News/Stats/Studies

GuideStar published the results of its in-depth analysis of the IRS's first Automatic Revocation of Exemption List, which found that the top 100 largest organizations previously reported revenue ranging from $4 million to just over $400 million. Details of the report can be found here, and available by request is the full list of the top 100 by revenue as well as the lists of the largest nonprofits that were revoked in each state and for each nonprofit focus area.

Different kinds of donors tend to support different kinds of charitable causes, a new study says.

Only a minority of religious donors support specifically religious work through nonprofits, for example, while black donors are twice as likely as white donors to support higher education, and the causes people choose to support often are quite dependent on their political views, says Heart of the Donor, a study commissioned by Russ Reid and conducted by Grey Matter Research & Consulting.

Communications professionals at America’s grantmaking foundations are responding to the digital age, according to a new survey from the Communications Network. The survey of 155 foundation communicators shows U.S. foundations are making use of all forms of digital communications, especially social media, a top priority. The survey results suggest the growth of social media and other emerging digital technologies is changing the way foundations communicate with target audiences.

Charitable giving in the U.S. totaled $29.56 billion in April, up 2.4 percent from March and 9.2 percent from April 2010, but is expected to begin slowing in June and continue fall through the end of the year, a new report says.

Giving overall in 2011 is expected to grow 4.3 percent, compared to 2010, although giving in the last three months of 2011 is projected to be less than in the same period in 2010, says the Philanthromax Atlas of Giving.

Despite the poor economy, U.S. nonprofit hospitals and health care systems managed an 8 percent increase in philanthropic donations last year, to more than $8 billion, with individual donors contributing almost 60 percent of that total. But fundraising costs climbed and return on investment dipped, according to the fiscal year 2010 Report on Giving USA issued by the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy.

A new Deloitte survey reveals that millennials who frequently participate in workplace volunteer activities are far more likely to be proud, loyal and satisfied employees compared to those who rarely or never volunteer. The findings come from the eighth annual Deloitte Volunteer IMPACT Survey. Further, more than one-third of those who frequently volunteer are more likely to be very satisfied with the progression of their career. These and other findings from the survey suggest a link between volunteerism and the quality of employee engagement as well as favorable employee perceptions of organizational culture.

One of the country’s largest charitable organizations is getting larger.

Research Triangle Park, N.C.-based Family Health International, a nonprofit organization that specializes in health care needs across the globe, is buying the Academy for Educational Development, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that specializes in global education, health and economic development.

The nonprofits will merge and call RTP its global headquarters. In 2009, Forbes magazine called FHI among the top 200 U.S. charities with $369 million in revenue.

Investments by nonprofits in information-technology staffing, as well as other tech areas, held steady in 2010, a new survey says.

Among nearly 1,200 nonprofit professionals who filled out the Nonprofit IT Staffing Survey sponsored by NTEN and The NonProfit Times, tech spending represented less than 3 percent of the annual budgets for all respondents' organizations, although the percentage was significantly higher among small organizations.

Tech spending either stayed the same or grew from the previous year for most of the survey respondents, a sample the sponsors say probably is not representative of the nonprofit sector overall.

In February 2011, Idealware surveyed 505 nonprofit organizations using Facebook as part of their communications mix. This report, Using Facebook To Meet Your Mission: Results of a Survey, sums up the results of the survey, with takeaways as well as overviews of how much time organizations are spending on Facebook, how many have set goals and how they’re keeping track of their results. Case studies and quotes from the interviews are included to shed light on what success means on Facebook and to provide ideas on how to use the site.

The wave of destructive tornadoes throughout the United States this spring has resulted in an outpouring of charitable donations. PGA Charities auctioned a broken Charles Barkley golf club on eBay to raise money for tornado relief. Ellen DeGeneres is auctioning sports memorabilia. Bruno Mars auctioned signed items.

While all donations help the cause, raising funds through eBay auctions can be particularly effective, both for consumers and sellers, according to research by a strategy professor at Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis.