‘Tis the day for mid-week news and notes… And let us know if you have anything to share with the Catalogue crowd!
How to Find Generous Donors — Just before 2011, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reported on three new giving studies, conducted by Blackbaud, Network for Good, and the Daily Beast. Their findings? Our area stacks up quite well! In the Blackbaud study, DC and Maryland ranked #1 and #2 respectively for the number of donors with incomes over $100K. And Network for Good reported that DC is #1 and Virginia #8 in average giving per household.
Why Have a Board – Have a Board meeting coming up soon? You might want to check out this great article from the Nonprofit Quarterly yesterday. We all know that the law requires us to have a Board, but re-thinking how they add value benefits staff and Board alike. Adding that the Board has its essential power as a whole, Simone P. Joyaux points out, “Do not confuse the individual board member with the board. They are different! The board is a collective and only does its work and has authority as a group when it is together.”
Philanthropy makes its way to the playground – Yesterday’s post on the Mother Nature Network blog makes a great and simple point: philanthropy can feel foreign until you see it at work on your own street. Pointing to several large corporations who have begun to fund local playgrounds, Melissa Hincha-Ownby writes “When I think about philanthropy, I think of trust organizations with millions and even billions of dollars at their beck and call … However, philanthropy isn’t always about multi-million dollar projects in far off lands. These days philanthropic work can be found on playgrounds in communities across the nation.”
State Rep. named to newly-created nonprofits’ advocate position — For some pretty cool (albeit, non-local) news, the Connecticut Post reported yesterday that Governor Dan Malloy has announced that “State Representative Deborah Heinrich (D-Madison, Guilford) will fill a newly-created cabinet-level position in his administration to advocate on behalf of nonprofit providers.” Focused on “getting our fiscal house in order,” the governor stated that “engaging the nonprofit community in a concerted, strategic way to maximize services and minimize cost will be a large part of the way in which we do this.” Neat!