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Can You Teach Generosity? Yes. Can You Teach Generosity? Yes. Can You Teach Generosity? Yes. Mobile tech is changing the game for philanthropy. It's often assumed that technology makes us antisocial, funneling our attention away from people and toward our gadgets during commutes, meals, even family gatherings.

Mobile tech is changing the game for philanthropy

But mobile tech is proving to be a catalyst for positive social change. It's made it easier than ever to connect donors with charities, to raise funds, and to facilitate social entrepreneurship in the developing world. A variety of new mobile apps leverage the power of mobile connectivity to make giving as simple as skipping your morning coffee — literally. Download the I Can Go Without app and do just that. Frugal Seattle man leaves $188M secret fortune. An elderly man who had holes in his clothes and took buses instead of taxis has amazed Seattle Children's Research Institute with what it says is the biggest gift ever earmarked for pediatric research — in the entire U.S.

Frugal Seattle man leaves $188M secret fortune

The hospital's research center will receive the largest portion of a $188 million charitable trust left by Jack MacDonald, who died at the age of 98 after decades of secret philanthropy, reports the Seattle Times. Only a select few family and friends knew that the bargain-hunting man who lived simply in a retirement home had spent more than 60 years using his incredible skill for picking stocks to turn the nest egg his parents left him into a huge legacy for charity. NEWSER: Inside the Internet's most mysterious puzzle The trust will also benefit the University of Washington School of Law and the Salvation Army. Have a Strategic Conversation to Unlock Donor Motivation. Distrust of Nonprofits Dampens Giving by Rich, Survey Says. Harvard launches $6.5 billion capital campaign. BOSTON (AP) — Harvard University launched a $6.5 billion capital campaign Saturday that, if successful, would be the largest fundraising effort in the history of higher education.

Harvard launches $6.5 billion capital campaign

The school said the campaign had broad goals spanning all its schools and would fund research into neuroscience, stem cell science and low-cost energy for the developing world. The campaign would target major renovations of the university's undergraduate housing and increase its study of new learning and teaching strategies. It also aims to expand the school's global presence, including through an ongoing project to develop a center in Shanghai for conferences and research. Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust said the campaign will help the school meet the world's increasingly complex and pressing needs. Building Capacity for Social Good - The Osborne Group Blog. Grant Makers Are Blind to Charity Needs, Say 48% of Nonprofits. Nearly half of nonprofit leaders say their foundation supporters are blind to the biggest challenges charities face and could do more to help them meet rising demand for services, train leaders, and deploy new technology, according to a poll released this week.

Grant Makers Are Blind to Charity Needs, Say 48% of Nonprofits

In a survey of 121 nonprofit leaders, the Center for Effective Philanthropy says it found that only 52 percent “believe their foundation funders are aware of the various challenges their organizations face.” The survey also found that: Groups that run businesses or programs that produce revenue want foundations to help them expand such work to offset declines in government support. Almost all of the nonprofit leaders surveyed said their biggest fundraising challenge is winning and holding onto foundation grants, which is even more difficult than getting government grants in today’s austere environment. Young Donors Want Web Sites To Show Results - News. By Cody Switzer Organizations that want to persuade people in their 20s and early 30s to give and volunteer don’t have much of a chance if they’re not updating their Web sites frequently and including compelling details about their causes and the people they serve, a new survey finds.

Young Donors Want Web Sites To Show Results - News

Three out of four donors born from 1979 to 1994—a generation often referred to as “millennials”—said they were turned off when a nonprofit’s Web site had not been updated recently. Six in 10 said they wanted nonprofits to share stories about successful projects and programs and appreciated information about an organization’s cause and the people it serves. What especially bothers them: Too much information about the group itself, said Derrick Feldmann, chief executive of Achieve, a consulting company that advises nonprofits on how to work with young donors. The company conducted the survey of 2,600 young donors to learn about their attitudes.

Monthly Giving Appeals Showing Action. Charitable Giving Rose 3.5 Percent in 2012, 'Giving USA' Finds. Can a “Like” Save a Life? A Georgetown University and Waggener Edstrom study sheds new light on the debate surrounding the effectiveness of online influence.

Can a “Like” Save a Life?

UNICEF Sweden issued a bold call to its social media supporters two months ago: Don’t “Like” us; give us your money. Though it likely caused more uproar among those of us in the “social media for social good” community than among the organization’s own supporters, it certainly raised some important questions about the potential trade-off of encouraging online support at the expense of offline support, and of the growing value of influence relative to other contributions and individual can make.

We explored many of these same questions in a study that Georgetown University’s Center for Social Impact Communication conducted last summer in partnership with Waggener Edstrom Worldwide.

Innovation

Letter to a Friend (About Why I didn't Give More to your Gala) A good friend who sits on the board of the organization that she loves invited us to their gala and then called to follow up.

Letter to a Friend (About Why I didn't Give More to your Gala)

Isn’t she a good board member? Dr. Dre, colleague give $70M to USC undergrad program. The Tortoise and The Hare: Aesop Had Major Gifts Officers In Mind... ProPublica Launches Online Tool to Search Nonprofit Tax Forms - Tax Watch. Be Nice. Fund Results. Minimize Hassle. Help Out. The word from the trenches on how funders can make life easier for everyone.

Be Nice. Fund Results. Minimize Hassle. Help Out.

A few weeks ago we had a meeting of our poverty-solutions funding group, Big Bang Philanthropy. As a group, we’re committed to the idea of high-impact, low-hassle funding. The high-impact part requires high-quality due diligence; the low-hassle part means doing it efficiently and respectfully. Top athletes' charities often don't measure up to what charity experts would say is an efficient, effective use of money. Building Capacity for Social Good - The Osborne Group Blog. Bloomberg Gives $100-Million to Gates-Led Polio Campaign. Michael Bloomberg is to announce on Thursday a $100-million donation to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, boosting efforts led by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to raise billions of dollars in a push to wipe out the disease, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Bloomberg Gives $100-Million to Gates-Led Polio Campaign

Empowering Others Through Generous Philanthropy. Attack of the spokespersons and bad fundraising. The Chronicle of Philanthropy is at it again, serving up unsupportable conclusions from dubious research and appointing spokespersons for entire generations.

Attack of the spokespersons and bad fundraising

This time at Wealthy Young Donors Push Charities to Show Results. The story is about a recent survey of a small number of wealthy young people who run their own family foundations. 7 heavenly virtues of fundraising. MLK Day Of Service.

CSR

Diaspora. Balkan Philanthropy. Multiplication Philanthropy - Dan Pallotta. By Dan Pallotta | 9:49 AM February 17, 2012. Tactical Philanthropy. Our Mission and Guiding Principles.