Philanthropy Books

Burlingame makes good use of actual case studies to illustrate successful library fundraising strategies employed in a variety of library settings. Challenge grants, endowments, foundations, fundraising campaigns, and trusts are discussed in relation to small college, public, and university libraries. One of the most valuable topics is the detailed discussion regarding project planning, definition of need, budget issues, and marketing. An updated edition of the book would be useful, with greater emphasis upon grant funds and proposal writing.

This book is a useful fundraising resource for librarians, fundraisers, students, and volunteers. Any person needing basic information about library fundraising would find this book helpful. This book contains case studies that point out library trends in alternative funding and illustrate some successful fundraising campaigns used by a variety of academic and public libraries to raise needed resources. Fundraising activities that this book addresses include: annual programs, special events, capital campaigns, developing endowments and foundations, and challenge grants. These case studies are important to librarians because they point out both the successes and failures that have transpired with actual real-life fundraising endeavors. The chapter entitled "A Capital Campaign for a Small Public Library" is particularly valuable as it discusses five steps that are essential to any successful fundraising campaign and explains how to know if you need the help of a professional fundraiser. It also explains how to select a chairperson for the fundraising committee and provides a job description fo this position. The chapter also provides a list of four reasons why this capital campaign was successful. The book points out the importance of fundrasing for libraries and details ways to obtain information on the topic. The book contains a bibliography which could be used to locate additional readings on fundraising. This book is recommended for individuals needing information on library development programs.

"Local Heroes Changing America" is an extraordinary collection of stories and photographs by some of America's finest photographers and writers. Having just seen the exhibition here in Chicago at the Terra Museum, I can only say that this book should be brought by everyone who wants to know if pictures and words together still have the power to inspire and create social change. They do, and this book, and the traveling exhibition, shows why. Buy one for yourself, and one for a friend. They will definitely thank you. If the exhibition is in your city, make it a point to go, and take others. Work like this, that speaks so powerfully and compassionately, should be widely and enthusiastically supported.

This book is understandably fragmentary because its interview-based format. As a pastiche of American life, this format is interesting and pretty effective. However, if your main interest in reading the book is to find out about innovative programs around the US, presumably with an eye toward participating yourself, is a bit difficult to get a coherent view of what's happening in each section. For instance, I would have preferred to have a bit more detail about how each of the organizations was started, what problems were overcome early on and which were still being faced -- there wasn't much pragmatic detail, there were a lot of impressions. There wasn't even contact information for the organizations in the book. The overall impression was more coffee-table book than a practical manual for change.

Here are synopses of the 12 organizations described in the book.

1) Doula Service, Univ. Hospital, in Stony Brook, NY.
'Doula' is a Greek word meaning servant, and today it means someone who offers emotional and practical support at the pre-natal, labor, postpartum stages. Talks about how doulas engage in this "ancient, humanizing approach to supporting birth".

2) Dine bi' iina', Inc., in the Navajo Nation "Dine bi' iina'" means "Navajo lifeways". It's a group of Navajo herders, weavers, and cultural activists, working to find ways to prosper while maintaining traditional ways of life. The titl machine that e of this section is "A Traditional Future".

3) Eau Claire Community of Shalom, in Eau Claire-North Columbia, SC
The Community of Shalom is a nat'l initiative of the United Methodist Church. It encouraged two churches in Eau Claire, one historically black, the other historically white, to work with each other and with other churches & community institutions to improve health care, education, housing, safety.

4) Proyecto Azteca, in San Juan, TX.
Founded by the United Farm Workers union, this organization ("Project Aztec" -- Aztec being both the name of the ancient people and a relevant acronym in Spanish) helps Mexican-American families escape from colonias and build homes. A "colonia" is an unincorporated rural development, usually without even basic utilities.

5) Southwest Youth Collaborative, in Chicago, IL
Grassroots collaboration of churches, social service centers, rec centers, and neighborhood organizations. Activities include a discussion group for female juvenile offenders, assistance for released offenders, discussion group for youth to understand issues of law/justice, and a variety of neighborhood youth programs.

6) Yaak Valley Forest Community, in Yaak Valley, Montana
150 familes living near Canada, often w/o electricity or plumbing, in the middle of a huge nat'l forest. The Council, created under the US Forest Service's Forest Stewardship program, supports forest protection, especially in the remaining roadless areas. Its story shows the value and vagueness of the democratic process in a highly charged debate involving issues of ownership, livelihood, freedom, wrestling with issues of public and private good.

7) Haitian Citizens Police Academy and Roving Patrol, in Delray Beach, FL
Many Haitians who have streamed into Florida in recent years. Naturally the arrival of many new immigrants causes various stresses on the existing community. The program profiled was started by the police dept and community organizations to embrace the newcomers as community members, in the context of community policing.

8) Alaska Marine Conservation Council, on the north coast of the state
The AMCC is a group of concerned residents who have successfully advocated for sustainable fishing practices, independent fishermen, native communities, a good example of change through consensus building, successful because informed by a deep familiarity with the complexities of maintaining a viable way of life in that region.

9) Communities in Harmony Advocating for Learning and Kids (Chalk), in San Francisco, CA Youthline is a toll-free phone service offering access to listeners, young staff trained for at least 80 hours to direct callers to help & information, supporting callers with conversation and encouragement. Essential idea is youth helping youth. The emphasis is on active listening, not giving advice.

10) alternatives federal credit union, in Ithaca, NY A credit union working within federal standards, Alternatives is member-owned, and driven by a commitment to social change through local investment. It provides low end," high-risk" members with mortgages, small-business startup loans, lines of credit, in financial education.

11) Handmade in America / small town revitalization project, in Western North Carolina America's small rural towns are struggling to survive and maintain their way of life in the face of megastores and franchises. Handmade in America works to revitalize local economies in an environmentally and culturally sensitive way. The Small Town Revitalization Project in Marshall, NC, develops citizens' ideas for promoting tourism, in developing small-business, etc.

12) the village of arts and humanities, in Philadelphia PA the village intends to rebuild community through creativity. By building housing, reclaiming lots as parks, youth theater, publications, and outreach efforts, village residents work on building community through the arts.

The usual authorized biography is worthy but not worthwhile; the author has traded access for freedom to write what he damned well pleases. In this case, Foster, though not writing an "approved" or subsidized book, has given up nothing -- he knew and genuinely liked his subject, despite having worked for him. Robert Wood Johnson, NOT the Johnson who just bought himself a professional foootball team, was both a gentleman and a rebel but he did establish for one of the premier American companies a credo which helped to build it and, even after his death, to keep it on the right course during the Tylenol crisis, a triumph of responsible capitalism -- and not incidentally of well-handled public relations . The author minimizes his own role in handling this potentially widespread and dangerous situation. The book is rare in its genre -- well written, humane, interesting, and valuable to anyone interested in top drawer American companies, the economy, public health, public service, the lives of the rich, and more.

The impact of the Johnson family -- and particularly the "gentleman rebel" at the center of Larry Foster's book -- on the community, the health care industry and society at large has been documented in a way that is illuminating, satisfying and inspiring. Attention to detail, the providing of context and respect for the subject, along with graceful writing, make this book a joy to read.

Author Robinson, who benignly describes himself as an "anti-capitalist," provides some useful information and guidelines for unsophisticated non-profit agencies contemplating social entrepreneurship. Unfortunately, he cloaks the good stuff with so much undisguised leftist, liberal activist commentary, he spoils it for those of us who tend to more moderate or conservative views about the merits of capitalism (historically the only successfully sustainable economic model). Still, most non-profits will find practical food for thought, even if they have to "hold their nose" while swallowing it.

"Selling Social Change (Without Selling Out)" is a welcome new resource for all nonprofit fundraisers. Inspiring, well-written and full of practical tips, this book will help you determine whether or not your organization should pursue earned income revenue. Robinson is clearly committed to teaching social change activists all he knows about effective fundraising strategies. Take advantage of his 20 years of experience and buy this book!

I have this edition available SOCIOLOGY Seventh Edition 1997 - CRAIG CALHOUN/ DONALD LIGHT / SUZANNE KELLER- ISBN 0070380694 / HardBound Very Clean LOOK AT THE USED & NEW SECTION IN THIS PAGE FOR ITEM PURCHASE! INTRNATIONAL SHIPPING AVAILABLE

They sell this book at a cheaper price at our colleg

This workbook was OK. It is a companion book to another book the author wrote: The Five Strategies for Fundraising Success (ISBN: 0787949949). I think there is some good content included here. But I think the writing is just too muddied. It comes close to be a worthwhile read, but it misses its mark. At least in my humble opinion.

I believe there is one and only one fundraising process or strategy that all nonprofits use to support their annual budgets and strategic plans. That process includes an Annual Giving Program (AGP). And it may include special fundraising campaigns such as capital or endowment campaigns. I disagree with the author that there are five strategies to successfully raising funds for nonprofits. He calls them GIVES: growth, involvement, visibility, efficiency, and stability. See page 38 of the workbook. These are not strategies. They are stages in a nonprofit's life.

A newborn or fledgling nonprofit will focus its AGP on growing its donor base (growth). A toddler nonprofit will continue its growth efforts since those efforts must ALWAYS be performed by a nonprofit at any stage of its life. Donors come and go, so efforts to attract new donors are always required. But a toddler nonprofit will start to nurture some of its donors in order to build a relationship with them. This requires getting some donors "involved." As a toddler nonprofit ages into a young adult it must continue its growth and involvement efforts. But it probably will also work toward becoming "visible" in the community. And young adult nonprofits eventually want to be recognized as being good at what they do: they seek "efficiency." And as a nonprofit becomes efficient, it develops a comfort zone for itself (stability).

The bulk of this book is nothing more than an application of basic strategic planning principles to the AGP of a nonprofit. Unfortunately this book doesn't even get that correct. The following ten steps are my version of the approach I think this book was TRYING to convey:

1. Establish a benchmark: What does your NPO do to raise funds now?
2. Evaluate the benchmark: Determine what are your organizaton's fundraising strengths and weaknesses.
3. Set a new benchmark: Establish higher fundraising goals.
4. Formulate a better fundraising game plan or strategy: Create options for a new game plan.
5. Evaluate the options: Consider your organization's strengths and weaknesses, and consider costs and benefits each option will provide.
6. Pick the best strategy: Choose the best options that will provide the biggest bang for the buck.
7. Convert your strategy into objectives: Strategies are fine, but the completion of concrete tasks (objectives) is what is important.
8. Establish tactics to meet objectives: Create action item lists that will force you to meet objectives.
9. Set deadlines for completing the action item lists.
10. Monitor progress.

I purchased this workbook back in 2004 when I was acquainting myself with nonprofit fundraising while working as a consultant to nonprofits. There are a lot of pencilings in my copy of this book because I found it to be illogical in many places. Basically, I found this tome to be very poorly written and outlined.

If you are looking for books on strategic planning that might help you in your nonprofit organization's endeavors, then consider taking a look at: 60 Minute Strategic Plan (ISBN: 0978645200), Strategic Planning for Nonprofits (ISBN: 0471445819), or Strategic Planning for Public or Nonprofits (ISBN: 0787967556). And if you are looking for a nice book on AGPs, then consider taking a look at Fundraising Fundamentals (ISBN: 0471209872). I have posted book reviews on Amazon for all four of these books. 3 stars!

I was extremely impressed with the content and format! I have read other fundraising books and found the ten steps to be one of the best, a necessary guide for anyone involved in a not-for-profit organization's operations. It concisely captures the necessary fundamentals involved in successfully empowering an organization. The CD-ROM was a great bonus and it was quite easy to manuever through the comprehensive worksheets and exercises - I especially liked "Evaluating your Executive Director" and the other assessment tools. I highly recommend this guide!

There is perhaps no better clue to writing a grant proposal that fits the grantmaking foundation than to see which foundations are giving which grants to which nonprofit organizations. Who Gets Grants, just released in its fourth edition, is an excellent way to find out who is awarding grants to organizations like yours, in your subject field, and in your geographic region. The 20,947 organizations covered in the volume (and "volume" is definitely the right word for this 2,032 page reference!) receive more than 50 percent of all foundation grant dollars, making this an important, if not essential, tool for grant proposal writers looking for indications of funding priorities within their field. Perhaps most impressive with this reference is its geographic emphasis. There are 19 subject areas covered in the main section of the book, where organizations are grouped geographically by state or country -- making this valuable not just for USA-based charities, but for those in countries other than the USA.

There is perhaps no better clue to writing a grant proposal that fits the grantmaking foundation than to see which foundations are giving which grants to which nonprofit organizations. Who Gets Grants, just released in its fourth edition, is an excellent way to find out who is awarding grants to organizations like yours, in your subject field, and in your geographic region. The 20,947 organizations covered in the volume (and "volume" is definitely the right word for this 2,032 page reference!) receive more than 50 percent of all foundation grant dollars, making this an important, if not essential, tool for grant proposal writers looking for indications of funding priorities within their field. Perhaps most impressive with this reference is its geographic emphasis. There are 19 subject areas covered in the main section of the book, where organizations are grouped geographically by state or country -- making this valuable not just for USA-based charities, but for those in countries other than the USA.

I liked this book a lot. It was short, well written, and well outlined. However, I think the book should have been titled "Building a Strong Foundation of Donors." The wording of the title confused me until I read the subtitle: Fundraising for Nonprofits.

I got my copy of this book at a half-price bookstore. Since I only paid $16 for it I was pleased. However, I notice that Amazon is selling it for $32. In my humble opinion, I am not sure the book is worth the money. But maybe since the chapter on prospect research was included it is? I'm not sure. I haven't seen prospect research handled in other books as well as it was in this one.

The book has the following seven chapters:

1. The context of fundraising
2. The process of fundraising
3. Fundamentals of planned giving
4. Basics of prospect research
5. Special events
6. Cause-related marketing
7. Putting it all together: An overview

I would have liked it better if Chapter 6 had not been included. Cause-related marketing is a form of partnership between companies and nonprofits. And I didn't find it worthy of a chapter considering the fact that there were none on "major gift solicitation" or "capital campaigns." And since there was a chapter devoted to planned giving I think these two topics should have had their own chapter.

I would have liked the book much more if it had had the following chapters:

1. The context of fundraising
2. Nonprofit executives responsible for fundraising
3. The process of fundraising
4. Fundamentals of an annual giving program
5. Grants and grant writing
6. Special events
7. Solicitation of major gifts
8. Fundamentals of planned giving
9. Capital campaigns
10. Basics of prospect research
11. Putting it all together

But the book as written was a good read and I recommend people responsible for fundraising at their nonprofit give it a read. Try to find it at your library. Even though this book does not provide a formula or step-by-step system to raise funds, it does a wonderful job of telling you what a fundraiser needs to know to build her own successful fundraising program at her nonprofit. 4 stars!

This book was given to me, as I have been contemplating where to send my preschooler to kindergarten. It is a very compelling case for classical education. Classical education, I believe, is the answer to the education crisis in the USA, and would cost no more (if not less) than the system currently in place. It is not simply back-to-basics, it is a comprehensive, intensely rigorous curriculum which teaches children to actually think and reason and learn to love truth and beauty. Who could want more for their children? Who would want less? Needless to say, I'm sold.

Lohmann gives a comprehensive analysis of the nonprofit sector, and presents a coherent, unified theory about how it operates and why.The Commons is a well written, easily accessible, and thorough work that builds a solid foundation for further study of the nonprofit sector.