Museum of Fine Arts and Tufts University Strike an Extraordinary Deal | Nonprofit Quarterly

Museum of Fine Arts and Tufts University Strike an Extraordinary Deal | Nonprofit Quarterly:



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Post to this Blog will be less frequent during the holiday season.  We  will resume our usual level of posting when AFP reopens on January 4th.  Thank you for your continued readership.

Hartford Symphony Stalemate and Shutdown Threat Awfully Redundant | Nonprofit Quarterly

Hartford Symphony Stalemate and Shutdown Threat Awfully Redundant | Nonprofit Quarterly: "In these days of at your convenience digital communication, you’d think nonprofits wouldn’t just repeat each other’s publicly failed strategies but learn from them instead. Why, then, are we looking at the Hartford Symphony Orchestra threatening its musicians with a shutdown if they do not accede to a 30 percent pay cut? Those labor negotiations have been in negotiation for almost a year."



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Survival of the fittest: how small charities can stay afloat | CAF partner zone | The Guardian

Survival of the fittest: how small charities can stay afloat | CAF partner zone | The Guardian: "These are tough times for small charities. One in seven charity chief executives say their organisation is struggling to survive, growing to one in five among smaller charities – according to a 2015 survey by Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) and the Association of Chief Executives Voluntary Organisations (Acevo)."



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Musical Chairs on the Board of California Performing Arts Center | Nonprofit Quarterly

Musical Chairs on the Board of California Performing Arts Center | Nonprofit Quarterly: "Last Monday, NPQ reported on public discord surrounding the board of the Irvine Barclay Theatre in Irvine, California, and in particular, its chairman, Robert Farnsworth. At a board meeting two days later, a new chair was elected, although Farnsworth will remain on the board. As a result of this leadership change, the Cheng Family Foundation—a long-time funder of the organization—has withdrawn a request that its name be removed from the center’s 756-seat theater, Cheng Hall."



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Another Region Beset with Post-Recession Nonprofit CEO Departures | Nonprofit Quarterly

Another Region Beset with Post-Recession Nonprofit CEO Departures | Nonprofit Quarterly: "NPQ published a number of stories during the recession that it seemed that few long-term nonprofit executives were leaving their posts. We speculated that seasoned execs were digging in to see nonprofits through a turbulent period and that the resignations and retirements might come later, once the environment stabilized a bit.

Now, Western N.Y. is the second region where the local press has discussed a rash of resignations or retirements among mid-sized to large nonprofits."



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Vogel: Smart Philanthropy | Vermont Public Radio

Vogel: Smart Philanthropy | Vermont Public Radio: "A recent report from Vermont Attorney General Bill Sorrell shows that on average, 70 percent of the money raised by professional fundraisers for Vermont charitable groups goes to the fundraiser, and only thirty percent goes to the nonprofit. So it’s easy to become cynical.

On the other hand, the needs that nonprofits try to address are critical. A recent study by the Vermont Community Foundation found that one in four Vermonters are not earning enough to make ends meet. And one in five Vermont families pays more than 50% of their income for housing."



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6 Major Shifts in Corporate Philanthropy, New Report Finds

6 Major Shifts in Corporate Philanthropy, New Report Finds:



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The Best and Worst Charities (According to Consumer Reports) - NonProfit PRO

The Best and Worst Charities (According to Consumer Reports) - NonProfit PRO: "On Monday, Consumer Reports released its “Best and Worst Charities for Your Donations” list. By no means as comprehensive as the magazine’s robust coverage and hands-on reviews of cars, appliances and electronics, the list is intended as a snapshot for would-be donors, offering a CliffsNotes on this year’s biggest charity scam, an overview of the three big charity watchdogs and tips on how to avoid charity scams. It’s entry-level stuff, but sound information nonetheless—an accessible starting point for first-time donors."



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A Sensible Makeover for the Ford Foundation - The New York Times

A Sensible Makeover for the Ford Foundation - The New York Times:



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Why Zuckerberg’s Critics Are Wrong - The New Yorker

Why Zuckerberg’s Critics Are Wrong - The New Yorker: "The backlash is no surprise. The sheer size of Zuckerberg’s grant, currently valued at forty-five billion dollars, shows just how concentrated wealth has become, and the earnest rhetoric of his mission statement, couched as a public letter to his baby daughter, reinforced a sense of Silicon Valley’s overweening confidence in its ability to fix the world. Hostility toward philanthropy is nothing new; when John D. Rockefeller established his eponymous foundation, he was attacked for reasserting “the old reign of aristocracy under the new names of philanthropy and science.” And Zuckerberg’s move comes at a time of anxiety about the rise of so-called philanthrocapitalism."



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Attendee Experience Mapping - ASAE Technology Conference & Expo

Attendee Experience Mapping - ASAE Technology Conference & Expo: "What is a Customer Journey Map?
Often used by Fortune 500 Companies, customer journey maps allow you to walk in the shoes of your customer by traveling with them as they interact with your company. They provide an accurate outside-in view, focusing on desired outcomes from the customer’s perspective. (Michael Hinshaw, 2012). They help illustrate individual customer’s needs, interactions that are necessary to fulfill those needs, and the resulting emotional states a customer experiences throughout the process. (Joel Flom, 2011)

How can we take this concept and turn it into a model that would helpful for associations & meeting planners to assess their own meetings and plan more successful ones in the future? The M&E Council is using Customer Journey Maps as a guide to create our own model for associations & meeting planners; we are calling it “ExperienceGuru”."



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Turmoil on Senior Staff Gives Funders Pause: Two Cases in the Arts | Nonprofit Quarterly

Turmoil on Senior Staff Gives Funders Pause: Two Cases in the Arts | Nonprofit Quarterly: "The boards of two nonprofit arts groups—one in Irvine, California, the other in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania—are facing difficult questions from philanthropic supporters in the wake of recent changes in senior staff leadership. While the underlying stories are somewhat different, in both instances board and staff leaders seem to have fallen out of step with one another, and funders are reacting to leadership transitions that have, at the least, been poorly explained, if not poorly executed."



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The Limitations of Nonprofit Audits: A Cautionary Case | Nonprofit Quarterly

The Limitations of Nonprofit Audits: A Cautionary Case | Nonprofit Quarterly: "NPQ has repeatedly suggested to readers that they need to be cautious about depending on an audit to provide the board with a sense of security about its financial systems. This story is perhaps a more dramatic case in point than most.

NPQ has reported on the tragedy and allegations surrounding the federal GEAR UP grant award to the state of South Dakota that first came to national attention with the murder-suicide of a family of six in the small town of Platte, South Dakota in September 2015. Mid-Central Educational Cooperative (MCEC), the agency which administered GEAR UP on behalf of the SD Education Department, commissioned its own forensic audit of its handling of GEAR UP funds. The audit results were made public last week, and MCEC’s board were briefed publicly yesterday."



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Are We There Yet? A Conversation on Performance Measures in the Third Sector | Nonprofit Quarterly

Are We There Yet? A Conversation on Performance Measures in the Third Sector | Nonprofit Quarterly:



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New Online Site to Function as a ‘Yelp’ for Grant Makers - The Chronicle of Philanthropy

New Online Site to Function as a ‘Yelp’ for Grant Makers - The Chronicle of Philanthropy: "People review charities on GreatNonprofits, restaurants on Yelp, companies on Glassdoor, hotels on TripAdvisor, home-repair companies on Angie’s List — and just about every other entity somewhere. Foundations have so far mostly escaped such public scrutiny, but now their time has come.

Meet GrantAdvisors.org, an embryonic online review site that asks grant seekers, grantees, foundation employees, and others to describe their experiences working with foundations: Were their guidelines helpful, their staff members receptive, their reporting requirements reasonable? And, in the end, would you recommend working with them?"



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10 Great Charitable Deductions For The 2015 Holiday Season -- The Motley Fool

Interesting list via the Motley Fool

10 Great Charitable Deductions For The 2015 Holiday Season -- The Motley Fool: "We at the Fool are big supporters of charitable giving, as you can see from our annual Foolanthropy campaign (check out this year's details here). In addition to the Fistula Foundation, our 2015 Foolanthropy partner, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of other charities that support wonderful causes."



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The Ice Bucket Challenge Was Not Peer-to-Peer Fundraising - NonProfit PRO

The Ice Bucket Challenge Was Not Peer-to-Peer Fundraising - NonProfit PRO: "The beloved (Otis Fulton, my husband and Turnkey’s psychologist) leapt from his chair with a shocked expression on his face and social science book-of-the-day in hand. He said, “The Ice Bucket Challenge was not peer-to-peer fundraising!”
Like a cow, I chewed the bland cud of my oatmeal and blankly stared back at him.
“Don’t you see?” he said. “Peer-to-peer is a closed loop. The Ice Bucket Challenge was an open loop.”"



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Harrison’s Fund hoping for a bah humbug Christmas » Charity Digital News

Harrison’s Fund hoping for a bah humbug Christmas » Charity Digital News: "So next time you’re nursing a hangover after the office party, or you’re up to your eyeballs in wrapping paper and getting annoyed, spare a thought for Harrison and the boys like him, have a good old moan, then pop a pound (or two) into the Bah Humbug Box. You can get your grumpy friends and cranky colleagues involved too.”"



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Reporting Net Assets In Correct Columns - The NonProfit TimesThe NonProfit Times

Reporting Net Assets In Correct Columns - The NonProfit TimesThe NonProfit Times: "Financial statements of nonprofits display net assets (equity) in three classes: unrestricted, temporarily restricted and permanently restricted. These categories are based on the existence or absence of donor-imposed restrictions and are defined in the accounting standards under FASB ASC 958-210-20."



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#GivingTuesday Headed Toward $70 Million - The NonProfit TimesThe NonProfit Times

#GivingTuesday Headed Toward $70 Million - The NonProfit TimesThe NonProfit Times:



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Case statement helps organizational efficiency - The NonProfit TimesThe NonProfit Times

Case statement helps organizational efficiency - The NonProfit TimesThe NonProfit Times: "Nonprofit managers and fundraisers are aware of the need for a good case statement to rally support of one kind or another. What many of them overlook is the benefit case statements can have beyond fundraising."



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Amid the Buying, a Tuesday Devoted to Giving - The New York Times

Amid the Buying, a Tuesday Devoted to Giving - The New York Times: "“Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world,” wrote the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. That field has been pretty narrow lately, with so much of the news focused on murderous violence — from Paris to Colorado Springs. So let’s take note: today is #GivingTuesday, the fourth anniversary of a day that offers a glimpse of the world beyond the pathological extremes: a view of the commonplace generosity and social concerns of millions of people."



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Nonprofits, Aiming for Relevance, Try On New Names - The New York Times

Nonprofits, Aiming for Relevance, Try On New Names - The New York Times: "ive-On NY is among dozens of nonprofit groups in the city and surrounding area that are shedding longstanding — and sometimes long-winded — names and embarking on efforts to rebrand themselves."



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This Giving Season, Make Sure You Stand Out - PhilanTopic | PND | Foundation Center

This Giving Season, Make Sure You Stand Out - PhilanTopic | PND | Foundation Center: "Whenever someone offers marketing advice like this, my first impulse is to ask: "Do you have a study you can point me to that offers evidence in support of that claim?" As you might imagine, the conversation usually turns pretty quickly to other subjects.

So what does it really take for your organization's brand to resonate and be remembered by donors at this time of year?

Here are five things that will help:"



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Does #GivingTuesday Really Work Or Is It Just Hype? : Goats and Soda : NPR

Does #GivingTuesday Really Work Or Is It Just Hype? : Goats and Soda : NPR: "#GivingTuesday was born four years ago to encourage people to open their wallets for a good cause. Not everyone is a fan. Some critics think #GivingTuesday clutters people's inboxes with empty fundraising appeals that provide no compelling reason to give. And they ask why the day is in December, a time when most charities see a bump in donations anyway as folks remember how nice it is to be generous (and to get a tax deduction for the current year).

On the other hand, it's hard to argue with the results. Last year alone, #GivingTuesday pulled in a whopping $46 million in charitable donations – a 63 percent increase from 2013."



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Giving Tuesday: Your Opinions, Please | Nonprofit Quarterly

Giving Tuesday: Your Opinions, Please | Nonprofit Quarterly: "At NPQ, we feel that we often are consciously waiting out heavily promoted or evangelized fads. Is this nonprofit/philanthropic sector more rife with them than others? Probably not, but over time we have noted that although some advances are real, leading to new practice, some new ideas just cycle through, eventually losing steam because their results have not lived up to their loudly heralded promises. In the worst cases, inadequate or even regressive concepts stick around for years—well marketed but underperforming—because no one wants to challenge them."



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Grassroots giving goes mainstream: Popular giving circles are sweeping across the country

Grassroots giving goes mainstream: Popular giving circles are sweeping across the country: "There’s a new form of grassroots giving that is taking Canada’s charitable sector by storm.

Here’s how it works: Gather 100 people four times a year, with every person committing $100 per meeting. Each meeting lasts no longer than one hour, during which time members listen to pitches from three local charities, then vote on which charity will get the pot of pooled money. Charities issue tax receipts to donors and repo"



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Why communities of color are getting frustrated with Collective Impact / Nonprofit With Balls

Why communities of color are getting frustrated with Collective Impact / Nonprofit With Balls: "Talking to other nonprofit leaders, I’ve started noticing some patterns. There is definitely a sense of frustration of how CI has been manifesting in Seattle, and among leaders of color, that sense of frustration is even more palpable. We need to have an open discussion about how Collective Impact has been affecting diverse communities, and work toward some concrete actions that would make it more effective."



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#GivingTuesday Set To Usher-in Holidays - The NonProfit TimesThe NonProfit Times

#GivingTuesday Set To Usher-in Holidays - The NonProfit TimesThe NonProfit Times: "The fourth iteration of #GivingTuesday kicks off at midnight Tuesday, with thousands of nonprofits preparing to officially kick off their busiest time of the year with visions of donors dancing in their heads."



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