New State Laws Give Charities More Wiggle Room on Endowment Spending
Charities reeling from investment losses are turning to new state laws giving them more leeway to tap into endowments severely shaken by the stock market. The laws, passed by 43 states since 2006 — including 17 so far this year — replace strict rules that had prohibited nonprofit groups from taking…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
New Autism Charity Hopes to Carve Out Its Niche, Despite Tough Times
Few nonprofit leaders would consider 2009 an ideal time to start up a charity. But Alison Tepper Singer isn’t letting the recession deter her. What she believes is an important gap in autism research can’t wait for the economy to rebound, she says. Ms. Singer created the Autism Science Foundation,…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Signs that an economic recovery may be on the horizon have pushed plans for ambitious fund-raising drives back on the table at charities around the country. And the news has given some cheer to fund raisers overseeing capital drives that have been hobbled by the recession. No one is expecting a…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Charities Tweak Their Handling of Gift Annuities in Bad Economy
Nonprofit groups around the country are making changes in the way they handle a popular type of donation — the charitable gift annuity — as the economy calls into question the basic assumptions that made the annuities a good deal for both charities and donors. The topic is a sensitive one:…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Corporate Grant Makers Decreased Gifts in 2008 and Plan to Do So This Year
Corporate foundations gave an estimated $4.4-billion to charity last year, a 3-percent decline from 2007 after adjusting for inflation, according to a report released last week. And giving this year is expected to decrease again, with slightly more than half of the corporate foundations surveyed…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Few Gains Predicted for 2009 Corporate-Foundation Giving
Few gains predicted for 2009 corporate-foundation giving
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Charity Athletic Events Fared Well in 2008, but the Forecast for This Year Is Not So Sunny
The nation’s biggest charity walkathons, bike races, and similar events produced $1.76-billion in gross revenue last year, according to a new report. That was nearly 8 percent more than in 2007. But David Hessekiel, president of the Run Walk Ride Fundraising Council, in Rye, N.Y., which produced…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Charities that stage athletic events say their biggest challenge this year is getting donations.
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Nonprofit Financial Officers Expect Recession to Last Through Year’s End
Nonprofit financial officers expect recession to last through year’s end
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Keep a Child Alive, a charity in Brooklyn, N.Y., that raises money to buy drugs for African children with HIV/AIDS, has been asking supporters to donate to the cause by using their cellphones. The text-message campaign, which was first publicized by the group’s co-founder, the singer Alicia Keys,…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor