Charity Spring Patch Digest: Annette Funicello shows how to raise money literally one penny at a time

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Fairfield County Funding Opportunities

For the Common Application and Report forms, and many other tools, go to the Connecticut Council for Philanthropy.

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development’s economic development program awards grants ranging from $25,000 to $75,000 that focuse on supporting Economic Development Institutions (EDIs). EDIs are typically community-based organizations and businesses that create just workplaces, provide good jobs and develop assets for low-income people that are owned by families and communities. EDIs supported by CCHD have structures that promote low-income leadership and ownership. (Deadline 11/1/12)

Mickey Mouse Club’s most popular Mouseketeer and sixties Beach Party star, Annette Funicello, celebrates her 70th birthday today. Annette has been fighting Multiple Sclerosis for over twenty-five years. The Annette Funicello Research Fund for Neurological Diseases Inc. just launched a year-long “Penny Campaign” fund-raising program to underscore the fact that every penny donated to her charity counts. If only to see best practices for this type of fundraising campaign, this is a website to study.

Fairfield County Charity & Donor News

Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life today after the International Cycling Union (UCI) ratified the United States Anti-Doping Agency's (USADA) sanctions against Armstrong. Whatever you may think about that, there is his foundation that is about as good as it gets in fundraising and programming for those touched by cancer. The UCI may be able to strip Tour titles, but is the foundation stripped of its future as a result? Does his national foundation have a presence in Fairfield County that is felt?

A word from the new president and CEO of the Council on Foundations: Philanthropy drives innovation and creates change that our government and the private sector cannot. Its efforts and dollars fuel the nonprofit service organizations that strengthen the fabric of community life across this country. In 2011 alone, total charitable giving approached $300 billion, according to “Giving USA: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2011.” Nearly $218 billion came from individuals and more than $24 billion from bequests. Foundations distributed nearly $42 billion. And corporate giving topped $14 billion.

Here's a great article on how the some are cultivating the next generation of arts donors: Arts fundraising is a competitive business. There are 115,000 nonprofit arts organizations in the United States, according to Robert Lynch, president of Americans for the Arts . These institutions depend on government grants, corporate giving and individual gifts from patrons, and gifts in the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars are a rarity. According to The Chronicle of Philanthropy, of the 3,882 gifts over $1 million in the past five years, only 189 were to arts organizations.

Donor Relations

Taylor Swift is inviting her social media friends to follow her today via live updates on Facebook and Twitter as she begins her media tour for her fourth album Red that came out today and is already number one on the iTunes Top Albums chart. Can your charity access a celeb to do the same to promote your cause? Do you know that Twitter and Facebook and Youtube and other allies stand ready to help you live-cast your special events. Charity Spring for one is looking into how to do that for you here on The Patch platform: Patch TV!

Benevon was founded in 1996 by Terry Axelrod, a professional fundraiser and social worker who committed herself to teaching others her proven, successful model for fundraising. She designed the Benevon Model after working for more than twenty-five years in the nonprofit sector. Here she offers a great thought PDF essay on “Asking Naturally.”

Corporate Social Responsibility 

Consumers Question Intent and Impact of Breast Cancer Cause Marketing -- another great report from Cone communications. Here is an excerpt: Nearly all Americans (92%) believe breast cancer is a critical cause for corporations to support, but just 26 percent feel companies have had a significant positive impact on the issue. Moreover, only half (52%) of consumers believe their individual breast cancer-related purchases make a difference, according to the 2012 Cone Communications Breast Cancer Trend Tracker.

Media Tips

For a great website to learn about and folow the radio industry, try this: Inside Radio. 

Is philanthropy print journalism's last hope?  Another great article form The Atlantic. Here is an excerpt: It was startling to read last week that the Ford Foundation was awarding a two-year grant of $1.04 million to the Los Angeles Times for the hiring of reporters. The money will be used for coverage of immigration issues, including the Korean and Vietnamese communities, the California prison system, and the border region with Mexico, and to staff a bureau in Brazil.

Social Media Tips

The Top Three Nonprofit Online Fundraising Tips. Excerpt: Of the $317B donated to nonprofits by individuals, currently about 15 percent is transacted online, but it's growing at a whopping 35-55 percent a year. With Facebook now boasting over one billion active users and the "value" of a like now established as $217/year for a nonprofit, social media is clearly playing an increasingly important role in helping causes secure the support they need to maximize impact.

Thought for the Day

Most of us come to charity work poorly. It’s a calling that does not promise provisions for the journey. We come to proclaim to the world that our only possession is “the cause,” something larger than ourselves. And yet, might it be that 100 years from now the charity worker of today may very well come to be valued as a sort of lost craftsman, among the originators of what is to come? Might it happen that in many years ahead our successors will look back hungrily to this period when there was so much willingness and ability? We know some people who should be remembered as the true artisans they are. We are grateful for them. You will be hearing about them here on The Patch.

Charity Spring

See what nearly 2,800 people around the world are reading at Charity Spring (live since October 4th). For many additional links to help you build financial support and awareness for your Fairfield County cause see the Charity Spring Patch Digest homepage.

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