Conservatives Have Answered Obama's Call

"What is required of us now," President Barack Obama said in his inaugural address this week, "is a new era of responsibility -- a recognition on the part of every American that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world." It is a message that nonprofit organizations would like our nation to take to heart, as 2009 fund-raising begins.

Unfortunately, we nonprofit leaders, like our for-profit counterparts, are laying awake nights. The end of 2008 was disappointing for philanthropy, and some believe that 2009 will be difficult as well. Indiana University's Center on Philanthropy publishes the Philanthropic Giving Index (PGI), which tracks the predictions of nonprofit leaders about charitable giving. Like the more-famous Consumer Confidence Index, it shows a level of gloom not seen in years, falling from 83 to 65 (on a 0-100 scale) in just six months.

Full-text article by Arthur C. Brooks available via the Wall Street Journal.

Charity Reels in Recession

The Harlem Children's Zone, Geoffrey Canada's successful anti-poverty initiative, gets attention from Barack Obama and struggles with financial issues, including the fallout from the Madoff scandal.

This video will be available to non-subscribers of the for up to seven days via the Wall Street Online Journal.

Fund-Raising Worries? These 2 Consultants Provide a Road Map for Bumpy Times

For fund-raising consultants, the volatile economy has brought one constant: more time on the road.

Even in good times, philanthropy's road warriors spend much of their time traveling to clients' campuses to help plan megacampaigns or improve giving programs. But now, as the stock market stumbles and the country's financial system gets an extreme makeover, demand for their presence has gone up, as college administrators and trustees look for advice on how to stay one step ahead of the shifting landscape.

Bruce Flessner, a principal with the consulting firm Bentz Whaley Flessner, has made presentations once a week at board meetings for the nonprofit organizations he works with. A year ago, he did one a month. "When the economy goes south, you do a lot more presentations to the boards," he says.

Full-text article by Kathryn Masterson is available via the Chronicle of Higher Education, 1.22.09. [Subscription required.]

Looking Good By Doing Good

Rewarding people for their generosity may be counterproductive. The distinction between private and public generosity is helpful in understanding what motivates people to give money to charities or donate blood, acts which are costly to the doer and primarily benefit others. Such actions are widespread, and growing.

Full-text article is available via the Economist.com, 1.15.09.

ROI in Digital Fundraising and Online Giving

When it comes to return on investment for a nonprofit's online fundraising and donations program there is no hard and fast digital metric that serves as the gold standard … yet.

While some fundraisers have struck gold — generating 10 times their online investment in as little as three months, others just break even after three years of hard work.

It's important that nonprofits and their teams have some shared perspective and collective agreement.

Full-text article by Philip King is available via FundRaising Success, 1.21.09.

Wellesley College Stung by Investment Losses

Prestigious Wellesley College, which draws heavily from its endowment to fund operations, is facing a projected $20 million budget shortfall and will aggressively cut costs as its endowment is hammered by the continued decline in the financial markets.

Other colleges with large endowments are also expecting shortfalls and cuts in the coming years. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently said it is planning $100 million to $150 million in cuts over the next three years. Boston University said recently it needs to close a $10 million projected gap in its 2010 budget. And Smith College said recently it will look to cut as much as $30 million from its budget.

Full-text article by Jesse Noyes is available via the Boston Business Journal, 1.19.09.

Hospitals and Health Systems to Cut Back on Both Capital Spending and Unprofitable Services in 2009

A new report released in January 2009 from the Noblis Center for Health Innovation, a leading non-profit advisory firm to health providers, has found that hospitals and health systems across the United States are cutting back on both capital spending and unprofitable healthcare services as a result of the economic crisis. Conducted in late 2008, the Noblis Economic Impact Study assesses the impact of the national economic crisis on the financial health of hospitals and health systems including: utilization; profitability; uncompensated care; philanthropy and fundraising goals; and the status of current and future projects.

Full-text press release is available via PRNewswire, 1.19.09.

Shifts in Corporate Philanthropy

If the crash of 2008 marks the end of an era of turbocharged laisser-faire capitalism in which free markets ruled and the pursuit of self-interest was regarded as a virtue, will businesses now come under pressure to do a bit more for society than merely maximizing shareholder wealth?

Full-text article by Richard Tomkins is available via the Financial Times, 1.17.09.

IRS Official Offers Preview of Much-Anticipated Compensation Study

A top official of the Internal Revenue Service has given a preview of findings from a much-anticipated study of more than 500 nonprofit hospitals. Under the IRS's
microscope are the compensation provided to hospital executives and the benefits that hospitals provide to the neighborhoods they serve.

Full-text article by Grant Williams is available via the Chronicle of Philanthropy, 1.12.09. [Subscription required.]

For Athletics, a Billion-Dollar Goal Line

The nation's biggest athletics departments are trying to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for sports endowments, increasing the competition for donors.

Full-text article by Brad Wolverton is available via the Chronicle of Higher Education, 1.19.09. [Subscription required.]

Stimulus Bill Includes Billions of Dollars in Help for Students and Colleges

Students, researchers, and colleges would benefit from new spending and tax breaks included in an $825-billion economic-stimulus plan that Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives unveiled on Thursday.

Full-text article by Sara Hebel is available via the Chronicle of Higher Education, 1.16.09. [Subscription required.]

Fund Raisers Predict That Gifts to Education Will Decline in 2009

After years of steady growth, fund raisers predict that the final tally on giving to education will be relatively flat for 2008 and that giving will decline slightly in the year ahead, according to a forecasting survey by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Survey findings available in late February 2009.

Bruce Flessner, a fund-raising consultant, told The Chronicle last month that he expected giving to higher education to drop by 4 percent to 5 percent in 2009.

Full-text article by Kate Masterson is available via the Chronicle of Higher Education, 1.16.09. [Subscription required.]

Report on College Spending Trends Highlights Inequities in Financing Model

An analysis of spending trends that is designed to discourage policy makers’ “myopic focus” on finding new revenue rather than reining in spending suggests that the model for financing college has reinforced educational inequities and failed to increase the rate at which students graduate.

Full-text article by Goldie Blumenstyk is available via the Chronicle of Higher Education, 1.15.09.

Retooling Obama's Campaign Machine for the Long Haul

The vast network that helped elect Obama will be tapped to lobby lawmakers on behalf of the president, with an eye toward reelection. A service organization as a nonprofit arm is also considered.

Full-text article by Peter Wallsten is available via the Los Angeles Times, 1.14.09.

Next Benefit to Face the Ax: Matching Gifts

Hit hard by the recession, many companies have trimmed contributions to employees' 401(k) plans, suspended bonuses and cut back on health-care benefits. Now, a growing number are also taking the ax to their charitable matching gifts and volunteer programs.

Full-text article by Shelly Banjo is available via the Wall Street Journal, 1.14.09.

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Cuts Jobs to Sidestep Deficit

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra has laid off five employees, or about 8 percent of its staff, and eliminated several positions to save $500,000 and help balance its budget.

Full-text article by Julekha Dash is available via the Baltimore Business Journal, 1.14.09.

Princeton, Harvard Lead Bond Sales as Endowments Fall

Princeton and Harvard are leading U.S. colleges and universities in a new wave of bond sales after market losses cut the value of endowments by a quarter in the past six months, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

Full-text article by Gillian Wee is available via Bloomberg, 1.14.09.

Recession Squeezes Even Philanthropies of Gates, Allen

Some of the region's biggest givers, who have helped turn Seattle into a center of global philanthropy, are determined to maintain their ambitions. Yet, they are either curbing their planned growth or, in some cases, reducing their giving.

Full-text article by Kristi Heim is available via the Seattle Times, 1.14.09.

Charities and the Economy: Read The Chronicle's Special Report

The new issue of The Chronicle of Philanthropy was posted online today. In a special report, The Chronicle examines how nonprofit groups are coping with the economy by following four organizations through their end-of-year giving season and looking at efforts to encourage governments to aid struggling charities. In addition, we examine how the credit crunch is affecting nonprofit groups and how arts organizations are facing the challenges.

You can find everything that is new in the issue at http://philanthropy.com/summary/. [Subscription may be required to access some of the articles.]

Fund Raising in a Recession

Commentary by Jeff Schoenherr, director of the regional and international major-gifts program at the Johns Hopkins Institutions, which just completed its "Knowledge for the World Campaign" and raised more than $3.5-billion.

Full-text article by Jeff Schoenherr is available via the Chronicle of Higher Education, 1.9.09.

Foundations Help Nonprofits Hurt in Madoff Affair

Nonprofits that are struggling because their donors lost money with Bernard Madoff are getting a bailout - but not from the government. Richer foundations are stepping in to help.

Full-text article by Rachel Beck is available via U.S. News & World Report, 1.6.09.

Obama Plans to Keep Estate Tax

President-elect Barack Obama and congressional leaders plan to move soon to block the estate tax from disappearing in 2010, suggesting the levy might outlive the "Death Tax Repeal" movement that has tried mightily to kill it.

Full-text article by Jonathan Weisman is available via the Wall Street Journal, 1.12.09.

Minnesota Grantmakers Anticipate Drop in Giving in 2009

After several years of increased giving, Minnesota foundations and corporate giving programs expect a decline in grantmaking to nonprofit organizations in 2009 versus 2008. 40 percent of grantmakers anticipate a decrease in giving, 41 percent expect their giving to remain the same, and 15 percent hope to increase their grantmaking in 2009.

The full report is available via the Minnesota Council on Foundations, 1.2009.

Hedge Fund Charities Pinched as Donors Ask Results Firms Miss

In the past decade, hedge funds and private equity firms have emerged as some of the biggest and most-visible donors to charities in Europe, the U.S. and around the world. The money they spend on U.K. and New York schools and to fight AIDS in Africa and India almost always comes with strings attached.

Full-text article by Stephanie Baker and Tom Cahill is available via Bloomberg.com, 1.12.08.

California Universities to Freeze Top Administrator Salaries as Budget Crisis Worsens

California’s two public-university systems announced today that they would freeze the salaries of top administrators, one of many steps the systems are taking to cut costs during the state’s most severe fiscal crisis in decades.

Full-text blog post by Josh Keller is available via the Chronicle of Higher Education, 1.9.09.

University Leaders From Around the World Discuss Fund Raising in Troubled Times

The new philanthropic landscape could yield unexpected opportunities for higher-education institutions, university leaders from around the world were told at a meeting in New York.

Full-text article by Aisha Labi is available via the Chronicle of Higher Education, 2.12.09. [Subscription required.]

Texas Children's Has 'Integral Role' in Rice-Baylor Hospitals Deal

Texas Children's Hospital has joined the effort to bring about a merger of Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine, the city's elite academic institutions.

Full-text article by Todd Ackerman is available via the Houston Chronicle, 12.19.08.

Katzenberg Says Losses Linked to Madoff Damaged His Philanthropy

Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg says the losses on his personal investments with Bernard L. Madoff have done "extraordinary damage" to his philanthropic efforts.

Full-text article by Tom Petruno is available via the Los Angeles Times, 1.9.09.

Updates on Billion-Dollar Campaigns at 33 Universities

The 33 American universities that are seeking to raise at least $1-billion collected a total of $423.2-million in gifts and pledges during the last month for which they had data available.

Full-text article by Marisa Lopez-Rivera is available via the Chronicle of Higher Education, 1.9.09.

The States Pull Back

Annual state appropriations for higher education inched up by less than 1 percent for the 2009 fiscal year, according to a report by the Center for the Study of Education Policy at Illinois State University.

Full-text article by Scott Jaschik is available via InsideHigherEd., 1.9.09.

2009 Best Values in Private Colleges

Despite shrinking endowments, these schools deliver an affordable, high-quality education.

Full-text article by Jane Bennett Clark is available via Kiplinger.com, 1.8.09.

Recession Hits Arts Groups Especially Hard

Despite generally strong attendance at many nonprofit museums and theaters in recent months, many arts charities around the country are laying off workers or adopting hiring freezes and cutting other expenses in response to a falloff in donations from companies, individuals, and governments. And most are bracing for much tougher times ahead.

Full-text article by Sue Hoye is available via the Chronicle of Philanthropy, 1.2.08.

Charitable Giving in 2008

Despite an economic recession, America's wealthiest individuals gave record amounts to charity last year.

At least 16 individuals made gifts of $100 million or more in 2008, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports. That's more people than ever have done so in the 12 years that The Chronicle has been keeping such a tally.

Full-text article by Maria DiMento is available via the Chronicle of Philanthropy, 12.31.08.

States Push To Encrypt Donor/Client Info

Fred Schultz, CEO and founder of the Foundation for Positively Kids (FPK) in Las Vegas, deals with a lot of confidential information in his program for medically-dependent children. The organization stores names, addresses, medication, family information and donor credit card information.

A good portion of that information arrived via email. That system now must be overhauled to accommodate a new Nevada law that requires personal information transmissions to be encrypted.

Nevada is not alone. A data security measure became law on January 1 in Massachusetts and it is being talked about in several other states.

Full-text article by Michele Donohue is available via the NonProfit Times, 1.6.09.

IRA Mandatory Minimum Distribution Rule Waived for 2009

In a recently enacted law, individuals who are 70½ and older can keep all of their funds in their IRA without receiving a tax penalty. This waiver could detrimentally affect donations made under the IRA Rollover provision.

Full-text article available via the Association of Fundraising Professionals, 1.5.09.

Donors’ Return on Gift Annuities Should Decrease, Group Recommends

The American Council on Gift Annuities has lowered the recommended level of return to donors for charitable gift annuities.

Article abstract is available via the Association of Fundraising Professionals, 1.5.09.

The Madoff Scandal and Unfilled Charitable Pledges

As has widely been reported, the Bernard Madoff scandal has extended well beyond the corporate sector and has hit the charitable sector quite hard. AFP’s legal counsel has prepared a document explaining the legal issues related to unfulfilled pledges from donors, foundations and other parties.

Full-text article is available via the Association of Fundraising Professionals, 1.5.09.

Fundraisers See Chilly Giving Climate Now and in Future

The fundraising climate is the toughest it’s been since 1998, according to the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy’s most recent Philanthropic Giving Index.

Full-text article is available via the Association of Fundraising Professionals, 1.5.09.

With Funds Tight, College Students Get Creative

E-mail pleas, peer lending, and a new pay-for-grades site are supplementing traditional college funding plans.

Full-text article by Dan Macsai is available via BusinessWeek, 12.30.08.

Executive of the Year 2009 - T. Boone Pickens

Sharing the wealth keeps T. Boone Pickens grounded as he funds worthy causes numbering billions of dollars through the years. In 2008, Pickens and his personal foundation gave away more than $125 million to charitable causes.

Full-text article by Chad Eric Watt is available via the Dallas Business Journal, 1.2.09. [Subsription.]

Buffett's Sister Spreads A Little Sunshine On McMaster

Doris Buffett and her brother, billionaire investor Warren Buffett, have given away lots of money over the years. Now Mrs. Buffett is helping business students at Hamilton's McMaster University become philanthropists as well.

Full-text article by Paul Waldie is available via GlobeandMail.com, 1.3.09.

Foundations Take Active Role On Health Policy

Frustrated that years of financing studies and demonstration projects have not translated into widespread improvement in medicine, California philanthropic foundations and think tanks are shedding their traditionally detached stances to crusade for healthcare reform in the state Capitol and in Congress.

Full-text article by Jordan Rau is available via the Los Angeles Times, 1.5.09.

Survey: How Colleges Are Responding to the Recession

Most colleges have steered through the first jolts of the recession without resorting to layoffs, cutting employee benefits, or imposing across-the-board freezes on hiring. But the economic pain is afflicting campuses in many other ways, according to the findings from a new survey of chief business officers conducted last month by The Chronicle and Moody's Investors Service.

Full-text article by Goldie Blumenstyk is available via the Chronicle of Higher Education, 1.9.09. [Subscription required.]

Markets Limp Into 2009 After a Bruising Year

In a mere 12 months, the Dow Jones industrial average plunged 4,488.43 points, or 33.8 percent, its most punishing loss since 1931. Blue chips like Bank of America, Citigroup and Alcoa lost more than 65 percent of their value. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index sank 39.5 percent, almost exactly matching its decline in 1937.

All told, about $7 trillion of shareholders’ wealth — the gains of the last six years — was wiped out in a year of violent market swings.

Full-text article by Vikas Bajaj is available via the New York Times, 12.31.08.

A Rust Belt Oasis, the University of Michigan Is Spending Billions to Grow

An army of ironworkers, masons, carpenters and laborers are swarming the campus of the University of Michigan these days, as the university undertakes a construction campaign budgeted at $2.5 billion, ranking it among the largest university building programs in the United States.

Full-text article by Keith Schneider is available via the New York Times, 12.30.08.

Web Site To Help Local Donors Make Wise Choices

A Web site could forge new links between prospective donors and local nonprofit organizations in 2009.

DubuqueGiving.org is a facet of the GoldPenny Project, a partnership between Dubuque365.com, the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque and the Better Business Bureau of Greater Iowa.

The project seeks to help local donors make wise giving choices, help local leaders promote nonprofit excellence, efficiency and effective governance and encourage and develop a culture of local philanthropy.

Full-text article by Erik Hogstrom is available via the Telegraph Herald, 12.31.08.

Ivory Towers Are Feeling The Economic Pinch

Shakespeare, Edith Wharton and Internet poetry were supposed to be among the main topics of discussion at the largest gathering of humanities professors in the nation. But the sour economy and shrunken job market for academics proved to be more dramatic than any novel or play.

An estimated 8,500 professors and wannabe professors of English literature, composition and foreign languages gathered for the annual meeting this week of the Modern Language Assn., a convention that traditionally combines high-flying literary debate with a gargantuan employment fair. Job-seekers were disappointed that many colleges had reduced or canceled faculty hirings because of shrinking endowments and state funding cuts.

Full-text article by Larry Gordon is available via the Los Angeles Times, 1.1.09.

The Debt Trap: Colleges Profit as Banks Market Credit Cards to Students

As concern about student debt rises, promotional relationships between schools and banks have sounded alarm bells.

Full-text article by Jonathan D. Glater is available via the New York Times, 1.1.09.

What Billionaires Think Will Happen In 2009

Where's the economy going? The Financial Post queried a few members of the Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans to get their thoughts on a range of topics, from unemployment and the price of oil to financial regulation and fiscal policy.

Twelve billionaires answered the 10-question survey and nearly all believe the economy will return to positive growth sometime in the fourth quarter of 2009 or the first quarter of 2010.

Full-text article by Claire Obusan is available via the Financial Post, 12.30.08.