A Different Kind of Donor-Advised Fund
The Calvert Giving Fund works much like other donor-advised funds, but with a twist –- the assets that donors contribute to set up their funds are invested in companies and other efforts that promote the social good. “We believe that the philanthropic gifts that they’ve given to the donor-advised…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Evaluation Will Play a Critical Role in Work of White House Office
Measurements and evaluation will play an important role as government and the nonprofit world work together to identify and expand the best solutions to the country’s most pressing social problems, Sonal Shah, director of the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation, told…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Why Mission Investing Matters, One Foundation Official’s Perspective
Putting for-profit investment capital to work in ways that benefit society has the potential to unlock substantial sums of money to tackle the world’s problems, says Antony Bugg-Levine, a managing director at the Rockefeller Foundation, in New York. In time, he says, the scale could dwarf anything…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Social Business Wins Big Investment
VillageReach, a nonprofit organization in Seattle, took a novel approach to trying to improve the health of people living in remote areas of Northern Mozambique. It started a propane-distribution company. In 2002, the charity started VidaGas with the country’s Ministry of Health as its first and,…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Social Capital Markets Conference Opens in San Francisco
San Francisco More than 800 investors, entrepreneurs, financiers, foundation executives, donors, and nonprofit officials have gathered here for Social Capital Markets 2009, a meeting that conference organizers describe as being “at the intersection of money and meaning.” Discussions will focus on…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Fund-Raising Challenge Raises Money for Arts Groups — and Ire
Online challenge runs into snafus
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Bits: TwitCause To Highlight a Different Charity Every Week
TwitCause, a new service of the Experience Project, will highlight a different charity every week in an effort to raise money and visibility for the organizations. For more information: Go to http://www. twitcause.com. A new Web site allows any charity participating in the federal government’s…
By NICOLE WALLACE and GRANT WILLIAMS
Association Experiments With Virtual Conferences
The Nonprofit Technology Network, which organizes an in-person annual meeting, is trying something a little different. Next month it will hold a two-day Online Nonprofit Technology Conference. “We’ve been told that it can cost too much to fly across the country and stay in a hotel,” Holly Ross, the…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Campaigns Seek to Improve Health Care for Immigrants
A project known as New Routes to Community Health seeks to improve the well-being of immigrants through multimedia campaigns created by immigrant-led groups. A joint effort of the Robert Wood Johnson and Benton Foundations, New Routes to Community Health has awarded three-year grants of $225,000…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Logistics Software Helps Food Banks Cut Costs
Feeding America, a network of more than 200 food banks, is using logistics and distribution software to help local groups transport food more efficiently. Grocery stores have become an increasingly important source of food donations, especially as food manufacturers improve their operations and as…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor