Posts Tagged ‘charities’

Jumo Picks Up Where Facebook’s “Causes” Left Off

Monday, December 6th, 2010

Jumo.com wants to “do what Yelp did for restaurants.” But do people want to connect with nonprofits as badly as they want to eat tasty food?

  • Chris Hughes, one of Facebook’s founding fathers (and if you watch the movie, they’re alllll fathers), has started a new kind of social networking site all about connecting people to the issues they care about.
  • Jumo indexes charities, projects, and causes to help users learn about them. It also gives charities big and small easier access to potential supporters.
  • Users sign up with their Facebook account, so sharing donation announcements and favorite causes/ organizations with friends is easy. The site also has some familiar Facebooky features – users can share and comment on pages, and see which organizations their friends like.

Facts & Figures

  • Hughes was the Chief Digital Organizer for Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008
  • Only 9% of the $300 billion in donations in 2009 were submitted online
  • Jumo launched with over 3,000 issues and organizations on the site

Best Quote

“It’s still not clear whether or not followers translate to volunteers and donors. But people that are more engaged with nonprofits are most likely to become a donor or support them in another way.” – Steve MacLaughlin, Director of Internet Solutions at BlackBaud, a tech consultancy serving nonprofits

Can non-profits legally influence lawmaking?

Friday, June 18th, 2010

When it comes to advocacy, nonprofits are governed by the IRS (Internal Revenue Service), specifically under Code Section 501 (c)(3). This code effects charities in two ways regarding advocacy activities:

(1) it stipulates that charities may neither publicly support nor oppose candidates running for public office, and
(2) it limits a charity’s ability to lobby for certain legislative efforts. The amount of time they’re allowed to lobby depends on the IRS designation the organization selected, but the amount allowable usually ranges from 3% to 20%. Charities can often do a fair amount within these restrictions.

How can you get on a charity board?

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

To get on a charity board, you generally have to be recruited by well, that charity’s board. One of the responsibilities of board members is to find and recruit new board members – usually they look for people who bring needed skills, enthusiasm, and influence to the organization. Celebrities are sometimes asked to be board members because they bring attention to that charity, while others are asked because skills from their professional life or other experiences can benefit the charity. Some might be asked simply because they have given lots of money and have demonstrated a true interest in the cause. In essence, there are many ways to a nonprofit board, any of which require determination, interest, dedication, and a bit of money wouldn’t do any harm either.

What do nonprofit boards do?

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

The board of a nonprofit has many of the same responsibilities as the board of a corporation: they pick the chief executive, ensure that the organization is fulfilling its mission statement, and provide financial and legal oversight. They make sure the chief executive is doing his or her job running the charity’s programs, managing its money, and executing its stated purpose in its mission statement.

Nonprofit board members are often integrally involved in fundraising and raising awareness of the organization. Frequently they ask others to donate, appear at fundraising events, and donate themselves. In looking for more people to support their organization, they also find and recruit new board members.

Nonprofit boards, as you’d expect, are unpaid positions. Serving on these boards can be a gratifying and essential way to serve a cause that you care about deeply.

On Boards, More Members Provide More Security

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

This fascinating study shows that charity boards with fewer members lost an overwhelmingly larger amount of money to Bernie Madoff, and the accompanying article provides advice on what makes a better board.

  • A study carried out by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy demonstrated that the majority of charities that lost at least 30% of their assets to Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme had four or fewer board members.
  • The reason behind the study’s results seems to be that among small, homogeneous boards, if one member decides an investment is a good idea, the rest of the board is not large or varied enough to argue.
  • In order to avoid becoming victims of the next Bernie Madoff, charities ought to enlarge and diversify their boards.

Facts & Figures

  • The study used a list of 150 charities linked to Bernie Madoff.
  • Of the 105 organizations that lost at least 30% of their assets, 38 had one or two trustees listed on their tax forms, and 46 had three or four.
  • Only 16 of the 105 organizations had five or more members on their boards.

Best Quote

“We think part of what’s going on here is small, homogeneous boards where someone knew someone who trusted Bernie Madoff and that was enough. But it’s not enough to allow Uncle George or Grandpa to say Bernie’s a good guy and make an investment.” – Aaron Dorfman, Executive Director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy

How can you make sure the charity you’re donating to is legit?

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

It isn’t wise to trust a stranger with anything of value, and charities are no exception. The most basic way to investigate a charity’s legitimacy is to research it–by checking the Internet, looking for mentions of your chosen organization in the news, asking for pamphlets detailing the charity’s purpose and goals, and so on. In addition, there are several web sites where you can check a charity’s legitimacy (or even just how well it’s putting donations to use).

If the organization doesn’t make its purpose clear or tell you what the money you give is actually being used for, there may be cause for concern. A legitimate charity should always be willing to provide you with more information and should never try to obtain donations by pressuring or intimidating you, so any representative of a charity who is vague or aggressive is highly suspect. The bottom line: it’s your money that’s going to the charity, so if you don’t feel comfortable with an organization you’ve chosen, you can always find another better suited to your needs and interests.