Bits: Spam Prevention and Technology Volunteers
On December 12 -- the first annual Spam Prevention Day -- Mailshell, a company in San Francisco, will give any nonprofit organization that visits the Web site http://www.stopspamtoday.org a free one-year subscription for its anti-spam software that can be used by each of the charity’s employees.…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Technology Company Files Plans With SEC
Kintera, a San Diego company that leases software to nonprofit organizations to help them raise money online, plans to sell 4.5 million shares of common stock in its initial public offering, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 28. The company…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Web Site Offers Charity Gift Options
As shoppers scurry to finish their holiday shopping, a new nonprofit organization hopes to spur charitable giving in lieu of candy, jewelry, and other traditional presents. Visitors to the WhatGoesAround.org Web site can make online donations to any of more than 900,000 nonprofit organizations.…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Boston Priest Returns Home to Lead Social-Services Charity
The Rev. J. Bryan Hehir is going home. For much of Father Hehir’s 37 years as a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston, he has been “on loan” to other dioceses. He spent 20 years at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, in Washington, and for the last two years he has served as president…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
New Report Finds Nonprofit Groups Are Borrowing Less
Uncertainty about the economy led many nonprofit organizations to borrow less money for capital improvements ALSO SEE: New Nonprofit Bond Ratings By Moody’s Investor Service during the past year, while fallout from the recent economic downturn has increased the possibility that more groups might…
By Brad Wolverton
Contributor
Public Confidence in Charitable Organizations Continues to Lag, Report Finds
Public confidence in charities, which sank after the September 11 attacks, has been rising but remains below what it was before the terrorist strikes, a new report says. More than a third, or 262, of 770 respondents to an October survey by the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank, said…
By Brad Wolverton
Contributor
Review of 9/11 Response Finds Charities Missed Opportunity to Lead
Organizations responding to major disasters must be willing to share information and assert leadership, according to a new report that reviews the relief efforts following the September 11 terrorist attacks with an eye toward improving services after other national crises. Among its 22…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Charities look for ways to recruit the perfect mix of trustees More than three years ago, when Ron Lutz joined the board of Dallas Challenge, a nonprofit organization that offers programs for needy youngsters, he looked at his fellow trustees and saw striking similarities. Most of the other board…
By Rebecca Gardyn
Contributor
Creating an endowment requires planning and patience but in the long run pays off for most charitiesWhen Hillel of Colorado hired Pat Blumenthal as executive director six years ago, it had only one staff member and an annual budget of $150,000 -- resources too slim to allow it to meet its goals of…
By PETER PANEPENTO
Contributor
Preparing for a Career in Fund Raising
When choosing a program, look for one that relies on faculty members with extensive work experience in fund raising.
By Rebecca Gardyn
Contributor
Q. I am an associate director of development at a nonprofit organization, but I would ultimately like to work as a philanthropic adviser. What is the best way to make the transition from fund raising and how can I prepare for this change over the next two years? A. The first thing you should know…
By Rebecca Gardyn
Contributor
Q. I come from a corporate background where I hired numerous employees. I’m now looking at moving into the nonprofit world and am appalled by how poorly charities handle the hiring process. I had interviews with two different nonprofit groups that each brought in about 25 candidates for the first…
By Rebecca Gardyn
Contributor
Advice for Forming an Arts-Education Group
Ten Steps Toward Starting a Community School of the Arts, by LaMoine MacLaughlin, offers advice on establishing nonprofit arts-education organizations. Mr. MacLaughlin, co-founder and executive director of the Northern Lakes Center for the Arts and the Northern Lakes School of the Arts, both in…
By Jessica Kronstadt
Contributor
How Foundations Share Information About Their Giving With the Public
Foundation Reporting: Update on Public Reporting Trends of Private and Community Foundationsdiscusses grant makers’ use of annual reports, print publications, and Web sites to share information with the public. According to the Foundation Center, the number of foundations that publish information…
By Jessica Kronstadt
Contributor
Advice on Minimizing Risks in Volunteer Programs
Better Safe: Risk Management in Volunteer Programs & Community Service, by Linda L. Graff, helps nonprofit managers identify and control their liability should volunteers be involved in accidents or other trouble while doing charity work. Ms. Graff, president of a nonprofit-management consulting…
By Jessica Kronstadt
Contributor
Group’s New Head Aims to Expand Reach of Female Journalists
Lisa Woll’s day jobs have mostly been at big nonprofit groups that operate on a national or international scale, but she has devoted her free time in the past decade to building a small charity to help impoverished women in Washington. Her newest day job combines both worlds. As head of the…
By Jeffrey Klineman
Contributor