AT&T Donates Technology, Internet Service to Poor
AT&T has announced that it will provide free or discounted technology equipment and free Internet service to 50,000 low-income households over the next three years. The One Economy Corporation, a nonprofit group in Washington dedicated to providing poor families with access to Internet technology,…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Charity E-Mail Messsages Snagged by Spam Filters
A study of nearly 1,000 e-mail messages sent by 28 nonprofit organizations and political groups over a two-month period found that 24 percent of the messages did not make it to the e-mail boxes of the people who requested them. The finding is roughly the same as last year’s study, in which 27…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Software Helps Charities Track Product Inventories
The Aidmatrix Foundation, in Dallas, has built technology systems linking companies that have surplus products with charities that can put those supplies to good use. The organization’s software also helps charities track their supplies internally. The fees that charities pay for the technology…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Retirees Working for ‘Experience Corps’ in Urban Schools
Rewards of Giving: An In-Depth Study of Older Adults’ Volunteer Experiences in Urban Elementary Schools, by Becca Raley, examines a program that links retired people with needy students. Commissioned by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the report interviewed 43 Experience Corps volunteers, older…
By Anne W. Howard
Contributor
A Guide for Foundations That Want to Offer Loans, Other Investments to Charities
Program-Related Investing: Skills and Strategies for New PRI Funders, by Neil Carlson, gives wary foundations a beginner’s guide to program-related investments, or those “made by foundations in support of charitable purposes, with the explicit understanding that those investments will earn…
By Anne W. Howard
Contributor
Building Charities for a New Age
Five $100,000 prizes awarded to older people who find innovative ways to help society A new prize program that aims to help reshape the way Americans view older people has given five awards of $100,000 each to nonprofit leaders — all of whom are at least 60 years old — who are working to solve…
By SUZANNE PERRY
Contributor
Tips for Managing Volunteers With Disabilities
Nonprofit leaders who work with disabled volunteers says charities can take several easy steps ALSO SEE:Article: Opening the Door to More to create a welcoming environment for them. Start by being straightforward, says Gillian Friedman, executive director of Ability Awareness, in Cosa Mesa, Calif.,…
Charities Urged to Publicize Hurricane Aid
Government agencies and charities need to do more to reach out to victims of Hurricane Katrina, many of whom remain desperate for aid but are not aware of what assistance is available to them, says a new report. In most cases, people who suffered harm from Hurricane Katrina know only about services…
By Ian Wilhelm
Contributor
Confidence in Charities Rises, but Not to Levels Before 9/11
Donors’ confidence in charities is rebounding from the hit it took after the September 11, 2001, ALSO SEE: Chart: How Much Confidence Americans Say They Have in Charities terrorist attacks, according to a new study. But researchers say the news about donor perceptions isn’t entirely positive for…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
NAACP Cleared by Federal Tax Agency
Two-year investigation did little to clarify how charities can influence public policy, critics say By Brennen JensenAfter a two-year investigation, the Internal Revenue Service has concluded that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People did not violate tax laws or rules that…
By BRENNEN JENSEN
Contributor
Winners of First ‘Purpose Prize’ Awards Named
A new prize program that aims to help reshape the way Americans view older people has handed out five $100,000 awards to nonprofit leaders who are working to solve social problems in an innovative way — all of them more than 60 years old. Selected from among 1,200 applicants, the winners of the…
By SUZANNE PERRY
Contributor
Hurricane Katrina Touches Off a Civil War-Era Battle
The stately mansion where Jefferson Davis, the only president of the Confederate States of America, made his last home is well-known for its wraparound porch. Deep-set, it sweeps around three sides of the white-columned antebellum home in Biloxi, Miss. Or it did, until Hurricane Katrina unleashed a…
By BRENNEN JENSEN
Contributor
The following awards have been presented for work in advocacy, fund raising, nonprofit leadership, philanthropy, and other areas. Community service. Campus Compact (Providence, R.I.) has presented its Frank Newman Leadership Awards, which honor students who have demonstrated civic leadership…
How-To Guide: Saving Cultural Institutions’ Collections During a Disaster
Field Guide to Emergency Response: A Vital Tool for Cultural Institutions, produced by Heritage Preservation and financed by the National Endowment for the Humanities, provides instructions on preserving and storing artifacts, artworks, manuscripts, and other valuable collections during a…
By Anne W. Howard
Contributor
A Foundation’s Effort to Promote Conservation
Creating Common Ground, discusses Embrace Open Space, a collaborative effort by several McKnight Foundation grantees to increase awareness of land-use planning and the conservation of open spaces in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota. The campaign identified 10 “treasures” that many feared could…
By Anne W. Howard
Contributor
Lessons From a Foundation’s Work to Prevent Child Abuse
Community Partnerships for Protecting Children: Lessons, Opportunities, and Challenges, a report from the Center for Community Partnerships in Child Welfare and the Center for the Study of Social Policy, shares the results of an effort by the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation to combat child abuse…
By Anne W. Howard
Contributor