Building bonds while raising funds - Utica, NY - The Observer-Dispatch, Utica, New York

Building bonds while raising funds - Utica, NY - The Observer-Dispatch, Utica, New York: "Giving them something different

Lowe emphasized that matching an event to an organization is a unique fit — what works for one organization may not work for another.

A volunteer-based organization may enjoy awards dinners that single out and honor a volunteer each year, but that wouldn’t work for everybody, she said. Instead, the trend is toward events that are tailored to the community, its desires and what it can support."

PHOTOS: ‘Over the Edge’ of a skyscraper for charity | Seattle's Big Blog - seattlepi.com

PHOTOS: ‘Over the Edge’ of a skyscraper for charity | Seattle's Big Blog - seattlepi.com: "On Saturday, Superman proved he is able to leap from tall buildings in a single bound — especially when doing it for charity.

Nearly 200 people accompanied Craig Norris —pictured above, who dressed as Superman— and one at a time conquered their individual fear of stepping off the roof of a really tall building."

PHOTOS: ‘Over the Edge’ of a skyscraper for charity | Seattle's Big Blog - seattlepi.com

PHOTOS: ‘Over the Edge’ of a skyscraper for charity | Seattle's Big Blog - seattlepi.com: "On Saturday, Superman proved he is able to leap from tall buildings in a single bound — especially when doing it for charity.

Nearly 200 people accompanied Craig Norris —pictured above, who dressed as Superman— and one at a time conquered their individual fear of stepping off the roof of a really tall building."

Nonprofits Watch Anxiously As Market Wobbles : NPR

Nonprofits Watch Anxiously As Market Wobbles : NPR: "The turmoil on Wall Street threatens to wreak financial havoc on a lot of people and institutions — including the country's 1.2 million nonprofits. Charities of all sizes are only beginning to recover from the recession. Now many are wondering how they'll survive another market plunge."

Parent-child duos at Indian Philanthropy Forum highlight generational approaches | Latest from Alliance

Parent-child duos at Indian Philanthropy Forum highlight generational approaches | Latest from Alliance: "A unique aspect of the forum was the ‘coffee with philanthropists’ series that used parent-child duos to highlight generational approaches to philanthropy. This is where I come in. I was honoured to be invited to speak along with my father, Hemendra Kothari. My father set up the Hemendra Kothari Foundation, devoted to education, healthcare and the environment, a few years after he sold his financial services company to Merrill Lynch (now Bank of America). Speaking candidly at the IPF, he discussed some of the challenges he has faced over the years. Sceptics, for instance, felt that his giving was motivated by personal agendas: did Hemendra Kothari found the Wildlife Conservation Trust because he wanted to set up his own wildlife lodge? He regretted poor choices he might have made along the way by giving to organizations not equipped to realize their goals. Not disheartened by some of these errors in choice, as it were, he has remained hopeful: it was never meant to be a smooth ride. Only through such experiences could one learn to giv"

Young Wash. Crash Victim's Charity Legacy Tops $1-Million - Philanthropy Today - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

Young Wash. Crash Victim's Charity Legacy Tops $1-Million - Philanthropy Today - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: "Contributions to global aid group Charity: Water on behalf of a Washington state girl who was fatally injured last month in a car crash have passed the $1-million mark, The Seattle Times says."

Young Wash. Crash Victim's Charity Legacy Tops $1-Million - Philanthropy Today - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

Young Wash. Crash Victim's Charity Legacy Tops $1-Million - Philanthropy Today - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: "Contributions to global aid group Charity: Water on behalf of a Washington state girl who was fatally injured last month in a car crash have passed the $1-million mark, The Seattle Times says."

Charitable giving in short supply in Mexico - The Washington Post

Charitable giving in short supply in Mexico - The Washington Post: "The numbers point to a sizable charity gap. Mexico has the lowest taxes and second-highest income inequality among the 34 member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which gathers data on the world’s leading economies, and yet it also has had some of the weakest levels of charitable giving."

Sargeant taking break from teaching | Philanthropy Journal

Sargeant taking break from teaching | Philanthropy Journal: "Sargeant says he will work as an independent consultant while also conducting pro-bono research, and has the 'potential to go back' to Indiana as the Hartsook Chair, which is believed to be the only endowed chair in fundraising anywhere."

The AFP Blog: Donor-Centered Fundraising

The AFP Blog: Donor-Centered Fundraising: "Michael Rosen, CFRE, has written an interesting piece on his blog about his five most popular posts . The five posts tackle slightly differe..."

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."

Stock Market's Gyrations Don't Cause Panic at Big Fund - Prospecting - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

Stock Market's Gyrations Don't Cause Panic at Big Fund - Prospecting - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: "Stock Market’s Gyrations Don’t Cause Panic at Big Fund

August 11, 2011, 5:53 pm

By Holly Hall

The stock market’s gyrations this week are giving charities of all kinds the jitters. But some nonprofits feel the effects of the stock-market roller coaster more than others because a big share of their donations comes in the form of securities."

The Nonprofit Quarterly | @npquarterly | Using Scandal to Make a Point: Cuomo and Nonprofit Executive Salaries

The Nonprofit Quarterly | @npquarterly | Using Scandal to Make a Point: Cuomo and Nonprofit Executive Salaries: "August 10, 2011; Source: Crain's New York | There is no question that the State of New York had plenty of evidence to raise questions about the million-dollar salaries paid to the two brothers running the Young Adult Institute. Governor Andrew Cuomo quickly followed up on a New York Times article about YAI's Levy brothers to create a task force to establish salary guidelines for nonprofits receiving Medicaid funds. In our Newswire coverage of the story NPQ suggested that the state might want to aim equal scrutiny at the salaries (and profits) of YAI's for-profit competitors. Abuse of Medicaid, as the public knows all too well, is hardly a problem limited to the nonprofit sector."

World Art Managers Find New Funding Models In D.C. : NPR

World Art Managers Find New Funding Models In D.C. : NPR: "Each year's class of fellows is a little like a United Nations of arts management. They come from every corner of the globe; Pakistan, Russia, Ecuador, Zanzibar, Cambodia and China to name a few. In most of these countries, nonprofit staples like capital campaigns and membership drives are unheard of.

'The funding system in the United States is different than most of the world,' says Kennedy Center President Michael Kaiser. 'We developed this private philanthropy model because of a separation of art and state that really emerged from the Puritans who thought that music and dance were evil.'"

IU Dance Marathon competes for national philanthropy award | Campus | Indiana Daily Student

IU Dance Marathon competes for national philanthropy award | Campus | Indiana Daily Student: "After more than 20 years of hosting dance marathons on campus to raise money for the Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, IU Dance Marathon may soon find itself under a spotlight of its own.

At the beginning of the summer, StayClassy notified IUDM it was nominated for the Most Influential College Student or Organization for the third annual Classy Awards. StayClassy is an online social fundraising site that helps to promote
non-profits."

Governor Rick Perry: Big On Prayer, Not So Big On Charity

Governor Rick Perry: Big On Prayer, Not So Big On Charity: "Michael Nilsen of the Association of Fundraising Professionals said Perry's giving is 'about average from what I've seen. Lower in some years, a little higher in some years' compared to other people in his income bracket."

Bill Nemitz: Mainer is giving back, one $10,000 check at a time | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

Bill Nemitz: Mainer is giving back, one $10,000 check at a time | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram: "The letter, which comes with the promise of a check for $10,000, begins thusly: 'I have recently developed a charitable program specifically designed to benefit municipalities such as yours ... Due to the present economic conditions, I feel it might be an appropriate time to institute this program.'"

Giving Choices

Giving Choices: "Wednesday, August 10, 2011
The latest data
So this morning, I wrote 350 engaging words about research into WHY people give. If you want to read that, stay tuned for another day, because in the process of preparing that post, I discovered that last week the IRS released final data about charitable giving in 2009.

SO.....ta da. A quick look at what changed between 2008 and 2009 in the world of individual, itemized charitable contributions."

Just Give ’Em the Money: The Power and Pleasure of Unrestricted Funding (August 3, 2011) | Opinion Blog | Stanford Social Innovation Review

Just Give ’Em the Money: The Power and Pleasure of Unrestricted Funding (August 3, 2011) | Opinion Blog | Stanford Social Innovation Review: "When I stumbled into philanthropy, seven years out of medical school, I had no idea that there was an accepted set of practices to follow. Through a combination of cluelessness, hubris, and too much time in remote field sites I remained blissfully unaware of the mores and norms of the grant-making world. In my ignorance, I figured that the best thing for the Mulago Foundation to do was to find high-impact organizations focused on the things we cared about most—and give them a bunch of money.

That’s worked out pretty well for us, and unrestricted funding remains a cornerstone of our funding strategy."

How the Downturn Changes Strategy Work - Good Advice - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

How the Downturn Changes Strategy Work - Good Advice - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: "Over the past three years, my thinking, like that of many of my colleagues, has changed radically.

First, strategy now seems to be as much about good decision making as good planning. Rather than thinking of myself as the expert architect of a process that will eventually yield strategy, I now work with executives to make good decisions in real time.

In arriving at those decisions, we draw on some of the tools in a typical strategic-planning process, but a decision-making orientation changes the consulting arrangement—for the better."

HKS Executive Education

HKS Executive Education: "Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government introduces a series of ONLINE Executive Education programs designed to reach an audience of nonprofit and NGO managers"

The Need for Good Advice - Good Advice - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

New Blog from Chronicle of Philanthropy

The Need for Good Advice - Good Advice - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: "So today we start this blog to fill the void by offering advice from consultants to consultants.

We’ve enlisted a team of respected consultants as authors, and we’ll also invite nonprofit leaders to share their experiences working with consultants. And we hope you’ll help us shape the conversation by letting us know what you’d like to see explored here."

Holbrook Community Foundation and Working Waterfront

Four Fundraisers Earn Highest Credential From AFP - Member News - Member - AFP

Four Fundraisers Earn Highest Credential From AFP - Member News - Member - AFP: "Four fundraisers have earned the highest professional certification, the Advanced Certified Fundraising Executive (ACFRE), from AFP.

The newest ACFRE recipients are Sharon Gleason of Washington, D.C., director of development for the Girl Scout Council of the Nation's Capital, R. Scott Fortnum of Newmarket, Ontario, chief development officer for Saint Elizabeth Foundation, James K. Phelps of Vancouver, Wash., development director at the ACLU of Oregon, and Cecilia N. Soriano of Mission Viejo, Calif., who was most recently executive director of gift planning for University of California, Riverside."

EO Update August 8, 2011

EO Update August 8, 2011: "1. New Form for Miscellaneous Determination Requests

The IRS has released a new form that tax-exempt organizations will use to request certain determinations about their tax-exempt status. In addition to foundation status issues, organizations will use Form 8940, Request for Miscellaneous Determination, to obtain advance approval of certain activities and exemption from Form 990 filing requirements. Organizations applying for recognition of exemption and at the same time requesting advance approval of scholarship procedures or exception from filing Form 990 should include their request with their Form 1023, Application for Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(c)(3), rather than file Form 8940."

If donors knew what others gave, would they give more? � The Butterfly Effect (Blog) � Cause & Effect

If donors knew what others gave, would they give more? � The Butterfly Effect (Blog) � Cause & Effect: "the Summer 2011 issue of The Nonprofit Quarterly, you’ll find an intriguing article, “Fundraising Education: A Fork in the Road?”.

The authors, both professors at Indiana University, home of The Center on Philanthropy, lament the depressingly statistic that giving in the US has been static for decades at just 2% of GDP. They suggest that more robust interaction between academic research and practice — and more academically educated fundraisers – is a potential solution to lifting us out of this giving doldrums."

Volunteerism Holds Steady in America - Volunteers - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

Volunteerism Holds Steady in America - Volunteers - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: "The number of Americans who volunteer dropped slightly in 2010, according to a federal report released today."

The Rise of the Hybrid: Legal Headaches and Multibillion Bonanzas

The Rise of the Hybrid: Legal Headaches and Multibillion Bonanzas: "The term 'hybrid' describes an organization that mixes the characteristics of different sectors. The boundaries between the private, public and third sector have of course always been malleable. Thrift stores sell clothes and CBC sells advertising. The Canadian public health service uses private enterprises that need to make a profit, and holds lotteries to raise funds.

But blurring doesn't adequately describe or explain what is happening today. The terms of debate have shifted. They are about the need for new legal structures, in part driven by the need to increase private sector funding for public good."

Mortgages and Conservation Easements: Not a Good Mix | Planned Giving Design Center

Mortgages and Conservation Easements: Not a Good Mix | Planned Giving Design Center: "In this article, University of Baltimore law professor Wendy Gerzog reviews Kaufman and the Tax Court's reconsideration of its summary judgment decision that rejected the taxpayers' deduction for a facade easement charitable deduction. The issues newly considered are the deductibility of the taxpayers' required cash payments to the charity in connection with obtaining a facade easement charitable deduction and the application of various penalties."

"Managing Many Generations in the Nonprofit Workplace

massnonprofit.org ::: "Managing Many Generations in the Nonprofit Workplace

By Jackie Shannon


With more people of all ages working in the nonprofit sector than ever before, each age group brings its own strengths, but generational differences can pose management challenges for nonprofit organizations.

Many organizations today find that four generations of employees are now working together: Traditionalists, age 66 and up; Baby Boomers, 47 – 65; Generation X, 31 – 46; and Generation Y/Millennials, 30 and younge"