Sorry if this is the wrong subreddit, but we need responses for this survey urgently. We hope to see what factors increase donations through statistical analysis.

Hello! We are a team of data analytics interns under the Youth Ambassador Program with Friends of Indus Hospital (FOIH) USA. We are investigating general donation trends to assist FOIH in refining its fundraising strategies and donor engagement efforts. We would appreciate it if you could complete our survey, which takes less than 5 minutes! Here is the link: https://forms.gle/hzY3FHyd7Ha6pyp9A Thank you for your time and participation!

The Florida A & M university's interim president asked for the resignation of the university's senior leadership team in response to the fallout from a donation debacle that rocked the university.

A scathing, 176-page investigative report into a Texas hemp farmer's dubious $237 million gift to Florida A&M University found the donation to be "fraudulent," confirming months of skepticism.

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/local/famu-news/2024/08/13/famu-interim-president-beard-discusses-leadership-resignation-order/74788521007/

I like to code, and I want to utilize my skills to make a positive impact on society. I have a special soft spot for the youth, elderly, and the homeless. I am interested in community work, education, opportunity enablement, and healthcare. Thank you in advance for your suggestions and I’ll be sure to carefully read through them!

My wife's best friend is in hospice. She was a professor at a small college for 22 years. We are thinking about starting a scholarship fund. We are going to be selling some of her belongings to fund it and also have a lot of friends and faculty who are willing to donate.

What is the best/easiest way to do this?

I know some people use Bold for this. It seems to be pretty easy. But it seems like to have more control, you would want to create it on your own. I know that has legal and tax ramifications.

This is not going to be some scholarship that gives thousands of dollars. I imagine it might give a couple of students 1k.

Five athletes went to the Paris Olympics through Boston-based running brand Tracksmith’s Amateur Sports Program, which provides gear, stipends, and on-site support to unsponsored athletes (and helped two athletes secure footwear sponsorships after the Tokyo Olympics). Hurdler Trevor Bassitt is in Paris after participating in a similar initiative from Bandit Running, out of New York, which provided logo-free gear and a modest cash stipend to 35 athletes at the U.S. Olympic trials.

Bassitt is also among many at these Games who are using GoFundMe to raise money for their Olympic dreams. American table tennis player Kanak Jha solicited more than $30,000 to help cover the costs of training, travel, accommodation, and his hiring of a private coach. Sprinter Brittany Brown, who is sponsored by Nike, raised money so her family could come witness her win bronze in the 200-meter race. Some athletes, including New Zealand rower Robbie Manson, U.K. diver Jack Laugher, and Canadian pole vaulter Alysha Newman, even use the subscription content-creation site OnlyFans to supplement their income.

https://slate.com/business/2024/08/paris-olympics-flavor-flav-water-polo-sponsorship-rent-gofundme.html

The Olympics as a whole get big money from brands and broadcast partners to boost visibility of the Games “but in terms of filtering that [those earnings] down to the athletes, when you’re talking about nearly 600 athletes on Team USA, it really doesn’t cover everything,” says John Fortunato, professor of communications and media management at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business. 

Social media has become a powerful force in connecting athletes with potential funding. After discus thrower Veronica Fraley tweeted, “I compete in the Olympic Games TOMORROW and can’t even pay my rent,” Ohanian and Flav almost immediately sent donations. Fraley’s rent is now paid off for the year, and she has raised over $23,000 on GoFundMe to keep training for the World Championships and the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Even though she didn’t make it to the finals, she’s proof that a podium finish isn’t the only way to live the Olympic dream.

https://slate.com/business/2024/08/paris-olympics-flavor-flav-water-polo-sponsorship-rent-gofundme.html

In this Special Donor Trust Report on Donor Participation, participants were asked to identify whether, over the past 5 years, they had been engaged with charities and, if so, whether they stopped, decreased, maintained, or increased their donations to charities. The goal is to gain insight into why some donors disengage with charities and explore possible ways to encourage greater participation moving forward.

https://give.org/docs/default-source/donor-trust-library/2023-dtr-report_final(d)_06272023.pdf

The Philanthropy 50: an Exclusive Chronicle Ranking of Who Gives the Most to Charity

https://www.philanthropy.com/page/philanthropy-50

Since launching her Eras Tour, the billionaire pop star has donated the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of meals. But food bank operators say the donations have provided only temporary relief - the donors don't keep giving.

The article requires that you register to read, but registration is free.

https://www.philanthropy.com/article/did-taylor-swift-create-a-new-era-for-food-bank-donations?

Does a fundraising platform exist that puts people who need help in contact with benefactors who want to be directly involved with the person or the cause as an altruistic project?

I recently launched AllGives, a free service where users can raise money for charities when they shop at 300+ stores. We have an app, browser extension, and website and I'm looking for input from a charity/nonprofit about whether this is something they would ever be interested in promoting to their supporters. If not, I'd really love to understand what would need to be changed/improved for it to be something worth considering. Please DM or comment if you have any feedback or insights!

For background, I know some apps exist similar to this but a lot of them have been abandoned or keep a large portion of shopping commissions for themselves.

I'm just a little stupid so I came here what is philanthropy? I just heard of it and was wondering (thx so much to anyone who reads and helps <3)

I run the outreach programs that are considered the "heart and soul" of my small art organization in a rural state. When I came on ten years ago, they were insular, perceived of as "hoity toity" and generally disconnected from the community. I proposed a new approach, wrote a grant, and two years later had a full time position. It's now called a Community Art Center, and rightfully so. I take huge pride in this - my work is everything to me and I've got so much more great stuff to do. I have very close relationships with the founders and my program's funders. We took on an ED with a background in development to get us out of the red just before Covid. (The search for a director was over a year long - housing is non existent so we couldn't recruit talent from elsewhere. Our first pick couldn't find a place - our current ED is a local who had never interacted with the org before - not an arts person). The very small staff of 5 women has devolved into a culture of fierce defensiveness, backbiting, generally unprofessional and wholly unproductive toxicity. I love my work and my community, so I have stayed on. But now I'm not supported for any of my epic free public events that connect us with the whole community. Staff are resentful about being asked to help out with staffing them (although our ED has "all hands on deck" for the kinds of bougie events such as art openings, a gala, VIP events, and Business After Hours). I'm the only educator locked into a schedule, so they can and do take all sorts of comp time, early days, etc. We don't have an organized volunteer program (yes, this is a disaster for us) so I've managed to recruit my own, but now I'm being told I'm not allowed to participate in events, specifically the town's annual block party, which in the past the ED has called "depressing" and "ghetto". I've had the Orwellian experience of trying to explain why we (I) need to be at these events. I was allowed to design and buy a tent and banner for them, and got our brand out there in a huge way mostly on my own for the last few years. Disappointed families are asking where we are, I'm telling our partners to "talk to my superiors"... I voiced my sense of a "cultural shift" at a staff meeting and was reamed for it. Our board knows about this and many of the problems internally and has asked me to stay on, but says they are helpless due to the housing situation and no one on the board is willing to be interim director. We have no HR. .....My main funder made our last need-based "bonus" Unrestricted Funds. (They asked us "what ELSE" beyond the normal gift I need to meet demand and doubled our award). I think that's because in my letter, I mentioned how valuable it has been that they have always allowed flexibility for changing climates. The money is gone, and none of it went to hiring an assistant or buying a vehicle as promised. We *do* have all new hallway furnishings, no-expense-spared catering, and plants galore. I now realize the needs I pitched and had a committee working on fulfilling with the grant was never the intent. I adore these wonderful funders. I manage my work according to doing right by them/effective use of my time and being super stingy with spending. I often email them with photos and invitations, and vice versa. Is it totally out of bounds to write them and ask them to restrict the funds to my program again? Also, if the local YMCA takes me and my programs on, I know my funders would follow - I'd feel so awful if this comes to be AFTER they award my current org another year of funding. I have submitted copy for the grant report and the ED obviously edited the hell out of it so they will probably continue with the regular amount (my salary). She openly admits my work is what brings money to the org and I regularly supply her with narratives, data, and imagery. But I'm now not allowed to set my priorities even though they're outlined in the strategic plan etc. Anyway, back to my very reluctantly leaving the org - after a foundation grants funds, can they rescind them with staffing changes, etc? I'm sorry this is so long. Thank you for your perspective.

I'm curious to see the reasoning behind why people may think these issues will take priority over others, also it's just so I know what I can donate towards in the future after getting some ideas

I make high end cakes and recently opened my own business (however I’ve been Cake decorating for years). I have little money. There is a charity i am very enthusiastic about that i want to support as much as a can. Their volunteer opportunities sadly don’t work for me and my circumstances, and I am nearly broke so I’ve got no money to give. But I thought i could maybe offer them a deal, that if they ever need a cake for a fundraising/other event, i would gladly make it for only the cost of materials.

I want to email them this offer, But I don’t want to come across as cheap/stingey/or plain stupid for making such a suggestion.

Is this a bad offer to make them? I’d basically be volunteering to assemble something for them. They buy the wood, i make the table Kind of deal. They buy the butter sugar and flour, i make the cake. I would be completely transparent and share all my ingredient pricing with them too.

Is this a dumb idea or should I go ahead and offer it? Someone ridiculed me on this site for this idea so I kinda need to know if itsjut him or if this is a stupid idea

Factors such as program performance, governance structure, staff professionalism, fundraising efficiency, and transparency offer a more comprehensive view.

Letter to the Donors of America

In 2013, GuideStar, BBB Wise Giving Alliance, and Charity Navigator wrote an open letter to the donors of America in a campaign to end the Overhead Myth*—the false conception that financial ratios are the sole indicator of nonprofit performance.* 

The letter is made available the the public under the Attribution-NoDerivs Creative Commons license*, which allows for it to be shared and distributed for any purpose so long as it remains unchanged.

To the Donors of America:

We write to correct a misconception about what matters when deciding which charity to support.

The percent of charity expenses that go to administrative and fundraising costs—commonly referred to as “overhead”—is a poor measure of a charity’s performance.

We ask you to pay attention to other factors of nonprofit performance:  transparency, governance, leadership, and results.  For years, each of our organizations has been working to increase the depth and breadth of the information we provide to donors in these areas so as to provide a much fuller picture of a charity’s performance.

That is not to say that overhead has no role in ensuring charity accountability. At the extremes the overhead ratio can offer insight: it can be a valid data point for rooting out fraud and poor financial management.  In most cases, however, focusing on overhead without considering other critical dimensions of a charity’s financial and organizational performance can do more damage than good.

In fact, many charities should spend more on overhead.  Overhead costs include important investments charities make to improve their work: investments in training, planning, evaluation, and internal systems—as well as their efforts to raise money so they can operate their programs.  These expenses allow a charity to sustain itself (the way a family has to pay the electric bill) or to improve itself (the way a family might invest in college tuition).

When we focus solely or predominantly on overhead, we can create what the Stanford Social Innovation Review has called “The Nonprofit Starvation Cycle.”  We starve charities of the freedom they need to best serve the people and communities they are trying to serve.

If you don’t believe us—America’s three leading sources of information about charities, each used by millions of donors every year—see the back of this letter for research from other experts including Indiana University, the Urban Institute, and others that proves the point.

So when you are making your charitable giving decisions, please consider the whole picture.  The people and communities served by charities don’t need low overhead, they need high performance.

Thank you,

Art Taylor, BBB Wise Giving Alliance, President & CEO

Jacob Harold, GuideStar, President & CEO    

Ken Berger, President & CEO, Charity Navigator 

The top instructor at a Northwest Portland, Oregon fitness studio has been suspended amid allegations that he pocketed money earmarked for local charities.

For years, Ryan Tong, who goes by “Coach RyRy” at Orangetheory Fitness Slabtown, has been soliciting donations to local nonprofits through Venmo during special 90-minute charity classes on Sundays. The donations, Tong said, would be matched by local companies like Nike and Adidas.

But several of the nonprofits, which were selected by studio members, told Willamette Weekly they haven’t received the cash. 

https://www.wweek.com/news/2024/05/01/orangetheory-fitness-coach-accused-of-pocketing-money-raised-for-portland-nonprofits/

So I'm looking at doing one of the symbolic adoptions at the Bronx Zoo, which does it through the WCS. I know it gets good ratings, but I'm a cynical asshole, so I'm looking at them. Specifically, I'm looking at Program Expense Ratio. What exactly is it saying? Is it saying that 84% of money raised goes into actually helping out the animals, or 3%?

I am thinking I want to donate to nature like nature conservancy and sponsor a child over seas, ideally South America.

I want to make sure most of the money actually goes to the causes and not the administrations.

Any suggestions?

Hello,

As the title says, I’d like to build a water well in Gaza. I have the money and it is for a personal reason that I want my donation to be a Sadaqah Jariyah (basically a gift that keeps on giving). I am focusing on Gaza due to the fact that they are under a blocus. Most of the charities I find focus on specific goods, but since I want this to be Sadaqah Jariyah, I’d really like it to be a well. Most sources I find say that a well in Gaza are between 11 000 to 25 000$. However, someone that has been recommended to me says he would be able to build a well for 500$ which I find hard to believe. If I could find a good, reliable alternative it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

I'm new to the idea and I want a more comprehensive understanding of the subject but I'm struggling with where to start, so I'm hoping for some help. Happy to take recommendations of all types, books, podcasts, articles. Thanks in advance!

UConn Business Researchers Discover How Charities Can Boost Likelihood of Donations Via Smartphone Users

Whether you’re passionate about rescuing puppies, feeding hungry people, or helping victims of a natural disaster, you’re considerably less likely to respond to a charity’s appeal for help if you receive it on your smartphone.

Three UConn Business-affiliated researchers verified that there is a substantial “mobile giving gap’’ between smartphone users and users of traditional computers; but they also discovered an easy and cost-effective solution.

https://today.uconn.edu/2024/03/uconn-business-researchers-discover-how-charities-can-boost-likelihood-of-donations-via-smartphone-users/

The Federal Trade Commission and 10 states are suing sham charity Cancer Recovery Foundation International, also known as Women’s Cancer Fund, and its operator, Gregory B. Anderson, for deceiving generous donors who sought to offer financial support to women battling cancer and their families.

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/03/ftc-10-states-take-action-against-operator-sham-cancer-charity-deceiving-donors

More than half of Americans give to charity at checkout, survey shows

53% of Americans give impulsively to charities at the checkout, and certain demographics tend to give more, according to a new survey conducted by faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York.

https://www.binghamton.edu/news/story/4945/more-than-half-of-americans-give-to-charity-at-checkout-survey-shows

In a World Filled With Misinformation, Donors Want Truth From Charities

Donors want to know that appeals from charities are truthful and not misleading — and this could be complicated by the use of artificial intelligence, finds new research from the BBB Wise Giving Alliance.

More from here (you must register to read, but registration is free)

https://www.philanthropy.com/article/in-a-world-filled-with-misinformation-donors-want-truth-from-charities

TL;DR

The org I work for runs a free grantmaking program, and the next round kicks off in September. We’ll be taking a small cohort of funders and grantmakers through a 9-week course designed to strengthen your grantmaking skills and network. If you are a funder giving over ~$1M annually and want to increase your impact, get in touch by August 1st to join us.   

About the program

Boiled down to 3 things, we focus on:

• Strategic thinking: identifying your values and goals; developing an evidence-based approach; and mitigating common biases and logical errors in grantmaking 
• Methodical impact: using tools like cost-effectiveness analyses and weighted factor models to define impact and pursue positive outcomes, irrespective of who benefits from them
• Engaged community: connecting committed funders so they can learn from each other, better coordinate funding, and network with subject matter experts

Program structure

• Duration: 9 weeks (September 23rd  to November 22nd)
• Format: 8 weeks of interactive online sessions + 1 week in-person in London (October 21-26)
• Time commitment: 4-6 hours per week, with 1 full-time week in person
• Cost: free

What you will gain

• Effective strategies: a wide range of grantmaking practices to maximize the effectiveness of your funding
• Impact assessment skills: tools for tracking and evaluating your impact 
• Sector development insights: ideas for improving philanthropic norms by sharing your learning with others and leveraging your impact by working with others
• Practical application: an individual final project that applies your new skills to a real-world grantmaking challenge of your choice (e.g., developing a grantmaking strategy for a specific cause area, conducting in-depth research on a promising charity, or collaborating on a joint funding initiative)

Why join?

Grantmaking is hard, as Scott Alexander summed up in this pretty astute post. To be an effective grantmaker long-term, and not just make a few good grants when the stars align, you need a solid skillset and an engaged community. Whether you're brand new to grantmaking or a seasoned philanthropist looking to hone your skills, our program can offer valuable resources and a supportive network to help you advance your philanthropic goals. It’s a flexible course in terms of time demands and workload, and the content can be easily personalized to your individual interests and needs.

Schedule a chat to learn more

For more information or to explore joining the program, please visit our website or shoot us an email. We’re always happy to chat.

Hello all,

I am currently a rising junior and am thinking about starting a club called, Philanthropy Club. Personally, all my life I have always enjoyed seeing people smile whether is be a charitable donation or just helping people in general. It is one of my morals to be a good person.

Now that you know some background, what exactly should I do in the club? Should we fundraise money and donate it all to charity, start a club business where half the profits are donated to charity, just volunteer, etc. I need some help.