Where Most Needed

Boring Bus Ride Nets over $20,000 for Video Game Charity

A marathon online event using a mind-numbing simulation of a bus driving across the desert gets enough buzz to fuel four days of fundraising.  But your results may vary. 

Indicted Orange County Sheriff's Charity Fiasco

His foundation's inability to keep up with annual filing requirements turned out to be symptomatic of larger troubles. 

National Night Out Founder Thinks He's Worth a Quarter Million

About a third of the organization's budget goes to pay the president's salary, approved by a five-person board that includes his brother.   And we track down the source of its funding. 

Barbershop Harmony Society Restyles

The group has achieved a name change, headquarters relocation, and acceptance of a modern repertoire to attract younger members, despite grumbling from the old guard.  And the organization offers a wealth of accessible, online help for local groups that want to organize—better than what many nonprofit advisors have to offer. 

Harvard Business School's Modest Social Entrepreneurs

Compared with their enterprising west coast rivals, social entrepreneurs at HBS seem downright genteel.

How Charities and Nonprofits Jump the Strategic Planning Hurdle

Strategic planning, a management technique long ago rejected by for profit businesses, thrives in the charity industry mostly because funders insist on it.  And the exercise has drifted from both strategy and planning to emphasize consensus-building instead. 

Oregon Nonprofit Association Enters with a Whimper

Anemic dues structure will hamstring the new 140-member association.  My analysis suggests that the members have much more capacity than they are willing to commit to the organization. 

Bridgespan Misses the Path to Greatness

Some major changes in the charity industry are revealed by data on 144 very successful start-ups since 1970. 

Charity Restaurants Trade Work for Food

One World Everybody Eats in Salt Lake City and SAME Cafe in Denver try out different social venture models for feeding those in need. 

Harvard Researchers: Back to Bigness

A historian of charities and a lawyer revive interest in charity organizations that combine national and grassroots perspectives in a federated structure.