FN&C Now

Volume 5, Number 46 – December 2, 2004 IN THIS ISSUE NEWS COVERAGE: Nonprofits may be underreporting expenses; MacArthur foundation supports Madagascar's biodiversity JUST PUBLISHED: Giving declined in Minnesota during 2002; giving increased in Milwaukee during 2003; charities nationwide got some relief in first three quarters of 2004 NOW ONLINE: Study shows e-learning widely used among nonprofits; "Philanthropy Pulse" poll finds literacy funding most meaningful-participate in new poll on types of support AT THE COUNCIL: Deadline for nominating creative grantmakers is tomorrow; sign up for Breaking News ACT NOW: Register for Generations of Giving book launch in San Francisco or teleconference with Kelin Gersick ON THE MOVE: Richard Mulcaster (Vancouver); Lloyd Andrew Bell III and Nina Waters (The Community Foundation in Jacksonville); Bruce J. Anderson and Peter Sortino (Danforth); James D. Parsons (Brinson); Dewayne Matthews (Lumina); Aly Kassam-Remtulla (MacArthur) NEWS COVERAGE UNDERREPORTED COSTS: Pressure from donors and the public to keep administrative and fundraising expenses low may be leading nonprofits to underreport them, according to a new study. The Nonprofit Fundraising and Administrative Cost project found that 37 percent of nonprofits receiving private contributions of $50,000 or more in 2000 reported no expenditures for fundraising. Of that group, nearly one in five organizations that raised $5 million or more said they had no fundraising costs. "While some nonprofits undoubtedly refrain from reporting fundraising expenses for [valid] reasons, our analysis shows that those explanations account for maybe half of the nonprofits reporting no such costs," said study co-leader Thomas H. Pollak. The project by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University and the Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the Urban Institute suggests pervasive problems due to misunderstood accounting rules and weak infrastructure. Find out more: http://www.coststudy.org . OF ECOSYSTEMS AND SPECIES: The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced ten grants totaling more than $2.8 million for conservation and sustainable development in Madagascar. "Supporting an extraordinary diversity of ecosystems and species, Madagascar's relative isolation has made it one of the world's most biologically important places. Almost 90 percent of Madagascar's land mammals, reptiles, and flowering plants are found nowhere else on earth," said Jonathan F. Fanton, the foundation's president. Read more: http://www.macfound.org/announce/press_releases/11_18_2004_2.htm . JUST PUBLISHED 2002 GIVING DECREASED: According to the 2004 edition of Giving in Minnesota, total charitable giving in the state declined for the second year in a row during 2002. Charitable giving totaled $4.18 billion in 2002, a decline of less than 1 percent from 2001. Individuals gave $3.28 billion to charity in 2002, an increase of less than 1 percent from 2001. Foundations and corporations awarded more than $893 million in grants in 2002—a 5 percent decline from 2001 (adjusted for inflation). This marks the first time since 1984 that the Minnesota Council on Foundations has recorded a drop in grants from those two groups. Read more: http://www.mcf.org/MCF/giving/givingmn.htm . 2003 GIVING INCREASED: Charitable giving in the greater Milwaukee area increased by 4.2 percent in 2003, according to the "8th Annual Report Card on Charitable Giving," published by the Greater Milwaukee Foundation and the Public Policy Forum. Total giving to the 64 organizations in the study rose $9.2 million to $227.5 million, the highest level since the survey began in 1992. In addition, 42 percent of nonprofit executives believe the state of philanthropy is improving, compared to only 16 percent in last year's survey-the highest level of optimism since September 11, 2001. Read more or download the report (PDF): http://www.greatermilwaukeefoundation.org/content/view_article.xpl?article_id=94 . 2004 GIVING INCREASED: Charities found some relief from tightened budgets during 2004, according to GuideStar's third annual nonprofit economic survey. GuideStar asked 4,292 individuals (representing approximately 3,767 nonprofits) how their organizations fared financially during the first nine months of 2004 compared to the same period in 2003. Half of the participants reported increased contributions to their organizations. Another 24 percent said contribution levels stayed the same, 23 percent said they decreased and 4 percent didn't know. Also, 71 percent of respondents reported greatly increased demand for their organization's services. Read the final report: http://www.guidestar.org/news/features/2004_survey_results.jsp . NOW ONLINE E-LEARNING TAKES OFF: The first Nonprofit and Association E-learning Survey shows wide adoption of e-learning. More than 54 percent of 697 respondents use e-learning or are planning to within the next 12 months. Sponsored by Isoph and N-TEN, the survey also found that 88 percent of respondents were very or somewhat satisfied with their e-learning programs, with the key benefits being convenience, accessibility and cost-effectiveness. The biggest barrier in developing e-learning programs was staff time. Download the survey (PDF): http://www.isoph.com/pdfs/2004_Nonprofit_E-learning_Survey.pdf . TAKING PHILANTHROPY'S PULSE: The "Verizon Corporate Philanthropy Pulse," an online poll, asked nonprofits and the public to vote for the most meaningful funding category for their communities. With 4,100 votes cast from September 7 to November 8, literacy had the highest ranking (55 percent), followed by domestic violence solutions (18 percent), education (10 percent), human services (5.9 percent) and culture and arts (4 percent). The second 60-day survey, which seeks to uncover the type of support most important to the community (volunteerism, cash donation or in-kind donation), is live now on the Verizon Foundation website. To participate, or to view the first survey's complete results in the poll archives, go to: http://foundation.verizon.com/04010.shtml . AT THE COUNCIL SEEKING CREATIVE GRANTMAKERS: The nominations deadline for the 2005 Robert W. Scrivner Award for Creative Grantmaking is Friday, December 3, 2004. Nominees and nominators must be members of the Council on Foundations, a regional association of grantmakers or a Council-recognized affinity group. The winner(s) will receive a sculpture and a cash award of $10,000 at the Council's 2005 Annual Conference in San Diego. Find out more (PDF): http://www.cof.org/files/Documents/Awards/Scrivner/05Scrivner.pdf . FREE NEWS SERVICE: Breaking News is a free, daily e-mail newsletter summarizing the top articles—mostly from national and regional newspapers—about philanthropy. Breaking News is available to Council members only. Subscribe by e-mailing your name, title and foundation name to media@cof.org. ACT NOW BOOK LAUNCH: The Foundation Incubator in San Francisco will host the Northern California launch of Generations of Giving: Leadership and Continuity in Family Foundations December 9 from 4 to 6 p.m. Lead author Kelin Gersick will identify the most important challenges facing family foundations and fundamental practices leading to their sustained success. The National Center for Family Philanthropy is co-hosting the free event (registration required): http://www.foundationincubator.org/invitation.html . Not in the Bay area? Participate in the center's first teleconference, a presentation by Gersick, December 8 from noon to 1 p.m. (EST). Read more or register: http://www.ncfp.org/program-teleconferences.htm . ON THE MOVE After 25 years, RICHARD MULCASTER resigned as president & CEO of the Vancouver Foundation. LLOYD ANDREW BELL III, president of The Community Foundation in Jacksonville (Florida), will step down on January 1 and become president emeritus and senior fellow. Executive Vice President NINA WATERS will succeed Bell as president. BRUCE J. ANDERSON will step down as president of The Danforth Foundation at the end of the year. PETER SORTINO will succeed him. Read more: http://www.stlcommercemagazine.com/archives/august2004/newsmakers.html . JAMES D. PARSONS was appointed president of The Brinson Foundation. Read more: http://www.brinsonfoundation.org/News/Background.html . On January 5, 2005, DEWAYNE MATTHEWS will become senior research director of the Lumina Foundation for Education. Read more: http://www.luminafoundation.org/newsroom/news_releases/120105.html . ALY KASSAM-REMTULLA is now program officer in the general program at The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Read more: http://www.macfound.org/announce/press_releases/11_18_2004_1.htm . SUBSCRIBE FN&C Now is published by the Council on Foundations to keep you in the loop by sharing news between bimonthly editions of Foundation News & Commentary magazine (FN&C Now Web archive: http://www.foundationnews.org/now/index.htm ). Please feel free to forward this message to your friends and colleagues who might enjoy it. To subscribe (it's free) to FN&C Now, send an e-mail to fncnow@cof.org . Questions or comments about FN&C Now? Contact Paula J. Kelly at 202/467-0261. To contribute a news item for consideration, please e-mail fncnow@cof.org . To unsubscribe, send a blank e-mail to leave-fncnow-4832R@int1.cof.org . To subscribe to Foundation News & Commentary, an award-winning magazine, please send an e-mail to fncsubs@cof.org , or visit our website at http://www.icnfull.com/cgi-bin/cobolscript.exe?cof/cofmain.cbl . Council on Foundations 1828 L Street, NW Washington, DC 20036 202/466-6512 webmaster@cof.org last update: 12.02.04