A matching grant is a pledge to give a certain amount of money to an organization if it raises that same amount from other donors. Matching grants are meant to motivate others into charitable giving. For example, a wealthy philanthropist might tell a nonprofit that if they raise $250,000, then he will match it – doubling the total contribution.
Archive for the ‘Daily Definition’ Category
A Matching Grant is…
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009Discretionary Funds are…
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009Discretionary funds are grants that are given by one or more members of a foundation’s board of trustees and don’t require full board approval.
A Capital Campaign is…
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009A capital campaign is an effort by a charity to raise a significant amount of money to pay for an important project – like a new building or extensive renovation. For example, a college might have a capital campaign to raise the funds for a new athletic facility.
A Chairman of the Board is…
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009A Chairman of the Board runs the board of directors for a corporation. He hires the CEO and along with the rest of the board, makes sure the company is in good financial shape and is doing its best to fulfill its mission statement. He is like the General Manager of a sports team, who hires the coach and makes sure the team business is being run efficiently. It goes without saying, of course, that the Chairman can be a woman (in which case she’d likely be referred to as the Chairwoman, Chair, or Chairperson of the Board).
A Mutual Fund is…
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009A mutual fund is a pool of securities (stocks, bonds, money market instruments, etc.) managed by an investment company or other professional and paid for by investors. Each share of a mutual fund contains a small piece of every different type of security in the fund (so when you buy a share of a mutual fund, you’re really buying a little piece of a stock from Company A, a little piece of a stock from Company B, a little piece of a government bond, and so on).
A Junk Bond is…
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009A junk bond (also known as a high-yield bond) is a type of investment that is very risky to make, but it can lead to higher yields than safer investments. High-risk bonds got the name “junk” because of their low credit ratings (typically below Ba or BB).
Interest is…
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009Interest is the cost of borrowing money (or a benefit of lending money). When you deposit your money in the bank, the bank is essentially borrowing that money and paying you interest for it. Interest is usually expressed as a percentage per year.
A Seller’s Market is…
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009A seller’s market is a situation in which demand for a good or service is greater than the available supply, so the seller has more power to dictate the terms of sale, including price. Let’s say everyone in New York City wants to buy an orange (gotta get that Vitamin C), but only a few stores actually sell oranges. Those stores that do sell oranges are able to hike up the sale price because people who want to buy oranges have nowhere else to go to get their fix. This is a seller’s market because the stores can sell the oranges for whatever price they want, and people will still buy them.
The Black Market is…
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009The black market is the “marketplace” for anything that is illegal to buy or sell within a country. If you are buying something in a dimly-lit back alley, you are probably buying on the black market.
A Cartel is…
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009A cartel is a group of people or organizations in the same industry that work together to keep prices high so they can make more money. OPEC, for example, is an oil cartel. If any one of the member countries dropped their prices, people would flock to buy from that country, and the others would have to lower prices to compete. By all agreeing to keep their prices equally high, consumers don’t have a choice and all the members of the cartel make more profit.