Tag Archives: philanthropy

New FIA principles and standards of fundraising practice

Recently the Fundraising Institute of Australia (FIA) launched an important new Code of Practice, Principles and Standards of Fundraising Practice, which allows Third Sector organisations to check how they should be operating and allows donors to recognise complying organisations.   Ethical fundraising is crucial to public trust in Third Sector organisations.  The Code plays an important part in setting the framework for appropriate transparency, accountability and ethical practice.  The principles are critical to how the fundraising profession … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics, Issue 8: Summer 2010-2011, Social Investment, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The End of Charity: How to Fix the Nonprofit Sector Through Effective Social Investing

by David E. K. Hunter, Philadelphia Social Innovations Journal; October 2009. This author lights a fire under funders to promote social impact measurement through social investing. His claim is clear: “Social investing, if widely adopted, will help channel funding streams that are directed by measurable performance rather than feel-good stories, habits of giving and rank sentimentality. And social investing has the potential (yet to be realised) to advance a selection process that either forces poor … Continue reading →

Posted in Demonstrating Social Impact, Issue 5: Summer 2010 | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Why Measure? Nonprofits use metrics to show that they are efficient. But what if donors don’t care?

by Katie Cunningham and Marc Ricks, Stanford Social Innovation Review; Summer 2004. Do donors really care about performance measurement? According to this Stanford Social Innovation Review piece: not really. Through interviews with individual donors, the authors reveal that the real motivations behind giving are a personal connection to the cause, leadership, or trustees. There is also a widespread belief in the donor community that there’s not much difference between organisations engaged in similar work. Individual … Continue reading →

Posted in Demonstrating Social Impact, Issue 5: Summer 2010 | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Wrong Risks

by Sheela Patel, The Stanford Social Innovation Review; Winter 2010. Railing against the culture of measurement, Sheela Patel takes professional philanthropists to task for the “log-frame virus” which she describes as “an infection that drives funders to insist upon seeing the logical framework or business plan of an intervention, from inputs, to outputs, to outcomes.” Patel has worked for grassroots organisations in India for over three decades and is the founding director of the Society … Continue reading →

Posted in Issue 6: Autumn 2010 | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

What Women Think

by Paula Curtis, Fundraising and Philanthropy; December 2009 / January 2010. Paula Curtis’s contribution to Fundraising and Philanthropy points out that women are increasingly important donors to the social impact sector. Curtis, who is President and CEO of Opportunity International of Canada, notes a number of important lessons from research on women and giving: 1. Women control household decisions pertaining to charitable giving and make 80% of the overall spending decisions 2. Single women are … Continue reading →

Posted in Issue 6: Autumn 2010 | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off

Investors’ Perspectives: A Time for Community Bonds

by Maureen Stapleton, Alliance; June 2009. Alliance magazine is a quarterly journal aimed at informing philanthropists and social investors about the latest trends in the field worldwide. It may be a sign of the growing popularity of new financial instruments pitched to philanthropists, that the magazine is now featuring financial products. This article provides a brief introduction to yet another social investment opportunity: community bonds. According to the author, community bonds are in use in … Continue reading →

Posted in Issue 4: Spring 2009 | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Book Review: The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty

BY Peter Singer, Text Publishing , Melbourne; 2009. Reviewed by Dr. Michael Liffman, Director, Asia-Pacific Centre for Social Investment and Philanthropy, Swinburne University. Peter Singer’s latest book should be one of his least controversial – and, paradoxically, therefore one of his most important. Singer’s ideas inevitably excite heated debate, largely because, notwithstanding their extraordinary lucidity, logic and respect for facts, they rest on premises – the priority of avoiding suffering, the interests of animals, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Issue 3: Autumn 2009 | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Will They Pay?

by Laura Starita, Alliance Magazine; December 1, 2008 Donor advisory firms have paved the way to assist wealthy individuals and families who want more information about the effectiveness of their giving. According to a recent study by the Boston College Center on Wealth and Philanthropy, 66% of wealthy donors surveyed said they would give more — and differently — if they had information about the effectiveness of their gifts. Two former partners at Goldman Sachs, … Continue reading →

Posted in Issue 2: Summer 2009 | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off

Book Review: Money Well Spent: A Strategic Plan For Smart Philanthropy

Book by Paul Brest And Hal Harvey, Bloomberg Press; 2008. Reviewed by Duncan Peppercorn; Founder of Social Ventures Australia Consulting. Thank goodness for this book. I hope that it quickly becomes obligatory reading for all those who want to invest in creating a better Australia. Brest and Harvey have managed, with great clarity and appropriate simplicity, to outline the rationale for philanthropists — and by extension all funders of social change — to take a … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Issue 2: Summer 2009, Social Investment | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Non-Profit Capitalism

The Economist, print edition; September 11, 2008. Under the banner: ‘The Business of Giving’, The Economist reports on the latest trend in not-for-profit fundraising circles: the Initial Public Offering (IPO). IPOs were the golden child of the dot.com era, occurring when a company floats its stock on a public stock exchange and the shareholdings become publicly available. Now, some nonprofits in the US have launched their own ‘IPOs’ as part of their fundraising efforts, following … Continue reading →

Posted in Issue 1: Spring 2008 | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off