Where Most Needed

Sexual Healing vs the Hollywood Hype

A number of different twelve-step programs with a focus on sex addiction have been around for over twenty five years, but remain marginal compared to Alcoholics Anonymous—like most of the other spin-off groups other than NA and Al-Anon.

The Coinstar Conundrum and Other Mysteries of Paid Fundraising

Hawaii's charity solicitation report demonstrates why large scale charities continue to rely on contract fundraising.  It works for them.

Diversity in Funding Sources More Talked About Than Practiced

A study of more than fifty organizations in Baltimore with income from $1 million to $50 million shows that close to 90% rely on just one line on the Form 990 for more than half their income.  Even more notable: the lion's share of private contributions go to organizations that make private contributions their primary source of income.

Blogathon Demonstrates Long Tail (Up to a Point)

Shared vision is largely absent from a twenty-four-hour blogging event to raise money for charity, which could be why it wasn't more successful.  And the winner was online editor for a newspaper in Midland, Texas, who blogged from a 30-foot Genie scissors lift in a grocery store parking lot (isn't that cheating?)

Smaller Educational Institutions Falling Short in Fundraising

Big research institutions capture most of the growth in fundraising as its graduates hit the jackpot. 

Disgruntled Son Blows Whistle on Mom's Favorite Charity

A gossip columnist fills in some details about a messy family feud in Florida involving the heirs of the founder of the National Enquirer. 

IRS Sets Doomsday Clock on a Half Million Charities

Thousands of inactive (or just inattentive) charities face official extinction with the introduction of an annual filing requirement for every registered US charity. 

The Money to be Made in Microfinance

Harvard provides an example of the claims being made about the business opportunity of lending to the poor, thirty years after the founding of the Grameen Bank.

Google Buys Fun Statistical Visualization Tool from Swedish Nonprofit

The entertaining professor who founded the organization may feel a twinge of regret for going the charity route.