News/Stats/Studies

The endowments of 284 U.S. colleges and universities returned an average of 19.8 percent (net of fees) in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2011, a new report from the Commonfund Institute finds.

Conducted in partnership with the National Association of College and University Business Officers, the 2011 NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments found that the highest-performing endowment in FY2011 returned 31.8 percent while the lowest returned 3.7 percent.

A tax credit that raised $100 million last year for Michigan charities — and gave taxpayers more than $40 million in write-offs on their state returns — expires at the end of the year, and charities are pushing to make sure donors take advantage of the Credit for Charitable Gifts before it disappears on Jan. 1

More than 250,000 taxpayers claimed one or more of the three Michigan charitable tax credits in 2010.

In partnership with the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the California Endowment, and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, Grammy award-winning entertainer Lady Gaga has announced the launch of the Born This Way Foundation.

To be directed by Lady Gaga and her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, the charitable organization will work to address youth issues such as self-confidence, well-being, bullying, and career development utilizing digital mobilization as a method of creating positive change.

Lower-income Britons donate a higher proportion of their income than higher earners, says Third Sector Online, citing research by two major U.K. nonprofit associations.

People earning less than $51,000 give more than 1 percent of their income to charity, compared to 0.8 percent for those who make $83,000 or more, according to the U.K. Giving 2011 report by the Charities Aid Foundation and the National Council for Voluntary Organizations.

Fisher House Foundation, which constructs comfortable homes to provide free, temporary housing to the families of service members receiving medical care at VA and military hospitals around the world, announced that it will receive continued media support from long-standing partner Clear Channel Radio this Veterans Day. 

Clear Channel will launch the second annual Operation Fisher House, a powerful week-long national media campaign designed to raise awareness and funding for Fisher House and the military members they serve.

Merkle, the nation’s largest privately held agency, has appointed Angie Moore senior vice president, CRM officer for its nonprofit division. This move accentuates Merkle’s emphasis on bringing the full array of customer relationship marketing (CRM) services to the nonprofit marketplace.

In her new role, Moore will lead strategic partnerships with major nonprofit organizations to drive Merkle’s CRM and integrated marketing strategies into this market. Previously, Moore was general manager of Merkle’s nonprofit practice.

America's charities, which receive a significant portion of their annual contributions during the holiday giving season, will be heartened to know that donors who gave last year-end plan to give again this year-end. The recent survey about year-end giving by Charity Navigator, the nation's largest and most-utilized evaluator of charities, also found that the majority of donors expect to give at the same level as they did last year.

For the first time, business and nonprofit executives trying to harness Facebook’s enormous audience to power cause marketing campaigns have an in-depth guide to what’s working and what’s not.

MyRegistry.com, the universal gift registry website, announces the four finalists of its first-ever Baby Registry Giveback; an initiative to help benefit families who are managing unforeseen difficulties that have impacted their ability to purchase baby necessities.

KELL Partners, the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) consulting specialists for nonprofits, announced its engagement with Plan International USA to deploy the organization's Convio Luminate constituent engagement solution. The newest addition to KELL's growing client roster capped off a record quarter in revenue as the company continues to drive strong growth while serving the cloud-based technology needs of organizations across the nonprofit sector.