Accountability

C-level executives Angel Aloma, Danny McGregor and Atul Tandon, along with moderator Tom Harrison, discussed the biggest issues concerning fundraisers at the DMA Nonprofit Federation New York Nonprofit Conference.

BAYOU LA BATRE, Ala. — God only knows what will happen to churches and other nonprofit organizations who say they are struggling for survival because of the Gulf oil spill crisis.

Months after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and its well started gushing oil, the British petroleum giant says it has yet to decide how to handle claims filed by religious groups and other charitable organizations that are endangered because people can no longer afford to contribute.

Pastor Dan Brown prays BP PLC comes up with a solution quickly: He said he filed a $50,000 claim last month over lost revenues at Anchor Assembly of God. His small, storefront church outlived Hurricane Katrina and is now struggling because of the oil crisis.

The Charities Review Council, a group in St. Paul, Minn., that serves people who support charities with financial donations, has launched revised accountability standards for nonprofits, along with an updated online tool nonprofits can use to review their compliance with the new standards.

Initially drafted in 1998, the council says it updated the changes to address charity performance in the areas of public disclosure, governance, financial activity and fundraising, and to reflect economic, demographic, legal and societal changes.

A major focus, the group says, is the importance of engaged and effective governance, with the revised standards reflecting questions posed by the new Form 990 that many nonprofits must file with the IRS.

Here, a few notes on the new look of business rules, presented by Tom Gaffny, principal at Tom Gaffny Consulting, and Mary Beth McIntyre, president of Win-Win Giving, in the session "Running Your Nonprofit Like a Business" at the DMA Nonprofit Federation 2010 Washington Nonprofit Conference.

I don't know a single person who wasn't ready for 2009 to be over. Across the board, my friends, co-workers and professional acquaintances all are looking forward to ?welcoming whatever 2010 has in store. We all know it might not be a whole lot better than what 2009 dealt, but the hope that it will be carries us into the new year.

The economic crisis has put nonprofit organizations in a double bind. On the one hand, social-service organizations like food banks, rescue missions and health clinics have seen demand for their services skyrocket as the unemployment rate rises and Americans see their savings, home values and retirement accounts plummet. Yet while the demand for nonprofit services is rising, in a severe economic downturn it's harder than ever to raise dollars to pay for those services.

STANFORD, Calif., June 3, 2009 — In the summer 2009 issue of Stanford Social Innovation Review two Stanford Law School scholars examine the ethical issues that arise specifically in the nonprofit sector, and suggest the best ways to promote ethical behavior within organizations.

Earlier this month, FundRaising Success partnered with technology-solutions provider Advanced Solutions International for a webinar titled “Choosing and Using Fundraising Software: Tips and Tricks to Demystify the Process”. Presenters included Gary Green, vice president for technology at the National Kidney Foundation; David Drinnon, pastor and director of information technology and Web sites at the Second Baptist Church in Houston; and Dan Germain, senior executive, strategic business development, at Advanced Solutions International. During the webinar, attendees submitted questions for our experts to answer. We got to many of them, but here are Gary’s answers to some of the ones that weren’t addressed. Q: How many

Web site architecture and design can significantly improve your online fundraising success. In the session, “How You Can Dramatically Increase Your Fundraising Success by Improving Your Website’s Information Architecture and Design” at the Kintera 2008 User Conference in Washington, D.C., earlier this month, attendees were given tips to effectively evaluate and utilize Web site architecture and design to boost online fundraising. Here’s a quick summary: 1. Help people find and do what they want quickly. Effective information architecture and design is reflected by intuitive, easy-to-use navigation. A Web site with high usability navigation helps visitors, regardless of the type of information they are

This article is excerpted from an M+R Strategic Services whitepaper of the same title. Read the paper in its entirety, along with its accompanying charts and stats here. “Urgent vote TOMORROW!” “Your account balance is overdue.” “Hurry, final sale ends tonight!” With so many other, potentially more urgent messages competing for your e-mail list members’ attention, what can nonprofits do to maximize the likelihood that their e-newsletters will be opened, read and clicked on? We recently conducted a review of five national nonprofits’ e-newsletters to help isolate some reliable ways to grab your readers’ attention and draw them in to your e-newsletter. Our survey