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November 27, 2012, 9:19 am
Why Donors Give
Anybody can eavesdrop on a conversation with the nation’s most prominent donors by watching a series of new video interviews that feature Eli Broad, Melinda Gates, Ted Turner, and about 50 other prominent philanthropists.
The interviews were conducted by the Bridgespan Group to help donors learn from one another. But the videos are also helpful for fundraising and charity executives who want to figure out what makes wealthy people give big.
For example, Eli Broad applies three key questions to the “philanthropic investments” he makes: “Would it happen anyway? If it’s going to happen anyway, we don’t make the investment,” he says in a video clip. “Two, will it make a difference 20 or 30 years from now? And lastly, is talent leadership there that can really make it happen? … If the answer to any one of those is no, we don’t do it.”
The videos are part of Bridgepan’s Give Smart…
November 26, 2012, 8:23 pm
Thanksgiving Week Shows Healthy Giving Signs
Americans didn’t increase their spending only at the malls over Thanksgiving, they gave a lot more money online to charity in the past week than they did at this time a year ago, producing a 61-percent surge in online donations.
The data come from a Chronicle analysis of gifts processed by Network for Good, which handles online donations for charities. The Chronicle looked at gifts that the group processed for over 8,700 nonprofits in both 2011 and 2012 and found that not only did the amount of donations increase, but so did the number of donations, which rose 16 percent compared with Thanksgiving week last year.
“Corporate partners urging employees to give, coupled with [Superstorm] Sandy relief, have significantly boosted giving,” says Katya Andresen, chief operating officer at Network for Good.
The year-end surge was not just a one-week phenomenon. Since October,…
November 15, 2012, 6:59 pm
Half of Nonprofits Face Fundraising Troubles in 2012
The second study in a week shows that fundraising at more than half of charities nationwide is faring poorly.
The tally of data from 500 groups surveyed by GuideStar found that 37 percent raised less in the first three quarters of 2012 and 28 percent received only as much as they had last year.
The percentage of charities reporting a decline was the second highest since the survey was started 11 years ago, surpassed only in 2009 when slightly more than 50 percent of charities reported a drop in donations. The share of charities reporting declines fell in both 2010 and 2011 before rising again this year.
Three-quarters of the groups that suffered a drop said fewer people were giving and those who were contributed smaller sums.
While donations to certain types of charities—especially donor-advised funds, which depend largely on wealthy contributors—has finally exceeded…
November 9, 2012, 9:46 am
Ask an Expert: Turning a Nonprofit’s Members Into Generous Donors
A fundraiser who wishes to remain anonymous wrote to ask for advice about how to raise money for her cultural institution, which is supported by the city.
She writes:
Our aquarium is a public-private partnership, and our arrangement with the city stipulates that membership, sales from the stores, and admission are all city revenue. Donations are raised by the foundation arm.
How can a public-private partnership with a solid membership base raise donations through its foundation?
Members are primarily joining for the cost savings (versus multiple ticket purchases), and/or they believe their membership is a gift. It is not.
Fundraising, besides capital campaigns, has remained steady–but stagnant–for years. We are moving forward on a first-ever appeal to current members, donors, and a large pool of prospects via direct mail. We know the majority may end up joining as members but …
October 31, 2012, 6:39 pm
Superstorm-Relief Donations From Companies and Individuals
Lowe’s has given $1-million to local relief and rebuilding efforts. (Photo courtesy of Business Wire)
Superstorm Sandy has brought out generosity from the public and from big companies, with charities, deep in the recovery efforts, receiving more money to do their work.
In addition to the $11-million raised as of this morning by the American Red Cross for storm relief, the following charities report their current fundraising totals:
- Save the Children, the international aid group, has raised $1-million.
- The Salvation Army has raised $700,000 in online contributions.
- Catholic Charities USA has updated its tally to $29,000 from $18,000 yesterday.
- The United Methodist Committee on Relief has raised $24,000 in online gifts and text-to-give efforts since Friday.
- Church World Service has received $1,000…
October 31, 2012, 3:39 pm
Red Cross Raises $11-Million in Sandy Relief Efforts
A Red Cross volunteer comforts the resident of a damaged house in Toms River, N.J. (Les Stone/American Red Cross)
The American Red Cross announced that it has received more than $11-million in donations for its efforts to help the millions of families displaced by Superstorm Sandy.
Among the gifts announced today by donors to the Red Cross National Disaster Fund:
• The New York Yankees have given $500,000 to the charity to support relief efforts in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
• Citi Foundation has given $1-million, on top of the $500,000 it gives annually to the disaster fund.
• CVS Caremark, the pharmacy chain, has given $50,000 in cash from its CVS Caremark Charitable Trust and another $50,000 in food and bottled water, which will be distributed to storm victims in New Jersey.
 
October 31, 2012, 9:23 am
Charities Scramble to Raise Money After Sandy Hits
Relief workers load supplies onto an AmeriCares mobile clinic. The aid organization is one of many working on the relief effort. (Photo courtesy of AmeriCares)
Nonprofit organizations are starting to mobilize donations to help victims of Hurricane Sandy, but so far the sums appear to be small.
That’s in part because the two big groups involved in disaster fundraising, the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army, declined to release a tally of how much they have collected so far.
“The public had been generous in supporting Red Cross efforts to help the millions of families affected,” said Anne Marie Borrego, a Red Cross spokeswoman, in a written statement. “Our primary focus has been on providing service delivery, and we are still processing incoming donations.”
Jennifer Byrd, a Salvation Army…
October 25, 2012, 10:38 am
Most Donors Plan to Give as Much or More in 2012, Survey Finds
Eighty-one percent of donors plan to contribute the same amount or more than in 2011, an annual survey by Fidelity Charitable finds.
That’s a larger percentage of donors who said their giving for the year would remain steady or grow than in both 2011 (72 percent) and 2010 (63 percent).
Among the 571 adults in this year’s survey, 29 percent said they would give more this year. Half the donors said that’s because they got a new job or a raise or otherwise feel better about their personal finances
Donors said on average they would give $2,400 this year, up from $2,100 in 2011.
And most donors, 89 percent, said that giving to the presidential and other campaigns would not cause them to reduce their giving this year.
The survey findings provide encouraging news for fundraisers and charities, said Amy Danforth, Fidelity Charitable’s senior vice president of marketing. “People…
October 24, 2012, 1:58 pm
Contest Seeks Ideas From Charities for Creating Jobs
A new competition unveiled by the Huffington Post, Skoll Foundation, and Crowdrise seeks to reward nonprofits with ideas for how to put Americans back to work.
The “JobRaising” challenge is open to all types of nonprofits–not just job-training groups–so long as they have a plan for fighting America’s high unemployment, organizers said. Nonprofits that make it through an initial stage of vetting will have a chance to compete for donations from the public. Groups that raise the most cash will also win prize money totaling $250,000 from the Skoll Foundation.
Sally Osberg, president of the Skoll Foundation, said in an e-mail to The Chronicle that the three organizations were searching for a way to “change the narrative” about unemployment “from a blame game focused on deficits and problems to one focused on solutions and opportunity.”
They zeroed in on nonprofits, Ms. Huffington…
October 24, 2012, 9:16 am
Conservatives and Liberals Are Equally Generous, Study Finds
Political views do not predict how much money a person will donate to charity, according to a new study. But conservatives and liberals do support different kinds of causes.
Conservatives and people in conservative-leaning states are more likely than others to donate to religious organizations, while people in liberal-leaning states are more likely to donate to secular nonprofits, the study found.
The study was conducted by MITÂ researchers Michele Margolis and Michael Sances and was based on data from NORC at the University of Chicago. It follows a study by three scholars released in May that suggested fundraisers should phrase pitches differently when appealing to Republicans versus Democrats.
Still, the findings about overall giving rates run counter to previous studies by scholars that have shown that religious conservatives give more than secular liberals.
Arthur Brooks…
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