Mini Horse A Hit With Wisc. Salvation Army

Holiday season in the United States brings a lot of familiar sights, though none may be as iconic as the Salvation Army's Red Kettle campaign. Volunteers from the charity stand outside shops ringing bells and soliciting donations. This practice is the same all across the country except in a town in Wisconsin, where an unexpected volunteer is leading the way: A miniature horse.

Named Tinker, the horse and other more traditional volunteers set up shop in West Bend, Wisc., according to an article in The Associated Press. He uses his mouth to hold and ring the standard red bell and holds a sign that says "Thank You Merry Christmas." He can also bow, give kisses and, most importantly of all to the Salvation Army, he raises 10 times the amount of money than a normal bell ringer.

Salvation Army commander Major Roger Ross told The Post that Tinker, who is 13-years old, has been known to bring in around $2,500 in a day, while a human ringer typically raises $250 in the same time period.

Carol Takacs, one of Tinker's owners, bought the horse 12 years ago with her husband while looking at a property. She fell in love with the mini horse and asked the owner that he be a part of the deal. She got the idea to use Tinker as a bell ringer after seeing one of the Salvation Army volunteers a few years ago, and she thought the horse could help make the standard Red Kettle campaign more interesting.

Before a typical appearance, Takacs spends a half-hour vacuuming Tinker's mane and fur and puts glitter on his hooves, a bell on his tail, and a Santa hat on his head. A pin with the horse's likeness is also given to donors who contribute at least $5.

You can read the full story in The Associated Press.

5 Ways Nonprofit Advocacy Can Succeed

All eyes right now are on the so-called fiscal cliff and while most of the arguments echoing in the congressional halls are about whether there should tax hikes on the wealthiest 2 percent, there are some issues that will directly impact the nonprofit sector. For example, there are still talks about capping the charitable deduction to generate revenue for the government, to which most in the sector are adamantly opposed.

This is where effective advocacy can come into play.

While nonprofits are forbidden to directly influence lawmakers, they can use their supporters to rally for causes like the charitable deduction. In the book "Five Good Ideas," Sean Moore wrote about how organizations should scrap the focus on the nuts and bolts of advocacy in favor of a reliance on concepts, approaches, and mindsets that can help them become a constructive player in public policy.

Moore laid out five ways to avoid the common pitfalls organizations face while lobbying:

• Understand how the government thinks. Key to successful persuasion is understanding those who you are trying to convince: Their values, objectives, needs, and way of looking at the world.
• Undertake do-it-yourself public policy. One of the most important things you can do is provide public officials with material they can use in a format with which they are familiar.
• Build political capital. Whether its leadership realizes it or not, every organization has political capital. This includes the reputation and accomplishments of your nonprofit and its leaders.
• Be strategically opportunistic. Aim for a balance between being reliable and avoiding being taken for granted. Be prepared to be active, but wait for the opportunity where you can have the greatest influence.
• Find your champions. Having a champion is a litmus test for your work: If you can’t get someone to play this role, that may be an early warning about the practicality of what you are asking.

5 Grant Opportunity Questions To Ask

Nonprofits are constantly searching for new grant opportunities around the web, whether they are private or public sources. While the temptation is strong to pursue a grant without asking any questions, that is an approach that could lead to big problems.

In his book "How to Win Grants," Alan Silver wrote that before applying for a grant, nonprofit managers should answer "yes" to the following five questions:

• Are you eligible? First of all, your agency should clearly meet the funder's legal status requirements. If your agency is not eligible for direct funding, you might be able to partner with an appropriate organization and subcontract a significant portion of the project.
• Is the grant aligned with your agency mission and goals? Once you’re sure your organization is eligible for funding, consider how closely the grant matches your purpose and plans.
• What are your chances? You’ll want to be well positioned to win based on your agency’s qualifications, the problem or need you've defined, and the project you've designed.
• Is it worth the trouble? Consider the amount of work you will need to win the grant. If it’s too much effort for your organization, you should consider other opportunities.
• What happens when the grant ends? Funders want to know your game plan for sustaining the project when the grant funding ends. If the grant pays for new equipment, can you support the ongoing maintenance expenses?

NY AG Requests Sandy Aid Info From Nonprofits

Nonprofits across the country have been busy raising money in support of relief efforts in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman now wants to know the exact details of those fundraising efforts.

According to an article in The Wall Street Journal, Schneiderman's office sent letters to at least 75 nonprofits on Tuesday requesting disclosure of their fundraising efforts for Sandy. The information will be compiled online by the attorney general's office Charities Bureau in an effort to improve transparency and donor confidence.

"In the coming weeks and months, we expect to reach out to you for additional information, including more detailed information about how donations have been expended and the steps taken to prevent fraud and/or misuse of resources," Jason Lilien, chief of the Charities Bureau, wrote in the letter.

Lilien goes on to write that he expects to get responses from the organizations by Dec. 11. The information that is being requested includes amounts raised and spent so far and whether the donations received will be used solely for storm relief. In addition, information regarding services provided to victims, funds forwarded to other groups, and plans for any surplus or direct grants to individuals, families or businesses.

The nearly 75 organizations contacted by the the Charities Bureau include the American Red Cross and the AARP Foundation. Letters to more nonprofits are expected to be sent in the coming weeks.

As of  this writing, the agency has only received a small number of complaints about Sandy-related relief efforts by charities, reports which are currently being investigated.

You can read the full story in The Wall Street Journal.

New Grant Opportunities From NPT

We are continuing to post new opportunities to our grant page, with three more being added today from the IEEE Foundation. Two of those three grants fall under newly added categories: Technology and Human Services.

While both categories are important, we're going to feature the Human Services posting here. Take a look:


Type of Grant: Human Services
Grant Name: Applying Technology for Humanitarian Causes
Agency(s): IEEE Foundation
Closing Date for Applications: Two deadlines – March 15, 2013 or August 6, 2013


Description:

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Foundation is offering grant opportunities for organizations seeking ways to improve the lives of others using technology. The IEEE Foundation supports projects that implement or disseminate replicable, sustainable, technology-based solutions for humanitarian issues in underserved and underprivileged areas.

Eligible Organizations:

All nonprofits are eligible to apply for a grant as long as they meet the following requirements:

• The organization in question must be an IEEE unit or a charitable organization;
• It must agree to IEEE’s Grant Reporting Guidelines (https://www.ieee.org/organizations/foundation/guidelines.html);
• It must accept the Foundation’s Grant Payment Terms & Conditions (https://www.ieee.org/organizations/foundation/requestgrantpayment.html);
• The project must be five years or less in duration; and,
• It must fit within one or more of IEEE’s focus areas (in this case, humanitarian).

Grant payments depend on the length of the project. For example, programs that are 12 months or less in duration will receive 50 percent of the initial award payment after the Grantee has completed an IRS Form W-9. The remaining 50 percent will be paid after the final Grant Report has been submitted along with a financial statement.

You can find out more information at https://www.ieee.org/organizations/foundation/grants.html

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You can take a look at the other opportunities by visiting the NPT Grant Finder.

Former Salvation Army Director Charged With Theft

The former executive director of a Salvation Army facility has been charged in the alleged theft of toys and donations from the organization's Toronto warehouse.

David Rennie was fired after the charity announced last week that 100,000 items worth about $2 million went missing from the facility over a period of two years, according to a report in The Huffington Post. Rennie is charged with theft, possession of stolen goods, and breach of trust. He will appear in court on Jan. 4.

According to an article in The Toronto Star, the alleged theft first came to light after an anonymous whistleblower, who is believed to be an employee at the warehouse, informed the Salvation Army that there were irregularities at the facility. After a month-long internal audit, it was discovered that toys and donations had gone missing, and Rennie was fired shortly after.

Police found the missing items in a warehouse northwest of Toronto, were 146 wooden platforms were stacked with toys, cribs, strollers, and other items.

You can read the full story in The Huffington Post.

Giving Tuesday Launches Holiday Donations, Community Building

Head to The NonProfit Times' website for the full version of this article on Giving Tuesday

**

DoSomething in New York City sent an email to its mostly youthful members and supporters asking that they get their parents or anyone older than age 25 to take a five-question test. The penalty for each wrong answer is a $10 donation to DoSomething or a nonprofit of the test-takers choice.

Today is “Giving Tuesday,” the charitable sector’s answer to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Approximately 2,200 organizations – both nonprofits and their for-profit supporters – are pushing Americans to kick-off the holiday season with a donation of cash or time. Much like store having promotions tied to their brands on Black Friday, it is up to each participating organization to determine how they’ll promote the event.

The event’s Twitter hashtag, #GivingTuesday, was already trending before the close of the business day on Monday. “We know this is going to be the first day of the giving season, and we’re excited to see what happens,” said Sol Adler, executive director of the 92nd Street Y (92Y) in New York City, where the idea for the day was hatched. “There are two days for spending (Black Friday and Cyber Monday), so the whole idea is, why not have a day of giving,” said Melanie Mathos of Charleston, S.C., software firm Blackbaud, one of the founding partners. “It’s a way to kick off the giving season, and the timing is great to raise awareness. It embodies the spirit of the holiday season and will bring greater awareness to nonprofits.”
Blackbaud will begin tracking giving on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving year-over-year, starting with this year compared to last year. Mathos said Blackbaud’s results should be ready tomorrow.

Though no one organization controls Giving Tuesday, a mass message of support from about 800,000 people will go out on Twitter via the Thunderclap platform at 2:30 p.m. (EST). Thunderclap allows for a large number of social media users to write a message and share it at the same time.

“One of the interesting things about Giving Tuesday is it’s an opportunity for experimenting,” said Henry Timms, 92Y’s deputy executive director of innovation, content and strategy. “Thunderclap is a chance for people to come together to share one message.” The 92Y experimented with Google Hangouts, and enlisted about 800 social media ambassadors to help spread the word between September and Giving Tuesday.

The 92Y is also driving donations and volunteering opportunities to itself, according to Adler. “We secured $150,000 worth of matching grants (for Giving Tuesday donations) from our board of directors and the general community,” he said. “We’re also doing a lot of opportunities for volunteering. We’ll have young kids doing greeting cards for soldiers and homebound elderly, and if you come down to the 92nd Street Y, a lot of it will be happening in front of you.”

No one is quite sure how Giving Tuesday will shake out, since this is the first event and there are a large number of variables. “This is the first year that a group of retailers and nonprofits and other folks in social media have pulled together to encourage the public to give,” said Anne Marie Borrego, director of media relations for the American Red Cross (ARC), another founding partner of Giving Tuesday. “We have Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday and now Giving Tuesday. It will shine a light on the importance of giving in the holiday season.”

Youth Grant Opportunities

Nonprofits are constantly trying to help groups that are in need, yet the money isn't always there. That's where grants come in handy. With The NonProfit Times' new grant opportunities page, organizations will have another source to find out the latest opportunities from around the web.

The page has many different categories that are updated often. One of our newer categories, Youth, was updated just this morning with an opportunity from the American Honda Foundation. Take a look:


Type of Grant: Youth
Grant Name: American Honda Foundation Grants
Agency(s): American Honda Foundation
Closing Date for Applications: Applications accepted on rolling basis


Description:

The American Honda Foundation (AHF) seeking to fund organizations that are starting projects focused on youth education, specifically in the areas of science, technology, engineering, math, environment, job training, and literacy.

Eligible Organizations:

Only nonprofits that are 501(c)(3) are eligible to receive grants from AHF. In addition, your organization must have two years of audited financial statements examined by an independent CPA for the purpose of expressing an opinion if gross revenue is $500,000 or more. If gross revenue is less than $500,000, and the organization does not have audits, it may submit two years of financial statements accompanied by an independent CPA’s review report instead.

Grant requests may only be for a 12-month period. Awards range from $20,000 to $75,000. You can find out more information at http://corporate.honda.com/america/philanthropy.aspx?id=ahf

Featured Nonprofit Job: Development Manager

We hope that everybody has great plans to celebrate Thanksgiving this year. Before you sit down for a hearty meal of turkey, why not take a look at the latest featured nonprofit job posted on our career center?

The American Lung Association (ALA) is looking to hire a Development Manager to lead fundraising efforts in the South Florida area. This position is also responsible for obtaining local development goals through collaboration with local volunteers and community and corporate leaders. Finally, the development manager will assist in recruiting and supporting volunteers for area specific fundraising/subcommittee assignments, assisting in promoting the ALA to local community and training volunteers in fundraising techniques.

Before you click that "apply" button, make sure that you meet the following requirements laid out by the ALA:

• Bachelor's degree in related field;
• Minimum of three years experience in special event fundraising, community outreach, and committee development;
• Experience in corporate development and third party fundraising;
• Excellent verbal, writing, and computer skills; and,
• Extensive local and occasional overnight travel required and must have reliable transportation.

If you think you have what it takes to be a Development Manager, head to our career center for instructions on how to apply.

Nonprofit Hospital To Pay Syracuse For City Services

The mayor of Syracuse, N.Y., announced today that one of the city's nonprofit hospitals has agreed to pay $50,000 for four years to help cover the cost for services such as snow plowing.

Crouse Hospital becomes only the second tax-exempt institution to agree to make payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs) to the city after Mayor Stephanie Miner urged the city's nonprofits to help the cash-strapped city, according to an article in The Syracuse Post-Standard. The other organization to agree to such payments was Syracuse University (SU), which will pay $500,000 over five years.

Between the two agreements, Syracuse will generate $2.7 million in revenue over the next five years.

"Crouse Hospital understands we cannot succeed as a city without our large non-profit institutions and that our large non-profit institutions cannot succeed without a vital and healthy city,” said Mayor Stephanie A. Miner in a press release. "This agreement shows Crouse’s leadership and how important it is to have strong partnerships with our leading employers—our nonprofits—to ensure we can move this community forward in challenging times."

The push to get more of the tax-exempt organization in Syracuse -- 50 percent of properties in the city fall under this classification -- is part of Miner's efforts to convince Albany that the city is doing all it can to resolve its current fiscal problems. The state government is reluctant to offer assistance until it gets those assurances.

In a letter to the city's nonprofits dated Nov. 1, Miner wrote that she believes that "our local efforts will not be complete until we as a community demonstrate that ALL our major nonprofit institutions are adopting the same bold thinking we are asking Albany to consider."

So far, however, the mayor has only gotten Crouse and SU to agree to make voluntary payments. Organizations including St. Joseph's Hospital Center and the State College of Environmental Science and Forestry have already rebuffed Miner's calls for payments.

Syracuse is among a growing list of cities that have called on nonprofits to make payments in lieu of taxes to help with fiscal issues. In October, the government of Pittsburgh, Pa., began dialogue with local tax-exempt organizations to make contributions to the city.

New Foundation Grant Opportunities

We continue to add new grant opportunities to The NonProfit Times Grant Page. Specifically, we have added three new categories (Education, Community Building, and Social Entrepreneurship) and uploaded four new grants. While the majority of our first batch of listings were mainly from government organizations such as the Food and Drug Administration, our latest additions are from foundations.

Below is one of the four new grant opportunities we posted on our site:


Type of Grant: Education
Grant Name: Community Action Grants Program
Agency(s): AAUW
Closing Date for Applications: Jan. 15, 2013


Description:

The AAUW Community Action Grants Program provides funds to AAUW state organizations as well as local community-based nonprofits for innovative programs or non-degree research projects that promote education and equity for women and girls.

Eligible Organizations:

Eligible nonprofits must be based in the United States and projects must have a direct public impact on the issue of education equality for women and girls. In addition, they must be non-partisan and take place within the U.S. or its territories. Preference will be given to projects focused on K-12 and community college girls’ and women’s achievements in science, technology, engineering or math.

There are two types of grants available: One-year ($2,000 to $7,000 in funds) or two-year grants ($5,000 to $10,000 in funds). The former provides seed money for new projects while the latter provides start-up funds for longer-term projects. You can apply for these opportunities at http://www.actionvolunteering.com/apply_online.htm

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You can see the other opportunities we have listed by visiting our Grants Page.

Wanted: Executive Director For California Nonprofit

Executive Directors are some of the more important employees at a nonprofit. Now, thanks to a new featured job from the Nonprofit Job Seeker, there's a great opportunity to fill this major role.

The Mary Magdalene Project (MMP), a nonprofit that provides women who have been victimized by domestic trafficking a chance to turn their lives around, is looking to hire an Executive Director. Reporting to the Board of Directors, this position will have the following responsibilities in the organization:

• Ensure ongoing local programmatic excellence, rigorous program evaluation, and consistent quality of finance and administration, fundraising, communications, and systems; recommend timelines and resources needed to achieve the strategic goals.
• Actively engage and energize MMP volunteers, board members, committees, alumni, partnering organizations, and funders.
• Develop, maintain, and support a strong Board of Directors: serve as ex-officio of each committee, seek and build board involvement with strategic direction for both ongoing operations as well as for expansion throughout Los Angeles and adjacent counties.
• Lead, coach, develop, and retain MMP professional team.
•  Ensure effective systems to track progress, and regularly evaluate program components, so as to measure successes that can be effectively communicated to the board, funders, and other constituents.
• Expand local revenue generating and fundraising activities to support existing program operations and regional expansion.
• Deepen and refine all aspects of communications—from web presence to external relations with the goal of expanding awareness of MMP’s programs and services.
• Use external presence and relationships to garner new opportunities.
• Design and complete a strategic business planning process for funding MMP’s existing programs and the implementation of new programs as well as the expansion into a wider geographical area.

You can read more about this job, including information on how you can apply, by heading to our career center.

Top 20 Employee Benefits Offered By NY Nonprofits

The nonprofit jobs that were most likely to receive bonus pay were examined in a post last week. Today, we will take a look at some of the non-cash perks that are given to employees.

Benefits given by organizations in one state are not necessarily the same in another. Nowhere is this more true than in New York, home to some of the most diverse groups of nonprofits in the country. In The NonProfit Times' 2012 New York Nonprofits Salary and Benefits Report, employee benefits are studied at the many organizations based in the Empire State. From the large organizations in the heart of Manhattan to the government-related groups in Albany, nonprofits in this state give a wide range of perks to their workers.

Based on the 34,243 individuals surveyed for this report, we were able to determine that the following 20 benefits were the most common among New York nonprofits:

• Paid Company Holidays -- 87.99%
• Medical Insurance Coverage -- 87.39%
• Retirement Benefits -- 78.80%
• Paid Vacation -- 78.21%
• Paid Sick Leave -- 75.14%
• Paid Bereavement Time -- 69.55%
• Dental Insurance Coverage -- 61.58%
• Paid Personal Days -- 61.45%
• Flextime -- 46.55%
• Basic Life Insurance -- 43.79%
• Flexible Spending Account Benefit -- 39.78%
• Short-Term Disability -- 36.39%
• Free/Subsidized Parking -- 33.74%
• Business Casual Days -- 33.00%
• Paid Floating Holidays -- 32.12%
• Long-Term Disability -- 30.77%
• Domestic Partner Coverage -- 30.54%
• Employee Assistance Plan (EAP) -- 28.08%
• Full-Time Business Causal Policy -- 25.37%
• Paid Association/Professional Society Dues -- 24.48%

You can purchase the New York Nonprofits Salary and Benefits Report, as well as our other four studies, on our online store.

10 Nonprofit Positions Most Likely To Receive Bonus Pay

Though they usually get most of the attention, nonprofit executives are not always the most likely to receive bonus pay from their organizations. As our 2012 Salary and Benefits Reports reveal, there are many positions that are also in the running for bonuses.

Bonuses come in many different forms but for the purposes of this post, we are referring to those that increase the salary of the employee. Keep in mind that having one of the jobs listed below does not guarantee you are going to be given a bonus. All this shows is that, from the 103,005 nonprofit employees we surveyed across the country, these positions were deemed most likely to get bonus pay. While some of these 10 positions will not surprise you, others may be more of a shock.

Top 10 Positions Most Likely to Receive Bonus Pay:

• Scientific Journal Communications Manager -- 60.00%
• Chief Medical Officer -- 50.00%
• Order Picker -- 45.45%
• Regional Area Income Development VP/Director -- 43.75%
• Area Manager -- 43.75%
• Vocational or Placement Counselor -- 43.48%
• Chief Marketing Officer -- 41.67%
• Chief Operating Officer/Associate Executive Director -- 41.30%
• Meetings & Events Manager/Planner -- 41.07%
• Print Shop Manager -- 40.00%

To get more information like this, purchase one of our four 2012 Salary and Benefits Reports.

Boys And Girls Club To Use Former Adult Club Site

Cross-Posted From The NonProfit Times
***

What do a strip club and the Boys and Girls Club have in common? That seems like an absurd question but the two do have a connection – at least in Ohio.

Pending approval by the city, the site of a former strip club in Union Township, Ohio will become the home of the third Boys and Girl Club in Clermont County, Ohio.

Déjà Vu Showgirls Strip Club -- part of Déjà Vu Consulting, which owns 75 adult entertainment clubs in 16 states -- occupied the property at 516 Old Ohio 74 until the club closed in December 2011. The now-abandoned property was purchased Nov. 8, for $300,000 by the Union Township Community Improvement Corp. (CIC). Among the property’s new tenants will be, pending approval of the purchase, the locals Boys and Girls Club of America affiliate.

A call to Déjà vu Consulting was not immediately returned.

The Boys and Girls Club will occupy 4,000 square feet of the 17,000 square foot building. While the idea of a charity meant to keep troubled youth out of harm’s way occupying a location with such a negative connotation might be strange to some, the Boys and Girls Club sees it differently.

“It’s an opportunity to turn lemons into lemonade,” said Jan Still-Lindeman, senior director of public relations at Boys and Girls Club of America national office in Atlanta, Ga. “We go wherever kids need help, regardless of the location.”

The new facility would be the third in Clermont County, though the first in West Clermont. The organization already has two facilities in New Richmond. There had been a location in the West Clermont School in Amelia, but it closed a year and a half ago because of continued financial woes, according to Jill Cochran, executive director of Boys and Girls Club of Clermont County.

When asked why the Boys and Girls Club chose this specific location, Cochran again emphasized the importance of turning a building with such a negative reputation into something positive for the community. She also mentioned the location has been on the organization’s radar for some time.
“The building is in a great location,” Cochran explained. “It’s close to apartments so the children will be able to walk to it easily.”
All Boys and Girls Clubs locations are different when it comes to programming, and Cochran said this facility plans to focus on education, good character, leadership, and healthy lifestyles.

The city is expected to vote on the purchase on Nov. 21. Should it be approved, Cochran said she is not sure when it would be open, but she mentioned they have already concluded a $235,000 fundraising campaign for renovations, start-up costs, and the first year of operation.

Cochran says the organization’s steering committee has already met with many members of the local community, who she says have been extremely supportive.

“I can’t say enough about Union Township and their cooperation on this,” she said. “The community support is going to make this successful.”

Ex-Employee Pleads Guilty To Stealing From Nonprofit

A former employee of the charitable arm of the Eastern Main Healthcare Systems (EMHS) pleaded guilty Tuesday to stealing almost $56,000 from the nonprofit.

The employee, Laurena Cunningham, is scheduled to be sentenced next month, according to The Bangor Daily News. She faces up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to twice the amount stolen, and an order to pay restitution to EMHS.

Cunningham's role at EMHS was to hand off donations to a courier who would deposit that money into a bank account. Michael Roberts, deputy district attorney for Penobscot County, accused Cunningham of skimming off cash donations and making up the difference with check donations she held back from earlier deposits. Before her arrest, Cunningham had worked form EMHS for several years in the organization's Bangor office.

According to a press release issued by EMHS at the time of her indictment in June, the organization realized that $56,183 in donations were diverted between November 2011 and March 2012. The missing funds were discovered during a routine accounting review.

You can read the full story in The Bangor Daily News.

Armstrong Steps Down From Livestrong Board

Cross-Posted From The NonProfit Times Website

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Less than a month after stepping down as chairman, Lance Armstrong has resigned entirely from the board of the foundation that he founded 15 years ago.

The former cycling champion resigned as chairman of the board on Oct. 17, replaced by founding chairman Jeff Garvey, and yesterday Garvey announced that Armstrong voluntarily resigned from the Lance Armstrong Foundations’ board “to spare the organization any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding his cycling career.” The decision to step down was made Nov. 4 by Armstrong but announced yesterday, according to a spokesman.

In a 200-word statement, Garvey thanked Armstrong for “changing the way the world views people affected by cancer,” as well as for his devotion to serving survivors and commitment to the cause.

Armstrong, 41, was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1996, beating the disease and starting the foundation in 1998 before going on to win seven consecutive Tour de France titles between 1999 and 2005. The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) released a report last month that included damning testimony from former teammates that many within U.S. cycling, including Armstrong, engaged in doping. Armstrong has continually denied the allegations but was stripped of his seven titles and several sponsors, including Nike, severed ties with him, though not with the charity.

The Austin, Texas-based foundation is more commonly known as Livestrong after a branding effort several years ago. The charity skyrocketed to fame after the wild success of yellow, Livestrong bracelets in 2004, selling more than 80 million. Over the years, Armstrong has donated nearly $7 million to the organization, Garvey said, and the foundation has raised nearly $500 million.

Fundraising hasn’t been hurt yet by the rash of media reports since the USADA released its evidence in August. Livestrong has reported that donations are up about 3 percent since Aug. 23, and the number of donations are up more than 7 percent, compared to 2011. The number of donations are up about 15 percent since Armstrong resigned as chairman last month while the total raised is up about 2 percent compared to the same time last year.

9 Ideas For Finding Volunteers For Special Events

Finding individuals who are willing to be long-term volunteers for your nonprofit can be difficult. Many people in this country want to do whatever they can to help out organizations, but they don't necessarily want to do it all the time. That's why one-time special events can be very appealing to potential volunteers.

There are plenty of individuals out there who would love the chance to be a part of making your event a success; it’s just a matter of reaching them. In his book "The Idiot's Guide to Recruiting and Managing Volunteers," John L. Lipp wrote that you have to exhaust all avenues of communication to reach these potential volunteers. He suggested using the following techniques:

• Start by asking individuals who are part of your active volunteer program. As soon as you have a date confirmed for your event, send them a “save-the-date” message;
• Do the same thing with people who volunteered for your last special event. If your event includes sponsors, talk to them and see if they are interested in providing employees to help support it;
• Contact service clubs and professional organizations, especially those that have a connection to your cause, and ask them about making a commitment to provide a minimum number of volunteers for your event;
• Target people with specific skills;
• Reach out to organizations that specialize in recruiting volunteers for special events and one-time opportunities;
• Utilize the Internet to promote your event and volunteer opportunities;
• Contact local religious groups; and,
• Consider offering your clients an opportunity to volunteer for your special event.

Ex-Nonprofit CFO Sentenced

The former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of a nonprofit in Metairie, La., has been sentenced to two years in prison after being convicted of embezzling nearly $25,000 from the organization and a company employee.

Kelley Williams was also ordered to pay $245,386 in restitution by U.S. District Judge Martin L.C. Feldman, according to a report in The San Francisco Chronicle. The 38-year-old Williams must also serve three years of supervised release following her prison term.

Federal prosecutors charged Williams with forging the name of the nonprofit's president on checks she made payable to herself, which were then deposited into her bank account. She attempted to disguise these payments by making use of computer accounting software, prosecutors say.

While the name of Williams' former employer is not identified in court papers, it was revealed that the organization provides personal care attendants, transportation, and training to individuals with developmental disabilities.

You can read the full story in The San Francisco Chronicle.

Webinar: The Nonprofit CFO’s Survival Guide

Being a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of any business has its challenges, but it's even more difficult to be a CFO of a nonprofit. These individuals are under constant pressure to achieve various tasks -- automate processes, improve productivity, create greater levels of transparency and visibility -- making life very difficult for them.

Luckily, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Join The NonProfit Times and Intacct Corporation on Dec. 6 at 11:00 AM PST for a free webinar: The Nonprofit CFO’s Survival Guide. Joined by a panel of experts, Abraham Matthew, manager at CliftonLarsonAllen LLP, will bring his 10 years of experience of working with nonprofits to help CFOs better succeed at their craft. Matthew and the panel will be discussing the following topics:

• Fund Accounting: Supporting separate, balanced sets of books.
• Multiple Locations and Entities: Addressing centralized and local requirements.
• Controls and Cash Management: Distributing responsibilities while keeping tight controls.
• Grants: Tracking general vs. restricted dollars.
• Reporting and Visibility: Achieving transparency, accountability, and trust.
• Cloud Computing: Taking advantage of cloud computing to meet nonprofits' toughest challenges.

Any nonprofit CFO who is currently having trouble with any of the above topics should mark the date for this webinar on their calendar. Registration is free so sign up today!