October 2008 Entries
According to an analysis from Convio Inc., a manufacture of online donation software, online giving to nonprofits is anticipated to exceed $3 billion this holiday season. This analyst is based on a new online giving survey by JupiterResearch and from historical data from the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
The survey reports that more than 89 million people plan to give online during the holidays. Almost 7 out of 10 people plan to give the same amount they do every year, while 33% say they will give less this year. A few of the organizations that donors plan to support include social services,...
posted @ Tuesday, October 28, 2008 2:44 PM |
In case you had not heard, cash is tight. Credit is tight. The stock market is unpredictable.
On the other hand, many are rushing in to predict what giving will do in the coming months. Some say up. Some say down. Some say it will stay the same. Don't let the prognosticators fool you. Things are changing.
We live in an age of relatively stable if not declining birth rates here in the United States. Meanwhile our population continues to age. In the coming years, some demographers tell us that we'll have a population where 19% of our people will be 65...
posted @ Saturday, October 18, 2008 10:08 PM |
Today, the Internet connects people from around the world and because of this, websites should serve the needs of both English and foreign language speakers. Adding automatic language translation to your website will serve your international guests and provide an easy way to increase your website traffic. There are at least two ways to add language translation to your website.
The first way is to use Google’s Translate service. While it is not always particularly accurate, it does offer translation for 23 languages. Google also has a free Google Translate widget which can be added to your website. Digital Inspiration also...
posted @ Monday, October 13, 2008 3:30 PM |
In uncertain economic times, it is often difficult to make donations with the same frequency as in better days; however, giving money is only a small portion of your overall giving. Your time, talents, networks, enthusiasm, and spreading the word are also ways to give to charities. There are at least ten ways in which you can still continue to give in difficult times:
10. Conserve Resources.
Remember to turn off lights and computers you are not using. Use energy-saving light bulbs, reusable shopping bags and water bottles. Write family members’ names on cups and use the same cup all day instead...
posted @ Friday, October 10, 2008 3:38 PM |
I just got my retirement fund statement. It was down by 20%. My statement is certainly a reflection of the overall stock market.
What does it mean for the non profit? In 2007, the stock market was hot. Consequently, we saw lots of gifts of publicly traded stock and mutual funds. In 2008, we simply don’t expect many of those kinds of gifts.
The decline in publicly traded gifts is not the end of the story. Rising gas prices and grocery prices means that people simply have less cash. The backbone of many non profits are the monthly...
posted @ Wednesday, October 08, 2008 8:18 AM |
In the U.S., charitable giving has a long and illustrious history that includes community participation, neighbors settling new land helping one another, and most recently, giving circles. Giving circles are a recent but growing trend in philanthropy. In 2006, they generated $13 million dollars for community projects. A giving circle is “a group of individuals who come together to pool their dollars, learn together about the community and philanthropy, and then decide collectively where to give their money.”
Due to the weakened economy, giving circles will become more effective as they allow members to make large donations to nonprofits.
For...
posted @ Tuesday, October 07, 2008 2:32 PM |