Measuring how well charities use the donations they receive is no easy task, as Robert Thalhimer writes on the PhilanthroMedia blog.

Mr. Thalhimer writes that a colleague asked him how best to determine whether donations are mostly going to help a charity carry out its mission, rather than for administrative costs. For religious groups, which do not file public information, Mr. Thalhimer writes, “the answer to the efficiency question is, ‘Do you trust them?’”

For those groups that do file financial data with the Internal Revenue Service, he writes, the matter is more complex. As an example, he discusses the watchdog Web site Charity Navigator, which ranks organizations from one to four stars based on their level of non-program expenses. “This is useful information, but it would be a mistake to view it as definitive,” Mr. Thalhimer writes.

He reports the Charity Navigator...

The Association for Fundraising Professionals’ renewed call for Congress to ban percentage-based fees for fund raisers has Ken Goldstein pondering a contrary view on his Nonprofit Consultants Blog.

In an previous blog entry, Mr. Goldstein posted an e-mail exchange in which his correspondent argued that small charities may have trouble paying a flat fee to seek grants that may or may not be won. In such cases, the anonymous correspondent argued, “there are times when when contingency or percentage-based fund-raising fees may actually be more ethical than flat fee or hourly rates,” summarizes Mr. Goldstein.

He notes the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ recent plea to Congress to ban the practice of percentage-based pay, quoting the association’s president, as saying that legislation is needed “so that the public can rest assured that charities and their fund-raising firms ...

As nonprofit leaders discusses the coming retirements of a wave of baby-boom generation leaders, Rosetta Thurman muses on her Perspectives from the Pipeline blog about what impact young managers will have on their organizations.

“Younger leaders of Generations X and Y absolutely have the opportunity to change the face of the nonprofit sector and find new ways of fulfilling our missions smarter, faster, cheaper, and with more innovation to better our communities,” Ms. Thurman writes. But, she asks, “how can things change if younger generations aren’t a part of the solution in current organizations? How will our ideas help shape the invisible future of the nonprofit sector?

Citing a presentation by Frances Kunreuther of the Building Movement Project on generational leadership change she attended this week in Washington, Ms. Thurman notes that Ms. Kunreuther calls the dilemma the...

Joining a nonprofit board can help jump-start the career of a nonprofit professional — and, writes Rosetta Thurman on the Perspectives from the Pipeline blog, it’s a goal she is determined to pursue.

Calling the prospect of joining a board a “stretch assignment,” Ms. Thurman lays out the steps she has taken to learn more about board responsibilities and seek out opportunities to volunteer, focusing on charities whose missions might include the arts, advocacy, civil rights, homelessness, youth and education, and women’s issues.

In addition to offering her experience in fund raising, she also described what she hopes to derive from serving as a trustee: “I would want to enhance my public presence and communication/speaking skills by acting as a spokesperson for the organization out in the public. I would be willing to testify on behalf of the organization in City Council or give ...

A Chronicle commentary about the need for foundation leaders to know their history and strive for candor and openness wins the praise of Diana R. Sieger, president of the Grand Rapids Community Foundation, in Mich., on her blog.

Ms. Sieger cited an article by Joel J. Orosz, founder of the Grantmaking School at the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids.

Mr. Orosz wrote that foundation leaders should understand the past and draw lessons from it.

“This does not mean living in the past or becoming complacent,” writes Ms. Sieger, adding, “I have been surprised with the attitude of some of the newer leaders who may not have a background in philanthropy — which may be refreshing at times — who feel that they can move right in and do things their way without a moment’s reflection of what has been learned prior to their arrival!”

Do...

The advantages of small, start-up organizations in competing with larger, more established ones—and what that might mean to the nonprofit world—is on the mind of Ken Goldstein at the Nonprofit Consultants Blog.

Mr. Goldstein, a consultant to charities, takes up a discussion at the True Talk Blog about the concept of “asymmetry.” True Talk blogger “Tom” explains it like this: “Asymmetrical competitors use size (small), speed (fast), and thinking (innovative) to more than compensate for their relative lack of resources. This brand of competition is enabled by today’s technology, which dramatically reduces the barriers to entry.”

Calling the concept “ exciting and inspiring,” Mr. Goldstein notes that the nonprofit world is in fact not currently a friendly environment for small start-up groups.

“Right now, he writes, “ it’s seems that we’re all witnessing contraction and mergers. This...

In the wake of a new report that calls America’s low investment in building and maintaining its airports, roads, bridges, and other means of mass transit an “emerging crisis,” philanthropy should consider helping to sound the alarm, writes Carla E. Dearing on the PhilanthroMedia blog.

The report by the Urban Land Institute and Ernst & Young estimates that the United States will need $1.6-trillion in infrastructure investment over the next five years. But, despite incidents like this past summer’s fatal bridge collapse in Minnesota, writes Ms. Dearing, “We’re not paying attention, very much to our detriment.”

She encourages private grant makers and donors to let their voices be heard.

“With dollar figures in the trillions, philanthropy may not believe it has a role in this issue,” writes Ms. Dearing. “However, I know from my travels that in cities all across the country,...

Charitable giving giving to arts groups and museums is not, as one critic has charged, a frivolous exercise in comparison with giving to global health causes, argues Caroline Heine in a posting on the PhilanthroMedia blog.

Ms. Heine answers a recent opinion aired by William H. Gross, a billionaire investor, in The New York Times. “When millions of people are dying of AIDS and malaria in Africa, it is hard to justify the umpteenth society gala held for the benefit of a performing arts center or an art museum,” Mr. Gross told the newspaper. “A $30-million gift to a concert hall is not philanthropy, it is a Napoleonic coronation.”

But Ms. Heine cites a new study by Americans for the Arts that shows how strong arts institutions can have a ripple effect in their surrounding communities.

“The nonprofit arts and culture industry generates $166.2 billion in economic activity every year—...

A YouTube-like Web site that showcases videos promoting nonprofit causes has caught the eye of Ken Goldstein, who writes on his Nonprofit Consultant Blog

The site, DoGooder TV, is a project of See 3 Media, a video production house focused on making videos for nonprofit causes.

“They see their mission as helping to connect worthy organizations to potential donors through exposure on the Web site and by creating a product (the video) that the organization can use in presentations, meetings, mailings, etc.,” writes Mr. Goldstein. The company charges $2,500 to produce the films.

Mr. Goldstein praises the site as a means for charities to spread the word about their missions, which focuses on client stories: “Too many of the nonprofit promo videos I’ve seen elsewhere focus too much on the agency and not enough on the cause. This is the type of storytelling that gets signatures on...

Small foundations are finding ways to increase their support of grantees by, in addition to giving them money, helping them spread the message about their programs, writes Susan Herr on the PhilanthroMedia blog.

Ms. Herr cites the current issue of Family Giving News, produced by the National Center for Family Philanthropy, which describes some of the ways in which small grant makers are making a difference.

Examples include the Frieda C. Fox Family Foundation, in Los Angeles, which produces short multimedia presentations about projects the group has supported.

“Board members of the nonprofits can download the videos to iPods in order to share their projects with others,” writes Ms. Herr.

And the Harman Family Foundation, of Washington, researches and publishes a yearly showcase of the charities it supports.

Do you know of any small grant makers that are giving their...