The recession is clearly a top-of-mind issue for most of the people attending the Association of Fundraising Professionals annual conference in New Orleans.

But the organization’s president, Paulette Maehara, said she has seen glimmers of optimism despite what she says is a “solemn” atmosphere at the event.

Most fund raisers face declines in staff and other resources, skittish donors, and worries about how long the recession will last.

Many others are working with donors who want to extend their pledges or put off big gifts.

Still, Ms. Maehara said the organization has found that many groups are doing well.

A recent survey of the organization’s members found that 60 percent are expecting gifts to their organizations to either increase or remain about the same in 2009 when compared with 2008. That number suggests the recession, while painful, is not going to be a crippling blow...

The number of fund raisers attending the annual meeting of the Association of Fundraising Professionals has dropped by about 20 percent from 2008 — a drop that organizers attribute to the recession.

About 3,200 people registered to attend the 2009 conference in New Orleans — down from a record 4,500 participants at the 2008 conference in San Diego.

Many fund raisers are staying home this year because of budget cuts at their organizations, said John Skendall, a spokesman for the fund raisers’ association.

Paulette Maehara, president of the association, said in an interview today that some of the decline is the result of the fact that the conference is in New Orleans — a destination that is still causing trepidation for some potential attendees following Hurricane Katrina.

She said that the biggest number of fund raisers this year come from social-service groups, many of which...

The Association of Fundraising Professionals this week plays host to its annual conference in New Orleans.

The event, which in previous years has attracted as many as 4,500 participants from across the country, will probably have a somewhat different flavor this year, as many organizations cut back on travel costs for professional meetings and struggle to find the best ways to raise money in the recession.

While the economy isn’t getting much attention in the event’s official program, it is expected to be a major topic of conversation throughout the conference, which begins today and runs through Wednesday.

The conference will also be colored by its host city, which is still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. The association, in fact, organized a day of service for conference participants on Saturday.

Among the keynote speakers are the actor Sidney Poitier, the businessman and ...

Nonprofit groups and Chronicle journalists have been sharing their photos from volunteer activities to mark the Martin Luther King holiday and today’s inauguration activities on the Chronicle‘s Flickr group.

Help us add to the slideshow by joining the group and uploading your own photos.

It didn’t take long for President Barack Obama’s staff to remake the official White House Web site.

The site, which debuted at 12:01 p.m. as Mr. Obama was preparing to take his oath of office, includes details of his administration’s agenda — including a page outlining his goals for promoting volunteer service.

Among Mr. Obama’s goals: doubling the size of the Peace Corps, requiring all middle and high school students to volunteer at least 50 hours per year and all college students to spend 100 hours per year volunteering, and to create a federal office that would oversee social entrepreneurship.

“During the election, people all across the country talked about feeling a new sense of civic engagement and got involved in politics for the first time,” the Web site says. “Now, President Obama and Vice President Biden are counting on Americans from all walks of life to serve the nation...

President Barack Obama, in his inaugural address, echoed a common theme from his transition — a call to serve. In addition, he urged Americans to join together to remake the country.

Mr. Obama said in his address that Americans can not sit idle through the recession and called upon them to take responsibility for the nation’s future.

“What is required of us now 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, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task,” he said.

What does this message mean for nonprofit groups? What should the Obama administration do to help charities? To help spur your thoughts, read what many experts on the...

Several hundred people gathered Monday at Simon Elementary School in Washington to participate in a service project as part of pre-inauguration activities on Martin Luther King Day.

Participants reflect on the project —and talk about why they believe volunteerism is on the rise — in this video report.

What message will Barack Obama deliver to the nonprofit world today when he takes the oath of office?

We’ll be posting updates on this historic event throughout the day on this blog and on our Twitter feed.

But we want to hear from you: Tell us how you expect the new administration to affect your organization and what you would like to see accomplished in Barack Obama’s first 100 days in office.

Post your comments on this blog and contribute your photos to our Flickr group.

Many charities are using today’s Martin Luther King holiday as an opportunity to publicize efforts to increase volunteerism.

The Web site VolunteerMatch, for example, used the National Day of Service to unveil a new online service that allows people to find volunteer opportunities using Google Earth.

Potential volunteers can use the service to find pportunities at more than 62,000 nonprofit organizations.

The Google Earth mapping service is an online tool that allows prospective volunteers to enter in the name of a city, street, or zip code and see the closest available opportunities on an interactive map.

To show how the Google Earth tool works, VolunteerMatch has produced a video demonstration, which is available on YouTube.

Is your organization using the King holiday to promote a new program or to raise awareness about your activities? Click on the comments link below ...

Independent Sector President Diana Aviv said today that the recent economic meltdown and the election of Barack Obama as President have challenged recent assumptions and have thrust nonprofit organizations and foundations into an unfamiliar role.

No longer are nonprofit organizations mere stewards of government grants and private-sector donations. Instead, they must become true advocates for change in the way government and the free market operate.

“If we stand, as I believe we do, at a moment of profound rethinking about the American social compact, then the values of mutual concern and shared responsibility that unite us must be central to that discussion,” Ms. Aviv said in a speech at Independent Sector’s annual meeting today in Philadelphia.

“We must use our voice — the organized expression of what we collectively call the independent sector, a voice founded on the values and ...