September 19, 2008 • 11:51 pm 0
Lehman Brothers collapse hurts charity
September 3, 2008 • 9:37 pm 0
Fort Worth entrepreneur raises the bar in charitable giving through giving catalog
The Greatest Gift Catalog Ever is sent out during the holiday season. The catalog looks roughly like a Lands End or Williams-Sonoma catalog, but instead of clothing, kitchen gadgets or other merchandise there are charitable giving opportunities. Patrick’s 2 cents – I’ve seen these types of catalogs by individual global ministries but never a community-focused catalog of various local ministry giving opportunities.
August 24, 2008 • 12:07 pm 0
Creating a culture of generosity
Culture-making blog – If I only had $1 dollar for every time I’ve heard/said “creating a culture of generosity” over the last 5 years, I think the $$ I would earn could actually create a culture of generosity! We often throw this phrase around but do we actually know what it takes to make it happen? Well Andy Crouch might be able to give us the answer in this insightful blog post from his new web site www.culture-making.com. This is a must read for anyone in the generosity movement.
http://www.culture-making.com/articles/skillful_culture_making
August 17, 2008 • 9:26 pm 0
Crown Ministries producing short films
Blog site for Crown’s updates on short films the ministry is currently producing. I think this is a great idea since over 70% of the world’s popluation can’t read. As the Jesus Film showed, an excellently produced movie can have a huge impact and I think Crown’s films might do the same with stewardship and generosity globally.
http://chuckbentley.typepad.com/shortfilms/shortfilmsvision.html
Filed under: Ministry , technology
July 25, 2008 • 11:34 pm 0
More people headed online before making donation
Non-profit Times - Cross virtually every demographic — age, gender, race, income, education and household size — more people are heading for the Internet before they make a charitable donation. According to a new The NonProfit Times study, twice as many potential donors are heading online after receiving a fundraising solicitation by mail than they did just three years ago, and among those 65 and older, the increases were even more substantial. Patrick’s 2 cents – study shows the growing importance of the non-profit web site + growing usage of online research on non-profit activities.
Filed under: Ministry , marketing, statistics
July 17, 2008 • 10:00 am 0
Overturning the money tables
Christianity Today – In the late 1990s, Rusty Leonard was managing $3.5 billion at Franklin Templeton Investments. He was one of the company’s best performing managers. And as the “Christian guy” at Templeton, Leonard was often assigned the accounts held by Christians. One account in particular, owned by the DeMoss Foundation, profoundly shaped his future career. Patrick’s 2 cents – Rusty’s a friend with a big heart and tenacity to match it. He’s got a passion for giving and social investing and he’s willing to put his money where his mouth is.
July 11, 2008 • 11:33 pm 0
The State of Fundraising On-line: Results of a Giving USA Survey
Guidestar – Having an on-line presence is a necessity in today’s fundraising environment, but in general, organizations should not expect a financial windfall to arrive through the Internet. The on-line fundraising process generates gifts but typically not more than 10 to 15 percent of individual contributions and not more than 5 percent of all forms of charitable giving in the public-society benefit subsector.
Filed under: Ministry , statistics, technology
June 18, 2008 • 3:23 am 0
Where for profit and non-profit meet
Non-profit assistance fund – The State of Vermont recently adopted legislation creating a new type of entity, a Low-profit Limited Liability Corporation. The L3C, as it is called, is sort of a hybrid of for-profit and nonprofit created as a way to attract both private and philanthropic capital to build businesses with a social benefit. The key insight of the L3C is that it is not a two-part world but a three part world and that many worthy causes are capable of being self sufficient; they simply do not offer enough of a return in order to attract for profit investors – particularly at their inception.
http://www.nonprofitsassistancefund.org/blog/2008/05/12/where-for-profit-and-nonprofit-meet/
June 7, 2008 • 1:34 pm 0
Red Cross in dispute over tornado relief funds
New York Times – The American Red Cross has again found itself at the center of a dispute over its fund-raising, this time in the backyard of a major Congressional critic, Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa.
Filed under: Ministry , controversy
June 6, 2008 • 5:55 am 0
Marketing for charities
Chronicle of Philanthropy – marketing and communications expert Seth Godin discusses innovative ways of marketing for charities. The biggest mistake non profits make is that they’re so busy not making mistakes they end up being boring. Boring and selfish and self-absorbed, all while they’re working so hard to make the world better. It’s ironic.
