A Charitable Giving Standard

Some studies have indicated that lower income groups often donate a higher percentage of their earnings when compared to their wealthier counterparts. Experts have noted that individuals with lower incomes often have strong religious affiliations, and therefore tend to give more.

A recent analysis on giving in the Netherlands, however, indicates that this "negative effect of income" on giving cannot be explained by the stronger religious involvement found in lower income groups.

Pamela Wiepking, who studied the data, suggests that there exists a “giving standard” that guides charitable donations. The giving standard may lead different donors to give similar amounts that are not proportional to their incomes. Wiepking notes that 80% of households in the Netherlands generally give between €5 and €25 for direct mail appeals, and a majority donated €25 to support victims of the Tsunami in 2004.

Wiepking explains, “If people with a higher income understand how miserly their gifts compare to the donations of people with lower incomes, it is possible that they are prepared to donate more substantial amounts.”

Learn more about Wiepking’s study in “The Philanthropic Poor: In Search of Explanations for the Relative Generosity of Lower Income Households.” Voluntas, vol. 18 (December 2007): p. 339-58.

Search our Catalog of Nonprofit Literature for other articles from Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations.

Foundation Case Studies

Grantmakers can often learn from the experience of other funders by examining case studies available at our library/learning centers. Here are two titles we have recently acquired:

Philanthropic Foundations and the Globalization of Scientific Medicine and Public Health. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2007. xviii, 195 p.

Various authors contribute to a history of the Rockefeller Foundation's international health initiatives and, secondly, provide an analysis of the current world-wide work of foundations in the delivery of health care services.

Taking on the World's Repressive Regimes: The Ford Foundation's International Human Rights Policies and Practices. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. x, 314 p.

A detailed account of the Ford Foundation's human rights work in Eastern Europe, Latin America, South Africa, and other areas. A chapter describes the Ford Foundation's role in promoting women's rights.

Search our Catalog of Nonprofit Literature for additional foundation case studies.


Other Web Resources:
GrantCraft 's case studies
PubHub: Foundation-Sponsored Reports

Fundraising During a Recession

With growing concerns of a global recession this week, some nonprofits may we wondering how they can prepare for the expected declines in giving. No need to panic, our sector has endured difficult economic times before. Michael Seltzer noted earlier this week on PhilanTopic that nonprofits are survivors, “We're accustomed to wearing our belts snugly -- and tightening them when the economy takes a turn for the worse.”

How do you increase your chances of survival? A recent issue of Advancing Philanthropy contains some basic tips that may help:

-Avoid dramatic cuts in staff; you may do more harm than good in the long run.

-Since donors will be more cautious with their giving, greater transparency in your organization can convince donors that their gifts will be used effectively.

-Don’t focus all your energy on just the major donors. You might want to concentrate on your donor base that consistently supports your annual campaign.

Learn more tips by reading Mary Ellen Collins’s article in the January/February 2008 issue of Advancing Philanthropy, “Enjoy the Ride: How to Effectively Raise Funds in a Roller-Coaster Economy.” (p. 27-30).

Recent "Off the Shelf" Book Reviews

Here are quick highlights from Philanthropy News Digest's Off the Shelf book reviews by Foundation Center staff:

Charity on Trial: What You Need to Know before You Give. Doug White. (Barricade Books, 2006)

“...Certainly, the majority of America's charities (all 1.5 million of them) are on the up and up. But some are not — and they're the subject of Doug White's Charity on Trial, an engrossing and at times stupefying account of some of the more reprehensible recent acts of nonprofit malfeasance and incompetence.” More...

The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex (South End Press, 2007)

"...The essays in the book are full of lessons learned, unresolved issues, and perspectives on the future of social justice movements and the nonprofit sector. We discover, for example, that there is difference between social service and social change, and that making this distinction can be helpful in assessing the viability and appropriate use of the 501(c)(3) model." More...

For a full list of archived Off the Shelf reviews, click here.

Nonprofit Budgeting Resources

If you are searching for guides to help you develop a budget for your organization, here are a few suggestions:

Our library/learning center’s have just acquired the updated edition of The Budget-Building Book for Nonprofits: A Step-by-Step Guide for Managers and Boards (Jossey-Bass, 2007), which includes new chapters that focus on budgeting on capital projects, as well as a section on cash flow management. The Catalog of Nonprofit Literature also contains other books and articles on budgeting and financial management.

Online resources on budgeting can be found in the Free Management Library’s Basic Guide to Non-Profit Financial Management.

For grantseekers who are preparing budgets for their grant applications, visit the Learn About Proposal Writing area at the Foundation Center’s web site to learn about our publications, as well as our classroom and training opportunities related to this topic.

A Look at Foundation Strategy

Organizations often develop strategies to help them achieve their goals and to facilitate decision making. To explore the use of strategy in foundations, the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) interviewed 42 executives and program officers from some of the largest foundations in the nation. The study compared the respondents’ views with CEP’s definition of strategy:

“A framework for decision making that is 1) focused on the external context in which the foundation works and 2) includes the hypothesized causal connection between use of foundation resources and goal achievement.”

The study found that while respondents spoke positively about using strategy in their work, their frameworks often did not meet the CEP’s definition of strategy.

For example, some respondents, categorized as “charitable bankers”, use frameworks developed from internal, historical practices, rather than ones created from an assessment of external factors and issues. Charitable bankers tend to have broad goals, which allow more flexibility to react to a variety of needs.

At the other end of the spectrum are the “total strategists” who rely more on assessments and evaluations than any other category. In many instances, the total strategists in the study explained how they rejected grant applications that were not aligned with their frameworks.

The report for this study, Beyond the Rhetoric: Foundation Strategy will help grantmakers reflect on their own decision-making frameworks and assist them in identifying more effective approaches. More information about the report is available at strategy.effectivephilanthropy.org

For other articles or books on strategic planning, click here to search our Catalog of Nonprofit Literature.

Boosting Online Fundraising Performance

Are you about to develop a web site where supporters can provide donations to your nonprofit? Here are some suggestions from the experts:

-As you design your site, make sure that there is a link for online donations on every web page.

-Include a statement on your site that explains how you use and share the personal information you collect.

-Accountability and transparency is important to donors, so describe how funding has been used in the past and how donations will be spent in the future.

-You increase the chances of receiving donations when you include useful information that drives potential donors to the site.

Researchers Adrian Sargeant, Douglas C. West, and Elaine Jay based these recommendations on empirical data from the United Kingdom. The analysis is described in “The Relational Determinants of Nonprofit Web Site Fundraising Effectiveness: An Exploratory Study”, published in the latest issue of Nonprofit Management & Leadership (vol. 18, no. 2).

For other articles or books on online fundraising, click here to search our Catalog of Nonprofit Literature.

Learning From Association Super-Trends

In 2005, ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership published Mapping the Future of Your Association, which identified eight major trends that executives should be aware of. Two years later, Benjamin Martin, the member relations director of the Virginia Society of CPAs, reexamines these developments in a series of articles published in the Journal of Association Leadership. Martin’s analysis and recommendations may help you to think of ways to improve your organization.

1) With the growing popularity of virtualization technologies, organizations should cultivate online communities, but also have realistic expectations for member participation.

2) Develop strategies to counteract the information overload members may experience by filtering and prioritizing data for them.

3) Unbundling products and selling them individually continues to be a trend, but you might consider limiting the number of options so members do not get overwhelmed.

4) Unbundling may also cause your members to perceive a reduction in the value of their membership. Your organization needs to continue to develop new products, drop low-value services, and communicate value to members.

5) As members demand more services related to their specialty (demassification) you might try tapping into volunteers who can share their knowledge and skills.

6) Regarding the scrutiny super-trend, Martin indicates that a higher level of disclosure can be a good risk management strategy.

7) As organizations continue to use the Internet for advocacy efforts, some groups are using text-messaging services on cell phones to communicate with members.

8) International organizations need to recognize that they will continue to face the challenge of counter-Americanism. Martin notes, “To operate globally, associations must develop localized models of association culture, governance, politics, and operations.”

Citations:

Martin Benjamin. “A Closer Look at Three Association Super-Trends.” Journal of Association Leadership, vol. 4 (Spring 2007): p.26-35.

Martin Benjamin. “Further Discussion of Five Super Trends.” Journal of Association Leadership, vol. 4 (Fall 2007): p.16-27.

Articles from Journal of Association Leadership are archived on the ASAE & The Center for Association web site.

Please feel free to share your ideas on nonprofit super-trends.

Periodicals Spotlight: Nonprofit Law

If you are grantmaker, scholar, or activist interested in reading about key legal issues facing nonprofit organizations around the world, you might start with the International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law. The periodical starts off its tenth year with a special section that focuses on the changing landscape for nonprofits in the United States. Articles in the December 2007 issue include:

"Counterterrorism Developments Impacting Charities"
(Kay Guinane)

"NGOs Respond to USAID's Proposed Anti-Terror Screening"
(Sarah R. Eremus)

"Solving the Necessity Conundrum: What the Drug War Can Teach Us About Due Process for U.S. Charities in the Fight Against International Terrorist Financing"
(Josh D. Friedman)

"Good Governance Practices for 501(c)(3) Organizations: Should the IRS Become Further Involved?"
(Thomas Silk)

Visit the journal’s web site to access the full text of these articles or to review the archives.

For other articles or books on nonprofit law, click here to search our Catalog of Nonprofit Literature.

The Famous Anonymous Philanthropist

A new biography chronicles the life of Chuck Feeney, the secretive businessman who turned out to be one of world’s most generous philanthropists. The book describes how he co-founded the global retail chain, Duty Free Shoppers, and donated nearly all of his wealth to endow Atlantic Philanthropies. The fund has given $4 billion dollars in grants over the past 25 years, and currently holds another $4 billion in assets.

Readers will find out why Feeney valued anonymous giving, how he revealed his philanthropy to the public, and why he decided that the foundation should spend down the rest of its assets within the next decade:

O’Clery, Conor. The Billionaire Who Wasn’t: How Chuck Feeney Secretly Made and Gave Away a Fortune. New York, NY: PublicAffairs, 2007.

For other biographical works in our collection, click here to search our Catalog of Nonprofit Literature.