January 14, 1999 | Read Time: 5 minutes
Forging Nonprofit Alliances
By Jane Arsenault
The writing is on the wall for many non-profit groups that are feeling the squeeze of competition from other charities and from companies, writes Ms. Arsenault. Struggling groups will have to consider partnerships with other non-profit organizations or businesses to avoid shutting down, she writes.
“The task of managing a non-profit is becoming so complex that small, locally based organizations will not be able to compete for resources or consumers,” writes Ms. Arsenault, a consultant in Lincoln, R.I. She intends to help managers of non-profit groups come to grips with what is potentially a difficult decision, and to help them insure that an organization’s mission is not compromised by its reaching out to other institutions.
Ms. Arsenault begins by outlining a 14-step plan for initiating a partnership. She then explores four options available to non-profit groups: joint ventures, such as a contract with another group to provide a shared service; management-service organizations, which are umbrella organizations formed by non-profit groups with similar missions; parent corporations, which encompass a larger array of groups and hold governing power over subsidiaries; and mergers, the process of two groups combining so thoroughly that neither organization retains any individual autonomy.
She covers the necessary documents needed to create such alliances, as well as tax considerations, legal issues, and risks.
The book’s final chapters detail the practical steps needed to create partnerships, such as negotiating formal agreements, shaping a new governing structure, and planning a timetable for the transition. Ms. Arsenault envisions that most non-profit groups will have the opportunity to form partnerships within the next five to 10 years, and she sees cause for optimism.
“Perhaps through the non-profit sector’s strongly held values, a commitment to partnership, and an openness to innovation, we can invent better, kinder ways to consolidate our organizations than the private sector has found so far,” she concludes.
The book was published under the auspices of the National Alliance for Nonprofit Management, in Washington.
Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 350 Sansome Street, San Francisco 94104-1310; (415) 433-1767; fax (800) 605-2665; World-Wide Web http://www.josseybass.com; 198 pages; $22.95; I.S.B.N. 0-7879-1003-1.
The Foundation Grants Index 1999
Edited by Rebecca MacLean
This directory lists 86,203 grants of $10,000 or more that were awarded by 1,016 major foundations in late 1996 and in 1997.
ALSO SEE:
Grant Makers Giving More, Report Says
Those funds — including independent, corporate, operating, and community foundations — account for only 2.4 per cent of active grant-making foundations in the United States yet gave 57.4 per cent of all grant dollars during the period covered: $7.9-billion, up $600-million from the previous year.
Grants are arranged under 28 subject fields. Foundations are listed alphabetically within each field, and each grant listing contains the name of the receiving organization, the city where it is located, the dollar amount, the year the grant was approved by the foundation, its purpose, and the source from which the index’s compilers took the information — usually a foundation’s informational tax return or annual report.
Groups showing the biggest increases in grants, by percentage, include health groups, which regained second place on a list of foundations’ giving priorities (behind education and ahead of human-services organizations), and arts groups, where the share of grants awarded increased for the first time in 10 years.
Indexes are also provided that list the recipients under name (for both domestic and foreign non-profit organizations), subject, type of support, location, and foundation.
The directory’s final section offers contact information and summaries of giving limitations for the foundations listed.
Publisher: Foundation Center, Order Code GI27, 79 Fifth Avenue, New York 10003-3076; (212) 807-3690 or (800) 424-9836; fax (212) 807-3677; World-Wide Web http://fdncenter.org; 2,633 pages; $165 plus $4.50 postage and handling; I.S.B.N. 0-87954-812-6; I.S.S.N. 0090-1601.
Planned Giving Simplified: The Gift, the Giver, and the Gift Planner
By Robert F. Sharpe, Sr.
The key to securing planned gifts is to fulfill a donor’s desire to do good, according to Mr. Sharpe. Fund raisers can’t rely solely on pitching tax incentives when courting long-term givers, he writes.
“The real challenge of planned giving is in knowing what to do after you understand how the plans work,” writes Mr. Sharpe, founder of a consulting company in Memphis that bears his name. “The successful gift planner must understand all of the various motivations underlying the desire to make charitable gifts.”
Mr. Sharpe begins with a summary of the many types of planned gifts available, such as trusts, real estate, stocks, retirement accounts, and deferred gifts. He then describes the people most likely to give. Apart from noting that age and wealth are obvious traits, he lists several motivations that might spur a prospective donor: family animosity (such as shutting a relative out of an inheritance by giving the money to charity), superstition, guilt, obligation, or a desire to emulate other donors.
He also explains why most gift planners make revocable gifts during their lifetime, and how planned-giving specialists can allay a donor’s fears about making a major financial commitment.
The book’s final sections explain the process of securing a planned gift and outline the roles of managers and board members in planned giving. For example, a chief executive’s responsibility, Mr. Sharpe writes, includes finding donors, accompanying the planned-giving officer on interviews, and writing donors thank-you notes.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 605 Third Avenue, New York 10158-0012; (800) 879-4539; fax (212) 850-6135; World-Wide Web http://www.wiley.com; 210 pages; $34.95; I.S.B.N. 0-471-16674-x.
