Thursday, July 16, 2009

The Thin Green Line : Damon's his name, water's his game

The Thin Green Line : Damon's his name, water's his game: "oday, Matt Damon announced a merger of an organization he co-founded, H2O Africa, with the global group WaterPartners to form Water.org.

Damon's role is largely ceremonial, with the former director of WaterPartners, Gary White, staying on to head up Water.org. Damon explained, 'As a clear leader in the sector at delivering innovative and sustainable solutions for those in need, WaterPartners was the natural choice with whom to work to truly affect lasting change.'"

The Business of Giving | JPMorgan Chase will maintain local giving but change the mix, says CEO | Seattle Times Newspaper

The Business of Giving | JPMorgan Chase will maintain local giving but change the mix, says CEO | Seattle Times Newspaper: "JPMorgan Chase will maintain its level of charitable giving in Washington state, though the mix will change, CEO Jamie Dimon said today in an interview with the Seattle Times' Drew DeSilver and other local reporters."

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Paulette's Point of View

Paulette's Point of View: "Donor Communications Overload?
The refrain that 'we’re getting too much stuff from charities' is one that we hear from the public a lot these days, at least in media stories. But how true is it really?"

Article - WSJ.com

Article - WSJ.com: "NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--With cash hard to come by, leading corporate philanthropists are looking to make a bigger impact by utilizing skills-based volunteerism and taking a stand on social policy issues.

Businesses are finding out that by approaching philanthropy more strategically, they can do more with less while boosting their bottom line."

Weinberg Foundation pledges to honor existing grants to nonprofits, award $21M in new funds - Baltimore Business Journal:

Weinberg Foundation pledges to honor existing grants to nonprofits, award $21M in new funds - Baltimore Business Journal:: "The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation vowed to honor every existing grant commitment it has made and distribute $21 million in new funds to nonprofits, despite a crippling recession that’s impacted the venerable organization’s assets."

Docuticker » Blog Archive » Social Justice Philanthropy Seeing a Resurgence, Foundation Center Study Finds

Docuticker » Blog Archive » Social Justice Philanthropy Seeing a Resurgence, Foundation Center Study Finds: "Social Justice Philanthropy Seeing a Resurgence, Foundation Center Study Finds"

New Project Helps Area Nonprofits - Opinion - The Sun News

New Project Helps Area Nonprofits - Opinion - The Sun News: "The Global Awareness Project board of directors selects 12 nonprofits, one for each month. All the nonprofits' events are listed throughout the calendar.

Twelve artists are selected and partnered with the nonprofits. The artists donate time to learn about the organization then create a piece to be highlighted in the calendar. The works will be donated to the individual nonprofit group.

The nonprofits are selected by Global Awareness Project directors and may be in the calendar two consecutive years, although they may reapply after a one-year absence."

The NonProfit Times - The Leading Business Publication For Nonprofit Management

The NonProfit Times - The Leading Business Publication For Nonprofit Management: "You Don't Have To Send Holiday Greetings To Everyone
Database modeling and donor history deciding who will get holiday solictations

By Michele Donohue

Nonprofit direct mailers are following the Christmas carol instructions about 'making a list, checking it twice' for end-of-the-year mailings. But forget about naughty or nice - these mailers want donors."

Newsstands for Nonprofits kicks off Monday | visaliatimesdelta.com | Visalia Times-Delta and Tulare Advance-Register

Newsstands for Nonprofits kicks off Monday | visaliatimesdelta.com | Visalia Times-Delta and Tulare Advance-Register: "The Visalia Times-Delta teamed up with the Visalia Arts Consortium to round up the organizations and have them transform newsstands to depict an attribute or event that has made Visalia special during the past 150 years. The newsstands will serve as way of collecting donations for each organization. A four-page section about the Newsstands for Nonprofits event will be featured in this weekend’s edition of the Times-Delta."

TheCatholicSpirit.com - For Catholics, charity is 'guiding principle'

TheCatholicSpirit.com - For Catholics, charity is 'guiding principle': "“For the Catholic social tradition, the fundamental social tradition is not justice, it’s charity. Charity has to be the guiding principle for everything we are concerned about in the social tradition. Charity is love, willing the good for the other and so on, but charity has to be informed by truth. [The pope says:] ‘Without truth, charity degenerates into sentimentality. Love becomes an empty shell.’"

Schoodic Point research center gets $1M gift - Bangor Daily News

Schoodic Point research center gets $1M gift - Bangor Daily News: "The gift from Edith Robb Dixon, widow of Fitz Eugene Dixon, was announced last week by Acadia Partners for Science and Learning, a nonprofit organization that works with Acadia National Park to operate Schoodic Education and Research Center at Schoodic Point. The SERC campus is located near Winter Harbor at the tip of the Schoodic Peninsula, where the U.S. Navy maintained a base from 1935 to 2002."

R.I., Conn. Planned Parenthood organizations to merge | Rhode Island news | projo.com | The Providence Journal

R.I., Conn. Planned Parenthood organizations to merge | Rhode Island news | projo.com | The Providence Journal: "ccording to a recent United Way of Rhode Island report, about two-thirds of the state’s nonprofits are struggling with a decline in income. At the same time, the demand for services is up, prompting some to consider mergers in the wake of shrinking funding."

Dumbledore's Army: Charity Changing the World | Newsweek Movies | Newsweek.com

Dumbledore's Army: Charity Changing the World | Newsweek Movies | Newsweek.com: "Remember how the kids at Hogwarts assembled Dumbledore's Army to fight against the Dark Arts? Well, that's kind of happening in real life, too. Except this Dumbledore's Army is a registered nonprofit, a team of Harry Potter fans/missionaries that wants to eradicate poverty, illiteracy, and genocide."

Charities Lament 'Cash For Clunkers' Program : NPR

From NPR

Charities Lament 'Cash For Clunkers' Program : NPR: "When Congress passed a new law to give people up to $4,500 to junk their old cars and buy new, more efficient ones, the auto industry cheered. But some charities say they'll be the unintended victims of this program, and so will the low-income people they try to help."

Nonprofit arts receive $345,000 in stimulus money | detnews.com | The Detroit News

Nonprofit arts receive $345,000 in stimulus money | detnews.com | The Detroit News: "Nonprofit arts receive $345,000 in stimulus money
Michael H. Hodges / Detroit News Arts Writer

Like a gentle summer rain, more federal stimulus money is sprinkling down on Michigan arts-and-culture nonprofits badly parched by the economic crisis.

The state-run Michigan Council for the Arts & Cultural Affairs announced Friday it's distributing $345,000 in federal money to 30 groups across the state, all intended to preserve jobs in the hard-hit cultural sector. Like recent direct grants to Michigan organizations from the National Endowment for the Arts, the money comes from the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act that Congress passed this spring -- better known as the 'stimulus bill.'"

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Why Young People are Starting Nonprofits - Alpha Consumer (usnews.com)

Why Young People are Starting Nonprofits - Alpha Consumer (usnews.com): "Why Young People are Starting Nonprofits
July 14, 2009 11:17 AM ET | Kimberly Palmer | Permanent Link | Print

When Lindsay Hyde was a freshman at Harvard, she wanted to become a mentor to younger girls in the area, but when she looked into potential opportunities, she couldn't find any groups willing to work with undergraduates. So she organized her own team of volunteers and found two elementary schools interested in working with them. Once she graduated from college, she officially launched her nonprofit, Strong Women, Strong Girls, which now works with over 400 girls a year in Boston, Pittsburgh, and Miami."

Feinstein Challenge raises record $197M - PBN.com - Providence Business News

Feinstein Challenge raises record $197M - PBN.com - Providence Business News: "KINGSTON – Local philanthropist Alan Shawn Feinstein’s 12th annual nationwide matching challenge to anti-hunger organizations led to $197 million in donations this year, a new record for the campaign, The Feinstein Foundation announced today."

Dress for Success charity defies the recession | Philadelphia Inquirer | 07/14/2009

Dress for Success charity defies the recession | Philadelphia Inquirer | 07/14/2009: "Which may make it all the more remarkable that the Philadelphia branch of Dress for Success had the productive first year it did.

As it enters its second year, there is high demand for Dress for Success' services: free business attire for disadvantaged women looking for work or starting new jobs, mentoring programs, and advice on topics such as networking and to how to ask for a raise."

Top Fundraising Strategies For Thriving in Times of Economic Stress : By Polly Papsadore : FundRaising Success

Top Fundraising Strategies For Thriving in Times of Economic Stress : By Polly Papsadore : FundRaising Success: "n the DMA Nonprofit Federation workshop “45 Top Strategies to Survive and Thrive in Today’s Economy” held in May in New York, presenters Lynn Edmonds, president; Bryan Terpstra, vice president of fundraising; Amy Beaudoin, associate creative director; and Kevin Eagan, vice president of production services, all of LW Robbins Associates; and Jenny Floria, senior director of account management at ParadyszMatera, offered practical guidance on the best strategies to strengthen donor relationships and increase net revenue during the economic downturn."

Even in tough times, nonprofits can grow

Even in tough times, nonprofits can grow: "o what can a struggling nonprofit do to make a compelling case for funding even while its benefactors are struggling, too?

First, realize that a strong and effective marketing and public relations/donor relations program can be built gradually. This is critical. Far too many nonprofits and small businesses doom themselves to fundraising Siberia because they assume they can't afford a sophisticated marketing program. Their mistake is in thinking that some organization they respect started with a huge program all at once. In truth, most begin with baby steps."

NWAnews.com :: Northwest Arkansas' News Source

NWAnews.com :: Northwest Arkansas' News Source: "Former President Bill Clinton is scheduled today to address a meeting of philanthropists to discuss ways to boost rural communities."

Salvation Army Makes a Summer Appearance - City Room Blog - NYTimes.com

Salvation Army Makes a Summer Appearance - City Room Blog - NYTimes.com: "But this year, for the first time in more than three decades, the Salvation Army is deploying its kettles out of season — for a week in the height of summer. The reason is the economic crisis.

“We have seen this 400 percent increase in the amount of people showing up at our building,” said Capt. William Francis of the Salvation Army Times Square Ministries, one of the 39 sub-units in the division."

Rich Women Give More to Charity Than Men - The Wealth Report - WSJ

Rich Women Give More to Charity Than Men - The Wealth Report - WSJ: "It is widely assumed that women are more charitable than men.

A new poll puts a number on it: Wealthy women give away nearly twice as much as of their wealth as their male counterparts."

Donors to elderly and deaf charities 'least loyal in the recession' - Third Sector

Donors to elderly and deaf charities 'least loyal in the recession' - Third Sector: "Donors to elderly and deaf charities 'least loyal in the recession'

By Christina Farr, Third Sector, 14 July 2009

But overseas development, blindness and Christian charities' donors stay loyal, according to research"

Monday, July 13, 2009

Unemployed volunteer at food banks, museums, nonprofits | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press

Unemployed volunteer at food banks, museums, nonprofits | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press: "For a growing number of the state's nearly 700,000 unemployed residents, working for free is better than not working at all."

The NonProfit Times - The Leading Business Publication For Nonprofit Management

The NonProfit Times - The Leading Business Publication For Nonprofit Management: "Survey: Nonprofit Mergers, Sales Not On The Table

Despite yet another doom and gloom outlook for nonprofits in 2009, very few organizations are even considering mergers or selling assets, according to a new survey. Instead, nonprofits are more likely to develop worst-case scenario contingency budgets and engage more closely with their board, according to a survey of nearly 1,000 nonprofits by Nonprofit Finance Fund."

Economic downturn fails to dampen philanthropy - Telegraph

Economic downturn fails to dampen philanthropy - Telegraph: "A survey by Barclays Wealth of 500 wealthy individuals in the UK and US revealed that around 75pc had not reduced their contributions to charity, while more than one in four had increased their giving in the last 18 months.

Now that governments are overburdened with debt, the rich felt it more important than ever that wealthy individuals did their bit for charity, the report said."

All-Star Game’s Sponsors Strive to Look Truly Charitable - NYTimes.com

All-Star Game’s Sponsors Strive to Look Truly Charitable - NYTimes.com: "State Farm, Bank of America, Pepsi and other sponsors have increased the money they plan to give to charities at this year’s event. For each hit in the game, Bank of America will donate $5,000 to Feeding America, which runs a national network of food banks. State Farm expects to exceed the $370,000 it gave to the Boys and Girls Clubs at the Home Run Derby it sponsored last year. Pepsi helped pay for a free concert by Sheryl Crow on Saturday that raised money for Stand Up to Cancer, a research group."

Commish's scary climb for charity

TH - Other Sports Article: "ASHFORD, Wash. -- Before Roger Goodell reached the top of Washington's tallest mountain, the NFL commissioner had to look down.

Way down."

American Chronicle | Charities Biggest Winners

American Chronicle | Charities Biggest Winners: "ul. 12--A hushed clapping of hands is usually the most noise heard during golf tournaments. [Slideshow -- Tee Times]

For the organizations that benefit from the Sunny King Charity Classic, noise is being made over the services the money brought in by the tournament will provide."