About half of Pennsylvanians live in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and the suburban counties surrounding those two cities, but more than ninety percent of all foundation assets in Pennsylvania are geographically restricted to benefit residents of those two metro areas.  This pattern can surely be found around the country, with nonprofits in places like upstate New York and outstate Minnesota operating in virtual philanthropic deserts compared to their big city colleagues.

And the problem goes well beyond just foundation dollars.  Most university-based technical support centers for nonprofits are in urban areas.  Unlike rural and remote communities, big cities tend to have a constant influx of young professionals that can potentially expand and diversify the volunteer talent pool available to nonprofits.  Corporate giving is bigger when corporations are bigger, and the biggest ones are usually in metro areas. 

These disparities between the nonprofit sectors in rural areas versus those in urban areas can result in a less strategic, less collaborative approach to regional problems.  With less resources and support to draw upon and more parochial concerns driven by localism, nonprofits in rural and remote…

Warren Buffett and Bill Gates are getting plenty of favorable attention recently for their efforts to persuade their fellow billionaires to be more philanthropic, and they deserve it.  But for years studies have confirmed that wealth and charity seem to be inversely related, and that lower income people tend to be more generous than higher earners.

Perhaps this is so because it is easier for lower income people to appreciate the need for charitable organizations.  If you’ve had to use a food bank or homeless shelter, or have friends and relatives who have, you might be more inclined to support them.  Buffett and Gates seem to be saying that we all benefit from the infrastructure of our society, which includes the nonprofit sector, and the most successful in particular have an obligation to recognize those benefits and support that infrastructure.

How lucrative a profession would medicine be if there was no public or charitable investment in medical research and technology, or hospital construction?  How vibrant a private sector would we have without the public and charitable investments that have educated generations? 

It’s…

One of the primary assets most nonprofits rely on is their good standing with the public, and the belief that their leaders are well intentioned and trustworthy.  Malfeasance happens in the nonprofit sector, but it tends not to breed the kind of wide-spread cynicism the public often aims at politicians or corporate leaders generally in the wake of scandals in those sectors.  

Here’s a story about how badly a nonprofit can behave behind closed doors.  Ironically, protecting this organization’s good standing with a valued donor caused its leaders to act recklessly and dishonorably.  They succeeded in covering up their misdeeds, and won back the donor’s trust.  It’s unclear whether the experience ultimately brought about any positive changes in how this particular organization operates, but others can surely learn from it.  

It began when the president of a very prominent company sent the organization a letter expressing his extreme displeasure with how the organization was characterizing his industry in a ballot measure campaign that involved an issue central to the organization’s mission.  The letter indicated that the organization could no longer count…

When a large national or regional foundation puts out a call for proposals only a small minority of applicants will be awarded grants, but the foundation’s impact will often extend well beyond the work of those grantees.  Frequently the application process itself will spur conversations among community groups about potential collaborations, with the grant opportunity serving as a catalyst to bring these groups together.

For example, a national foundation recently designed a grant program to fund youth advocacy projects aimed at addressing the obesity problem through public policy strategies.  Specifically, this foundation hopes to learn more about how best to effectively engage youth from communities with high rates of obesity in policy advocacy.  The call for proposals invited applications from partnerships between academic researchers and community groups. 

This alone would assure that new alliances would be explored across the country even though very few would ultimately be funded.  And then, during the proposal development process as these new partnerships sharpen their focus and put together the programs they hope to get funded, they will inevitably expand to include other groups in…

Several years back I was working for a nonprofit that was heavily invested in legislative advocacy as a primary strategy to advance its mission.  For a variety of reasons this organization found much more support for its agenda on one side of the political aisle.  In an effort to recruit more grassroots advocates, we cross-referenced our donor list against a data file from the state which identified voter frequency and party preference.  It turned out that our donors were overwhelmingly members of the party that was less supportive of our legislative agenda. 

I was reminded of this recently while attending a diversity training for an organization I’ve been volunteering with for awhile.  As an ice breaker the facilitator asked everyone in the room for a show of hands regarding party affiliation, and the results were surprisingly mixed.  I say surprising because I think for a lot of people the same set of values and beliefs that lead them to vote a particular way also help them pick which charitable causes to support. 

The bottom line is that both of these organizations…

There’s been a lot written lately about partisan bickering getting in the way of good policy.  While media catering to the extremes on both ends of the ideological spectrum have relatively small audiences, they disproportionately impact the public debate on issues such as health care reform, immigration, and economic policy.  And the recent Supreme Court ruling that expands the role corporate and other deep-pocketed special interests can play in politics is likely to exacerbate the problem.

Nonprofits can play a significant role in educating the public about the issues on which they have expertise and credibility.  Because of the complex rules governing how nonprofits communicate with and about elected officials, many organizations choose to sit on the sidelines and refrain from helping the public better understand the issues of the day.  That might be okay if the media was doing its job better, and a well informed public was demanding and getting responsive action from its elected leaders.  Until then, nonprofits should consider how they can help raise the level of public debate over issues that are central to their…

Although relatively new in this country, health impact assessments (HIAs) have been used for years in Europe and elsewhere around the world to anticipate the potential health consequences of proposed policies, programs and projects. While HIAs can be initiated by government agencies, frequently they are undertaken by nonprofit organizations with constituencies likely to be impacted by proposed governmental action. HIAs incorporate concerns about health into decision-making about issues such as transportation, planning, education or housing. To learn more about HIAs and how nonprofit organizations can use this tool, visit www.healthimpactproject.org.

While there seems to be general agreement that we have an obesity problem in this country, there is less agreement concerning what should be done about it. One possible solution that doesn’t get as much attention as it should is smart transportation planning. People are more physically active when they have access to public transportation, good sidewalks, bike lanes and hiking trails, and when they can walk to schools, shops, libraries and parks. It’s not complicated, but it takes leadership and a willingness to commit resources that will not necessarily pay immediate dividends. Read more about how communities are getting healthier at http://www.rwjf.org/pr/product.jsp?id=51556.

It depends. And on many different factors, including what you mean by “lobbying” (or more precisely, what the IRS means by it). Putting aside the rules for a minute, consider how effective nonprofits can be at influencing policy makers. Nonprofits generally are credible sources of information about the issues they deal with and the communities they serve. Nonprofits are usually held in high regard by the public, and favorably portrayed in the media. Organizational assets such as these are too valuable to waste, so it is critical for nonprofits to understand what they are permitted to do in when it comes to advocating for the issues and causes central to their missions. For everything you need to know about IRS lobbying regulations, turn to the Alliance for Justice at www.afj.org.