In the Spring/Summer 2010 Mission Matters study by the Commonfund Institute, Verne Sedlacek, president and CEO of Commonfund, takes a look at the economics of nonprofits and offers five takeaways about the nonprofit economic landscape.
The fundraising performance of the UK's 500 biggest charities was significantly better than expected in the early part of the recession, according to figures released today.
The Charity Market Monitor survey shows that their combined income in the financial year 2008/09 fell by £64m, a drop of 1.1 per cent. A year ago, the same publication predicted that the fall could be as high as £185m, or 3.5 per cent.
At first glance, Congressmen Hal Rogers and Chaka Fattah don't have much in common. Rogers, a Republican, represents a rural district in Kentucky. Fattah, a Democrat, hails from an urban district in Philadelphia. Thanks to Rogers, this year's federal spending will include $18.9 million funneled to a half-dozen non-profit groups he founded that do everything from research homeland security technologies to clean litter along his district's highways. One sponsors summer camps for students called "Rogers Scholars" and "Rogers Explorers."
Fattah directed $3.5 million this year to three non-profit groups he founded that provide scholarships and educational programs. One organizes the annual "Fattah Conference on Higher Education."
In a recent fundraising study conducted by Common Impact, 79 percent of nonprofits surveyed reported spending 2 percent or less of their operating budgets to support key infrastructure.
Most charitable fundraisers in the U.S. expect to raise more money this year than in 2009, a new poll says.
Sixty-one percent of 692 fundraisers responding to the poll, conducted on its website in April and May by the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
In comparison, 15 percent of those responding expect to raise the same amount this year as last year, while 23 percent predicted they would raise less this year.
The number of Americans who volunteer grew last year at the fastest rate in six years, according to a new report, defying the popular notion that hard economic times suppress civic participation.
The report, released today by the Corporation for National and Community Service, says that 63.4 million adult Americans—nearly 27 percent of the population—volunteered to help charitable causes last year. That’s an increase from 2008 of roughly 1.6 million volunteers, the largest single-year jump since 2003.
More than 70 percent of grant makers say not enough is being done to assess the performance of foundations, according to a survey conducted by the LFA Group for the Center for Effective Philanthropy.
The biggest barriers to measuring performance are the difficulty of establishing a causal relationship between a foundation’s support and creating change, and a lack of time to conduct an evaluation, respondents said. LFA Group polled more than 500 foundation executives and program officers in February.
While direct mail is still king in bringing in funds, online fundraising remains an ever-growing channel that is vital to the future of every organization. Studying the trends and understanding where opportunities lie going forward as today’s online generation reaches prime giving age are musts. To that end, nonprofit technology provider Convio recently released its Online Nonprofit Benchmark Study.
Charleston, S.C. (June 15, 2010) – Blackbaud, Inc. today announced the launch of the Blackbaud Index of Charitable Giving, a broad-based fundraising index that reports revenue trends of 1400 nonprofit organizations representing $2.2 billion in yearly revenue on a monthly basis. The Index is based on actual revenue statistics from nonprofit organizations of all sizes representing arts, culture, and humanities; education; environment and animals; healthcare; human services; international affairs; public and society benefit; and religion sectors. (Read more about the methodology at www.blackbaud.com/blackbaudindex.)
The economy struck another blow to charitable donations last year, causing contributions from foundations, corporations, and individuals to decline by 3.2 percent, according to Giving USA, the annual tally of American philanthropy released this morning.
The dip comes after the first year of the recession depressed giving by 2.4-percent in 2008. Giving USA said last year’s drop was partly due to foundations, which decreased their giving by 8.6 percent. Corporate giving rose by 5.9 percent, although the report speculated that companies shifted their giving to goods and products and away from cash.
