Making The Case For Corporate Giving

Ken Berger, Charity Navigator's president & CEO, makes the case in NJBIZ for corporate philanthropy. He points out that in 2008 corporations gave $14.5 billion to charity and that New Jersey is home to some big time corporate givers. Just last year, NJ based Merck gave $821 million; Johnson & Johnson, $497 million; Prudential, $31 million; and Public Service Enterprise Group, $7.5 million. Ken ends his discussion with some advice on how firms can identify great charities to partner with.

scroogenomics - Wharton Professor Makes the Case for Charitable Giving During the Holidays

In his new book, scroogenomics, Wharton professor Joel Waldfogel advocates that we all donate to charity in someone's name, rather than give another dreaded fruit cake this holiday season. Both in the book, and in a recent interview where he argues that $13 billion is wasted on useless presents, he recommends Charity Navigator as a source of information about charities. And in the book, he even suggests the Good Card as a good solution to holiday gift giving.

Watch the video below to learn more about the professor's research.

Conference Call on International Capacity Building and Effectiveness

Ken Berger, president and CEO of Charity Navigator, along with Sam Worthington, president and CEO of InterAction, will discuss the best ways to assess the effectiveness of internationally-focused organizations via a conference call hosted by the Independent Sector. The title of the discussion is "Assessing Internationally-Focused Nonprofits -- Striking the Right Balance of Short-Term Efficiency and Long-Term Capacity" and it will take place on Tuesday, December 1, 2009, 2:30 - 3:30 p.m.

For more details and to register, click here.

Charity Leaders Discuss Fundraising in the Down Economy

This year's holiday giving guide includes a roundtable discussion with the leaders of 10 nonprofits. The participants were selected from our Advisory Panel and from the higher rated charities in our database. We've published the first part of that discussion which focuses on how these organizations are fairing in the recession.

Here are some quotes from Part 1:

We continue to be anxious about Foundation giving and the lack of multi-year commitments that new initiatives require. On individual giving, we remain optimistic.~Jeremy Kohomban, Ph.D., President and CEO, The Children’s Village



I believe that if an organization has a good mission and a good story to tell, then it will weather the storm. It takes aggressive planning and a dedicated staff now to position the organization for the future so it’s ready when the economy does rebound. ~Susan Paresky, Senior Vice President, Development, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute & The Jimmy Fund

We agree that it will take a couple of years to see people giving again as in the past. In fact, we believe there is a “new reality”, meaning that it won’t ever be as it once was. That due to actual losses and setbacks, or due to paralysis by fear, that the donor public will not be giving as they once did. Smaller gifts, designated purposes, and higher scrutiny will be the new rule.~Curtis Hail, President, e3 Partners Ministry


The second part of the conversation, which discuss the characteristics of a high performing charity, will be accessible on our site in December.

Creative Ways To Donate This Holiday Season

Users of Charity Navigator, and just about anyone opening their mailbox around now, know that requests for charitable donations soar at the end of the year. Why? There are three main reasons.

1. The religious nature of the holidays inspire people to help those who are less fortunate.
2. Taxpayers need to make their donations by December 31 to qualify for a tax deduction in this calendar year.
3. As the year comes to a close, people look at their personal budgets and determine how much money they have for their charitable interests.

Knowing this, charities step up their appeals for your support towards the end of the year. To help you make smart choices about where to invest your philanthropic dollars, we've published a holiday giving guide that is full of tips and information.

That said, we are fearful that giving will continue to be down this holiday season as it was last year. The recession has hindered many people's ability to support their favorite charities resulting in the biggest drop in charitable giving in the last fifty years. Even if the economy improves, it will likely take many months for charitable giving to rebound.

Thankfully, Shelly Banjo over at the Wall Street Journal has some smart ideas for how you can still afford to give in this down economy.

Car Donations & Your Taxes

Recent reports indicate that the IRS isn't doing enough to ensure that donors are properly documenting their deductions for car donations or to make sure that the charities are following the new laws. While that may be true, we still urge donors to be careful when claiming these deductions. For more information, check out our Guide To Donating Your Car.

Bob Dylan Releases Holiday Record to Benefit Charity

Christmas in the Heart, released earlier in October, is Bob Dylan’s first full-length holiday album. While some Dylan fans are skeptical of the singer’s transition to the Christmas music genre, the album has been met with positive reviews. Dylan shows his holiday spirit not only through the traditional tunes, but through his generous spirit – the royalties from sales of the album are going straight to charity. All proceeds will benefit four-star rated Feeding America, UK-based Crisis, and the UN World Food Programme. Interested in what causes other musicians are supporting? Check out or hot topic page of Celebrity-Charity associations.

Do Donors Care About A Charity's Impact?

As Ken Berger recently discussed in his blog entry, Why Should Donors Care About Outcomes and Impact?, we've had some surprising feedback regarding our intention to rate each charity's outcomes. Many experts in the field actually question whether donors even care about a charity's outcomes. So, when the folks over at Zoomerang offered us the chance to use their online survey software, we thought let's take this question to the donors.

That's right, we want to hear from you. Is it important to you as a donor to know that a charity has meaningful results? Let us know now by completing our 3 question survey.

Then check out how other donors are responding.

Veterans Day

Today, is a day that Americans pause to honor all our military veterans. This may inspire you to make a donation to one of these 4-star charities:

Special Operations Warrior Foundation
Fisher House Foundation
National Military Family Association
Homes for Our Troops

This Veterans Day you are probably also thinking about the recent outburst of violence at Ft. Hood. If so, then you may want to make a gift to the 4-star charity Operation Homefront which has established a fund to help the families impacted by the tragedy at Ft. Hood.

For more ratings for charities that Support Our Troops, please visit the Hot Topics portion of our site.

Drew Carey’s Twitter Challenge Raises Money for Charity

This holiday season, Twitter fans can help guarantee a $1 million donation for the LiveStrong Foundation from actor Drew Carey. What’s the catch? Drew Carey must reach 1,000,000 followers on his own Twitter account (@drewfromtv) by midnight on December 31st. This quirky fundraising scheme began with another Drew – cancer survivor Drew Olanoff - who happens to be the owner of an enviable twitter name, @drew. Drew Olanoff decided to auction this rare twitter user name and donate the profits. Drew Carey, host of “The Price is Right,” got wind of the good-willed auction and bid on the name. He eventually raised his donation challenge to a $1 million promise if he reaches the same number of followers on his own account. The donation will be prorated, so for every new follower, $1.00 will be donated to the LiveStrong Foundation, up to $1 million. Learn more about the story at CNN, or check on @drewfromTV’s progress here.

Rainn Wilson of “The Office” visits Haiti

Rainn Wilson, better known as quirky Dwight on NBC’s The Office recently travelled to Haiti to learn about the countries staggering poverty rates and troubled education systems. Wilson went with his wife and spent six days with two different charities, the Mona Foundation and Planting Peace according to a USA today article. The article includes blog entries that Wilson wrote while there, which he calls his “webary.” We’ve featured celebrities and their efforts to give back on this blog before. Do you share Rainn Wilson’s interest in international development and human services? Consider a donation to one of our top rated international charities. You can also find a list of four-star charities working in Haiti here.

Catch Charity Navigator's Videos on Starfish Television

Two of Charity Navigator's videos have made the jump from YouTube to your TV set. You'll be able to catch our videos on Starfish Television Network on the following dates:

• Saturday, November 07, 2009 - 11:48 AM EST
• Saturday, November 07, 2009 - 5:23 PM EST
• Sunday, November 15, 2009 - 1:20 AM EST
• Monday, November 16, 2009 - 9:11 AM EST
• Saturday, November 21, 2009 - 2:18 AM EST

There are 4 ways to view Starfish Television Network:

1. Dish Network 1000 platform, channels 296 & 9408
2. Coaxial Cable TV (Edinboro PA) channel 8
3. Visit www.StarfishTV.org, click “Watch Live”
   
4. Visit www.ZapMyTV.com

And you can find out when we'll be on TV again by visiting our page on the Starfish TV's website.

Appeal(ing) Rewards!

Charity Navigator's Fall donor drive is in full swing. We've teamed up with the
New Jersey Nets to say a resounding thanks to one lucky donor. Everyone who donates $50 or more between now and December 10 will automatically be entered to win 4 tickets (valued at $700!) to a New Jersey Nets game (click here for details). Tough times demand smarter giving--that's why Charity Navigator is more important than ever and why we're asking for your support. Thank You!

Charity Navigator Holiday Giving Tips

For those of you planning end-of-year charitable giving, we offer our annual Charity Navigator Holiday Giving Guide. Reading this online guide before you give will ensure that your holiday donations best reach a good cause.

Explore the Giving Guide:

• Charity Navigator's Holiday Giving Tips
• Roundtable Discussion with Nonprofit Professionals
  Part 1: How charities are coping in these challenging times
• Highest and Lowest Rated Charity in Each Cause
• Holiday Giving Factoids

Volunteer Center of Bergen County, NJ - Executive Director's Roundtable

Next week, Charity Navigator's president & CEO, Ken Berger, will lead a roundtable discussion at The Volunteer Center of Bergen County. Executive Directors in Northern NJ are invited to spend the morning with him and other nonprofit leaders to develop strategies that maintain organizational integrity in the face of prolonged challenges to fiscal stability.

Discussion topics may include:

• educating our Boards about realistic fundraising expectations in this economic climate


• developing budget contingencies for the long haul


• using the combined, proactive power of nonprofits to leverage joint purchasing


• figuring out how to combine resources for "back office" operations


• other topics of your choice

Date/Time: Thursday, November 12, 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Course Leader: Ken Berger, Charity Navigator
Registration Fee: Free
Level: Intermediate, Advanced
For more information contact The Volunteer Center of Bergen County's Non-Profit Training and Resource Center: 64 Passaic Street, Hackensack, NJ 07601 201-489-9454, training@bergenvolunteers.org, www.bergenvolunteers.org.

November Update

We know that many of you are starting to think about your end-of-year charitable giving plans. With that in mind, we've just published 356 updated ratings, several top 10 lists, and articles.

Charitable Giving, Wealth, and Happiness

A new book reveals that those who are wealthy and donate 10% or more of their income build a higher net worth and are happier than other wealthy people. The book was written by Thomas J. Stanley based on a survey of over 900 millionaires. A recent article about the book, explains that Mr. Stanley says the most generous wealthy donors "are the least enamored with status. They have a small house and a big heart." It seems that the sample of the most wealthy who give, get more out of acquiring wealth and donating a good portion of that wealth rather than just spending their money on luxury items. So it seems donating and helping other does make one feel good!