New Issue Of The NonProfit Times Released

The September 15th issue of The NonProfit Times has just been posted on our website.  Here are the articles you can expect to see:

• Special Report: Hands-Free Fundraising: Donor management systems are starting to support mobile devices and cloud computing, one of several recent market trends that are adding value and capability to the software.
• 'Call To Action' Films Are Winners: The Lights. Camera. Help. Festival (LCH) is providing a venue for nonprofit films to be viewed and judged.  Learn about the background of the festival, including how the films are judged.
• Recruiters Seeking Experience, Connections: This article looks at the criteria nonprofit recruiters are using to hire new employees.
• Texting Isn't All About Giving: One of the great technological advancements for nonprofits has been mobile fundraising.  More and more donors are using their cell phones to text in donations, but how much does it help smaller charities?

Columns:

• 2010 Funding: How did the recent downgrade of the U.S.'s credit rating affect nonprofits?
• The First 30 Seconds: This column provides tips on how to efficiently handle telemarketing calls.  It turns out the first 30 seconds are key.

Check out this new issue today by visiting our website.

Retro Article Of The Week: Hard-Hitting Ad Campaigns

Tomorrow we will be releasing the newest edition of The NonProfit Times, so today we will be looking at an article that also came out in one of our September 15th issues.  The year was 2008, and the article was about a controversial ad campaign by The United Way of Greater Milwaukee (UWGM).  The campaign was for statutory rape awareness, and the proposed ads contained imagery that caused a frenzy: The faces of adolescent girls were superimposed onto the bodies of full-figured, adult bodies.  This particular campaign was eventually scrapped when it was leaked on the internet.

Although this particular campign was scrapped, UWGM moved onto other campaigns, including one that showed images of pregnant teenage boys to shed light on teenage pregnancy.  Here's an excerpt from the article:

A poster featuring a busty, D-cup model will turn heads. Couple it with a precocious, pig-tailed face of a little girl and it will stir an Internet frenzy.


That's what happened to The United Way of Greater Milwaukee's (UWGM) statutory rape awareness campaign when the faces of adolescent girls were imposed on full-figured, adult female bodies. But before the campaign could launch, the ad images leaked on the Internet and the campaign was tossed, even though the ads tested well in focus groups.


"It was obvious that the ads were being misconstrued," said Nicole Angresano, the community impact associate director for UWGM. Angresano said that changes were made to the images and text and the leaked versions represented earlier design prototypes.


"If we were to move forward, those were not the versions they would have seen," said Angresano, who explained that the ads were created to discourage adult men from having sex with under-aged girls.


Some 71 percent of babies born to teen girls in Wisconsin are fathered by adult males older than 20. In 20 percent of those cases, the fathers are at least six years older than the mothers, according to the Wisconsin Subcommittee on Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention study. The UWGM assumes that the statistics have stayed relatively the same since 1998, through case studies and anecdotal evidence from law enforcement, said Angresano. A new study is under way but results have not yet been released.

Whether you disagree with this form of advertising or not, there's one thing that's can't be argued: It generates a lot of publicity.  To read the full article, head on over to our website.

The 50 Best Nonprofits To Work For 2012: Defend Your Title!

We’ve started the next round of the best nonprofit for which to work. Following on The NonProfit Times’ 2010 and 2011 listings of the 50 best nonprofits at which to work, we are seeking contenders for the 2012 crown.

Management always thinks it’s providing a great work experience. Now it's time to see what the employees think.

Please go to http://www.bestnonprofitstoworkfor.com/ for details regarding how you can nominate your organization to be recognized as one of the best.  The deadline to register is October 14, 2011, which is less than a month away.  So if you won during 2010 or 2011, sign up today and defend your title!

Philanthropic Giving After 9/11

Yesterday was a solemn day for our country.  As we honored the lives of those lost on 9/11, we had to once again relive those horrifying images from 10 years ago.  There were some positives we were able to take from that day, however.  We remembered the brave work of the First Responders at Ground Zero, how we united as a country, and the re-ignition of philanthropic giving.  That last point was something that was covered in the most recent issue of The NonProfit Times.

Nearly $2.6 billion was raised following the attacks, creating a turning point for philanthropy in response to large-scale disasters.  Following 9/11, Americans continued to give generously when these disasters took place, whether it was the Gulf Coast hurricanes in 2005, or the Asian tsunami in 2004.  As long as donors were sure their money was going to where it is supposed to be going, they seemed to have no qualms about giving large amounts of cash.

That was one of the lessons learned following 9/11.  The Red Cross came under heavy criticism when it was learned that money raised from the Liberty Fund--set up to collect donations in the wake of September 11th--would also be used to prepare for other major disasters.  This was eventually changed due to massive public pressure, creating a lesson that future charities heeded. 

If you want to learn more about giving post-9/11, check out the full article on that subject on our website.