Older Workers Bring New Purpose to Volunteer Work

As the recession drives an increase in community service, baby boomers with ideas about how they want to help nonprofit and community organizations are remaking the face of volunteerism. Volunteerism among people older than 45 jumped 4.2 percent during in the 12 months that ended last September, compared with 0.7 percent for younger people, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Full text article by the Associated Press is available via The New York Times, 3/4/10.

Getting more back from giving

A new study of Los Angeles County nonprofit groups concludes that spending on advocacy and local organizing can yield significant returns for the people and neighborhoods the organizations aim to serve. Every dollar spent by advocacy groups in the study produced $91 in benefits to local residents, according to the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, in Washington.

Full text article by Alexandra Zavis is available via The Los Angeles Times, 3/2/10.

Globalization and Other Big Changes Will Force Hospital Fund Raisers to Take New Approaches

Globalization, the rising importance of small businesses, and the growing need for new revenue are some of the trends that will force fund raisers at nonprofit hospitals and health-care organizations to change their approaches,

Full text article by Holly Hall is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 3/1/10.

Most N.Y., Washington Charities Plan to Hire in 2010, New Surveys Find

Despite tough times for charities, a trio of new surveys of charities in New York, New Jersey, and Washington shows that most plan to hire in the year ahead—and that the overwhelming majority plan to raise staff salaries in 2010 or at least hold them steady. Charities are most likely to fill fund-raising and program staff positions this year, according to the reports by Professionals for Nonprofits, a staffing organization with offices in New York and Washington.

Full text article by Heather Joslyn is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 3/1/10.

Washington state foundations suggest changing nonprofit funding methods

A study commissioned by seven of Washington State's leading foundations recommends that grant makers support charities' administrative and operating needs rather than just financing specific programs. Such an approach would help nonprofit organizations better weather tough economic times and strengthen the field over the long term, according to the report

Full text article by Clay Holtzman is available via Puget Sound Business Journal, 2/26/10.

More Than a Quarter of Wealthiest Americans Say Recession Led to Donation Cuts

Twenty-eight percent of wealthy Americans say the recession has caused them to cut back on the total amount of money they give to charity, according to the annual Wealth and Values Survey, by PNC Wealth Management. Although such donors have reduced their giving, 55 percent of the respondents said they still believe they have a responsibility to donate to the nonprofit groups, about the same percentage who indicated such a view in the last three years’ surveys.

Full text article by Maria Di Mento is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 3/1/10.

Bethesda's WealthEngine digs deep into data to find potential donors

A Bethesda company called WealthEngine scours public records in search of rich people who might give money to WealthEngine's extensive client list of nonprofit organizations. Everybody knows the big names. Think Lerner, Leonsis. Rales and Rubenstein. Kimsey, Bradley, Snyder and Smith. WealthEngine digs deeper.

Full text article by Thomas Heath is available via The Washington Post, 3/1/10.

Social Innovation Fund Issues Call for Grant Proposals

The Corporation for National and Community Service issued its final notice today on how it plans to spend the Social Innovation Fund, paving the way for organizations to prepare their grant applications. The notice includes several changes to an outline that the agency issued last month on how it would award the $50-million in grants designed to help nonprofit groups expand promising approaches to social problems. Notably, the agency cut the minimum grant award from $5-million to $1-million—responding to concerns that it would be difficult for some applicants to produce the required matching funds for the higher amount.
Full text article by Suzanne Perry is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 2/16/10.

Understanding How Donors Choose: a Key to Fund-Raising Success

Many fund raisers spend so much time collecting information and doing research on their wealthy donors that it almost seems like they are stalking potential supporters, say Bernard Ross and Clare Segal, two British nonprofit consultants. Not surprisingly, donors sometimes get “a little freaked out” by the amount of personal and financial information fund raisers uncover, Mr. Ross says.

Full text article by Holly Hall is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 2/21/10.

Teach for America's federal funds threatened by grant competition proposal

Officials of Teach for America, the nonprofit program that trains recent college graduates for teaching jobs in many of the country's most-troubled public schools, are worried that a new Obama administration proposal could mean the loss of some of the $18-million in federal money it currently receives. The plan would end the practice of earmarking money specifically for Teach for America and would add the money to a bigger pot designated for teacher training and recruitment and distributed as part of a competitive grants process.

Full text article by Nick Anderson is available via The Washington Post, 2/11/10.

Tuition-Free University Gains a Following

A nonprofit, tuition-free online university started by an Israeli entrepreneur last year has attracted 300 students and is seeking to carve out a niche in the largely commercial online-education field. The University of the People began classes in September with students from nearly 50 countries, mostly in the developing world. Shai Reshef, a veteran of Internet-based educational ventures, has won the backing of the United Nations for the project, which recently announced a research partnership with Yale University.

Full text article by Alison Damast is available via Business Week, 1/24/10.

Donations to Help Haiti Exceed $528-Million, Chronicle Tally Finds

Contributions continue to pour in for relief efforts in Haiti. Fifteen days after the massive earthquake struck, donors have contributed more than $528-million to 40 U.S. nonprofit groups.

Full text article by Caroline Preston and Nicole Wallace is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 1/27/10.

Offer to Take Over Ailing Hospital Stirs Outcry

Nonprofit Continuum Health Partners, one of New York's largest hospital systems, has made an offer to take over the financially ailing St. Vincent's hospital, the city's last Catholic general hospital, and turn it into an outpatient center. St. Vincent's has been losing millions of dollars a month and is facing a possible second bankruptcy three years after emerging from its first. The Greenwich Village hospital gained iconic status in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, when it became a gathering place for people searching for loved ones.
Full text article by Anemona Hartocollis is available via The New York Times, 1/26/10.

Ivy Leaguers’ Class for Poor Becomes ‘Platinum’ Charter Schools

Starting 17 years ago as an experiment that lifted 50 Houston fifth-graders’ academic performance through expanded school hours, the nonprofit Knowledge Is Power Program has grown into the country’s biggest charter-school provider. KIPP, as it is known, now operates 82 schools in 19 states, primarily serving poor and minority students. The program has been cited by the Obama administration as a model for education improvement and won strong financial support from the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, which has been financing school-overhaul efforts.
Full text article by Molly Peterson is available via Bloomberg, 1/20/10.

A New York Cancer Center Uses Technology to Predict Who Will Give

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, in New York, has become one of a small but growing number of institutions to embrace a technique known as predictive modeling to help it set priorities and decide which donors deserve the most attention. Nonprofit organizations' use of statistical analysis in their fund raising has grown significantly in recent years, most often to identify the donors most likely to respond to requests for large gifts or to direct-mail appeals, says Joshua Birkholz, a fund-raising consultant at Bentz Whaley Flessner, in Minneapolis, and author of Fundraising Analytics: Using Data to Guide Strategy.

Full text article by Nicole Wallace is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 1/14/10.

Harvard University Audited as Part of IRS Probe of Nonprofits

Harvard University is among 40 academic institutions that will undergo federal audits this year in conjunction with an Internal Revenue Service review of nonprofit organizations’ tax-exempt status. The IRS sent questionnaires to 400 institutions of higher education in October 2008 seeking information on their fiscal management, investments, and use of endowment funds. The agency is looking into whether colleges’ tax exemptions should apply to income from activities not directly tied to their educational mission.

Full text article by Michael McDonald and John Lauerman is available via Bloomberg, 1/11/10.

The Future Starts Now

Some nonprofit leaders and futurists are looking beyond the immediate concerns of the bad economy to ponder what the charity world will look like in the next 10 years. The Chronicle’s special report looks at key changes in technology, demographics, and other issues that will affect philanthropy.
Full text article by Ian Wilhelm is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 1/14/10.

Does Service Learning Really Help?

College courses that incorporate volunteerism are now part of the curriculum at most colleges and universities. The article cites the positive and negative experiences of several community groups in college towns. Well-coordinated programs can provide needed aid for nonprofit organizations, but supervising the volunteers can be a financial and administrative burden for smaller charities.

Full text article by Stephanie Strom is available via The New York Times, 12/29/09.

Hospital CEOs face pay freezes amid recession

Nonprofit hospital systems in southwest Ohio froze or cut pay for their top executives in 2009 after many of them offered significant raises the year before. All nine hospital networks in the Miami Valley area were cautious about the salaries of their chief executives as the recession hit. The largest entity, Premier Health Partners, froze base pay in 2009 but did give top executives bonuses, while raising general staff salaries by 2.5 percent.

Full text article by Ben Sutherly is available via Dayton Daily News, 1/2/10.

Pioneering L.A. nonprofit is saving lives in Afghanistan

The International Medical Corps’ longstanding relief work in Afghanistan and other war zones is the subject of an article in the Los Angeles Times. The Los Angeles organization, founded in 1984 to shore up an Afghan health-care system devastated by the Soviet invasion, has forged deep ties in Afghan communities, winning protection from village councils and facing relatively little threat from the Taliban. It has sought to help Afghans build their own abilities to provide health services by hiring native-born doctors, midwives, pharmacists, and other medical experts to operate its clinics.

Full text article by Alexandra Zavis is available via the Los Angeles Times, 1/5/10.

Gauging the Dedication of Teacher Corps Grads

People who participate in Teach for America, the fast-growing program that sends new college graduates into schools with large numbers of needy students, do not necessarily get involved in other areas of civic life, such as voting and charitable giving, as they grow older. According to a study conducted by Stanford University sociologists at the suggestion of Wendy Kopp, Teach for America’s founder, graduates of the nonprofit teacher corps vote, give, and participate in other civic activities at lower rates than those who were accepted into Teach for America but either declined or dropped out before finishing the two-year term.

Full text article by Amanda M. Fairbansk is available via The New York Times, 1/3/10.

Top Philanthropy Events of the Last 10 Years

As we approach 2010, nonprofit blog writers are taking a look back at the previous decade and asking: What were the biggest moment for the nonprofit world?

Full text article by Ian Wilhelm is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 12/28/09.

The Nonprofit Market: A Look Back and a Look Ahead

Looking back on the year, 2009 can be characterized as a rollercoaster ride for nonprofits. Fearing the worst, the industry so far has seen an 11 percent decrease in donations, according to a September 2009 report by the Charities Aid Foundation and National Council for Voluntary Organisations. This has been especially hard on small organizations, with many of them getting squeezed out by their larger, more national counterparts. At the same time, many charities with similar missions have come together, creating partnerships or merging in order to survive the economic downturn — and ensure the proper support for their causes. Although this has been a difficult time for nonprofits, 2009 has made organizations aware of how they need to shape up.

Full text article by Robin Fisk is available via Fundraising Success, 12/29/09.

Notre Dame, other nonprofits see property tax bills

The University of Notre Dame and other nonprofit institutions in St. Joseph County, Ind., are receiving property-tax bills for the first time as local officials take a closer look at facilities previously considered tax-exempt. Hamstrung by tight budgets and an Indiana state cap on property taxes, the county is now assessing levies on property owned by nonprofit groups but considered to be profit-making, such as the university’s bookstore and an on-campus restaurant. The South Bend school had previously paid taxes voluntarily on some off-campus properties it owns.
Full text article by Margaret Fosmoe is available via The South Bend Tribune, 12/21/09.

Nonprofit Millionaires

High executive compensation at the nation’s wealthiest nonprofit organizations is creating a class of “nonprofit millionaires” and prompting some calls for restrictions on pay. Citing The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s latest survey on executive compensation at tax-exempt institutions, the article lists several of the chief executives, university presidents, and athletic coaches earning seven-figure pay and notes that some critics are urging a change in Internal Revenue Service regulations that simply require nonprofit CEO’s to receive “reasonable compensation.”
Full text article by Amy Bell is available via Forbes, 12/17/09.

Congressional negotiators have agreed to allocate $50-million in the 2010 fiscal year for the new Social Innovation Fund, which will provide grants to help promising nonprofit groups expand effective programs — the full amount requested by President Obama.

Full text article by Suzanne Perry is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 12/9/09.

Harvard Law School Suspends Program Giving Students Free Tuition

Harvard University’s law school is suspending its offer to waive tuition for students who promise to spend five years working for nonprofit groups or the government, citing economic pressures and the program’s surprising popularity. Nearly twice as many students as expected applied for the waiver, introduced two years ago. Martha Minow, the law school’s dean, said the program “was always an experiment,” adding that “what we found is that we had less trouble than we thought encouraging” students to pursue public-interest positions.
Full text article by Tamar Lewin is available via The New York Times, 12/2/09.

Top 10 Ways to Boost Online Giving at Year-End

The most important, and most critical, giving season is upon us. And for many nonprofits, one out of every two gifts comes in the last three months of the year. Fundraising consultants offer advice to fundraisers on how to ramp up online giving in the final months of the year.

Full text article by Gail Perry is available via the Association of Fundraising Professionals, 12/1/09.

New Exchange Seeks to Help Charities Expand

Many nonprofit groups with demonstrated results still struggle to raise money to spread their programs, despite plenty of talk in the philanthropic world over the past decade about focusing dollars on what works. That mixed record has prompted interest in a capital marketplace, not unlike the stock market, where money would flow naturally to charities offering the best programs.

Full text article by Ben Gose is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 11/12/09.

Tips for Integrating Social Media and E-mail Strategy

A review of applicable tips for nonprofit organizations trying to integrate e-mail and social media into their fundraising. Advice includes how you can increase traffic to your Web site and grow e-mail lists to give you an opportunity to listen to your supporters, competitors and critics. The article outlines how to be more effective in e-mail fundraising, including some keys to making e-messages more socially friendly.

Full text article by Abny Santicola is available via Fundraising Success, 12/1/09.

Catholic Relief Services taps Merkle for fundraising support

Marketing firm Merkle has received a three-year contract to support a major fundraising program sponsored by Catholic Relief Services. Called “Operation Rice Bowl,” the fundraiser encourages Catholic families, parishes and schools to prepare simple, meatless recipes during Lent and use the money they saved to help the Baltimore nonprofit fight global hunger.

Full text article by Julekha Dash is available via the Baltimore Business Journal, 11/30/09.

Charitable Giving 2009 - A great burden grows

Uncertainty is the watchword for Washington-area nonprofit groups as they enter the traditional giving season with their budgets stretched even as demand for social services continues to spike. Requests to the United Way of the National Capital Area doubled this year, to $20-million, more than five times what the organization has available. Nearly a third of charities in the region have cut staff and frozen programs or shut down this year, according to a survey by the Center for Nonprofit Advancement.

Full text article by Susan Kinzie is available via The Washington Post, 11/22/09.

Most Charities Are Trying Social Media, But Few Can Measure Its Impact

Nearly all charities are experimenting with social-media tools like Facebook and Twitter to get attention for their groups, but few have found ways to measure the tools’ usefulness, according to a new survey. The survey of 200 charity and foundation professionals, conducted by the public-relations firm Weber Shandwick, found that 88 percent of groups have tested the tools, but only 51 percent are using them regularly.

Full text article by Caroline Preston is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 11/12/09.

Five Trends Help to Create "Nonprofits of the Future," Report Says

The nonprofit field isn’t going to simply bounce back a few years from now to the state it was in before the recession, according to a new report by La Piana Consulting, which explores five trends that are hastening the emergence of a new nonprofit landscape. Those trends are:
shifting demographics, technological advances, new ways to collaborate, greater interest in service, and blurred lines between nonprofit and for-profit.

Full text article by Caroline Preston is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 11/9/09.

PILOT deal is on its way

Boston officials are nearing an agreement with large nonprofit organizations that could double or triple the amount the city collects in payments from them in lieu of taxes. City Councilor Steve Murphy said a pact could be ready within 90 days that would raise the payments from colleges and hospitals for local services from the current $15-million a year to between $32-million and $46-million.

Full text article by John Ruch is available via the Jamaica Plain Gazette, 11/6/09.

Five Trends Help to Create "Nonprofits of the Future," Report Says

The nonprofit field isn’t going to simply bounce back a few years from now to the state it was in before the recession. That’s the message behind a new report by La Piana Consulting, which explores five trends that are hastening the emergence of a new nonprofit landscape.

Full text article by Caroline Prestion is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 11/9/09.

An NAACP chapter of a different hue

Benjamin Todd Jealous, who took the helm last year of the century-old civil-rights group the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, is leading efforts to expand the organization’s reach beyond its core constituency of African Americans. The NAACP, which has 2,200 chapters, now includes under its umbrella a group comprising Bangladeshi Americans in Hamtramck, Mich.; chapters in Seattle and San Jose headed by Southeast Asians; and groups in the Southwest that include Latinos and Native Americans. The Post article highlights a chapter in a Maine prison made up mostly of white men.

Full text article by Krissah Thompson is available via The Washington Post, 11/3/09.

Judge: State can press for disclosure of donors

A Maine judge has ordered a nonprofit group to reveal the identity of donors to its effort to repeal the state’s gay-marriage law. The National Organization for Marriage, in Princeton, N.J., has contributed about $1.6-million to Stand for Marriage Maine, a political-action committee that is leading the repeal referendum. The nonprofit group went to court to challenge a state order to identify donors in accordance with Maine’s disclosure laws for ballot questions.

Full-text post by Trevor Maxwell is available via the Portland Press Herald, 10/29/09.

Green Offshoots

A small but growing number of environmental nonprofit organizations are establishing for-profit businesses to pursue their agendas and build a green-economy work force. Commercial ventures such as SmartRoofs, a spin-off of the nonprofit group Sustainable South Bronx, also generate revenue for the parent organizations, potentially reducing their dependence on foundations, individual donors, and government grants. Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins of Green for All, a national group working to develop environmentally friendly economic opportunities in poor areas, called such enterprises “early adopters” that are “paving the way for mainstream business to integrate the concept of green jobs into everyday practices.”

Full-text post by Liz Galst is available via The New York Times, 10/28/09.

Goldman Bonus Stigma May Overshadow Charitable Effort

Goldman Sachs, reportedly exploring ways to quell a public backlash over expected record year-end bonuses for its executives, is working with the Bridgespan Group, a nonprofit consulting effort, on a giving plan that could exceed $1-billion. After accepting, and repaying, billions of dollars in government funds as part of the federal bank bailout, Goldman Sachs earned record second-quarter profits and has already set aside $16.7-billion for compensation this year, putting it in a public-relations bind that has fueled Wall Street speculation of major charitable activity.

Full-text post by Catherine Rampell is available via Bloomberg, 10/15/09.

Annie E. Casey Foundation Official Tapped to Head National-Service Agency

President Obama announced on Friday he plans to nominate Patrick Corvington, a senior associate at the Annie E. Casey Foundation and an expert on nonprofit leadership, as chief executive of the Corporation for National and Community Service. The nomination now must be approved by the Senate. The selection comes at a critical time for the corporation, which manages AmeriCorps and other national-service and volunteer programs.

Full-text post by Suzanne Perry is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 10/5/09.

Cash Squeeze Said to Deny Legal Aid to Poor

Financially strapped legal-aid clinics will be forced to turn away nearly 1 million low-income people this year, The New York Times reports, citing a new study by the nonprofit Legal Services Corporation. The federally financed corporation said requests for aid are rising at the more than 900 offices it supports nationwide. Local legal clinics are turning away two people seeking help for every client they accept, a ratio that has changed little since the national organization’s last “justice gap” report four years ago.

Full-text post by John Schwartz is available via The New York Times, 9/29/09.

State Supreme Court gets hospital tax exempt case

The Illinois Supreme Court will hear oral arguments to determine if a nonprofit Catholic hospital is providing enough charity care to warrant tax-exempt status. The outcome of the case involving Provena Covenant Medical Center could affect nonprofit hospitals across the country.

Full-text post by Lindsey Tanner is available via The Chicago Tribune, 9/23/09.

Nonprofits Paying Price for Gamble on Finances

The New York Times reports on the wide range of nonprofit organizations struggling with debt, largely from issuing tax-exempt bonds during fatter times. More than twice as many charities issued such bonds in 2006 as in 1993, mostly to finance property and construction projects. Debt linked to those bonds rose from $98-billion to $311-billion during that period, adjusted for inflation, weighing down organizations ranging from major universities and arts institutions to tiny social-service providers.

Full-text post by Stephanie Strom is available via The New York Times, 9/23/09.

Nonprofit Health-Care Groups Suffer Major Investment Losses, Study Finds

The value of investments held by 143 nonprofit health-care organizations that participated in an annual study fell an average 21.2 percent in 2008 — by far the worst results since the study began in 2002, according to The Choricle of Philanthropy.

Full-text post by Suzanne Perry is available via The Choricle of Philanthropy, 9/21/09.

Acorn Orders Inquiry in the Wake of a Video

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, with offices in 110 cities in 40 states, is the largest neighborhood-based antipoverty group in the country, using old-fashioned methods of door-knocking and noisy protests to push for local and national causes. The group, which has come under fire after employees were caught on camera appearing to encourage tax evasion and prostitution, said Wednesday that it was ordering an independent investigation.

Full-text post by The Associated Press is available via The New York Times, 9/16/09.

Senator Baucus Releases Health-Care Proposal for Hospitals

Sen. Max Baucus' bill, known on the hill as the “chairman’s mark” and planned to be reviewed by the finance committee next week, would require nonprofit hospitals “to conduct a community health needs assessment at least once every three years and adopt an implementation strategy to meet the community needs.”

Full-text post by Grant Williams is available via the Government and Politics Watch, 9/16/09.

Nonprofit Groups Upset at Exclusion From Health Bills

The health care bill proposed by the Congress and the current administration, awarding a tax credit to small businesses that provide their employees with health insurance, is upsetting nonprofits who do not pay income taxes and thus would not benefit. President Obama’s statement in his health-care speech last week that a health-care system overhaul would benefit “families, businesses, and government” is fueling the fire from nonprofit groups, which say they are being left out of efforts to give employers relief from rising health-care costs.

Full-text post by Stephanie Strom is available via The New York Times, 9/13/09.

Insurers: Stop payouts to board members

Massachusetts officials revealed plans last week to tighten oversight of nonprofit health-care organizations, including what they pay top executives, The Boston Globe reports. The Attorney General's Office believes one of the cost drivers in health care that has gotten way too little attention in the current debate is the generous way insurers and hospitals pay their top executives.

Full-text post is available via The Boston Globe, 9/7/09.

Study Ties Madoff Loss to Charity’s Board Size

A majority of more than 100 foundations that lost 30 percent to all of their assets in the Madoff scandal had four or fewer board members, according an analysis by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, a charity watchdog organization.

Full-text article by Stephanie Strom is available via The New York Times, 6.24.09.

Joining Forces in the 'Back Office'

Five social-service charities in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area established a separate organization to handle 'back office'operations for all of them, and the benefits have gone beyond cost savings.

Full-text article by Nicole Wallace is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 3.23.09. [Subscription required.]

The State of Nonprofits: Gift Don't Meet the Demands (Atlanta, GA)

The situation in the arts isn’t pretty. Hospitals feel the pain. Foundations are shakier than they once were. And some colleges are struggling to make the financial grade.

Across the board, local nonprofit institutions are watching their investments shrink while their donors face growing demands on their own tenuous finances, according to interviews with dozens of nonprofit officials.

Full-text article by Gayle White et al. is available via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 2.1.09.

Half a Million Nonprofits Could Lose Their Tax Exemptions

In May 2010, half a million nonprofits could find themselves stripped of their exempt status. The IRS estimates that that's the number of smaller organizations that have failed to file a Form 990-N.

Full-text article by Suzanne E. Coffman is available via GuideStar, January 2009.

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.

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.]

The Biggest Givers: Feeling Pinched, Some U.S. Philanthropists Give More

Meanwhile, nonprofits, from women's shelters to community theaters, are scrambling to find innovative ways to attract donations as they anticipate that 2009 will be the most difficult fundraising climate in years.

Full-text article by Ali McConnon and Lawrence Delevingne is available via BusinessWeek, 11.29.08.

Businessmen Match Donors With Fast-Growth Charities

Two former businessmen plan to establish a "marketplace" that will bring together already-successful charities with donors willing to give them money to help them grow.

Full-text article by Ben Gose is available via the Chronicle of Philanthropy, 12.8.08. [Subscription required.]

Economy Has Harmed Finances of Many Charities

Many charities have already seen decreases in private donations and government grants because of the recession, a new survey finds.

Full-text article by Debra E. Blum is available via the Chronicle of Philanthropy, 12.8.08. [Subscription required.]

Massachusetts Charities Urged to Merge and Pool Resources

A struggling economy has endangered the ability of nonprofit organizations in Massachusetts to provide charitable services to the needy, and that, according to a new study, should prompt many of the state’s nonprofit groups to merge, or at least to consider pooling their resources.

Full-text article by Robert Weisman is available via Boston.com, 6.11.08.

CEO Job Doesn't Appeal to Many Potential Nonprofit Leaders, Study Finds

A study released today shows that many potential charity managers are not inclined to pursue leadership posts, demonstrating how hard it could be to replace the baby boomers now retiring from top nonprofit jobs, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Full-text article by Jennifer C. Berkshire is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 3.6.08.

Board's Give Or Get More Expensive Now

More than half of nonprofits now require board members to make an annual contribution, with a major share of large ones setting a minimum of $5,000.

That finding, in the new edition of National Board Governance Survey for Not-for-Profit Organizations conducted by the accounting firm Grant Thornton LLP, comes against a backdrop of more and more nonprofits reshaping board of directors practices and policies to fit the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Just as more public companies expect their directors own stock, nonprofits expect an investment as well.

The survey, which drew 603 responses in September 2007, found that 56 percent of respondents require donations from board members. Although this was the first year the question was asked, the survey noted that this reflected "a trend that could become increasingly expected in the near future."

Grant Thornton conducted the National Board Governance Survey for Not-for-Profit Organizations in September 2007. Responses to the web-based survey were received from 603 nonprofit executives and board members in 47 states and the District of Columbia.

Full-text article via The Nonprofit Times, 1.21.08.