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NEWS Donor-Advised Funds Surged In 2010 TIPS Planned Giving …
6 wealth myths and the legacy dragons Fundraising …
4 ideas for interviews and research Online …
The trouble with email at work Donor-Advised Funds Surged In 2010
Donor-advised funds, where donors get an immediate tax break for depositing money that eventually will go to charity, are reporting increased contributions and payouts as investor portfolios rebounded with the stock market during past 18 months. Contributions to Schwab Charitable were $610 million for 2010, through Sept. 30, up 274 percent from the same period last year, and up 90 percent for the same period in 2008. Grants to charities totaled $262 million for the same period, up 15 percent from 2009 and up 3 percent from the previous all-time high in 2008. San Francisco-based Schwab Charitable reported a continued increase in gifts of appreciated securities, up from 68 percent to 74 percent of total contributions in the last two years, driven by a healthier stock market. The stock market has increased roughly 70 percent from the lows of early 2009, and many donors are choosing to donate appreciated securities to their donor-advised funds, maximizing tax benefits while meeting philanthropic goals. Click Here to Read Complete Article... TIPS Section
Planned Giving …
6 wealth myths and the legacy dragons Where there's a will, there are relatives. Nonprofits that benefit from a legacy can find themselves in the uncomfortable position of competing with heirs regarding the terms of a bequest. Even when there is no fight over the money, a nonprofit leader might wind up serving as an unofficial, and unpaid, advisor to an heir about the disposition of a will. In their book “The Legacy Conversation” Carolyn J. Friend and James M. Weiner that the handling of a will can produce the “dragons” of jealousy, envy, greed and power struggles. Further, anyone dealing with a legacy might have to deal with six myths, what the authors call the three wealth myths and the three money myths. The wealth myths: • Wealth is THE solution. The expression “Money doesn't buy happiness” is a familiar one, but few believe it. • Wealth taunts the dragon. There is a difference between thoughtful planning and an unhealthy preoccupation with every potential hazard. • Too much wealth is the problem. The problem isn't what people have; it's what they do with it. The money myths: • There is a pot of gold to be found. This myth threatens to overshadow the accomplishments of people who work hard but don't receive awards and prizes. • One must suffer to achieve. The opposite of the pot of gold, the bootstrap theory can twist thoughtful, wise effort into something never-ending. • “The Good Life.” It can be achieved, but there is no place with no troubles. Fundraising …
4 ideas for interviews and research Surveys, interviews and other means of gauging interest have worked well for some organizations and been unmitigated disasters for others. In his book “Voice-Of-The-Customer Marketing” Ernan Roman offers advice about getting success with voice of the customer (VOC) research. Roman argues that the objectives that drive effective VOC research must be generated and evaluated by a cross-functional team, to reflect the needs of major stakeholders; strategically sound and alignment with the goals of senior management and based on the unique conditions faced by an organization and its customer segments. To that end, it is imperative to write clear objectives and interview questions. They include: • Define a clear set of issues or opportunities and develop a concise set of Voc objectives to address them. • Do not define your objectives too broadly. Stay focused on the major issues at hand so you'll gain an in-depth understanding, and be able to develop the strategies and action items that can improve customer experiences. • Don't create too many objectives, because each objective will require a number of questions in the interview guide. If you end up with too many questions, you'll lose the value of the in-depth discussions and insights that the VOC relationship research provides. • Create questions that involve and engage participants and challenge them to think. Instead of asking them if they'd recommend the organization, ask them what improvements would make them recommend a product or service to a friend. Online …
The trouble with email at work In Charlie Chaplin's classic file “Modern Times,” a factory worker who takes an unauthorized break to have a smoke is caught by the company boss, who has two-way television monitors all around the place. Those were the days. Quantum leaps in technology have added a new dimension to an age-old issue: employers concerned about what employees are doing and how if affects the company. One of those modern issues is of course email and employees' access to it. In the book “Smart Policies for Workplace Technologies,” by Attorney Lisa Guerin there is a sampling of statistics involving employee use of email: * About half of employees have sent or received emails that include jokes, stories or pictures of a “questionable” nature. * Six percent of employees have emailed confidential company information to people they shouldn't have. * Although 92 percent of employees said they had never sent an email that put their company at risk, 68 percent in fact had. * More than a quarter of companies in a recent survey have fired an employee for email misuse; most of the terminations were for inappropriate or offensive language and violation of company rules. * Some 15 percent of companies have faced a lawsuit triggered by employee email, and almost one quarter of companies have had their email subpoenaed by courts and regulators. Don't Forget Us!
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