From Jim Eskin, External Relations Councel . --........................................................January 2010

As 2009 comes to a close it's a good time to reflect and give thanks, both on macro and personal levels. Despite a troubled economy, American philanthropy stayed robust, with spirited giving of time, talent and treasure.

On a personal level, I completed a career transition that left me more rejeunvated than ever about work. This was possible because so many people reached out to provide sage advice and counsel, plus active encouragement and support. As a result, I know I will be engaged in philanthropy for keeps. It's what I enjoy doing the most. Here's to a continued economic recovery in the New Year, and more and more good works!

Fundraising Indexes
Charities still face a sobering environment despite their perceptions that the giving climate improved slightly since last summer, according to the latest Philanthropic Giving Index (PGI)  by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. The PGI, similar to a Consumer Confidence Index for charitable giving, includes three indexes on a scale from 0 to 100 points, based on a semiannual national survey of nonprofit fundraising professionals.

All three indexes (overall PGI, Present Situation Index, and Expectations Index) rose slightly from six months ago. The overall PGI was 71.1, an increase of 8.7 percent since summer 2009 and up 9.8 percent from this time last year. The Present Situation Index was 62.5, up 7.7 percent from six months ago and down 1.7 percent from one year ago. The Expectations Index, at 79.8, increased 9.6 percent from six months ago and 20.7 percent from a year ago. Still, the indexes remained near historic lows in the study's 12-year history.

Online Giving Surge
Data from the online fund-raising company Convio confirm what many nonprofit groups have long suspected: Donors make more online gifts on December 31 than any other day of the year.The Austin-based company processes more than 13 times as many gifts on December 31 than the daily average for the rest of the year, and more than 22 times as much money. During the last week of the year, December 25-31, donors make nearly five times as many contributions as they do during an average week. And those gifts are 57 percent larger.

Service Gets Better With Age
Here's an idea whose time has come: Experience Corps, an award-winning national program, engages people over 55 in meeting their communities' greatest challenges. Today, in 22 cities across the country, 2,000 Experience Corps members tutor and mentor elementary school students, help teachers in the classroom, and lead after-school enrichment activities.
 
Independent research shows that Experience Corps boosts student academic performance, helps schools and youth-serving organizations become more successful, and enhances the well-being of the older adults in the process. Watch for more and more senior service initiatives as America continues to gray.

Oh Canada
Though their media image is of such a kind people, Canadians give less than half as much to charity as Americans relative to income. According to the Fraser Institute's 2009 Generosity Index, Canadians donated 0.73 percent of their aggregate income to charity in the 2007 tax year, compared with 1.6 percent for Americans.

Volunteers Give More Than Time
Americans are far more likely to donate big sums to charity if they volunteer. On average, people donate 10 times more money if they have volunteered in the past year.  Two-thirds of volunteers said they give money to the same groups to which they donate time.

The study conducted by  Harris Interactive, for the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, found that 40 percent of Americans volunteered in the past year. Twenty-eight percent said they have never volunteered.

Gender and Wills
Gender does not generally predict whether someone who donates to charity is likely to leave a charitable bequest in his or her will, contradicting the conventional wisdom that the "typical" bequest donor is a single woman
 
A Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University study also indicates there no difference in the rates of legacy gift planning between single men and single women, after controlling for other factors such as age, educational level, income and marital status.

Almighty Poll Results A Harris Poll finds that 82% of American adults believe in God. However, when asked how certain they were, only 59% are "absolutely certain" that there is a God, and another 15% say they are somewhat certain.Groups most likely to be absolutely certain there is a God are born-again Christians (87%), Protestants generally (76%), Republicans (72%), people in the South (69%), African Americans (67%), and women (66%).

There is no consensus on whether God is a man or a woman. Just over a third of all adults (38%) think God is a man, while less than 1% believe God is a woman. However, many people believe God is neither male nor female (34%) or both male and female (11%). Surprisingly perhaps, more women (44%) than men (32%) believe God is a man.

Holiday Shopping Barometer
The average amount of money Americans predict they will spend on Christmas gifts this season is now $743, up from last month's estimate and a healthy increase over Americans' Christmas spending forecast at this time a year ago.
 
Importantly, while Americans' current holiday spending intentions exceed the $639 recorded in December 2008, they fall well short of the levels seen in each of the previous four years. As such, spending continues to reflect a recessionary rather than economic growth mentality.
 
The rebound in Americans' 2009 Christmas spending intentions is happening in an environment in which consumers' reported daily spending still trails last year's levels by a significant amount. To some degree, Americans may be shifting their discretionary spending dollars into Christmas shopping, rather than increasing their total spending.

Non-Profit Proliferation
Guess how many charitable organizations there are in the U.S.? Try 1.1 million, representing growth of more than 60 percent in the just last 10 years.

Stanford University reports that the IRS approved 99 percent of the more than 40,000 organizations applying for such status last year, which breaks down to roughly one new charity every 10 to 15 minutes. Even the IRS is unsure just how many new charities were established. The report found that while the agency's electronic database recorded more than 40,000 new charities last year, its more widely circulated Data Book puts the figure at over 50,000.

Nominate an Unsung Hero
The Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation is accepting nominations through February 12, 2010 for the Citizen Service Above Self Honors, which recognizes and honors those ordinary Americans who become extraordinary through their indomitable courage and selflessness.

Any U.S. civilian is eligible who has clearly demonstrated a willingness to sacrifice for others, whether through a single act of extraordinary heroism at risk to one's life or through a prolonged series of selfless acts. The nomination form can be submitted online via the Citizen Service Above Self Honors Web site at citizenserviceaboveselfhonors.org.

Careers in Public Affairs
A Public Affairs Council survey indicates that Capitol Hill experience is no longer a firm requirement for those wanting to become senior corporate public affairs executives.

In its survey only 29% of senior public affairs officials (many of whom work at corporate headquarters) had experience in the legislative branch and only 19% once worked for an executive-branch agency. Put together, fewer than 50% had government experience. It's not surprising that 69% of the executives had previous corporate government relations experience. This was by far the most common item on anyone's resume.

Feel-Good Reading
Want to feel better about the world? Read Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. It describes Mortenson's transition from a mountain-climber to a humanitarian committed to reducing poverty and educating girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He did this by co-founding the Central Asia Institute, which has built over 131 schools in the most remote areas of the countries, educating over 58,000 students.

The title comes from a Balti proverb: "The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest. The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family..."

Resolutions How's your list of New Year's resolutions? This tradition goes all the way back to 153 B.C. when Janus, a mythical king of early Rome, was placed at the head of the calendar.
With two faces, Janus could not only look back on past events but forward to the future. Janus became the ancient symbol for resolutions, and before the beginning of each year many Romans looked for forgiveness from their enemies and also exchanged gifts.

Quiz: College Bowl Games
'Tis the season ... to watch bowl game after bowl game after bowl game.You might know the biggies like the Rose, Sugar and Orange, but how about all the others that are broadcast on TV? Can you match the following televised bowl games with their location? Anwers are shown at the bottom of the left-hand column. Until next month ...

	Jim Eskin External Relations Counsel 10410 Pelican Oak Drive San Antonio, TX 78254 210-523-8499 (H) | 210-415-3748 (C) jeskin@aol.com
Stratagems is a copyright-free publication. Readers may duplicate and/or redistribute the information in each issue. Comments and suggestions are welcome! Send your feedback to: jeskin@aol.com

Answers: 1=d, 2=a, 3=b, 4=e, 5=a.

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