GENEVA

GENEVA, June 18, 2009, Associated Press — Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have donated $1 million to the U.N. refugee agency providing aid to hundreds of thousands uprooted by violence in Pakistan.

You’ve almost certainly had the meeting. You know, the one about how to survive the crunch, the crisis, the catastrophe — or whatever you want to call it. The meeting where you probably were uncertain about what to do and even about what the impact might be on your organization. Maybe the only thing everyone agreed on was that it’s a difficult situation in fundraising at the moment with few clear answers on how to survive.

Sir Elton John and David Furnish hosted the 17th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) Academy Awards(R) viewing party. The event was held on Sunday, February 22, 2009 at the Pacific Design Center and was co-sponsored by Chopard, Jo and Raffy Manoukian and Vh1. EJAF's party to celebrate the Academy Awards(R) was one of the night's best attended parties and raised nearly $4 million.

Paul Derstine, president and chief executive officer of IMA World Health for 17 years, has announced his decision to retire late in 2009. During his tenure, IMA has grown from a small non-profit distributor of donated medical products to an internationally recognized leader in the global health care arena.

Fundraising consultant Richard McPherson was recently honored with an Award for Teaching Excellence from the New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies.

Mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs — all pretty common buzzwords in the for-profit world. But, increasingly, savvy nonprofits are realizing the benefits of looking outside themselves and introducing a variety of new ventures under the umbrella of their firmly established brand.

The right projects can help an organization expand or enhance the breadth of services it offers or the reach of its service area. They can bring in new supporters and volunteers, or engage existing ones in new ways. And they can, ultimately, mean more donations.