This blog contains assorted news and commentary on the fundraising profession and philanthropy gathered by the AFP Fundraising Resource Center. Other Sites of Interest Section Disclaimer: AFP provides the following listing of hyperlinks to other Internet pages as a privilege to the user. AFP does not necessarily endorse, support or attest to the accuracy of information posted on those Internet pages. Some links may require registration to view and/or may only be available for a limited time.
Friday, December 22, 2006
Bloomberg.com: Muse
By Mary Romano
Dec. 22 (Bloomberg) -- While his football days are drawing to a close, Tiki Barber has carved out an active role in philanthropy.
The 31-year-old New York Giants running back, who plans to retire from the National Football League at the end of this season, puts a lot of his time and celebrity into charity events. In the past four weeks he has hosted a ceremony honoring leaders in New York City tourism, presented a humanitarian award to his friend, Richard Mina, chief executive officer of Foot Locker's U.S. division, and helped auction art to benefit Save the Children."
MPR: Is donor fatigue hitting Minnesota charities?
by Toni Randolph, Minnesota Public Radio
December 22, 2006
A year after Americans responded with unprecedented giving to help people devastated by Hurricane Katrina, some of Minnesota's best known charitable organizations say giving is off.
St. Paul, Minn. — The Greater Twin Cities United Way says it is $1.5 million short of its goal this year. If the current pace continues, this will be the first time in four years that the United Way misses its goal. United Way President Lauren Segal says the shortfall in 2001 was a direct result of the terror attacks.
Now, she sees something else."
Congress opens door for philanthropy - Independent Tribune - Concord and Kannapolis
By Josh McCann
jmccann@independenttribune.com
Friday, December 22, 2006
Older Americans have a new opportunity to share the wealth of their retirement savings with charity.
While that trial run is limited, philanthropic leaders are hopeful Congress will expand it in the future. The Pension Protection Act of 2006, enacted in August, included a provision long sought by philanthropic organizations. The law allows holders of Individual Retirement Accounts who are at least 70 and a half years old to make direct charitable transfers of up to $100,000 per year."
Thursday, December 21, 2006
During the Holiday Season posting will be limited.
AFP ( The Association of Fundraising Professionals) will close at 3 pm on Dec 22nd and reopen on the 27th.
We will then close at 3pm on the 29th and re-open January 2nd. During this time our postings to the blogs will be limited.
We look forward to serving you with our normal level of postings on January 2nd.
Have a great Holiday. We look forward to your continued feedback and thanks for your continued support.
CEO succession planning
Around half the boards of public, private and nonprofit corporations consider their efforts around CEO succession to be less-than effective and a similar proportion admit they have no succession plan in place."
Boomer phenom even hits charities
Wanting to know where money is spent seen as generational trend by expert
Peter Wilson, Vancouver Sun
Published: Thursday, December 21, 2006
An overwhelming 72 per cent of baby boomers in B.C. want to know exactly where their charitable dollars are going before they hand over their cash, according an Ipsos Reid survey for BMO Harris private banking released Wednesday.
That's only slightly below the national average of 74 per cent -- heavily skewed by an 86-per-cent response rate in Quebec.
However, just five per cent of British Columbians surveyed said that the recent federal elimination of capital gains tax on publicly traded stocks had encouraged them to give more."
onPhilanthropy: Philanthropy and Civil Society: The Clash of Currents
By: Susan Raymond, Ph.D., 12/21/06
There is an irony emerging in philanthropy, and it will grow enormously as wealth changes hands in the coming generational shift in America. It is an irony that is good neither for public policy nor for civil society.
In our nation there are two expressions of public will. The first is at the ballot box. There is, of course, an indirect path from the expression via voting to the ultimate embodiment of public will in public policy. One makes the assumption that a vote for an individual will be expressed in the policies that are enacted. But, as all participants in democracy know, that link can be less a hoop of steel than a fine silken thread. Whether or not public will leads to publicly willed public policy is often hard to tell."
Business Review: Nonprofits tweak strategies for year-end donations
Thursday, December 21, 2006
BY MARY LOWE
mlowe@mbizreview.com
Nonprofits are making a last-minute, end-of-the-year push for contributions in the wake of a deepening need for services and a falloff in donations.
By tapping new media, intensifying the use of public service announcements and highlighting community outreach projects, Oakland County nonprofits are seeking to increase their donor bases and demonstrate value to individual and corporate donors.
It's not that giving has stopped, said Laura Covintree, individual giving officer for Lighthouse of Pontiac, which provides emergency assistance and transitional housing for homeless women and children, and low-cost housing for low- and moderate-income families. But companies are opting to host fund-raisers and food drives in lieu of writing a check."
The Right Kind of Giving (News) Suzanne Lindgren
New findings illuminate the connection between generosity, faith, and politics
—By Suzanne Lindgren, Utne.com
December 21, 2006 Issue
As people on all sides of the political spectrum scramble to make their end-of-year donations, liberals may be inspired to give more than ever this year -- in an effort to clear their good name. The progressive reputation for compassion is tarnished in the new book, Who Really Cares: America's Charity Divide: Who Gives, Who Doesn't, and Why It Matters, in which Arthur C. Brooks mines the data to conclude that religious affiliation plays a big part in how much we give. Of course, since religion and political conservatism often go hand in hand, liberals are left looking a little tight-fisted, writes Ben Gose for the Chronicle of Philanthropy."
Kaleidoscope Winter 2006
Kaleidoscope Winter 2006: "It takes special effort to examine the differences that exist among us. There are untapped partnerships that can enrich our lives, and there are differences that still wrongly divide us. That is why the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) is releasing Kaleidoscope, a quarterly diversity e-newsletter designed to bring to light the differences and similarities of human experience that we so often overlook. As its name implies, Kaleidoscope aims to inspire a vision of inclusiveness and harmony that can be achieved when true differences are respected and false perceptions are forgotten."
BostonHerald.com - Lifestyle: Bid-hearted: BiddingForGood.com auctions one-of-a-kind gifts for charity
By Jed Gottlieb
Thursday, December 21, 2006
What would you give for a date with “Grey’s Anatomy” star Ellen Pompeo? It’s not a trick question. If your wallet and heart were in the right place on Sunday, you could have made the winning bid - which incidentally was $16,900 - on BiddingForGood.com for lunch with the Everett native.
Run by Cambridge-based cMarket, the BiddingForGood Web site lets scores of nonprofits auction off everything from iPods to Uggs to weekend getaways to lunch with a celebrity. Maybe you want to help raise money for Boston’s Home for Little Wanderers? Maybe you just want to quiz Pompeo about what “Dr. McDreamy” Patrick Dempsey is really like? Either way, it’s a win-win situation, said cMarket CEO John Carson."
Couple's Record Gift: What HCC Asked for, Times Two - washingtonpost.com
By Susan DeFord
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 21, 2006; Page HO03
Howard Community College President Mary Ellen Duncan recently asked two of the college's longtime benefactors, Patrick and Jill McCuan, to donate as much as half a million dollars as part of the college's private fundraising campaign.
The McCuans thought it over, consulting with board members of their family trust, and then decided to donate more than double Duncan's request. At $1.2 million, it is the Columbia college's largest cash gift."
DenverPost.com - Liberals confused over charity
By David Harsanyi
Denver Post Staff Columnist
Article Last Updated: 12/21/2006 02:21:02 AM MST
Anyone can be compassionate with other people's money.
So for the purposes of this column, 'giving' to charity will not mean voting for a ballot initiative that forces others to pay for free universal preschool. It will mean digging into your very own pockets.
And in general, Americans are exceptionally generous. Nearly 75 percent of families donate to charity at some point during the year, and they do so at an average of $1,800 per family.
In total, Americans gave around $260 billion to charity in 2004. That was $15 billion more than they had given in 2003. Two billion was raised for the Asian tsunami relief alone."
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Lockport Union-Sun & Journal Online - WEDNESDAY: Indians make $22B on casinos nationwide in 2006 (10:30 a.m.)
“Morongo tribal members know what hard times are all about,” said the tribe’s spokeswoman, Waltona Manion. “They see their outreach as an opportunity to give back to the community.”
Giving has historically been a major part of native cultures. But the economic prosperity casinos have brought to dozens of American Indian tribes has dramatically altered the philanthropic landscape across Indian country."
Giving Is Good Business [Fool.com] December 20, 2006
By Dan Caplinger
December 20, 2006
When you look at the charitable gifts that make headlines, individual philanthropists seem to dominate the list. High-profile donations and volunteer work from successful business leaders have become increasingly popular. For instance, David Rockefeller, former chairman of the Chase division of JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), made nine-figure gifts to his family's namesake university and to New York's Museum of Modern Art earlier this year."
‘Survivor’ winner turns to charity - Examiner.com
snip snip>>
"But unlike previous winners, who have hosted television shows, starred in movies or been arrested for tax evasion, Kwon said he wants to focus his new fame on charity work, including advocacy for bone marrow donor registration.
The choice of cause is a personal one for Kwon, who helped organize a bone-marrow-donor registration drive at Stanford University 10 years ago to help his best friend, who later died of leukemia."
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Study: U.S. gave $3B for '04 tsunami aid | IndyStar.com
Study: U.S. gave $3B for '04 tsunami aid
If you find this story interesting we have two related blogs.
AFP Blog Tsunami Relief
and
the AFP Disaster Relief Blog
Feedback is always welcome.
We also maintain tags for
Tags: NPDisasterRelief, NPTsunamiRelief
Star report
A new study by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University nearing the second anniversary of the December 2004 Asian tsunami finds that individuals, corporations, and foundations in the United States donated a total of $3.16 billion toward relief efforts.
The overwhelming majority of disaster relief giving came from the combined gifts of individuals nationwide -- not million dollar corporate or foundation gifts.
The 25 percent of American households that donated for tsunami relief gave a combined total of $2.78 billion. Another $340 million came from corporations and $40 million came from foundations."
The Monitor - McAllen, Texas-Voluntary philanthropy shows free market in its purest form
December 19,2006
The Freedom View
The Lima News
Everywhere you look right now, you can find some organization asking for your assistance to help someone in need. Perhaps you start to feel overwhelmed by all the requests, but consider looking at it this way: It’s a good thing private organizations are addressing community needs through private donations. That is one of the tenets of the American ideal.
The examples appear without end:"
Kansas City Star | 12/19/2006 | Nonprofits’ budgets only part of story
Nonprofits’ budgets only part of story
By ROBERT COLE
The Kansas City Star
* KC STARS | Nonprofits
Several of Kansas City’s largest nonprofits operate with multimillion-dollar budgets, but dollars alone seldom tell their story.
There are too many mouths to feed, too many kids that need a ride to Head Start, too many homeless wanderers that may need a warm coat to help them get through another winter.
Agencies depend on thousands of local volunteers to help offer counseling, provide legal assistance and aid disaster victims. They also mentor high-risk children, work to suppress domestic violence and physical abuse, and tend to patients with autism.
Karen Haren, executive director of Harvesters-The Community Food Network in Kansas City, said that 2,000 volunteers come every month to sort, repackage and box food that is distributed to more than 550 area nonprofits."
Foundations R Us - Philanthropy - Charity - Social Entrepreneur
When the subject is philanthropy, it's natural to think of such heavyweights as Gates, Buffett, and Soros. Even Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) has started a foundation. And then of course there's Fung.
That would be Coleman Fung. He came to this country from Hong Kong when he was 16, got degrees from Berkeley and Stanford, and eventually started Openlink Financial, a Long Island software firm whose annual sales now exceed $90 million. Says Fung: 'I am your classic poster child for the American dream.' Recently, Fung decided it was time to 'give something back,' so he plowed $18 million into the new Coleman Fung Foundation, which he'll use to support education and environmental causes. He hopes to get his kids involved when they're older, and to challenge--by his example--other well-to-do Asian Americans to step up their philanthropy. As the end of the year approaches, you may be scrambling to get your charitable donations done in time for your 2006 tax return. Go ahead and give generously. But then sit down and think about whether something grander might be in order. Think about making like Coleman Fung."
Boston - As Wall Street Bonuses Set Record, N.Y. Federation Hopes to Cash In
By Jacob Berkman
NEW YORK, Dec. 18 (JTA) -- While most Jewish federations struggle to pool $10 million per year, the UJA-Federation of New York took in some $21.5 million in a single night.
Far from the world of Super Sunday phone-athons, with volunteers cold-calling strangers for small donations, the New York federation pulled out the stops at the New York Hilton on Dec. 6 as some 1,200 bankers met for drinks, hors d'oeuvres and a night of card playing.
On the dais for an hourlong presentation between drinks and cards were the power brokers of Wall Street, including the president of Goldman Sachs, the chairmen of Bear Stearns and Offit Hall Capital, and the managing director of Lehman Brothers."
Marin Independent Journal - Leslie Harlib's Social Scene: A doggone great fundraiser
snip snip>>
"Guide Dogs for the Blind, the nationally famous nonprofit that raises guide dogs and teaches the blind to work and live with them, knows this better than anyone. The San Rafael-based organization's 30th anniversary and benefit luncheon, held Wednesday at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, was rife with baby dogs: 8-week-old Labradors, golden retrievers and German shepherds.
Just about every one of the 930 guests who packed the hotel's Grand Ballroom took time to meet and pet a pup. There's no other event that makes otherwise perfectly lacquered and tailored men and women lose their cool to become cooing googly-eyed melty hearts in the presence of the puppies. Especially since stroking one of those downy heads and floppy ears earns you a few licks for your promise to give time and/or money to the organization.
'It takes approximately $30 million a year to run Guide Dogs,' said president and CEO Bob Phillips in a moving speech. 'A guide dog is about relationships, trust, and it's a liberating life choice.'"
Opinion - StatesmanJournal.com-"State drops the ball with botched arts awards
There's no excuse for failing to honor dedicated people
December 19, 2006
Ladies and gentlemen, let us turn the spotlight on those citizens who have enriched this state through their contributions to the arts because without the arts, Oregon would be -- would be --
Oh, forget it. You won't hear any speech like that because Oregon isn't going to hold the Governor's Arts Awards this year after all. The state's premier event to recognize groups and people in the arts community won't take place; organizers say they just didn't have time to pull it off.
The folks responsible for the snafu -- the Oregon Arts Commission and the governor's office -- say they really do value the arts. But this was a busy year, what with the governor's election and getting the budget ready. So they'll double up and give two years' worth of awards in 2007."
Monday, December 18, 2006
Smithsonian Deal With Showtime Passes Muster - washingtonpost.com
The GAO said its review of the contract also found the Smithsonian conducted a thorough and competitive process before closing the Showtime deal."
Volunteers of America Survey Finds That 9 Out of 10 Will Be at Home for the Holidays
Volunteers of America Survey Finds That 9 Out of 10 Will Be at Home for the Holidays: "Volunteers of America Survey Finds That 9 Out of 10 Will Be at Home for the Holidays
18 December 2006, 05:20am ET
ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec 18, 2006 /PRNewswire via COMTEX News Network/ --
A survey released by the national nonprofit organization Volunteers of America finds that 9 out of 10 respondents say they will be home for the upcoming holiday season. However, for many homeless Americans, 40% of whom are families with children, going home for the holidays isn't possible. Fortunately, the survey also found that our desire to be at home with family is matched by our intent to give during the holiday season."
KRT Wire | 12/18/2006 | Red Cross' go-to men combine business, giving
By Jerry Large
The Seattle Times
(MCT)
Business and charity can mix and often do, but it's rare for the balance to tilt so far to the service side of things as it does at American Preparedness.
But the company's president, Jeff Guite, thinks it's business, and especially big business, that ought to take responsibility for the community. Charity isn't about leftovers.
'You have to be hardworking and smart to help other people,' Guite said. 'You can't do it if you're lazy and dumb.'
American Preparedness is run by Guite and Sherman Fantroy, a couple of disabled Army veterans who after years in other businesses decided they wanted to leave a different kind of legacy."
Charities: Who's Naughty and Who's Nice?
E-mail scams from fake charities abound at this time of year. Here's how to avoid giving to the wrong folks
by Paula Lehman
* save to del.icio.us
So far this holiday season I've received 38 e-mails from Santa Claus. Apparently the tables have turned because through his various correspondences Santa has asked for a lot this year. He wants money for sick kids, generosity for those less fortunate than I, money to send care packages to soldiers in Iraq. But most of all Santa wants my credit card number and/or bank account information."
BillingsGazette.com :: Guest Opinion: Passionate people prioritize philanthropy
By CINDY BUTLER
Philanthropy is a necessary component of our society.
Donors and their dollars make a difference every day.
Nonprofit organizations cannot survive without individual donors.
Government and private grants often do not provide enough funding and are unpredictable."
San Diego Business Journal Online - "Irwin Jacobs Believes There’s Still Plenty to Give in San Diego
Qualcomm Leader Is Committed to Fostering Educational Endeavors
BY RICK BELL
Though Qualcomm Inc. co-founder Irwin Jacobs donated an astounding $60 million this year to an overseas university and an Ivy League school in New York, he still believes there’s plenty of opportunity for philanthropic endeavors in San Diego.
“The causes grow faster than contributors,” said Jacobs, 73, who retired as the Fortune 500 company’s chief executive officer in July 2005, handing the reins to his son, Paul. “We’re all aware of the needs in San Diego"