On New Year’s Eve, the International Rescue Committee — a charity created in 1933 to aid refugees and those displaced by war, persecution or natural disasters — will be getting some unprecedented exposure. It is the first charity to be officially designated as a partner of the iconic New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square, which is watched by more than a billion people worldwide.
(Press release, Dec. 10, 2014) — MicroEdge®, the leading provider of solutions to the giving community worldwide, recently acquired by Blackbaud Inc., announced the release of GIFTS Online® 5.2, a significant update to the leading cloud-based grants management system. With this update, grantmaking organizations gain capacity for more collaborative grantee relationships, an enhanced ability to track and report on their giving, the introduction of new tools for managing scholarships and more.
The IRS is considering its own temporary shutdown due to recent budget cuts enacted by Congress, its chief said Thursday. IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said furloughs — forced unpaid days off for employees as part of an IRS closure — is one idea reluctantly being tossed about to save money, though they are hoping they will not have to go there.
Charles Huang partnered with two college friends to develop Charitweet, a start-up that simplifies the donation process to just one tweet. Most donations are typically made on charity websites. Then people share separately on social media. This process is a broken experience, Huang said.
With Charitweet, donors write a tweet with any combination of the charity's handle, Charitweet's handle and the donation amount. Without leaving Twitter, someone can donate money, spread awareness about the cause and share efforts with friends, who can retweet a message to also donate.
Spain's Princess Cristina was indicted on tax fraud charges Monday. The case involving Cristina centers on allegations that her husband, Inaki Urdangarin, used his Duke of Palma title to embezzle about 6 million euros ($7.4 million) in public contracts through the Noos Institute, a nonprofit foundation he set up with a business partner. The institute allegedly channeled money to other businesses.
There is an assumption in the U.S. that the best charitable giving season is October, November and December each year (year-end). The facts do not support this myth. Most believe that there are two reasons that year-end giving is good. First, they assume that donors are in the giving mood as they engage in all types of holiday gifting. The second theory is that donors are anxious to make gifts that they can deduct on their upcoming 2014 tax returns. Facts don’t support these assumptions.
People with fewer friends on Facebook raise more money for charity than those with lots of connections, research by an economist at the University of Warwick has found. Professor Kimberley Scharf analyzed data from JustGiving.com and found a negative correlation between the size of a group and the amount of money given by each donor — with the average contribution by each person dropping by two pence for every extra connection someone had on Facebook.
The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) announced in its Fifth Annual State of Giving Report that annual cash charitable giving to ECFA-accredited organizations increased 6.9 percent between 2012 and 2013. It reflects total cash donations of $11.6 billion in 2013, an increase from the previous year’s $10.9 billion.
Last year, ECFA reported a 6.4 percent increase in giving to its members for 2012, compared with a 1.7 percent increase the previous year. Giving to evangelical churches and ministries outpaced giving to secular charities in 2013.
About half the nation’s nonprofits consult scientific studies on how best to approach donors, and those groups that do so are more likely to raise more money, a new report conducted by the Science of Philanthropy Initiative says. Nearly 1,200 groups from the United States and Canada responded to the survey, which was designed to learn how groups use scientific findings and whether those that do had better results this year than last.
Is there a place for secrecy and anonymity in philanthropy? Some argue that there probably should be a place for anonymous giving and for privacy when setting and executing grantmaking strategy. It has become clear that secrecy isn’t really possible anymore. Technology and a shift in societal expectations have completely changed the game. Gone are the days when foundations and other donors could operate quietly below the radar. Those who give away large sums must get on board the transparency train or expect to get run over by it.
