Blog Entries

When preppies go bad

fraser@frasernelson.net — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 19:27:00 +0100

Can't help but share this sad tale of prep school philanthropy gone terribly array.

Donation to Prep School Mired in Court Battle Over Ponzi Scheme

A private school in Malvern, Pa., has become involved in a lawsuit as the result of a donation from a former trustee and volunteer coach at the school who is serving a 15-year prison term for investment fraud, The Philadelphia Inquirer writes.

Joseph S. Forte pledged to give the Malvern Preparatory School $1-million in [...]

Getting dirty for charity

fraser@frasernelson.net — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 04:34:56 +0100

A quick shout out to two former U of U MBA students of mine John Malfatto and Jeff Harps who have invented a wild way to raise money for the Soldier Hollow Legacy Foundation and the Leukemia Society.

It is basically a 10 k mud obstacle course. We are talking "professionally built obstacles and multiple mud pits to run, crawl and jump through. Expect to get muddy (over and over again)!"

I love teaching the 'Consulting to Nonprofits ' course. You never know what will come o [...]

Utah's Social Innovation Challenge

fraser@frasernelson.net — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 01:16:17 +0100

The 2010 Social Innovation Challenge is designed to bring together promising Utah non-profits and business leaders to develop out-of-the-box entrepreneurial solutions to common issues faced by Utah's non-profits. The challenge is generously supported by Clearlink, Mountain American Credit Union, BlueLine and the University Impact Fund.

The Opportunity: An independent set of judges will select 3 non-profit organizations facing problems common to many organizations from a finalist pool of 15 [...]

Should you even try to meaure imapct?

fraser@frasernelson.net — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 15:22:52 +0100

Harvard Business School professor Alnoor Ebrahim has a new study about the need - or lack thereof - for non profit organizations to measure their social return. "There are two big conversations among nonprofit leaders. One is around accountability. The second focuses on performance, particularly impact."

If you feel pulled in all directions, you are right. Ebrahim suggests that you prioritize who gets your attention - and it can't be everyone and certainly not your funders only. " [...]

A new threat to nonprofit advocacy?

fraser@frasernelson.net — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 22:19:10 +0100

Some advocacy groups are concerned that the House Campaign Finance reform bill will be a deterrent to their donors. According to an article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, the legislation requires advocacy groups organized under Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code, to reveal their donors. There is a catch - organizations with more than 500,000 members, are more than a decade old, have a presence in all states, and raise 15 percent or less of their funds from corporations or [...]

Funders dropped the communications ball

fraser@frasernelson.net — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 20:37:19 +0100

Seems most nonprofits found that foundations were far less from responsive or helpful as the economy crashed. The report is only 4 pages long and every word is interesting.

Foundation Center reports that foundation giving in 2009 declined by an estimated 8.4 percent – the largest decline the organization has ever tracked. Despite foundation assets having shown modest growth since last year, giving is still not forecasted to pick up until 2011.

6,000 grantees of 37 foundations acro [...]

Where the money went

fraser@frasernelson.net — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 23:32:59 +0100

Charitable giving fell to an estimated $303.75 billion in 2009, a drop of 3.6 percent from a revised total of $315.08 billion in 2008, a new report from the Giving USA Foundation finds. Because the overall economy experienced slight price deflation in 2009, the year-over-year inflation-adjusted decline was 3.2 percent.

Other highlights:

individual giving was flat in 2009 when adjusted for inflation
bequests fell 23.9 percent
corporate giving rose 5.5 percent (ot in Utah!)
private, [...]

Greg Warnock invites you to create the first 'E-5-0'

fraser@frasernelson.net — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 07:00:00 +0100

The Community Foundation of Utah is introducing, as an exciting element of our Enlightened Entrepreneurs initiative, a celebration of entrepreneurs and companies who are engaging their giving minds. This program is modeled on the highly successful V100, which I created while at vSpring Capital.

We need your help! The Enlightened Fifty or E-5-O provides for the recognition of community-nominated and peer-selected entrepreneurs who are a driving force in improving Utah's future. The criteri [...]

O No?

fraser@frasernelson.net — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 21:26:13 +0100

Here is something you do not see every day ... but some think should: a foundation shutting its The foundation started by Oprah Winfrey, The Angel Network, will shut its doors when she goes off the air.

I never watched Oprah often - sick days on the couch like most working women I imagine - but I have (again, like most women) admired her. And to this latest move I say Hurrah!

And it has been quite a ride ... she has raised more than $80 million from 150,000 donors, helped rebuildin [...]

BP and Sea Otters

fraser@frasernelson.net — Fri, 21 May 2010 18:28:44 +0100

Pasing along this article... what happens when your donor has, shll we say, a BIG image problem?

When corporations give money to charitable causes they typically enjoy the spotlight their gifts provide. Similarly, the recipient organizations get spillover benefits from being singled out for support by well-known companies and brands. But what happens when a major corporate benefactor gets into trouble?

That question is hardly academic for the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, C [...]

Philanthropy Idol

fraser@frasernelson.net — Tue, 18 May 2010 02:40:01 +0100

You have probably noticed a lot of television ads featuring various corproate giving programs based on your input. The Bergen Record (of New Jersey) article is proof you are not just watching too much American Idol (though no one at the Community Foundation would blame you), It is indeed, a trend even bigger than Simon Cowell's ego.

In an effort to further burnish their image with consumers, several Fortune 500 companies have launched online giving contests and invited customers to help them [...]

We don't all need to be heroic.

fraser@frasernelson.net — Fri, 14 May 2010 00:24:26 +0100

Wisdom from Pamela Hartigan director of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford University's Said Business School. Her closing words at the Skoll forum are shared with her permission from Katherine Fulton's blog.

I wanted to take a few minutes to reflect on an oft-repeated comment that has followed me over the last decade or more – and it questions the focus on the heroic entrepreneur. Is that not misguided – I am frequently asked? Certainly it takes more than the visionar [...]

Sue your donors? (Palm Beach Post)

fraser@frasernelson.net — Wed, 12 May 2010 07:00:00 +0100

The Paragon Foundation in Palm Beach Florida is suing donors who made a pledge to the Foundaiton but have yet to pay up. Wonder what development directors think of this approach?

What the arts need now

fraser@frasernelson.net — Sat, 08 May 2010 22:38:38 +0100

Johann Jacobs from Ballet West sent along this thought provoking piece by Michael Kaiser, President of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Though I think that endowments are sorely needed in our non profit community he has terrific points about marketing to a new generation and the fundamental importance - central, really, of just doing good work. Enjoy - and thanks, Johann.

Is there conventional wisdom amongst arts organizations that I disagree with and try to fight [...]

Teaching for profits a thing or two about sacrifice

fraser@frasernelson.net — Sat, 08 May 2010 22:23:36 +0100

The Baltimore Sun has a terrific piece on the differences between that city's nonprofit and for profit companies and their leadership during the recessoin. The paper reports on a number of EDs in Baltimore who took pay cuts - substantial ones - rather than lay off staff or cut programming.

And the for profit companies? The New York State Comptroller reported that Wall Street executives and traders collected bonuses of $20 billion last year, a 17 percent increase from 2008. The new [...]

The 'next generation' can't use twitter after all

fraser@frasernelson.net — Thu, 06 May 2010 14:47:30 +0100

At the economic summit Tuesday I heard a number of EDs talk about the challenge of finding the next set of leaders. I think this approach from the staid Chronicle of Philanthropy has merit - a twitter based discussion. Check out how they did it and the comments here. While the comments about leadership were pretty basic (ethical, letting people set a direction,etc) what I found most interesting was the fact that this supposed tech oriented young people couldn't figure out how to use a twitter fo [...]

5 things we know but keep forgetting

fraser@frasernelson.net — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 02:00:47 +0100

This is from a speech Crystal Hayling delivered at the Council on Foundations as the James A. Joseph Lecturer by the Association of Black Foundation Executives.

You must read the full text at http://crystalhayling.wordpress.com/2010/04/26/5-things-we-know-but-keep-forgetting/

Number 1: We should take more risk.

Number 2: The time is now.

Number 3: Design matters.

Number 4: Technology is just a tool. But it’s a power tool.

Number 5: We need n [...]

WWBGD? (What would Bill Gates do?)

fraser@frasernelson.net — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 23:04:51 +0100

This new publication from the Gates Foundation shares their approach to measuring outcomes in its Global Health, Global Development, and United States program areas at the strategy, initiative, and grant levels. here is what I love most about this report -- it knows we mere mortals can't do all these things so it "Includes best practices to aspire to. " Download here and do your best.

You can't keep good people down

fraser@frasernelson.net — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:46:44 +0100

I love this article in the Modesto Bee. Seems that event though our friends in California have it even worse than we Utahns, they too are optimistic about the future.

The Modesto, Calif., Bee writes how nonprofits that "feed, clothe and shelter people and counsel them when they are in crisis have laid off staff, not filled vacant positions, relied more on volunteers, and reduced hours and services to make ends meet." Yet the people in these jobs are happy and optimistic. "But as much [...]

New kind of nonprofit?

fraser@frasernelson.net — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 15:27:48 +0100

Maryland has become the first state to create a new kind of company somehat similar to Utah's L3c - a "Benefit Corporation"

This new class of corporations are required by state law to create benefit for society as well as shareholders. This includes "material positive impact on society; consider how decisions affect employees, community and the environment; and publicly report their social and environmental performance using established third-party standards."

According to an article [...]