Donor Governance and Financial Management in Prominent U.S. Art Museums

Donor Governance and Financial Management in Prominent U.S. Art Museums
Source: Social Science Research Service

I study “donor governance,” which occurs when contributors to non-profit firms place restrictions on their gifts to limit the discretion of managers. In a study of U.S. art museums, I find that this practice has grown significantly in recent years, and it represents the largest source of permanent capital in the industry. When donor restrictions are strong, museums shift their cost structures away from administration and toward program services, and they exhibit very high savings rates, retaining in their endowments 45 cents of each incremental dollar donated. Retention rates are near zero for cash generated from other activities. Restricted donations appear to stabilize non-profits and significantly influence their activities, but they reduce management flexibility and may contribute to lower profit margins. Rising donor governance in U.S. art museums may represent a reaction by contributors to the industry’s high rates of financial distress, weak boards of trustees, and large private benefits of control enjoyed by managers.

Quantifying Hope: Philanthropic Support for Black Men and Boys

Quantifying Hope: Philanthropic Support for Black Men and Boys
Source: BMAfunders (Open Society Foundations and Foundation Center)

Quantifying Hope: Philanthropic Support for Black Men and Boys analyzes U.S. funding trends for Black men and boys and describes recent initiatives in the field of Black male achievement.

Following up on the analysis in Where Do We Go From Here? Philanthropic Support for Black Men and Boys, the 2015 research brief shows a distinct trend toward increased U.S. foundation funding for organizations and programs that are working to improve the life outcomes of Black males.

Health Reform Five Years Later: Philanthropy Steps Up to the Challenge

Health Reform Five Years Later: Philanthropy Steps Up to the Challenge
Source: Grantmakers in Health

In this report, GIH describes the full spectrum of ways in which foundations have engaged in health reform-related efforts—both coverage expansion and health system transformation—since passage of the 2010 Affordable Care Act.

Download the report to learn more about:

• philanthropy’s funding priorities and strategies over the last five years,
• the issues health funders identify as the most critical to address over the next two years,
• state and national advocates’ perspectives on where foundations and corporate giving programs should focus their efforts,
• regional snapshots that demonstrate variations across the country, and
• recommendations for grantmakers to consider as they plan their next generation of work.

UK — Technical Issues in Charity Law

Technical Issues in Charity Law
Source: Law Commission of England

This project originated from our Eleventh Programme of Law Reform. Part of the project is a review of the procedures by which charities governed by Royal Charter and by Act of Parliament amend their governing documents. The remainder of the project comprises certain issues arising out of the review of the Charities Act 2006 conducted by Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts regarding:

• the procedures by which charities change their purposes and the administrative provisions of their governing documents;
• the application of property cy-près, including the application cy-près of the proceeds of fundraising appeals;
• the regulation of the acquisition, disposal and mortgage of land by charities;
• the remuneration of a trustee of a charity for the supply of goods to the charity;
• the power to award an equitable allowance to a trustee who has obtained an unauthorised profit;
• the power for trustees to make ex gratia payments out of the funds of the charity;
• the transfer of assets and liabilities on incorporation and merger, and gifts made by will to charities that have merged;
• the availability of property held on charitable trust in the insolvency of a trustee;
• the power of the Charity Commission to require a charity to change its name, and to refuse to register a charity unless it changes its name;
• the power for the Charity Commission to determine the identity of the trustees of a charity; and
• certain powers of the Charity Tribunal.

Measuring Research and Development Expenditures in the U.S. Nonprofit Sector: Conceptual and Design Issues: Summary of a Workshop (2015)

Measuring Research and Development Expenditures in the U.S. Nonprofit Sector: Conceptual and Design Issues: Summary of a Workshop (2015)
Source: National Research Council

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) of the National Science Foundation is responsible for national reporting of the research and development (R&D) activities that occur in all sectors of the United States economy. For most sectors, including the business and higher education sectors, NCSES collects data on these activities on a regular basis. However, data on R&D within the nonprofit sector have not been collected in 18 years, a time period which has seen dynamic and rapid growth of the sector. NCSES decided to design and implement a new survey of nonprofits, and commissioned this workshop to provide a forum to discuss conceptual and design issues and methods.

Measuring Research and Development Expenditures in the U.S. Nonprofit Sector: Conceptual and Design Issues summarizes the presentations and discussion of the workshop. This report identifies concepts and issues for the design of a survey of R&D expenditures made by nonprofit organizations, considering the goals, content, statistical methodology, data quality, and data products associated with this data collection. The report also considers the broader usefulness of the data for understanding the nature of the nonprofit sector and their R&D activities. Measuring Research and Development Expenditures in the U. S. Nonprofit Sector will help readers understand the role of nonprofit sector given its enormous size and scope as well as its contribution to identifying new forms of R&D beyond production processes and new technology.

NGOs and money laundering: Adapting EU rules to engage NGOs better

NGOs and money laundering: Adapting EU rules to engage NGOs better
Source: European Parliamentary Research Service

Money laundering (ML) is a major global concern. The minimum identifiable direct costs of organised crime in the European Union (EU) are estimated at around €166 billion a year. Europol, the EU’s law enforcement agency and Eurojust, the EU’s Judicial Cooperation Unit, estimate the minimum costs of fighting organised crime at EU level amount to €210 million a year.

To efficiently tackle ML the EU has stepped up cooperation with civil society, including non-governmental organisations (NGOs). NGOs are engaged as collectors of relevant information on illicit activities, and in developing standards and implementing anti-ML rules. At the same time, however, NGOs are considered ‘subjects at risk’ in the ML framework, either as fronts for terrorist organisations that raise and transfer funds, or as legitimate enterprises that indirectly support the aims of terrorist organisations.

This double-sided position for NGOs may impact on the efficacy of the measures currently in place at EU and international level to certify their transparency and accountability. NGOs, in turn, see such attempts to regulate their activities as a threat to their independence, and thus occasionally resist them.

Heartland Poll — Americans’ Local Experiences

Americans’ Local Experiences
Source: Heartland Poll (Allstate)

Since 2009, the Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor poll has focused on issues that are most important to Americans, including the national economy, personal finances, volunteerism and civic engagement and innovation at the local level. Polls continue to show significant frustration with national institutions during an uneven economic recovery. However, they also revealed Americans’ steadfast self-reliance and desire to see positive change at a local level that improves quality of life for themselves and their communities.

This twenty-second installment of the Heartland Monitor Poll explores Americans’ experiences in their local area, including views on the local economy and their perceptions of local institutions like government, business, and non-profit organizations. What we find here is a clear preference for institutions to take chances with new ideas and solutions rather than relying on tried and tested, but unremarkable approaches. We also see a strong belief that local businesses are the best vehicle to provide job opportunities.

Americans are proud of their local area and they rate it considerably higher than the country in terms of the overall direction and their approval of political leadership. They also rate their local area highly in terms of overall quality of life, a place to start a business, and a place to raise a family. This positive community spirit extends throughout America’s big cities, suburbs, small cities, and rural areas, and also across demographic and socioeconomic subgroups.

Charitable giving on the decline in Canada, Ontario experiences steep drop in generosity

Charitable giving on the decline in Canada, Ontario experiences steep drop in generosity
Source: Fraser Institute

During the holidays, many Canadians think about giving, yet fewer are donating to registered charities—and those who give are giving less, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.

The study, Generosity in Canada and the United States: The 2014 Generosity Index, measures donations to registered charities claimed on personal income tax returns in Canada’s 10 provinces and three territories, the 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C.
…
In 2012 (the latest year of available data), 22.3 per cent of Canadian tax filers donated to charity, down from the recent peak of 25.1 per cent in 2005.

Canadians are also donating a smaller percentage of their income to registered charities. In 2012, Canadians gave 0.61 per cent of their total income to registered charities, down from 0.81 per cent in 2006.

Volunteering in the United States – 2014

Volunteering in the United States – 2014
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

The volunteer rate was little changed at 25.3 percent for the year ending in September 2014, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. About 62.8 million people volunteered through or for an organization at least once between September 2013 and September 2014. The volunteer rate in 2013 was 25.4 percent.

Supporting Grantee Capacity: Strengthening Effectiveness Together

Supporting Grantee Capacity: Strengthening Effectiveness Together
Source: Foundation Center

In Supporting Grantee Capacity: Strengthening Effectiveness Together, we look at how funders approach building capacity with grantees. Through examples from foundations ranging in size, mission, and geography, we explore various strategies for capacity building and the types of awareness that funders can choose to incorporate in decision making to facilitate informed, thoughtful judgments about strengthening organizations.

2014 Fundraising Effectiveness Survey Report

2014 Fundraising Effectiveness Survey Report
Source: Urban Institute and Association of Fundraising Professionals

The Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the Urban Institute and the Association of Fundraising Professionals established the Fundraising Effectiveness Project (FEP) to conduct research on fundraising effectiveness and help nonprofit organizations increase their fundraising results. Piloted in November 2006, FEP collects fundraising data from nonprofit organizations beginning with data for 2004-2005. The 2014 report, the latest in the annual series, incorporates data from 3,576 organizations that contributed data for 2012-2013.

The Philanthropy 50

The Philanthropy 50
Source: Chronicle of Philanthropy

America’s biggest donors gave $9.8-billion to nonprofits in 2014, with foundations and higher education receiving the most money. A number of donors are focused on scientific research, and some tech entrepreneurs are giving while they’re still building their businesses.

Risk Management for Grants Administration: A Case Study of the Department of Education

Risk Management for Grants Administration: A Case Study of the Department of Education (PDF)
Source: IBM Center for the Business of Government

In this report, Kwak and Keleher examine the experience of the U .S . Department of Education in implementing risk management initiatives, which it initiated in 2001 . During this period, the department created its Risk Management Service, and expanded that office in 2007 . At the same time, the department also con- tinued to refine and revise its risk management tools, and now uses two new tools: the State Score Cards and the Entity Risk Review . This report explains how these two tools are being used and provides examples of how risk management tools have been used to track the progress of two high risk grantees: Detroit Public Schools and Puerto Rico .

Based on their examination of the Department of Education’s experience, Young and Keleher present a series of lessons learned and recommendations for other agencies . A major lesson is that the use of an automated, data-driven risk assessment tool enabled the department to apply uniform and consistent risk assessment procedures and make better use of audit data . The authors also learned that effective risk management is an iterative process that requires thoughtful use of existing data sources and consistent efforts to incorporate new ones .

A lack of response of the financial behaviors of biodiversity conservation nonprofits to changing economic conditions

A lack of response of the financial behaviors of biodiversity conservation nonprofits to changing economic conditions
Source: Ecology and Evolution

The effectiveness of conservation organizations is determined in part by how they adapt to changing conditions. Over the previous decade, economic conditions in the United States (US) showed marked variation including a period of rapid growth followed by a major recession. We examine how biodiversity conservation nonprofits in the US responded to these changes through their financial behaviors, focusing on a sample of 90 biodiversity conservation nonprofits and the largest individual organization (The Nature Conservancy; TNC). For the 90 sampled organizations, an analysis of financial ratios derived from tax return data revealed little response to economic conditions. Similarly, more detailed examination of conservation expenditures and land acquisition practices of TNC revealed only one significant relationship with economic conditions: TNC accepted a greater proportion of conservation easements as donated in more difficult economic conditions. Our results suggest that the financial behaviors of US biodiversity conservation nonprofits are unresponsive to economic conditions.

New From the GAO

New GAO Reports
Source: Government Accountability Office

1. Fair Labor Standards Act: Extending Protections to Home Care Workers. GAO-15-12, December 17.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-15-12
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/670/667603.pdf

2. Federal Emergency Management Agency: Opportunities Exist to Strengthen Oversight of Administrative Costs for Major Disasters. GAO-15-65, December 17.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-15-65
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/670/667607.pdf

3. Department of Homeland Security: Continued Action Needed to Strengthen Management of Administratively Uncontrollable Overtime. GAO-15-95, December 17.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-15-95
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/670/667618.pdf

4. Tax-Exempt Organizations: Better Compliance Indicators and Data, and More Collaboration with State Regulators Would Strengthen Oversight of Charitable Organizations. GAO-15-164, December 17.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-15-164
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/670/667596.pdf

5.   State and Local Governments’ Fiscal Outlook: 2014 Update. GAO-15-224SP, December 17.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-15-224SP
Podcast: http://www.gao.gov/multimedia/podcasts/667597

6.   Dodd-Frank Regulations: Regulators’ Analytical and Coordination Efforts. GAO-15-81, December 18.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-15-81
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/assets/670/667634.pdf

7.   Electronic Submissions in Federal Procurement: Implementation by the Army Corps of Engineers and Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation. GAO-15-253R, December 18.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-15-253R

8.   Federal Food Safety Oversight: Additional Actions Needed to Improve Planning and Collaboration. GAO-15-180, December 18.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-15-180
Highlights –  http://www.gao.gov/assets/670/667657.pdf

What Do We Know About Inter-Organizational Networks?

What Do We Know About Inter-Organizational Networks?
Source: IBM Center for the Business of Government

As Millennials join the workforce, they are bringing their propensity for social networking into the workplace. As a result, network-centered approaches to doing work will likely become more prevalent.

Government and non-profits have already been pioneering the use of collaborative networks over the past two decades to solve complex societal challenges such as clean waterways, reducing child abuse, serving the mentally ill in the community, and reducing smoking. Much of this pioneering work has been done without a roadmap of what works and when using networks is more effective than relying on traditional hierarchies or the marketplace to achieve public goals. The descriptive and theoretical literature to guide practitioners is growing rapidly, but without guideposts as to what to read and what to pay attention to.

But now there is someplace for both experienced network leaders and neophytes to go to learn more.

A special report by the IBM Center for The Business of Government digests the key academic literature written over the past decade: Interorganizational Networks: A Review of the Literature to Inform Practice, by Janice Popp, Brinton Milward, Gail MacKean, Ann Casebeer, and Ronald Lindstrom. According to the authors, this report has been under development for several years, largely as a labor of love to synthesize literature from various professional disciplines into a “one stop” resource guide.

Wealth-X And Arton Capital Philanthropy Report 2014

Wealth-X And Arton Capital Philanthropy Report 2014
Source: Wealth-X

The Wealth-X and Arton Capital Philanthropy Report 2014 showcases the full spectrum of UHNW (ultra high net worth) philanthropy, highlighting the many different forms of philanthropic activities, and identifying trends in UHNW giving and the traits of UHNW philanthropists.

Free registration required.

The Nonprofit Sector in Brief 2014: Public Charities, Giving and Volunteering

The Nonprofit Sector in Brief 2014: Public Charities, Giving and Volunteering
Source: Urban Institute

The Nonprofit Sector in Brief 2014 highlights trends in the number and finances of 501(c)(3) public charities and key findings on two important resources for the nonprofit sector: private charitable contributions and volunteering. Each year, The Nonprofit Sector in Brief 2014 presents the most recent data available on the nonprofit sector. This particular edition of the brief presents data from 2002 to 2012.

UK — Social Investment by Charities: The Law Commission’s Recommendations

Social Investment by Charities: The Law Commission’s Recommendations (PDF)
Source: Law Commission

We are pleased to announce the publication of our recommendations on social investment by charities as part of our ongoing project on selected issues in charity law.

Social investment provides financial returns while at the same time generating social benefits. It is an important and developing area for charities that helps them meet their charitable objectives by combining investment and spending.

We have been told that some charity trustees lack the confidence to make social investments because they are unsure whether their legal powers and duties permit them to do so. To clarify and simplify the law, we are recommending that charity trustees be given a specific statutory power to make social investments.

Law Commissioner Professor Elizabeth Cooke said: “Social investment represents a significant opportunity for charities, but the existing law is unclear. Our recommended reforms will clarify the law for trustees as to their powers and duties. They will make social investment more straightforward in law and give trustees the confidence to make the best of the opportunities it offers.”

Don’t let your student debt stop you from serving your country

Don’t let your student debt stop you from serving your country
Source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Last year, the CFPB launched an initiative to enlist the support of public service employers to help their employees tackle their student debt. We also published a report, which estimated that approximately one-fourth of the labor force is working in a public service profession and potentially eligible for existing benefits to help them manage their student loans.

Today, we joined the Department of Education, the Peace Corps, and the Corporation for National and Community Service to release new resources for employees, volunteers, and recent graduates with student loan debt. Whether you choose to serve in the military, volunteer in the Peace Corps, or pursue national service, we know that managing your money while serving your country can be hard. This is particularly true if you have student loans.

To help, we’ve developed new customized guides for members of the military, for Peace Corps volunteers, and for participants in national service programs with student debt. In addition, we have partnered with the Peace Corps and the AmeriCorps programs to help their members understand how to qualify for loan forgiveness and other student loan benefits—part of our financial education project focused on public service and student debt.

Student loan borrowers working in public service have access to a range of existing benefits designed to help them manage their debt. One program provides borrowers that spend a decade or more in service with the opportunity to have their loans forgiven after 10 years (120 months) of on-time payments. There are also a range of other existing benefits for servicemembers, teachers and other public servants.