Overhead Costs: The Obsession Must Stop | Stanford Social Innovation Review

Overhead Costs: The Obsession Must Stop | Stanford Social Innovation Review: When it comes to charitable giving, there will always be skeptics who question where the money really goes—and donors who object to a charity using their gifts to cover overhead. This skepticism is misplaced. Nonprofits are businesses and, as they grow, they must invest in their infrastructure to survive, retain employees, and, ultimately, succeed at their mission.

Crowded field shuts charity out of next year’s marathon | Boston Herald

Crowded field shuts charity out of next year’s marathon | Boston Herald: Since the Boston Marathon attacks last April, there has been an outpouring of support for the victims of the blast. So why is it so hard for a foundation that has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to 66 of the most severely injured victims to field a charity team to run the 2014 race?

Partners Start 60-Day Countdown to #GivingTuesday on December 3, 2013 - NewsChannel5.com | Nashville News, Weather & Sports

Partners Start 60-Day Countdown to #GivingTuesday on December 3, 2013 - NewsChannel5.com | Nashville News, Weather & Sports: National Day of Giving Goes Bigger and Bolder in all 50 States; Global Partners Create Worldwide Movement http://www.GivingTuesday.org

New York, NY (PRWEB) October 03, 2013

Today, thousands of #GivingTuesday partners around the world international and local non-profits as well as civic-minded businesses and corporations begin the 60-day countdown to the second annual #GivingTuesday, to be held this year on December 3 as the start of the holiday giving season.

Ask an Expert: New Fundraiser Lacks Experience, a Budget, and Organizational Support - Ideas & Advice - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

Ask an Expert: New Fundraiser Lacks Experience, a Budget, and Organizational Support - Ideas & Advice - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: A fundraiser starting a program to help immigrants asks how she can overcome big challenges in her newly created position. She asked to stay anonymous.

The Shutdown Blame Game: What Can You Say? | Bolder Advocacy

The Shutdown Blame Game: What Can You Say? | Bolder Advocacy: The shutdown of the federal government is affecting the nonprofit sector in myriad ways. The impact on nonprofit clients and constituents who rely on the federal government for programs like WIC, TANF and Head Start is devastating. With Congress mired in debate over spending bills, nonprofits pushing for major policy changes to improve lives – immigration reform, gun control, safety net funding to name a few – are stymied.

1st Nonprofit Supermarket to Open in Struggling Pa. Town - Philanthropy Today - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

1st Nonprofit Supermarket to Open in Struggling Pa. Town - Philanthropy Today - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: A first-of-its-kind nonprofit supermarket that will offer benefits for poorer shoppers is set to open Saturday in Chester, Pa., a federally designated “food desert,” The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Weekend breast cancer walk moved from National Mall - WTOP.com

Weekend breast cancer walk moved from National Mall - WTOP.com: WASHINGTON - This weekend's walk for breast cancer, originally scheduled to be on the National Mall, is moving to Six Flags in Maryland.

The American Cancer Society moved the walk citing the government shutdown as the reason they could no longer hold it on the National Mall.

Pittsburgh Day of Giving's destiny being studied | TribLIVE

Pittsburgh Day of Giving's destiny being studied | TribLIVE: The sponsor behind the Pittsburgh Day of Giving, the biggest one-day fundraiser in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties, is pondering whether the event set for Thursday should continue beyond next year and, if it does, in what form.

Mergers require leadership, energy, mutual trust and resilience. Those involved in mergers have to grapple with highly strategic questions about vision, mission and values while managing intensely personal issues such as who will be chief executive and how many jobs will be lost. They have to think about future sustainability while working out what the merger will cost and how it will be funded.

Making Asking Easier for Your Board

Making Asking Easier for Your Board: Making Asking Easier for Your Board

October 2013

Excerpted from the second edition of Fundraising Realities Every Board Member Must Face: A 1-Hour Crash Course on Raising Major Gifts for Nonprofit Organizations

Anyone who's been in fundraising for at least a week knows that board members are reluctant to visit would-be donors in person.

And yet personal visits are the sine qua non of securing big gifts.

Shutdown brings Combined Federal Campaign to a standstill - The Washington Post

Shutdown brings Combined Federal Campaign to a standstill - The Washington Post: The world’s largest workplace charitable giving program—the Combined Federal Campaign—has come to a standstill as a result of the government shutdown.

The effort is a lifeline to many Washington area charities and works through federal agencies to encourage workers to contribute through automatic deductions in their paychecks.

Nonprofits Begin Coping with Government Shutdown - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly

Nonprofits Begin Coping with Government Shutdown - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly: According to various experts and recent federal government guidance, nonprofit organizations receiving federal government funding should pay attention to several important areas. Alicia Schoshinski, a senior HR consultant writing for an online service called Nonprofit HR, states, “There is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding this issue (federal government shutdown). One thing we do know is that nonprofit organizations receiving government funding or with government contracts will be affected by the government shutdown, but differently than federal employees. We encourage you to speak with your contracting officer for specific guidance.”

Fundraisers pursue diversity at Pittsburgh summit - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Fundraisers pursue diversity at Pittsburgh summit - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Besides convening the summit to map out initiatives that would attract more minorities into the fundraising sector, and to develop strategies to be more welcoming to diverse individuals in the industry, Ms. Lopez Van Soest sees the effort as critical to "making the profession look more like the communities we serve."

In other words, those who raise funds for nonprofits and charitable causes should be able to relate to those who benefit when those dollars are spent.

Updated: Government Shutdown: What It Means for Nonprofits - Government - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

Updated: Government Shutdown: What It Means for Nonprofits - Government - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: ig swaths of the federal government closed shop at midnight Monday night after Congress failed to reach a deal to keep the money flowing. Following are some reports about how the shutdown is affecting nonprofits.

Charities Brace For Government Shutdown | The NonProfit Times

Charities Brace For Government Shutdown | The NonProfit Times: ome nonprofits likely will face a surge in demand for services but how the sector as a whole will be affected likely will depend on just how long the shutdown lasts.

“It all depends: is it two days, two weeks, two months? If it’s two days, everyone presumes life will go on,” said David L. Thompson, vice president of public policy at the National Council of Nonprofits in Washington, D.C.

Federal Government Shutdown Impacting Mass. Nonprofits

massnonprofit.org ::: October 1, 2013 — The partial shutdown of the federal government early today has affected nonprofits across Massachusetts, causing some to cancel programs, halt construction projects, and seek temporary quarters, while sparking concern about staff reductions in others that depend on federal funding.

Metrics That Matter: The Links Between Advisors, Donors and Nonprofits

The Stelter Company :: Research/White Papers: Metrics That Matter: The Links Between Advisors, Donors and Nonprofits
Stelter's 2013 Insight Report examines the behaviors, attitudes and characteristics of professional advisors who interact with individuals and nonprofits on the topics of estate planning and planned giving. Our goal was to uncover intelligence to help guide nonprofits in their interactions with advisors and to position their organizations for greater fundraising success. Key insights include:

Advisors' attitudes surrounding ethics in introducing planned giving;
Who advisors trust for technical information on planned gifts;
Characteristics of advisors deemed "high producers";
Opportunities for greater synergy between advisors and nonprofits.

The AFP Blog: Benchmark Your Results as Fundraising Slowly Improves

The AFP Blog: Benchmark Your Results as Fundraising Slowly Improves: n our 24/7, news-and-opinion-driven world, data is ultimately what we need. Data about how our organization is faring—and how others are faring in comparison—is key to making informed decisions—about what fundraising methods to use, which donors to focus on and how to spend our precious resources.

That’s why if we have access to data and benchmarking tools, we need to use them. Enter the Fundraising Effectiveness Project

Pamela Barden-A Hiker's Guide to Fundraising : FundRaising Success

Pamela Barden-A Hiker's Guide to Fundraising : FundRaising Success: With appreciation to Jerold Panas (FundRaising Success' 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award winner), who stimulated this article with a short piece he published several months ago comparing fundraising to white-water rafting, here are some tips from a hiker to energize your work as a fundraiser this fall.

Foundation Endowments Grew 12% in 2012 - News - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

Foundation Endowments Grew 12% in 2012 - News - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: Foundation Endowments Grew 12% in 2012

By Doug Donovan

Endowments at private foundations grew by 12 percent in 2012, a significant improvement after they lost a little under 1 percent in 2011, according to a study of 140 funds released today.

But that’s still less than the S&P 500 gain, which was 16 percent last year. Many foundations continue to seek to regain the nearly 26 percent loss in value they sustained during the 2008 financial crisis.

PittsburghGives | The Pittsburgh Foundation

PittsburghGives | The Pittsburgh Foundation: The 2013 Day of Giving is October 3, 2013. What day will it be for you? With over 600 participating nonprofit organizations, make it a day of giving. Starting at 12 AM and lasting until 11:59 PM at http://pittsburghgives.org.

Pittsburgh hosting 2014 arts conference - Pittsburgh Business Times

Pittsburgh hosting 2014 arts conference - Pittsburgh Business Times: Pittsburgh was selected to host the National Forum on Arts Education in America, scheduled Sept. 11-12, 2014, the Arts Education Partnership and the Arts Education Collaborative announced Tuesday.

The Heinz Endowments, among Pittsburgh’s largest foundations, awarded a $10,000 grant to fund local planning efforts for the event, which will convene leaders in arts, education, business and philanthropy.

How to Use SROI to Show Your Nonprofit's Impact

How to Use SROI to Show Your Nonprofit's Impact: The SROI: What Is It?

SROI is the acronym for Social Return on Investment, a relatively new (to the U.S. at least) and interesting tool for communicating the value of your nonprofit’s impact on the community. According to The New Economics Foundation, SROI “captures social value by translating outcomes into financial values.”

Many Large Arts Organizations Still in Recession - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly

Many Large Arts Organizations Still in Recession - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly: NPQ has been noting what appears to be ongoing financial strife at a significant number of large arts organizations across the country—performing arts institutions and museums, primarily—and this report would tend to back up that impression.

Americans for the Arts’ 2013 Arts Index shows that the recovery has not brought much for the better to those organizations. In 2013, 44.2% of arts organizations had operating deficits, as compared to 36% in 2007 before the recession—an 8.2% difference. At the height of the recession in 2009, the number of groups with operating deficits was 45%, which makes the recovery, as measured here by deficits, only 0.8%. The Index reports that organizations with larger budgets were more likely to run a deficit than those with smaller budgets, and that there was no predictable pattern based on any specific arts discipline.

Boston Medical Center Gets $100K as Nonprofit Innovator

massnonprofit.org ::: The 496-bed Boston Medical Center (BMC) won the 2013 Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation, given each fall by the Drucker Institute to a nonprofit that best demonstrates “change that creates a new dimension of performance,” a definition of innovation developed by the internationally famous management consultant.

What Could You Do with a $50 Million Gift? Harvard Got 16 This Year - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly

What Could You Do with a $50 Million Gift? Harvard Got 16 This Year - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly: In what appears to be an institutional version of the wealth gap, Harvard University has already raked in sixteen gifts of $50 million or more.

Let’s just reflect on that for a moment or two.

Repost: Pre-Holiday Donation Page Workout | DonationPay

Repost: Pre-Holiday Donation Page Workout | DonationPay: Repost: Pre-Holiday Donation Page Workout
September 17th, 2013

Note: this post was originally published in September of 2011. I thought the workout would still be relevant in useful in these waning days of 2013, as we all get ready for the holiday season. Enjoy! -AJ

Okay, folks, it’s September. Every day from now until January is a day you should be thinking about how best to maximize your holiday fundraising season.

Harvard Seeks $6.5 Billion as Gifts Over $50 Million Proliferate - Bloomberg

Harvard Seeks $6.5 Billion as Gifts Over $50 Million Proliferate - Bloomberg: The number of so-called mega donations to U.S. colleges is rebounding just as Harvard University begins a $6.5 billion capital campaign, the largest in the history of higher education.

4 Ways to Cure Your Technological "Distraction Addiction" | Co.Create | creativity culture commerce

4 Ways to Cure Your Technological "Distraction Addiction" | Co.Create | creativity culture commerce: ou don't have to purge technology from your life; Alex Soojung-Kim Pang argues that you can get the Information You Need and the Communication You Want, Without Enraging Your Family, Annoying Your Colleagues, and Destroying Your Soul. Here's how.

PhilanTopic: The Transparent Spend Down

PhilanTopic: The Transparent Spend Down: The Transparent Spend Down

The following post by Charles R. Bronfman, chairman of The Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies (ACBP), is the first in a new blog series, "Making Change by Spending Down," produced by ACBP in partnership with GrantCraft, a joint service of the Foundation Center and the European Foundation Centre. In the post, Mr. Bronfman explains how he, his late wife, Andrea, and ACBP president Jeffrey Solomon arrived at the decision to spend down the foundation by 2016; why he and Solomon decided to take extra steps to create transparency around the spend-down process; and what they hope the added measure of transparency will accomplish.