Cyber Charities

February 28, 2008
PBS Guide to Giving, Part 3
Video | Transcript

The theme of last night’s PBS Nightly Business Report Guide to Giving segment was how the internet has changed giving. Here are a couple of the main points:

  • Smaller charities have proliferated on the web. They love the easy, inexpensive way to promote their messages and obtain donations. Take a look at Kiva for an example of how web giving works.
  • According to Stacy Palmer, editor of The Chronicle of Philanthropy, the large, bureaucratic charities are falling behind on the web. It may be counter-intuitive, since larger organizations tend to have more resources, but they think that the lack of control is a problem.
  • Volunteer resource centers love the web. People can “online shop” for opportunities to volunteer and donate.
  • The next big thing is text messaging. You may seen an example of this during the Super Bowl.

In a related example, the Case Foundation, Parade magazine and Facebook recently raised more than $1.7 million through two contests that the Washington Post says were “aimed at increasing charitable giving through the use of Web-based tools”:

The 21 winners, announced yesterday, raised more than $1.7 million from almost 82,000 donors to benefit more than 3,000 charities, organizers said. The two contests, which ran simultaneously from Dec. 13 to Jan. 31, sought to highlight the potential of online philanthropy while “democratizing” charitable giving by encouraging donations as small as $10 from people of all incomes, organizers said.

“I think this could really help revolutionize charitable giving in this country,” said Randy Siegel, publisher of Parade magazine, one of the contest sponsors.

Join the conversation: How has the internet changed giving for your foundation or charity? Are you on board, or behind the curve? What can larger organizations do to create a presence in the online giving game — and is it a bad thing if they don’t?

Comments Off | in the news, individual giving, nonprofits, technology | Permalink
Posted by MCF Webmaster

Efficient AND Effective

February 27, 2008
PBS Guide to Giving, Part 2
Video | Transcript

The second installment in the Nightly Business Report Guide to Giving series revealed an interesting question: What’s the point of being efficient if you’re not effective?

When we’re choosing a charity to support, low fundraising and administrative costs are not the whole story. The NBR segment included a clip from the CEO of Guidestar — a well-known web resource for nonprofit financial information. He noted that open books are important, but so are having a clear mission and producing measurable results.

So measures of efficiency may be relevant, but as a donor, don’t you really want to know whether a nonprofit organization is fulfilling its mission? While your head might be attracted to the numbers, what warms your heart? True satisfaction most likely comes from knowing what your gift of time or money has accomplished — bringing hope and opportunity to others or meeting a pressing need in the community.

What do you think? When choosing a charity, where does your heart lead you? What attracts you to a cause, and then how do you make your giving decisions?

- Wendy Wehr, MCF vice president of communications and information services

Comments Off | evaluation, in the news, individual giving | Permalink
Posted by Wendy Wehr

Minnesota Businesses Do Good

February 26, 2008
PBS Guide to Giving, Part 1
Video | Transcript

Did you catch the first installment of the Nightly Business Reportseries on philanthropy? Last night’s segment featured a few Minnesota connections, including The 5% Club and MCF’s own members — 3M and Target. It’s always gratifying when our local philanthropic efforts receive national recognition.

In marking National Corporate Philanthropy day, the segment also reminded viewers that corporate giving is not only good for the community, but also good for business. The Conference Board has some useful resources on this topic.

If you can’t get home in time to watch tonight’s segment of the Nightly Business Report (5:30 p.m. in the Twin Cities), check out the Guide to Giving series online. And share your reactions with us. What surprising facts about philanthropy should we be promoting to the public?

Comments Off | corporate, in the news | Permalink
Posted by Wendy Wehr

PBS Three-Part Philanthropy Series Begins Tonight

February 25, 2008

Public TelevisionPhilanthropy is a mission, and it is also an industry. In 2005 alone, charitable contributions to nonprofits topped $250 billion. PBS’s Nightly Business Report will air a three-part series, “A Guide to Giving,” that explores trends in personal and corporate philanthropy and also examines nonprofit accountability.

Monday: NBR correspondent Erika Miller finds out how many individuals and corporations contribute to charities and how those groups make the decision to give.

Tuesday: NBR correspondent Stephanie Dhue looks at the movement to increase accountability in the nonprofit sector.

Wednesday: NBR correspondent Jeff Yastine explores the ways technology, particularly the Internet, has changed how charities do business.

Nightly Business Report airs on Twin Cities Public Television (channel 2) at 5:30 p.m. Tune in, and check back tomorrow to let us know what you think.

Comments Off | in the news, individual giving, nonprofits, technology | Permalink
Posted by MCF Webmaster

Happy Corporate Philanthropy Day!

February 25, 2008

Corporate Philanthropy DayToda, the corporate giving community celebrates National Corporate Philanthropy Day, building awareness of corporate-community partnerships and inspiring businesses across the country to engage further in philanthropy. Companies take advantage of this day of celebration, promoting programs to employees and business partners, and publicly launching new initiatives.

Updates:

Comments Off | corporate, programs | Permalink
Posted by MCF Webmaster

Best Buy to Steer Giving to Help Kids Ages 13-15

February 22, 2008

Best BuyAccording to an article in today’s Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal:

Best Buy Co. Inc. will refocus its roughly $30 million-a-year corporate-giving program to target early adolescents, a key group of Best Buy customers and future employees that often gets overlooked by charitable organizations.

[...]

The new approach, called @15, is still in the early-development stages, and many details won’t be finalized until April or May. The company hasn’t identified specific donation targets yet, but plans to focus on four underlying themes: Learn, live, lead and love. Learn will focus on education programs, live will aim to create economic opportunities, lead will create opportunities for civic-minded children to give back to their communities and love will target relationship development.

Best Buy ranked fourth in the most recent list of Minnesota’s top corporate grantmakers, and 10th overall. The company’s next grant deadline is May 1.

Comments Off | corporate, grantseekers, in the news | Permalink
Posted by MCF Webmaster

Beware of Fraudulent E-mails

February 21, 2008

Irwin Andrew Porter FoundationThe Irwin Andrew Porter Foundation’s name has recently been used in an internet phishing scheme. The national Council on Foundations has also been the supposed sender of a fradulent message.

“Phishing” is defined by Wikipedia as “an attempt to criminally and fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.”

Advice from COF:

If you receive an unsolicited email that appears to be suspicious, do not respond and do not click on the links provided. Doing so may compromise your personal information and expose you to identity theft. The best way to access the Council’s website, or any website, is to type the website address directly into your browser, rather than clicking on a link in an unsolicited email.

More information about fraudulent e-mail, including how to file a complaint, can be found at the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Comments Off | communication, grantseekers | Permalink
Posted by MCF Webmaster

Redefining the Roundtable

February 20, 2008

Yesterday I was working frantically to set up a roundtable discussion about general operating support. (This conversation between a nonprofit ally and some of our grantmaker members will be used as the basis for a story in our print publication Giving Forum.) The emails were flying and the phone wires humming. Some of the invited participants responded without hesitation: “I’d love to join in!” “Let me send you my blog postings on this subject.”

Others were more hesitant: “Who are the other participants?” “Do you know what they will say?” This reaction is certainly valid, too. After all, don’t we have an obligation to manage our organizations’ images? And shouldn’t we be fearful of a venue in which we don’t control the message and the conversation might become spirited or a little contentious?

But maybe that’s old-style thinking. New media may have changed the rules of the communications game. Spontaneous, uncontrolled interaction in digital media can led to new insights, greater openness and more inclusivity. Remember the old days when those of us on the outside were wondering what business decisions were being made in the executive washroom or on the country club golf course? In the new media of blogs and wikis and social networks, everyone (well, at least those not adversely affected by the digital divide) can join in for a healthy discussion of diverse points of view. It may be scary at first, but maybe we should welcome these new voices to the vast, not-to-be-defined roundtable of digital communication.

Join the conversation: What do you think? Is the philanthropy community ready to embrace new media? Are you and your colleagues ready to stop printing and start blogging?

- Wendy Wehr, MCF vice president of communications and information services

Comments Off | communication, general operating support, leadership | Permalink
Posted by Wendy Wehr

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