|
News, Articles & Events
Most Recent
Upcoming Events
American Venous Forum 24th Annual Meeting
February 8 - 11, 2012
Loews Royal Pacific Resort, Orlando, FL
Info...
Chicago Dental Society 147th Midwinter Meeting
February 23 - 25, 2012
McCormick Place West, Chicago, IL
Info...
Association Forum of Chicagoland Events
Managing Employee Challenges from Application to Termination
February 7, 2012
9am - 4pm
Association Forum of Chicagoland, Chicago, IL
Humanize: Creating People-Centric Organiztions that Succeed in a Social World (Webinar)
February 22, 2012
12pm - 1pm
Webinar
CMS Demo Day 2012
February 28, 2012
8:30am - 5pm
Association Forum of Chicagoland, Chicago, IL
Click here for the Association Forum of Chicagoland's full calendar of events...
ASAE Events
CEO Symposium
February 13 - 14; Second Symposium 15 - 16, 2012
JW Marriott Camelback Inn Resort & Spa, Scottsdale, AZ
Member Fee: $895 / Non-member Fee: $1,095
Click to view agenda...
Online Conference for Small-Staff Associations
February 14 - 16, 2012
Member Fee: $295 / Non-member Fee: $495
Click to view agenda...
Introduction to Interactive Operating Ratios: A Free Webinar
February 22, 2012
2pm - 3pm EST
Webinar
Click here for ASAE's full calendar of events...
Fujifilm Gives $300,000 to ASGE's New GI Training Center
By: EndoNurse
OAK BROOK, Ill.—The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) Foundation this week announced it has received a donation of $300,000 from FUJIFILM Medical Systems U.S.A., Inc.'s Endoscopy Division to ASGE’s IT & T Capital Campaign, a fundraising project to construct a new facility that will provide cutting-edge technology and training capabilities to significantly optimize current educational opportunities. The donation will be made over five years.
“We are grateful to Fujifilm Endoscopy for their generous financial support and for recognizing the importance of providing high quality physician education in an interactive environment using the latest technologies to improve physician performance and advance patient care," said Gregory G. Ginsberg, MD, FASGE, president, American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.
“The Endoscopy Division has been a dedicated partner of the ASGE and we look forward to working with them in the future as we open this new state-of-the-art facility that will foster the development, training and adoption of new techniques and technologies as they apply to gastroenterological endoscopic management of digestive and related disorders," Ginsberg continued.
ASGE has been providing learning opportunities at its current Institute for Training & Technology (IT & T) in Oak Brook, Ill. The new facility, on the other hand, will be situated on a 3.5-acre plot in Chicago’s Downers Grove suburb, close to both O’Hare and Midway airports, and will serve as the global home of endoscopy, offering a full range of medical training and continuing medical education (CME).
Read the entire press release here...
Fundraising Rebounds to Pre-Recession Level
By: Philanthropy Journal
Overall giving grew 3.4 percent in the first 11 months of 2011, marking the first time it had exceeded the level of giving in 2007, before the recession, Blackbaud says.
The company, which provides technology and services for nonprofits, also reported that overall charitable giving grew 1.4 percent for the three months ended November 2011, compared to the same period a year earlier, while online giving grew 12 percent.
Based on $2.5 billion in 12 months' revenue from 1,281 nonprofits, Blackbaud says overall revenue for the three-month period fell 2.5 percent compared to the same period a year earlier for nonprofits with less than $1 million in prior-year revenue, grew 8.2 percent for nonprofits with prior-year revenue of $1 million to $10 million, and fell 0.4 percent for nonprofits with prior-year revenue of over $10 million.
And based on $383 million in 12 months' online revenue from 1,769 nonprofits, Blackbaud says online revenue for the three-month period grew 15.4 percent for small nonprofits, 12.1 percent for medium-sized nonprofits, and 10.8 percent for large nonprofits.
The company also reported that overall charitable revenue for the "public, society-benefit" sector, including United Ways, Jewish federations and free-standing donor-advised funds, grew 5.4 percent for the three months ended November 2011, compared to the same period a year earlier, while online revenue grew 11.9 percent.
The trend in overall charitable revenue trend was based on $180 million in 12-month revenue from 95 nonprofits, while the trend in online revenue was based on $14 million in 12-month revenue from 105 nonprofits.
www.philanthropyjournal.org
Facing Trauma
Facing Trauma is a series that follows the work of Dr. Andrew Jacono, a world-class facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon and member of the American Academy of Facial Plastic Surgeons, who has made it his mission to serve the victims of devastating acts of domestic violence and crime, as well as senseless accidents. In addition Facing Trauma features licensed clinical psychiatrist, Dr. Janet E. Taylor, a certified life coach who specializes in battling the emotional impact of mental illness.
Facing Trauma airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on the OWN network.
See the trailer and read more here...
More Big Foundations are Investing in For-Profits
By: The Chronicle of Philanthropy
Major foundations are increasingly relying on program-related investing to achieve their goals, putting money into for-profit firms whose work meshes with the donors’ causes, according to The New York Times.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has increased its pool for such investments, known as PRI’s, from $400-million to $1-billion since 2009, and earlier this year it bought a $10-million stake in Liquidia Technologies, a commercial firm working on vaccine delivery. The Omidyar Network, the David & Lucile Packard Foundation, and other funding entities have also stepped up PRI’s.
Money invested in PRI’s can go toward the federal requirement that foundations pay out 5 percent of their assets every year.
Grant makers “are increasingly agnostic about how they achieve their goals,” Independent Sector CEO Diana Aviv said. “If their purpose is, say, to eliminate food deserts, they may see supporting a grocery store chain as the best way of doing that rather than funding a nonprofit program.”
But, she said, the trend could have dire consequences for charities addressing the same issues, which are already experiencing a “slow erosion of nonprofit funding streams that threatens to undermine organizations that have been built over decades to meet high standards of public trust.”
www.philanthropy.com
Nonprofits Looking to Large-scale Fundraising Efforts Heading into 4th Quarter
By: Association Trends
Fewer than half of surveyed nonprofits reported fundraising increases during the first half of 2011 compared with the same period in 2010, indicating nonprofits still face a difficult fundraising climate heading into the fourth quarter, the biggest time of year for raising money.
According to the Nonprofit Research Collaborative, of 813 responding nonprofits surveyed in July:
- 44% reported increases in charitable contributions received through June, compared with the same period in 2010
- 25% reported giving remained level
- 30% reported a decline so far this year
- 1% did not know.
These numbers are about the same as what NRC reported in its 2010 year-end survey: 43% raised more money in 2010 than in 2009, 24% saw no change, and 33% raised less.
Contrasted to pre-recession findings, in 2007 65% of fundraisers raised more money than in 2006, 11% raised about the same, and 24% raised less, according to the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Washington.
By subsector, human services organizations fared best through the first half of 2011, but only 50% of those organizations reported increases in the first half of the year. At 20%, international charities had the smallest share of organizations reporting increases.
What are the hot campaign methods
Of the NRC respondents, 12% currently are involved in a campaign, while 34% are in the planning stages. Of organizations currently in fundraising campaigns, 62% report they raised more money in the first half of 2011 compared to the same time in 2010. Organizations with annual expenditures of less than $250,000 did not see any significant increases.
Fundraising methods most popular with nonprofits include:
- 90% sought to raise funds from corporations and foundations.
- 80% used asked board members for major gifts, as well as using special events and direct mail.
- 60% used Internet fundraising and email
- 45% used social media and planned giving.
When asked what they believe will be the most successful fundraising methods for the rest of the year, 67% reported they would focus on large-scale efforts through direct mail, special events, online campaigns and similar activities; 45% said they would focus on larger gifts; and 28% said they saw foundation and corporate support as their biggest potential growth area.
Many charities now use short-term special campaigns to reach more achievable goals, Giving USA Foundation's Nancy Raybin said. "By setting discrete fundraising goals for specific activities, nonprofits find they can break through the uncertainty about the economy and help donors connect their gifts to community needs", Raybin said.
Spending money to make money
- Two-thirds of charities that invested in events saw an increase in event revenue in the first six months of 2011.
- 60% of charities that increased their investment in e-mail and use of the Internet saw increased giving through those methods in early 2011. Only 30% had increased investment in those two methods during the first half of 2011.
- 54% that invest in direct mail or major gifts reported increased revenue from those methods between January and June 2011.
Read the entire article here...
Five Ways Foundations Can Strengthen Nonprofit Boards
By: Rick Moyers, The Chronicle of Philanthropy
...Assuming that many foundations want to do more to strengthen boards, how can we make sure their efforts don’t do more harm than good? Here are five suggestions, grounded in your comments and my own experience as a grant seeker, grant maker, and nonprofit-board nerd.
1. Raise the issue. Foundations can send a strong message that they believe boards are important by simply asking a few questions about the board during the application process or during face-to-face meetings. This may seem rudimentary, but many grant makers don’t do so or they ask only perfunctory questions.
2. Lose the checklist. Asking thoughtful questions about the board and governance does not mean whipping out a clipboard and running through a checklist about compliance with “best practices.”
While checklists have their place—and do demonstrate a level of due diligence—they generally fail to illuminate whether the board is actually doing a good job. Having a conflict-of-interest policy, term limits, or a governance committee doesn’t automatically produce a high-performing board.
A few probing questions tailored to the organization, its stage of development, and its most pressing challenges will yield better information than a one-size-fits-all checklist.
3. Communicate high expectations. Foundations need to do much more than talk about boards. We should have high expectations of the boards of grantees, and we could certainly do a better job of being clear about what those expectations are. If we expect 100-percent board giving, for example, we should say so. If a weak board was a factor in turning down a funding request, we should provide that feedback—and in specific rather than general terms, if possible.
4. Consider governance when making funding decisions.Talking with grantees about their boards helps elevate the importance of boards, and communicating high expectations helps grantees understand what the foundation is looking for.
However, if board issues go unaddressed after many conversations, or if the problems are too big, foundations may need to discontinue funding. This can be particularly difficult, since some grantees with weak boards do good work and have charismatic and persuasive staff leadership.
Foundations need to consider carefully the circumstances under which a weak board might lead to a grantee losing its funding. Foundations that profess to be committed to building strong boards while supporting organizations with weak boards that are making no effort to improve undermine their own credibility and risk creating the impression that they are only paying lip service to the need for stronger boards.
5. Strengthen our own boards. The medicine we so freely prescribe for grantees should also improve the health of foundation boards, which have the same basic responsibilities and face many of the same challenges. It’s unreasonable to ask our grantees to do things we’re not willing to do ourselves. Read the entire article here...
Executive Directors Should Invest More Time on Their Boards
By: Rick Moyers, The Chronicle of Philanthropy
The more effort nonprofit leaders put into supporting their boards, the happier they are with the board’s performance—but few leaders spend enough hours working with trustees to make a difference.
...The online survey for Daring to Lead asked executives a series of questions about their boards. We asked about their relationships with their board chairs, how much time they spent working with and supporting their boards, and whether they were getting help from board members in key management areas.
To supplement this survey data, 70 executive directors participated in focus groups in San Francisco and Washington, DC. In all five focus groups, executives spent much of the time discussing their relationships with—and in many cases their frustration with—their boards.
In analyzing this information and putting together the brief, two things stood out.
First, many executive directors don’t spend all that much time working with their boards. More than half of survey respondents said they spent 10 hours or less per month supporting their boards. Ten hours may sound significant, but that is just 6 percent of a full-time executive director’s time. Maybe even less, since many executives work more than 40 hours a week.
Second, executives who spend more time on their boards are more satisfied with their boards’ performance. As an example, among executive directors who said they spent less than five hours a month supporting the board, just 13 percent said they were very satisfied with the board’s performance. Among those who spent five to 10 hours per month on the board, 34 percent were very satisfied. Read the entire article here...
Fundraising on Rise for 10th Consecutive Month
By: Association Trends
Giving has shown a strong comeback in 2011 over last year, experienced by organizations of all sizes, according to a recently-released study of figures by Blackbaud, a supplier of fundraising and other management systems for nonprofits.
The Blackbaud Index of Charitable Giving has shown positive growth for the 10th consecutive month, and “for the first time in a long time, that growth exceeds 10% for the three months ending May 2011 over the prior year,” according to Chuck Longfield, Blackbaud’s chief scientist and creator of the Blackbaud Index. Longfield added that for the first time since the start of the Great Recession, that growth is being experienced by organizations of all sizes.
While growth in the new subsector of international affairs was up 13%, and for arts and culture organizations 12%, the increase wasn’t universal. For instance, human services and environmental organizations were down from their previous year results.
The Blackbaud Index of Charitable Giving reports that overall charitable revenue grew 11.3% for the three months ending May 2011, as compared to the same period in 2010. This trend is based on $2.3 billion in 12 months of revenue for 1,383 nonprofit organizations.
The Index found that three-month overall charitable revenue for small organizations (prior year revenue of less than $1 million) increased 17.6% in May, while overall charitable revenue at medium organizations (prior year revenue of $1-10 million) increased 10.3%, and overall charitable revenue at large organizations (prior year revenue greater than $10 million) increased 9.8%. Read more...
How to Build Membership Relationships That Last
By: Sarah L. Sladek, Associations Now
Associations have been losing their grip on the marketplace since the mid-2000s. First, younger generations began to question the value of membership and demanded a return on their membership investment. Then the economy took a nosedive, and now everyone is demanding a return on investment. Today it's possible for your members to access all kinds of professional development and networking, most of it for free. Demand is weak, competition is up, and your association's value is going down like a bad real estate investment.
There's only one way out of this mess: outcome-based member benefits.
By "outcome based," I mean to address one of my biggest pet peeves about association membership: Too often, associations list the features of membership instead of the outcomes.
For instance, two popular benefits associations like to trumpet are networking opportunities and a listing in the membership directory. But I wouldn't recommend listing these as main benefits, because they don't really carry any substantial value. I could arguably access networking opportunities with members without purchasing a membership, and a listing in the directory has a small chance of actually driving more business to my doorstep.
So rather than describing a membership listing and networking as benefits, wouldn't it be better to say that membership in the association leads to business contacts that can result in new business opportunities? Better still, do some research and quantify those new business opportunities. When you can say, for instance, that 60 percent of members report their membership has resulted in a new business opportunity, you have actual proof that your membership is valuable.
Your members are looking for benefits that add value to their businesses and lives, not merely a basket of products and services. They also want experiences that give them a sense of belonging without leaving them feeling like they've had to earn the privilege. That's the essence of outcome-based membership. Here's how to start moving your association toward it. Read the rest of the article here...
Good Signs in Overall Giving
By: Association of Fundraising Professionals
(July 19, 2011) There’s some good news about giving, as a new report shows nonprofit revenue has grown for ten consecutive months from August 2010 to May 2011.
Furthermore, Blackbaud reports that overall giving increased by 11.3 percent for the 3 months ending May 2011 as compared to the same period in 2010.
“We are definitely doing better in 2011,” said Chuck Longfield, Blackbaud’s chief scientist, in an interview this week with eWire. He said that revenue stopped falling in 2010 and now there are signs of growth.
The findings of the Blackbaud index coincide well with those of the Nonprofit Research Collaborative (NRC), of which AFP, Blackbaud and others are a part. Earlier this year, the NRC reported that a majority of charities surveyed saw their fundraising revenue remain stable or increase in 2010.
All Sizes Seeing Growth
The good news is that the growth is now being experienced by organizations of all sizes. The Index found that three-month overall charitable revenue for small organizations (prior year revenue of < $1 million) increased 17.6 percent in May, while overall charitable revenue at medium organizations (prior year revenue of $1 – 10 million) increased 10.3 percent, and overall charitable revenue at large organizations (prior year revenue > $10 million) increased 9.8 percent.
The Blackbaud index takes an average of three months for each of its measurements, so the May results are an average of March, April and May combined and averaged.
More good news is that although the increase in giving in March and April was modest, the growth is actually quite promising as there was a spike in international relief giving during those months in 2010. Since giving spiked in 2010 due to donations for Haiti, it is notable that giving still saw increases for those months in 2011.
Recovery Uneven
Unfortunately, the recovery has not been experienced the same way by all types of organizations.
“Organizations involved with international affairs saw a 13 percent increase in giving, while fundraising at arts and culture organizations grew nearly 12 percent,” Longfield said in a press release, referring to May 2011 totals. “The increase wasn’t universal however as human services and environmental organizations were still down from the previous year.”
Overall, these are good signs for giving in 2011, but Longfield cautions, “with job growth flat the past two months and the economy weakening; a real challenge for all nonprofits going forward will be maintaining this momentum.”
The Blackbaud Index of Charitable Giving is a fundraising index that reports overall giving trends of 1,383 nonprofit organizations representing $2.32 billion in yearly overall giving on a monthly basis, both offline and online. The index is based on actual giving statistics from nonprofit organizations of all sizes representing arts, culture, and humanities; education; environment and animals; healthcare; human services; international affairs; public and society benefit; and religion sectors. For more information go to www.blackbaud.com/blackbaudindex. Read more by AFP here...
Association Forum of Chicagoland's Annual Meeting Draws Record-Breaking Attendance
By: Association Forum of Chicagoland
Contact: Susan Urbanczyk, CAE (312) 924-7030
urbanczyk@associationforum.org
CHICAGO (June 22, 2011) - Association professionals and supplier partners participated in last week's Association Week, a five-day celebration of the association management profession sponsored by the Association Forum of Chicagoland. Association Forum achieved record breaking attendance at the Annual Meeting 2011 with more than 500 CEO, association professionals, and supplier partner registrants.
Association Week 2011 included a CEO-young professional networking event on Monday, June 13; the Annual Meeting on Tuesday, June 14; Association All-Star Day on Wednesday, June 15; the Honors Gala on Thursday, June 16; and an inaugural community service event on Friday, June 17.
"Like everyone else, association professionals are working toward economic recovery and dealing with the challenges of changing workplaces. The workforce is growing older, new technologies continue to emerge, and we're forced to do more with less," said Christie A. Tarantino, CAE, Association Forum president and CEO. "Association Week offers a time to slow down, take a look at some of the things we're doing right, and equip ourselves to be even more successful. It is a much-anticipated time for members of the association community to pause and celebrate associations and the association management community." Learn more...
'Giving USA' Forecasts Tough Years Ahead for Fund Raisers
By: Holly Hall, Chronicle of Philanthropy
This year’s “Giving USA,” the annual yearbook of American philanthropy, reverses the story it told last year about how giving fared in the recession.
It now says donations fell by higher percentages in 2008 and 2009 than at any other time in the past five decades—even though last year the report said that donations in those two years had declined only slightly or held steady. What’s more, it now says the recession cloud may hover for years, and it could be as long as 2016 before donations return to levels raised before the economy soured.
Driving the gloomy picture was a decline in donations by individuals, which fell by nearly 15 percent, adjusting for inflation, over 2008 and 2009. That information, based on data released by the Internal Revenue Service, was not available when researchers produced their findings last year.
The about-face has big implications for fund raisers and policy makers. Last year, as researchers proclaimed that individual giving had held its own, many fund raisers and nonprofit boards wondered why their own organizations had lost so much ground in the recession.
And in Washington and state capitols, policy makers have discussed cutting back charitable tax breaks and encouraging private philanthropy to make up for government cuts, a view that may have been reinforced when it seemed Americans were giving generously even in the worst of times.
Guesswork Unavoidable
So is the picture of giving during the recession and the recovery in “Giving USA” more accurate now?
Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy, which came under criticism last year because its estimates were so different from what charities said they were seeing, has made changes in its approach designed to combat the problem. But it still faces some challenges, in large part because of lags and gaps in what information about giving is available. Read more...
How to Attract Event Sponsors
By: Raymund Flandez, Chronicle of Philanthropy
Getting companies to support your big fund-raising event is no easy task. But it helps to know what makes companies give and what turns them off.
At a conference in New York last week for fund raisers, representatives from MasterCard Worldwide, Morgan Stanley, and the Nash Family Foundation imparted some advice as well as cautionary tales both about the solicitation process and the follow-up. Here are some of their tips:
- Recognize that sponsorship may be a business decision, not a philanthropic one
- Rely on business and personal connections
- Be candid about what your group wants
- Approach potential donors with care
- Be blunt about the bad economy’s effects
Read more about each tip...
A Case Study in Sustainability Reporting
By: Kristin Clarke, Associations Now
As sustainability reporting becomes more common in the corporate sector, driven primarily by investor demands for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data to strengthen their analyses of investment risks, the need for an independent, standardized reporting framework has grown as well.
Enter the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the most widely used ESG or corporate social responsibility reporting structure in the world. Considered the "gold standard" by many prominent companies, governments, and the United Nations, GRI is attracting associations interested in sharing their own journeys toward greater sustainability and transparency.
One example is the International Coalition of Mining and Metals (ICMM), a London-based trade organization of 18 major corporations and 30 mining and global-commodity associations that has committed to address the sector's core sustainability challenges and publicly report on progress.
A public survey in the late 1990s revealed that the industry needed to do something if it wanted continued access to
- Land, which involves government permits related to safety and the environment;
- Capital, since monetary returns are not achieved for a long time and, thus, are riskier;
- Markets, because mining exists only if demand is strong for its resulting products.
Worried, sector leaders formed ICMM and mandated a mission to improve sustainability performance in the mining industry. Read More...
Donations Dropped by 11% at Nation's Biggest Charities Last Year
By: Noelle Barton & Holly Hall, Chronicle of Philanthropy
Donations to the nation’s biggest charities dropped 11 percent last year, a decline that was the worst in the two decades since The Chronicle started its Philanthropy 400 ranking of the organizations that raise the most from private sources.
Nonprofit organizations say they don’t expect to have done much better by the time 2010 ends. More than one in four of the groups provided projections for 2010, and the median change they predicted was an increase of just 1.4 percent.
The 400 institutions in the survey raised $68.6-billion in 2009. The drop they suffered in contributions was nearly four times as great as the next biggest annual decrease: 2.8 percent in 2001, when charities also struggled to raise money from recession-battered donors.
The median amount raised by charities on the Philanthropy 400 also declined last year to $98.8-million, down from $105-million in 2008, meaning half raised more and half raised less. The Philanthropy 400 is based on the most-recent year of data available for charities; most organizations reported data for the 2009 fiscal year but some groups reported data for other periods of time.
Study Shows Direct Mail is a More Important Driver to Online Giving than Online Communications
By: Association of Fundraising Professionals
More than twice as many online donors say they were prompted to give an online gift in response to a direct mail appeal compared to when they received an e-appeal, according to a national Dunham+Company study recently conducted by research firm Campbell Rinker. In a surprising finding, 14 percent said that a direct mail letter prompted them to give online versus only 6 percent who said an email prompted their online gift.
Further underlining the importance of direct mail to motivate online giving, 1 in 3 donors (37 percent) who give online say that when they receive a direct mail appeal from a charity they use the charity's website to give their donation.
The younger the donor, the more likely they are to use a charity's website to respond to a direct mail appeal. One in two (50 percent) of generation X or Y donors say they give online in response to a direct mail appeal with 1 in 4 (26 percent) of boomers turning to online giving when they want to give as a result of receiving a direct mail appeal. Only 14 percent of those over 65 will do the same, as 3 out of 4 of this demographic prefer to give by mail. Read more at www.afpnet.org.
Federal Government Awards $50-Million in First Set of Innovation Grants
By: Debra E. Blum, Chronicle of Philanthropy
The Social Innovation Fund, a White House effort to pump millions of private and public dollars into projects that are effectively tackling pressing social problems, awarded its first round of grants today, totaling nearly $50-million. Among the biggest winners: job-training and workforce-development programs. Read More...
Advisors to the Wealthy Predict Rise in Giving to Offset Tax Increases
By: Grant Williams, Chronicle of Philanthropy
Eighty-seven percent of financial advisers expect income taxes to increase for most of their clients in the next 12 to 18 months, with 26 percent predicting their clients will increase charitable giving to offset the tax hikes, according to the 2010 Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund Advice & Giving survey of 500 financial advisers.
Forty-eight percent of advisers “expect their clients to maintain their level of giving, despite continuing market uncertainty and an overall decline in U.S. charitable giving in 2009,” according to the Fidelity report.
When advisers were asked which “giving vehicle” they expect to see increase in use over the next five years, nearly twice the number of advisers said donor-advised funds (39 percent) as said private foundations (20 percent), the report said. Donor-advised funds allow donors to set aside cash or other assets, receive a tax break, and later decide how much to recommend giving to specific charities.
Only half (52 percent) of financial advisers “proactively offer charitable-planning advice, although 63 percent believe clients would be interested in it,” the report said.
One of the primary reasons advisers do not offer charitable planning advice is because they see philanthropy as a client’s personal decision (44 percent), the report said. “Other reasons advisers cited are that clients have not requested help in that area (52 percent) and they do not feel qualified or knowledgeable enough on the topic (31 percent),” said the report.
Wealthy are Making Bigger Gifts to Charitable Causes, Chronicle Tally Shows
By:
Caroline Bermudez, Chronicle of Philanthropy
America’s wealthiest donors are making far bigger gifts to charitable organizations in 2010 than they did a year ago—but far fewer of them are giving $1-million or more to charitable causes, a Chronicle of Philanthropy analysis has found.
The continued effects of the turbulent economy can be seen in the decrease in the number of gifts of $1-million or more announced in the first six months of this year. At least 181 gifts of that size have been awarded this year, compared with 250 such donations in the first six months of 2009.
But the donations that have been made show that many wealthy Americans are more willing to part with large sums than they were a year ago. At least 20 people have made gifts of $20-million to $35-million in the past six months; in the first part of 2009, only 13 such gifts had been made.
The number of gifts of $100-million or more has also grown slightly. So far three such gifts have been made, compared with two in the first six months of 2009.
The largest donations made so far this year have been an anonymous pledge for $200-million to Baylor University, announced in March; a $100-million pledge by the financier T. Boone Pickens to Oklahoma State University, announced in February; and a $100-million commitment announced this month by Marc and Lynne Benioff to the University of California at San Francisco Children’s Hospital.
As a result of the growing number of large donations, the total contributed by 181 donors of $1-million or more was $1.96-billion in the first six months of this year: the total of the 250 gifts donated in the first two quarters of 2009 was $1.74-billion.
The Chronicle’s analysis was based on the searchable list of gifts of $1-million or more it maintains online.
Wise Giving? Most Donors Spend Little Time Researching Charities
By: Association of Fundraising Professionals
Only about one third of donors surveyed recently said that they did any research before donating to a charity, and those that did looked at overhead ratios above all else.
Only 35 percent of donors did research on any donation they made in 2009, according to a report published in May by Hope Consulting in San Francisco, and sixty-five percent did no research at all. Of those that did any research, about half (48 percent) spent an hour or less.
Donors indicate they are most concerned about their money being wasted by the charity, particularly money spent on overhead versus ‘doing good.' Interestingly, people were more concerned about making sure their money is not wasted than what particular approach the organization employs in solving a problem. Also surprisingly low on the list was donors' interest in knowing what the donation will actually provide.
Of the 35 percent of donors who actually research a charity before giving, well over half of them (62 percent) said that they are looking for simple facts and figures from charities. Only 15 percent said they wanted detailed reports about the charity.
People most often do their research by going directly to the charity for information--looking the charity's website, making direct contact with the charity's employees and volunteers, and consulting friends and family. They are less likely to consult third party sources to find out the effectiveness of a charity, such as the websites GuideStar and Charity Navigator. Read more at www.apfnet.org.
A $1.5 Billion Pledge for Women and Children
By: Caroline Preston
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will spend $1.5-billion over the next five years to improve maternal and child health, family planning, and nutrition programs in poor countries, Ms. Gates announced at a conference in Washington on Monday.
Challenging the notion that high maternal and child death tolls are unavoidable, she urged leaders of governments and other institutions around the world to make women’s and children’s health a higher priority. Read More...
Fundraising on Upward Trend, New Report Indicates
By: Association of Fundraising Professsionals
Nonprofit revenue in the U.S. increased 12.1 percent in the three months ending April 2010 as compared to the same period last year, according to a new report.
In the first release of what is to be a monthly index, nonprofit software and services firm Blackbaud tallied the fundraising revenue of 1,400 nonprofits representing $2.2 billion in yearly revenue. The report indicated a sharp year-over-year increase in nonprofit revenue for the period spanning February, March and April.
The increase is due in part to disaster relief giving for Haiti, but also represents a larger trend of recovery, says Blackbaud's chief scientist Chuck Longfield.
The data show that donations for the smaller organizations bottomed out in July of 2009, remained roughly flat throughout the second half of 2009, and turned upward starting in January 2010, Blackbaud stated in a press release. However, for large organizations, which saw the greatest spike in revenue totals over last year, it is still hard to tell how much of the growth was due to Haiti giving.
"It does look like things are on the upswing," Longfield said in an interview with eWire on Friday. "It was not only the large organizations, which benefited from large scale disaster relief efforts, that saw an increase over last year--small organizations are also doing better than last year--so we drew the conclusion that organizations are starting to stabilize or come out of the recession." Read more at www.apfnet.org.
2009 Saw Record Decline in Foundation Giving
By: The Association of Fundraising Professionals
The recent economic crisis caused the more than 75,000 grantmaking foundations in the United States to cut their 2009 giving by an estimated 8.4 percent--by far the largest decline ever tracked by the Foundation Center. Grant dollars fell from $46.8 billion in 2008 to $42.9 billion in 2009.
Several factors helped to moderate the overall decline in 2009 foundation giving. Principal among them were the decision of a significant number of funders to reduce their operating expenses and/or draw upon their endowments to shore up their giving during the crisis; increased giving by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other grant-makers; continuing gifts and bequests from donors into new and existing foundations; and the practice of asset-averaging by some foundations, which reduces the impact on giving of year-to-year fluctuations in asset values.
Other key estimates for 2009 include:
- Independent and family foundations - which represent close to nine out of 10 foundations - reduced their giving 8.9 percent to $30.8 billion in 2009.
- Corporate foundation giving decreased 3.3 percent to $4.4 billion in 2009.
- Community foundation giving declined 9.6 percent to $4.1 billion in 2009, exceeding decreases by independent and corporate foundations.
Findings from the Foundation Center's annual "Foundation Giving Forecast Survey" suggest that 2010 foundation giving will remain flat - a less pessimistic outlook than respondents anticipated a year ago. Should the economic rebound not derail, foundation giving may show positive, though modest, growth in 2011.
"The economic crisis has not ended for this country's nonprofits, and it will be some time before foundations are in a position to help them return to growth," said Bradford K. Smith, president of the Foundation Center. "But funders have made exceptional efforts to lessen the pain faced by the nonprofit community."
ASAE & the Center: Where's the Love? Volunteer Recognition Strategies
Component Relations, April 2010
By: KiKi L'Italien
Component relations professionals discussed programs aimed at recognizing component volunteers during a recent virtual lunch. Participants agreed more should be done to formalize methods of recognition, including small acts of appreciation such as personal thank you notes. Visit www.asaecenter.org for more information.
ADS Executive Speaks on Corporate Fundraising for Associations
To watch video click here.
Associations Are Ready for a Recovery
By: Association Forum of Chicagoland
After two years of budget cuts and spending freezes, associations are tired of pressing "pause" on their organizational goals. Because most economists are predicting the start of a recovery this year, associations in turn are gearing up to finally press "play" - and we're expecting them to flock to Holiday Showcase when they do. If you want to benefit, you'll have to be there.
ASAE & the Center: Why Don't They Give?
Executive IdeaLink, April 2010
By: Beth Gazley and Monica Dignam
ASAE & The Center's most recent research study, The Decision to Give, may provide you and your board members with valuable insights about why your association's members are engaged (or not) in philanthropic giving. The biggest reason why not? Most people say they've never been asked. Visit www.asaecenter.org for more information.
Exhibition Industry Foundation
The Exhibition Industry Foundation (EIF) recently announced its support of a new study coordinated by Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) and was launched in March 2010. The study seeks to understand the broad economic impact of non-participation by international exhibitors and event attendees, due to visa denials by the U.S. The intent of this study is to help determine the true costs of the loss of these visitors to domestic exhibitions - costs felt on multiple levels, including foregone exhibitor booth sales and business-to-business sales. The results of the study are expected to be released later this summer.
For more information on this study and/or other initiatives that EIF has supported please visit www.exhibitionfoundation.org.
Masters Plumb Depth Of Demand, Petruccelli Predicts 2010 Plateau
By: Jay Boehmer, Business Travel News, March 2010
After recounting the grim state of the industry in the past year, American Express Global Travel Services president Charles Petruccelli, during the Masters Program in Washington, D.C., last month said travel volumes would grow—then plateau.
"One could say that the recession may be behind us," Petruccelli told the roughly 175 senior-level buyers and suppliers in attendance. "The question: Is this the beginning of a recovery, with either a U-shape or V-shape, as some are predicting, or is it a square-root shape, where the volume rebound that we're experiencing is being provoked by pent-up demand that is finally being released by companies that believe the worst is behind them? In that second hypothesis, which is the one I favor, one should expect a flattening of the demand at some point in 2010." Click here to read more.
National Business and Travel Association
The NBTA and the Business Travel News held the Strategic Travel Symposium in New York City on March 15 - 16, 2010 at the Crown Plaza Times Square Manhattan. The top priorities of the program were to discuss the current state of business travel, provide practical guidance and advice as well as expert analysis on what the future holds.
The NBTA Foundation Annual Gala Dinner is the most prestigious gathering of business travel leaders from around the industry. During the 2010 Gala individuals had the opportunity to network with the most influenced people in the business travel industry at both the pre-dinner reception and dessert after party. The NBTA Foundation celebrated their accomplishments and honored their partnerships.
Society of Gynecologic Oncologists
In March 2010 SGO held is annual meeting on women's cancer at the Moscone West Convention Center in San Francisco, CA.
The SGO Annual Meeting on Women's Cancer offered a variety of exceptional educational experiences, as well as a wide range of opportunities to network with colleagues and friends from across the country and the globe. Set in a venue that reflects the fast-paced nature of this surgical sub-specialty, the SGO Annual Meeting attracted over 1800 members and guests ranging from gynecologic oncologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, obstetricians, gynecologists, fellows and residents in the area of OB/GYN and GYN oncology, nurses, scientists, health care professionals, pharmaceutical and device company representatives and others involved in the care of patients with gynecologic malignancies. To read more visit www.sgo.org.
American Vascular Association
The American Vascular Association held their annual Industry Advisory Council meeting in Washington DC from January 30-31, 2010. The Industry Advisory Council is made of up prominent vascular surgeons in both the private practice and academic community. In addition to prominent SVS members, many industry partners are invited to attend this annual "meeting of the minds" to discuss the hot topics in the vascular community.
AHRA: The Association for Medical Imaging Management
The AHRA leadership team attended the 2009 RSNA conference in Chicago, IL in early December. These prominent AHRA leaders met with high influential executives within the imaging community. Due to these meetings, the AHRA Education Foundation was able to secure partnerships which will provide the funding to continue their innovative research and educational initiatives for 2010.
National MS Society Receives $19 Million Gift
Fast Forward and EMD Serono agree to work together to speed research development on a select group of high potential MS research projects with support of up to $19 million in funding.
Rockland, MA/New York, NY, March 18, 2009 – EMD Serono, Inc., an affiliate of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt Germany, and Fast Forward, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, announced a collaborative partnership to evaluate and fund promising multiple sclerosis (MS) research projects. Proposals will be jointly developed by EMD Serono and Fast Forward. Merck KGaA the parent corporation of EMD Serono, Inc., will provide up to $19 million in funding. The funds will support early stage clinical development projects with biotech companies or projects with individual researchers or academic institutions. |
