GuideStar

Four fundraising experts discussed donor giving trends and what they mean for fundraisers at the Association of Fundraising Professionals Greater New York Chapter's Fund Raising Day in New York. Margaret Holman, president of Holman Consulting, tackled individual giving.

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.

Sometimes even the best donors give money to bad organizations, Jacob Harold, a program officer at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, told a meeting Monday of nonprofit officials held at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. In some cases, Harold says, these donors focus on the wrong type of information when making decisions about their giving, often looking only at organizations’ overhead and not at whether they are effective in fulfilling their missions.

BBB Wise Giving Alliance, GuideStar USA and Independent Sector developed a new website, Charting Impact, as a common presentation for nonprofits that allows staff, boards, stakeholders, donors, volunteers, and others to work with and learn from each other.

This framework was developed, tested and refined by nearly 200 nonprofit and philanthropic leaders.

At the heart of Charting Impact are five deceptively simple questions that require reflection and promote communication about what really matters — results

GuideStar has released a new report, "What Automatic Revocation of Nonprofit Tax Exemptions Means for You: A Review for Nonprofits, Grantmakers, and Donors," regarding the IRS Nonfiler Revocation List.

Publication of the first Nonfiler Revocation List will be a historic event for the U.S. nonprofit sector. As many as 321,000 organizations may be included on this initial list. The revocations will affect not only the nonprofits that have lost their exemptions but also nonprofits whose exemptions remain intact and the donors and foundations that support the revoked organizations.

Challenging finances cause nonprofits to re-evaluate priorities and pick up valuable lessons, focusing on what's truly important. Adhering to three positive principles will help you survive — and even thrive in — today's sluggish economy.

Oregon Attorney General John Kroger went to the Legislature to press for a law that would enable the state to punish charities with paltry giving. Senate Bill 40 would strip the tax-deductible status from donations to charities that spend less than 30 percent of their annual budget on services. The charities would have to tell potential donors that their giving would not be tax-deductible — or face fines.

GuideStar announced plans to acquire two innovative social impact organizations, Philanthropedia and Social Actions. Philanthropedia and Social Actions are aligned with GuideStar's new strategic plan, which puts expanded emphasis on increased transparency in legitimacy, reputation, and performance information about the nonprofit community.

A majority of charities surveyed saw their fundraising revenue remain stable or increase last year, according to the 2010 Year-End Survey of the Nonprofit Research Collaborative (NRC), a coalition of six fundraising and philanthropic organizations. The survey also showed that strong fundraising results were more likely when organizations invested resources in fundraising staff and infrastructure, including volunteer management.

Disasters are a fast way to get donors to give. But wealthy Japan is not impoverished Haiti, and many groups are raising money without really knowing how it will be spent or even if it's needed. The Japanese Red Cross has said repeatedly since the day after the earthquake that it does not want or need outside assistance. But that has not stopped the American Red Cross from raising $34 million through Tuesday afternoon in the name of Japan’s disaster victims.