Regional Theaters Make Money Through Advertising Venture
Nonprofit theaters find a new source of revenue
Large Technology Companies Courting Rural Poor
Mixing philanthropy and business, technology giants such as Intel are setting their sights on low-income, rural people in developing countries, reports The Wall Street Journal. Companies are showing villagers in Shijingwei, China, how to find market prices online for sugar cane, putting high-speed…
Sudan Blocks Aid Workers and Other Outsiders
Aid workers and journalists are finding it increasingly difficult to travel to Darfur, describing tighter restrictions and rules arbitrarily enforced by Sudanese officials, reports Reuters. Members of the news media have described passports being taken and travel permits denied because of spelling…
A calendar featuring 79-year-old Pope Benedict XVI is going on sale, with proceeds going to support a mission in Rwanda, reports the Chicago Tribune. “Together, a year with the pope,” announced the Italian weekly Famiglia Cristiana (Christian Family), which will include the calendar with its…
The following awards have been presented for work in advocacy, fund raising, nonprofit leadership, philanthropy, and other areas: Education. The McGraw-Hill Companies (New York) has presented its 2006 Harold W. McGraw Jr. Prize in Education, which honors individuals dedicated to improving education…
A Pioneering Nonprofit Consultant Looks for a ‘Last Big Project’
When Jan Masaoka became the executive director of CompassPoint Nonprofit Services in 1993, the idea that charities could benefit from the guidance of consultants was still relatively new. Fast forward 13 years, and nonprofit groups routinely hire outside advisers. “There was a period when I started…
By Jennifer C. Berkshire
Contributor
‘National Journal’: Electioneering Battles
Left-leaning Christian groups are increasingly challenging their conservative Christian counterparts over the meaning of the expression “values voter,” which emerged as an integral part of President Bush’s re-election in 2004, says the National Journal (October 28). The clash comes amid increased…
By Brennen Jensen
Contributor
‘Harvard Business Review’: Disaster Relief
Corporations donated unprecedented amounts of cash, goods, and services to relief organizations responding to the Southeast Asian tsunamis in 2004, but shortcomings in the humanitarian effort highlighted the need for greater collaboration among charities and businesses before disaster strikes, says…
By Brennen Jensen
Contributor
Power of Grant Makers Examined in Study of a Poverty-Fighting Effort
NEW BOOKS Unequal Partnerships: Beyond the Rhetoric of Philanthropic Collaboration, by Ira Silver, uses archival data and interviews to analyze a project in Chicago in the early 1990s. The Chicago Initiative, as it was known, was a collaboration between foundations, charities, community leaders,…
By Anne W. Howard
Contributor
The Importance of Using Data Over Anecdotes
NEW BOOKS Good Stories Aren’t Enough: Becoming Outcomes-Driven in Workforce Development, by Martha A. Miles, argues that nonprofit managers need to base their decisions on data rather than anecdotal evidence. Illustrated with examples from nonprofit organizations that are “outcomes-driven” —…
By Anne W. Howard
Contributor