OnPhilanthropy.com

In times of economic hardship, non-profit organizations confront issues that are unique to their status. Like business entities, charities have responsibilities to their employees, to conduct their activities and to their creditors. But charities also have obligations to their donors and are accountable to the community at large for the use of their assets for charitable purposes, which may impede how those assets are used in responding to financial difficulties.  So how does a charity navigate perilous economic waters when its actions are scrutinized and governed by a multiplicity of (potentially conflicting) interests?

Dear Prudence:  Standards of Care for Directors and Officers

Of paramount concern to charitable directors and officers is whether they may be held personally liable for decisions, particularly challenging decisions such as reducing staff, borrowing against an endowment or even filing for bankruptcy.  Historically, the standard of care that applied to the governing bodies of charitable organizations was rooted in trust law which carries a greater risk of personal liability.  However, modern non-profit corporation statutes have attempted to adopt standards of care more closely attuned to the business corporation model.

Each state has adopted its own set of laws governing the conduct of managers of charitable organizations.  Although the actual language of each state’s law may vary, the principles generally do not.  For example, in New York, “[d]irectors and officers shall discharge the duties of their respective positions in good faith and with that degree of diligence, care, and skill which ordinarily prudent men would exercise under similar circumstances in like positions.”

The actions of directors which have been taken in good faith and with the honest judgment that such actions were in furtherance of the nonprofit’s corporate purposes. Directors and officers are required to be “honest,” to disclose conflicts of interest and to subordinate their own interests to those of the corporation.  The officer or director who complies with the standard of care will not be subjected to personal liability, even if the relevant decision turns out to have been incorrect.  The officer or director who complies with appropriate decision making process will not be held accountable for the results of his or her decisions.  New York and other states have also limited the liability of uncompensated directors, officers and trustees of most charities. No personal liability will attach unless he or she is guilty of gross negligence or intentional harm. 

A director’s compliance with the standard of care may be complicated by the interests of donors, creditors and the general public in the activities and assets of charitable organizations. Whether legally binding or not, both the officers and directors of charities must address these sometimes conflicting interests in tapping their endowments and other institutional funds, addressing the claims of creditors and disposing of assets held for charitable purposes.

Swimming Underwater: Drawing on Endowments in Hard Times

States have also adopted rules for managing charitable endowments and other institutional funds.  Virtually all states and the District of Columbia have enacted some variant of either the Uniform Management of Institutional Funds Act or the more recent Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act, inelegantly referred to as UMIFA and UPMIFA, respectively.

The uniform acts set forth their own standards for directors and officers in managing institutional funds, loosely based on the business judgment and ordinary prudence standards applied more generally to the actions of directors and officers.. UMIFA states that in managing its institutional funds the “governing board shall exercise ordinary business care and prudence under the facts and circumstances prevailing at the time of the action or decision.” UPMIFA directs that the board shall consider the charitable purposes of the organization and shall manage each fund in good faith and with the care an “ordinarily prudent person in a like position would exercise under similar circumstances.” Both statutes enumerate the factors that must be taken into consideration in investing charitable assets and delegating investment authority.

The uniform act applicable in a particular state is key to the latitude the charity has in accessing its endowments.  UMIFA is the more restrictive of the two uniform laws and permits a charity to appropriate the net income and so much of the appreciation of the fund over its “historic dollar value” as the board considers prudent.  Historic dollar value refers to the aggregate value of all contributions to the fund or funds at the time made. The concept of historic dollar value is intended to preserve the original principal of each gift. Unfortunately, the current stock market woes have left many endowments “under water” -- below historic dollar value.  In UMIFA states, this means that only the income is available to charity until the endowment recovers its historic dollar value at a time when other sources of income are likely to be declining.  Nothing prevents the terms of the gift instrument from altering the general rule.

Where enacted, UPMIFA eliminates the troublesome notion of historic dollar value and permits a charity to use such amounts of an endowment (consistent with the purposes of the endowment) as the board deems “prudent.” In UPMIFA states, charities have the option of using endowment principal even when the value is below historic dollar value.  Charities must still consider the duration and preservation of the fund, the purposes of the charity, the effects of inflation and deflation, the charity’s other resources and its investment policy.  Concern that some organizations would spend down their endowments imprudently led to an optional provision in the draft of UPMIFA which would create a presumption of imprudence if a charity spends in any year more than 7% of the endowment’s average value over the previous three years.

Both UMIFA and UPMIFA permit the charity to obtain the consent of the donor or donors either to permit an invasion of principal or to release a restriction on an endowment that would allow its use for the general uses of the organization.  However, charities should be cautious and consider whether such a request would jeopardize donor relations and the potential for future fundraising.

UMIFA and UPMIFA also permit a charity to ask a court to release a restriction, but this is may not be a practical solution for temporary financial issues.  Under UMIFA, the court must find a restriction to be “obsolete, inappropriate or impracticable” in order to release it.  Under UPMIFA, the restriction must be found to be “impractical or wasteful” or to impair “the management or investment of the fund.” A court may modify a restriction if, because of circumstances not anticipated by the donor, a modification of the restriction will further the purposes of the fund.  In all cases where the written consent of the donor is not available, the attorney general of the state must be given notice of the proceeding or action.

Charities may be able to use their endowments as security for a loan (advantageous in today’s low interest rate environment), provided that the loan proceeds are used in a manner consistent with the purpose of the endowment.  Some have suggested that a charity may borrow “from” an endowment.  However, this would seem to be contrary to the principle of preserving historic dollar value in UMIFA states. Nevertheless, the New York City Opera was able to borrow $23.5 million from its endowment with the approval of the court and the New York attorney general. Even in UPMIFA states, by borrowing from itself, the charity cannot give the endowment the protections a creditor would have. If the charity goes under, the borrowed endowment goes with it. Borrowing from the endowment should not be undertaken without the express consent of the donor or, if the donor is deceased or incompetent, the state attorney general and the court.

None of these rules, except the standard of care, applies to board-restricted funds, or “quasi-endowments.” They apply only to funds restricted by one or more donors (including donors giving to an endowment fund based on representations that fund will be restricted in time or purpose). What the board alone has restricted, the board may release and use for its general purposes.

Donors versus Creditors: Who Wins?

A charity also has obligations to its creditors, but not in abrogation of its duty to its donors. Whether a charity is in bankruptcy or state insolvency proceedings, or is simply trying to determine how to pay the bills, state law will determine the rights of creditors to assets held for charitable purposes.  However, not all of a charity’s assets may be made available to pay the claims of creditors.  The analysis under the law of the applicable state turns on whether the assets are held in a separate trust, or quasi-trust, whether the assets are held for specific purposes or, if the charity goes out of business, whether the court should apply principals of equity and determine the further use of assets held for specific purposes.

A trust for the benefit of a charity will not ordinarily be subject to the claims of creditors, unless it can be revoked by the charity or was created by the charity for its own benefit.  A trust created by a third party is generally not available to the claims of creditors.  If the charity has ceased to exist, the trust will not fail; rather a state court will determine its further and best uses.  Relying on these rules, some charities create separate fundraising entities to insulate those assets from the claims of creditors.

Typically, however, an endowment is not legally a charitable trust.  Nonetheless, an endowment created by a charity which solicited donors by representing the fund as a permanent fund for specific purposes may be deemed equivalent to a charitable trust and not subject to creditors’ claims.  Donor intent, in short, trumps creditors’ claims where the fund is restricted for a particular purpose.

Board-restricted assets ordinarily will be subject to creditors’ claims on the theory that they are revocable and self-settled. Also, to the extent that a debt is within the scope of the purposes of the endowment, some part of the endowment may be available to the creditor.

A Moral Minefield:  the Sale of Assets Held for Charitable Purposes

A charity also has obligations to the general public which may dictate the terms on which it makes use of its assets in times of financial hardship. As several institutions have recently discovered, the local community and professional groups may also have a say in whether the asset can be sold and for what purposes. For example, the National Academy Museum sold works of art in order to meet operating expenses, thereby running afoul of the guidelines of the Association of Art Museum Directors, which require that the proceeds of art sales be used solely for new acquisitions. The New York Public Library sold Asher B. Durand’s “Kindred Spirits” for Alice Walton’s museum in Arkansas, despite the painting’s deep connection with New York, generating criticism. Faced with having to sell key assets, a governing board must balance these other concerns against serving the broader purpose of the institution as a whole, particularly where the alternative may be bankruptcy, dissolution or severe curtailment of its activities.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Responsibility for addressing a charity’s financial difficulties lies with the directors, who must make a determination of what can be done as well as what should be done. Directors and officers should be familiar with applicable state laws defining the obligations of charities’ directors and officers, and the rights of donors and creditors, and with community and professional sensitivities. Strong governance practices should be in place to insure honesty and the integrity of decisions. Directors and officers, particularly those who are compensated, should be insured against the prospect of personal liability. Obtaining the opinions of counsel may be prudent when confronting decisions that affect labor and employment, the legal rights of donors and creditors, employee benefits issues or filing for bankruptcy. Inquiries to the state attorney general may provide guidance on what actions will be deemed acceptable under the law and to the community. As a last resort, the organization may be forced to seek court protection and guidance, including bankruptcy or dissolution.  However, with adequate governance practices and attention to the relevant standard of care, whatever decisions are made will be prudent and no director or officer will incur personal liability.

Christina M. Mason is a partner at Kelley Drye & Warren LLP.  She focuses on trusts and estates, tax, estate planning, real estate and private foundations and other charitable organizations.  Ms. Mason can be reached at cmason@kelleydrye.com.  Carolyn R. Caufield is a partner at Kelley Drye & Warren LLP.  She focuses on trusts and estates, closely held businesses, estate and gift tax, and fiduciary matters including income tax.  Ms. Caufield can be reached at ccaufield@kelleydrye.com.

Women in the World, which unfolded last weekend at the historic Hudson Theater just east of Times Square - where Arsenic and Old Lace made its Broadway debut in 1941 - was the energetic vision of one of New York's most connected women. Tina Brown, proprietor of The Daily Beast (where I occasionally contribute), assembled this town's old guard media tribe and then some: Barry Diller, Barbara Walters, Katie Couric, Christiane Amanpour, Diane Sawyer, and Charlie Rose mingled with Queen Rania of Jordan, Meryl Streep, Madeline Albright, Donna Karan, Nora Ephron and the ever-present Diane Von Furstenberg.

"My hope is that it will help grow this important message of economic empowerment for women as the key to prosperity, and help spread this message around the world," Brown told USA Today.

This latest gathering brought together what Brown referred to as "lioness leaders" in the cause of telling stories, getting prominent people (including corporate and media types) more involved, and building a movement. In fact, this movement clearly dates to 1995, when Hillary Clinton famously told the UN's Fourth World Conference on Women that "women's rights are human rights." Yet it's a decade and a half down the road, and the horrors that women endure in fields of conflict, throughout the developing world, and just down the block continue to shock and sicken on almost a daily basis. Just a day before Women in the World opened, a young woman was savagely beaten in the bathroom of a club only a few blocks from the Hudson Theater - reportedly for refusing to dance with the man now charged with her attempted murder.

"Sexual terrorism" carries different meanings in different settings - yet it's the terrorism part of the phrase that should get more attention. Gender itself is so vast, so seemingly non-organizable. It was no accident that Brown named the Daily Beast's conference Women in the World; "of" is untenable, yielding more of a soft-touch 1964 World's Fair exhibit of a title than a call to action. No, this gathering, for all its glamour, had a sharp point with a barbed tip. The barb that stayed caught was the quest for political and economic power. Time and again at Women in the World, I heard speakers talk about meaningful participation in governance and the world economy. This was a gathering of women not content with traditional philanthropy and corporate hand-outs, with slogans and ribbons and rubber bracelets.

Yet story-telling is so important. One of the real highlights was an evocative reading (directed by Julie Taymor) of Seven, a play that is a collaboration between Vital Voices and seven award-winning women playwrights, which profiles seven women leaders from the Vital Voices' Global Leadership Network. Meryl Streep added Oscar-worthiness to the ensemble cast, which also featured Marcia Gay Harden, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Stephanie Okereke, Archie Panjabi, Julyana Soelistyo, Lauren Vélez. Over 90 minutes, Seven moves its protagonists from the desperation and powerlessness to activism and achievement. But the overarching theme isn't organizing - it's bravery.

From Inez McCormack, a civil rights leader in Northern Ireland (portrayed by Streep with humor and a believable Ulster brogue), to my personal hero, Mukhtar Mai of Pakistan, who was played effectively by Aghdashloo, the willingness to court more violence in the pursuit of justice pervades the reading of Seven, whose stories were subtly propelled by sparse sound effects and strong photograpic images on the large screen behind the actors. Seven women, speaking for billions. Seven stories to mobilize half of humanity.

Yet in chatting with Rebecca Lolosoli just before the reading of Seven, I was struck by how quickly village-level organizing can attain a bigger profile - and with it, more of a say in the halls of power. Rebecca is the founder and director of the Umoja Uaso Women’s Village, a community of survivors fleeing domestic abuse and arranged marriages in Kenya. She wears the brilliant colors and beaded necklace of the Samburu and, though Vital Voices, has become a recognized voice for changing traditions that make women into victims. We were talking about the violence in Kenya, and she said that real political power remains elusive.

This echoed the words of Suraya Pakzad, executive director of Voice of Women, which provides women in Afghanistan with shelter, counseling and job training. "Don't think of women's issues as a project - women are not a program," she told a panel on women in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pakzad, who courageously risks her life to run her shelters, argued that women belong at the table for peace talks. And this echoed the top global issue facing women identified by a coalition of leaders who gathered last fall in Florence under the Vital Voices banner: Lack of political will and accountability.

That technology can help even the playing field is taken as an issue of faith at gatherings like Women in the World. And indeed, the growth of cell phones and networked organizing is changing the landscape quite a bit. As I wrote in the Daily Beast last week: "The systemic challenges facing billions of women in the developing world defy easy, clickable solutions. Yet from linking remote villages via increasingly ubiquitous mobile-phone messaging to improved water safety and cooking tools, technological innovations are changing the lives of women and their families for the better, around the world."

I heard many people say over the weekend that the network really matters to them - the ability to connect women in remote developing regions to colleagues in NGOs, corporations, and government provides a shorter path to recognition. Cherie Blair talked about her partnership with the GSMA association of mobile operators to get inexpensive phones into the hands of more women in developing nations, where there remains a demonstrable technology gap between the genders. But technology can also bear witness. At Women in the World, the word "Congo" bore as much emotional power as "Katrina" or "9/11" do for many in the U.S. and the reason to me seemed clear: horrific cell phone images of the victims of infamous mass rape.

"Congo" has become short-hand for sexual terrorism.

Yes, images do matter. In introducing Seven, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the story of her recent visit to Guatemala and the request of an American diplomat there when she met with a a civil rights leader. The ambassador's request to Secretary Clinton was simple: take a picture with her. "They're trying to kill her." A photo with one of the world's most famous and powerful women carries some power. "Here's a woman who is putting everything there is on the line."

The story provided the perfect lead-in to Seven, which is about women who have done just that - and with success. Yet Secretary Clinton warned that "extremist voices against women's rights are growing louder." And she took a moment to update the language of her 1995 declaration:

"Women's progress," she said, "is human progress."

Tom Watson, author of CauseWired: Plugging In, Getting Involved, Changing the World (Wiley, 2008) is Managing Partner of CauseWired Communications, a consulting firm advising nonprofits and causes. He can be reached at tom@causewired.com.

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Reports from the Scene in Haiti
By Susan Carey Dempsey                                 

OnPhilanthropy has been in touch with numerous aid organizations on the ground in Haiti since the January 13 earthquake, some through our CauseWired network of colleagues at NGOs, others through our affiliate Changing Our World’s client organizations. Our immediate response was to post initial reports from the field and to spread the word among our readers about nonprofits who could accept their support to assist the survivors. Amidst the terrible destruction that took over 100,000 lives and leveled massive numbers of structures, a secondary effect was being felt. The relief and development organizations based there – numbering some 9,000, by many estimates – were dealing with their own challenges: collapsed buildings, missing colleagues, lack of power and water, and suddenly, an overwhelming new set of urgent problems to address.

As the trickle of aid came into the country, we heard from many of the staff and volunteers trying to deliver aid in the face of chaos and logistical challenges. One month out, as they move from trying to deliver urgently needed food, water and medical aid into the recovery phase, several of these organizations are helping to keep the world informed by blogging and updating their websites. The worldwide response to the catastrophe was immediate and generous. The long-term recovery and rebuilding of Haiti, however, will entail several phases, during which global attention will wane and focus will be diverted to crises yet to unfold. To the extent that onPhilanthropy can continue to inform our readers, most of whom are highly attuned to and engaged in the process of philanthropic development, we will make every effort to keep the story before you.

The massive relief effort unfolded in fits and starts, hampered by the severity and extent of destruction in a country with minimal infrastructure to begin with. There were inevitable frustrations and tales of looting and conflict. Nevertheless, aid continues to move through the pipeline, and organizations who have been on the ground are creating the systems they need to assist Haitian communities in starting life anew. Here are some reports from their websites and blogs offering a picture of the slow but determined process.

From the Irish-based international hunger relief and development organization Concern, which has been in Haiti since 1994, frequent updates have been blogged by Programme Officer Susan Finucane and Communications Officer Ed Kenney. From Finucane: 

“I had to return to New York last week to ensure that our programmes in other countries were being looked after. It was a difficult decision to make nearly a month after the earthquake. I felt like I was abandoning our team and the country of Haiti. But unfortunately, time waits for no one.

I haven’t had time to sit still since my return. I have been trying to tell people what it was like in Haiti. I am now on the other side of the fence looking into Haiti and trying to keep abreast of what Concern and other like agencies are doing. I remember how laborious the days were and think how tired the team must be, nearly one month on.

The pace is rapid and unrelenting. The stories from the field are hard-hitting and it is with a heavy heart that I read them – Pierre the malnourished orphan brought me to tears. “He didn't have the strength to grab my finger but his eyes grab my soul and seem to ask why,” my colleague tweeted.

But, the Haiti team don’t complain. They work tirelessly to get the information out to us. For Concern, the distributions continue: water, food, baby tents, latrines and more.

In New York, it is difficult to express just how bad it is in Haiti and how far apart these worlds are.”

From Kenney:

“In a place like this, the supply of food and clean water isn’t steady at the best of times. Add the earthquake, and the hurricane season, which is four months away and the difficulties are obvious.

The job is huge. It's going to mean finding the displaced, making sure that their needs for water, food and shelter are taken care of, and making sure the host communities do not slide back, that we can preserve some of the development gains of the last several years. The situation is critical and the response begins today. 

This has been a recurring source of amazement for me: despite losing almost everything, most of the staff were showing up for work within the first week.

And this is perhaps relatively trivial, but I think also deeply symbolic: they were all arriving sharply dressed. This is despite the fact that many spent the night under the stars or in a tent, commuting great distances.

And it's not just our staff. Every morning we pass dozens of women and men, dressed in what we might call “business casual”, walking intently downtown. If there are jobs to be had, they are going to find them. This is one untold story. Yes, there are incalculable victims here, but donors and television audiences and recovery planners should be told: the people of Haiti want to go to work, now.”

BRAC USA is an arm of BRAC, the  development organization founded in Bangladesh in 1972  and dedicated to alleviating poverty by empowering the poor to bring about change in their own lives,  is mobilizing resources to support the relief and rehabilitation efforts working with its two partners in Haiti. In September 2009, Fonkoze, BRAC, BRAC USA, Partners In Health/Zanmi Lasante with support from CGAP, CHF Partners in Rural Development and Linked Foundation launched a Partnership at the Clinton Global Initiative to break the cycle of disease and poverty in Haiti.  BRAC has been providing technical assistance to Fonkoze over the last several years to adapt its program for the ultra poor and has been planning to expand operations on the ground for long-term development.

Fonkoze is Haiti’s largest micro-finance organization with a mission to build the economic foundation for democracy in Haiti by providing the rural poor – mostly women – with the tools they need to lift themselves out of poverty. Fonkoze is national in scope with more than 40 branches throughout Haiti offering a full range of financial services to the rural-based poor, currently reaching more than 225,000 savers and borrowers. To learn more about Fonkoze visit www.fonkoze.org. Here’s a brief update on one way they’ve adapted to the disaster conditions:

“We have a very creative and interesting note of interest to share with you today, as the Fonkoze Family continues to make progress on the many challenges facing us.

You may remember that the Bizoton Branch was totally devastated. We knew that early on.

Yesterday a grant of $25,000 was secured to launch an innovative pilot project that will get the branch operating almost immediately.  The plan is to operate Bizoton out of a van that is owned by Alternative Insurance Company (AIC).  It has speakers, it’s covered in advertisements about micro-insurance, and it’s well equipped. Within a few days we’ll be operating the branch out of the van.

In the relatively near term, there are plans to establish the branch in a building location some days of the week, and then, on the other days of the week, operate a “roving branch” in the van in nearby neighborhoods. It will be the first mobile bank branch in Haiti (this is being done in other countries as an actual methodology). The funder is an international Christian media network that will be documenting the mobile branch (van).”

Partners in Health

 Zanmi Lasante, the Haitian sister organization of the U.S.-based NGO Partners In Health, is one of Haiti’s largest health care providers, serving a catchment area of 1.2 million in Central Haiti and the lower Artibonite Department. Zanmi Lasante has been working for more then two decades in Haiti to increase access to a full range of high-quality health services and to lift entire communities out of poverty through a range of social support and community development. To learn more about Partners in Health visit www.pih.org.

“In the evening, the Zanmi Lasante medical team gathered for lengthy discussions about how we can prepare for the next big challenge — how we can approach discharging patients who have no homes or jobs to go back to, who may have lost most of their families, who have injuries that will require months or years of rehabilitation and physical therapy, who will have to cope with paralyzed or missing limbs and other disabilities.

The next morning we observed the discharge of one patient who is fortunate enough to have a home in this area. Zanmi Lasante had already assigned a community health worker who will visit her every day, had already worked out a plan for physical therapy, had already developed plans for psychological support services, had assessed her need for food and other economic assistance.

Before she was released from the hospital, a doctor, physical therapist, and ajan sante (community health agent) went to check out the home where she will be recuperating. With one leg and one arm badly injured, she will need a wheelchair to move around for several months at least. Her home could hardly be called accessible for the handicapped. It can only be reached by clambering up a steep hill on a narrow, dirt path.

But she is one of the lucky ones. She lives in the Zanmi Lasante catchment area, where she will get daily visits from the ajan sante, regular physical therapy appointments, and follow-up wound treatment at the Cange Hospital. That's what we do and have been doing in Cange for almost 25 years. Now we have to figure out how to do it on a massive scale for tens of thousands of people who have fled to the areas where we work. And we also have to help the Haitian Ministry of Health obtain the resources and develop and implement plans to provide similar services in Port-au-Prince and other parts of the country.”

From CBM-US, an international organization serving people with disabilities in the world’s poorest countries:

“The Haitian Government raised the confirmed earthquake death toll to 150,000, and fears it could double as reports from outside the capital arrive. And as injury statistics climb toward 200,000, CBM’s mission of near-term emergency relief and long term care for the disabled has never been so critical.

Casualties among our partners on the ground are mounting. Devastation of roads, communications and program site infrastructure abounds. We have learned that:

• CBM Partner Grace Children's Hospital has suffered significant damanges, but its eye clinic building stands and remains operational.
• The Center for Special Education (Centre d'Education Speciale), which experienced 2 staff casualties, is in desperate need of a new facility to house its students and workers.
• More than 235,000 people have left Port-au-Prince using the free transportation provided by the Government.
• Ready-to-eat meals are needed for the short term to cover food needs.
• The number of people living in temporary shelter sites in Port-au-Prince could be as high as 800,000, according to partners on the ground.
• Water continues to be distributed daily at 115 sites in Port-au-Prince reaching an estimated 235,000 people.
• The number of injured people that need surgical interventions is diminishing, according to the World Health Organization.
• Haiti’s Ministry of Health is revising its emergency response strategy and will gradually shift focus from emergency surgical cases to primary health care. Thousands of amputees will require physical therapy. “

PLAN USA

 Founded over 70 years ago, Plan is one of the oldest and largest international development agencies in the world, working in 48 developing countries across Africa, Asia and the Americas:   

“Jo-Ann leads a group of 30 Plan-trained volunteers to help distribute aid and provide emotional support to children affected by the earthquake.

She leads 30 volunteers who have all been trained in child protection. They assess the children in tent communities, which have sprung up everywhere after the quake, to identify ones that may be vulnerable to abuse and trafficking.

The group, the first of many that Plan Haiti will train, is made up of students who suddenly have no university to attend, and teachers who no longer have a classroom. Many of them have lost everything too, but despite the difficulty of their own situations, they are dedicated to helping children survive the disaster.

 When asked how she manages to lead a group that includes men, even men a few years older than her, she is quick to answer. She has been involved with Plan’s youth programs for years and says: “It is not easy but we were all taught as youths that girls have the same rights as boys. I tell them that we are equals.”

The young men may be twice her size, but that doesn’t stop her from hauling around large bags of emergency rations. “I feel like I have the same strength,” she says.

 Once life returns to normal she will continue her studies, with the aim of earning a degree in communications. While Haiti has made some progress for girls’ and women’s rights in the last few years, Jo-Ann worries that some of these gains may be lost as life becomes more difficult.

The earthquake has set the development of Haiti back, and Jo-Ann worries that people may begin to rationalize the need to cut back on things like educating their daughters and not sending them to college. However, Jo-Ann knows that if these issues are to be tackled, they must be highlighted.

“Communication is a key to a changing a society,” she says.”

SOS Children’s Villages  Since its founding in 1949, SOS Children's Villages has expanded to 500 villages in 132 countries. SOS is currently raising over 80,000 children in its villages and providing many education, family strengthening, medical, and outreach programs.

“February 9, 2009: SOS Children's Villages, a global organization dedicated to the long-term care and prevention of orphaned and abandoned children, today welcomed UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie to its Village in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Ms. Jolie was on-site this afternoon to visit with the Village’s 300 children and families and continued to express her support for SOS’ humanitarian relief efforts in the devastated country.

During her stay, Ms. Jolie took the time to visit two SOS families who have each taken in four children (all brothers and sisters in both cases) who were amongst the 33 children involved in last week’s detainee crisis. Ms. Jolie also showed great interest in learning about SOS Children's Villages' emergency relief program to provide 30,000 Haitian children with food, medical supplies and treatment as well as trauma therapy through its network of community centers. “

Catholic Relief Services, the official humanitarian aid agency of the American Catholic community:

“Orphans Lives Shaken by Haiti Quake

The orphans at Foye Ti Zanmi Jezi (Little Friends of Jesus) were crammed in the TV room watching a documentary on the lives of children in France when the earthquake struck. On the first violent shake the older children grabbed the younger ones and carried them down the flight of stairs that led to the open courtyard below. Huddled together the children, ages 3-19, watched as the two-story structure bucked under the pressure of the 7.0 magnitude temblor.

In less than a minute the orphans lost everything. Their bedrooms—gone. Their schoolhouse—gone. Their indoor kitchen—gone. Yet the group’s quick-thinking teenagers assured all 52 children survived.

These days they are sheltered by the shade of a large Lilac tree as they play on the concrete courtyard that remains. Small two-piece puzzles, cards, a Monopoly set, and a plastic xylophone, on which they repeatedly pluck out the same refrain of Frere Jacques, “are you sleeping, are you sleeping? Brother John.” are the toys with which they idle away the hours.

The four Missionary Servants of the Sacred Heart sisters try to keep the children occupied: they sing songs and play games to distract them from memories of the earthquake. But when night falls, the chatter begins.

They sleep in two large canvas tents or under the cover of a starlit sky. Their numbers have swelled to 90. Concerned neighbors and parents with no homes or prospects of work have left an additional 38 children for safekeeping. This improvised camp is no YMCA slumber party. Each night the sisters spray the air with clouds of mosquito repellent to ward off malaria.

After evening prayers, those who are able, find a spot in the tents, while the others make their beds on the trampled lawn. During the day there are no tears, no stories of life pre- and post-quake, but when it comes time to sleep the answer to “are you sleeping, are you sleeping?” would be a resounding no.

The children talk late into the night, whispering softly from makeshift bed to makeshift bed, perhaps recounting how life has changed in just a few weeks.

CRS partnered with the Little Friends of Jesus orphanage long before the quake and will continue to care for the orphans in the months and years to come. On a sultry Saturday afternoon CRS arrived with 100 food kits—enough to feed the orphans a 2,000 calorie diet for 10 days.

Sister Elizabeth set up tables and wooden desks etched with the names of former students. She gathered the children underneath the cooling breeze of the lilac tree for an impromptu picnic. The dislodged corrugated tin roof flapped loudly on its walls as the sisters and CRS driver Rubens Dervilus handed out boxes of juice, crackers, granola bars, and chocolate.

Temporary shelter is next on the list for the orphans, followed by the re-opening of the school. CRS will continue to walk with the sisters as we help to rebuild the Little Friends of Jesus. The hope is that in time the children will once again sleep soundly and resume the childhood that was taken from them by three violent shakes of the earth.”

Susan Carey Dempsey, Editor-in-Chief of onPhilanthropy, is Managing Partner of CauseWired Communications, a consulting firm advising nonprofits on effective communications, strategy and development. She can be reached at susan@causewired.com

Women, Wealth and Giving: The Virtuous Legacy of the Boom Generation
Margaret May Damen, Niki Nicastro McCuistion
ISBN: 978-0-470-23064-0
Hardcover
256 pages

Answering women's questions of how and why to give from the heart, Women, Wealth & Giving helps you understand the models that work best for charitable giving and how these models fit into your legacy mission, whether you've earned, inherited or married into your wealth.

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Nonprofit Finance for Hard Times: Leadership Strategies When Economies Falter
Susan U. Raymond, Ph.D.
ISBN: 978-0-470-49010-5
Hardcover
195 pages

During this time of upheaval and instability with the country's financial markets and economy, you might be wondering how your nonprofit can emerge stronger from this unprecedented turmoil and prepare for future economic cycles. Practical and timely, Nonprofit Finance for Hard Times: Leadership Strategies When Economies Falter helps your nonproft get strategic in the weak economy.

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And once you’ve done your feasibility study and determined that pursuing your goal may be difficult but achievable, you’ve got to take a deep breath and proceed in a methodical fashion. Make sure all the basics are in place: an appropriate pool of prospects, good leadership, a clear and compelling case for support, and a comprehensive plan for achieving your goal.

You might add one new tool to that list: a small but helpful book that’s the latest in a series of one-hour, digestible reads: “How to Raise $1 Million (or More!) in 10 Bite-Sized Steps.” This guide is drawn from real life experiences by Andrea Kihlstedt, who has worked as a fundraising consultant for nearly three decades with scores of nonprofit organizations. While the process of major gifts fundraising can, on the one hand, be boiled down to one page of principles or at the other extreme, explicated in lengthy seminars, Kihlstedt’s approach is to illustrate some of the most critical points with a series of enlightening and often entertaining anecdotes.

In a conversational but straightforward style, the author recounts a number of experiences she’s obviously encountered at numerous nonprofits in the course of her consulting career, with names changed to protect the innocent and avoid annoying those who don’t play well with others.

For most veteran fundraisers, a sense of humor when dealing with difficult people may be an often underestimated but powerful trait. And many of those professionals and volunteers will recognize such characters as Art, who tried to persuade his fellow board members that their community nonprofit could easily raise half a million dollars by asking 500 people to buy paving bricks at $1,000 each.  Or the big-shot Bill, who looked like a good choice for campaign chairman, until the executive director noticed how he liked to be the center of attention, but took on little of the work. 

“Ten Bite-Sized Steps” does indeed break some familiar material into a quick, entertaining read, but it offers a bit more. By recounting how different members of a campaign team – chairmen, committee members, executive staff, fundraisers – adjusted and coped with the foibles and weaknesses of one member or another, Kihlstedt invariably teaches a lesson about overcoming a challenge and ultimately attaining success. For campaigners who will encounter many challenges over the course of a campaign, maintaining equilibrium, optimism and, yes, a sense of humor will be difficult. By observing and absorbing the experiences Kihlstedt uses to illustrate her pivotal points, readers will have a chance to re-invigorate their own and possibly their teams’ spirits, and renew their focus on the goal. Since the publisher, Emerson and Church, offers discounts for quantities purchased for boards of directors and staff, it’s a way to keep everyone enthusiastic and empowered through the entire campaign.

“How to Raise $1 Million (or More) in 10 Bite-Sized Steps,” by Andrea Kihlstedt. Emerson and Church, Publishers (www.emersonandchurch.com)

Susan Carey Dempsey, Editor-in-Chief of onPhilanthropy, is Managing Partner of CauseWired Communications, a firm advising nonprofits and causes in effective communications and strategy. She can be reached at susan@causewired.com

The Stacked Deck
By Lilya Wagner

David sat back with a satisfied sigh.  In another week he and his organization were going to celebrate real victory!  Because of his work and management of a capital campaign, the goal of nearly $10 million had been reached – and ahead of schedule.  Besides that, he had incrementally increased the annual fund income and added to the endowment fund, in spite of the dire economic circumstances of the country and his city. 

The constituents and friends of his organization had pitched in with unprecedented vigor, and he felt the warm satisfaction of having led in that team spirit.  Seeing a volunteer who had hesitated to get involved in the first place accompany him to close a major gift had been one of the highlights of his professional life.  According to what he had learned, particularly through The Fund Raising School training he acquired over time, having a peer participate in major gift cultivation and solicitation was a significant success factor, and he was happy to give credit to his boss and volunteers for the significant sums they brought in.  He knew his boss appreciated his work and enthusiastically participated in bringing the campaign to a successful closure. 

Then his face clouded and he shut his eyes as a rush of memories stormed to the forefront.  His euphoria faded as he remembered some conversations.  First, he could still hear his boss telling him, “I’m retiring.  Yes, I know.  It’s a bit earlier than I had expected but now with this campaign behind us, I think I can do so and not leave you or the school in a lurch.”  David sighed.  His boss had been uncommonly supportive, he knew.  He had heard plenty from his professional friends and in particular a senior-level fundraiser who’d finally quit her job because the better she did, the less her boss liked it. Why? Because it demanded more activity and accountability on his part (the board was watching and wasn’t pleased with his avoidance tactics).  His boss went on, “But we’ll have a major celebration and I will remind the search committee for my replacement that fundraising has been very important in building this organization to its present prestigious status.”  David would miss him, but he was fairly confident that his success of the past five years of either reaching or exceeding his goals would carry him through the transition and on to more years at the institution.

Imagine his surprise when he learned that a consultant was being brought in to conduct an audit of his department.  Presumably, the organization’s leadership wanted to see if they were on course and what they should consider for the future.  Why? was the first thought that popped into David’s mind.  Then he relaxed.  With the growth of his program and his evident success, perhaps all the assessment would do would be to show that he was doing well, and perhaps even convince the leadership that his work deserved more support.  He had quickly learned that the organization’s future focus was going to be on program development – not that they had anything for which to apologize, but it seemed like the physical plant and fundraising would not be a priority anymore. 

David expected to be included in the preparations for the assessment.  After all, that was accepted protocol, business as usual.  Once again he was surprised when a consultant showed up, bypassed him, and began interviews.  Wasn’t he going to be asked for recommendations on whom to interview, particularly donors and volunteers?  Apparently not.  David was justifiably insulted, and disappointed when he learned who had been selected for the interviews — that the deck had been stacked!  Why? he once again had to ask himself.  What was going on here?  Should he take this as a hint?  Was the fundraising program in danger of being downsized?  Was he not needed anymore?  Normally an upbeat person, David couldn’t fight the dejection and depression that hit him, and hard.  Clearly, he was being marginalized. Maybe it was time to bow out rather than fight unworkable situations. 

Finally he made the decision that it was better to resign while showing positive growth and much success, rather than risk a downturn in both funding income and his reputation.  He took little comfort in the sympathy of his professional friends and family.  He truly cared about the organization and this didn’t bode well for his department.  He also worried about what would happen to his donors, those whom he had cultivated and had cared for with sincere feeling. 

David gathered his wits and wisdom around him and began a job search.  He had to learn how to present himself and his success, how to match his skills to a particular job opening and modify his resume accordingly, and he had to keep up his confidence and self-respect – perhaps the hardest task in view of what had happened. 

As he proceeded on his job search during a tough economic time, he had to do a lot of personal evaluation and soul-searching.  Did he really want to stay in fundraising, he asked himself?  Was it time to turn to some other career the experience and expertise he had acquired over the years?  As we leave David to his job search, we can ponder along with him the following conclusions:
 Life isn’t fair.  Get over it.
It’s not about you.  It’s about the leadership, and more often than not, it’s about the particular point in time in the organization’s life.
There’s only so much a professional can do.  Sometimes circumstances divert a successful path.
 No matter what you do as a fundraising professional, sometimes it just  doesn’t work! 
Sometimes it’s better to bow out while on top rather than go down with the ship (yes, he knew he was mixing metaphors but at that point he didn’t care).

P.S.  I was recently asked if the content of my columns is real.  Yes, every column is based on real-life incidents, sometimes a bit disguised by a combination of events and circumstances to protect the innocent and not divulge the identity of the not-so-innocent.  If you have nightmares to share, write coplilya@cs.com.

Dr. Lilya Wagner, CFRE, is an experienced fundraiser, consultant, editor and author, teacher and trainer. She can be reached at coplilya@cs.com. 

Nonprofit Guide to Going Green
Ted Hart, Adrienne D. Capps (Editor), Matthew Bauer (Editor)
ISBN: 978-0-470-52982-9
Hardcover

Nonprofit Guide to Going Green is your comprehensive learning tool to guide nonprofits and NGOs towards becoming greener. A desktop reference for any charitable organization to become greener, this essential book gives your organization the support it needs to take proactive steps to protect the environment while fulfilling its mission.

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