ENGAGING THE KIDS
If you are committed to involving the next generation in philanthropy and developing the emotional satisfaction of giving, check out this advice: • Involve kids early. Youngsters can volunteer to gather food, clothing or toys for needy groups. They can also learn to save a share of their allowance or other money to donate at […]
WOMEN ARE PULLING UP CHAIRS AT THE TABLE
The changing status of women is fueling and informing philanthropy. With growing earning power, expanding professional skills, profitable businesses of their own, and deepening control over family trusts and inheritances, women now have the means and the will to invest in philanthropic change. In fact, over the past few decades, women have been making more […]
CAN NONPROFITS AND DONORS REALLY GET ALONG?
Increasingly, as donors accompany financial backing with hands-on involvement, they are joining forces with organizations to help leverage contributions and advance the mission. But getting to an honest, effective donor-charity alliance built on trust and understanding takes time and compromise. Such partnerships often throw up tensions and the strain typically stems from misunderstanding the other […]
DEATH OF THE ‘BAG LADY SYNDROME’
Women don’t need special handbooks to learn how to make a difference in lives around us because giving is what women always do. We nurture kids and relatives. We drop everything for friends in need. We form neighborhood associations, join walkathons, sit on school boards and give to clothing drives. Often as not, we also […]
HOW TO TAKE THE FIRST STEPS TOWARD GIVING
As philanthropy and the nonprofit sector adjust to the new world of need and the new age of social activism, philanthropists are no longer defined by the depth of their pocketbook. Rather, you become one by examining your values and finding the cause that moves you enough to dedicate money, time and skills to it. […]
THE POWER OF ONE IS TAKING CHARGE
Charitable gifts have seen “historic declines” in 2009, for the second year in a row – that’s the academic version of “OMG, it’s scary out there.” Giving USA rates the decline at 3.2% (down to $303 billion in total gifts for 2009). “Chronicle of Philanthropy” reported an 11% drop for the biggest 400 charities in […]
START YOUR OWN GIVING TRADITION
At several meetings I attended over the past week, including a radio interview, a holiday networking party and a local fund-raising initiative, I heard a wide variety of women saying, “I just can’t do the obligatory holiday gift giving anymore. Who needs another sweater?” So I suggest we shift gears, revamp rituals and simultaneously move […]
WHEN YOU WANT TO GIVE BUT DON’T HAVE CASH
Try this on: You’ve decided to scale back your holiday hoopla this year by spending less on gifts, giving more to charity and getting closer to the spiritual side of celebration. Joy to the world feels right. Glitter and tinsel do not. The problem is that many of us are feeling cash-poor. So instead, consider […]
HOW DONORS CAN MOVE THE NEEDLE ON RESULTS
Increasingly, as donors back their dollars with hands-on involvement, they are joining forces with organizations they support in order to leverage contributions and advance the mission. Like any relationship, though, establishing an honest, effective donor-charity alliance built on trust and understanding takes time and compromise. While the third sector is clearly trying harder these days […]
HOW TO MEASURE A NONPROFIT’S SUCCESS
A conventional rule of thumb for measuring a nonprofit organization’s effectiveness is to compare its operating and administrative costs to its spending on programs. When the operating costs top 40% of the annual budget — which puts spending on programs at 60% — many pundits and experts argue that it signals that the organization is […]