News/Stats/Studies

U.S. presidential campaigns and political action committees, or PACs, filed financial reports on Tuesday that showed how much they had raised and spent as of Dec. 31.

The filings to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) also offered a snapshot of who donated how much to the "Super PACs," which operate independently from campaigns and can raise unlimited amounts from individuals, corporations and unions.

The main house at the Kennedy family's famous waterfront compound on Cape Cod in Massachusetts has been donated for use as an education center aimed at teaching leadership and inspiring public service, the institute receiving the donation said on Monday.

The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate said the house where the Kennedy family retreated from the public glare for decades was donated at the request of the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy and his widow, Victoria.

Chaordix, a crowdsourced market intelligence provider, has been selected to provide program expertise and collaboration technology to support community engagement in the Grand Challenges for Development program offered by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Implemented with support from Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI), the program is part of an ongoing effort by USAID and partners to catalyse a broad range of actors to make significant and measurable progress against specific development challenges that people face around the world.

Charitable giving will grow slightly this year but charities still will need to work to raise more money. That was the prediction of Michael Walden, an economist at N.C. State University who spoke to an audience of 175 people on Jan. 30 at the fourth-annual Philanthropy Forecast sponsored by the Triangle chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

Giving follows the economy, and the economy is starting to pick up after a deep plunge during the recession, Walden said.

College and university endowments made gains in the fiscal year that ended in June, but many are still struggling to make up ground they lost in 2008 and 2009, according to a report released Tuesday. Data gathered from 823 U.S. colleges and universities show that the institutions' endowments returned an average of 19.2 percent for the 2011 fiscal year, the National Association of College and University Business Officers and Commonfund said. That's up from 11.9 percent in fiscal year 2010.

With the new year now well under way, U.S. nonprofit groups have indicated that they likely will place heavy emphasis on social media and mobile solutions to drive stronger fundraising and marketing results in coming months, according to Charity Dynamics’ 2012 Digital Marketing Survey.

The survey, which includes feedback from 70 Charity Dynamics clients, revealed shifting priorities in some areas of nonprofits’ marketing plans for the year ahead. 

Among them, 73 percent of respondents indicated that their organizations plan to address social media strategies in 2012.

Nonprofit Finance Fund released an updated report of its ongoing comprehensive philanthropic equity campaigns, which, on average, have nearly tripled revenue and grown program delivery by 370 percent for participating nonprofit organizations since 2006.

When done right, philanthropic equity acts as an early-stage investment in an organization for investors seeking social, rather than financial, returns. With the infusion of this one-time growth capital investment that is distinct and separate from annual revenue that pays for program and operating costs, nonprofits can focus on building their organizations and their missions.

Online games and other interactive efforts helped many charities increase donations during the crucial last months of the year, and many experts now expect to see far more of them in the coming year.

Giving donors a specific activity, such as making gifts or signing petitions online, makes their experience exciting and keeps them involved with the charity in a way that is more powerful than a standard donation page, says Claire Kerr, director of digital philanthropy at online fundraising-software company Artez Interactive.

But not all observers are sold on the durability of the new approach.

Almost half of users (47 percent) who start an online donation fail to complete it, according to a new report which urges the sector to adopt a more personal approach to online donations.

The report, Charities fail to make an impact online, outlines how charities can improve the user experience and increase online donations.

The study was conducted by user experience company, Nomensa, and compared the online donation processes of Cancer Research UK, Macmillan Cancer Support and Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Wiland Direct announced that Glen Bonderenko has joined the company as vice president, product management. In his new role, Glen will be working with charitable and political members to create products that will significantly improve their direct marketing results as well as help them meet and exceed all of their fundraising and campaign objectives.