Abe Pollin was a philanthropist who worked to bring out the best in DC and its people. Colbert King:

“I often wrote about problems that descended on individuals and organizations in this city that were trying to help the least among us… The phone would ring. Abe would be on the line. Ask readers to help, he would say. ‘I’ll contribute the rest,’ he would add, instructing me to not mention his name.”

NEIGHBORS IN NEED | “Help Those in Need” by Terri Lee Freeman (WAMU, 11/23) – “Requests [to the Neighbors in Need Fund] have already reached $8.4 million, more than two and a half times the amount donated so far.”

HEALTH | “A new health clinic for those who need medical attention but are unable to afford it” opens in Rockville. Funders include WG member  Healthcare Initiative Foundation. (Gazette, 11/25)

FUNDRAISING | A group of mostly DC-based nonprofits are working together to win at least $25,000 and up to $1 million on Facebook from the Chase Community Challenge. (HuffPo, 11/24)

CAPACITY BUILDING |  Center for Neighborhood Enterprise (CNE) announces grant opportunities for faith-based and community-based organizations serving Wards 5, 6, 7, and 8 in Washington, DC. (Fdn Center blog, 11/25)

DC SCHOOLS | Court defends Rhee’s layoffs (WaPo, 11/25)

ADOPTION | Bill to extend adoption subsidies to 21 could save D.C. millions, study finds (WaPo, 11/25)

Now remember people… don’t overdo it. You don’t want to have to break out the Thanksgiving pants. Have a safe and wonderful weekend.

GOODWILL | Goodwill of Greater Washington is taking advantage of the downturn (WaPo, 11/24)

SOCIAL INNOVATION FUND | Opinion: “[I]t turns out the Social Innovation Fund is actually searching for safe bets.” (American Prospect, 11/16) – an in-depth look at the $50M program.

WORKFORCE | 34.5 percent of young African American men are unemployed (WaPo, 11/24)

LOCAL BUDGETS | Gov. Kaine: Tax increase, cuts to K-12, Medicaid possible (Examiner, 11/24)

PARTNERSHIPS | New Report Features Nonprofit Roundtable Partnership with Deloitte (Nonprofit Roundtable, 11/23) – Hey, I know that report!

MOVIES | Here’s a trailer for the upcoming documentary Saving Philanthropy “about the need for nonprofit organizations to measure their performance.”

GIVING
-  America’s Giving Challenge Inspires More than 105,000 Donations (wire, 11/24)
- Tyler Perry gives $1 million to NAACP (WaPo, 11/24)
- Course at U of Mary Washington: Economics of Philanthropy (AP, 11/24)

…and the intersex fish remain a mystery. Crazy times, crazy times.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 7th, 2009
Location:
Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation
1250 Connecticut Ave. , NW, Suite 800
Time: 10:00am to noon
Click here to register (WG members only)

Join us to hear from experts about how funders can ensure that our region is accurately represented. You will learn about how census data is specifically used, what issues and challenges are unique to our region, and how nonprofits and local governments can work together to address the problem of under-counting.

Every year, almost $400 billion in federal funds are allocated to jurisdictions based on census data. Historically, the census has under-represented racial minorities, immigrants, children, and the poor. The result has been disproportionately low allocations to communities that need funding the most. Census data is also used to draw legislative districts, guide where major infrastructure projects should be built, where employers decide to locate, and where new retail will be added.

Featuring:  Bruce Adams, director of the Office of Community Partnerships for Montgomery County, and Dr. William O’Hare, senior fellow at the Annie E. Casey Foundation

> Click for a toolkit from Nonprofits Count 2010.

In Sunday’s WaPo charitable giving issue:

- Giving | When money is tight, give wisely (WaPo, 11/23) – BBB Expert: “Donors should ask what percentage of their gift is directed to the cause to which they are giving as opposed to the organization’s operating expenses.” Absolutely 100% incorrect!, said Dan Pallotta at WG’s annual meeting, and he made a VERY convincing case. Who agrees with BBB Expert? I want some debate!

- Nonprofit 911 | Charities that ease crises now face their own fight for survival (WaPo, 11/22) – “Funding requests to the United Way of the National Capital Area doubled this year, with $20 million in requests for the $3.9 million available.” … The Community Foundation’s “Neighbors in Need fund has received more than $8 million in requests — the greatest need for emergency services in the foundation’s 36-year history, according to its president, Terri Freeman“

- Corporate | Barry Salzberg, CEO of Deloitte: “Our philanthropy is founded on helping nonprofits run better businesses. So we give them cash and multiply its value by providing skilled volunteers.” (WaPo, 11/22)

- Service | Surge of new volunteers eases nonprofits’ load (WaPo, 11/22)

HOMELESSNESS | Recession Is Boon of Sorts for Washington’s Homeless Newspaper (Bloomberg, 11/21)

UNEMPLOYMENT | …in DC reaches record high (WaPo, 11/21)

EDUCATION | “It’s time to evaluate the evaluation” (WaPo, 11/23)

FORECLOSURES | Renters becoming latest victims as foreclosure crisis widens (WaPo, 11/23)

EDUCATION | Gates Foundation gives $335 million to raise teacher effectiveness (WaPo, 11/20) – Gates Foundation press release (11/19) – $290 million in grants to support four Intensive Partnership for Effective Teaching sites in Memphis, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, and Hillsborough County, Florida.

2050 | New 2050 regional plan: Will it change anything? (WBJ, 11/20) – “[The Greater Washington] Board of Trade, which was involved in the process and raised its concerns, argues that adhering to the plan would be impossible especially given current economic conditions.”

HUNGER
- Grim holidays ahead for area food pantries (WaPo, 11/19)
- Charity Leaders Ask Congress to Help on Hunger Relief (Chronicle, 11/19)

SAFETY NET | D.C. officials press for compromise on Catholic Charities (WaPo, 11/20)

HOUSING | Teaching Local Clergy The ABCs Of Affordable Housing (WAMU, 11/19)

CHILD CARE | Costs Skyrocket For Several D.C. Families After Budget Cuts (WAMU, 11/19)

GIVING, MAYBE | Young heirs seek moral balance (WaPo, 11/20) – Don’t we all, don’t we all.

GRANTS | HHMI grants $16 million to help biomed doctorate students apply their knowledge to public health (Daily Tell, 11/19)


Voice is one of the elements of Beyond Dollars–>Big Change funding. Encourage your grantees learn how to use the power of their voice, legally. Convened by Nonprofit NoVA and sponsored by United Way of the National Capital Area:

DEC 10: WORRY FREE ADVOCACY: Understanding the Rules for Nonprofits
8:30am-11:30am
breakfast provided
Location: The Campagna Center
418 S. Washington St., Alexandria, VA 22314

Register Online
Learn the lobbying and advocacy rules for your organization. Find out how your organization can advocate for your programs, constituents and the nonprofit sector as a whole.

GIVING | GiveMN raised $14 million online in one day (Beth’s blog, 11/18) – Yesterday, “more than 45,000 Minnesotans donated!  More than 350 orgs received $10,000 or more.” Not too shabby, eh?

HOMELESS YOUTH | Non-Profits Shine Spotlight on District’s Homeless Youth (Informer, 11/19) – Eshauna Smith, DCAYA Executive Director: “Young people go to great lengths to ensure that no one is able to identify them as homeless.”

EDUCATION | Wall Street Journal vs Ford Foundation. WSJ: Why are you giving $100M to teachers unions? Ford Fdn: Actually, only a portion is going there. And what do you have against teachers? Point Ford.

ARTS | Michael Bigley (Cafritz Foundation) recommends “Lights go dark at Catalyst Theater” (WaPo, 11/18): “Interesting article on how the closure of Catalyst Theater Company has affected the Atlas Arts Center on H Street, and how the Atlas is evolving.”

And see below for posts about our annual meeting speakers, Dan Pallotta and Allison Fine.

By Christian Clansky, Program Associate, Washington Grantmakers

pictures by B. Vartan Photography

Dan Pallotta’s numbers confirm the gigantic fiscal gap between nonprofits from the rest of the business world. Example: a Stanford MBA graduate will make $400,000 ten years out of school while a CEO for a hunger charity will make $84,000. Why, he asks, should our best and brightest work for $84,000 when they can make $400,000, donate $100,000 to charity, come out $200,000+ ahead, and be lauded as philanthropists?

But the numbers only scratch the surface of what Pallotta claims is an entire mode of American thinking. At Washington Grantmakers’ annual meeting last week, the author of Uncharitable lamented the fact that charity plays by a different rulebook than the rest of the world. While corporate America thrives through capitalism (most of the time, at least), people deny “nonprofits” the same tools of capitalism that have grown giants out of simple ideas and straightforward missions. That denial, he says, is born out of an unwillingness to see people in charities making money. Misguided conceptions about the costs of overhead, advertising, and fundraising drive donors to ask exactly the wrong question: “How much of my donation goes directly to the cause?”

The right question, he counters, is, “What has the organization achieved, and what can it achieve with my donation?” Paying appropriate overhead and high salaries to the people best suited to accomplish the intended goals can be a very good investment.

As an aside, Pallotta pointed out that “profit” derives from the Latin “profectus” meaning “advance, progress, grow.” Put a “non” in front and…well, you do start to wonder if the deck isn’t stacked against us.

In related news, our recent survey found that, among grantmakers who had seen changes in types of funding requests, 55% are seeing more requests for operating support.

By Nick Geisinger, Communications Director, Washington Grantmakers

Allison Fine (@afine) spoke at our meeting last week about social networks (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, listserves) and social change. It’s a big topic that we could discuss endlessly, but it’s far more fun to just dive in. That’s what Allison suggests and that’s what we did with Twitter here a couple of months ago, and with Facebook a few months before that.

Today let’s talk Twitter. You can find us here: @WGrantmakers. Angel Belardinelli does most of our tweeting. We’re working things out on the fly.

And why not? As Allison pointed out, people will talk about you whether you’re there or not. The only choice is whether to participate. Signing up is free and fast. If you want, you can just follow people initially without posting anything yourself, and get a feel for things.

The Community Foundation’s Terri Freeman mentioned that she tweets as a way of getting input from people, and that she appreciates the 140 character limit. Me too. In a world of unlimited information, limits are wonderful. Three cheers for brevity!

This week Angel set up some Twitter lists, which collect tweets from WG member organizations and individual members. Click those links to see what some of your colleagues are thinking about. (Here are actual lists of the WG organizations and individuals we’re following on Twitter. Did we miss you? Let Angel know. In fact, email her if you have questions about any aspect of this!)

In short, it seems like we’ve all done enough talking about social networks. It’s time to start networking!

> WG members can watch Allison Fine’s presentation in full on WGTV.