NonProfit Pro

(Press release, April 9, 2015) — DonorSearch, the prospect research and screening firm, has acquired DonorDynamics, a prospect screening startup based in Portland, Ore.

I hear from fundraisers and nonprofit executives alike bemoaning how they wish their board members were engaged and eager to fundraise. I'm sure you've heard it, as well. Bill is eager—or was, that is.

The Bitcoin Foundation, the nonprofit that has led adoption and standardization efforts for the open-source cryptocurrency, is considering restructuring into two smaller organizations, just days after one of its board members said it was “effectively bankrupt.” The foundation itself has no control over the open-source Bitcoin, but it has taken a strong role in organizing the community and calling for standardization and adoption.

Battered by a scandal over delays in approving groups for tax-exempt status and plagued by a backlog tens of thousands of cases long, the Internal Revenue Service unveiled a strikingly stripped-down online application last year to speed the process. But to critics, the IRS's version of “don’t ask, don’t tell” is fraught with problems. An unlikely coalition of tax lawyers, state enforcement agents and even many nonprofits that favor simpler rules say that the agency is making it too easy to commit fraud.

The American Cancer Society named Gary M. Reedy its new chief executive on Wednesday, ending a search to replace longtime leader John Seffrin that stretched over a year. Reedy, a longtime American Cancer Society volunteer, retired last month from his position as worldwide vice president for government affairs and policy at Johnson & Johnson. He has spent 37 years in the health care industry, also holding leadership positions at for-profit companies SmithKline Beecham and Centocor.

(Press release, April 9, 2015) — Rogare, Plymouth University's fundraising think tank, and the Resource Alliance, have joined together in a two-year research collaboration to explore different philanthropic behaviors and how they deliver value to human well-being around the world. This major research, supported by The Resource Alliance, will look at the relationships between different innovations and trends, such as social entrepreneurship, impact investment and venture philanthropy, as well as the methods of direct, donor-to-beneficiary support that cut out the "middleman" nonprofit organization.

Recent tweets on social media for nonprofits (#SM4NP).

One of the tough jobs of a fundraiser is finding time to look objectively at the current activities to spot untapped opportunities. A robust fundraising program seems to never take time off, so probing and asking "what if?" questions is frequently a luxury that simply gets pushed aside. The tyranny of the urgent often means we don't have time to find ways to better engage those donors who don't have strong commitments to our organization.

Over the last several years, Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Krekorian has collected thousands of dollars from lobbyists, who are barred from contributing to city officeholders. He's received tens of thousands more from employee unions and companies with business before the city in excess of the city's contribution caps. Yet it's all been perfectly legal because Krekorian was raising the funds for a state campaign committee, not a city one.

The heir to a Manhattan real-estate fortune squandered millions of dollars that was supposed to go to a Jewish charity, going on a spending spree that included fancy cars and posh hotels, according to court papers. The United Jewish Appeal claims it was supposed to get the remainder of a trust set up by building mogul Bill Gottlieb, who died in 1999, according to a filing in Manhattan Surrogate’s Court.