Weekend Link Roundup (September 24 - 25, 2011)

Our weekly roundup of new and noteworthy posts from and about the nonprofit sector....

Arts and Culture

On the Philanthropy Potluck blog, Susan Stehling shares findings from a new Minnesota Council on Foundations report which found that giving to the arts in the region fell 10 percent in 2009 and was down 19 percent from 2004 levels.

Communications/Marketing

While attending the Communications Network conference in Boston, Katya Andresen looked at three different ways to measure social media on her Non-Profit Marketing blog.

Impact/Effectiveness

Center for Effective Philanthropy vice president for research Ellie Buteau shares key findings from a new report that "looks at strategy at community foundations and concludes that, just as is the case at private foundations, there is a gulf between rhetoric and reality...."

Ken Berger, president and CEO of Charity Navigator, announces the relaunch of the nonprofit rating site. Three years in the making, the new CN 2.0 "evaluates [transparency and accountability] practices that have been researched, advocated for and recommended for years by many, many nonprofit experts."

Philanthropy

National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy research and policy associate Kevin Laskowski explains why technological advances and shifts in the industry could spell the end for many community foundations.

Social Entrepreneurship

Philanthrocapitalism authors Matthew Bishop and Michael Green recap the Startups for Good Challenge, which was held on the final day of the 2011 Social Good Summit in New York City last week.

Social Media

On the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Impatient Optimists blog, Melinda Gates announces that she has joined Twitter and explains why. Writes Gates:

Most people associate philanthropy with great wealth. In my mind, philanthropy is not about the money. It’s about using whatever resources you have at your fingertips and applying them to improving the world. If you are passionate about helping humanity, then you can get creative about the ways to do so.

Twitter is an example of this -- it is the type of vehicle that allows you to share stories of impact in an instant. I'll be using Twitter to pass along stories that inspire me....

Last but not least, Beth Kanter looks at the "new dramatic, life altering changes in the Facebook Platform," including Timeline and Open Graph, and teases out some of the implications for nonprofits.

That's it for now. What did we miss? Drop us a line at rnm@foundationcenter.org. And have a great week!

-- Regina Mahone