Katya's Non-Profit Marketing Blog

Katya's Non-Profit Marketing Blog: It’s the week of studies! First we had the eBenchmarks study, then the Convio benchmarks study, and now the Blackbaud social media benchmark study. It’s an opportunity to see how you stack up in all different ways online.

The Blackbaud study shows despite limited budgets and staffing, nonprofits continue to find value in their growing social networks.

Mormons and Civic Life - Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life

Mormons and Civic Life - Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life: Ram Cnaan, a renowned researcher on faith-based social services, presented the findings of a new survey he and his colleagues conducted on Mormons’ church-based volunteering and charitable giving. Greg Smith, lead researcher on a recently released Pew Forum study on Mormons in America, discussed the Penn survey findings in the context of Mormons’ religious beliefs and social attitudes. The University of Notre Dame’s David Campbell, an expert on religion and civic engagement and co-author of “American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us,” compared Mormons’ attitudes on volunteering and tithing to those of other religious groups.

Nonprofits urged to improve financial literacy | Philanthropy Journal

Nonprofits urged to improve financial literacy | Philanthropy Journal: While 76 percent of over 500 nonprofit financial-management professionals responding to a survey consider themselves to be knowledgeable in financial principles and concepts, for example, 17 percent see themselves as novices in terms of their level of financial knowledge, says Financial Literacy and Knowledge in the Nonprofit Sector, a report from The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.

Tax relief cap could cost the sector hundreds of millions, says Charities Aid Foundation

Tax relief cap could cost the sector hundreds of millions, says Charities Aid Foundation: Its survey suggests that a large number of major donors will give less in the wake of the government's Budget announcement

Nearly 40 per cent of major philanthropists will give less in the wake of the government’s decision to cap tax reliefs for charitable donations, according to research by the Charities Aid Foundation.

A CAF a survey of 183 people who had given more than �50,000 a year to charity over the past three years asked: "Which of the following best describes the impact that you think the changes will have on the amount that you donate?"

U.S. Jews' donations to Israel double in past 20 years, study shows - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News

U.S. Jews' donations to Israel double in past 20 years, study shows - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News: The study, scheduled to be completed in late April, disproves the widely held view by many Israelis that philanthropic donations from the United States have dropped over time due to economic and political reasons. In fact, the study - previewed last week during a hearing by the Knesset Subcommittee for the Relations of Israel with World Jewish Communities - suggests quite the opposite.

Canadians Agree That Charities are Important to Society - Press - AFP

Canadians Agree That Charities are Important to Society - Press - AFP: Canadians Agree That Charities are Important to Society

(Mar. 20, 2012) In November, 2011, Ipsos Reid, on behalf of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) conducted a Canadian survey on “What Donors Want.” The good news for the sector is that most Canadians consider charities to be important in filling a gap of needs not being addressed by the public and private sector. However, a challenge remains in communicating and educating donors about fund allocation. Many donors fail to make the connection between investing in administration and effective operations, despite having high standards for how charities operate.

Many Brits feel they give as much as they can - Civil Society - Fundraising - News - providing news and in-depth coverage of charities, voluntary organisations and not-for-profits

Many Brits feel they give as much as they can - Civil Society - Fundraising - News - providing news and in-depth coverage of charities, voluntary organisations and not-for-profits: More than two out of five Brits believe there is nothing that would encourage them to give more to charity because they are already giving as much as they can, according to new research.

Digital Giving is Successful Giving Whitepaper by Fellowship One Church Management Software

Digital Giving is Successful Giving Whitepaper by Fellowship One Church Management Software

Social Networking in Developing Regions | MobileActive.org

Social Networking in Developing Regions | MobileActive.org: Online social networks have enjoyed signifcant growth over the past several years. With improvements in mobile and Internet penetration, developing countries are participating in increasing numbers in online communities. This paper provides the first large scale and detailed analysis of social networking usage in developing country contexts.

The New York Times Was Wrong to Abandon Philanthropy - Pablo Eisenberg - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

The New York Times Was Wrong to Abandon Philanthropy - Pablo Eisenberg - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: The situation grew worse last week when it became clear that The New York Times, one of the last remaining newspapers with a philanthropy beat, no longer plans to cover nonprofit organizations on a full-time basis. While a spokeswoman told The Chronicle that the newspaper will continue to write articles about nonprofits and foundations that happen to come to the attention of its news desks, that is not the same as dedicating a reporter entirely to a focus on nonprofits.

Community Philanthropy: It’s Not Just for the Wealthy Anymore - NPQ – Nonprofit Quarterly - Promoting an active an engaged democracy.

Community Philanthropy: It’s Not Just for the Wealthy Anymore - NPQ – Nonprofit Quarterly - Promoting an active an engaged democracy.: At a briefing at the Aspen Institute in Washington, D.C. on March 1st, Knight described the results of the effort to date. “Philanthropy is no longer the preserve of the rich,” Knight said. “People of modest incomes,” he said, are now “stepping forward” as stakeholders in the future of their communities. The problem for some of us is context. We look at philanthropy from the U.S. context, where typically, though not always, even community philanthropy is directed by a social class that doesn’t connect—in terms of direction and oversight—to the communities that community foundations are supposed to serve.

Philanthropy and the arts – Harold Mitchell's review will create a bigger funding pool

Philanthropy and the arts – Harold Mitchell's review will create a bigger funding pool: Celebrating givers

With ATO data suggesting four out of ten affluent Australians give only negligibly if at all, big givers are rare, special, and should be celebrated. Of course, publicly spotlighting giving runs contrary to the wishes of the many anonymous givers in this country.

Foundations Didn't Increase Focus on 'Nonprofit Success' in Downturn, Study Finds - The Giveaway - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

Foundations Didn't Increase Focus on 'Nonprofit Success' in Downturn, Study Finds - The Giveaway - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: A survey of 755 foundations conducted in 2011 by Grantmakers for Effective Organizations and the TCC Group found that 83 percent of foundations said they devote money to general support, compared with 80 percent in 2008. And the median amount of foundations’ budgets devoted to unrestricted support held steady at 20 percent

Do giving contests work? Yes, say Razoo & Case Foundation: There’s an interesting white paper just out, issued jointly by the Case Foundation and Razoo Foundation, and authored by Geoff Livingston (disclosure: he’s a friend), titled How Giving Contests can Strengthen Nonprofits and Communities.

Nonprofits Challenged with Integrating Email, Growing, and Retaining Email Marketing Contact Lists, According to Sage Survey: Quarterly Survey Looked at North American Nonprofits’ Email Marketing Goals and Objectives

AUSTIN, TX (March 1, 2012)—Sage North America today announced the results of its Sage Nonprofit Insights, Q4 2011, survey of U.S. and Canadian nonprofit organizations, which focused on questions related to nonprofits’ email marketing (“e-marketing”) goals and objectives and use of email marketing tools.

According to the survey, the most significant email marketing challenges for nonprofit organizations are growing and retaining contacts (38% of respondents), integrating email with other systems (38%), and integrating email with other tactics (38%). By far, the main barriers to overcoming email marketing challenges are inadequate resources and expertise (71% of respondents).

The religious give more to charity, according to CAF report: Religious people donate more than twice as much to charity as those who are not, according to a survey by the Charities Aid Foundation.

CAF found that those who said they had religious beliefs gave an average of �576 to charity over the previous year, compared with �235 by people with no religious faith.

However, only 31 per cent of religious donors had given money to a religious activity.

The top two causes for both religious and non-religious donors were medical charities and overseas aid.

New Report on California Foundations | The Center on Philanthropy & Public Policy: New Report on California Foundations

A new report conducted by The Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy shows philanthropic giving by California's foundations jumped from $2.8 billion to $6 billion over the past decade despite two economic recessions during that period. California's growth in the foundation sector continues to outpace the nation in all areas studied - the total number of foundations, their assets and total giving.

Giving in Florida Improves Slowly, Report Finds | PND | Foundation Center: Giving in Florida Improves Slowly, Report Finds

While the recession took its toll on charitable giving in Florida, early signs suggest that a general improvement in the fundraising climate in 2010 continued into 2011, a new report from the Tampa-based Florida Philanthropic Network finds.

Small Foundations Ratcheted Up Giving in 2011 - TheNonProfitTimes: Small to mid-size private foundations in general gave more than twice the 5 percent minimum distribution requirement, with the smallest foundations giving away significantly more during 2011.

Private foundations with less than $10 million in assets increased giving by 20.6 percent compared to 2010, whereas foundations with assets between $10 million and $50 million scaled back their giving by 7.8 percent from 2010.

The nation’s smallest foundations disbursed 58.4 percent of assets during 2011.

Product giving seen as good business | Philanthropy Journal: Companies can get a better return on investment by donating merchandise instead of liquidating or destroying it, a new study says.

Giving products to charities boosts corporate bottom lines, reduces waste in landfills, and provides relief for people in need, say The Business Case for Product Philanthropy by the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University.