January 15, 2008
Foundations Look Beyond Admissions to Keep Colleges Diverse
The
article reports on U.S. foundations and organizations working to raise college graduation rates among low-income and minority students. It provides a list of examples including Access to Success, the D.C. College Access Program, the Young Scholars Program, and the Hispanic Scholarship Fund. It discusses the likelihood of disadvantaged students to falter once they get to college due to the stresses faced in a new environment and the lack of a supportive structure.
January 7, 2008
New Grant Programs
The
article lists the grant programs, purposes, and available funds of charitable organizations such as John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the UnitedHealth Group, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
December 31, 2007
Fund Raising and Lack of Diversity Are Key Challenges for Trustees
The
article discusses the findings of a report conducted on the fund-raising activities of nonprofit trustees and the diversity of charity boards. A study by the nonprofit organization BoardSource suggests that lack of financial support by board members is hindering to the growth of nonprofit organizations. The article comments on the decision of the Cincinnati-based LAM Foundation to require financial contributions from its board members.;
December 27, 2007
Watchdog Watch
The
article summarizes reports from the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, a private group that reports on the fund raising standards, governance, and financial management of U.S. charities.
December 21, 2007
Good Governance Guidelines for Nonprofit Organizations
The article lists the
guidelines for governance, fund-raising, and compensation practices of U.S. nonprofit organizations, as recommended by a committee of the nonprofit coalition Independent Sector, including compliance with federal, state, and local laws and regulations, policies ensuring no conflict of interest, and regular meetings of a charitable organization's board.For more information, go to
http://www.nonprofitpanel.org.
December 18, 2007
Recent Tax Law Changes May Affect People Giving to Charity
This
fact sheet discusses changes from summer 2006 legislation that "offers older owners of individual retirement accounts [IRAs] a new way to give to charity. It also includes rules designed to provide both taxpayers and the government greater certainty in determining what may be deducted as a charitable contribution." Topics include a new tax break for IRA owners and rules for deducting clothing and household items and monetary donations. From the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
December 12, 2007
International Comparisons of Charitable Giving
This
report contributes to the understanding of charitable giving in an international context This report contributes to the understanding of charitable giving in an international context by comparing levels of individual giving within a number of different countries.
By measuring the charitable giving of countries against their national wealth, giving levels are brought into a comparable format. The findings reveal that only the USA’s charitable giving is equivalent to over 1% of its GDP (Gross Domestic Product). The UK is in second place with 0.73% of its GDP going to charitable giving.
December 10, 2007
Governance Issues Are a Top Priority for IRS
The article reports that the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) plans to include questions about
charitable organizations' management and governance policies and practices as part of their Form 990 informational tax return filed annually. Questions included on the revised form cover topics such as conflict-of-interest policies, whistle-blower policies, and audit committees. IRS representative Lois G. Lerner explains that the questions support "risk models" used to select charities for review.
December 7, 2007
The Best-Kept Holiday Fundraising Secret
Everyone is asking for money right now—so how do you stand out? Check your sock drawer for the answer.
Open your sock drawer and look inside. I am willing to bet that if you're a man, you'll own at least one pair of Gold Toes. Those are the dress socks with the distinctive gold thread at the toe. If you're a woman, you may have a pair of white work-out socks with that gold color on the toes. The odds are in my favor because more than half of all men's socks sold at U.S. department stores are the Gold Toe brand, and the company weaves more than 140 million pairs for men, women, and children every year.
Why does Gold Toe hold such a strong position in the market? Because it has a clear competitive advantage. In the consumer's mind, Gold Toe stands for quality and durability. Gold Toe socks don't get little holes at the toe after you wear them a few times, nor do they lose their elasticity and start sagging around the ankles after a few washes. ... Read more
Source: GuideStar
How The Chronicle Compiled Its Annual Philanthropy 400 Rankings
The article discusses the
research methodology used by the journal for its annual audit of nonprofit organizations and their financial management. An outline of the financial statements and other documentation cited by the study to compile industry-wide conditions is provided. Possible loopholes in the research strategies which could omit certain sectors of charities and philanthropy are also mentioned.; (
AN 27369257)
November 30, 2007
New Survey Looks at Giving from a Different Angle
Big gifts get the headlines, but smaller donations make the philanthropic world go round.
A new survey by American Express and conducted in September 2007 has taken a different approach to examining the philanthropic habits of American donors. By looking at individual gifts on a national scale rather than annual donation amounts, the American Express Charitable Gift Survey—conducted in partnership with the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University—offers an intriguing look at how much is given in a single transaction, the differences between on-line and off-line gifts, and the motivations that lead donors to choose one method of giving over the other.
Although the survey did not find any significant differences between the average amounts of donations made on-line and off-line, it did reveal that a large number of these charitable transactions involved small amounts of money. Of the more than 900 gifts reported in the survey, more than two-thirds represented donations of $100 or less. In fact, the study found that the median charitable donation is $50. ... Read more
Source: GuideStar
November 16, 2007
American Express Charitable Gift Survey
"This fall 2007 study asked donors about their giving and found no statistically significant differences in the size of the most recent online and offline gifts made by more than 900 donors. For all gifts, two-thirds of donations were $100 or less and the median charitable donation was $50. "
Source: The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University
November 15, 2007
Nonprofit Studies Program Brown Bag Seminar Series: Derek Shendell
Derek Shendell from the Institute of Public Health, College of Health and Human Sciences, will present on “Community Action to Fight Asthma Initiative.”
When: 11/19/2007 , 12:30:00 AM
Where: Andrew Young School, 14 Marietta St., Seminar Room 749
Admission: Free and open to the public
November 9, 2007
ARNOVA - International Nonprofit Research Forum
Dennis Young and The Nonprofit Studies Program at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies of Georgia State University, cordially invite you to participate in a pre-ARNOVA International Nonprofit Research Forum engaging students, faculty, and nonprofit leaders involved in 3rd Sector research around the world. The event will be held Wednesday, 14 November 2007 from 4:00-6:30 PM on the 7th floor of the Andrew Young School building, which is located at 14 Marietta St in downtown Atlanta, only a few blocks from the conference hotel (see
http://aysps.gsu.edu/directions.htmfor a map and general directions if coming by car or public transportation).
Panelists from nonprofit academic centers in England, Ireland, Israel, Canada, Australia, The Netherlands, and Japan will give short presentations on their academic centers, research in which their centers are involved, and the major issues of concern for nonprofit organizations in their countries. Open discussion will follow. This is an open and free event for students, researchers, and practitioners attending ARNOVA and from the Atlanta community at large. A reception with light appetizers will immediately follow the event.
Please RSVP to
padlfx@langate.gsu.edu
November 2, 2007
NeighborWorks America
Website for this "national nonprofit organization created by Congress to provide financial support, technical assistance, and training for community-based revitalization efforts." Features news, case studies, and reports on subjects such as aging in place, disaster preparedness, foreclosure solutions, home equity protection, manufactured housing, predatory lending, and refinancing. Also includes materials about campaigns, such as its free telephone consultation service on foreclosure solutions. Includes listings of local NeighborWorks member organizations.
Brown Bag Nonprofit Research Seminar
What: The Nonprofit Studies Program of the Andrew Young School of Policy at Georgia State University presents its Brown Bag Seminar Series in Nonprofit Research.
Wh Del Martin will present research on charitable giving data and trends from the Giving USA project.
When: Tuesday, November 6, 2007 at 12:30 PM
Where: Seminar Room #749 at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies Building at 14 Marietta Street, NW
Del is Vice Chair of the Giving USA Foundation, publishers of Giving USA, and is an active member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, having served on the Georgia Chapter Board.
October 31, 2007
Index of Global Philanthropy 2007
The 2007 Index of Global Philanthropy examines the sources and magnitude of U.S. private giving and documents real-life examples of private giving to the developing world. The Index challenges the outdated and incomplete measure used by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which compares developed countries solely on the basis of their government foreign aid. Chart 1 on the following page shows that, as a percentage of gross national income, the U.S. ranks toward the bottom of donor nations—20th
October 29, 2007
The role of social anxiety in volunteering
The volunteer management literature suggests that the most effective means of recruitment is personal asking. However, agencies that apply this method do not report the expected success in volunteer recruitment. Often they face the volunteer recruitment fallacy: those people assumed to be interested in volunteering do not necessarily volunteer. Based on the literature of shyness or social anxiety and on empirical observations, this
article suggests that social anxiety often deters volunteering by new recruits. We hypothesize that people with greater levels of social anxiety will be less likely to volunteer. Furthermore, we hypothesize that people with high social anxiety will prefer to give monetary support to worthy causes rather than volunteer their time, and if they do choose to volunteer, they will do so alongside friends. Our hypotheses are supported based on the findings from a large-scale nonrandom sample in North America. We suggest how to avoid the volunteer recruitment fallacy by creating a personal environment in which high-social-anxiety recruits feel safe and accepted. By removing the fear of being negatively judged by strangers as they enter the agency and creating a more personal approach, new recruits may have a higher probability of becoming long-term and consistent volunteers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Handy, Femida; Cnaan, Ram A..
Nonprofit Management & Leadership; Fall2007, Vol. 18 Issue 1, p41-58, 18p, 2 charts
October 26, 2007
New Center Aims to Give Higher-Education Donors More Power - Philanthropy.com.
The
article reports that the nonprofit group Center for Excellence in Higher Education will be receiving a $5 million gift from various foundations. The nonprofit brokers donations from donors to colleges, and provides information to philanthropists on donating to colleges. The article features the comments of center director Frederic J. Fransen.
October 25, 2007
The perils of e-mail communications in nonprofits
Nonprofits typically operate in a multicultural and global environment. Critical to their success is
effective communications by their leaders. But effective communications is a challenge as e-mail has become the medium of choice for communications among most nonprofit executives. Communicating with their culturally diverse stakeholders using the less personal medium of e-mails could be jeopardized unless nonprofit executives consciously focus on how recipients might decode their message. By understanding the interactions of the linguistic, cultural, and social processes inherent in the encoding and decoding of communications, they can attenuate misunderstandings. Learning from a series of personal and damaging e-mails experienced by one of the authors in a global nonprofit organization, the authors underline the need to be culturally sensitive in e-mail communications in a multicultural organization. This
article highlights the challenge faced by leaders and managers of nonprofits to be direct yet polite when not communicating face-to-face with their stakeholders.
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