Fidelity Charitable Now Accepts Bitcoin Donations
The donor-advised fund manager is working with the bitcoin platform Coinbase, which converts the digital currency to cash at no charge. Donors’ tax deductions will depend on how long they have held the currency, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Facebook Debuts New Fundraising Tools
The new features include a “donate” button pilot project that will make it easier for users of the social-media site to give to charity with fewer clicks.
By Megan O’Neil
Contributor
Loan Fund Offers $30 Million to Health-Care Charities
The plan by Vital Healthcare Capital, a community-development group, will help nonprofits provide better care to the most vulnerable patients in low-income areas.
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Disability-Rights Advocate Awarded $100,000 Purpose Prize
Other winners in the 10th annual Encorge.org prize for older Americans working on tough social issues include innovators in microfinance and health care.
By Rebecca Koenig
Contributor
Energy-Drink Billionaire Pledges to Give Away Fortune
In a self-produced film released online last month, 5-Hour Energy drink creator Manoj Bhargava is committing 99 percent of his estimated $4-billion fortune to tackling global problems, Quartz writes.
Prominent Researcher Calls Interventions Without Evaluations ‘Immoral’
Nonprofits need evidence, not hunches, to justify programs, says psychologist Richard Nisbett.
By Rebecca Koenig
Contributor
Nonprofit Crowdfunding Site Watsi Takes Cues From Silicon Valley
Watsi, a crowdfunding platform that allows donors to support people with medical expenses in the developing world, raised $3.5 million in start-up funding from foundations and philanthropists and has recruited some big-name engineers from groups like NASA and Microsoft, according to an article in Entrepreneur magazine. In 2013, Watsi became the first nonprofit accepted by the Bay Area start-up accelerator Y Combinator.
Study: Children With Atheist Parents Are More Generous Than Those With Christian, Muslim Backgrounds
A new study finds that children brought up by atheist parents are more generous than those brought up in religious households, Fusion reports. Researchers found an inverse relationship between altruism and religious observance.
Researchers Question Success of Utah Social-Impact Bond
A Utah preschool program funded by investment bank Goldman Sachs that was touted last month as the first “social-impact bond” to yield returns for an investor may have significantly overstated the results on which the payout is based, according to The New York Times.
Biggest Foundations Turn Attention to Achieving Big Change
Major U.S. philanthropies are increasingly thinking big when it comes to significant social and environmental challenges, focusing their giving on tackling root causes and achieving lasting, structural change, The New York Times writes.
Opinion: Is Can-Do Silicon Valley Doing Philanthropy Right?
A New York Times analysis looks at the growth of tech-sector giving and the attitudes and tools Silicon Valley moguls are bringing to philanthropy.
Some Nonprofits Are Now More Open to Donations From Marijuana Businesses
The industry’s profitability and the fact that people served by some charities use marijuana for medical problems have encouraged the trend, according to Associated Press.
Boston Nonprofits Find New Ways to Attract Millennials
Strategies that give young people deeper connections with nonprofits, rather than simply writing a check or attending a gala, work best, says The Boston Globe.
Mystery Money: the Art of Seeking Gifts From Donor-Advised Funds
Billions of dollars are available, but the lack of a paper trail makes it difficult for nonprofits to target pitches. Here are ways to cut through the fog.
By Alex Daniels
Senior Editor, Foundations
Opinion: Saudi Mogul’s ‘Philanthropy U.’ Off to a Fast Start
Columnist Paul Sullivan at The New York Times writes about the launch of Philanthropy University, a nonprofit initiative funded by Saudi businessman Amr Al-Dabbagh to offer education and training to nonprofit executives through “massive open online courses,” or MOOCs.
Impact Investing Can Bring Big Returns and Court Battles
The Wall Street Journal examines the growth in high-dollar impact investments by activist philanthropies, focusing on the Baltimore-based Abell Foundation’s stakes in mission-aligned areas like sustainable energy.