Daniel Rubin: Experts on nonprofits explain mailings game | Philadelphia Inquirer | 02/17/2011

Daniel Rubin: Experts on nonprofits explain mailings game | Philadelphia Inquirer | 02/17/2011: "Daniel Borochoff, president of the American Institute of Philanthropy, a charity watchdog in Chicago, said one way for people to protect themselves from solicitations was to be more proactive.

'The number-one reason people in America give is because they're asked,' he said. 'If people would research charities they want to give to on their own, there wouldn't be as much soliciting.'

Rather than spreading the love, benefactors should consider making fewer but larger contributions."

Don't Miss the Opportunity to Strengthen Your Organization through Legacy Giving

Don't Miss the Opportunity to Strengthen Your Organization through Legacy Giving: "Legacy Giving—A Major Growth Opportunity

Nearly 70 percent of Americans make gifts to charity during their lifetime, yet fewer than 10 percent create legacy gifts. Why are people generous in supporting nonprofits during life but make no provision for them at death? Most have never been asked to do so!

Though we are in the midst of a significant generational transfer of wealth, organizations are not seizing the opportunity to talk with their supporters about the impact legacy giving can have on their mission-based goals.

Legacy gifts can enable organizations to achieve long-term financial stability and sustainability. Studies show that legacy giving offers a powerful means to enhance and diversify a charity's fundraising efforts because:

* It's a revenue source that typically increases during tough economic times.
* Almost everyone has the ability to create a legacy gift.
* For most people, it's the largest gift they can make.
* Investing in legacy giving efforts has a high rate of return.
* Legacy donors make larger annual gifts than non-legacy donors.
* There are many forms of legacy gifts that are very easy to create"

Nevada Court Says Donor-Advised Funds Can Ignore Donor Advice - Philanthropy Today - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

Nevada Court Says Donor-Advised Funds Can Ignore Donor Advice - Philanthropy Today - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: "The Nevada Supreme Court last week decided in favor of a donor-advised fund that was sued by a client for going against his wishes on spending his contributions, Dow Jones Adviser reports."

PHILANTHROPER - Association Bisnow - Washington

PHILANTHROPER - Association Bisnow - Washington: "Philanthroper

Instead of offering half off manicures or Malaysian cuisine, a new Groupon-style site is raising money for small non-profits. Philanthroper, which features a new non-profit every day, aims to get people in the habit of giving with $1 donations."

Stop Giving Donors What You Think They Want - Dan Pallotta - Harvard Business Review

Stop Giving Donors What You Think They Want - Dan Pallotta - Harvard Business Review: "Most donors don't know what they really want because they haven't had time to think about it. Those of us who lead philanthropy and humanitarian organizations have a duty to share our expertise with them and to do it in a way that engages them. We have a duty to lead, not to follow. Imagine if your dentist let your teeth rot because she didn't want to tell you that you needed a root canal because she knew it wasn't what you wanted to hear."

Wexner, Limited foundation to give OSU $100 million | The Columbus Dispatch

Ohio State University is about to receive the largest gift in its history.

Leslie H. Wexner, his wife and the foundation of the company he founded will donate $100 million to the university in what OSU President E. Gordon Gee calls "a transformative moment" for the school.

Wexner, Limited foundation to give OSU $100 million | The Columbus Dispatch

Wexner, Limited foundation to give OSU $100 million | The Columbus Dispatch

Wexner, Limited foundation to give OSU $100 million | The Columbus Dispatch: "Ohio State University is about to receive the largest gift in its history.

Leslie H. Wexner, his wife and the foundation of the company he founded will donate $100 million to the university in what OSU President E. Gordon Gee calls 'a transformative moment' for the school."

Study shows that athletic success, media hype negatively impact academic donations - Oregon Daily Emerald - News

Study shows that athletic success, media hype negatively impact academic donations - Oregon Daily Emerald - News: "Over the past decade, outright donations for the University's current operations routed to athletics have increased threefold, while similar gifts to academic divisions have seen barely any growth.

According to data retrieved from the Council for Aid to Education, a New York City-based nonprofit established to conduct higher education policy research, the University's Department of Intercollegiate Athletics received $5.6 million worth of outright donations in 2000, increasing more than 200 percent to $18.1 million in 2010. Donations to academic divisions during the same time period increased less than 12 percent from $4.3 million in 2000 to $4.9 million in 2010."

Is Your Nonprofit Mission Statement Analog or Digital?

Is Your Nonprofit Mission Statement Analog or Digital?: "We all seem to agree that mission statements need to change. Like our old analog TV that needs to be replaced with a sleek, up-to-date digital model, our clunky mission statements need to be traded in for sleek, jargon-free, concise, hard-hitting ones suitable for a digital, wired, and fast-moving world."

Donations to Tennessee colleges seesaw | The Tennessean | tennessean.com

Donations to Tennessee colleges seesaw | The Tennessean | tennessean.com: "In a bad economy, colleges need every penny they can raise. But nothing makes it harder to raise money than a bad economy.

Even so, Tennessee colleges and universities received hundreds of millions of dollars worth of donations in 2010. That's money the schools rely on for everything from scholarships to building projects."

Filling the gap | The Cavalier Daily

Filling the gap | The Cavalier Daily: "The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported Sunday that in 2010 nearly half of the donations of $5 million or more made by the nation’s 50 most prolific donors went to institutions of higher education. This reflected a reality that has become increasingly evident at the University in recent years. With public funding of higher education dwindling — the share of the University’s Academic Division operating budget covered by the state declined from 15.8 percent during the 2002-03 academic year to only 10.3 percent this year — private philanthropy has become a crucial source of support for large-scale projects."

San Francisco Spelling Bee for Cheaters fundraiser

San Francisco Spelling Bee for Cheaters fundraiser: "Why have 826 Valencia, a nonprofit dedicated to helping students with their writing skills, the highbrow City Arts & Lectures and the 'Putnam County Spelling Bee' colluded to promote cheating on spelling, especially at a time when cheating is the norm, thanks to the ubiquity of spell-check programs"

Tax Law Now Provides Certainty, but for Only Two Years - NYTimes.com

Tax Law Now Provides Certainty, but for Only Two Years - NYTimes.com: "he tax law enacted in December included a variety of income, gift and estate tax breaks for people with significant incomes and net worth, along with some potential traps.

Over all, Mr. Septimus said, people with less than $10 million need to refocus their estate plans, moving from tax avoidance toward flexible plans for the distribution, protection and management of their assets no matter how Congress tinkers with the tax laws."

Charities Stand to Benefit in Continuation of Tax Cuts - NYTimes.com

Charities Stand to Benefit in Continuation of Tax Cuts - NYTimes.com: "ALTHOUGH many critics have denounced the tax deal reached in December by Congressional leaders and the Obama administration as tax cuts for the rich, personal wealth advisers who specialize in philanthropy also foresee benefits for charities."

Mayor Bloomberg's $279 million in charitable giving last year was second in the nation - NYPOST.com

Mayor Bloomberg's $279 million in charitable giving last year was second in the nation - NYPOST.com: "While many leading philanthropists were pulling back last year, Mayor Bloomberg was stepping up his giving to become the No. 2 contributor to charities in the United States.

Figures compiled by the Chronicle of Philanthropy show the mayor donated $279.2 million to 970 non-profit groups in 2010, up from $254 million in 2009."

massnonprofit.org ::

massnonprofit.org ::: "February 8, 2011 — Watertown-based Catalogue for Philanthropy today announced it will launch the Massachusetts Philanthropic Directory, the nation's first complete, systematic, statewide directory of charities, an effort aimed at raising philanthropy “to a new level.”"

The Nonprofit Quarterly | @npquarterly | What Denominations Take Tithing Most Seriously?

The Nonprofit Quarterly | @npquarterly | What Denominations Take Tithing Most Seriously?: "January 31, 2011; Source:Christianity Today | How much of your income do you devote to charitable giving? According to emptytomb.org, Christians donated 2.43 percent of their income in 2008, down from 2.57 percent in 2007. Evangelicals give an estimated 4 percent. Those are solid proportions compared to all Americans, but less than a 10 percent tithe."

Donors trimmed charitable giving in 2010 - USATODAY.com

Donors trimmed charitable giving in 2010 - USATODAY.com: "In 2010, the most generous donors in America gave $3.3 billion to charity, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy and Slate magazine's report out today.

That is the lowest amount since the Chronicle began tracking donors in 2000."

Local Rowers to Attempt World Record and Raise Funds in Sarasota on Sunday - The Bradenton Times - Free News for Bradenton, FL and Manatee County

Local Rowers to Attempt World Record and Raise Funds in Sarasota on Sunday - The Bradenton Times - Free News for Bradenton, FL and Manatee County: "SARASOTA--Sarasota Crew will hold its fourth annual Ergathon Fundraiser in front of Whole Foods Market, downtown Sarasota on Sunday, February 6th from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Sarasota Crew’s One hundred and eighty team members will be attempting to break three Guinness World Records while Erging on stationary rowing machines to raise money for equipment and scholarships."

Red Cross Challenge pulls in $232,014 - Lakewood Ranch Herald - BradentonHerald.com

Red Cross Challenge pulls in $232,014 - Lakewood Ranch Herald - BradentonHerald.com: "LAKEWOOD RANCH -- In a matter of just a couple of months, Manatee, Sarasota, Hardee and DeSoto counties stepped up to more than meet a Holiday Challenge Grant and infuse the Manatee County and Southwest Florida chapters of the American Red Cross with $232,014 in badly needed cash."

With Revenue Up, Nonprofits Are Rehiring- The NonProfit Times Feb , 2011

With Revenue Up, Nonprofits Are Rehiring- The NonProfit Times Feb , 2011: "February 7, 2011

With Revenue Up, Nonprofits Are Rehiring

In the face of a persistently tough economy and rising demand for services, there are some encouraging signs surfacing in the nonprofit sector. A recent survey of nonprofit executive directors by the Bridgespan Group of found that half of the 102 organizations responding had seen their revenues begin to creep back up during the past year.

Another noteworthy indicator: 60 percent responded they are actively looking for newly available talent, compared with only 31 percent last year."

Paulette's Point of View

Paulette's Point of View: "Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Plans and Transitions
I hope you’re recovering from the year-end fundraising craziness that tends to envelope most charities. Studies continue to show that December is the busiest month for fundraising, and I hope your 2010 overall giving totals continue the slight upward trend we saw throughout the year."

Philanthropic ’100 Women’ is growing and moving | Des Moines Register Staff Blogs

Philanthropic ’100 Women’ is growing and moving | Des Moines Register Staff Blogs: "The grass-roots philanthropy group meets quarterly to raise money for local non-profits.

Members pledge to contribute $100 each, four times a year to a local charity. The recipient group is decided at each meeting by member vote following pitches from three members on behalf of their own favorite charities. The pitch makers are selected at random at each meeting.

The group met three times in 2010 and raised a total of about $45,000 for three non-profits."

Jane Wales: Can Google Change the World? Or, Has it Already?

Jane Wales: Can Google Change the World? Or, Has it Already?: "One such experiment is Google's philanthropy arm, Google.org, or DotOrg for short. Structured as part of the for-profit company, it reflects a fundamental shift in corporate philanthropy. Whereas corporate foundations used grants and employee volunteer time as their only tools, increasingly corporate executives work to assure that social outcomes are intrinsic to their company's value chain. Many believe that the right business decisions can unleash market forces that, in turn, can drive positive and sustainable social change."

Internal Revenue Service Webinar Registration Page

Internal Revenue Service Webinar Registration Page: "Starting off Right – What New NON-501(c)(3) Organizations Need to Know
hands holding money, glasses on an open book, fingers on a calculator"

‘Mind-boggling’ $810,000 in Red Kettle donations | INFORUM | Fargo, ND

‘Mind-boggling’ $810,000 in Red Kettle donations | INFORUM | Fargo, ND: "Despite struggling for donations early in the holiday season, The Salvation Army in Fargo-Moorhead announced Wednesday it received another “record-breaking” amount of donations during its annual Red Kettle Campaign."

State Parks Look at Corporate Sponsors - KTRV Fox 12

State Parks Look at Corporate Sponsors - KTRV Fox 12: "Boise, Idaho -- Idaho's Parks are in a financial crisis.

The department's budget has been so drastically slashed that they're considering corporate sponsorship to make up for the shortfall.

That has a lot of people scared.

Some people don't like the idea of a 'Lucky Peak Coca Cola State Park, but people also realize these are unique times."

Many colleges feel pinch of sluggish economy | postcrescent.com | Appleton Post Crescent

Many colleges feel pinch of sluggish economy | postcrescent.com | Appleton Post Crescent: "Fundraising at the University of Wisconsin-Madison continued its decline in 2010, and the school’s ranking dropped to 12th among the nation’s top 20 colleges and universities, according to a report released Wednesday."

Fraternity operates national non-profit to raise funds for disabled persons - News

Fraternity operates national non-profit to raise funds for disabled persons - News: "Pi Kappa Phi is a first-class fraternity that firmly believes in the tenets of CLASS which are Character, Leadership, Academics, Sportsmanship and Service. These principles are not only valued, but instilled through leading-edge educational, service and leadership opportunities. Pi Kappa Phi has initiated more than 100,000 brothers and is one of the fastest growing fraternities in the country.

It is the only fraternity to operate its own national philanthropy, PUSH America. This program works hard at bettering the lives of people with disabilities all across the country."

Some Boomers 'retire' to jobs that allow them to help others - USATODAY.com

Some Boomers 'retire' to jobs that allow them to help others - USATODAY.com: "Along the way, Daly got involved in philanthropy, took a course in fundraising and began to volunteer. When her job at Credit Suisse was eliminated in 2008, she chose to pursue a second career — working with kids."