BBC Children in Need breaks record

The BBC has an annual fundraising drive called Children in Need.

Last year, they raised £18.3m - with the sum reaching £33m after donations from all fund-raising was collected - and was seen by 8.9 million people at its peak.

It appears that this year is going to break all previous records... with £19m coming in during the 7 hour telethon which featured a performance by the Spice Girls. Organizers estimate the 36,000 donations were made online and 15,000 donations were made using digital TV service... and more than 212,000 phone calls were placed to operators.

Go here to listen to an interview exploring the technical requirements to handle 212,000 donation phone calls in one night.

The Things We Think and Do Not Say

Do you remember that scene in Jerry Maguire where Tom Cruise stays up all night writing a passionate mission statement and then distributes to his coworkers. He called it, "The Things We Think and Do Not Say" and when he walks in to the office the next day everyone gives his a standing ovation... only for him to be fired less than a week later.

I had this movie clip running through my mind when I came across Marsha Gittleman and James R. Rennert's opinion piece on the website of a Long Island, NY newspaper. Gittleman is director of development and public relations at United Cerebral Palsy of Suffolk and Rennert is province director of development at the Cenacle Sisters.

The two of them criticize the inefficiencies of special event fundraisers. They scold honorees who lend their names for fundraising without ever learning about the nonprofit honoring them or the cause. The authors even shame donors who ask, "what's in it for me?" or who attend fundraisers only because of the social status it brings them.

The directors of development come to the conclusion that if we all really care about the biggest percentage of each gift going to the cause, fundraisers should declare a hiatus in special events and return to personal face-to-face solicitations.

On Long Island for too long, organizations have had a misplaced comfort level in selling tickets to an event rather than promoting a cause.

The real target of this opinion piece does not appear to be the event planners, caterers, and silent auction promotion companies... rather the real target of this piece seems to be fellow development directors who have forgotten how to solicit donations based on the mission of their nonprofit without selling donors a ticket to a gala or an event.

Political fundraising can help or hurt candidates image

On Thursday, three researchers from the Ohio State University presented the conclusions of an interesting study at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association.

They tested an idea by showing newspaper articles about a mayoral campaign to 239 adults. Embedded in those news stories were references to the fund-raising prowess of the candidates. Later the participants in the study rated the candidates on several traits, including leadership, honesty, intelligence, and competency.

The liberal candidate who raised the most money was perceived as lower in integrity. However, there was no similar drop for conservative candidates who raised a lot of money. The conservative candidate best at raising money was more likely to be considered "competent" - particularly by conservative voters.

Why the difference? For conservative candidates, successful fund-raising "may signify a great individual achievement, leadership, and loyalty among his supporters," the researchers noted. . . . Similarly, he is perceived as being more competent when he has more money, perhaps because he has done what it takes to win without violating . . . his ideological principles."

"The liberal candidate, however, does not fair so well in the court of public opinion by raising more money," they added. "Across the board, respondents felt the liberal had less integrity when he had more money."

Do you think the same shifts in opinion occur when liberal nonprofit groups publicize their fundraising results?

Coverage of Convio security breach varies

This blog covered the news of Convio's recent security breach closely. We noted that despite Convio's best efforts to notify all 92 nonprofits impacted by the hacker - it seems only a handful of nonprofits made the news public.

Today I came across three stories of the breach that told the story - all with a slightly different tone:

Roger Craver at The Agitator applauded Gene Austin, Convio's CEO for prompt and open recognition and acknowledgement of problems - saying that it was a critically important part of the process of building trust. Roger even thought Austin "deserved a raise."

Compare that to Allan Benamer over at the Non-Profit Tech Blog who was not so gracious in giving Convio a "C-".

Convio gets that “C-” for the late disclosure and for not doing due diligence properly on their GetActive acquisition. However, Dave Crooke did a decent job of answering technical questions regarding the breach despite the fact that he did it on an e-mail list when he should have done it on the Convio site itself. However, Tad Druart, Convio’s Director of Corporate Communications, did a good thing by not only alerting the press but also the blogosphere. It was a calculated decision to be sure, but Tad probably tamped down on the level of blogging cattiness by the likes of yours truly and others.

I have to think Allen is referring to me as one of the others who might have been catty if Tad had not reached out to me to answer questions and offer official statements.

Finally, I thought it was interesting how the brief story on page 32 of the November 15th Chronicle of Philanthropy gave Gene Austin an opportunity to give the money quote... blaming the problem solely on the ghost of GetActive.

Despite the fact that roughly half of Convio's 1300 clients use the GetActive software, Austin told the Chronicle that he thinks the attackers may have focused on GetActive because, in the past, "Convio has put more investment in security than GetActive."

Food depositories report decline in donations

In May of this year, the Wall Street Journal published a story about how food banks across the country have experienced a drop in food donations - by more than 15 or 20% in some cases.I read more this morning about how this pinch is hurting big cities like Chicago:

Food retailers and manufacturers, in other words, are becoming more efficient—wasting less food, mislabeling less often and instituting fewer marketing campaigns—resulting in less food donated to the depository.

The federal government, in the midst of a legislative roadblock regarding the 2007 Farm Bill, is providing less food for the depository. In 2005 the government provided 34 percent of the depositories’ food supply—16 million pounds. However in 2006 the government decreased its donation to 10 million pounds.

Go here for more of the story.

If you've ever been to Erie, PA

An anonymous donor gave $100,000,000 to the Erie Community Foundation which is to be split between 46 local charities.

Each of the charities will get about $1 million to $2 million. The recipients include a food bank, a women's center, a group for the blind and three universities.

The city — and the entire county of 280,000 — could clearly use the money. There is a poverty rate of 19% in this industrial city on the shores of Lake Erie.

Baltimore aquarium bonds are downgraded

I know of a lot of nonprofits who have used bonds to raise money in recent years. There can be some real advantages for Boards who are looking to raise funds using the tax advantages of bonds... but what happens if those bonds get downgraded?

Aaron Cahall at The Examiner explains the impact such a downgrade had on the Baltimore Aquarium:

Last month, Fitch Ratings downgraded its rating for the aquarium’s approximately $34 million in bonds to “BBB+” from “A+”, citing the attraction’s diminished liquid assets and declining attendance. In early September, Moody’s Investors Service lowered its rating on the bonds from A3 to A2, and both firms held a negative outlook at the lower levels.

The institution has $23 million on hand, which is down from previous years... and it needs to find a way to push for new fundraising opportunities.

Contributions and grants totaled $9,532,193, or 23 percent of the aquarium’s $41.7 million budget last year, according to its 2006 annual report. Approximately 50 percent of the aquarium’s revenue comes from admissions, said Molly Foyle, director of media relations for the aquarium, with 30 percent from gift shop and on-site revenues and 20 percent from city, state and private contributions.

To be honest, I don't think this is going to be the only group that has their bond ratings lowered over the next few months.

Win $500 for your charity

I entered the "One Post Challenge" at Tactical Philanthropy and if I win, I'm offering to give my $500 prize to the nonprofit that gets the most votes (by unique individuals) in the comment section of this article.

Color of Change responds to attacks over donations

The nonprofit group that has helped raise over $200,000 for the Jena 6 legal defense fund is responding to slanderous allegations made by radio personality Michael Baisden.

Since July, 17th, ColorOfChange members have donated $212,039.90 for the legal defense of the Jena 6, six Black boys being unjustly railroaded by the criminal justice system in Jena, Louisiana. ColorOfChange has already sent $210,809.90 to the six legal teams defending these young men.

The group even offers a link to see the cancelled checks along with a website to refute each of the allegations.

In an email sent last Thursday to supporters of ColorOfChange.org, the group makes it's own claims about why Baisden would spread these attacks.

So why does Baisden resort to slandering us on the air now, after seeing for himself exactly how funds were managed? He's promoting his own fundraising effort this week and is trying to position himself as the only trustworthy source for fundraising around the Jena 6. He's stated explicitly that he started his fund because he thinks other efforts are untrustworthy. Discrediting us is a great way to promote himself and his fund.

I feel ashamed for posting the Denver Post, Chicago Tribune, and YouTube video link in a previous posting without this clarification... and I thank one of my favorite readers for pointing out this response.

Questions arise over Jena 6 donations

Both the Chicago Tribune and the Denver Post ran stories on Sunday asking questions about who is accounting for the money donated to help the Jena 6 with their legal defense fund.

Just weeks after some 20,000 demonstrators protested what they decried as unequal justice aimed at six black teenagers in the Louisiana town of Jena, controversy is growing over the accounting of at least $500,000 donated for the teens' legal defense.

Parents of the Jena 6 teens have refused to publicly account for how they are spending up to $250,000 that resides in a bank account they control.

Michael Baisden, a nationally syndicated black radio host who is leading a major fundraising drive on behalf of the Jena 6, has declined to reveal how much he has collected. Attorneys for the first defendant to go to trial, Mychal Bell, say they have yet to receive any money from him.

To make matters worse, pictures have been circulated on the internet which don't show the defendants in the best light:

One photo shows Robert Bailey, one of the Jena 6 defendants, smiling and posing with $100 bills stuffed in his mouth. Another shows defendants Carwin Jones and Bryant Purvis modeling like rap stars on a red carpet at the Black Entertainment Television Hip Hop music awards in Atlanta last month.

Someone even posted the photos to this YouTube video:


Alan Bean, the director of Texas-based group Friends of Justice, who was the first civil rights activist to investigate the Jena 6 case, was quoted as saying, "There are definitely questions out there about the money."

Fundraising blogs hit the mainstream

Noam Cohen and James Freed have an article in the New York Times Giving section today on the increasing power of fundraising blogs.

They interviewed Roger and Tom at The Agitator, Peter at the Chronicle's Give and Take blog, Holden at GiveWell, Jack at Charity Governance, Phil at Gift Hub, and Trent at Trent Stamp's Take.

Even Don't Tell the Donor got listed on the interactive blogroll.

Charity merger article in New York Times

Stephanie Strom (as always) has a great article in the New York Times today on the efficiencies that can be gained when two charities merge.

The article explores how Accenture helped the Hands On Network and the Points of Light Foundation merge.

Strom also cites examples like Safe Space NYC, the Children’s Village Inc. and Inwood House's creation of "a separate charitable organization to cultivate donors and solicit major gifts."

The Humane Society of the United States' partial mergers with two other animal advocacy groups, the Doris Day Animal League and the Fund for Animals, are also mentioned.

Hospital donors get preferential treatment

I think most people already assume that major donors and hospital Board members get extensive personal attention or a streamlined process for contacting doctors.

However, it's always juicy when a reporter gets their hands on proof that a state funded hospital operates a dedicated concierge program for VIPs or prospective donors.

The Dallas Morning News obtained a detailed list compiled by UT Southwestern staff members of about 6,400 people, many of them influential, wealthy or politically connected. The medical center used the list to flag powerful people or potential donors to offer them special treatment at the hospital.

Dr. John McConnell, executive vice president for health system affairs at the medical center, tries to explain the program with this innocent explanation:

The Special Assistance Office was supposed to "centralize what was already happening," he said. He could not provide figures on how many patients are enrolled in the program. Four full-time employees and one part-time employee work in the office. Its current operating budget is $300,000, which comes from clinical revenue, but not state funds, he said.

No wonder UT Southwestern has been able to increase the institution's endowment from $40 million in 1986 to $1.3 billion today.

To see who's on the list of hospital VIPs, go here.

Salesforce.com confirms security breach

Mark Hrywna at the Nonprofit Times has another alarming story:

Salesforce.com is the second software vendor to nonprofits this week to announce a data breach. The firm alerted its clients of phishing attempts and the security breach. The most recent phishing attempts included malware, software that secretly installs viruses or key loggers.

Salesforce.com sent security alerts to customers regarding two recent phishing emails: one titled “FTC” on Oct. 29 and the other “We want to make a order with…” on Nov. 6. The San Francisco-based company refused comment, except for a letter to clients that indicated “a rise in phishing attempts directed at salesforce.com customers over the past few months. The firm has more than 30,000 clients, fewer than 10 percent of which are nonprofits. The firm offers small organizations licenses for up to 10 users at no cost.

I'm not really good with math, but "fewer than 10 percent" still means that there could be up to 3,000 nonprofits out there trying to figure out the impact of the breach, right?

Bush's fundraising trip to Houston

Houston police shut down portions of the Gulf Freeway and Memorial Drive as President Bush hurriedly rushed in and out of town for a fundraiser today.

Bush spent about an hour and a half at the River Oaks home of Richard and Nancy Kinder. Who is that, you ask? And why did Bush rush in and out of town so quickly (and quietly)?

Richard Kinder is a director of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners. He had been president of Houston-based Enron until 1996.
According to Lee McGuire at KHOU 11 News, it was the first stop on Bush’s two-city Texas fundraising tour. The fundraisers, in Houston and San Antonio, are expected to raise about $1.3 million for the Texas Republican Party and the campaign of Sen. John Cornyn, who is likely to face democrat Rick Noriega in 2008.

UConn Foundation issues statement on security breach

The University of Connecticut Foundation, Inc. apologized in a statement to friends, alumni and donors who were impacted by the breach at Convio. They published the most common inquiries that callers and e-mailers have asked the UConn Foundation since notification of the breach was sent.

UPDATE: I must admit, I've been overwhelmed by the number of emails I've received from folks over the past few days. A couple readers wanted to let me know that the Care2 community was discussing whether EarthJustice was affected. It also seems like The Five Moms Campaign sent out an email to their supporters as well (I know, who the heck are the 5 moms, right?)

Security breach story continues to expand

Allan Benamer at the Non-Profit Tech Blog has been covering a couple angle's of the Convio security breach that - quite frankly - I don't understand all the technical issues. However, I know enough about security to be stunned by this exchange in Allan's comment field:

Anonymous "activist" wrote:
Convio’s multiple security failures here are elementary-level and simply inexcusable.

First, as mentioned before, there’s the unencrypted passwords issue.

But secondly, from what I’ve been reading about this, the GetActive and Convio network security was laughable. An employee was allowed to work from home, on a non-secure PC, without the latest spyware & malware protections? And this employee was someone with the priveleges to administratively access ALL 150 accounts that were affected or almost affected? Why does one employee need to be able to access 150 accounts? And this is at a company that is supposed to handle millions upon millions of records of data safely and securely?

A basic security audit would have pointed these vulnerabilities out — but I guess Convio didn’t want to bother with that.

I wonder how the potential of millions and millions of dollars of liabilities from this incident will affect Convio’s planned IPO…

Allan responded by saying:
@activist — from what I can tell, the employee might have been phished so spyware and malware would not have helped. I’m more worried by the “download all the passwords” capability. That’s a bit nuts. It was like handing hackers the entire cookie jar. It was not a good kludge and all because they were too unwilling to do an open API. This is a great time to demand an SLA from Convio though. You couldn’t get it before but I’m sure there are lots of demands for SLAs right now coming at Convio.

Yikes. I hadn't read anything about the employee working from home who had access to so many records... and I certainly didn't think that this security breach could be tied to the new API developments that made headlines several weeks ago. Now I'm beginning to think we haven't heard the full story yet.

As always, I know the fact that I run this blog anonymously rubs some people the wrong way, but I continue to invite Convio to use the comments feature on this website if they choose to explain or refute any of this statements... after all, it seems like a better place than the progressive exchange list.

Ron Paul's big day

I was so preoccupied this week I forgot to blog about Ron Paul. The Republican maverick running for President "blew up" the one day fundraising record in celebration of Guy Fawkes day.

The Christian Science Monitor said this:

On Monday, an independent effort by Paul backers raised a stunning $4.2 million for his campaign, nearly all of it online. At the rate Paul is going, he will have a fourth-quarter funding total that rivals or even surpasses the top-tier GOP candidates.

Paul backers tied their Nov. 5 fundraising effort to Guy Fawkes Day – which commemorates the day in 1605 when the British mercenary tried to blow up Parliament and kill the king. Fawkes also provided inspiration for the 1982 graphic novel "V for Vendetta," later a movie. The Paul-Fawkes connection led the Paul campaign to assert that the congressman does not support violence against the government.

The website Editor and Publisher speculated that the media will be forced to pay attention now that Paul's supporters have taken matters into their own hands.

Konfused by Kars for Kids?

The Kane County Chronicle in Illinois ran this piece by Liz Wolgemuth yesterday:

It seems so simple. As the radio jingle says, call 1-877-Kars4kids, and “donate your car today.”

Not only will you get a tax deduction and a voucher for a two-night hotel stay, you also get the satisfaction of knowing that all the proceeds of your donation will help provide food, clothing, education and guidance to children between 6 and 18 years old, as the Kars4Kids Web site says.

Sounds like a win-win, right?

Cars donated through Kars4Kids actually go to the Lakewood, N.J.-based nonprofit JOY for Our Youth, which uses the catchier Kars4Kids name in its fundraising efforts.

And the vast majority of JOY’s program services dollars go to another organization that shares its same New Jersey address and devotes its efforts to orthodox Jewish education.

The confusing chain of charities behind the simple radio ad highlights a problem for many donors who want to better understand where their contribution is going, particularly when it comes to car donations.

This does sound pretty sneaky, but honestly... in my experience now that the IRS has cracked down on car donations most donors should feel lucky they get a $500 deduction and some group comes and tows their piece of crap car.

CARE notifies its donors of security breach

Jeff Herrity at RedBoots Digitial Rodeo shares his experience after getting an email from CARE and he makes the following observation:

Remember though, it it not their fault - but that of Convio who should be doing more to protect the data of it’s customers. A larger percentage of the bigger non-profits use Convio, so the problem could be wider than anticipated. And we could see a temporary increase in spam, and a decrease in overall responses over the next few weeks. (During this important year-end giving season).

Do you agree with Jeff that the timing of this breach could hurt year-end giving?

Nonprofit Times gets Austin to comment on Convio breach

Mark Hrywna at the Nonprofit Times got some more details from Convio:

“It was a very sophisticated attack. It took us longer than we would have liked to recognize,” said Convio CEO Gene Austin. Some of the tasks the intruder performed were routine, as if it was an administrator on the system, he said.

The intruder attempted to harm a donation page for a site “and that obviously is a nonstandard process very different from normal. Once that happened, we clearly knew something was wrong and caught them,” Austin said. The intruder began the attack by being routine, and now “we’re watching those standard routines much, much more closely,” he said.

Wow. A smart hacker, huh? But there is more:

“We immediately spent that night (Nov. 1), and most of the second, understanding the issues as well as eliminating any access points for further intrusion,” Austin said, and the rest of the weekend notifying clients. Each of the communications gave organizations tips on how to communicate and work with their constituents, including recommendations on changing their password and an 800-number to handle future questions.

Since the breach did not involve financial or personal information, it might not be a priority for the FBI, but Convio has submitted everything to authorities, as well as launching its own forensic investigation. “We’re starting to getting pieces of information this week, but we will not have a full picture for two or three weeks. We’ve installed additional monitoring, and doing a number of things to over-tighten the environment. The root cause will not be known until later this month,” he said.

“The most important thing for us now is to focus on clients and make sure they are on their feet as soon as possible,” Austin said. “Certainly we understand they trust us to manage this data. That trust has taken a little hit, and it’s important to regain and rebuild it.”

To read the full article, go here.

Was an employees login stolen?

The Non-Profit Tech Blog published more details from Dave Crooke at Convio which was posted to the progressive exchange list:

The intruder obtained a login and password belonging to a Convio(GetActive) employee. It appears that their PC was compromised, but we are still investigating - we have sent that PC’s hard drive to a forensic lab for formal analysis. The operating system level integrity of the GetActive production systems was not affected.

The intruder logged in and downloaded a number of email addresses and passwords belonging to constituents of GetActive client non-profits.

So, will we need to wait for the forensic analysis before we learn more?

ACLU of Southern California notifies donors

A reader passed along an email to me this morning from the ACLU of Southern California:

This weekend we learned about a security breach atGetActive/Convio, the company that provides internet servicesfor our online Action Team. Your information has not been affected.

There was no breach of personally-identifiable information orcredit card data, but some email addresses and passwords mayhave been obtained by an unauthorized third party.

Because we take your privacy seriously, we want you to know whatwe are doing to protect it. Even though your information was notaffected, GetActive/Convio suggests the following steps foronline security:

1. Do not reuse the same password for your online services suchas banking or PayPal.
2. Pay careful attention to emails you may receive requestingpersonal and financial information, and only provide it when youcan confidently confirm that it has come from a trustedorganization.
3. Report any suspicious activity immediately to the accountprovider (bank, credit card, etc.) and to credit bureaus.

That must be an especially hard situation for the privacy folks at the ACLU.

Second group issues press release on Convio breach

The National Parks Conservation Association sent out an alert to online members regarding the potential impact of Convio's security breach. They reiterated that no credit card or other personally identifiable information was breached, however:

[It is] possible that the email addresses and passwords used by our online members for managing their NPCA email subscriptions were obtained by an unauthorized third-party as part of this breach. NPCA has taken appropriate counter measures, and has alerted our members accordingly.

The group then asks members to call or email them directly with questions.

More blog coverage of Convio's security breach

Allan Benamer at the Non-Profit Tech Blog picked up the story of the Convio security breach. He's got interesting discussion going on in the comments section, including comments from Eileen Bayers, VP of customer relations at Working Assets and Tad Bruart, Convio’s Director of Corporate Communications.

The scary silence that followed Convio's security breach

It seems like Convio has done their part by getting the information out to clients regarding the security breach. What seems extremely troubling to me is that not all of the organizations seem to have contacted their donors/constituents to notify them of the risk they may face.

Granted - no credit card details were compromised. But, am I the only dummy out here who uses the same password for multiple online sites. If a hacker got my password from a GetActive client that I supported... I would be a prime target for identify theft if that same hacker tried to access my Yahoo! or PayPal account.

That is the next (and scariest) phase of this story.

Convio can only lead their clients by providing draft emails... they can't make the clients actually send the email to their constituents. Should they be more proactive and contact the affected people themselves? Is Convio legally allowed to contact these constituents?

All too often I've seen nonprofits try to sweep bad news under the rug and hope that it goes away. This is not one of those cases.

If you lost a set of keys and those keys have your address printed on the keychain, don't you have an obligation to notify the people who you share that house, apartment, or office with? What would you do if that happened to you? Do you keep your mouth closed and hope no one breaks in? And if they do, would you continue to pretend the thief didn't get the key from you?

Act for Change tells donors about Convio breach

Working Assets members who participate in their Act for Change program received this email on Saturday explaining Convio's security breach.

We regret to inform you that the company we contract with to provide online services, Convio, has identified a breach of one of their internet security systems. There was no breach of personally-identifiable information or credit card data, but your email address and password for managing your Act For Change and Working For Change subscriptions were obtained by an unauthorized third party.

There is potential for misuse of this information should you use the same email address and password on other personal accounts (e.g, banking, PayPal, Amazon, etc.) Convio would like to advise you of important steps that you can and should take to prevent misuse of your personal information:

It goes on to explain some steps donors should take to protect themselves.

Convio confirms security attack email

I received confirmation from Convio this afternoon that the text below was emailed to 92 GetActive clients who experienced the most severe impact of a recent security attack.

**********************************************
Convio has identified a security attack against our GetActive software systems that has resulted in your constituent data being accessed by an unauthorized third-party. We take this attack very seriously and are committed to working with you to minimize the impact on your organization and your constituents. The third-party sought to download email addresses and, in some instances, member passwords. There was no loss of credit card data. We are confident that this is the extent of the breach:

* Only certain clients on the GetActive software platform were affected. No clients using the Convio software platform were affected.

* Unauthorized downloads of email addresses and member passwords were conducted against 92 GetActive clients, including your organization. Preparations for similar downloads were made against an additional 62 GetActive clients, but were not executed and did not result in data loss.

* The breach occurred between October 23 and November 1, 2007.

* We discovered the breach late in the day on November 1, and worked through the night and all day on Friday to make sure we understood fully the severity and how to help you through the situation.

The attack was carried out by an outside party who temporarily gained limited access to our systems. As soon as this attack was discovered, we took immediate steps to correct the situation. We are confident that these steps have restored the security of our systems. We are also cooperating with federal authorities to investigate the illegal access and data theft.

We are notifying you and all other affected clients, as well as those that were not affected so that they understand the situation. We are working over the weekend to provide further information and support and will update you on Monday with the latest information.

What you should do next
We recommend that you notify those constituents with user-created passwords that may have been disclosed. Some of these individuals may use the same email address and the same password with multiple online service providers. Notifying these members will help protect them against compromise of their other online accounts. At the bottom of this message you will find a sample email we have prepared.

Members with user-created passwords are a subset of your full email list. To help your organization communicate with these individual, we have provided a query within your dashboard that can be used to identify this segment of your list. Additional instructions for your GetActive platform administrator are provided below. Please feel free to contact your account manager, who is aware of this situation and will be available to provide support and further updates.

We will provide further guidance about whether we recommend additional notification regarding disclosures that involved only email addresses and any additional updates on Monday. At that time, we will also provide you with a dedicated 800 number and Web page to provide ongoing updates.

Regards,

Gene Austin
CEO, Convio, Inc.
*************************************************

Dodd team uses email chain

Fresh off his embarrassing fundraising scheme to raffle off a Boston Red Sox ticket to the World Series, Senator Dodd is at it with another unique fundraising strategy:

Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, lagging far behind the leading Democratic challengers in the fundraising race, tried a chatty strategy on Thursday in an e-mail with the subject line: "Fw: Re: Update?"

The e-mail purports to pass along an e-mail chain that includes messages between two staff members, Tim Tagaris and campaign manager Sheryl Cohen.

First, Cohen asks Tagaris for an update on online fundraising that has been requested by Dodd. Then, Tagaris sends a glowing report to Cohen. Next, Dodd, forwards their e-mail to his "friends," explaining: "I asked my campaign manager for an update on what we accomplished online during the month of October, and I was so pleased with her response that I wanted to make sure you saw the e-mail chain."

Thanks to Nancy Benac for the tip.

Perez slams Mario Lopez

From Perez Hilton:

Mario Lopez was scheduled to attend a benefit for victims of domestic violence and their children in his hometown of Chula Vista (San Diego) on Saturday, October 27th.

He was a no-show, PerezHilton.com has learned. And, what’s worse, he gave an awful excuse has a cover-up!

The Saved By The Bell and Dancing With the Stars blamed the local fires and displaced relatives – victims of the fires – as reason for his absence.

However, this week, video surfaced of Lopez dancing the night away at the Playboy Mansion’s Halloween party - the same night he was supposed to be at the benefit.

The 9th annual benefit raises money for children of Casas Seguras, a shelter for domestic violence victims. Lopez had shown much concern about helping children in his hometown.

Apparently he cared more about having a good time at the Playboy Mansion.

So many people were disappointed. He’d been advertised on their promotional materials and everything, which he had signed off on and was aware of.

And to use the fire as his excuse !!! Not very bright considering the press about Hef’s Halloween party is everywhere!

Do you know who your friends are?

Lucy Bernholz at Philanthropy 2173 questions Newsweek's recent assertion that Facebook is on the cutting edge of changing philanthropy.

To prove her point, she points to some great research over at Care2's frogloop. Unfortunately, the frogloop piece is almost nine months old. Some things have changed since then.

While I agree it is a big challenge for nonprofits to identify themselves as THE OFFICIAL Facebook site, I think most marketers are excited with Facebook because it kicks MySpace butt when it comes to researching who your cause supporters are.

That simple advantage will make it much easier for nonprofits to turn supporters of the cause into a valuable prospect list.

I once had a charity web manager tell me his group had 4,000 friends on MySpace.. which sounded pretty cool at first, but when he admitted he has no way to figure out WHO those people were or how to contact them directly.

Funky fundraising failures

From Fundraising Success Magazine:

Jon Duschinsky is the director of Ressources non profit, a fundraising consultancy based in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. At the 27th International Fundraising Congress, which took place in the Netherlands last week, he presented a session titled Funky Fundraising Failures, in which fundraisers from around the world talked about their professional non-successes.

To read the entire article, go here.

Merkle loses its domain

Michael Mathias, Senior Vice President & Group Leader, at MerkleDomain sent out an email earlier today saying:

Now that we have completed a very successful and smooth transition between Merkle and the former Domain agency, MerkleDomain will now officially be known simply as Merkle.

No word yet on whether Jeff Brooks will follow suit and ask readers of Donor Power Blog to simply call him Jeff from now on.

$714 million raised by road runners and walkers

Marking a trend of continued growth, road runners and walkers raised $714 million for charity in 2006, USA Track & Field (USATF) announced Monday. The figure marks a nearly 9 percent increase over 2005 and shows continued, steady increases since USATF began its annual charity survey in 2002.

USATF highlights a Charitable Race of the Year. Here are the winners for the past several years: 2006, Nike Women's Marathon; 2005, J.P. Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge Series; 2004, Rock & Roll Marathon; 2003, Marine Corps Marathon; 2002, Boston Marathon

The USATF also awards a Charitable Organization of the Year. The past winners include: 2006, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation; 2005, Arthritis Foundation; 2004, American Heart Association Heart Walk; 2003, Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Race for the Cure; 2002, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Team in Training

Finally, if you're interested in the previous annual totals since the USATF began tracking totals: 2006, $714 million; 2005, $656 million; 2004, $575 million; 2003, $560 million; 2002, $520 million.

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.