Fires impact San Diego fundraisers

The 14th annual San Diego Triathlon Challenge, which was scheduled for yesterday, was canceled because of the wild fires.

The event is the primary fundraiser for the local Challenged Athletes Foundation, which provides wheelchairs, prosthetics, coaching and travel expenses to the physically challenged. The half-Ironman distance relay raised nearly $12 million the first 13 years, including more than $1 million last year.

Another major CAF fundraiser, the Qualcomm Million Dollar Challenge bike ride from San Francisco to San Diego, was cut short last Tuesday near Santa Barbara as the cyclists entered fire-ravaged Southern California.

Charity galas are great advertisement for shopping center

Outside of Tucson, Arizona is an upscale shopping center called La Encantada.

Throughout the year, La Encantada features events such as a simulated snowfall during the Christmas season, a culinary showcase in the summer and a performing-arts festival in November featuring such groups as the Tucson Boys' Chorus and the Tucson Guitar Society.

But marketing director Linda Shalit thinks she has found a way to entice people who would otherwise think the center is too high-end for their bank accounts.

Charity fundraising events.

La Encantada waives site rental fees for non-profit organizations looking to sponsor an event there and as a result, 11 charities used the space last year - raising over $500,000 for local nonprofits.

Sounds like a win-win to me.

Mistrial declared in Islamic charity trial

In 2001, the Bush administration designated the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development a terrorist sponsor. Once the largest Muslim charity in the country, the organization had its assets frozen and later seized by the government.

However, on Tuesday a mistrial was declared for the terrorist financing charges stemming from fundraising allegations. Emma Schwartz at the U.S. News and World Report questions the impact this mistrial will have against other Muslim charities:

What the mistrial means for the future of terrorist financing cases is still unclear. The government has a handful of pending investigations. It has frozen assets of a few Michigan-based Muslim charities. It has raided several Virginia-based Muslim charities. And in March, it indicted the Islamic American Relief Agency for sending money to Iraq during the 1990s, when the country was under sanctions.

Other Muslim charities and religious leaders called the verdict a relief.

Reading this story made me think of a related article I saw a couple weeks ago and forgot to mention on this blog. I've been surprised more fundraisers haven't blogged or talked about the quandary many Muslims found themselves in as they considered how to give zakat, a donation required of Muslims, especially during Ramadan.

Recent heightened scrutiny of Islamic charities by federal officials is running headlong into the determination of Muslims to donate to causes that serve the neediest and to abide by their holy book, the Quran. As fears intensify, community leaders have called on the government to create guidelines for safe contributions.

Go here for more on this subject.

Trent Stamp on Daily Show

It's been long awaited, but Trent Stamp's video from his Daily Show appearance is now up on Comedy Central's website:



Enjoy.

UC gets $420 million gift

The University of Cincinnati received a $420.7 million gift thanks to the hard work of two people who see the world very differently.

Sam Anand, mechanical engineering professor at UC's College of Engineering and Brigid O'Kane, an associate design professor in the College of Design, Art, Architecture and Planning, or DAAP, began applying for the donation about two years ago. They submitted a 90-page proposal that focused on the collaboration between the two colleges, which will be the prime benefactors of the donation.

The gift is the largest in the school's history.

The gift of in-kind contributions of cutting-edge computer software, hardware and technology support comes from PACE, or the Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education, a consortium of General Motors, Inc., EDS, Hewlett-Packard Co., Siemens PLM Software and Sun Microsystems, said Greg Hand, UC spokesman.

Chapman-Moore said demonstrating "the great collaboration" between the two colleges was critical to UC being chosen for the donation.

Virgina Tech processes 90,000 gifts since shooting

This blog has previously discussed the fundraising actions taken by Virginia Tech's development office after the campus shooting earlier this year.

I was a little surprised today to see the school has received more than 90,000 gifts of consolation from around the world. The response was so large, the school has its own archive room tagging, photographing, and logging all donations into a database.

The Associated Press reports:

Tech has received items from across the country and around the world, including letters from Argentina and the ambassador of Jamaica, a U.S. Coast Guard buoy with signatures of Tech graduates from Puerto Rico and a jacket with signatures of University of British Columbia engineers from Canada.

Though there have been many proposals for what to do with the -- including a possible museum to house the collection -- no decision has been made.

Charity earns $4 million on eBay today

The recent auction on eBay of an original letter by US Senator Harry Reid concerning Rush Limbaugh sold to the highest bidder for over 2 million dollars. Limbaugh has said that he will match the money that the auction raises. So, four million dollars will be going to the designated charity, The Marine Corps - Law Enforcement Foundation.

Giving book not getting attention

It sounds like sales of former president Bill Clinton's book "Giving," have dropped far since its release in early September. The handbook for civic activism was published by Alfred A. Knopf with an announced first printing of 750,000. According to Nielsen BookScan, "Giving" sold nearly 50,000 copies its first week, but hasn't approached that since. For the week ending Oct. 7, only 9,600 copies sold.

Man forced by judge to be PETA donor

Craig Miller is a 43-year old man from Minnesota. He is also one of the newest donors to PETA's membership database.

Miller pleaded guilty on Monday to three charges for illegally baiting and killing a black bear. As a result, a judge ordered him to donate $500 to PETA.

The charges stem from an incident on September 1st when Miller used dog food to bait a bear, then cut the bear's head off, took the fur and left the meat in the field. It seems like leaving the meat to rot is the criminal offense.

The hunter tried to make the kill legal and get a Colorado Department of Wildlife seal that would have allowed taxidermy work on the pelt, but the department investigated and found evidence of the crimes.

When Miller plead guilty, his lawyer probably told him to expect a sentence including probation, loss of hunting privileges and more than $5,000 in fines.

What Miller did not expect was for the judge to force him to make a $500 donation to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

A couple blogs that cover hunting news have called the judgement "ludicrous."

“We’ve had restitution ordered to our organization in the past,” said PETA spokeswoman Daphna Nachminovitch. “I would not say it’s common. It’s a gesture on the part of the judge to say this bear mattered and that a donation should be made in his memory. Five-hundred dollars isn’t going to make up for the suffering this bear endured.”

The sentence was handed down by retired District Judge Chuck Buss, who was filling in for the vacationing Judge James Boyd.

Since the money is going into the general fund, I bet Miller will show up in PETA's next annual report... and if he thinks the court's mandatory donation is tough, just wait until the organization tries to track him down for that renewal gift.

AFP expands ethical code

This hit the wires yesterday:

The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) has expanded its Code of Ethical Principles and Standards of Professional Practice, the only enforced ethical code for fundraisers in the world, to apply to for-profit businesses involved in fundraising.

The changes, which include the addition of seven new standards and the alteration of one standard, now allows for-profit businesses to join AFP as members and actively promote ethical and efficient fundraising.

AFP has traditionally been an individual-based membership association and represents more than 29,000 charitable fundraisers around the world. However, the tremendous growth of fundraising has led to the creation of numerous for- profit businesses working in the charitable sector, making it imperative for ethical standards to be promulgated beyond just those individuals who directly raise funds.

When I asked a couple friends last night what impact they felt this change would make... the first reaction I got was, "well... this should make it easier for AFP to grow their membership rolls for sure!"

You can go here to see seven of the new standards.

Baby Jessica's $1 million trust fund

Twenty years ago, an 18-month old girl named Jessica McClure captured the nation's attention when she was trapped in a well behind her parents Texas home.

Sympathetic viewers were glued to their televisions as "Baby Jessica" was rescued after a 2 1/2 days. Strangers showered the family with teddy bears, homemade gifts, cards and cash. The money was placed in a trust fund which Jessica is to receive when she turns 25.

An Associated Press article today reports that Jessica is leading a quiet existence today - however that might all change in 3 1/2 years when all the donations sent to her when she was a baby mature into a payment of $1 million or more.

I found an article from 1997 on the ten year anniversary of the rescue - and it looks like the trust fund was valued at $1 million even then - so isn't it possible the money has significantly appreciated since then?

The story made me wonder, "Why was a trust fund set up?"

Her parents, Chip and Cissy McClure, have been described as poor teen-agers in 1987 struggling to make ends meet during the depths of the oil bust.

The McClures were also criticized for quickly spending at least $80,000 of the money sent to them. Much of it went toward a failed business. They divorced in 1990.

So, I guess well wishing donors wanted to make sure the money actually got to Jessica, but setting up a trust fund that matures when she hits 25 seems to miss the point of donor intent.

Either way, if you sent money to Baby Jessica, rest assured knowing that in a little over 42 months from now, that money will reach its intended target.

Finally got my RSS feed fixed

A special thank you to one of my favorite readers who contacted "a fundraiser" at donttellthedonor@gmail.com to let me know that my RSS subject lines were broken. You should see a change in the way DTTD stories appear from now on. We'll be sending out a special Don't Tell the Donor mug this lucky reader... but the offer goes for anyone else who contacts us about a broken link (or typo) on the website.

Convio practices what they preach

What's more impressive - that Convio is announcing their own Open API today OR that they reached out to fundraising bloggers last week and gave them advanced notice that an announcement was coming?

Word first leaked out on A View from Home yesterday afternoon. Beth Kantor read the post and shared that she too had been tipped in advance:

I received an embargoed press release in my email about Convio's Open Initiative. Blogger's angst. Do you post first and scoop all? Have to be pretty confident about your opinion. Or do you sit back and read what others are saying and add to the conversation? I tend to do the latter if I'm jet lagged. I tend to the former if I've had lots of sleep, know a lot about the topic, and a strong reaction.

Within hours, blogs like Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology, the NTEN blog, Acceleration Agent, and the Nonprofit Matrix were all lighting up Technorati with posts about Convio's Open Initiative.

If it's true that Convio has, seemingly, gotten some serious Web 2.0 religion... what better way to prove it than to create buzz on the network of nonprofit fundraising blogs in a coordinated fashion. At least they practice what they preach.

The coordination with bloggers not only gave Convio widespread coverage, it also allowed them better control of the message. While Kintera might have been beaten them to the announcement, Convio is stressing some significant differences in the product.

The Convio Open Initiative is a combination of applications, integration tools, APIs (application programming interfaces) and partnerships. It is more than just APIs, but extensions and "database connectors." In the end, it will come down to execution... and at least for now, it appears Convio's approach is more focused on an outward, community approach.

One of the first products launched as part of Convio Open is a client-ready Facebook application that will help nonprofits leverage the personal networks of Facebook’s 40M+ subscribers to virally market on behalf of organizations they support, providing nonprofits with a major channel for new supporter acquisition. The extension will allow organizations to present personalized content to Facebook users, who can complete actions on behalf of an organization without leaving the Facebook site. Organizations can track both activities they facilitate and the origin of any new supporter from Facebook.. This data is stored in the organization’s Convio online constituent relationship management (eCRM) system. The application is available to users in on a limited basis in beta format at http://open.convio.com/.

The folks in Austin will be demonstrating Convio APIs at the Annual Convio Client Summit on Thursday. The changes should allow integration between Convio and custom Web applications, extensions that allow integration with open platforms such as Facebook, Flickr and Plaxo, and database connectors for popular donor/constituent databases such as Salesforce.com.

We'd love to hear feedback from users of both systems.

Giulani gives back $9.11 and $911 donations

I gave the Giuliani campaign a hard time when I read that a fundraiser was soliciting checks for $9.11 on his behalf. Despite the fact that the campaign blamed it on "young people," I thought it was a tasteless politicization of a national tragedy.

Late today the Wall Street Journal published a report that the campaign is actively returning eight checks to individual donors for $9.11, and one returned contribution of $911.

Donors received a letter with their returned donations stating, “Unfortunately we must return your contribution. We do not solicit or collect financial support that is indicative of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.” It was signed by Giuliani campaign treasurer John Gross.

Lucy's reaction to the DonorsChoose Blogger Challenge

From Lucy Berholz's Philanthropy 2173 blog:

A month or so back I was asked to participate in the Bloggers Challenge to raise funds for DonorsChoose. Abiding by my own ethics (as well as those emerging in the blog-world), I opted not to do this. Because I write about philanthropy and nonprofits and technology I don't want to opt in to raise funds for some and not for all. But I will bring the whole thing to your attention, as it is an example of the kind of fundraising and use of technology for giving going on all around organized philanthropy - and rarely - if ever- touching foundations.

First - DonorsChoose (DC) lets individual donors and individual classroom teachers connect to make certain charitable projects happen. Teachers post their wish lists, donors pick the ones they want to fund, donorschoose vets and handles funds transfers, teachers report back, donors go away happey (and - hopefully) donors come back.

Here is how the bloggers challenge works: DC reached out to bloggers with several challenges. Bloggers who encouraged, cajoled, begged, arm-twisted, or otherwise convinced their readers to make charitable donations through DC would be entered into one of several competitions and those who were most successful would be duly rewarded. There is a Google Award for the blogger who sparks the most donations (dollar value); the Yahoo! Award, which includes lunch with CEO Jerry Yang as a prize, for the blogger who gets the most donors involved, the Six Apart Award for the blogger whose activism unleashes help that reaches the greatest number of students, and the Federated Media Award for the "most creative
incentive" offered by a blogger.

By my count, as of October 9, there were 102 blogs that had launched challenges to their readers. These include the blogs of several candidates for President (Mitt Romney, Barack Obama, and Jon Stewart/Steven Colbert!?), many tech writers and venture capitalists (Scobleizer, TechCrunch, Fred Wilson), a variety of science and math education supporters (Thus Spake Zuska, Evolgen), several local school supporters (El Paso, San Francisco) and at least one bellydancer.

According to the Leaderboard and my very rough counting, the 100+ blogs have raised well north of $150,000 from somewhere around 1200 individual donors and the dollars will reach classrooms serving at least 20,000 public school children. The leading blog -Tomato Nation - has raised $75000 in ten days. And the challenges continue until October 31, 2007.
You can read her entire post here.

The women behind Obama's money machine

In case you missed it, the Washington Post had a neat story earlier this week profiling the role that Julianna Smoot played in helping raise the $75 million Barrack Obama has raised so far in the campaign. If you read deep enough, it goes past the role played by bundlers and looks at the work done by Meaghan Burdick, the thirty-one year old who coordinated fundraising online and through the mail.

Kintera goes to Open API

If you were impressed when you heard Wednesday's announcement that Sesame Workshop selected Kintera technology to expand the organization's online fundraising presence, wait until you hear this...

This morning, the company announced that Kintera Connect, the company's open application integration platform, is available for clients and partners to integrate directly with Kintera technology.

The loyal reader who tipped me off explains it this way: "it means that they are opening up their platform so you can connect with it from other applications. It's a big step because it means that you can develop your own applications and the data can still be fed through their systems"

You have to wonder if Convio will be pressured to announce the same thing at their conference in Austin next week... albeit with a lot less fanfare now that Kintera beat them to it.

Dodd offers refunds after fundraising gimmick goes awry

It appears one of the most creative presidential fundraising ideas of the campaign has taken a terrible (not to mention embarrassing) turn for the worse.

Earlier this week Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) announced he was going to randomly select a donor to join him at an upcoming Boston Red Sox playoff game.

Unfortunately, it appears no one on the campaign's fundraising team checked with Major League Baseball to see if this gimmick was even legal. Just minutes ago, donors received this email:

We have some bad news.Major League Baseball has asked the campaign to end our contest you entered to get a chance to go to a Red Sox game with Chris Dodd.Apparently, Post-Season tickets are different than regular season tickets -- they are owned by the League and the MLB has their rules. If you made a contribution hoping to win the tickets, we want to provide you the opportunity to get a refund for your entry.If you wish to be refunded, reply to this email asking for a return of your donation and we'll make it happen. If you choose to not to have your contribution refunded, please know that your support will go towards our media and ground campaigns in Iowa and New Hampshire, while fighting to restore the Constitution and end the war in Iraq. Once again, we apologize for our error.Sincerely,The team at Chris Dodd for President

Talk about embarrassing... this email is the definition of the kind of thing fundraisers don't want to have to tell their donors.

UPDATE: Ben Smith at the Politico has more:

Major League Baseball scuttled the plan, Dodd spokesman Hari Sevugan confirms. They'll be offering refunds to contributors who were in it for the baseball, rather than for the face time with Dodd.

"This isn't quite Bucky Dent or Aaron Boone, but we are disappointed nonetheless. Senator Dodd was looking forward to spending a night watching the Red Sox take on the Indians at Fenway Park, but unfortunately Major League Baseball's rules are such that the contest cannot continue. We will still be cheering on the Red Sox every step of the way to the World Series, and look forward to inviting someone to spend a day on the trail with Chris Dodd," Sevugan said in an email.

Isn't quite Bucky Dent? They are right about that... it's more like those Nigerian scammers who tried to swindle me into buying a fake computer on eBay.

Raising money for recipients that don't exist

Everyday I receive no less than 50 news stories emailed to donttellthedonor@gmail.com based on keywords I've set-up, such as: fundraising, donation, development office, charity giving, philanthropy, and nonprofit gossip.

All too often one of these stories is about thieves stealing a donation jar from the counter of a convenience store. Unfortunately, the thefts don't usually rise to the high standards of news we have here on this blog, which is why I loved Trent Stamp's take on one of these stories a couple weeks ago.

But even a cynical jerk like myself was shocked by this bastard who collected $2,000 by placing collection boxes for a patient who didn't exist in 27 California cities saying a family needed help after their son died from orthopedic bone cancer.

...then again, wasn't the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund accused of also raising funds for churches that may not have even existed? They may have done so without knowing it, but you can't say they weren't warned.

Lucy follows the money

I have to admit, when I read Lucy Bernholz's Philanthropy 2173 blog, it can be pretty dense reading and I don't always understand everything she is saying.

But yesterday, she made a point (on one of her favorite topics) that was so clear, it stopped me cold in my online surfing tracks. While trying to answer the sources of funds for public benefit and social good, she makes this observation:

Compare the $295 billion in overall giving in the US in 2006 (Giving USA) to the $2.29 trillion held in accounts managed in accordance with socially responsible practices. Hmm. Suddenly the first number doesn't seem so big anymore.

And the $2.29 trillion is only part of the story. And the value of fair trade. There is $180 million managed by community development venture funds. And $2 billion in foundation mission-related investments (which will grow to $12 billion, if the Meyer, Heron, and Casey Foundations are successful in their recent challenge). And carbon markets. And microfinance investments....

Another way to put the numbers in perspective is to imagine that 40 foundations made a half billion dollars worth of grants to the environment one year. That would be big news. Well, according to VentureOne/PWCMoneyTree, the total value of venture capital deals in Clean Tech (alternative energy, pollution and recycling, power supplies and conservation) was $451 million in Q2 2007. Nearly half a billion dollars in one quarter.

As a nonprofit fundraiser, my first reaction was to think that there is a difference between donors who give money with the sole expectation that society will benefit and socially responsible investors who are looking to increase the public good AND earn a return on their personal investment.

As the focus for evaluating effective philanthrophy shifts toward outcome based measurements and away from simply making the donor feel good... then this line is not only blurred, it may become totally irrelevant.

Sen. Dodd's awesome fundraising pitch

In one of the coolest fundraising solicitations of the 2008 presidential campaign, Senator Chris Dodd is offering to fly a random donor to Boston to see the Red Sox game with him.

"I've got two extra seats -- great seats -- to Game Six of the American League Championship Series against the Cleveland Indians. And I believe they have your name on them.

Next Thursday at 5 P.M. Eastern, we're going to pick one entrant at random, live and online, to attend Game Six with me that Saturday. I'll put up the two tickets, $600 towards airfare for you and your guest, and a hotel room in Boston.

Here's how it works. You make a minimum contribution of $20.04 (in honor of the last time the Red Sox won the World Series, 2004) and you have as good a shot as anyone else to attend the game."

Excuse the pun, but that's one heckuva fundraising pitch (thanks to Atrios for the tip).

Slim pickings for charity from world's richest man

I was running late for work this morning and had a chance to see Diane Sawyer interview Carlos Slim, the Mexican telecom magnate, on Good Morning America. You can see a video of the interview here.
Slim is worth a reported $68 billion and was named by Forbes magazine the world's richest man in 2007. However, unlike the philanthropists that occupy second and third place on Forbes list, Slim has been critcized for not donating a large enough portion of his fortune.

Earlier this year, Slim said businessmen can do more good by building solid companies than by "going around like Santa Claus" donating money. Despite the widespread inequality in Mexico, Slim poked fun at Bill Gates and Warren Buffet while telling reporters that "poverty isn't solved with donations."

God can be a very vengeful donor

Twenty years ago, televangelist Oral Roberts said he was reading a spy novel when God appeared to him and told him to raise $8 million for Roberts' university, or else he would be "called home."

Now, his son, Oral Roberts University President Richard Roberts, says God is speaking again, telling him to deny lurid allegations in a lawsuit that threatens to engulf this 44-year-old Bible Belt college in scandal.
According to Justin Juozapavicius at the Associated Press:

Richard Roberts is accused of illegal involvement in a local political campaign and lavish spending at donors' expense, including numerous home remodeling projects, use of the university jet for his daughter's senior trip to the Bahamas, and a red Mercedes convertible and a Lexus SUV for his wife, Lindsay.

She is accused of dropping tens of thousands of dollars on clothes, awarding nonacademic scholarships to friends of her children and sending scores of text messages on university-issued cell phones to people described in the lawsuit as "underage males."

I'll tell you what, if you think God told you to become a fundraiser, I say go ahead and raise the money, but be careful how you spend it... because God subscribes to some charity watchdog blogs and he's gonna come get you if you don't spend it responsibly.

Guiliani email links to dead website

The Washington Post today ran a story about how the Republican presidential candidates are lagging behind their Democratic counterparts when it comes to fund-raising.

Overall, Republican presidential candidates trailed Democrats in fundraising by nearly $100 million -- a gap that is unprecedented in 30 years.

Some Republican leaders said yesterday they are trying to determine whether the drought is merely a short-term setback -- the result of an unpopular president and a field of presidential candidates that has failed to capture the party's imagination -- or whether the Democrats' mastery of the Internet has changed the fundraising landscape.

Perhaps one of the reasons can be found in this funny blog post from Sarah Lai Stirland at Wired's Threat Level who points out that the Guiliani sent out a fundraising email today with a donation link to a dead website.

Ouch. It's hard to raise money when you make your donors jump through hoops.

How much do you think Peyton Manning's name is worth?

Rookie fundraisers make the mistake of thinking it is vanity that motivates hospitals to name a building after a major donor.

The truth is that when a living donor allows a hospital to name a building after them, it could be viewed as part of the donation and not just a reward for the ego.

For example, when St. Vincent Health in Indianapolis recently renamed its pediatric facility after Peyton Manning, it did so because of the money the football star's name would attract.

"By Peyton lending his name to our organization, he'll take a much more active role to help us raise additional funds," said St. Vincent Health Chief Executive Vince Caponi shortly before the name change. "As you can imagine, Peyton knows a lot of people I don't know."

Daniel Lee reported today at the Indianapolis Star that St. Vincent has said only that Manning and his wife, Ashley, made an unspecified donation, but the couple requested that the nature of the gift remain private.

St. Vincent seems to be wasting little time preparing to reach all of those people.

Since the Sept. 5 unveiling of the new name, St. Vincent has appointed a director of development, Michele Rodger Spencer, for the children's hospital. It is the first time St. Vincent will have a fundraising chief dedicated to its children's facility.

St. Vincent will set specific fundraising goals in the next month or two, said Kevin Speer, chief strategy officer. He added, "Putting Peyton's name on the building, it thrust us into a national spotlight overnight."

Kim Gattle, director of development and communications for the Center on Philanthropy at IU, called it "a gift of his social capital." So how much do I think Peyton's name is worth?

...oh wait! Before you answer, maybe it would be helpful to remember some other recent use of social capital on January 1, 2007. Britney Spears was paid $240,000 for her now-classic fainting performance at PURE on New Year's Eve. To count down from 10 to one and wish the crowd a Happy New Year, she was paid $16,000 a syllable.

Nonprofit pounces on SCHIP veto with Blogads campaign

It was no surprise that President Bush planned to veto the $35 billion expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program today, but as soon as he did, the healthcare advocacy group, FamiliesUSA launched a well planned and well coordinated online response.

The group plans has been preparing to run an estimated 8 million impressions in the first week of the campaign on 14 blogs including Crooks and Liars, Democratic Underground, Firedoglake, Political Wire and Talking Points Memo.

Kate Kaye at The ClickZ Network published an excellent article today on the campaign:

Two ads mimicking streaming video units each display still photos of a child. The first ad to run features accompanying text that pushes viewers to visit the Families USA site, watch the :30 video ad, sign a petition and contact their congressional representatives about the veto. The petition encourages Congress to override the veto or send the bill back to President Bush.

In addition to building a database of supporters, the landing page (which is hosted on Convio) includes a fundraising call to action by asking supporters to help them run the online video on television. The campaign also received a virtual wave of media attention and even a blog post from Sen. Ted Kennedy.

Kaye's article also describes how another grassroots group called Results is running paid search ads targeted to the keyword "SCHIP" on Google. I've also heard that the conservative Heritage Foundation is also running paid search ads on the SCHIP search words.. but I haven't been able to locate it.. then again, ever since I asked Google to block evil liars from my search results, I haven't been able to find much on the Heritage Foundation.

Shakira gives $45 million to charity

Shakira announced an enormous $45 million charity donation yesterday in New York.

The Colombian superstar revealed that the charity she co-founded, Latin America for Solidarity Foundation, will donate $40 million to help earthquake stricken Peru and damage caused by a hurricane in Nicaragua.

She gave the news at a summit on global climate change yesterday, organised by Bill Clinton, says Reuters.

The singer also revealed a $5 million effort to help children in area who live in poverty.

Kids fundraising at liquor store?

I saw this letter to the editor in the Nashua Telegraph:

Am I the only person in New Hampshire who sees something terribly wrong with allowing our children to solicit funds outside the state-run liquor store?

On two different Saturdays in the month of September, I saw teenage cheerleaders standing outside the door of the liquor store on Coliseum Avenue. They were doing cheers to attract attention.I have to seriously question the logic behind having our children raising funds at the local liquor store.

What is the manager of the store thinking? How about the coach/director of these impressionable children?Most importantly, however, is what are these parents thinking?

Linette Lukawitz
Nashua

Good call Linette. Your powers of observation would make you a great guest blogger at Don't Tell the Donor.

Hockey team waxes their hair for fundraiser

Douglas Reid coaches the Central Cobra-Mavericks hockey team in New Zealand.

Unfortunately, it costs $18,000 each year for the team to compete in the New Zealand Hockey League and Reid doesn't like to charge his players more than $500 each.

When the coach started looking for a fundraising idea instead of the usual "sausage sizzle" the team usually throws he thought of a very painful idea. The players would eventually raise $5,000 by having their body hair waxed in the shape of sponsors.

Seventeen year old Nick Wilson had his legs waxed. Charles Jenkins got a strawberry flavour chest and armpit wax. Coach Reid had the letters "UR" waxed into his chest for IT company Unlimited Realities, who sponsored him $500 for the sacrifice.

Jody O'Callaghan at the Manawatu Standard reports that Reid then had a chest and back wax, which his wife in Scotland knew nothing about, for a further $1,000 worth of sponsorship.

I'm not sure if it's financial despair or male bravado, but either way I would hope stories like this make your fundraising responsibilities a little easier today.

Who are you calling small?

Anyone who has ever acted in a school play has heard the saying, "There are no small parts, only small actors." Milan Kundera is credited with the wise advice.

Well... someone should tell the Politico that the term "small donors" is offensive and insulting... I think the politically correct term is "low dollar donors."

Giuliani Party Seeks $9.11 Per Person

Rudy Giuliani's campaign is asking backers to participate in a national house party night on Wednesday.

A State Department adviser under President Reagan named Abraham Sofaer is having a fundraiser at his Palo Alto, California - but unfortunately for Guiliani the donor caused a controversy today when the Associated Press reported that the party aims to raise $9.11 per person.

Sofaer told the AP he had nothing to do with the "$9.11 for Rudy" theme and instead he blamed it on the kids by saying, "there are some young people who came up with it."

The International Association of Fire Fighters accused Republican Rudy Giuliani of exploiting the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and called the fundraiser an abuse of the image and symbols of the 2001 attacks. Others called the event "shameless."

A friend of the devil is a friend of mine... as they say

Newt Gingrich made news on Sunday by telling Fox News host Chris Wallace that he is planning to let potential donors decide whether he should run for President. He said he would run for President only if he could raise $30 million in pledges.

The former politician turned talking head announced that his longtime adviser Randy Evans would "spend the next three weeks checking with people around the country. If he reports back that, in fact, we think the resources are there for a real race.... then close to that we'll face a very big decision in late October."

Jonathan Stein at MoJo Blog was giddy at the possibility that one of Mother Jones Magazine's biggest targets will enter the presidential race. Stein seems almost itching for a fight against the polarizing conservative figure:

People say Hillary would fare poorly in a general election because she would energize Republicans. Newt Gingrich would do the same to Democrats, except times a thousand. So everyone get out your checkbooks and start mailing money to this Randy Evans fellow.

So, who is this Randy Evans fellow and why is the Presidential hopeful placing all his eggs in Evan's basket?

Evans works at McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP where he has served as as outside counsel to both Newt Gingrich and J. Dennis Hastert, Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, as well as to House Majority Whip Roy Blunt and former Representative from Oklahoma and House GOP Chairman J.C. Watts.

In 1996, when Gringrich was facing ethics complaints made with the Committee on Standards in the United States House of Representatives he tapped Evans to represent him. Evans eventually negotiated an agreement that permitted Mr. Gingrich to remain as Speaker.

So I guess you could say Gringrich owes this fundraiser his job.

House Subcommittee schedules hearing on nonprofits

The House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee will hold a hearing to review whether tax-exempt charitable organizations are serving the needs of diverse communities.

Chairman John Lewis (D-GA) announced last week that the hearing will take place on Tuesday, September 25, 2007, in the main Committee hearing room, 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 2:00 p.m.

This hearing will focus on whether charitable organizations are serving diverse populations and communities. The hearing will discuss: the extent to which philanthropic dollars are being directed toward diverse communities; the actions tax-exempt organizations are taking to deal with issues and challenges that have arisen in identifying the needs of diverse communities; and the partnerships between governments and charitable organizations that are needed to reach and serve diverse populations. The Subcommittee will hear testimony on why developing a plan to serve diverse communities is important and beneficial.

If you would like to submit a comment, go here.

Link between donation, bill denied

The Los Angeles Times has a story about some political donations that sound shady:

One of the last things lawmakers did before they adjourned at 3:26 a.m. on Sept. 12 was to pass a measure that would make Anschutz Entertainment Group, owner of Staples Center, eligible for millions of dollars in state funds to improve the downtown area around its arena.

Hours later that same day, a $10,000 check from the Anschutz company arrived at the fundraising office of a political committee run by Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland), who helped shepherd the legislation.

Company officials said they had committed to the donation in June and the check coincidentally arrived the same day the Legislature passed a bill the company had sought.

You see, back in November voters agreed to borrow $2.8 billion when they passed housing bond Proposition 1C. The legislation Anschutz sought would allow it, in partnership with Los Angeles, to apply for some of that big pie.

...but there is no reason to think the donation was linked to any quid pro quo, right?

Rap video makes college telemarketing cool

The rumors of telemarketing's death have been greatly exaggerated.

It can be a very effective integrated marketing technique and even though Trent Stamp hates it, telemarketing can also be an efficient and engaging way to keep in touch with your donors.

If your program is slumping maybe all you need is a cool rap video to train your callers. The telemarketers at the University of Toronto put this video together.

Hats off to Dori Sonntag for the posting of this video and other great college telemarketing training tips at her blog, Inspired Annual Giving.

Path of Professionalism in Fundraising

I wanted to take a moment today to recommend a great essay by Lilya Wagner over at onPhilanthrophy. Wagner is vice president for philanthropy at Counterpart International and has taught fundraising at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.

Her essay is entitled, "A Crossroads on the Path of Professionalism in Fundraising." It is extremely well researched and provides a list of over 50 articles and studies on the topic of fundraising as a career. She asks a lot of great questions.

Are we still the technicians, by choice or circumstances, who try to achieve pre determined goals set without our involvement, have no voice, practice a fill in the blanks type of fundraising in which we count the visits and follow those “ten easy steps,” follow and don't lead, and obey the rules without thinking about them? Or are we professionals who can command respect?

Are we proud of the research now available and being conducted in our field and does that information shape our practice? Do we adhere to the body of knowledge and fundamentals that dictate best practices? We have many publications, associations with clout, oversight organizations or “watchdogs,” and philanthropy and fundraising are the subject of books by ex-presidents and mainstream media publications. Do these influence us and our practice, or do we shrug off such indicators of professionalism as too academic and esoteric, choosing to focus on the technicalities of our jobs?

Take a moment and give it a read today... and we'll be back to scandals and gossip tomorrow.

Fundraisers crash online community launch

The past couple weeks I've been receiving emails from the Third Sector Daily - a group that describes themselves as the UK’s leading publication for everyone who needs to know what’s going on in the voluntary and not-for-profit sector. They usually have good stories about fundraising gossip, news, and tips. I recommend adding them to your RSS feed.

Well, a couple days ago I learned from Third Sector about a new fundraising research website called fResource which was slated to launch yesterday - and with a description like this, how could I not be excited:

fResource is the world's first online fundraising community where fundraisers and researchers from around the world can come together to share knowledge and experience of fundraising research, products and resources. We exist to promote fundraising research as a discipline in its own right within the fundraising sector, but we also want to show fundraisers how to utilise research skills and knowledge to help find new sources of funding. Our fResource database, for example, has the most comprehensive listings and reviews of products and resources on the internet bar none.

Well, unfortunately it seems like they underestimated the amount of traffic they would get on their launch day. After sending out an announcement email yesterday, Matthew Ide, the director, sent out this embarrassing email note:

Believe it or not the website seems to have crashed due to the sheer weight of traffic but we are working very hard to rectify the problem, so if you’ll please bear with us. We didn’t think everyone would hit it at once, which I guess is a mistake on my part, especially as I know how thirsty for knowledge you all are!

I haven't had a lot of time to play around on the database or community forum yet, but I would love readers to post their feedback or reactions in the comments below.

Smithsonian exceeds fundraising goal by more than 20 percent

The Smithsonian Institution surprised some skeptics on Monday by announcing they received about $140 million in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 - up from $132 million last year and about $25 million over its goal of $115 million.

Acting Secretary Cristian Samper said it was welcome news after a year when the Smithsonian saw lots of embarrassing coverage over the resignation of former Secretary Lawrence Small over questionable spending and excessive compensation.

I wish more nonprofits held public board meetings. Smithsonian spokeswoman Linda St. Thomas said the board expects to start holding at least one open meeting each year to hear from the public.

...but were the fundraisers surprised? Not really.

No matter how serious the problems were at the Smithsonian, I think most direct mail consultants would tell you that the press from a story like this has a negligible impact on low dollar donors. Workplace giving and special events probably went on as planned.

Scandals are not likely to impact the death rate of your donors - so planned giving was probably safe. In fact, I think any major donor fundraiser worth his/her salt should be able to use the scandal to their advantage.

I guess institutional giving from foundations and corporates could be vulnerable fundraising programs for other groups that experience such turmoil, but with the caliber of exhibitions at the Smithsonian they probably did fine as well.

Let's see if we can encourage someone from the Development staff at the Smithsonian to weigh in on our comment section below on why they were so damn successful. Maybe their goal was too low...?

Jordan's Queen Rania helps UNICEF fundraising

This past Thursday marked the start of Ramadan, the ninth and holiest month of the Muslim calendar. During this month long observance Muslims are required to fast from dawn to dusk and to give generously to the needy.

UNICEF marked the first day by introducing a televised fundraising campaign featuring Jordan's Queen Rania. The UN children's agency plan to air on pan-Arab television stations through the entire month of Ramadan.

This is not the Queen's first work with UNICEF. Her campaign in May of this year had a popular viral appeal and focused on the same issue of "the women and children who bear the greatest burden of the turbulence and violence that comes with conflict."

Mr. Rogers was one helluva fundraiser

Before leaving office, President Lyndon Johnson proposed a $20 million grant for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. President Nixon wanted that amount cut in half and the Senate held hearings in an attempt to reduce the funding.

On May 1, 1969, Mr. Fred Rogers testified before the United States Senate Subcommittee on Communications and in less than 7 minutes turned the tide and saved the entire $20 million for PBS.



The blogger that tipped me off to the video believes Mr. Rogers should be considered the best fundraiser ever.

Radar tricks screening process for presidential donations

Presidential campaigns always bring out the best worst in "gotcha journalism," but in this cycle folks seem a lot more willing to use donations in order to set up the story.

After Hillary Clinton's campaign announced they would refund money tied to donors linked to Norman Hsu, they also said they would run background checks on donors. Radar magazine tried to test this background check:

But maybe they should be running them on small donors as well: Last month, Radar made $5 donations to the Clinton, Giuliani, Obama, and Romney campaigns in the names of JonBenét Ramsey obsessive John Mark Karr; Joe Power, outspoken president of the North American Man/Boy Love Association's California chapter; and Sam G. Dickson, race-baiting lawyer for the Council of Conservative Citizens, an infamous white separatist group.

Contributions were made through the candidates' respective websites using customized gift cards. In each case, we supplied each donor's real name, address, employer, and position. The conclusion: All four candidates accepted our dirty money without a second thought.

There have already been a lot of critics to this story - including some who point out that the author probably broke federal election laws by stealing idenities in order to give to campaigns.

Michigan F.O.P. makes a terrible call

Grand Rapids police officer Bob Kozminski was killed in the line of duty on Sunday, July 8, 2007.

The Michigan Fraternal Order of Police is stirring up controversy by using the officer's death as part of a cold calling fundraising campaign. Callers apparently ask potential donors if they are aware that a Michigan police officer from Grand Rapids had been killed and was 29 years old and left behind a 3 year old daughter.

WZZM 13 News in Michigan talked to the Kozminski family and learned that even the officer's sister and mother both received the fundraising calls!

The family said they wished they would have been asked about using Bob's death to raise money. They would not have given permission because they say they don't have the time to research every fundraising firm.

The chapter's President, Sgt. John Kirkpatrick, says they have a fundraising firm that makes "cold" calls and they use a script to solicit donations. He says, "It makes reference to officers killed in the line of duty. Most recently we started using the script that makes reference to the Grand Rapids officer that was killed in the line of duty...although we do not use his name."

In their defense, the Michigan F.O.P says they donated about $2,000 to the Kozminski fund shortly after Bob's death in July - and they will suspend the calling... but how could they be so stupid to not even use a suppression on the family before calling.

Sheeraz Haji announces he is stepping down as President at Convio

In a move that shouldn't surprise many people, Sheeraz Haji, President of Convio, will announce today that he is stepping away from his day-to-day operations of the company.

In an email to clients, CEO Gene Austin will announce:

In the first quarter of 2008, Sheeraz will step aside as President and focus on his role as an active member of the Board of Directors for Convio. In this role he remains committed to the success of our organization and will stay visible as an advocate for helping nonprofits use the Internet to take relationships to new levels.

Perhaps it was fitting the 34 year old Haji broke the news by email, "After more than seven years of building GetActive and Convio, I'm ready to take some time off and eventually pursue a new venture."

Convio announced two weeks ago they were pursuing an initial public offering of the company and in the filings it was stated that Haji had at least 385,826 shares of Series S common stock.

Clever fundraising campaign title

I noticed today that a local United Way chapter in the town of Mexico, Missouri launched a fundraising campaign today with the title, 'Give Until It Helps.’

If fundraising campaigns were decided based solely on how clever the marketing tagline was, this group should have no trouble reaching their $134,000 goal... unfortunately, cute slogans only get you started.

Clinton announces $850,000 refund to donors

An estimated 260 donors will receive refunds totaling approximately $850,000 from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign.

Monday night Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said in a statement, "In light of recent events and allegations that Mr. Norman Hsu engaged in an illegal investment scheme, we have decided out of an abundance of caution to return the money he raised for our campaign."

Since 2004, Hsu has donated $260,000 to Democratic Party groups and federal candidates, and raised hundreds of thousands of additional dollars. He was regarded as a top party fundraiser until recent reports surfaced that he was wanted on a warrant in California in connection with a 1991 grand theft charge.

Republicans who have been tarnished by recent political scandals have jumped on this story and it's ongoing drama ever since the Wall Street Journal first broke the story. But this appears to be bigger than any one party.

What strikes me about this twist in the story is that normally politicians who have accepted donations from people they later wish not to be connected make a show of donating the money to charity. It happened to many people tied to Jack Abramoff.

In this case, the money Clinton is refunding was not donated by Hsu himself, it was linked to his bundling efforts - a process of collecting checks from others. It is suspected of being fruit from the poisonous tree.

I guess the public accepts the practice of bundling as a response to campaign finance laws, either because we think we are powerless to stop it or because we imagine the process is similiar to selling your nephew's candybars at the office - only on a larger scale.

But as we begin to peel back the layers of the Norman Hsu story we are beginning to hear ugly details of paper companies making wire transfers to a secretive network of eventual political donors it reveals a dark shady fundraising practice that's about to get a lot more attention.

Doonesbury does Second Life philanthropy

Lucy Bernholz at Philanthrophy 2173 reminds us that once something goes mainstream, it's time to find the next big thing.

Sunday, September 9 the strip ran a bit on philanthropy and fundraising in Second Life. (if the strip doesn't come up on this link, scroll to 9/9/07)

Thanks for the link Lucy.

Some Friday fun - with celebrities!

We all love celebrity gossip... don't even pretend you don't. If you are reading this blog, there is a pretty good chance you also read Perez Hilton, TMZ, or some other celebrity blog.

Today, I stumbled on to Celebs Done Good. They use a cool mix of celebrity gossip, funny pictures, and current events about philanthropy of good deeds. The blog is produced by the cool folks over at DoSomething.org.

Look at this cool description on the group's website:

We believe young people have the power to make a difference. It is our aim to inspire, support and celebrate a generation of do-ers: people who see the need to do something, believe in their ability to get it done, and then take action.

Our website is a community where young people learn, listen, speak, vote, volunteer, ask, and take action to make the world a better place. Currently, only 23% of this generation actively volunteers. Our hope is to create a do something generation: a world where more than 51% of young people are involved with community action.

Now that's a freakin' mission statement.

Is NOZA about to launch a free foundation grant research database today?

Don't Tell the Donor received a tip that NOZA, Inc. is set to launch a free private beta of a new foundation grant research database at the CARA Conference in Orange County, CA later today.

If true, the announcement is sure to send shockwaves through the multi-million dollar industry that currently charges nonprofits to research potential foundations who may (or may not) be interested in reviewing grant applications. Why, you ask?

Several weeks ago Waddy Thompson had an article in the Nonprofit Times profiling the differences between five different products:

* The Foundation Center's Foundation Directory Online
* FoundationSearch
* GuideStar's Grant Explorer
* GrantStation
* Prospect Research Online (aka PRO Platinum)

Toward the end of the article he offers this as part of his conclusion, "With fees ranging from $19.95 for one month to nearly $2,500 for a year (with no monthly option), price definitely becomes an issue." In addition to the financial costs, I know many fundraisers who spend lots of time traveling in order to research foundations.

In fact, one industry insider told me that nonprofits collective probably spend well over $20 million a year for foundation research. How will the Foundation Center and other nonprofits react when this revenue stream is threatened? What will this mean for the for-profit businesses of Metasoft and the Chronicle of Philanthropy's grant lookup product?

If fundraisers could find close to one million grant records when the free foundation database launches at nozasearch.com - that certainly will be a game changer.

Ongoing fundraising saga for Flight 93 Memorial

This blog has given the fundraising folks at the Flight 93 National Memorial a hard time over the past year because they have raised less than half of the $30 million they need.

In January, we wrote about how they were blaming their consultants at Ketchum and fired them. In April, we profiled how the group had shifted to a direct mail approach. In August, we pointed out that there was more blame to go around.

Now today, I was stunned to hear this twist:

Apparently back in December of 2001, state Sen. Jane Orie had an idea to raise $10,000 by selling a thousand wristbands for $10 each. Within the first year the Hearts of Steel campaign had sold 100,000 wristbands and had raised $1,000,000!

In fact, federal rules forced the Hearts of Steel fund to close in 2003 and be placed in trust when it grew to $1 million.

Officials plan to announce Thursday that money from the campaign will be transferred to The Pittsburgh Foundation, a move that will free the fund from those regulations and allow money-raising to begin again for the construction of a Flight 93 memorial in Somerset County.

Holy cow. So, let me get this right... while the official group's fundraising has stalled as the fundraisers tried to figure out whether to take a major donor, corporate, or low dollar approach... the one idea that seems to have worked really well was stopped because of some technicalities almost 4 years ago - and is ONLY NOW being re-started??!?!

But why use The Pittsburgh Foundation? Why not transfer the bracelet money directly to the federal memorial account?

The best part of Bill Clinton's appearance on Oprah

You may have heard that Bill Clinton officially kicked off his publicity tour for his new book: Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World.

A big part of the PR tour was taping an appearance on Oprah. Several news outlets have been reporting the story from the angle that Oprah and Clinton are both big donors... but for me, the show was stolen by Matt and Jessica Flannery, co-founders of Kiva, who were sitting in the front row.

You can read Matt's intense description of the event on his Kiva Chronicles blog:

I couldn't pay perfect attention. About 45 minutes into the show, the Kiva segment began. A tape rolled highlighting Anne Brown, an artisan in Seattle who lent money to a seamstress in Ecuador. I didn't watch too closely because I didn't want to be too emotional as the biggest interview in my life would begin.

Then she called on us. Our most likely scenario was that Oprah would focus on Jessica, given that is a women-centric show. We were wrong -- she focused on me. How much has Kiva loaned so far? How does it make you feel? How long does it take for an entrepreneur to get funded? I could answer these questions in my sleep. However, they came out in slow motion. I didn't make any big mistakes. I was serviceable, not incredible. Since that time, I've replayed the answers in my head, second guessing every word. I'll probably never get the chance to address that many people again in my life. Thinking about it too much can drive you crazy.

She turned to Jess and asked about her inspiration. Jess got emotional. It was an emotional moment. She delivered a heart felt account of how we began Kiva. It was one of the more moving parts of the show.

The President and Ms. Winfrey spent the next few minutes talking about the power of the Internet and "the Kiva model." Watching this was truly surreal. If you had told me a year ago that I would watch these two people discussing Kiva in front of millions on TV, I would have laughed. I cannot tell you how ridiculous it would have seemed. It still seems imaginary.

My hat goes off to the Flannery's amazing work these past 10 months.

Jerry Lewis raises over $63 million; drops F-bomb on live television

When you are on television for a 21 and a half hour live telethon, a national television audience can forgive you if you get tired... but will they forgive Jerry Lewis for calling someone (or something) an "illiterate faggot" during the 18th hour of his broadcast?

Some gossip blogs have raised the question whether Lewis actually said, "fatty" instead. Either way, it's a major on air faux pas. You can watch the video for yourself here.

Lewis reps did not have a comment for TMZ about the slip, but according to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Jerry Lewis 42nd Labor Day Telethon set a record of $63,759,478 in contributions and pledges.

The telethon does not use a lot of "A-list" celebrities (this year included: Ed McMahon, Jann Carl,Tom Bergeron, and Alison Sweeney), but it did rely on MDA's largest national sponsor, the International Association of Fire Fighters, to present checks representing the agency's year-round fund-raising efforts in the record amount of $25 million.

You gotta hand it to Jerry... even though there are critics of some of the marketing tactics, that's a lot of money to raise. Let's see when/how he issues an apology for using what I consider hate speech.

UPDATE: At 8:20pm, we saw that Jerry Lewis issued this apology:

"I made a joking comment to a member of my production team," he said in a statement issued to CNN. "I apologize to anyone who was offended. I, obviously, made a bad choice of words. Everyone who knows me, understands that I hold no prejudices in this regard. In the family atmosphere of the telethon, I forget that not everyone knows me that well; that something like this would distract from the true purpose of the telethon pains me deeply."