Clergy role tied to faith giving | Philanthropy North Carolina

Clergy role tied to faith giving | Philanthropy North Carolina: Congregations with clergy aware of their giving trends and with younger people attending were more likely to see positive fundraising results in the first half of 2011 and first half of 2012, a new study says.

Nothing ‘Quiet’ About Archdiocese’s Campaign - TheNonProfitTimes

Nothing ‘Quiet’ About Archdiocese’s Campaign - TheNonProfitTimes: he archdiocese tightened its belt by slashing expenses and forged ahead with a parish-based, $135-million capital campaign called “Changing Lives Together,” which ends next year.

“We launched the campaign because we had to. That’s the bottom line,” said William Blaul, the campaign’s communications coordinator.

Now nearing the halfway mark of the staggered campaign, Changing Lives Together has received $52 million in pledges from more than 36,000 households. The pledges are to be paid over three years. “Changing Lives Together is right on goal,” Blaul said. “Our fulfillment right now is right where we want it to be -- better than 90 percent.”

Mormons and Civic Life - Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

Mormons and Civic Life - Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life: Ram Cnaan, a renowned researcher on faith-based social services, presented the findings of a new survey he and his colleagues conducted on Mormons’ church-based volunteering and charitable giving. Greg Smith, lead researcher on a recently released Pew Forum study on Mormons in America, discussed the Penn survey findings in the context of Mormons’ religious beliefs and social attitudes. The University of Notre Dame’s David Campbell, an expert on religion and civic engagement and co-author of “American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us,” compared Mormons’ attitudes on volunteering and tithing to those of other religious groups.

$1.5M gift to help center study religious giving - 13 WTHR

$1.5M gift to help center study religious giving - 13 WTHR: INDIANAPOLIS - A $1.5 million donation will endow the directorship at the nation's only university-based institute dedicated to exploring the relationship between faith and philanthropy.

The Nonprofit Quarterly | @npquarterly | Gay-Rights Activists Lobby Companies to Cut Ties with Charitable-Giving Website Linked to Focus on the Family

The Nonprofit Quarterly | @npquarterly | Gay-Rights Activists Lobby Companies to Cut Ties with Charitable-Giving Website Linked to Focus on the Family: Gay-rights activists are calling on corporations to end their charitable-giving deals with the Charity Give Back Group (CGBG), according to a Denver Post report. Once known as the Christian Values Network, CGBG recruits online shoppers who can designate a percentage of their purchase totals to go to a list of specific charities, both secular and religious. One of the designated nonprofit recipients is Focus on the Family, which many gay-rights activists and others consider a hate group due to its attitude toward gays and lesbians.

One LA museum hosts an exhibition in the fine art of giving - The National

One LA museum hosts an exhibition in the fine art of giving - The National: In the end, it is not necessarily the thought that counts, but the price tag," Komaroff notes candidly in the exhibition catalogue.

Conceived so broadly, the process of gift-giving was crucial to diplomacy, civic and religious philanthropy, and to the international exchange of art and wealth. Gifts, then and now, are rarely acts of pure generosity, says Komaroff, who notes that the exchanges of objects (and cash) reflect relations of power and obligation.

Men v. Women: Who are the Best Planned Giving Prospects? | Michael Rosen Says…

Men v. Women: Who are the Best Planned Giving Prospects? | Michael Rosen Says…: "Generally speaking, men and women are just as likely to make a bequest commitment, according to Russell N. James, III, PhD of Texas Tech. However, women are more likely to make a bequest commitment to environmental, health, human service, and religious organizations, according to Giving USA. Men are more likely to leave a bequest to education or public/society benefit organizations. Both women and men are equally likely to leave a bequest to arts and international affairs groups."

Religious Groups Fight for Tax Deductions - News

Religious Groups Fight for Tax Deductions - News: "Many religious nonprofits, which supplement their budgets heavily with donations from wealthy donors, are concerned that reducing the tax write-offs for charitable donations will cause a decrease in giving, said Diana Aviv, the president and CEO of Independent Sector, a coalition of nonprofit organizations.

'The question is, 'Do tax incentives work, do they stimulate more money than they cost?'' Aviv said, 'Experts estimate that this proposal could reduce charitable giving by $7 billion dollars.'"

Tax-Exempt Ministries Avoid New Regulation - NYTimes.com

Tax-Exempt Ministries Avoid New Regulation - NYTimes.com: "A three-year investigation into financial improprieties at six Christian ministries whose television preaching bankrolled leaders’ lavish lifestyles has concluded with the formation of an independent commission to look into the lack of accountability by tax-exempt religious groups."

Religious Donations Going Awry - NYTimes.com

Religious Donations Going Awry - NYTimes.com: "Religious Donations Going Awry
By NICHOLAS KRISTOF

My Sunday column is about charitable contributions, particularly by Christians, Jews and Muslims, that are well-intentioned but poorly thought out — and thus not nearly as effective as they might be. This is of course also a problem with secular contributions, but we’re entering a season for religious giving and I think this is a particular problem for religious charities because of a false assumption that a charity that shares one’s faith also shares one’s values and bona fides."

U.S. is feeling charitable, just not through churches | The Christian Century

U.S. is feeling charitable, just not through churches | The Christian Century: "Americans are being more generous to religious charities, but why are they skimping on their giving to churches?

A new report from Empty Tomb Inc., an Illinois-based Christian research organization, contains an analysis that found from 2007 to 2008, Protestant churches saw a decrease of $20.02 in per-member annual charitable gifts."

Symbiotic Ways Private Foundations Use Community Foundations and Other Organizations | Planned Giving Design Center

Symbiotic Ways Private Foundations Use Community Foundations and Other Organizations | Planned Giving Design Center: "As philanthropic advisors, our job is to recommend the best method to meet our client's charitable objectives. If a direct gift is not appropriate, we generally begin to weigh the pros and cons of public foundations (i.e., community foundations or supporting organizations) and private foundations. All too often, the final recommendation tends to be one vehicle over the other when, in fact, using a combination of vehicles may be the perfect way to meet the client's needs. What follows are ten planning ideas, with accompanying case studies, that illustrate the synergies created by private foundations utilizing community foundations. Community foundations, in this context, will extend to religious foundations, colleges and universities, healthcare institutions, national donor advised funds or any nonprofit sponsoring donor advised funds."

Rector to speed-read Bible for charity - News - Fleetwood Weekly News

Rector to speed-read Bible for charity - News - Fleetwood Weekly News: "A clergywoman near the Northamptonshire and Leicestershire border is to tackle a speed-reading challenge of biblical proportions to raise money for her churches and other charities, it has been disclosed.

The Rev Mary Garbutt will read aloud an entire King James Version Bible in just four days - close on 800,000 words."

Affluent Blacks Differ in Giving Patterns From Whites, Study Finds - News - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

Affluent Blacks Differ in Giving Patterns From Whites, Study Finds - News - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: "Wealthy Blacks Give Most Donations to Education and Religious Groups, Study Finds

By Maria Di Mento

Wealthy black Americans are more likely to donate to educational institutions, religious organizations, and human-services groups than other affluent people, according to a new study.

Black donors who make at least $250,000 or who have $1-million in assets also tend to give anonymously and to nonprofits they know well, says Marguerite Griffin, national director of philanthropic services at Northern Trust Corporation, a financial-services firm in Chicago, which conducted the survey."

The Nonprofit Quarterly | @npquarterly | Nonprofit Newswire | Recession Worsening Decline in Religious Giving

The Nonprofit Quarterly | @npquarterly | Nonprofit Newswire | Recession Worsening Decline in Religious Giving: "As the New York Times reports, 'Well before the subprime mortgage crisis threw the economy into a tailspin, warning signs for religious giving were present. A 2007 study by three professors at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis found that baby boomers in 2000 were donating about 10 percent less to religious bodies than their parents’ generation did at a comparable age in 1973—and almost 25 percent less than those parents, by then ages 62 to 76, were donating in 2000.'"

In A First, Religious Gifts Decline Slightly | The Jewish Week

In A First, Religious Gifts Decline Slightly | The Jewish Week: "Historically, giving to religion does well in trying times, but last year something happened,” says Robert Evans, a member of the Giving USA editorial review board and co-founder of the EHL Consulting Group, a Philadelphia-based consultancy that serves many Jewish nonprofits. “So many houses of worship and synagogues responded to appeals by members for a reduction in dues, and by necessity, houses of worship gave in.” In addition, major capital projects, including renovations and expansions of synagogues, have mostly been halted."

Tax Guide for Tax Guide For Churches and Religious Organizations | Planned Giving Design Center

Tax Guide for Tax Guide For Churches and Religious Organizations | Planned Giving Design Center: "The IRS has released revised Publication 1828, Tax Guide for Tax Guide For Churches and Religious Organizations - benefits and responsibilities under the federal tax law."

$22,000 Grant from Will Support Research on Religiously Affiliated Mutual Funds : Newscenter : IUPUI

$22,000 Grant from Will Support Research on Religiously Affiliated Mutual Funds : Newscenter : IUPUI: "Peifer’s research explores the intersection of religion and the economy, with an emphasis on religious giving and religious investing. His dissertation, 'Religion in the Financial Market: A Look at Religiously Affiliated Mutual Funds,' examines how religious values impact behavior in the financial market, including how these funds screen or try to change the behavior of corporations they deem to be unethical. The research also looks at how religious fund employees and donors manage the tension between religion and finance."

The NonProfit Times - Creating A Dialogue In Religious Fundraising

The NonProfit Times - The Leading Business Publication For Nonprofit Management: "

By Tom Pope

Two-way conversations with donors are helping religious nonprofits with fundraising results. The UJA-Federation of New York’s annual Generosity event this year drew approximately 700 young Jewish donors in their 20s and 30s, up from 500 people at the first event in 2006. These donors found out about the event from the online social networking site Facebook."

The NonProfit Times - Religious Fundraising

The NonProfit Times - The Leading Business Publication For Nonprofit Management: "Religious Fundraising

Major Donors
Fundraising is a journey in loving your donors

Many development officers and chief executive officers (CEOs) approach major donors with angst. Perhaps they feel inadequate, fear alienating an important donor, or even secretly resent people who are 'filthy rich.' Understandably, such conflicted people struggle to acquire the money that their organizations need."