Big Brothers Big Sisters of America

KaBOOM!, a national non-profit dedicated to saving play for America's children, has proven that money isn’t everything when you have friends.  Over the past two weeks, KaBOOM!’s dedicated supporters voted online once a day to help the nonprofit win the Breakthrough Nonprofit Branding contest’s first place prize.

We would also like to congratulate the other nine nonprofits for advancing to the final round of the contest.  Each will receive a second or third place prize to help them continue their brand development journey.

FOR the first time in its more than 100-year history, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America is actively seeking donations, through a nationwide campaign, to underwrite its work with children at risk.

Called “Start Something,” the campaign uses traditional as well as social media to illustrate the positive impact the adult volunteers of Big Brothers Big Sisters have on children’s lives, and to solicit both volunteers and financial support.

Local nonprofit organizations are feeling the heavy burden of a flailing economy, reporting another year of falling revenues.

But organizations refuse to sit idle, hatching plans for the new year to grow their fundraising efforts and stay afloat to serve as best they can. They say the problem isn’t the donors —they are feeling the financial pinch just as much as the nonprofits are — it’s simply the amount of money that is being raised.

American Express released findings from a "Perspectives on Nonprofits" survey, which shows that while seven in ten Americans (71%) trust nonprofits more than they trust government or industry to address some of the most pressing issues of our time, more than eight in ten Americans (83%) believe that nonprofits do not always have the resources they need to invest in the growth and development of their employees.

Saying goodbye after a long fund-raising career has rarely been easy.

These days, however, a growing number of fund raisers don’t face that challenge, even when they reach retirement age.

Instead, many older fund raisers are taking part-time jobs or volunteering, often at the institution where they held senior positions. And others are continuing to work full-time in new roles that demand less travel and stress.

MINNEAPOLIS - (Business Wire) Best Buy Co., Inc. today announced that teens participating in its @15 Exchange directed $250,000 to four nonprofits through the company’s teen-focused @15 program. The Best Buy initiative empowers teens to be the drivers of change by giving them the opportunity to direct the company’s charitable donations to organizations who support issues teens feel are most important. Kicking off the second year of the @15 Exchange, Best Buy featured the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Scholarship America and the Starkey Hearing Foundation as recipients of teen-directed funding through www.at15.com. Teens registered on the website earned points by participating in online activities and then allocating their points to the nonprofits. This round, teens donated more than 1.2 million points, and the percentage of points earned by each nonprofit translated into their percentage of the $250,000 available:

April 27, 2010, Press Release — Retail thrift pioneer Savers Inc. today announced the launch of a new "Nonprofit Locator Tool" on its websites, making it easier than ever to donate gently used items that benefit the company's more than 128 nonprofit partners.

There are more than 240 Savers, Value Village, and Village des Valeurs stores across the U.S., Canada and Australia, and every location has a unique nonprofit partner in its community, such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, The Arc, The Epilepsy Foundation, HOPE Services or the Canadian Diabetes Association.  Each store pays its nonprofit partner for every used item donated, which include clothing, housewares, furniture and more. Partners are paid for donations collected directly by the nonprofit or at the Community Donation Center, located on-site at the Savers, Inc. stores. These partnerships turn otherwise unused goods into sustainable funding that supports the nonprofits' programs and services right in the local community.

The new Nonprofit Locator Tool will help match potential donors with nearby nonprofit partners and Community Donation Centers, thus encouraging increased donations for nonprofit partners. Last year, Savers paid $127 million to its partners for donations, and it has paid more than one billion dollars since 1954.

AUSTIN, Texas, October 28, 2009 — Sage North America today announced the results of its recently conducted social media survey for nonprofit organizations in the U.S. and Canada. One of the most interesting findings: 91% of respondents raise funds online, but only 58 percent of those nonprofits using social media cite fundraising as a goal for using it. “Sharing our story,” building a community, public relations, and donor engagement/retention – not raising funds – were listed as the nonprofits’ top reasons for engaging in social media.

August 10, 2009, Associated Press — Donors who usually give money to Big Brothers Big Sisters and other nonprofit agencies are demanding to see data on the how well the groups perform, a move spurred by the struggling economy.

August 10, 2009, The Plain Dealer — Pressure has never been so great for nonprofits to prove their worth. For groups seeking grants and donations, it's no longer enough to have a charismatic director or a touching story to tell.