Pop-Up Box Prompts Donors to Share Views
A simple pop-up box has given the University of Pennsylvania a window into the minds of its online donors. After donors make an Internet gift to the university’s annual fund, a screen comes up with their receipt, along with a pop-up box that asks if they would like to say why they made their…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Web Site Seeks ‘Filmanthropists’
SnagFilms, a new Web site that gives viewers free access to full-length documentaries online, offers a new distribution method for filmmakers whose work often languishes beyond the reach of moviegoers — and gives film buffs another way to support causes highlighted in documentaries. The site, which…
By CANDIE JONES
Contributor
Charities Say Antiterror Policies Cause ‘Collateral Damage’
By Caroline PrestonAntiterrorism policies introduced by the U.S. government after the September 11, 2001, attacks continue to hamper the work of charities overseas, according to a new report. The report, by Grantmakers Without Borders and OMB Watch, says that overly broad guidelines, lack of due…
By Caroline Preston
Contributor
Advocacy Efforts Get Small Share of Nonprofit Budgets, Survey Finds
By Suzanne PerryNearly three-fourths of charities do some kind of advocacy or lobbying, but the vast majority of them devote less than 2 percent of their budgets to such activities, according to a survey released last week. Limited money and staff time “seriously restrict the depth of involvement…
By SUZANNE PERRY
Contributor
Volunteers Fail to Return to Many Charities, a New Study Finds
Charities need to do a better job keeping their volunteers engaged and loyal, say the authors of a new report released by the federal government. The report, from the Corporation for National & Community Service, says that more than one out of every three people who volunteered in 2006 did not do…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Christine Nyirjesy Bragale considers herself a foot soldier in the battle against nonprofit jargon. Ms. Bragale, the media-relations director at Goodwill Industries International, has been known to rear up at the very sound of foundation tag lines sprinkled with phrases like “capacity,”…
By Jennifer C. Berkshire
Contributor
American Forest Foundation (Washington): Announced the resignation of Larry Wiseman, president and chief executive officer. Arts & Business Council of Chicago: Appointed Peter Kuntz, managing director of programs and production at the Chicago Humanities Festival, to be executive director. Camp…
The perils of peppering a cover letter with jargon
Employers get so many cover letters that you have to make that impression in those first few seconds.
By EMAN QUOTAH
Contributor
How to land a job reviewing federal grant proposals
Look for an agency that matches your background: say, education, museum work, or social services.
By EMAN QUOTAH
Contributor
Tips on landing a job in corporate grant making
Q. I’d like to learn more about jobs in corporate grant making. How do I get started on achieving this goal? A. You may want to start by requesting informational interviews with a few executives who work in those types of jobs. (For tips on informational interviews, see a previous Philanthropy…
By EMAN QUOTAH
Contributor
What Older Volunteers Want: Assignments With Substance
In the world of retail department stores, where I worked before retiring, one thing is for certain, and that is change. In fact, the president of the former Federated Department Stores, my final employer, frequently said, “If you don’t like change, get off the bus.” I loved it and rode the bus for…
By Kathie McManus Roberts
Contributor
IRS Told to Speed Up Charity Status Applications
The Internal Revenue Service has made progress in improving the speed at which it processes applications by groups seeking tax-exempt status. But Nina E. Olson, the national taxpayer advocate, says the agency still is not moving fast enough. Ms. Olson, who operates independently of other IRS…
By PETER PANEPENTO
Contributor
Two Men Plead Guilty in Charitable Gift Scheme
A Tel Aviv banker, Joseph Roth, has pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge, admitting that he was part of a charity scheme to defraud the U.S. government out of millions of dollars in tax revenue by establishing secret bank accounts in Israel involving the use of bogus trusts, federal…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
Insurer Asks Supreme Court to Restore Its Exemption
A California eye-insurance provider plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a 2003 decision by the Internal Revenue Service that revoked its tax-exempt status. VSP Vision Care, in Rancho Cordova, Calif., said it believes the IRS overstepped its bounds when it ruled in 2003 that the…
By PETER PANEPENTO
Contributor
Foundations Should Participate in Policy-Change Efforts
NEW BOOKS Foundations and Public Policy Grantmaking, by Julia Coffman, was written to help the James Irvine Foundation begin to work for policy change. Foundations should make grants to influence public policy, argues Ms. Coffman, an advocacy and policy-change consultant. Philanthropy is sometimes…
By Anne W. Howard
Contributor
Bits: eBay Giving Works Passes $150-Million Mark
United Way of America has sold its employee-giving campaign software, United eWay, to CreateHope, an online-giving company in Washington, to start a new company, Truist. United Way will be the largest shareholder. For more information: Go to http://www.truist.com. eBay Giving Works, a program that…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor