New Site Promotes Nonprofit Research
IssueLab, a new organization in Chicago, is using the Internet to try to win greater exposure for research conducted by nonprofit organizations. “Our efforts are evenly split between providing a platform for organizations to archive that work, and pushing that work back out to journalists and…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Text Messages Tested as Solicitation Tool
The Mobile Giving Foundation, in Bellevue, Wash., hopes to bolster charitable giving via text messaging by bringing charities and cellphone companies together to reach wireless users in the United States. “Mobile has not been available to nonprofits up until now,” says Jim Manis, founder of the…
By CANDIE JONES
Contributor
Charity Finds New Ways to Increase Online Gifts
Simple changes can often make a big difference in how much money a charity’s Web site raises. Amnesty International learned that lesson when it tested several different approaches to see which ones were most effective. Donordigital, a San Francisco consulting firm that helped the charity, has…
By Holly Hall
Contributor
Getty Trust Cuts 114 Jobs in Effort to Reduce Costs and Refocus Mission
The J. Paul Getty Trust, in Los Angeles, has eliminated 114 staff positions and taken other cost-cutting measures as part of a long-term plan to enhance its arts programs. Fewer than 40 staff members were laid off. The rest of the job cuts were achieved through attrition, elimination of vacant…
By BRENNEN JENSEN
Contributor
Midsize Charities Urged to Set New Board Policies
The governing boards of midsize nonprofit groups ought to carefully set criteria for board membership, ALSO SEE: TABLE: How Nonprofit Chief Executives Rate Their Boards on Key Tasks encourage all members to influence the board’s focus and agenda, and better monitor their own performance, according…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
The following awards have been presented for work in advocacy, fund raising, nonprofit leadership, philanthropy, and other areas: Education fund raising. The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (Washington) has presented its 2008 Distinguished Service Awards. The winners: — The CASE…
Retiring Leader of Mentor Charity Looks Ahead
After 30 years of leading charities, Allan Luks figures it’s time to move on to a new challenge. ALSO SEE: BIO: About Allan Luks Just don’t call it retirement. Mr. Luks, who is leaving the top job at Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City, prefers to think of it as “re-potting” time. After all,…
By Eric Frazier
Contributor
Report Looks at Factors That Affect Grant Makers’ Expenses
NEW BOOKS What Drives Foundation Expenses & Compensation?: Results of a Three-Year Study, by Elizabeth T. Boris, Loren Renz, Mark A. Hager, Rachel Elias, and Mahesh Somashekhar, examines what the 10,000 largest U.S. grant makers spent on administrative expenses from 2001 to 2003. Among the key…
By Anne W. Howard
Contributor
Social Entrepreneurs Urged to Work With Governments
Social entrepreneurs have developed innovative approaches to pressing social problems, and government should do more to encourage them, according to a new paper. “Advancing Social Entrepreneurship,” published by the Aspen Institute, a think tank in Washington, and Root Cause, a nonprofit research…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Bits: OMB Watch Creates Regulatory Resource Center
The ninth annual “Grassroots Use of Technology” conference will be held June 28 at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. It is sponsored by the Organizers’ Collaborative, a group that promotes the use of computers and the Internet as tools for activism. For more information: Go to…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Online Auction Site Urges Users to Donate
EBay and its corporate foundation have started the Community Gives campaign to encourage people who use the auction site to donate to three charities — and to start things off, the foundation has made a $1-million grant to be shared by the groups. EBay users can make a gift either by donating the…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Bank Site Culls Details on 70 Foundations
Grant seekers have a new online resource to consult. Bank of America has created a Web site that provides information about 70 foundations for which it serves as trustee or grant-making agent. Profiles on the site detail each foundation’s mission and areas of interest, application procedures, and…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Cable Network Discusses Its Philanthropic Role
CNN’s involvement in philanthropy began when officials at the network noticed two trends: celebrities’ growing advocacy on behalf of causes, and viewers responding to stories with e-mail messages and phone calls asking how they could help, Tonja Brown, director of strategic integration at CNN, told…
By Cassie J. Moore
Contributor
Online Grant Contest Draws 15,000 Votes
More than 15,000 people voted in the final round of the Make It Your Own Awards to select the four winning charities, which received $35,000 each for projects designed to get Americans involved in civic causes. The Case Foundation, in Washington, received 4,641 submissions, and more than 100…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Charities in Iraq Face Shortage of Money and Many Other Hurdles
The International Rescue Committee was one of at least six large American relief charities that pulled out of Iraq in 2005, as security in the country worsened and more and more aid workers found themselves victims of kidnappings and bombings. But last fall, the New York nonprofit group decided to…
By Caroline Preston
Contributor
IRS Offers Second Chance to Tardy Charities
The Internal Revenue Service plans to give a second chance this year to charities in jeopardy of ALSO SEE:ARTICLE: Putting Charity to the Test losing their tax-exempt status for failure to file their informational tax return, called the Form 990. The new program would allow organizations to file…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor