Conventional wisdom says the fourth quarter — and December in particular — is the busiest time of the year for charities.

But is there any statistical evidence to back up this claim?

Lucy Bernholz, a consultant to foundations and donors, has been looking for numbers and can’t find anything that proves the hypothesis.

“Just as we “know” that retailers turn profitable for the year on “Black Friday,” we all know that most giving happens in the fourth quarter, during Giving Season, right?” Ms. Bernholz writes on Philanthropy 2173. “Well, wrong. Or, rather, maybe we don’t know what we think we know.”

(A survey released this month by American Express found that 24 percent of the money Americans donated came in the last quarter, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported in its most recent issue. A table showing the variation in how much big charities collect during the last three months ...

A prominent author is using his blog to encourage readers not to buy former President Bill Clinton’s book Giving.

Peter Brinckerhoff, a management consultant for nonprofit groups who has written eight books on the topic of nonprofit management, writes on Mission-Based Management that Mr. Clinton shouldn’t be collecting royalties on his book about charity. Instead, he should donate his full cut.

The publicity for the book states that Mr. Clinton is giving “a portion of the book’s proceeds to charities and nonprofits that are doing their part to change the world.”

Mr. Brinckerhoff suggests that is not enough.

“Since he makes no bones about the fact that he’s gotten rich from speaking since leaving office, he should have given all of his royalties to charity,” Mr. Brinckerhoff writes. “It would only be leading by example.”

That said, Mr. Brinckerhoff says he plans to read Giving...

Are charities hurting themselves by focusing too much on playing host to special events and not enough on face-to-face fund-raising?

Officials from two Long Island nonprofit organizations tackled that question in an opinion article published this weekend in Newsday.

Marsha Gittleman, director of development and public relations at United Cerebral Palsy of Suffolk, and James R. Rennert, province director of development at the Cenacle Sisters, argue that fund raisers are often burning too much energy on costly special events.

In doing so, they argue that they are losing out on the opportunity to raise money through more direct — and less expensive — channels.

“We are beginning to learn, as have our colleagues in fund raising across the river in Manhattan, that it’s easier, quicker and certainly cheaper to get $10,000 from a face-to-face meeting with one person (or company) who...

The Web site Free Rice is getting a lot of attention this week, but at least one blog writer is offering a word of caution about the hype.

The site tests users’ vocabulary skills and offers grains of rice to the United Nations World Fund program for every answer a user gets correct.

But the site isn’t just a philanthropic exercise.

It’s a moneymaker for its creator.

“Sad thing is, it’s actually a vocabulary test masking as an ad server, while the rice you donate does seem to go to the UN World Food Program,” writes Lucy Bernholz, the author of the blog Philanthropy 2173. “The real money is in the ad clicks — companies support the site, you click on their ads, they pay the Web site for the click.”

Whenever a visitor to the site gets a correct answer to a vocabulary question, he or she is taken to a new page that includes the next question — and several ads for companies such as...

Many charities see efforts to woo small-time donors as a waste of time and money.

After all, it costs a lot to mail fund-raising letters to people who, at most, will probably donate $25 per year.

But Roger Craver and Tom Belford at The Agitator say that people who make small annual gifts are also the most likely to provide big bequests to charities they trust.

To prove their point, the fund-raising experts point to a recent essay by the direct-mail consultant Mal Warwick, who tells the story of a donor who gives $5 to a charity as a result of a direct-mail pitch. The donor then makes 22 more annual gifts at $25 — bringing the total to $425.

That same donor the made a bequest to the charity of $90,000. That initial $5 gift has now turned into $90,425.

“Yes, your small-gift fund-raising program — probably a combination of negative income prospecting and positive income donor ...

Sean Stannard-Stockton has been one of philanthropy’s most active voices in encouraging foundation and charity leaders to exchange ideas through blogs.

Now, he’s offering space on his blog — and some cash — to get others to join his crusade.

Mr. Stannard-Stockton, who works for an investment management company in Burlingame, Calif., has invited guests to write posts on his Tactical Philanthropy blog throughout the month of November through a program he calls The One Post Challenge.

The premise is simple:

“I’m going to put my money where my mouth is,” Mr. Stannard-Stockton writes. “During the month of November, anyone who wants to post a blog entry to Tactical Philanthropy can do it. Just e-mail me your post, with a short bio. Every coherent, relevant post will be published.”

Mr. Stannard-Stockton is also offering a prize to the writer who generates the most comments with his...

Charities that take steps to portray themselves as cool to potential supporters are doing themselves a major disservice, writes Jeff Brooks, a direct-marketing consultant, on Donor Power Blog.

Mr. Brooks, the creative director at the marketing company Merkle, writes that charities will win over more supporters and be seen as authentic if they simply portray themselves as they are — even if what they do isn’t at all cool.

“A lot of nonprofits are a bit corny, wonky, churchy, or nerdy. Many are well aware of this and struggling mightily to change what they see as an outdated or unattractive image,” Mr. Brooks writes. “They’d love to be more cool. They should think again.”

His advice? “Be real. Forget cool.”

Has your charity attempted to liven up its public image? If so, has the effort worked — or did it backfire? Click on the comments link below this post to share your thoughts.

The San Diego charity Casas Seguras thought it had a winner of a special event when it signed up the television star Mario Lopez to host a fund-raising gala.

Instead, it ended up apologizing to supporters when Mr. Lopez backed out of the event.

But, according to the blog Don’t Tell the Donor, the embarrassment didn’t end there.

Mr. Lopez had told the organization that he couldn’t attend because he was busy helping relatives displaced by the recent California wildfires, the blog reports.

It turned out, though, that the former contestant on Dancing With the Stars had other plans that night.

“This week, video surfaced of Lopez dancing the night away at the Playboy Mansion’s Halloween party — the same night he was supposed to be at the benefit,” Don’t Tell the Donor wrote.

Does such a situation hurt a charity’s efforts — or does it invite sympathy from supporters? Click on the ...

Nearly 10,000 people signed an online petition aimed at getting fast-food giant Taco Bell to donate money to help the American Red Cross provides services to those displaced by the California wildfires.

The online effort was tied to a nationwide promotion Tuesday in which Taco Bell gave away free tacos to customers nationwide for three hours. The promotion was tied to the recently concluded World Series.

Organizers had hoped that Taco Bell would donate money to the Red Cross that approximated the value of a free taco for every person who signed the petition.

Taco Bell, however, isn’t playing along.

The fast-food company sent Mike Esordi, organizer of the promotion, a note saying that it appreciated his efforts but that it is not planning to make a donation.

Still, Mr. Escordi says he was encouraged by the response — especially since the effort was organized so quickly....

The fast-food company Taco Bell is giving away free tacos to any person who stops into one of its restaurants this afternoon as part of a promotion tied to the World Series.

But instead of encouraging consumers to stuff themselves with free food, an anonymous group has started a Web site that seeks to turn the promotion into an effort to raise money for victims of the California wildfires.

DonateYourTaco.com is encouraging those who aren’t planning to cash in on the free taco promotion to sign an online petition. For every name collected on the petition, the site’s organizers plan to ask Taco Bell for a cash donation equivalent to the value of a free taco to the American Red Cross.

The retail value of a free taco is 77 cents, according to Taco Bell.

“Whether you’re a vegetarian or just can’t get away from your desk to collect your prize, we know you want to help … and we’re...