The Smarter Giving Guy » books

Leap of Reason challenges charities and funders alike

SG Guy — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 22:42:50 +0000

Leap of Reason: Managing to Outcomes in an Era of Scarcity by Mario Morino urges all nonprofits to “manage to outcomes,” and provides advice on how to do it. A nonprofit that manages to outcomes asks itself “To what end?” when analyzing its mission and results; it defines goals, measures how it’s doing, and manages accordingly. Leap of Reason urges funders to support (even demand) that management.

Read the SGO review of Leap of Reason.

Guide lays out the contribution deduction rules

SG Guy — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 22:46:06 +0000

The IRS has issued an updated guide for donors and charities, spelling out the contribution deduction rules. Publication 1771 — with the not-so-jazzy title “Charitable Contributions, Substantiation and Disclosure Requirements” — provides a solid, plain-language statement of the recordkeeping, proof and disclosure rules. A must-have for every any donor who wishes to deduct donations on his or her Federal income tax return, for any organization that accepts donations, and for anyone who prepares tax returns for others. The price is right for this 16-pager: you can download it and print it out for free from the IRS website. IRS Publication 1771 (PDF)

U.S. giving drops again, individuals still top givers

SG Guy — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:41:52 +0000

Giving declined in 2009 for the second consecutive year, according to Giving USA Foundation’s just published 2010 annual report on giving in the U.S.

While total giving showed the steepest decline ever (Giving USA began issuing its annual reports in 1956), total giving was still an impressive $303.75 billion.
Giving by individuals (during lifetime and through bequests) again comprised more than 80% of all charitable giving, with foundation (13%) and corporate (4%) giving completing the picture.
If you include the portion of foundation giving believed to come from family foundations, individual giving comprised 88% of all giving.

The full Giving USA 2010 report and a free executive summary (site registration required) are now available.

Donors – Start thinking like grantmakers

SG Guy — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 15:23:31 +0000

Are you a “regular” donor who wants to be more thoughtful and strategic in your giving? Why not learn from the work of the professional givers? There are some terrific learning resources out there, including publications created by Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO). A few favorites from GEO (available as PDFs for free download) include:

On the Money — highlights the financial challenges nonprofits face and the ways in which grantmakers are both improving the situation as well as perpetuating the problem.
Smarter Grantmaking in Challenging Economic Times — offers recommendations and examples that we hope provide some useful insights for foundation leaders.
Is Grantmaking Getting Smarter? — a survey finds persistent gap between nonprofit needs and grantmaker practices.

Go to the GEO publications page.

Free guide to analyzing charities available online

SG Guy — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 23:39:20 +0000

The little blue book, a thought-provoking 59-page guide recently published by New Philanthropy Capital (NPC), is now available for free online. It summarizes NPC’s approach to analyzing charities, and is written for donors, charities and charity observers. NPC’s approach focuses on six areas for charity analysis:

Activities
Results
Leadership
People and resources
Finances
Ambition

NPC, based in London, England, describes itself as a consultancy and think tank dedicated to helping funders and charities to achieve greater impact.

Download a copy, after completing a free registration, at www.philanthropycapital.org.

The NPC site contains dozens of additional free research reports on philanthropy and charities.

The rich give and grow richer (and happier)

SG Guy — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:45:53 +0000

The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports that “Wealthy people who give away 10 percent or more of their income to charity tend to build a higher net worth — and to be happier — than other wealthy individuals who give less” — quoting Thomas J. Stanley in his new book, Stop Acting Rich … and Start Living Like a Real Millionaire.

The most generous wealthy donors “are the least enamored with status. They have a small house and a big heart.”

The Chronicle of Philanthropy article.

Amazon’s listing for Dr. Stanley’s book.

Tips for Smarter Giving: #5

SG Guy — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:13:40 +0000

Whenever you are thinking of donating or volunteering, keep our top ten tips in mind.

Research each proposed organization’s key performance indicators.

Research their spending, program, reserve, fundraising, compensation and other information.

Get The Smarter Giving Guide To Finding Key Charity Information for help with your research.

Tips for Smarter Giving: #4

SG Guy — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:07:59 +0000

Whenever you are thinking of donating or volunteering, keep our top ten tips in mind.

Understand each proposed organization’s mission.

Don’t rely just on their name. Research how they focus their work, and where the spend their money.

Get The Smarter Giving Guide To Finding Key Charity Information for help with your research.

The Smarter Giving Guide to Finding Key Charity Information

SG Guy — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 00:03:49 +0000

2012 UPDATE: All versions of The Smarter Giving Guide are now out of print. The core concepts of the Guide have been incorporated into the free www.SeriousGivers.org website.

Charities publish an immense amount of data in their IRS Form 990 returns each year. The giver’s challenge has been to find and evaluate the key information tucked away in those returns. We’ve created a new guide to help givers meet that challenge.

The Smarter Giving Guide to Finding Key Charity Information helps you find a charity’s Form 990 and navigate your way to crucial performance indicators such as

The focus of the charity’s programs
Spending on programs, fundraising and administration
Financial reserves available to the charity
Staff, board and contractor compensation levels
Fundraising efficiency

The Guide includes performance ratios and indicators, road-map guides to key information, and complete copies of IRS Form 990, Form 990-EZ and Schedule A for both 2008 and 2007.

Look inside (it’ll take a moment to open the Guide): Table of Contents — Surprise Me! — Back Cover

Money Back Guarantee: Follow the guide and screen just one local charity’s Form 990 data and if you honestly don’t believe think you’ve found crucial information about the charity, then simply give us a call and we’ll cheerfully refund your entire purchase price.

Print edition: 8.5″ x 11″, soft cover, 72 pages, ISBN 978-0-9842528. Also available on CD, with live links.

Win “Inspired Philanthropy”

SG Guy — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 21:39:07 +0000

Thirty-five lucky attendees at our May 6 “Smarter Giving for Everyone” class will win copies of one of my favorite “smarter giving” books: Inspired Philanthropy by Tracy Gary. Find more about this great step-by-step guide at the inspiredlegacies.org website.

When last we checked, Inspired Philanthropy was available at amazon.com for $21.86 (an $8+ savings from the cover price).