Messaging In a Time of Crisis
In a new twist to utilizing various Web 2.0 tools to publicize your mission, FORGE, an Oakland, Calif., charity facing a $90,000 budget shortfall, has taken the unusual step of blogging about the foundation’s troubles on the Skoll Foundation’s Social Edge Web site.
from the San Francisco Chronicle:
Entrepreneur blogs about charity’s money woes
Like many social entrepreneurs caught in the economic crisis, Kjerstin Erickson is lying awake at night wondering if her tiny nonprofit is going to survive.
But in an unorthodox move, the 25-year-old decided to blog about her charity’s financial problems - despite warnings from board members that she’ll send her remaining donors fleeing.
Giving 2008
The New York Times has published its’ annual philanthropy supplement highlighting the effects of the financial crisis on philanthropy, along with other articles about charity and giving. Here’s a small selection; you can also find the complete Giving section here.
SO what’s the fallout for philanthropy?
Given the financial tremors that have obliterated wealth and driven the economy deep into the doldrums, will charitable giving, which reached record levels in the United States over the past decade, show sharp declines? Will foundations, faced with shrunken endowments, scale back their grant-making? Will individual charities, squeezed by reductions in both private and public money, be forced to cut programs?
Helping America Keep Its Innovative Edge
With the American economy in a wrenching downturn, the innovation imperative seems more pressing than ever. Is there a role for foundations in advancing an innovation agenda? And, if so, what?
As the Economy Declines, Donors Rethink Estate Plans
FOR donors, a crucial question has always been how much to give to charity while alive and what to leave in an estate plan. The current economic crisis is causing many people to rethink their original answer.
As Women’s Incomes Rise, So Do Their Donations
WOMEN, propelled by increased earning power and more financial independence, are becoming a recognized force in charitable giving. They give from every level — be it small donor circles of like-minded friends or multimillion-dollar foundations.
And they give in a different way from men. They are more collaborative with each other and more supportive toward the needy…
Online Holiday Giving to Exceed $3 Billion
Convio, Inc the leading provider of on-demand constituent relationship management software and services for nonprofit organizations estimates that US online giving to nonprofit organization will be more than $3 billion during the holiday season of 2008. A survey conducted by Jupiter Research, a Forrester Research company, reveals that in the US more than half plan to donate to charities of their choice during the upcoming holiday season via the Internet. There are approximately 175 million adults in the US who are using the Internet. Nearly 7 out of 10 people surveyed plan to give the same amount or more, while the current state of the economy will lead 33 percent to give less to charity this holiday season. Despite the challenges of the economy online giving levels have surpassed the tipping point in being a critical component for the overall nonprofit fundraising mix.
a key finding:
The charity’s web site is the most useful tool among those who plan to donate online this holiday season (27%), followed by email appeals sent from family and friends (15%).
The Power of Giving
With all the ‘down’ news the past few weeks on the economy and how philanthropy might be affected, it’s nice to occasionally read a ‘feel-good’ story on giving.
From today’s USA Today:
The United States long has been a nation of givers, but a new generation is transforming the way we do good. Millennials and Generation Xers, especially those 20- and 30-somethings starting careers, may not have the bucks to be major donors, but they are finding ways to help others and prompting big changes in the way charities raise money.
Young people are “not just making checks and going on with their lives. They want to be part of what happens” to their money, says Claire Gaudiani of the Heyman Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising at New York University. She says today’s young people contribute to favorite causes earlier, more consistently and in more imaginative ways than their grandparents did.
’Tis Better to Give Than to Receive
The UJC and American Jewish World Service are among 21 new charities (and the only ones from the Jewish world) that can now participate in the charity gift card offered through the nation’s leading provider of this product, Seattle-based TisBest. TisBest, as in “Tis better to give than to receive,” allows its customers to customize and purchase charity gift cards as gifts to support the charity of their choice. The idea behind offering charity gift cards is to create new fundraising avenues for nonprofit organizations.
According to TisBest founder Erik Marks, “every American can enjoy and participate in philanthropy. TisBest is dedicated to expanding philanthropic giving by offering our customers a high quality, diverse set of charitable organizations to support. We selected these 21 charities from the hundreds of nominations because we believe that these finalists best fit our criteria of widespread endorsement, fiscal responsibility, ingenuity and success within their area of operations.”
New charities are screened by TisBest staff each summer. They typically must be featured on Charity Navigator or Guidestar and have revenues over $3 million per year. The 21 new charity offerings add diversity to TisBest’s current charities that received more than $350,000 in donations in 2007. New TisBest charities are nominated by TisBest customers or the charities themselves.
The Next Wave of Philanthropy
by Sean Stannard-Stockton; originally published in The Financial Times:
Social circles with a square deal for charity
Giving circles are a hot trend in philanthropy. Similar to the investment clubs of the 1990s that brought people together to talk about stock picking, giving circles are social groups where people pool resources and decide which non-profits to fund. If giving circles prove to be a hit, a few years from now cocktail party chatter might include: “I just got a hot tip on a non-profit you should consider!”
…But it is not only baby boomers who are becoming interested in philanthropy and giving circles; there is also increased interest from Generation Y….
The Young Philanthropist Committee of Birthright Israel NEXT NY is a group funded by Michael Steinhardt, the hedge fund legend turned philanthropist. The program has created a 20-person giving circle comprised of individuals in their 20s and 30s who have come together to support Jewish causes in the US. Rebecca Sugar, director of Birthright Israel NEXT NY, was inspired by Mr Steinhardt’s son David, a childhood friend of hers who had started his own giving circle. Each cycle, the 20 participants put up $500 each, which Birthright Israel NEXT NY matches. The young members of the group pitch each other on non-profits they think should receive the money. The finalist organizations present to the group and a winner is selected. After a strong showing by the 2007 group, the Young Philanthropist Committee has launched a second circle and assisted two of its members in starting their own separate circles.
Sean is a principal and director of tactical philanthropy at Ensemble Capital Management and author of the blog TacticalPhilanthropy.com. The complete column is available here.
The ‘New Situation’ aka the Global Economic Crisis
from the Jerusalem Post:
Three weeks ago, a special gathering of rabbis issued an urgent call to the principals of haredi educational institutions, asking them to do their best in light of the “new situation,” and to avoid at all costs a cut in the monthly allowance for married yeshiva students.
The rabbis begged the principals to do their utmost to dispense the stipends on time and to avoid a situation in which the students might be forced to leave the yeshivot to secure other income for their families.
The call was later published in various haredi newspapers, adding to an already tense situation confronting the haredi sector.
from the Chronicle of Philanthropy (issue dated Oct.2):
How Bad Is It? Economy’s downturn prompts new challenges for charities
The cataclysm in the nation’s financial industry poses an uncharted set of challenges for nonprofit organizations. The downturn could potentially affect not just private giving, but money charities get from government sources — and it is hitting at a time of year when many charities get the bulk of their donations. What’s more, for groups that serve the needy or others harmed by the economy, demand for aid is on the rise.
from the Nonprofit Quarterly:
What the Financial Sector Meltdown Really means for Nonprofits and Philanthropy
In the wake of the federal government’s intervention in the financial markets this past week—unprecedented since the Depression era banking legislation put through by Franklin Delano Roosevelt—nonprofits should not look to philanthropy from commercial banks and investment firms to soften the blow of the ailing economy and the inevitable impact on the nonprofit sector.
Trends in Giving
Fundraisers know that foundations vary widely in size, type and aims. Even with that, there are similarities that can provide useful knowledge for nonprofits.
With competition for funding intensifying, and lately with the economy taking a downturn that seems to be felt in many places and at many levels, knowing something about foundations can be quite helpful.
Speaking at the International Conference on Fundraising sponsored by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), Gloria M. Pugliese, director of corporate and foundation relations at LaSalle University, pointed out that there are certain trends that have been identified in connection with foundations recently.
They are:
- Program support ranks highest among the types of foundation giving, at close to 50 percent.
- General/operating support is second at around 20 percent.
- Capital support (including endowment) is third at approximately 16 percent.
- Research and student aid funding receive less than 10 percent each of all foundation dollars.
- At least half of all grants are for less than $50,000 or less in all categories except international affairs and social sciences. Small grants still account for the largest share of the overall number of grants for social sciences.
- Foundations generally do not like to be the only source of support for a particular project or organization.
tip to The NonProfit Times
Impact from “The Street”
According to The Chronicle of Philanthropy, as Wall Street reels from Lehman Brothers’ collapse and AIG’s federal takeover, charities are bracing for a tough fund-raising environment, especially as many donors are growing increasingly worried about their own financial portfolios.
Also, given their reliance on corporate gifts, arts groups that have relied heavily on giving by financial giants and their executives are especially anxious about this week’s Wall Street meltdown (The Washington Post).
Philanthropy and Politics
a guest post by David Roth and Ardie Geldman
The Olmert-Talansky affair has placed the interplay between philanthropy and politics on page one. Several months ago, the prime minister was accused of accepting a number of envelopes filled with cash from Morris Talansky, a US fund-raiser, for personal gain and/or political purposes. This was soon followed by another criminal investigation of Olmert involving the billing of multiple nonprofit organizations for the same overseas fund-raising trips. While these scandals have received extraordinary attention because they implicate a sitting prime minister, there are other examples of interaction between philanthropists and Israeli politics.
The name that most often comes to mind in this context is Arkadi Gaydamak. The Russian-born tycoon has donated millions to numerous causes in Israel, yet it is no secret that he has political ambitions. Last summer a bill was proposed in the Knesset, commonly known as the Gaydamak law, which would count charitable donations of more than NIS 1 million a year for the four years preceding an election as campaign expenses, should a mega-philanthropist choose to enter politics. Read more
