Weekly Picks

Trend of the Week: August  24 - 30, 2008

Social Return on Investment in Youth Intervention Programs

A report by the Minnesota Youth Intervention Programs Association puts forward a framework for doing social return on investment (SROI) analysis of youth intervention programs.  It then uses the framework to estimate the return to two representative programs: a comprehensive intervention program and a targeted program designed to discourage property crimes. Major findings include:

	Effective intervention programs are likely to produce some of the highest returns of any youth programs since they deal with more concentrated populations, many of whom have been identified through truancy, juvenile crime, or other problem behaviors.
	Based on the study of intervention programs in Minnesota, effective youth intervention programs can produce some or all of the following direct benefits: Reduced truancy, improved school performance, reduced near-term court costs, reduced costs of adult crime, reduced needs for social services, and improved health outcomes.
	An effective comprehensive program costing around $2,000 per participant returns benefits of $4.89 for every dollar of cost, based on very conservative assumptions about effects and valuations. Moreover, the program returns $14.68 for every State dollar invested, assuming a 2 to 1 match of other funding.

To view a summary of the report, go to: www.wilder.org
 

August 17 - 23, 2008

Value of Volunteer Time Rises

Independent Sector, in a study earlier this year, announced that the 2007 estimate for the value of a volunteer hour has reached $19.51, which increased from $18.77 per hour in 2006. IS calculates the hourly value of volunteer time based on the average hourly wage for all non-management, nonagriculture workers as determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 12 percent increase to estimate for fringe benefits. Go to: www.independentsector.org
 

August 10 - 16, 2008

Private and Community Foundation Trends

The Foundation Center’s recently published  Foundation Yearbook, 2008 Edition, provides an overview of the state of foundation giving in the current year and beyond, comparisons of foundation activities by foundation size, and breakdowns of foundation resources by geographic location and grantmaker type. The edition's key findings include:

	Overall foundation giving rose 10 percent in 2007 to an estimated $42.9 billion
	Giving by the nation's more than 72,000 grantmaking foundations increased 7.1 percent in 2006 to $39 billion
	Assets of all active U.S. foundations were up 11.6 percent to a record $614.7 billion in 2006
	The West posted the fastest rate of growth in number of foundations, total giving, and assets in 2006

For a copy of the report highlights, go to: foundationcenter.org
 

August 3 - 9, 2008

Nonprofits Engaged In Advocacy Work Despite Limitations

According to a new survey report by the Johns Hopkins University Nonprofit Listening Post Project entitled "Nonprofit America: A Force for Democracy?" America's nonprofit organizations are widely involved in efforts to influence the public policies affecting them and those they serve, but are constrained by tight budgets, limited staff time and confusing legal restrictions. The report was authored by Lester M. Salamon, director of the Center for Civil Society Studies at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies.

Additional findings from the survey include:

	Large organizations and those involved in family, children, and elderly services are most extensively engaged in policy advocacy. Arts organizations are least involved.
	About half of all responding organizations reported undertaking relatively limited forms of advocacy or lobbying, such as signing correspondence to a public official, responding to requests for information on policy issues, or distributing materials on policy matters. When it came to more involved forms of participation, such as testifying at hearings or organizing a public event, the proportions reporting any involvement fell to about a third.
	State and local governments, not the federal government, are the principal focus of advocacy activity for most (two out of three) organizations.
	Receipt of public funding seems to encourage advocacy, but reliance on private philanthropy is negatively related to advocacy.

To download a copy of the report as a .pdf file, go to: www.jhu.edu
 

July 27 - August 2, 2008

Growing Impact of Nonprofits in Wisconsin

The Wisconsin nonprofit sector has grown by 70 percent over the past ten years. In 2005, there were over 31,000 Wisconsin nonprofits that employed 8.9 percent of the state’s total workforce, marking a 5.2 percent employment growth rate over 2004 and pushing Wisconsin well above the national trend of nonprofits employing 7 percent of the workforce, according to the Wisconsin Nonprofit Sector Report – More Than Charity, a new report by the Wisconsin Nonprofits Association (WNA). To download a copy of the report, go to: www.wisconsinnonprofits.org
 

July 20 - 26, 2008

U.S. Charitable Giving Up in 2007

Charitable giving in the United States is estimated to be $306.39 billion in 2007, exceeding $300 billion for the first time in history, according to Giving USA 2008, the yearbook on philanthropy released today by Giving USA Foundation. Every type of public charity receiving donations saw gains in 2007. The estimates for 2007 indicate that giving rose in 2007 by 3.9 percent (1 percent adjusted for inflation), says the report, which is researched and written by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. This year’s report also includes results from a survey of 366 charities about their fundraising practices and the impact they believe national events had on giving in 2007 and will have in 2008.

The survey concentrated on charities in the public-society benefit subsector. These include combined purpose funds that reallocate received gifts to other charitable recipients, community and economic development organizations, research institutes, and organizations registering voters or working on civil rights issues. Combined-purpose funds include such entities as United Ways, religious campaigns and the Combined Federal Campaign. The increase in 2007 is attributable largely to stock market performance in the first half of the year, overall growth in the economy measured by gross domestic product, and increases in corporate and personal income as reported at the end of the year. Charitable giving was 2.2 percent of gross domestic product for 2007. Go to: www.givingusa.org
 

July 13 - 19, 2008

U.S. Population Projections: 2005-2050

If current trends continue, immigrants arriving from 2005 to 2050 and their descendants will account for 82% of the population growth in the United States during this period, according to new projections from the Pew Research Center. The nation's racial and ethnic mix will change markedly by mid-century, the projections show, with the Hispanic share rising to 29%. Among non-Hispanic race groups, the Asian share will rise to 9%, the non-Hispanic black share will hold steady at 13% and the non-Hispanic white share will fall to 47%. The nation's elderly population (ages 65 and above) will more than double in size from 2005 to 2050 and by mid-century will make up 19% of the total population. The Center’s report includes an analysis of the nation’s future “dependency ratio”—the number of children and elderly compared with the number of working-age Americans. There were 59 children and elderly people per 100 adults of working age in 2005. That will rise to 72 dependents per 100 adults of working age in 2050. The report also offers two alternative population projections, one based on lower immigration assumptions and one based on higher immigration assumptions. To download a copy of the complete report as a .pdf file, go to: pewhispanic.org
 

July 6 - 12, 2008

Home Broadband Adoption Stalls for Low-Income Americans

A new study from the Pew Research Center will be of special interest to nonprofits. Some 55% of adult Americans now have broadband internet connections at home, up from 47% who had high-speed access at home last year at this time. From the March 2006 to March 2007 timeframe, home broadband adoption grew from 42% of Americans to 47%. The rate from March 2007 to April 2008 was 17%; this compares with the 12% growth rate from March 2006 to March 2007. It is also worth noting that the April 2008 number for broadband adoption at home is little changed from the 54% figure from the Pew Internet Project's December 2007 survey. With growth in broadband at home, just 10% of Americans now have dial-up internet connections at home. Growth in broadband adoption was flat among the poor and African Americans. 25% of low-income Americans - those whose household incomes are $20,000 annually or less - reported having broadband at home in April 2008. This compares to the 28% figure reported in March 2007 among those living in households whose annual incomes are $20,000 or less.

African Americans showed slow growth as well, with 43% saying they had broadband at home in April 2008 versus 40% who said this in March 2007. For more information, go to: pewresearch.org
 

June 29 - July 5, 2008

Trends in Black America

According to one of the largest-ever studies of Black America, 70 percent of African Americans already have a plan for their future. The survey was released today by Radio One Inc., the study’s sponsor, and Yankelovich, the Chapel Hill-based research firm.

The survey of 3,400 African Americans between 13 and 74 years of age, the only study to include Black teens and seniors, found also that 54 percent were optimistic about their future and 60 percent believe “things are getting better for me.” The study provides the most detailed snap shot of African American life in the United States today, and finds strong group identity across age and income brackets. It also discloses a comprehensive look at how African Americans feel about many aspects of life in America, and cautions against a simplistic reading of Black America as a monolithic group. In fact, it shows that Blacks are divided evenly on how they liked to be described, with 42 percent (who are more likely to be affluent) preferring to be called “Black” and 44 percent preferring “African American.” The survey, representing nearly 30 million Black Americans, identified eleven specific segments within Black America today, ranging from Connected Black Teens, Digital Networkers and Black Onliners at the younger end, to Faith Fulfills, Broadcast Blacks and Boomer Blacks at the older end. To download a copy of the report as well as several facts sheets, go to : www.blackamericastudy.com
 

June 22 - 28, 2008

Using Employee Volunteering Benefits HR Departments 

In a recent survey of executives of large Canadian and US companies, more than two thirds of responding companies reported that volunteerism will grow in importance as a management priority (The Conference Board, 2006). One reason is the growing belief that employee volunteering benefits business. The last few decades have produced claims regarding the HR value of company-supported employee volunteer programs. According to recent research about the practices of pioneering companies, it is increasingly clear that the HR areas that employee volunteering best supports are employee professional development, recruitment, morale and retention, and teamwork. For a description of trends and best practices in each of these areas, download a copy of the report at: www.pointsoflight.org

Seven in 10 agree that "even if there is an economic downturn that moderately affects my business, I plan to keep my current level of nonprofit or charitable giving in the coming year." They are "charity multipliers," in that more than half encourage employees to donate time and/or money to company charities. And one in three say they will match donations made by employees. Their generosity extends beyond simply giving money. Business owners are a critical component of the nonprofit world as members of nonprofit boards. About half (47%) of respondents sit on the board of a philanthropic organization, particularly those that focus on religious concerns (21%), arts/culture (18%), children's needs (18%), and healthcare issues (17%). Go to: www.suntrust.com
 

June 15 - 21, 2008

High Net Worth Business Owner Giving Trends

For business owners, personal passion -- not personal reward -- drives philanthropic involvement, according to a survey released today by SunTrust Bank Private Wealth Management. The national study surveyed over 200 high net worth business owners, whose companies have at least $10 million in annual revenue, about their philanthropic involvement and motivation. Business owners cite "helps make a positive change" as the top reason for charitable giving. Nearly three-fourths of respondents say satisfying their personal moral beliefs drives their philanthropic impulses. And fewer than half say they give to receive tax credits; to bring positive attention to their business; to network; to establish a legacy; or to gain recognition. Virtually all the business owners surveyed have made a charitable donation personally (96%) and through their business (79%). On average, in 2007 they report having donated over a quarter of a million dollars to charitable causes through their businesses and $78,000 personally or as families.

Seven in 10 agree that "even if there is an economic downturn that moderately affects my business, I plan to keep my current level of nonprofit or charitable giving in the coming year." They are "charity multipliers," in that more than half encourage employees to donate time and/or money to company charities. And one in three say they will match donations made by employees. Their generosity extends beyond simply giving money. Business owners are a critical component of the nonprofit world as members of nonprofit boards. About half (47%) of respondents sit on the board of a philanthropic organization, particularly those that focus on religious concerns (21%), arts/culture (18%), children's needs (18%), and healthcare issues (17%). Go to: www.suntrust.com
 

June 8 - 14, 2008

Governance Trends in Midsize Nonprofits

June 1 - 7, 2008

America's Nonprofit Sector Growth Trends

According to the Nonprofit Almanac 2008 just published by the Urban Institute Press, America's nonprofit sector continues to grow faster than its business sector or its government. The nonprofit sector’s role in the economy has expanded by most key measures since 1998. It employs more people, draws in more revenue, and contributes more to the gross domestic product than it did a decade ago. Key findings include:

	Sector highlights: In 2006, nonprofits contributed $666.1 billion to the U.S. economy, and received $1 trillion in revenue, a 5.7 percent increase over 2005. In 2005, 12.9 million people worked for nonprofits, up from 11.1 million in 1998.
	Giving highlights: Private giving (individuals, foundations, and corporations) reached $295 billion in 2006, more than double 1996’s $139 billion. Individuals donated $222.9 billion in 2006, compared with $107.6 billion in 1996; personal bequests added another $22.9 billion in 2006, up from $12 billion in 1996. Foundations gave $36.5 billion in 2005, a 197 percent increase from 10 years earlier.
	Volunteering highlights: 61.2 million people said they volunteered in 2005. About 12.9 billion hours were volunteered in 2006, the equivalent of 7.6 million full-time employees.
	In 2006, the estimated wage value of volunteer time was $215.6 billion—equivalent to 43.3 percent of all nonprofit wages.

To order a copy of the Nonprofit Almanac, go to: www.urban.org
 

May 18 - 31, 2008

Social Finance Trends

Charity Village recently published a report entitled, Strengthening Organizational Capacity: Social Finance Survey Report. The report explores the concept of social finance, or finance that delivers social, environmental and economic benefits, and how it may be an excellent opportunity for nonprofits to identify new ways of accessing capital since 96% of survey respondents agree that the nonprofit sector needs to explore new ways of accessing capital to meet its goals. The majority of respondents (61%) from outside of Canada had heard of the term “social finance.” while within Canada, that awareness level dropped to 53% of respondents. For more information, and to download the full report as a .pdf file, visit: www.charityvillage.com.
 

May 11 - 17, 2008

Trends in Online Messaging, Fundraising and Advocacy Nonprofits

M+R, in partnership with several other organizations, published the first eNonprofit Benchmarks Study in 2006. Since that time, there have been significant changes in the online space, including the huge growth in social networks like MySpace and Facebook, and an overall decline in the performance of email. The 2008 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study, just published by M+R and the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN), covers two years of data, and, in combination with the original study, provides a 3-year landscape of nonprofit email, fundraising and advocacy metrics. Key findings include:

	The total amount raised online increased by 19 percent from 2006 to 2007.
	The average advocacy email response rate in 2007 was 7.5 percent. The average fundraising email response rate was 13 percent.
	While $1,000+ gifts made up just 1 percent of overall online donations in 2007, these gifts made up 20 percent of the amount raised online.
	A significant portion (almost 60 percent) of the participants’ subscribers did not take any online advocacy actions over the course of 2007.
	‘Super activists,’ the subscribers taking 6 or more online actions in a year, made up just 5 percent of the total email list size but accounted for 42 percent of the organizations’ total actions.

To download a free copy of the full report, go to: www.e-benchmarksstudy.com
 

May 4 - 10, 2008

Pro Bono Skills-Based Volunteerism Skills: Untapped Resource for Nonprofits

According to the fifth annual Volunteer IMPACT Survey by Deloitte, the overwhelming majority of human resource professionals view skills-based volunteerism as a powerful and cost-effective professional development tool, yet very few companies are leveraging volunteer programs for this purpose. The national survey of Fortune 500 human resource managers found that, while training and development is perceived as vital to corporate success, many managers are laboring under shrinking or flat budgets, underscoring the need for cost-effective innovation. One solution could be found in an unlikely place — the company’s volunteer program. Fully 91 percent of respondents agree that skills-based volunteering (which involves the contribution of business knowledge and experience to help nonprofits increase their capacity) would add value to training and development programs, particularly as it relates to fostering business and leadership skills. However, only 16 percent make it a regular practice to intentionally offer these opportunities for employee development, suggesting a missed opportunity to boost learning in a way that offers substantial benefits. Go to: www.deloitte.com
 

April 27 - May 3, 2008

Involving Youth in Nonprofit Arts Organizations

The future of nonprofit arts organizations large and small depends on attracting the best new talent to administer their affairs, to serve as artists and audiences, and to act as advocates, boosters, and financial supporters. Given the shrinking pool of younger people and the increased competition for their attention, action to meet this pressing, and increasingly complex, challenge can no longer be left to a vague future date. This report, prepared by Barry Hessenius and commissioned by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, explores these issues and challenges with the hope of sparking a national discussion. Key findings and recommendations include:

	As a field, the nonprofit arts sector needs to intensify its efforts to convince young people of the value of involvement in the arts, widen bridges and lines of communication to the next generation, and involve young people in areas heretofore outside the scope of their experience, for example, financial support and advocacy.
	Launch a national dialogue about youth involvement in the arts. As soon as possible, leaders in the field should convene forums and discussion groups in major urban and regional centers across the country to address the issue of generational succession and youth involvement.
	Develop a sector-wide strategic plan to: 1) aggressively market the benefits of involvement with the arts to young people; and 2) create a nationwide grassroots corps of young activists and advocates for the arts.

To download an executive summary and full report, go to: www.hewlett.org
 

April 20 - 26, 2008

Giving by U.S. Family Foundations Jumped 21 Percent in 2006

America's family foundations gave $17 billion in 2006, a 21 percent increase over 2005, according to the Foundation Center's new report, Key Facts on Family Foundations (2008 Edition). Since 1998 — the first year for which statistics on family foundations are available — giving by these grantmakers has more than doubled. The report identified 37,100 independent foundations with measurable donor or donor-family involvement. Among other key findings in the report:

	67 percent of all family foundations have been established since 1990.
	The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation ranked as the largest family foundation by giving and assets in 2006.
	Many family foundations are small, with 49 percent giving less than $50,000 annually.
	Education was the top funding priority of family foundations located in the Northeast, Midwest, and South, while health accounted for the biggest share among Western family foundations, largely due to the Seattle, WA-based Gates Foundation.

To download a copy of the report as a .pdf file, go to:  foundationcenter.org
 

April 13 - 19, 2008

Survey: Many Non-Profits Fall Short on Ethics

Fraud is as prevalent in nonprofit organizations as it is in business or government, and misconduct in these organizations is at the highest level on record according to an Ethics Resource Center (ERC) survey. The ERC, an 85-year-old Arlington, Va.-based group devoted to research and the advancement of high ethical standards, used the Opinion Research Corp. to poll 3,452 employees and received telephone responses from 558 employees in the nonprofit sector between June 24 and Aug. 15, 2007. Fraud, in the Ethics Resource Center’s National Nonprofit Ethics Survey, consisted of lying; the alteration of documents, including financial records; and the misreporting of hours. Additionally, the survey found, six types of misconduct posed high risk to the nonprofit sector: discrimination, sexual harassment, misuse of confidential information, lying to stakeholders, improper hiring and safety violations. The ERC surveyed employees in business and government during the same period as well. In the business sector, 56 percent of employees surveyed said they observed misconduct, as opposed to 57 percent in the government sector and 55 percent in the nonprofit sector. The survey shows that rate of observed misconduct in nonprofit organizations is at the highest level since the ERC began measuring it in 2000, when it was reported by 46 percent of respondents. In 2007, more than half (55 percent) of nonprofit employees observed one or more acts of misconduct. To download a copy of the report as a .pdf file, go to: www.ethics.org
 

April 6 - 12, 2008

Teen Volunteerism on the Rise

Youth Helping America--Building Active Citizens: The Role of Social Institutions in Teen Volunteering shows that 55 percent of American teenagers volunteered in 2004, compared to just 29 percent of adults. Approximately 15.5 million teenagers contributed more than 1.3 billon hours of service in 2004, according to the survey, produced by the Corporation for National and Community Service in collaboration with the U.S. Census Bureau and Independent Sector. Going beyond previous studies linking volunteering to individual and social characteristics, this analysis also looked at the frequency of youth volunteering, and at the relationship between social institutions and their level of volunteer commitment. Key findings include:

	39 percent of the teenagers who volunteer are regular volunteers, compared with 55 percent of adult volunteers who fall in that category, while 35 percent of youth are occasional volunteers and 27 percent are episodic volunteers
	The stronger the social ties, the more likely a teen is to be a regular volunteer:

1. Youth with at least one parent who volunteers are nearly three times more likely to be regular volunteers than youth from non-volunteer families – 33 percent and 11 percent, respectively.

2. Youth who attend religious services regularly are nearly twice as likely to be regular volunteers as those who do not attend services.

3. Students who report doing better in school are more likely to volunteer regularly than are students who do not do as well.

High school students are more likely to be regular volunteers than are junior high school students – 24 percent and 15 percent, respectively

For a copy of the report as a .pdf file, go to: www.learnandserve.org
 

March 30 - April 5, 2008

Charitable Giving Focusing On the Needs of the Poor

The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University and Google partnered on a study to estimate how much of the charitable giving by households in the U.S. focuses on the needs of the poor. The report, entitled “Patterns of Household Charitable Giving by Income Group, 2005”, found that less than one-third of the money individuals gave to nonprofits in 2005 was focused on the needs of the economically disadvantaged. Of the $250 billion in donations, less than $78 billion explicitly targeted those in need. Only 8 percent of households' donated dollars were reported as contributions to help meet basic needs--providing food, shelter or other necessities. An additional estimated 23 percent of total giving from all sources went to programs specifically intended to help people of low income--either providing other direct benefits (such as medical treatment and scholarships) or through initiatives creating opportunity and empowerment (such as literacy and job training programs). For a copy of the report, go to: hwww.philanthropy.iupui.edu
 

March 23 - 29, 2008

Foundation Giving Trends

The nation's largest foundations increased funding for all major subject areas in 2006, with a record number of exceptionally large grants helping to drive this growth. According to the Foundation Center's new report, Foundation Giving Trends (2008 Edition), six out of 10 fields posted double-digit rates of growth in the latest year, led by the field of international affairs/development/peace, which grew 72.5 percent. For the first time ever, health surpassed education based on the share of grant dollars received.

Key findings include:

	International giving overall increased 48.4 percent, driven by strong gains in funding for international affairs/development/peace and health.
	Foundations awarded a record 386 grants of $5 million or more in 2006.
	The 16.4 percent growth in grant dollars awarded by sampled foundations in 2006 followed a far more modest 6.1 percent gain in the prior year.

To view report highlights, go to: foundationcenter.org/gainknowledge. To order the full report, go to: foundationcenter.org/marketplace
 

March 16 - 22, 2008

Givers See Nation's Charities as Crucially Important But Wary of Slick, Pushy Marketing

According to a report, The Charitable Impulse, by the nonpartisan research organization Public Agenda, American donors are passionate and positive about the charities and nonprofits they support. But at the same time, according to focus groups, they are concerned when these organizations market themselves in ways that mimic "big business." The study was conducted in collaboration with the Kettering Foundation and in partnership with the Independent Sector. Donor sentiment about charitable organizations, Public Agenda reports, is "enthusiastic and positive," especially when it comes to smaller, local charities and human service organizations, and typical giving tends to be based on personal experience and emotional connections. But givers also have a long memory for scandal and waste. Focus groups took past misdeeds "quite personally and the breach is nearly impossible to repair," the report states

Givers also had strong and spontaneous negative reactions when nonprofits adopt big-business type marketing and sales techniques. Glossy brochures, unsolicited "gifts," telephone solicitations, and high-pressure appeals "all came in for criticism and generated a high level of annoyance." For the most part, donors associated the term "nonprofit" almost entirely with the work of charitable, human services organizations. Many seemed surprised and even a little resentful that large nonprofits such as hospitals and universities (organizations that charge significant fees for their services) actually fall into this category. Report highlights are available in a news release at www.independentsector.org. To download the full report as a .pdf file, go to: www.publicagenda.org
 

March 9 - 15, 2008

Ready to Lead? Next Generation Leaders Speak Out

The Annie E. Casey Foundation, CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, the Meyer Foundation and Idealist.org have released a report entitled Ready to Lead? Next Generation Leaders Speak Out. This new study is based on surveys of nearly 6,000 nonprofit employees who do not hold executive director jobs. Among the survey's key findings:

	Potential nonprofit leaders find the traditional duties of an executive director unappealing.
	69 percent of respondents said that they felt underpaid in their current positions, while 64 percent said that they have financial concerns about committing to a nonprofit career.
	Thirty-two percent of respondents indicated that it would be at least six years before they felt ready to take on an executive role, citing the need to develop management, technical, and leadership skills.
	Of the respondents who do aspire to become executive directors, 40 percent said that they are either ready now or will be ready to lead within five years.
	Members of minority groups were more likely than whites to express an interest in leading a nonprofit organization, as did individuals who reported growing up poor.

For a copy of the report, go to: meyerfoundation.org
 

March 2 - 8, 2008

Volunteering Hits a 30-Year High

A report by the Corporation for National and Community Service, Volunteer Growth in America: A Review of Trends Since 1974, finds that adult volunteering rose sharply between 1989 and 2005, increasing more than 32 percent over the last 16 years. Even with the increase, less than a third of American adults give their time. The report analyzes volunteering rates in 1974, 1989 and 2002-2005, using information collected by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It finds that the growth in volunteering is driven primarily by three age groups: teenagers 16 to 19, Baby Boomers and others age 45 to 65, and older adults 65 and over. Among the findings:

	Older teenagers (ages 16-19) have more than doubled their time spent volunteering since 1989.
	Far from being a “Me Generation,” Baby Boomers are volunteering at sharply higher rates than did the previous generation at mid-life.
	The volunteer rate for Americans ages 65 years and over has increased 64 percent since 1974.
	The proportion of Americans volunteering with an educational or youth service organization has seen a 63 percent increase just since just 1989.

For a copy of the report as a .pdf file, go to: www.nationalservice.gov
 

February 24 - March 1, 2008

Corporate Contributions Rise Again

A new study by the Conference Board reports that total corporate contributions in the U.S. and abroad (among 189 major corporations and corporate foundations) amounted to $10.2 billion in 2006, up from $9.8 billion in 2005. Total U.S. giving among 189 corporations polled was $7.9 billion. This represents 62 percent of the overall estimated $12.72 billion in corporate charitable giving in the U.S. in 2006. The Conference Board study also compared U.S. giving among 146 corporations and foundations between 2005 and 2006 and found that their contributions to worthy causes decreased by 6.3% from $7.2 billion in 2005 to $6.7 billion in 2006. Median U.S. giving among this group also declined from $49 million in 2005 to $46 million in 2006. These matched cases provide the most accurate analysis of year-to-year trends in U.S. giving. Reflecting the increased global reach of business operations, international grantmaking is emerging as an increasingly significant component in the giving programs of many large companies. Total overseas charitable contributions (as reported by 88 companies surveyed) soared in 2006-their total reaching $2.3 billion. For more detail and to download a copy of the full report, go to: www.conference-board.org
 

February 17 - 23, 2008

Civic Engagement Among Minority Youth

A report from the CIRCLE (The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement) authored by Karlo Barrios Marcelo, Mark Hugo Lopez, and Emily Hoban Kirby summarizes trends in civic engagement among minority youth. Minority youth are engaged in a wide variety of civic activities. Recent research suggests that there are differences in the nature and degree of civic engagement among young people by race and ethnicity. This research generally finds that African-American youth are among the most engaged politically, and Asian-American youth are among the most engaged in civic activities such as volunteering. In contrast, most work has found that young Latinos often lag behind every other group on traditional measures of engagement, especially in voting and volunteering. However, Latino youth are highly engaged in other ways, such as protesting. The report utilized data from the 2006 Civic and Political Health of the Nation Survey, and several other sources. To preview the report as a .pdf file, go to: www.civicyouth.org
 

February 10 - 16, 2008

Foundation Expenses and Compensation Trends

A new report issued jointly by the Urban Institute, the Foundation Center, and GuideStar entitled What Drives Foundation Expenses and Compensation? presents the findings of a three-year study to analyze the expense and compensation patterns of the 10,000 largest foundations in the United States. It finds characteristics such as foundation type, size, and operating activities are important factors for understanding differences in foundation finances. Despite the economic downturn and the volatility of the stock market during the study years (2001 to 2003), the patterns of foundation expenses and compensation are clear and consistent over time. This is the first large-scale, long-term, and systematic study of independent, corporate, and community foundations’ expenses and compensation patterns and the factors behind them. Key findings include:

	Foundations differ greatly in their structures, resources, and operating characteristics and these differences significantly affect their expense levels.
	Employment of staff is the single most important factor affecting expense levels, followed by staff size and level of program activities.
	Most foundations do not compensate board members; those that do are most often staffed and independent.
	The status of the economy and the stock market affect assets and giving levels, which in turn affect the charitable administrative expense portion of qualifying distributions.

For a copy of the full report, go to: www.foundationcenter.org
 

February 3 - 9, 2008

Online Charitable Donation Trends

Network for Good, a processor of online charitable donations for more than 1 million nonprofits, released a report, “The Young and The Generous: A Study of $100 Million in Online Giving to 23,000 Charities”, analyzing the $100 million dollars donated to 20,000 groups through its site and affiliated sites since November 2001. Report findings include the following:

	Online donors tend to be young with a median age of 38. Offline donors tend to be over the age of 60.
	More than half of online donors are female and most have given to a charity before.
	The most generous online donors came from Washington, D.C., New York, and Connecticut.
	Most popular organizations in 2005 were disaster relief and international groups with $24.5 million going to tsunami relief, Hurricane Katrina, and the Pakistani earthquake. Animal-related organizations ranked third, followed by human services and education.
	The number one reason donors say they give online is convenience: it is easier than writing a check.

January 27 - February 2, 2008

Lesbian and Gay Grantmaking by U.S. Foundations

Funders for Lesbian and Gay Issues has released Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Funding by U.S. Foundations, a report for Calendar Year 2005. Grantmaker support for LGBTQ issues reached an all-time high of $52.8 million in 2005. Report highlights include:

	In 2005, 199 U.S.-based grantmakers awarded 2,560 grants supporting LGBTQ issues totaling $52.8 million dollars.
	Independent foundations continued to provide the majority of LGBTQ funding in 2005.
	The combined funding of the top ten foundations represented 48 percent of the total grant dollars awarded, a decrease of 10 percentage points from 2004.
	The top 10 foundations by number of grants awarded accounted for 48 percent of all the grants made in 2005.
	Foundations that are among the top 50 U.S. funders by asset size awarded 15 percent of the LGBTQ grants in 2005.
	Ten non-profit organizations received more than one-quarter of all dollars granted.

To download a copy of the report as a .pdf file, go to: www.lgbtfunders.org
 

January 20 - 26, 2008

Study Finds Nonprofit Leaders More Effective than Corporate Heads

The Nonprofit Quarterly has released initial findings of a research study that reveals that nonprofit leaders may well be more effective than for-profit leaders. An article detailing this landmark study and its results is published in the winter issue of The Nonprofit Quarterly. The study was conducted last year by Community Resource Exchange (CRE), in partnership with Performance Programs Inc. (PPI).

Over 2,500 management leaders in the nonprofit and for-profit sectors were studied through feedback surveys submitted by peers, direct reports and managers with a total of 22,859 respondents. The study shows that nonprofit leaders significantly outscore their for-profit counterparts across the board in 14 out of the 17 dimensions of leadership practices. These dimensions include persuasiveness, risk-taking, demonstration of effectiveness and vision. For-profit leaders score higher in only three dimensions.

January 13 - 19, 2008

How Cultural Heritage Organizations Serve Communities

This Urban Institute report authored by Carole E. Rosenstein focuses on the work of nonprofit cultural heritage organizations. Across the United States, nonprofit cultural heritage organizations serve communities by helping people to remember their shared experiences and aspirations, building and sustaining a sense of community through fairs, folklife programs, public celebrations of music, food, and holidays. This report uses Form 990 data to examine the finances and programs of these organizations. It finds that cultural heritage organizations tend to be small, to blend program areas, to make cultural difference central to their work, and they show important program and organizational variation across ethnic groups. These key characteristics should be taken into account when supporting cultural heritage organizations. To download a copy of the report as a .pdf file, go to: www.urban.org
 

January 6 - 12, 2008

Foundation Giving Trends 

Health and education received the largest shares of foundation grant dollars in 2006, according to the Foundation Giving Trends Preview. Contributing to this growth were a number of exceptionally large grants awarded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This snapshot report provides a first look at 2006 grantmaking patterns. Among other key findings: international affairs posted the fastest growth in grant dollars between 2005 and 2006. A detailed analysis of these findings will be published in February in the 2008 edition of Foundation Giving Trends. To download a copy of the preview report as a .pdf file, go to: foundationcenter.org
 

December 30, 2007 - January 5, 2008

Nonprofit Governance Policy Changes

The governance landscape of the not-for-profit community has changed dramatically since the implementation of Sarbanes-Oxley. Today, 87 percent of not-for-profit organizations have created new governance policies compared with 20 percent in 2003, according to Grant Thornton LLP's fifth annual National Board Governance Survey for Not-for-Profit Organizations. Some notable board governance policy changes that organizations have made include:

	92% of respondents have implemented new accounting policies and procedures, compared to only 59 percent in last year's survey.
	Almost nine out of 10 (87 percent) respondents have adopted a written investment policy, compared to 63 percent in 2006.
	Only 30 percent of survey respondents have a policy in place requiring the board or one of its committees to review the organization's Form 990, but this remains an emerging trend.

To view 2007 Trends of the Week, click here.

To view 2006 Trends of the Week, click here.

To view 2005 Trends of the Week, click here.

To view 2004 Trends of the Week, click here.