How Donor-Advised Funds Can Help with Year-end Planning

How Donor-Advised Funds Can Help with Year-end Planning: "They can be established very quickly, are easy to explain to clients and simple for them to use, have many tax benefits, appeal to a wide variety of donors, and there is no charge to create them. DAFs now outnumber private foundations by nearly three to one.

The end of the year is when many DAF accounts are established and when many clients contribute to their already-established DAFs. This is largely because clients: 1. Meet with their CPAs and other advisors to do year-end tax planning and discuss any recent or anticipated liquidity events;"



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Is Grantmaking Getting Smarter?: An Update - PhilanTopic | PND | Foundation Center

Is Grantmaking Getting Smarter?: An Update - PhilanTopic | PND | Foundation Center: "Over the past fifteen years, research by Grantmakers for Effective Organizations has demonstrated that certain grantmaking practices support nonprofits' capacity to achieve results. To track how these practices are changing, GEO conducts a national survey of staffed grantmaking organizations every three years. As we prepared to release the results of our most recent survey, I wondered: How would experts in nonprofit management interpret the results? To find out, I asked CompassPoint CEO Jeanne Bell, co-author of the reports Daring to Lead and Underdeveloped: A National Study of Challenges Facing Nonprofit Fundraising, and Don Crocker, executive director and CEO of the Support Center, which advises nonprofits and foundations in the areas of leadership and executive transitions, board performance, and nonprofit/foundation effectiveness, to share their thoughts on our key findings as well as how funders can best support nonprofits to achieve more impact."



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Opinion: Is Detroit’s Close Call a Wake-Up Call for Museums? – Philanthropy Today - Blogs - The Chronicle of Philanthropy

Opinion: Is Detroit’s Close Call a Wake-Up Call for Museums? – Philanthropy Today - Blogs - The Chronicle of Philanthropy: "n the wake of the Detroit of Institute of Arts’ escape from being forced to sell works to help pay the city’s creditors, a Wall Street Journal culture writer looks at the risks faced by other art museums whose collections are fully or partly owned by government bodies.

After more than a year of legal wrangling and hundreds of millions of dollars in pledges from foundations, a judge earlier this month approved a plan for Detroit’s bankruptcy reorganization that safeguards the museum’s holdings. The Journal’s Lee Rosenbaum says that “excruciating experience … should be a wake-up call” to other museums with potentially vulnerable collections."



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The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation: New Opportunities, New Questions For Nonprofits - The Diane Rehm Show

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation: New Opportunities, New Questions For Nonprofits - The Diane Rehm Show: "The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation raises about $130 million a year in its ongoing effort to help people who suffer with the deadly disease, but that amount seems small change in comparison with the $3.3 billion it just received related to an investment it made years ago in small drug development company. For a health-related nonprofit, $3.3 billion is a jaw dropping amount. It gives the foundation the means to explore all kinds of new ways to help patients and to look for a cure, but the projected per patient cost of this drug, $373,000 per year, raises concerns. Please join us to discuss new questions about venture philanthropy."



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How Nonprofit Leadership Prepares for Its Future - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly

How Nonprofit Leadership Prepares for Its Future - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly: "In the UK as well as the U.S., nonprofit leaders are faced with stresses and the demand to do more with less. Evolving high-functioning leaders in the nonprofit sector has become a focus of professional development programs.

The Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development in London found that nonprofits are the sector least likely to make talent management activities a priority. This, coupled with the fact that the Leading Social skills review found that civil society leaders remain loyal to an organization longer than in other sectors, is concerning in regard to the evolution of charities. Leaders need to ensure their skills and knowledge are passed on."



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Gifts to Donor-Advised Funds Grew 24% in 2013, According to a Study - News - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

Gifts to Donor-Advised Funds Grew 24% in 2013, According to a Study - News - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: "A flood of contributions to donor-advised funds pushed assets of the charitable accounts to a new high of nearly $54-billion in 2013, according to a new report.

But the study also found that those accounts distributed a slightly smaller share of assets to charities last year than in 2012.

Donors poured more than $17-billion into the accounts, an increase of 24 percent, according to the report."



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Deal by Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Raises Cash and Some Concern - NYTimes.com

Deal by Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Raises Cash and Some Concern - NYTimes.com: "Proponents say it speeds drug development while also providing potential monetary rewards that can pay for even more research.

Continue reading the main story

 But there is some concern that a profit motive could divert the organizations from their primary mission — helping patients — and create a conflict of interest. For instance, the price of the main drug developed through Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s investment is $300,000 a year."



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Nancy Frates: Why my family started the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. The rest is history | Talk Video | TED.com

Nancy Frates: Why my family started the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. The rest is history | Talk Video | TED.com: "In a brave talk, his mom Nancy Frates tells the story of how the family developed the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and took great pleasure in seeing everyone from Justin Timberlake to Bill Gates take part"



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Celebrity Supporters And 16,000 Partners Rally Behind #GivingTuesday - Look to the Stars

Celebrity Supporters And 16,000 Partners Rally Behind #GivingTuesday - Look to the Stars: "The third annual #GivingTuesday will be celebrated on December 2, and celebrities and partners are rallying behind the growing movement of social giving."



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:Mass. Nonprofits Rank Among “Top Places to Work 2014”

massnonprofit news ::: "Mass. Nonprofits Rank Among “Top Places to Work 2014”

November 15, 2014 — Fifteen nonprofits—10 of them focused on the delivery of health services—have been named among the top places to work today in Massachusetts, according to a listing recently published by The Boston Globe.

Nonprofits accounted for 12% of the 125 organizations included in the Top Places to Work 2014 listing."



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Pallotta: Mindset Curbs Ability of Nonprofits to Fulfill Potential

massnonprofit news ::: "November 17, 2014 — Nonprofits have been trained to think about themselves “in a backward way” that is stifling their potential to change the world, Dan Pallotta, an activist who has garnered renown for his efforts to get people to think about nonprofits the way they think about for-profits, told a Boston gathering of human services providers today.
"



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The Strategic Donor Relations Plan... Killing Me Softly | LinkedIn

Great material from Lynne Wester



The Strategic Donor Relations Plan... Killing Me Softly | LinkedIn: "Here's the answer- I can't give you someone's strategic plan. There is no Google keyword search that brings any of them up. I can give you samples of comprehensive plans, calendars of activities and as many other samples as you could ever imagine, if I don't have it posted, heck, I'll go find it for you. But I can't and won't give you a strategic plan I've created or another organization has created. I can teach you how to do a GAP analysis and determine your strategy based on the strategic goals of your leadership. I can show you how to survey your donors, gain feedback and build a program specific to your organization's needs. "



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United States Ranks 9th in the World in Giving to Charity - News - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

United States Ranks 9th in the World in Giving to Charity - News - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: "The United States climbed into the top 10 on an annual ranking of the countries with the most charitable people but still lags behind smaller and poorer nations like Myanmar, Malta, and Thailand.

The World Giving Index 2014 report released today puts the United States ninth for giving to charity, up from 13th place on the 2013 index."



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How Can Community Colleges Get a Piece of the Billions That Donors Give to Higher Education? - NYTimes.com

How Can Community Colleges Get a Piece of the Billions That Donors Give to Higher Education? - NYTimes.com: "Last year at its annual gala, LaGuardia Community College, arguably the most ethnically diverse college in the country, honored Marilyn Skony Stamm, the chief executive of a global heating and air-conditioning business. A child of the South Side of Chicago who had gone to Northwestern on scholarship, Ms. Stamm maintained a committed interest in education and joined LaGuardia’s foundation board six years ago, proving herself a skilled networker for an institution with minimal capacity for soliciting money."



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Aviv Challenges Sector To Evolve - The NonProfit TimesThe NonProfit Times

Aviv Challenges Sector To Evolve - The NonProfit TimesThe NonProfit Times: "Seattle — In a call to action that was sometimes provocative, attendees of the Independent Sector (IS) annual conference here were told that the status quo was not enough. Leaders must take action on structural issues of the sector and their organizations and think about what both will look like and operate 25 years from now.

IS President and CEO Diana Aviv challenged the more than 1,200 executives that “fashioning our future requires retracing the past. I’ll start with a nascent democracy, from which interdependent, mutually beneficial and vital relations sprang.” She called it the virtuous cycle. “Pluralism thrives when we are free to follow our individual passions but also when we recognize our role in the broader social ecosystem,” she said."



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Imagining The Nonprofit Sector in 2024 - The NonProfit TimesThe NonProfit Times

Imagining The Nonprofit Sector in 2024 - The NonProfit TimesThe NonProfit Times: "Do no harm. Do more good.” Knowing what is possible and what is “barely achievable” and still going for it is how nonprofit leaders can imagine the future. Those were the words of Neal Keny-Guyer, CEO of Mercy Corps, during an opening session Sunday of Independent Sector’s annual conference held this year in Seattle."



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The Ice-Bucket Racket - NYTimes.com

The Ice-Bucket Racket - NYTimes.com: "Ever since the ice-bucket challenge swept the Internet this summer, raising more than $115 million for A.L.S. research, a legion of imitators has sprung up to try and cash in themselves. In the approaching holiday season, as fund-raising appeals swell, we can now smash a pie in our faces, snap selfies first thing in the morning or take a photo of ourselves grabbing our crotches, among other tasteful gestures, to express solidarity with various worthy causes. But the failure of these newer gimmicks to enjoy anywhere near the same popularity as the frigid original demonstrates the peculiar and finicky nature of our altruism — a psychological puzzle that both scientists and economists are trying to decipher."



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Nonprofits by the Numbers - Nonprofit Leadership

Nonprofits by the Numbers - Nonprofit Leadership: "This report reveals some interesting data points that we should all know as we consider and plan for our future.   But a reminder:  while these facts and figures are based just on 501(c)(3) organizations, there are things to be learned for other organizations classified under 26 US Code 501, such as (c)(4)s, (c)(5s) and (c)(6)s."



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Embracing Transparency and Failure in the Nonprofit Sector | LinkedIn

Embracing Transparency and Failure in the Nonprofit Sector | LinkedIn: "When is it appropriate to edit your nonprofit? When is it time to cut programs and make changes to your structure, and how do you go about making those changes?

I posed this question a while back, offering some guidance for nonprofits finding themselves in this position while alluding to some experience with the subject.

To offer full transparency, I’d like to share the specifics of my experience."



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Ken Burnett blog - Communication and the English language

From Ken Burnett blog - Communication and the English language: "’m talking about how people in our sector use words to convey meaning.
Or, more precisely, how they don’t. Every day we all use words to communicate what we want to get across, in a range of ways. Our success or failure at it really matters. And mostly, most of us don’t manage to do it very well.

We have a choice when we sit down to write – to write something that might make a difference or to write something that will make no difference at all. We wouldn’t choose the latter deliberately, so our lack of success must be down to carelessness, or ignorance, or a failure to appreciate the importance of it."



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Why’s the for profit world so much better than us at retention? (part 2) - Institute of Fundraising

Why’s the for profit world so much better than us at retention? (part 2) - Institute of Fundraising: "Part two: relationships are made or broken in the moment

Be honest, how do you judge people or brands? Do you do it weeks, months or years after you first encounter them? Or is your judgment formed in the very moment you interact?"



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