PhilanTopic

[Infographic] Mission Investing

This week’s infographic provides some basic facts, courtesy of the data architecture team here at the Foundation Center, about the relatively small but growing field of mission investing, which encompasses both market-rate mission-related investments (MRIs) and program-related investments (PRIs).

The first program-related investment was made in the late 1960s, and the Foundation Center has been tracking foundation use of PRIs for more than sixteen years. The infographic below, which is partly based on a Foundation Center survey conducted in 2011 and on more recent research, reveals the staggering amount of assets available for mission investing and the geographic scope of such investments.

 

As foundations, the public sector, and businesses increasingly investigate the profit potential in making socially beneficial investments, the dollar amount of both MRIs and PRIs is expected to increase. As it does, the Foundation Center will continue to collect and share information about those investments and their impact.

Has your organization made or received an MRI or PRI? Was it a positive experience? Have any mission investing lessons you can share with funders and/or potential recipients of such investments? Use the comments section below...

-- Sue Rissberger

[Infographic] Healthy Food and Community Change in NYC

On Thursday, the New York City-based Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund launched its Healthy Food & Community Change initiative with a commitment of $15 million over five years for healthy food programs across the city.

As the fund-created infographic below illustrates, there are vast disparities in diet-related diseases across New York City. The initiative aims to address these disparities by supporting strategies designed to increase the availability, affordability, and knowledge of healthy foods while promoting healthy food choices in high-need neighborhoods.

In everything it does, the fund tries to leverage its impact through partnerships with nonprofits and other foundations, public-sector agencies, businesses, colleges and universities, and individuals. Do you know of any efforts that have made headway against the food-desert problem and or diet-related diseases? Share them with us -- and the folks at the Illumination Fund -- in the comments section below....

-- Mitch Nauffts

[Infographic] WINGS Network Profile 2012

This week's infographic provides some basic facts about the Worldwide Initiatives for Grantmaker Support, better known as WINGS, a network of 147 organizations in 53 countries working to encourage and strengthen philanthropy and a culture of giving globally.

The graphic, which is based on responses from fifty-two WINGS member organizations (and was produced in partnership with the Foundation Center), shows, among other things, that the growth in organizations supporting philanthropy globally is accelerating and that the longer an organization has been around, the more likely it is to participate in advocacy and research activities related to philanthropy.

With the global economy generating wealth at an accelerating rate, philanthropy will be expected to play an ever-larger role in addressing and mitigating urgent environmental, social, and security challenges. For its part, WINGS has set itself the goal of determining, over the next five years, whether the philanthropic sector will continue to grow globally, or whether it has reached a saturation point. We look forward to reporting on those efforts.

[Infographic] The Importance of Donor Retention

This week's infographic was put together by Jay Love and his team at Bloomerang, developers of a CRM product focused on donor retention and management, and was featured in a good post on Katya Andresen's Non-Profit Marketing Blog.

According to Love, nonprofits do a poor job of retaining donors compared to organizations in the for-profit sector -- in part, because they tend not to have clearly defined donor-retention goals or devote adequate resources to tracking donor retention rates. (Note: The 94 percent customer retention rate mentioned in the top left square of the infographic was derived from 10K filings for "large publicly held tech companies" -- think Apple, Amazon, Google, and so on -- and is probably not representive of the for-profit economy as a whole.)

In the post on Katya's blog, Love shares six donor retention KPIs that most (if not all) nonprofits should be tracking:

• First-Year Donor Retention Rate by Dollars
• First-Year Donor Retention Rate by Number of Donors
• Repeat Donor Retention Rate by Dollars
• Repeat Donor Retention Rate by Number of Donors
• Overall Donor Retention Rate by Dollars
• Overall Donor Retention Rate by Number of Donors

Back in November, Derrick Feldmann, CEO of Indianapolis-based Achieve, wrote a good post on this subject here at PhilanTopic. The Bloomerang blog is also a good source of information for those who want to learn more.

So, how is your nonprofit doing when it comes to donor retention? Does it track donor retention rates? Is it spending more or less on donor retention activities than it did five years ago? And what would you tell other nonprofits looking to improve their performance in the donor retention area? Share your thoughts/advice in the comments section below....

[Inforgraphic] 2012 Conservation Victories

After Sandy, after Newtown, after a presidential election that was too long and cost way too much, we wanted to do our small part to end the year on a positive note. So here, courtesy of the Pew Environment Group, is an encouraging look at some of the important wins for the environment, the planet, and all of us in 2012.

Let's hope there are more to come in 2013.

 

 

[Infographic] It Was a Very Good Year for Social Giving

"Just as social media has changed how we live, it’s now transforming the way we give."

That's the conclusion of MDG Advertising, the shop behind our Saturday Infographic of the Week.

From to to bottom, the infographic looks at online giving and the channels charities leverage most (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn -- in that order); offers details on donor characteristics; looks at a recent example of an online giving campaign that went viral; and ends with some trends and tips.

 

What about you? How does online giving figure into your charitable giving? Has it caused you to give more, less, or the same? And is it a fad or is here to stay? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

[Infographic] What the AIDS Epidemic Still Reveals About Us

This week's infographic, courtesy of Colorlines.com, shows that the contours of the AIDS epidemic remain unchanged. As Kai Wright notes on the Colorlines site, "Globally, those who have access to social and economic capital avoid the virus or, when infected, live healthy lives with it." In the U.S., meanwhile, the epidemic increasingly affects black gay and bisexual men and black women.

On World AIDS Day 2012, we stand with all those who are working to increase awareness, fight prejudice, and improve education about HIV/AIDS prevention, here in the U.S. and around the globe.

 

[Infographic] Women's Wealth and the Future of the Nonprofit Sector

After Tuesday, it's pretty clear that American women are not interested in giving up the reproductive rights they won in the 1970s and 1980s. Which is one reason why, as in 2008, a solid majority of them (55 percent) cast their votes for Barack Obama.

Tuesday also saw a historic number of women, twenty, elected or re-elected to the U.S. Senate. We may not have had a female president yet, but from higher ed to the economy to philanthropy and the nonprofit sector, women in growing numbers are exercising power and making their voices heard.

This week's infographic comes courtesy of the folks at ChangingOurWorld.com, an international consulting firm with expertise in fundraising, corporate social engagement, digital, and research and analytics. Enjoy.

[Infographic] Nonprofits’ Impact on the Economy

Our infographic of the week, courtesy the Rebecca Gordon Group, delves into a topic that has been much-discussed this election season: nonprofits' impact on the economy.

 

According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics, the nonprofit sector contributes 5.5 percent of the nation's entire GDP, or $751 billion worth of output, and employed, as of 2009, 13.5 million individuals, or approximately 10 percent of the country's workforce.

(Independent Sector has a fact sheet on its Web site that lays out the sector's impact in much greater detail.)

Now, some would argue that statistics like these overstate the sector's impact, in that they fail to capture the extent to which the sector relies on tax-advantaged wealth transfers and the difference, in terms of the multiplier effect, between transfer payments and earned income. What's your take on that distinction? And, as we head into an election that could significantly reset the way the nonprofit sector is treated in the federal tax code, how would you characterize the sector's impact on the economy?

Share your thoughts in the comments section below...

[Infographic] The Water-Rich vs. the Water-Poor

Our infographic of the week illustrates the disparity in water consumption between "water-rich" countries with plentiful access to clean water and "water-poor" countries with little or limited access to clean water. It was created by Seametrics, a manufacturer of water flow meter technology. (H/t WASHfunders.org)

 

Source: Seametrics

[Infographic] Grandparents in the United States

Ahead of Grandparents Day 2012 on September 9, Generations United, a national membership organization focused on improving the lives of children, youth, and older people through intergenerational strategies, programs, and public policies, has released the infographic below.

(Click for full-sized image)

"As the graphic illustrates," says Donna Butts, executive director of Generations United, "grandparents and other adults over fifty are making major contributions to society, whether through volunteerism and advocacy, financial support, child care, or simply sharing their wisdom and knowledge. The number of grandparents is growing rapidly, and they represent a tremendous resource for helping us address societal challenges -- especially challenges facing our nation's children and youth. We have sixty-five million grandparents in the U.S. today. Imagine if we were to tap into the talents and skills of just 10 percent of those older adults. That would mean 6.5 million adults who could give voice to our children on issues from education to medical care. Many are already doing so and many more would do so if asked."

Click here to learn more about Grandparents Day 2012 and the week (September 8-15) of intergenerational activism GU has planned to mark the event.