Denominations Downsizing and Selling Assets in More Secular Era - NYTimes.com

Denominations Downsizing and Selling Assets in More Secular Era - NYTimes.com: he actions follow a period of relative stability. Churches moved frequently from the Colonial era through the 19th century, but less often in the 20th century, as they became wealthier and acquired better holdings, according to James Hudnut-Beumler, a professor of American religious history at Vanderbilt University. But now denominations are pondering whether some properties “have outlived their usefulness.”

“They’re finding themselves pressed for finances, and making some hard choices about property, and so we’re seeing more sales in the last decade than we had for the last century,” Professor Hudnut-Beumler said. “The first things to go were camps and conference centers, and now there is some downsizing of prime-location land, churches and facilities.”

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.

Congregants Going Online For Information - TheNonProfitTimes

Congregants Going Online For Information - TheNonProfitTimes: Roughly 22 percent of Americans have visited a place of worship’s website during the past six months. That includes having visited the website of a church or other place of worship in the past 30 days.

$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.

Maine Voices: Churches, charities need to learn how to avoid carelessness and fraud | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

Maine Voices: Churches, charities need to learn how to avoid carelessness and fraud | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram: "FARMINGTON - Let me tell a fictional version of a story that many in the legal profession know by heart.


A concerned member of a nearly defunct but once thriving church or other charitable group walks through my door lamenting that some $50,000 of its funds just can't be located."

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."

Church Fundraising: Turn Contribution Statements Into More Donations : Page 1 of 2 : FundRaising Success

Church Fundraising: Turn Contribution Statements Into More Donations : Page 1 of 2 : FundRaising Success: "t's time to send out quarterly contribution statements. You have a decision to make. Will you choose to simply print a line-item record of people's gifts, or will you use it as an opportunity to communicate the impact those contributions are having?"

Richard Joel and Daniel Forman: Faith in a changing economic environment | The Fundermentalist | JTA - Jewish & Israel News

Richard Joel and Daniel Forman: Faith in a changing economic environment | The Fundermentalist | JTA - Jewish & Israel News: "In this piece, Richard Joel, the president of Yeshiva University, and his top fund raiser, Daniel Forman, talk about how the economy has affected faith and money raising. (When last we spoke with Forman, he was leading YU as it embarked on a $1 billion fund raising campaign in July 2008.)"

Mollie Hemingway: Tithing Gets Harder in Tough Times but People Still Pass the Plate and Grow Rich in Spirit - WSJ.com

Mollie Hemingway: Tithing Gets Harder in Tough Times but People Still Pass the Plate and Grow Rich in Spirit - WSJ.com: "Saddleback wasn't alone. Nearly 40% of the congregations in various denominations providing figures cited a decline in giving last year (compared to 29% in 2008), according to a March report from State of the Plate, a research project by Maximum Generosity ministry and Christianity Today International. Close to a third reported lower-than-expected collections for December, a month that traditionally helps many churches meet their budgets."

Hit by economy, Presbyterian council plans further cuts | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal

Hit by economy, Presbyterian council plans further cuts | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal: "Facing continued drops in membership and a shrinking budget, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is offering severance packages to about 30 employees at its Louisville headquarters — part of an effort to cut its budget by nearly one-fifth by 2012."

The Nonprofit Quarterly | Nonprofit Newswire | Philanthropy’s Role in Religion: Outsized Influence?

The Nonprofit Quarterly | Nonprofit Newswire | Philanthropy’s Role in Religion: Outsized Influence?: "March 30, 2010; The Bulletin | It’s no revelation that the bulk of individual donations in this country go to churches and religious organizations. But this research, done by sociologists D. Michael Lindsay and Robert Wuthnow, and published in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, suggests that charitable foundations may end up having a disproportionate influence on the future of religion despite the fact that they only contribute about 5% of what religious groups take in."

Baptist Health Foundation continues charitable giving despite downturn - San Antonio Business Journal:

Baptist Health Foundation continues charitable giving despite downturn - San Antonio Business Journal:

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."

From the Panel: Federally Funded Religious Charities Must Play by the Rules - washingtonpost.com

From the Panel: Federally Funded Religious Charities Must Play by the Rules - washingtonpost.com: "The right of religious charities to discriminate on the basis of faith in filling privately funded positions is guaranteed by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of, among other things, religion; but it grants an exemption to religious organizations, allowing them to favor people who share their particular faith in hiring. This exemption protects the church's autonomy, and it is an appropriate accommodation of religion."

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."

Nation Rallies Around First Official 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance | Reuters

PRESS RELEASE


Nation Rallies Around First Official 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance | Reuters: "NEW YORK, Sept. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- With President Obama planning to formally declare September 11th for the first time as a federally recognized National Day of Service and Remembrance at the urging of the 9/11 community and Congress, thousands of organizations around the nation -- nonprofits, employers and faith based groups and others -- are already mobilizing hundreds of thousands of Americans to engage in service and perform good deeds in observance of the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks."

Volunteers in US say they work mostly through religious organizations

bishops page: "WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The most common way people do volunteer work in the United States is through a religious organization, with 36 percent saying it's the main outlet for their volunteering.

A report on volunteering released July 28 by the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency, also noted that nonprofit organizations without religious connections are missing an opportunity by not partnering with faith-based groups."

Saving Catholic schools - baltimoresun.com

Saving Catholic schools - baltimoresun.com: "Two things should be done. The first is symbolic. We need the state's top officials to step forward. Ideally, Gov. Martin O'Malley, himself a product of Catholic education, flanked by the state superintendent of schools, the Baltimore schools CEO and others, should make clear that Maryland supports all great schools, and that the closure of any of these - Catholic or otherwise - is a loss for the state.

This would not represent narrow state support for religious schools; on the contrary, it would demonstrate our leaders' agnosticism about who operates a school. It would show that they equally support all excellent schools - traditional public, charter public, secular private and faith-based - especially when they help our most at-risk children.

The second change is legislative."

Saving Nonprofits In A Bear Market - Forbes.com

Saving Nonprofits In A Bear Market - Forbes.com: "Where is the federal government in all this? Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, $50 million has been approved to help nonprofit organizations address the needs of disadvantaged and hard-to-reach populations suffering economic hardships.

This 'Strengthening Communities Fund' has been established to build the capacity of nonprofit organizations--both secular and faith-based--to address the broad economic recovery issues present in their communities,"

Church Chat: Wagner on the state of philanthropy in Adventist institutions - Adventist News Network

Church Chat: Wagner on the state of philanthropy in Adventist institutions - Adventist News Network: "'I don't think this is good use of God's resources or the intellect He's given us,' says Wagner, director of the Seventh-day Adventist Church's Philanthropic Services for Institutions.

First of all, she says, a significant number of Seventh-day Adventist institutions don't understand what 'philanthropy' is."