nptimes

These are tough economic times we live in, but philanthropic organizations are still willing to give big money to causes that improve the lives of people in need. That was the key message that Bill Gates sent when his organization, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation , committed $750 million to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.  The major gift came in the form of a promissory note, a new funding mechanism that allows an organization to distribute funds based on... Read Full Story

After much debate, your organization has identified the area that needs help and has posted the corresponding advertisement to an online job board .  Now what? There's a lot of work ahead of you while you wait for qualified applicants to apply.  One of the things you can do to make this work a little less painful is to lay out a hiring process.  In his book "Nonprofit Management 101," Darian Rodriguez Heyman says having such a plan is essential to evaluate candidates.  He stresses that any... Read Full Story

Upgrading donors can be quite a dilemma for nonprofit organizations.  On one hand, donors might want to become more engaged with an organization, but donor fatigue can set in if they receive too many mailings.  This is where the idea of "soft asking" comes into play. In an article that recently appeared in The NonProfit Times , we looked at how the National Baseball Hall of Fame (NBHF) used this process when upgrading donors .  Instead of asking donors to upgrade their membership, the... Read Full Story

Kodak, one of America's oldest film companies, recently filed for bankruptcy .  It's unclear what's to come in the company's future, but one thing was made clear: Some difficult choices are in the cards for the company's philanthropic efforts. Channel 13 WHAM in the Rochester area reported yesterday that because of the bankruptcy, Kodak was likely to scale down their corporate philanthropy .  The company had written on its website that "in the near term … it is likely that we will have to... Read Full Story

Nonprofits will now be able to run failing public schools thanks to a new bill signed in New Jersey. Business Weekly reported last week that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed The Urban Hope Act , which creates a 10-year pilot program that allows nonprofits to build and operate "renaissance schools" in Newark, Trenton, and Camden.  Renaissance schools are similar to the charter school programs that have been running in New Jersey for more than a decade.  While charters get... Read Full Story

UPDATE: Here is a video from Blackbaud announcing the acquisition. UPDATE 2: Updated the blog post with new information. We had some big news break in the nonprofit sector this morning, as Charleston, S.C.-based Blackbaud announced the acquisition of rival software firm Convio of Austin, Texas, for $275 million. The acquisition would give the combined organizations an annual revenue of $440 million, free cash flow of $66.5 million, and net debt of $240 million.  Blackbaud will... Read Full Story

Cross-Posted From Nonprofit Jobs Interested in a job that combines your passion for education and fundraising? Look no further, The Nonprofit Job Seeker has just the position for you. Essex County College , located in Newark, NJ, is looking for a Director For Development to lead its fundraising efforts. This individual will be responsible for generating new revenue, reaching new fundraising goals, and developing relationships with internal and external constituencies. The Director will... Read Full Story

Robert Wharton, the head of one of the largest nonprofits in Illinois, was ousted from the organization after a series of financial-related scandals. The Chicago Tribune reported the news today after the announcement from the board  of the Community and Economic Development Association (CEDA) of Cook County.  The move follows a report from The Tribune earlier in the week that Wharton, who was CEO of the organization, had failed to make court-appointed payments to his former secretary, 91... Read Full Story

The campaign season is starting to heat up as we move closer to the 2012 Presidential elections, and soon the real fun will begin: Lobbying for one candidate over another.  But nonprofits need to be careful about how they participate in this kind of advocacy . In the most recent edition of The NonProfit Times , we went over how the IRS is increasingly scrutinizing nonprofit organization's participation in political advocacy .  If an organization is perceived to have overstepped its... Read Full Story

How much is a banana worth?  According to legendary rock band The Velvet Underground, it's worth enough to start a lawsuit. The New York Post reported yesterday that band members Lou Reed and John Cale are suing the Andy Warhol Foundation over its use of of the iconic banana image from the band's debut album, "The Velvet Underground and Nico."  The suit, which was filed in a Manhattan federal court, claims that the Foundation illegally licensed the image for use on iPad cases and... Read Full Story