Board

June 16, 2009, HealthDay News — If you have a purpose in life -- lofty or not -- you'll live longer, a new study shows.

MIAMI, June 16, 2009 — A study conducted by Harris Interactive(R) on behalf of Big Brothers Big Sisters finds adults mentored as children through Big Brothers Big Sisters are more likely than peers with similar backgrounds but who were not involved in the program to have a four-year college degree and incomes of $75,000 or more. They also report strong relationships with their spouses, children and friends.

The last decade was characterized as a time of plenty in the charitable arena: plenty of good causes, plenty of organizations, plenty of government support, plenty of corporate and foundation money, and plenty of individual giving. Well, guess what? The party’s over. Unquestionably we are in the midst of a worrisome rebalancing and readjustment of charitable dollars. To succeed in this and the impending economic climate, nonprofits must renew their commitment to the basic fundamentals of fundraising. It starts with the board of directors. 

MIAMI, June 16, 2009 — Big Brothers Big Sisters this week will recognize its Big Brother of the Year and Big Sister of the Year at its 2009 National Conference, sponsored by Comcast Corporation. The "Bigs of the Year" are long-term mentors whose volunteer service exemplifies how Big Brothers Big Sisters, the nation's largest donor-based volunteer mentoring network, improves the odds for more than 255,000 of America's most vulnerable children.

June 9, 2009, The New York Sun — Mayor Michael Bloomberg today named Diahann Billings-Burford as the city's Chief Service Officer, responsible for leading NYC Service, a city-wide initiative to promote volunteerism launched by the city in April.

June 15, 2009, Tech Crunch — A coalition of non-profit organizations, technology developers, designers, marketers and others has unveiled the alpha version of a new Web service dubbed All for Good in an effort to build some sort of ‘Craigslist for volunteer services’. The metaphor stands, and not only because Craig Newmark from the popular free classifieds service is one of the backers of the project (Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post is also said to be on board).

June 9, 2009, The Wall Street Journal — A few months ago, Andrea Kornfeld was working on a computer program to shave milliseconds off of transactions at Merrill Lynch.

June 7, 2009, Redlands Daily Facts — California Steel Industries employees are putting aside their regular duties in exchange for to-do lists from local charities.

June 2, 2009, The New York Times — THERE was a time when holidays meant a break from working. Not so anymore, as seemingly every day of the year is National Something-or-Other Day. And a handful of nonprofits, with help from the White House, are working to rebrand occasions like Martin Luther King’s Birthday and Sept. 11 as national days of volunteering, to say nothing of César Chávez Day (March 31), Make a Difference Day (the fourth Saturday of October), National Volunteer Week (the third week of April) and Be the Change Day (this year, Oct. 3). Add one more to the calendar: Mandela Day, July 18, when people around the world will be urged to perform 67 minutes of community service to honor the 67 years (and counting) that Nelson Mandela has fought for racial and social equality. The holiday is the brainchild of the Nelson Mandela Foundation and 46664, the advocate group that bears Mr. Mandela’s prisoner number.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, June 1, 2009 — Craigslist Foundation announces its 6th annual Boot Camp for nonprofit organizations and individuals interested in making a difference in their communities nationwide. It will be held on Saturday, June 20th, 2009, on the University of California, Berkeley campus. This year, the all-day program focuses on skills for connecting, motivating and inspiring greater community involvement and impact. Boot Camp '09 will place a special emphasis on community-building and the opportunities for collaboration among individuals, businesses, government, philanthropists, and nonprofits. Boot Camp precedes the 2009 National Conference on Volunteering & Service, in San Francisco.