April 26, 2012NPQ's Nonprofit Newswire | April, 24 2012
This morning, a significant realignment of the national
nonprofit infrastructure occurred. The National Council of
Nonprofits (NCN) has just announced a plan to absorb the Center
for Lobbying in the Public Interest (CLPI)…
March 14, 2012NPQ Nonprofit Newswire | Kathi Jaworski | March 14, 2012
At the recent annual meeting of Northern California
Grantmakers, keynoters Lucy Bernholz of Philanthropy 2173 and
Stanford University’s Rob Reich discussed three forces of
change—what they call (and what Nonprofit Quarterly has
previously referred to as) “tectonic shifts”—affecting the U.S.
nonprofit sector. What’s particularly interesting is that two
of the most dominant trends of the past decade, technological
change and social networking, are apparently so embedded in our
culture that they don’t bear special mention anymore.
March 9, 2012The Chronicle of Philanthropy | Caroline Preston | March 8, 2012
The New York Times has eliminated its philanthropy beat, a move
that could make it harder for nonprofits to get their stories
told to a national audience…
In the second half of 2011, when we set out to look at the
“State of the Nonprofit Cloud”, we weren’t sure what to
expect—and what we found after surveying US nonprofits and
conducting follow-up interviews was that it’s somewhat…
foggy.
March 1, 2012Nonprofit Quarterly | Mike Keefe-Feldman | February 27, 2012
If we were holding a contest for “most depressing headline,”
this one from Reuters might be in contention: “U.S. investors
lack interest in companies doing good.” This was apparently the
prevailing sentiment at a meeting of the Committee Encouraging
Corporate Philanthropy, who met in New York City on Monday,
which was International Corporate Philanthropy Day…
March 1, 2012Nonprofit Quarterly | Kate Barr and Ruth McCambridge | March 1, 2012
Today, you may be subjected to yet another round of specious
judgment about the management skills of nonprofit
organizations. This is thanks to a newly-released report,
“Financial Literacy and Knowledge in the Nonprofit Sector”.
The report is heralded by a press release entitled “Gaps in
Financial Knowledge Challenge Mid-Size Nonprofits” but there is
no information in the survey results or even in the report that
supports the claim that the nonprofits represented have any
particular or acute challenges that could not be explained by a
bad economy. In fact, about half have more than four months of
operating funds in the bank and about a quarter have more than
seven months’ worth…
February 28, 2012Washington Post | Antony Bugg-Levine | February 20, 2012
Working in mid-town Manhattan, it’s easy to believe the pundits
and politicians who talk about the “financial crisis” in the
past tense. Restaurants are full and sidewalks are packed with
tourists. It is clear that some have managed to put the
economic woes caused by the recent recession behind them.
GuideStar, the leading source of nonprofit information, today
announced a new and improved design of its nonprofit reports,
with revitalized, comprehensive, and detailed information that
focuses on impact and advances transparency to help people who
research nonprofits make better, more educated, and more
confident decisions…
February 2, 2012Blog: Social Enterprise | Rolfe Larson | January 19, 2012
Following President Obama’s State of the Union speech, we
thought this would be a good time to evaluate the state of the
social enterprise sector. So here is the npEnterprise
Forum’s official, revised* State of the SE Sector 2012
address…
January 31, 2012The Nonprofit Quarterly | Aine Creedon | January 30, 2012
The new Web-based platform Sparked is using the tagline “Online
volunteering for busy people,” encouraging working
professionals to volunteer for the causes they care about.
Sparked allows anyone to complete small skills-based challenges
for their favorite nonprofits right from their computer…
January 17, 2012The Nonprofit Quarterly I Kathi Jaworski I January 17, 2012
As women gain more access to education and income, they’re an
increasing force in philanthropy. To better understand their
influence, Bank of America Merrill Lynch recently commissioned
a study by The Center for Philanthropy at Indiana University;
the study focused on charitable giving by high-net-worth women.
Three overarching findings should be of interest to nonprofit
leaders: women’s motivations for charitable giving differ from
men’s motivations; women desire different relationships with
the organizations they support; and when women participate in
giving circles/networks that cultivate peer learning, they have
more trust in the nonprofit sector’s efficacy than other
high-wealth female donors…
December 21, 2011Chronicle of Philanthropy | Noelle Barton and Raymund Flandez | December 19, 2011
With less than two weeks left before the holiday giving seasons
ends, many charities have already raised more compared with
2010—and some are even expecting a windfall, a new Chronicle
poll finds…
December 1, 2011The Chronicle of Philanthropy I Mark Rosenman I November 18, 2011
Many people probably rejoiced when they heard about a study
released last week showing that 12 million baby boomers want to
start their own nonprofit or socially oriented business over
the next decade. But it’s hard to imagine those findings
cheered many people who understand the nonprofit world.
November 29, 2011Wall Street Journal I Veronica Dagher I November 28, 2011
Overhead is a touchy subject for many nonprofits. Donors who
want most or all of their contributions to support an
organization’s cause may be overly critical of administrative
costs and other overhead. Nonprofits, in turn, often feel
pressured to keep overhead down and so may misrepresent those
costs, reinforcing donors’ unrealistic expectations.
November 17, 2011The Nonprofit Quarterly l Rick Cohen I November 17, 2011
Blogger Heather Carpenter reported on the White House Forum on
Nonprofit Leadership by monitoring the content of the
participants’ social media postings, and concluded, “What’s
being said at the Forum is nothing new, we’ve heard it many
times by many different speakers at many different conferences,
and in many different reports.”
October 14, 2011NY Times I Stephanie Strom I October 12, 2011
A new type of company intended to put social goals ahead of
making profits is taking root around the country, as more
states adopt laws to bridge the divide between nonprofits and
businesses.
California is the latest state to adopt a statute permitting
what is called flexible-purpose corporations, new companies
that are part social benefit and part low-profit entities.
September 28, 2011The Chronicle of Philanthropy I Caroline Preston I September 22, 2011
The watchdog group Charity Navigator revamped its ratings
system this week as part of a plan to move beyond evaluating
charities based solely on their financial performance.
The Web site now places equal weight on a charity’s governance
and openness about its operation as it does on financial
information.
September 23, 2011The Chronicle of Philanthropy I Lisa Chiu I September 12, 2011
President Obama’s proposed $447-billion jobs bill would be
financed mainly by limiting the percentage of income wealthy
donors could write off, including tax breaks for charitable
gifts.
September 6, 2011The Chronicle of Philanthropy I Maria Di Mento I September 2, 2011
The growth in nonprofit jobs slowed in 2010 compared with other
recent years, according to a new analysis of U.S. labor
statistics.
The number of nonprofit jobs grew by just under 1 percent from
2009 to 2010, according to a study of figures in 45 states by
the Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Civil Society
Studies, in Baltimore. Year-to-year nonprofit job totals
increased by 1.2 percent in 2009 and 2.6 percent in 2008.
After two consecutive years of actual declines in charitable
giving, 2010 saw a modest increase of 2.1%, according to the
Indiana University
Center on Philanthropy. But a survey of charities conducted
by The Chronicle of Philanthropy (“Giving’s
Recovery Lacks Momentum, Say Charities,” by Holly Hall and
Heather Joslyn, June 30, 2011) reveals that most have low
expectations for 2011.
Pessimism about giving in the mid-term future is evident not only
in the survey responses but also in the data collected by the
Center on Philanthropy for their publication Giving USA; they
indicate that a full recovery to pre-recession levels of giving
for most groups may not be possible before 2016. The survey
results suggest that the nonprofit organizations which have been
most successful in restoring their revenue streams are those that
persist in sending funders and donors clear messages about their
missions and their work.
Two-thirds of surveyed charities report contributions held
steady or improved in 2010.
Nonprofits that invested in fundraising staff or resources were
more likely to see increases. The
winter report from the Nonprofit Research Collaborative
discusses fundraising in 2010 by size of organization, type of
charity, tactics or fundraising vehicle used, and share of
contributions received from different donor types (individuals,
foundations, corporations, bequests, and other charities). The
survey represents a unique collaboration by the Urban
Institute’s National Center for Charitable Statistics with
GuideStar, Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy, the
Association of Fundraising Professionals, the Foundation
Center, and Blackbaud.
We express our gratitude to Wells Fargo for providing the funding
for our new website. The goal of this project has been to create
a highly accessible resource for all nonprofit organizations in
the region, providing information at the fingertips of executive
directors, staff and board members.
Wells Fargo has been a partner in the project from the beginning,
helping us to leverage the website grant into a regional resource
hub, and we appreciate their dedication.
National Council of Nonprofits Absorbs Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest
Three Shifts Seen as Shaping Nonprofit Sector’s Future
‘New York Times’ Drops Philanthropy as Special Area of Coverage
2012 State of the Nonprofit Cloud Report
Is Corporate Philanthropy Hampered by Shareholders?
New Study of Nonprofit Financial Literacy Misses the Mark
For Nonprofits, Time to End Business-as-Usual
GuideStar
Information on financials, programs, missions, expert reviews, and more are now provided in new format
State of Social Enterprise: 2012
World’s “First Micro-volunteering Network” Launches
Charities Profiting Via Online Retail Sites
What Women Want (to Give)
Half of Charities Say Holiday Giving Season Has Been Happy
Calling All Boomers: Don’t Start More Nonprofits
The ‘Third Rail’ of Nonprofits: Overhead
White House Forum Addresses Nonprofit Leadership Issues: Anything New Here?
The Nonprofit Sector’s Future?
A quest for hybrid companies that profit, but can tap charity
Charity Navigator Adopts Change in Rating System
Moves beyond evaluating charities based solely on their financial performance
Obama’s Jobs Bill Includes Plan to Limit Charitable Deductions for the Wealthy
Nonprofit Job Growth Nearly Flat in 2010, Says Study
Survey predicts slow recovery for charitable giving
After two consecutive years of actual declines in charitable giving, 2010 saw a modest increase of 2.1%, according to the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy. But a survey of charities conducted by The Chronicle of Philanthropy (“Giving’s Recovery Lacks Momentum, Say Charities,” by Holly Hall and Heather Joslyn, June 30, 2011) reveals that most have low expectations for 2011.
Pessimism about giving in the mid-term future is evident not only in the survey responses but also in the data collected by the Center on Philanthropy for their publication Giving USA; they indicate that a full recovery to pre-recession levels of giving for most groups may not be possible before 2016. The survey results suggest that the nonprofit organizations which have been most successful in restoring their revenue streams are those that persist in sending funders and donors clear messages about their missions and their work.
The 2010 Nonprofit Fundraising Survey:
Funds Raised in 2010 Compared with 2009