Stephanie Meeks to lead National Trust for Historic Preservation

Stephanie Meeks to lead National Trust for Historic Preservation: "The National Trust for Historic Preservation announced Monday that Stephanie Meeks, a longtime official in the nonprofit community, would became its new president in July.

Meeks, 45, is president and chief executive of Counterpart International, a humanitarian organization. Earlier she worked at the Nature Conservancy for 18 years, and for one year she was its acting president."

Tracking return on fundraising investment urged | Philanthropy Journal

Tracking return on fundraising investment urged | Philanthropy Journal: "Recognizing the relationship between investment in fundraising and the return on that investment is essential for nonprofits in the face of the tough economy and heightened pressure on them to improve all aspects of their fundraising in terms of productivity, efficiency and value, a new white paper says."

ASSOCIATIONS ARE FOR GIVERS - Association Bisnow - Washington

ASSOCIATIONS ARE FOR GIVERS - Association Bisnow - Washington: "Members of professional associations give and volunteer more than the population at large. Yet, fewer than 15% make contributions to their organizations beyond dues, according to a new study. ASAE (which ran the study) research manager Clare Inzeo Bonsignore and VP of development Carylann Assante tell us why."

Why Nonprofit Groups Need Better Communication With Their Boards - Prospecting - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

Why Nonprofit Groups Need Better Communication With Their Boards - Prospecting - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: "In tough economic times, it is more important than ever for nonprofit leaders to be honest with their board members, said Henry Goldstein, president of the Oram Group.

Mr. Goldstein, speaking at a conference held by the Association of Fundraising Professionals in New York on Friday, said organizations need to let their board members know when they are not fulfilling their fund-raising goals."

Building a better nonprofit board

Building a better nonprofit board: "Q: We are a dedicated group of volunteers who want to build a healthy, effective nonprofit organization. Could you tell us what steps we should take to create the most effective board of directors?

A: Nonprofit organizations play an important role in every community. And the Board of Directors is critical to their success."

Michigan's nonprofit sector added jobs during recession, association says | MLive.com

Michigan's nonprofit sector added jobs during recession, association says | MLive.com: "LANSING — Not every part of Michigan’s economy was hurt by the national recession of the past couple years, according to a new report.

While many private companies were forced to lay off workers, the non-profit sector increased its employment in the state, says the Michigan Nonprofit Association."

June � 2010 � The Planned Giving Blogger

June � 2010 � The Planned Giving Blogger: "At the AFP conference in Baltimore Harvey McKinnon described the questions you, as a gift officer, should expect to be asked by donors and be prepared to answer. His presentation was reported in the online edition of The Nonprofit Times. The article elaborates but here are the questions:"

A new normal for the state's nonprofits | StarTribune.com

A new normal for the state's nonprofits | StarTribune.com: "After decades at the nation's charitable epicenter, the new economy has Minnesota facing a tectonic shift in its nonprofit and philanthropic landscape. Our state's social sector has been rocked;

Philanthropic Trends Quarterly: What’s in store for you?

Philanthropic Trends Quarterly: What’s in store for you?: "It's an interesting time to be a philanthropist. On the one hand, the sector is slowly emerging from a debilitating economic downturn. On the other, opportunities for innovative and other promising solutions are giving organizations reason to hope for the future. It certainly is a complex time but thanks to KCI's latest edition of Philanthropic Trends Quarterly, fundraisers can gain valuable insight on the newest trends in philanthropy in pursuit of their next steps."

Steven Levitt: The man who made economics freaky - July 1, 2010

Steven Levitt: The man who made economics freaky - July 1, 2010: "How would you donate to charity to make sure the money is going to someone who will use it wisely? --Bob Radisich, Mesa, Ariz.

Unfortunately, the way philanthropy is currently done, it is difficult to know what impact you'll have. Some colleagues and I have started a firm that's trying to revolutionize philanthropy, making it more scientific, more evidence-based. Very few charities engage in measuring their impact in a meaningful way."

Buffett Lunch Sells for Record $2.63 Million; Winner Anonymous - BusinessWeek

Buffett Lunch Sells for Record $2.63 Million; Winner Anonymous - BusinessWeek: "By Andrew Frye and Dakin Campbell

June 12 (Bloomberg) -- Warren Buffett’s lunch auction rose to a record of $2.63 million in the 11th annual charity fundraiser.

That’s about 24 percent higher than the previous record, set in 2008 when hedge-fund manager Zhao Danyang of Hong Kong paid $2.11 million. The chance to have lunch with the celebrated billionaire investor drew nine bidders and 77 bids, according to EBay Inc. The online auction started June 6 and ended at 10:30 p.m. New York time yesterday."

Show & Tell: Generation Y Donors | onPhilanthropy

Show & Tell: Generation Y Donors | onPhilanthropy: "The report entitled “Social Media & Mobile Internet Use Among Teens and Young Adults,” a report from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project part of the Pew Research Center’s series entitled “The Millennials: A Portrait of Generation Next,” found that “two-thirds of teen internet users 63% are online every day while 36% of teens go online several times a day.” [i] This reflects that Generation Y needs to be engaged often online and their attention has to be held before another cause captures their activism and their monetary support. From emailing them ways to volunteer, to communicating with them about how a personal donation can go directly to assist a cause, Generation Y is online and expects nonprofits to court them through social networking, website interactions and emails."

Buffett lunch gets $1.5 million bid, auction ending | Reuters

Buffett lunch gets $1.5 million bid, auction ending | Reuters: "A bidder is offering to pay $1,500,100 for a steak lunch with the billionaire investor Warren Buffett, driving the top bid more than $500,000 higher in seven minutes as the annual charity auction on eBay Inc's (EBAY.O) website heads into the homestretch."

Young professionals urged to join philanthropic cause | pnj.com | Pensacola News Journal

Young professionals urged to join philanthropic cause | pnj.com | Pensacola News Journal: "The key message at the second annual Board Works was that any young professional can get involved in philanthropy in the Pensacola area. Specifically, the event aimed at developing young professionals' interest in serving as a board member for a nonprofit organization."

Portland Museum of Art Receives Major Gift | ConteArt.com-Fine art News

Portland Museum of Art Receives Major Gift | ConteArt.com-Fine art News: "PORTLAND, ME.- The Portland Museum of Art announced that it has received a major gift of approximately $3 million from the family of Emily Eaton Moore, a trustee and longtime supporter of the Museum, who passed away in March."

7 Dallas-area nonprofits pitch ideas to 200 potential donors | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Dallas Business News

7 Dallas-area nonprofits pitch ideas to 200 potential donors | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Dallas Business News: "They were three of the seven North Texas nonprofit leaders who each had 10 minutes to pitch their group to about 200 potential donors, including foundations and corporate philanthropists. It was part of Dallas Social Venture Partners' social innovation forum Thursday at Union Station.

Such 'elevator pitches' usually are reserved for the for-profit venture capital world. Entrepreneurs typically get a couple of minutes to pitc"

Ledger-Dispatch.com | United Way rolls out annual toilet paper drive to help nonprofits offset costs

Ledger-Dispatch.com | United Way rolls out annual toilet paper drive to help nonprofits offset costs: "United Way California Capital Region is asking the community to participate in its second annual Live United Toilet Paper Drive, sponsored by AT&T, on June 18, to help offset this cost. Last year's drive raised 35,000 rolls of toilet paper, and this year's goal is 50,000."

The Nonprofit Quarterly | The Nonprofit Quarterly | Unraveling Development: How’s Your Organization’s Culture of Philanthropy?

The Nonprofit Quarterly | The Nonprofit Quarterly | Unraveling Development: How’s Your Organization’s Culture of Philanthropy?: "esearch shows that the culture inside an organization dramatically impacts its effectiveness. “Culture” means the attitudes, beliefs, customs, practices, and social behaviors that characterize a group of people. So your organizational culture means all that.

Organizational culture can be good or bad—or just mediocre. Probably, we’ve all worked in a toxic organization at one time or another. Or watched a toxic organizational culture from afar, as far away as possible!"

Philanthropy’s Double Dip: Giving Numbers Tumble for Second Straight Year | onPhilanthropy

Philanthropy’s Double Dip: Giving Numbers Tumble for Second Straight Year | onPhilanthropy: "Giving in the U.S. dropped for the second straight year in 2009, reflecting the depth of the American recession, and a slight drop in individual giving but a steep decline in foundation philanthropy. The annual numbers from the Giving USA Foundation, which has measured U.S. philanthropy since 1956, revealed on the second two-year decline in giving since the statistics have been gathered and the second largest single year drop since the oil embargo of the mid-1970s."

Roper St. Francis Foundation recipient of largest philanthropic donation to date | TheDigitel Charleston

Roper St. Francis Foundation recipient of largest philanthropic donation to date | TheDigitel Charleston: "The gift is the single largest philanthropic donation in the non-profit healthcare system’s history. The money will be put toward enhancing patient care, acquiring state of the art medical technology and supporting facility enhancements and improvements at Roper Hospital. Here's more from the press release:"

Guest Voices: Tax the wealthy and hurt charities - On Faith at washingtonpost.com

Guest Voices: Tax the wealthy and hurt charities - On Faith at washingtonpost.com: "this comes on the heels of two years of decreased charitable donations. According to the Center on Philanthropy, donations decreased by 2.7 percent in 2008 and 2.3 percent in 2009 ... a slide in donations of nearly $12 billion. What's worse, a more recent study by Boston College's Center on Wealth and Philanthropy estimated that giving dropped in 2009 alone by as much as 4.9 percent, or around $10 billion."

Watertown Daily Times | Charitable giving

Watertown Daily Times | Charitable giving: "Recession-hit Americans are finding it hard to support their favorite charity. The Giving USA Foundation in its annual report said that donations fell by 3.6 percent last year, the largest drop in 26 years."

John Kelly - 6,244 address labels and counting for woman wooed by charities

John Kelly - 6,244 address labels and counting for woman wooed by charities: "But her most interesting record is something Carol jots down every day soon after her letter carrier has visited. It is a painstaking accounting of all the free stuff she gets in the mail. The bounty she receives from charities is a way to guilt her into donating to their cause. Carol started keeping track of it in 1998 and now possesses a meticulously catalogued record of the excesses of the U.S. direct mail industry."

Exempt Magazine

Exempt Magazine: "What's The CEO Job Worth To The Organization?

There might be a hidden source of high value in your organization. This source offers a generous return on relatively little investment. It requires little oversight to deliver this value, just a sufficient amount of support. The source is an ordinary human being who at the moment might be sitting in a comfortable black chair that swivels and tilts as desired. A telephone is nearby, as is a packed calendar. The source is well known in the organization, and it has a common title. It might even be you.

The value is your CEO Premium."

Eyes on the prize: The state of prize philanthropy in Canada

Eyes on the prize: The state of prize philanthropy in Canada: "Who doesn't love winning a prize? Think of a time you went to a carnival or event where prizes were abundant and all you had to do was outsmart or out-skill the challenge before you to get the coveted item being offered.

The same principle applies to the emerging phenomenon of Prize Philanthropy, with one major exception: the prize being offered — usually in the form of a huge monetary payout — is not there solely as its own reward. Rather, it's there to stimulate participants to invent or discover new tools, medicines, technology, and theories on how to better society at large."

Red Cross and URDB Break Record for Most SMS Donations in One Room

Red Cross and URDB Break Record for Most SMS Donations in One Room: "The Universal Record Database — a rad online resource that allows the Average Joe to make and break a myriad of records online — succeeded in breaking the record for most online donations made by text message in one room today — all with the help of the attendees of the Mashable Media Summit."

Direct Mail in a Digital World - Resource Center - AFP

Direct Mail in a Digital World - Resource Center - AFP: "By Jonathon Grapsas

(June 8, 2010) It's easy to get caught up in the digital hype. We're now used to hearing terms like click through's and impressions as frequently as response rates and average gifts.

Surely there's enough data now to finally forego four page letters and move across completely to the online space. Perhaps it's time to acknowledge the direct mail doomsayers are right after all."

massnonprofit.org ::

massnonprofit.org ::: "The rules governing the charitable income tax deduction of donations, ticket sales, and auction purchases at charity events are surprisingly complex. Following are answers to questions often asked by donors and charitable organizations."

Six Views of Project-Management Software

While we are working with Blogger to get our Nonprofit Blog reinstated we will be posting a few Nonprofit Tech stories here in Recent News.

Six Views of Project-Management Software: "Six Views of Project-Management Software
What applications – and kinds of applications – can help you manage projects?



By: Laura S. Quinn

May 21, 2010
Idealware logo

This article is courtesy of Idealware, which provides candid information to help nonprofits choose effective software. For more articles and reviews, go to www.idealware.org.

So you need software to help with project management. Great! But wait... What do you mean by project management? Do you need to map out project plans and schedules? Collaborate on documents? Track tasks? Time? Documents? Issues?"

The NonProfit Times - The Leading Business Publication For Nonprofit Management

The NonProfit Times - The Leading Business Publication For Nonprofit Management: "Camera Phone Fundraising Taps Younger Donors

By Kate Rogers

Understanding the nature of generational differences is what will open the doors for new methods of fundraising. According to John Baguley, CEO of the International Fundraising Consultancy in London, for Gen Y, technology is just a part of life -- as natural and necessary as eating and sleeping.

“Gen Y was born with a cell phone attached to their ear and mouth,” Baguley said. “But we have to wait for Gen X and Gen Y to have the wealth to give enough to make a difference.”"