Philanthropy Front and Center-Atlanta

Young Professional Groups: Creating Next Generation Donors and Organizational Evangelists

Getting involved in your community is not only good for your career, it’s good for your health. According to a 2007 research study by the Corporation for National & Community Service, “those who engage in volunteer activities are less likely to suffer from ill health later in life and may be introduced into a positive reinforcing cycle of good health and future volunteering.”

It’s not only good for the health of volunteers, but for the health of organizations as well. By establishing a young professionals group, nonprofits can capitalize on eager young talent ready and willing to serve. These talented emerging leaders share their passion with their peers. They give their time, talent, and treasure. As these young leaders mature professionally, they are often able to contribute at higher levels financially. Therefore, it is advantageous for organizations to cultivate these future major donors now.
 
Authors Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba conducted a year-long research project that led to "Creating Customer Evangelists,” a framework to create communities of influencers who drive sales or membership for a company or organization.
 
In the case of nonprofits, staff and volunteers sell a vision and program impact in the community. Young professionals often become organizational evangelists, sharing success stories about nonprofits with their peers and community. Here are some local organizations that are benefiting from having a young professionals group: 

• The Atlanta Opera
• Atlanta Urban League
• Boys and Girls Club of Metro Atlanta
• The Civic League for Regional Atlanta

We welcome your additions to this list.

Asia M. Hadley, Training Coordinator, Foundation Center-Atlanta

Mozilla Service Week: September 14-21, 2009

The Mozilla Corporation, distributor of the popular open source Firefox web browser, is partnering with Idealist, the betterplace Foundation, OneWebDay, and a host of other nonprofits to support Mozilla Service Week. From September 14-21, Mozilla is asking people everywhere to step up and make a difference by using the Web to better their local community. Individuals may volunteer their time or expertise in support of projects such as:

• Updating a nonprofit's web site
• Teaching senior citizens how to use the Web
• Conducting a tech training session for nonprofit staff
• Installing or refurbishing hardware at a local school
• Creating tutorials on social media sites for nonprofits

Individuals interested in volunteering for projects can search opportunities through the Idealist web site. More information on how to get involved can be found here.

Does your nonprofit need tech help?
Instructions on how to find volunteers and list projects with the Idealist site can be found here.

Visit the Mozilla Service Week web site to learn more about this initiative and Mozilla's dedication to making the Web a better place for everyone.

Stephen Sherman, Reference Librarian, Foundation Center-Atlanta

September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance

Today marks the first September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance. President Obama has called upon people nationwide to commemorate this day by reflecting upon the tragic events of September 11, 2001, and by committing themselves to service in their local communities.

Designated earlier this year within the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, the National Day of Service and Remembrance is part of the larger United We Serve initiative, which invites Americans to participate in the nation's recovery and renewal efforts by volunteering with local nonprofit agencies and other service organizations.

To learn more about this day of observance or to find volunteer opportunities in your area, visit the September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance web site or go to www.Serve.gov.

Stephen Sherman, Reference Librarian, Foundation Center-Atlanta

IMPACT Awards Recognize Outstanding Volunteer Programs of Atlanta Businesses

Corporations give more than money. They give in-kind gifts and provide the nonprofit sector with talented employees who donate their time and expertise to help improve their local communities. These volunteers are a source of social capital whose time invested in volunteering pays dividends to the nonprofits and the people they serve. Top companies that encourage their employees to volunteer are not going unnoticed.

The Corporate Volunteer Council of Atlanta (CVC) recently announced the finalists for its 12th annual IMPACT Awards. CVC is a professional association of Atlanta-area businesses that promotes employee volunteerism in the corporate sector and provides a forum for networking, learning corporate best practices, facilitating research, and identifying local trends.

The IMPACT (Involvement Means People Acting Together) Awards recognize companies with exemplary employee volunteer programs. Despite a challenging economy, these companies have demonstrated a commitment to the community.

One IMPACT Award winner will be selected to receive a $15,000 grant on behalf of their nonprofit partner, while winners in three other categories will each receive a $5,000 grant for their affiliated nonprofits. The awards will be announced at a special reception held on September 17, 2009, at the New World of Coca-Cola in downtown Atlanta. Registration for this event can be found here.

IMPACT Award finalists:

• Atlanta Gas Light with nonprofit partner Cool Girls, Inc.
• Georgia Natural Gas with nonprofit partner Centennial Place School Foundation

Emerging Program Award finalists:

• Bouje Publishing with nonprofit partner Junior Achievement of Georgia
• Terdata Corporation with nonprofit partner Junior Achievement of Georgia

Innovative/Collaborative Program Award finalists:

• The Coca-Cola Company with nonprofit partner Hands on Atlanta
• UPS with nonprofit partner Clean Air Campaign

Project Award finalists:

• Bank of America with nonprofit partner Neighbor to Family
• Jordan, Jones & Goulding (JJG) with nonprofit partner Rainbow Village, Inc.   

For additional information, contact the CVC office at 404-614-1022 or visit www.cvcofatlanta.org

Asia Hadley, Training Coordinator, Foundation Center-Atlanta

Volunteering for a Tax Deduction? Not So Fast.

Can workshop leaders who donate their time facilitating programs at the local church claim the estimated value of the service on their taxes?

Can teachers who tutor adults in a literacy program claim a charitable deduction for the estimated value of the service provided to the organization?

The answer, according to the Internal Revenue Service, is NO! In Publication 526 the IRS details what can or can not be deducted on your taxes. Now that you know that deducting your volunteer time is not acceptable, here are some do’s of reporting.

Do report volunteer expenses related to:
• Air, rail, and bus transportation
• Out-of-pocket expenses for your car
• Taxi fares or other costs of transportation between the airport or station and your hotel
• Lodging costs
• The cost of meals.
The IRS considers the above travel expenses as non-business related, therefore the expenses are not treated like business related expenses.

Do deduct:

• Any costs associated with uniforms needed to successfully volunteer for a qualified organization. Since uniforms are not necessary to wear everyday, but are needed when volunteering, the IRS allows you to deduct them on your taxes.

• Out-of-pocket expenses. Amounts you spend performing services for a charitable organization, which qualify as charitable contributions. Be sure to keep records of any cash and noncash contributions as well.

The Independent Sector estimates a dollar value of volunteer time as $20.25 per hour for 2008. Although the individual volunteering can not deduct this amount on their taxes, organizations can use this estimate to demonstrate the in-kind support volunteers provide.

If you were counting on using your volunteer hours as tax deductions, don’t be discouraged. The gift of your time is valued by the organization and more importantly by those who will benefit from your talent and expertise.

Asia M. Hadley, Training Coordinator, Foundation Center-Atlanta

Youth and Philanthropy - Paving the Way for a Better Future

In early June, I was privileged to meet with a dozen or so high school students interested in philanthropy.  They met at the Foundation Center to learn about our resources and services and to hear words of advice from a past president of a major foundation.  The meeting here at the Center was typical of the real-world learning they experience in the Philanthropy 101 course offered by the Wilbur and Hilda Glenn Institute for Philanthropy and Service Learning at the Westminster Schools in Atlanta. 

This four-week summer course, for which they receive no school credit, is limited to rising seniors at Westminster.  Its two-fold goal is to help students become more aware of community needs and to develop their understanding of philanthropic service. The students receive a stipend for taking the course and are required to donate a set portion of that stipend to a nonprofit of their choice.  They must be able to explain their reason for selecting the particular recipient. They are also required to enter an essay in the Association of Fundraising Professionals Greater Atlanta chapter's annual contest. (A Westminster student has been among the winners in three of the last four contests!) 

One of the participating students later told me about his efforts to raise money for cancer research.  I’m sure others had interesting stories to share.  What about you?  Do you know of youth-led efforts to improve lives in our communities?  Share with us here on this blog or at the Youth in Philanthropy (YIP) section of the Center's web site, where you can submit stories about youth involvement in philanthropy and community service. The YIP page also provides resources and links to help get kids involved.  There is a section for adults who work in youth services and a very popular section on celebrity philanthropy (it’s cool to give!)

Two other web sites of note are Learning to Give (the Philanthropy 101 curriculum can be found at the Learning to Give site) and the Youth Philanthropy and Service program at the Mandel Center for Nonprofits at Case Western Reserve University. The Center also has compiled a topical resource list of additional books, articles, and other resources on the subject of youth in philanthropy.  

Pattie Johnson, Director, Foundation Center–Atlanta

Obama Administration Launches Serve.gov

Last month, President Obama announced United We Serve, a nationwide service initiative meant to help meet the growing social needs of the nation. This initiative is intended not only to expand the base of volunteers for existing organizations but also to encourage individual citizens to develop their own service projects in conjunction with friends, family, and other members of the community.

United We Serve will include an initial 81 days of service, from June 22 to September 11, which will be commemorated as a National Day of Service and Remembrance. To help facilitate this service initiative, the administration has a created a new web site, Serve.gov, to function as a comprehensive clearinghouse of volunteer opportunities in the U.S. Managed by the Corporation for National and Community Service, Serve.gov gives individual citizens the ability to find local service opportunities by keyword or location or to start their own projects using the helpful toolkits provided at the site.

Organizations seeking volunteers can also register their projects and sign up volunteers using the site.

Looking for more resources to help in creating or managing a volunteer program? The following organizations and web sites offer information and/or assistance for nonprofits using volunteers:

- VolunteerMatch
- Corporation for National & Community Service
- Idealist.org
- Hands On Atlanta

For more books, articles, and other resources related to volunteering and volunteer management, try searching the Catalog of Nonprofit Literature (CNL), the Center's bibliographic database, for the subjects "Voluntarism" or "Voluntarism--management". A listing of recommended resources can also be found in our resource list on voluntarism.

Stephen Sherman, Reference Librarian, Foundation Center-Atlanta

Voices from the Field: Making the Most of a Wave of Volunteers

Aaron Hurst, founder and CEO of the Taproot Foundation, writes about how a confluence of factors including inspiration from President Obama's Serve America Act to the ongoing recession have led to an abundant supply of volunteers for the nonprofit sector and the challenges the sector faces in making the best use of this new wave of volunteers.  His Op-Ed piece appeared in the June 4 issue of the Chronicle of Philanthropy and outlines the lessons the Taproot Foundation has learned about managing volunteer teams effectively in its eight years of providing pro bono service grants to more than 1,000 nonprofit organizations in seven cities around the country.

Tell us what you think.  Do you have more volunteers than you can handle?  Or are you having a hard time matching your organizational needs to the types of things your volunteers are interested in doing?

Originally posted by Janet Camerena, Director of Foundation Center-San Francisco

From the Answer Desk: How can I find foundations that offer volunteer match programs?

Some corporate foundations award funding to nonprofits with which employees of their sponsoring companies have volunteered.  These are often called “Dollars for Doers” programs but are also referred to as “Volunteer Match” or “Volunteer Matching” programs.

In Foundation Directory Online, we use the Type of Support field term “Employee volunteer services” to indicate that the employees of the grantmaker's sponsoring company provide volunteer services. In making grants, many companies and company-sponsored foundations favor organizations with which their employees volunteer. Using the index phrase “Employee volunteer services” in your search will highlight corporate grantmakers that likely also have Volunteer Match programs.

You can also use the keyword search field to find foundations that have these types of programs.  Using the phrases “dollars for doers”, or “volunteer match*” (where the asterisk acts as a wildcard to find “match” or “matching”) are also effective in locating these programs, and can be used to supplement the results of your “Employee volunteer services” search.

For information on other types of matching gifts programs, we suggest you read our FAQs on the subject, including What are employee matching gifts? 

Have a question?  Ask us!

Originally posted by Robert Bruno, Reference Librarian, Foundation Center-New York

National Volunteer Week, April 19-25

Established in 1974 by former President Richard Nixon, National Volunteer Week has grown in scope each year drawing the support and endorsement of all subsequent U.S. presidents, governors, mayors and other elected officials. This year's theme is "Celebrating People in Action."

Two significant national celebrations fall during National Volunteer Week: Earth Day and Global Youth Service Day. Earth Day, commemorated April 22, is an opportunity to celebrate the positive impact volunteers can make on the environment. Global Youth Service Day, commemorated the weekend of April 24-26, is an annual international event that highlights and celebrates the ongoing contributions of youth to their communities through volunteer service and service learning.

The Points of Light Institute has posted a resource guide with project ideas, suggestions of ways to recognize volunteers, press release templates and more.

For general information about volunteers and volunteer management, search the Catalog of Nonprofit Literature, the Center's bibliographic database, for the subjects "Voluntarism” or Voluntarism-administration".

Some recommended books in our collection:

• Herman, Melanie L., Peggy M. Jackson, and Barbara B. Oliver.  No Surprises: Harmonizing Risk and Reward in Volunteer Management. Washington, DC: Nonprofit Risk Management Center, 2006. 
• McBee, Shar. To Lead Is to Serve: How to Attract Volunteers and Keep Them. South Fallsburg, NY: Shar McBee, 2002

Share your plans to honor your volunteers this week—or at any time.

Kayron Bearden, Reference Librarian, Foundation Center-Atlanta