America the Beautiful
The typical American's heart is large to begin with, and has this remarkable capacity to respond to a crisis. We are seeing proof of this again with the flood of gifts to help victims of Haiti's earthquake. The outpouring of generosity could exceed private donations made after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 ($6.47 billion) and the 2004 Asian tsunami (almost $2 billion).

It's the opinion of philanthropy experts that people who don't normally give to charity will rise to a crisis and make a gift, and those who are generally philanthropic give over and beyond to disaster relief while not stopping giving to things they believe in. The Indiana University Center on Philanthropy points to the experience of charities after Hurricane Katrina and the Asian tsunamis.

Making It In Tough Times
The Bridgespan Group regularly polls 100 nonprofit executive directors across the country. In its latest report, 93 percent say the downturn has affected their organizations versus 75 percent one year ago; plus 67 percent expect funds to get tighter over the next six months.

At the same time, many of these leaders are employing tactics such as strengthening relationships with core funders that could put their organizations on firmer footing for the long run. In the face of rising needs and falling funding they are focused on resilience. Hard times have been the seedbed of innovation before.

Cause Related Marketing
Is cause related marketing becoming so common it is morphing into plain old marketing?
 
This is the take of Rachael Chong, founder & CEO of soon-to-launch Catchafire. A partnership between the March of Dimes and Marriot Corporation in 1976 is thought to be the first cause-marketing campaign. The campaigns have caught on from wearing pink ribbons in October to support Breast Cancer Awareness Month, or sporting yellow silicone wristbands for the Lance Armstrong Foundation's LiveStrong, or buying from Product Red to help fight AIDS. This is much more than a fad or experiment. It's part of our marketing landscape.

Endowment Decline     
No big surprise here ... preliminary data from the National Association of College and University Business Officers and Commonfund indicates that endowment and affiliated foundations had an average investment return of minus-19 percent (net of fees) for the 2009 fiscal year. The preliminary 10-year average net return is 4.2 percent.

Additional findings indicate that institutions had an average endowment spending rate of 4.3 percent in FY2009, roughly the same as in FY2008. The data comes from in-depth surveys of 504 public and private colleges and universities, their supporting foundations, and community colleges.

Liquidity Is In
An SEI study concludes that, in the wake of the economic meltdown, virtually all large nonprofits and foundations say portfolio liquidity will be a fiscal priority in 2010. That focus already has begun, with four in 10 respondents saying they have increased the percentage of their assets in cash reserves, in a survey of 103 organizations with assets ranging from $25 million to $1 billion.

Giving Across the Pond
Giving in Great Britain dropped by nearly 10 percent last year, estimates Investec Private Bank. Based on a poll of more than 2,000 randomly selected British residents, total 2009 giving is estimated at about $8.67 billion, down 9.7 percent from 2008.

A fifth of respondents said they had given less money to charity in 2009 than they did in 2008.Geographically, respondents living in London gave the most money to charity, while Yorkshire and Humberside had the smallest proportion of donors.

Estate Taxes
Have gradual increases in the level of the federal estate-tax exemption in several recent years caused wealthy people to change the shares of their estates that they left to charity? Apparently not.

An IRS report says tax deductions claimed by Americans for charitable contributions rose to $193.6 billion in 2007, an increase of 3.7 percent from the $186.6 billion claimed in 2006.

Complusory Philanthropy?
The buzz out of the Big Apple is that  Goldman Sachs is considering a program that would require its investment bank executives and top managers to donate a percentage of their earnings to charity.

Although details of the program haven't been finalized, media stories are saying it could be similar to a decades-long program in place at failed investment bank Bear Stearns. In that program, more than a thousand of the bank's top earners were required to donate 4 percent of their pay to charity each year. If it comes to pass, the move would be the latest in a series of efforts by Goldman to deflect criticism over the size of the bonuses it plans to hand out.

More philanthropic dollars are always a good thing, but I wonder ... if a company has to force its executives to give, maybe it should question who it's selecting in the first place? What do you think?

Magic Kingdom and Service
Here's another example of cause-related marketing: Disney is offering a free day's admission to 1 million guests who complete a day of volunteer work in 2010. The "Give a Day, Get a Disney Day" program will provide certified volunteers with a one-day ticket to any park at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., or Walt Disney World near Orlando, Fla.

Disney is partnering with HandsOn Network, a clearinghouse for volunteer opportunities, to connect people with projects and to certify that the work was done. Examples of volunteer opportunities currently listed on HandsOn's Web site range from drivers and bingo callers to a book drive organizer at a senior center in Scranton, Pa., to a docent at the Oregon Maritime Museum in Portland.

Extra, Extra, Extra
I like reaching for the newspaper first thing in the morning. But I'm in the dwindling minority and, like it or not, the era of Americans reading a daily newspaper is coming to an end.

In an Adweek Media/Harris Poll, just two in five U.S. adults say they read a daily newspaper, either online or in print, almost every day. Just over seven in ten Americans say they read one at least once a week, while 81 percent read a daily newspaper at least once a month. One in ten adults say they never read a daily newspaper.

One reason for the dying of the daily newspaper is the graying of the daily readership. Almost two-thirds of those aged 55 and older say they still read a daily newspaper almost every day. The younger one is, however, the less often he or she is likely to read newspapers.

Reading List
Gretchen Rubin spent a year test-driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific studies, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happy -- and the result is instant New York Times bestseller, The Happiness Project.

She focused on 12 resolutions, including "boost energy," "make time for friends" and "pursue a passion." The book also lists 12 commandments, such as "let it go" and "do it now," along with "21 secrets of adulthood." It features 29 pages about money, including the observation that money, used wisely, can help buy happiness. She said seeing a physical therapist who eased her back pain was money well spent.

Frugality Rules
Consumer psychology continues to feel the aftershocks of the financial crisis, as the "new normal" still dominates self-reported spending behaviors. While it is encouraging that 48 percent of Americans say they are feeling better about their financial situations and 56 percent say they are feeling pretty good about the amount of money they have to spend, their behavior seems to reflect something different -- a new normal.

In the Gallup Poll, seven in 10 consumers say they are cutting back on how much money they spend each week and 22 percent say they worried yesterday that they spent too much money.

Mass. Senate Race -- The Sequel
I'm from the Boston area and, like a lot of other people, I couldn't conceive of a Republican victory at the year's start. President Kennedy's comment after the Bay of Pigs fiasco comes to mind: "I listened to the experts .. how could I have been so stupid?"

Don't forget that this special election was just to fill the last two years of the late Ted Kennedy's term. It will be do-over time in 2012. Expect both parties to go all-out. I think the Democrats need to run a Kennedy in the sequel to win, either Joe, Ted Jr., or Vicky.

Quiz: Celebrity Philanthropy     
From those to whom much is given, much is expected. Many celebrities who make big bucks give big gifts. They've been demonstrating their generosity during the Haiti crisis. How well do you know their philanthropic leadership? Match the following celebrities with their annual giving. Anwers are shown at the bottom of the left-hand column. Until next month ...