Professional

Time v money: is your charity making the most of Generation Y’s habits? | Voluntary Sector Network | Guardian Professional: "The virality of recent online campaigns such as the #icebucketchallenge show Gen Y’s willingness to donate time and energy. Photograph: Garry Hunter/Photonica
Generation Y, those of us born between 1980–2000, are the least likely age group to donate actual cash to charity. But we are increasingly giving our time through volunteering and online sharing. This is easily demonstrated with the virality of online campaigns such as the #nomakeupselfie and #icebucketchallenge for example. So, how can charities make more of millennials and their willingness to give time and share?"



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Over half of charities see growth in giving « Philanthropy North Carolina

Over half of charities see growth in giving « Philanthropy North Carolina: "Fifty-two percent of charities in the U.S. and Canada saw an increase in donations in the first six months of 2014, compared to the same period a year earlier, when over half of charities saw an increase, a new survey says.

The share of charities that posted higher charitable receipts in the first half of 2014 and the first half of 2013 is up from 46 percent that saw increases in the first half of 2012, says the survey by the Nonprofit  Research Collaborative."



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Structure and Recognition Can Be Key in Big University Gifts – Philanthropy Today - Blogs - The Chronicle of Philanthropy

Structure and Recognition Can Be Key in Big University Gifts – Philanthropy Today - Blogs - The Chronicle of Philanthropy: "A New York Times financial writer examines the origins of several major university gifts to illustrate what donors look for when approached by their alma maters, and how institutions shape their pitches accordingly.

One key talking point in major gift discussions is how a gift is structured, "



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In Afghanistan, Mortenson Resumes Work and Recounts Mistakes – Philanthropy Today - Blogs - The Chronicle of Philanthropy

Some related historical material

In Afghanistan, Mortenson Resumes Work and Recounts Mistakes – Philanthropy Today - Blogs - The Chronicle of Philanthropy: "In Afghanistan, Mortenson Resumes Work and Recounts Mistakes
The Washington Post accompanies Three Cups of Tea author Greg Mortenson on a trip to Afghanistan to visit schools built by his nonprofit Central Asia Institute, a first step in the writer and philanthropist’s tentative return to public life after a scandal over deceptions in the book and his charity’s questionable spending."



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HCA gives $1 million to CDC for Ebola response | The Southwest Times

HCA gives $1 million to CDC for Ebola response | The Southwest Times: " Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), which operates LewisGale Hospital-Pulaski, recently donated $1 million to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Foundation to help support international Ebola epidemic response efforts."



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Pamela Barden - Fundraising Documention: Do or Die — Just Do It! : FundRaising Success

Pamela Barden - Fundraising Documention: Do or Die — Just Do It! : FundRaising Success: "But there’s one thing that isn’t often mentioned in a list of fundraising tasks, yet if you fail to do it, all your accomplishments in your tenure will be forgotten and your name will be cursed once you have moved on.

Documentation."



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