Posts by Maria Di Mento
April 6, 2010, 11:46 AM ET
An Argument to End Tax Deductions for Church Gifts; Plus More: Tuesday's Roundup
- The federal government should consider ending tax deductions for gifts to churches, says Perla Ni, the chief executive of Great Nonprofits, a Web site that allows donors to rate charities. On the Good Ideas blog, Ms. Ni suggests five ways to help the nonprofit world, including changing the tax benefits for religious gifts. She says people who make such gifts do so for the personal benefit, not the tax write off, and that the move would increase revenue for government social programs.
- While some nonprofit experts are concerned about the rise of "professional social entrepreneurs," they should welcome and support them as long as they are familiar with the needs of the people and places they seek to serve, writes Dan Elitzer, a charity consultant, on the Full Contact Philanthropy blog.
- Sean Stannard-Stockton, an adviser to donors and a Chronicle contributor, announces...
April 5, 2010, 12:28 PM ET
How Important Is Competition in the Nonprofit World? Plus More: Monday's Roundup
- Is competition good for the nonprofit world? Kristin Ivie, social-innovation program associate at the Case Foundation, asks this question on Case's Social Citizens blog. Ms. Ivie looks at the proliferation of Web sites to help donors and volunteers and at the growth in the number of professional associations meant to help nonprofit workers. Read a discussion on a similar topic on The Chronicle's Social Philanthropy blog.
- While a recent New York Times article discloses the big gifts people must donate to get on to the board of elite cultural institutions in New York, most charities require far less financially and are in desperate need of committed board members, says Alice Korngold, a nonprofit consultant, on a Fast Company blog.
- Baby Boomers are often stereotyped as "terrified of electronic equipment" and stuck in their ways, but younger generations have plenty to learn from them,...
April 1, 2010, 12:16 PM ET
Veterans' Charity Scrutinized; Plus More: Thursday's Roundup
- Rick Cohen, a national correspondent for the Nonprofit
Quarterly, examines the finances of Freedom Alliance, a
veterans' charity started by the talk-show host Sean Hannity that
has been accused of not giving enough to its scholarship program.
On the Intrepid Philanthropist blog, Mr. Cohen notes that the
charity participates in the Combined Federal Campaign, even though
it received a rating of "F" from the American Institute of
Philanthropy, a watchdog group. The Freedom Alliance has called
charges against it "scurrilous."
- Beth Kanter, who writes a blog about social media, asks whether the social-networking site Foursquare has value for charities. (See The Chronicle's discussion of this topic).
- "Wouldn’t it be exciting for a philanthropic contest to be focused on problem solving rather than just popularity voting?" asks Allison Fine, a social-media expert and...
March 31, 2010, 12:07 PM ET
Nonprofit Hospitals' Role After the Health-Care Overhaul; and More: Wednesday's Roundup
- Writing on the Intrepid Philanthropist blog, Rick Cohen,
national correspondent with the Nonprofit Quarterly,
expects nonprofit hospitals to benefit from the passage last week of sweeping
changes to the health-care system. Among other things, fewer
patients will be unable to pay.
- Too often, social-service organizations and other groups design their Web sites without their beneficiaries in mind, writes Jeff Raderstrong, who works at a community health clinic, on his blog Change Charity. Making improvements can be as simple as having the organization's address and hours of operation on the site's home page, he says.
- Stephen Goldsmith, former mayor of Indianapolis, writes on the Case Foundation's blog about the failure of traditional government and nonprofit approaches to problem solving and a new breed of social entrepreneurs who are trying to innovate.
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Read More
March 30, 2010, 12:59 PM ET
Why Evaluation Should Include a Look at Succession Plans; Plus More: Tuesday's Roundup
- If charity-evaluation groups want to do exceptional assessments, they should delve into the top leadership at nonprofit groups, succession plans, and how they describe the organization's future, writes Lucy Bernholz, an adviser to foundations, on her blog Philanthropy 2173.
- Beth Kanter, who writes a popular blog about social media, asks: "Should we just blow up nonprofit 'vote for me' social-good contests?" Ms. Kanter describes how she stumbled upon a charity that was encouraging people to use automated bots to help it win Pepsi's Refresh Project contest, something she says was not in violation of the contest rules but raises questions about the usefulness of such competitions.
- Writing on the Huffington Post, Jane Wales, vice president of philanthropy and society at the Aspen Institute, describes how the recession and longer life expectancies are postponing the...
March 29, 2010, 11:57 AM ET
How Much Is Enough When it Comes to Giving; Plus More: Monday's Roundup
- On his blog, Seth Godin, a marketing expert, writes about the struggle to determine whether one's giving is "enough" -- and what that struggle means for nonprofit fund raisers and marketers.
- How do people's online and offline interactions differ? Kristin Ivie, of the Case Foundation, discusses her views on the grant maker's Social Citizens blog.
March 26, 2010, 11:26 AM ET
How Text Messages Can Shake Up Philanthropy, and More: Friday's Roundup
- Writing on the Harvard Business Review Web site, Timothy Ogden, publisher of the online publication Philanthropy Action, discusses how the availability of real-time information via text message will change philanthropy. People in need, not aid groups, will tell donors what assistance they require; missteps in the provision of aid will be reported directly to donors; and the need for aid organizations to serve as intermediaries will be reduced, he says.
- "When writing fund-raising copy, write to a fifth- or sixth-grade reading level," Jeff Brooks, creative director of TrueSense marketing, suggests on his blog Future Fundraising Now. Mr. Brooks offers additional tips from the Word Wealth blog on how to write effective fund-raising pitches.
- "Nonprofits have missions that are not about putting their profits into the hands of the owners but back into mission," Mike Burns...
March 25, 2010, 01:17 PM ET
Charities Urged to Get 'Meaner, Uglier, Messier;' Plus More: Thursday's Roundup
- To make real progress toward solving social problems, charities need to get "meaner, uglier, messier," writes Nell Edgington, founder of the consulting firm Social Velocity, on Change.org.
- "Many fund-raising consultants tend to overstate things in order to land a client," Jeff Brooks, creative director of TrueSense Marketing, writes on Future Fundraising Now. Mr. Brooks offers tips on how to determine if a fund-raising consultant is being completely honest with you.
- Writing on the Tactical Philanthropy blog, Eric Kessler, founder of Arabella Philanthropic Investment Advisors, says that "philanthropy revelry" was at its best this week in New Orleans for the Association of Small Foundations conference titled Katrina @ 5. For more on the event, see updates from Chronicle reporter Nicole Wallace.
- Colleen Dilenschneider, a young nonprofit worker, shares her ...
March 24, 2010, 12:44 PM ET
How to Survive on a Nonprofit Salary; Plus More: Wednesday's Roundup
- Regina Mahone, of the Foundation Center, writes about a recent Young Nonprofit Professionals Network meeting on how to survive on the low salaries of the nonprofit world. Topics included setting up a rainy-day fund, saving for retirement, and finding creative ways to supplement monthly income.
- Mike Burns, of Nonprofit Board Crisis, commends first-grade teacher, Mary Zeiff, for encouraging her students to become philanthropists through a T-shirt design competition. Students are asked to come up with inspirational messages that are featured on the t-shirts. The winners receive 3 percent of the revenue and another 3 percent is donated to a charity chosen by the winners. The remainder of the profits goes to a program called Free Arts for Abused Children. "These young philanthropists will be tomorrow's major donors," says Mr. Burns.
- A new free e-book from Network for...
March 23, 2010, 12:16 PM ET
Defying Conventional Wisdom on Low Overhead Costs; Plus More: Tuesday's Roundup
- On the Fast Company Web site, Nancy Lublin, chief executive of Do Something, a nonprofit group that engages young people in social good, discusses why the conventional wisdom on overhead costs -- that if they're low, a charity is doing a great job -- is wrong.
- If you only had two hours to decide whether you were going to give to a charity, how would you spend it? Iona Joy, of New Philanthropy Capital, a British charity-evaluation group, discusses. Also, Elie Hassenfeld, a co-founder of the nonprofit-evaluation group GiveWell, gives suggestions to donors trying to decide whether to give to a charity that hasn't been reviewed by his site.
- Nonprofit groups have become tax targets by cities and states focused on meeting economic challenges. Mike Burns, a nonprofit consultant, points to a recent article in Governing magazine that discusses where cities find legitimate...