Pumping Up Alumni Giving at Public Colleges: Studies Find Surprising Trade-Offs
By Peter Schmidt
April 29, 2010

Increasing selectivity does not necessarily produce graduates who can donate more, but a winning football team and rejecting low-income students could make a difference.

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By Paul Basken

The Association of American Universities, making its first expansion in nearly a decade, announced Wednesday that it has invited the Georgia Institute of Technology to become a member. Georgia Tech is the 63rd university to join the selective group, which represents the interests of research institutions in the halls of the federal government.

The invitation, eagerly sought and immediately accepted, was described by both the association and Georgia Tech as affirming recognition of the institution as one of the nation’s top graduate research universities.

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By Nicole Wallace
The Chronicle of Philanthropy
April 20, 2010

Large nonprofit organizations continued to invest in online fund raising in 2009.

Of the 176 charities that responded to The Chronicle’s survey of online giving, 71 groups provided information about how much they spent on their Internet fund-raising efforts in 2008 and 2009.

The median amount the charities spent in 2009 was $53,000, meaning that half of the organizations spent more and half spent less. The median amount the groups spent in 2008 was $50,000.

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By Martin E. Klimek for USA TODAY
& Judy Keen, USA TODAY

On Jan. 12, a massive magnitude-7 earthquake struck Haiti, killing more than 200,000 people and devastating the impoverished country. The Red Cross asked people to text “Haiti” to the number 90999 to make automatic $10 donations, and millions of people did. More than $32 million has been raised forHaiti relief through texting, and people are still typing those numbers into their cellphones to help Haiti and Chile, which was hit by a huge earthquake Feb. 27.

“Our experience with the text program in Haiti is really beginning to transform how we raise funds and how we respond to disasters,” Dyer says.

The success of the Red Cross text-messaging program is part of a potentially dramatic shift in the way charities and non-profit groups organize and raise money. They are experimenting with smart phone applications, social media such as Twitter and Facebook and other emerging technology. Some are finding younger, first-time donors who are more likely to give via messaging or Facebook than by writing a check after opening a traditional solicitation delivered to a mailbox outside their door.

“I throw that stuff away,” says Sue Coleman, 29, an office assistant at a Chicago law firm. “But if I read on Facebook that a friend of mine is doing a walkathon for a good cause or if I can send a text that costs me just $10 that’s added to my phone bill, I’m a lot more likely to get involved.”

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By Kathryn Masterson
The Chronicle of Higher Education
April 14, 2010

As economic pressures have squeezed college budgets, fund-raising offices have looked to the Internet to save money, using e-mail solicitations instead of pricier print materials or a thank-you video in place of a closing party. Now, colleges are experimenting with online campaign kickoffs.
Binghamton University plans to introduce its new campaign in cyberspace next Thursday night. Instead of throwing a traditional party with a sit-down meal and live music, the university, part of the State University of New York system, is inviting alumni and supporters to log on to a Web site for a virtual celebration.

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By Shelly Banjo

Her grandfather, Max M. Fisher, founded the Speedway gasoline station chain and gave millions to big causes like the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the United Jewish Appeal.

Caroline Cummings Rafferty, 29 years old, is being groomed to help run the $235 million Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation inSouthfield, Mich. But for now, she is running a tiny $1 million foundation and making gifts of a few thousand dollars to charitable organizations.

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Philanthropists are focusing more on donations that can make a lasting difference, rather than just on immediate disaster relief
By Daisy Maxey

The earthquake that devastated Haiti in January triggered an outpouring of charitable contributions from people moved by the need for emergency medical care, food, clothing and shelter. But the quake also threw a spotlight on the longer-term needs of the Haitian people, and it moved some philanthropists to address those needs as well.

Jim and Karen Ansara, for instance, set up the Haiti Relief and Reconstruction Fund, a donor-advised fund administered by the Boston Foundation, and agreed to match the first $1 million donated by others. The fund now has more than $2 million, but plans to spend no more than 25% of the money it raises on immediate disaster relief. The rest is earmarked for disbursal over the next five years to support reconstruction, education, employment and agricultural development, as well as getting more Haitians involved in influencing public policy, among other things.

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by Teh Shi Ning
The Business Times
April 12, 2010

A growing number of well-heeled Singaporeans are now going beyond cheque-book philanthropy for a more hands-on approach to the development work they are pouring money into.

So they apply well-honed business acumen to international development projects, give of their professional expertise, or travel to less developed countries in the region to witness first-hand the work they fund.

Khoo Hock Tin, a local philanthropist who has given to schools and universities here, says he ‘was keen to be part of the new wave of wealth and expertise going out from Singapore, benefiting Asia’s poorer regions’.

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By Caroline Preston
The Chronicle of Philanthropy
April 5, 2010

They may sleep with cellphones by their beds and share details of their lives online in 140-character “tweets,” but people in their 20s and 30s want more from nonprofit groups than a connection via social media, according to a new survey.

Ninety-one percent of respondents in a survey of 2,000 people under 40 said they are at least somewhat likely to respond to a face-to-face request for money from a charity.

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By Stephanie Strom
The New York Times
April 4, 2010

As part of an effort to increase the impact of its giving, the Ford Foundation is to announce a plan on Monday to dedicate $100 million to the development of arts spaces nationwide over the next decade. The plan is by far the largest commitment the foundation has ever made to the construction, maintenance and enhancement of arts facilities.

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