Non-Profit Groups Gird for Double-Digit Increases in Postage Rates
Effective January 10, many charities will face double-digit increases in their postage costs, the Postal Service has announced. The announcement gives non-profit groups a few months of welcome relief from postage-rate increases. The Postal Service had wanted to raise the rates this year, but it…
By Holly Hall
Contributor
Cash Donations to Hospitals and Medical Centers Drop 2.5% in a Year
Hospitals received $2.73-billion in cash gifts last year, a 2.5-per-cent drop from 1996, according to new estimates for more than 1,400 non-profit hospitals nationwide. The estimates were part of a survey released by the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy. The drop comes at a time when giving…
By Holly Hall
Contributor
2 Businessmen Pledge $100-Million to Send Poor Children to Private Schools
The Wall Street financier Theodore J. Forstmann and John T. Walton, heir to the Wal-Mart Stores empire, announced last week that they will contribute $50-million each to a new fund to help children from low-income families attend private schools. The Children’s Scholarship Fund will distribute the…
By Holly Hall
Contributor
Postal Commission Recommends an Increase in Rates for Charities
The Postal Rate Commission last week voted to recommend that non-profit postage be increased by 9.6 per cent, on average, for most letters and other pieces of mail. Rates for non-profit periodicals would rise by 8 per cent. New rates could take effect as early as July. The commission, an…
By Holly Hall
Contributor
Women’s funds try unconventional fund-raising methods in bid to join philanthropy’s big leagues Women’s funds -- which raise money to benefit charities that help women and girls -- are starting to use new and, in some cases, unconventional fund-raising methods in an attempt to sharply increase…
By Holly Hall
Contributor
Polls Show Americans Say Volunteering Is Important
Three new surveys have provided fresh insights into Americans’ views on volunteering: * A United Parcel Service survey released this month found that more than half of Americans believe that volunteering is more important today than it was five years ago. And 40 per cent said they would like to…
By Holly Hall
Contributor
General Powell’s Charity Gets Mixed Reviews From Non-Profit Leaders
When Gen. Colin Powell agreed to chair last year’s Presidents’ Summit for America’s Future in Philadelphia, he made it clear that he wanted to also lead the toughest part of the battle: getting companies, government agencies, and charities to make good on the promises they made to help needy…
By Holly Hall
Contributor
Association of Fund Raisers Appoints New Chief Executive
The National Society of Fund Raising Executives has named Paulette V. Maehara as its new chief executive officer, effective June 1. Ms. Maehara is currently chief executive of the Epilepsy Foundation. One of her first challenges at the society will be to replenish the financial reserves of the…
By Holly Hall
Contributor
America Answers Call to Help Kids
A year after Presidents’ Summit, charities gain many new partners Nearly 350 businesses, government agencies, and national charities are working on new or expanded efforts to help kids in response to last year’s Presidents’ Summit for America’s Future. Their combined efforts are generating millions…
By Holly Hall
Contributor
Postal Service to Set New Limits on Charity Membership Appeals
The Postal Service has proposed new guidelines to clarify what type of materials charities can include in membership appeals and still have those mailings be eligible for non-profit rates. The proposal is an effort to clarify how far charities can go in describing “member benefits” such as affinity…
By Holly Hall
Contributor