Citing unfavorable market conditions, Convio Inc. is withdrawing its bid to go public. The Austin provider of software and Web services for nonprofits filed its IPO request with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Aug. 30, 2007. The company said at the time it hoped to raise $86 million through the offering. But yesterday Convio asked the SEC to withdraw its registration statement. CEO Gene Austin says going public is still in Convio's future, but he says it's a matter of ...

High gasoline costs have put a crimp into volunteer activity at charities across the country. Organizations, including the American Red Cross and Catholic Charities, have complained that the current tax deduction for use of a personal car while performing volunteer services for charities was too low at 14 cents a mile. That is compared with 58.5 cents a mile for corporate employees who use their cars for business purposes. More than 100 charitable groups have signed a letter asking ...

Although U.S. nonprofits are widely involved in efforts to influence public policies that affect them and the people they serve, they are often constrained by tight budgets, limited staff resources, and confusing legal restrictions, a new report from the Johns Hopkins University Nonprofit Listening Post Project finds. Based on a survey conducted by the Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest and the university's Center for Civil Society Studies, the report, Nonprofit America: A Force for ...

The biggest hurdle facing nonprofits is building awareness, a new study says. The study, by Lipman Hearne and the American Marketing Association, says the top marketing priorities among nonprofits, regardless of size, are gaining visibility, generating revenue, branding, and acquiring and retaining members and customers. "Being mentioned in the media is priceless, because it gains nonprofit organizations attention as well as third-party endorsement of their work," says Rodney ...

The TANO website and TANOgram E-Newsletter are for YOU! What have you found helpful? What is not? What would you like to see? We want your ideas! Email mbharrington@tano.org with your feedback on these sections: Calendar, Job Bank, Breaking News, TANO News, News From The Nonprofit World, Membership Has Its Benefits (information on TANO member benefits), Where On The Website? (information found on TANO website), Tech Tip Of The Month (technology reviews by Idealware), Risk Tip Of The Month ...

Nonprofits Coalesce Around New Charitable Volunteer Mileage Bill Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and John Ensign (R-NV) have just introduced the GIVE Act of 2008, “Giving Incentives to Volunteers Everywhere” (S 3429). Of the ten bills introduced on this issue, NCNA, Independent Sector, AARP, Catholic Charities USA, the American Red Cross, and the United Way of America are all endorsing this bill. NCNA actively lobbied for this bill and it offers the best combination of passage (because of the ...

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Free Philanthropy Newsletter Offered To TANO Members Grant awards are an integral part of a strong fundraising strategy. Help your organization build capacity and sustainability by staying abreast of upcoming private and federal grant deadlines, conferences, and trainings, and grant maker updates with GrantStation’s free weekly e-Newsletter. View a sample issue and sign up for a free subscription with your TANO membership . GrantStation also provides helpful grantseeking information on its ...

August 2008 - Sometimes a team conference call just isn’t enough—and these days, it doesn’t have to be. A number of tools, such as TeamViewer, DimDim, Yugma and Acrobat Connect, let you display information over the Web. You can show everyone the applications or documents on your computer, interact via text chat, or even video conference, all for free. They might be just the thing for your next team meeting. How do they work? The basic function of online conferencing tools is to provide an ...

As a consultant I'm often asked, “Why do some collaborations succeed and others fail?” As you can imagine, there are many factors involved (see 20 Factors Influencing Collaboration Success below). However, having consulted with more than 50 collaborations in the past 10 years, I've identified four keys that—while not a guarantee to success—are essential to a well-functioning collaboration. Those keys are: Clarify the purpose Let form follow function Involve the right ...

Charities need to do a better job keeping their volunteers engaged and loyal, say the authors of a new report released today by the federal government. The report, from the Corporation for National and Community Service, says that more than one out of every three people who had volunteered in 2006 had not done so again in 2007. David Eisner, who heads the Corporation for National and Community Service, says nonprofit groups ought to be more strategic in the ways they recruit, manage, and ...

Author Harvey McKinnon said recently, “I only learned how to raise money because I felt passionate about many causes. And when you feel passionate, you want to learn what motivates people to give. Ultimately, this led me to figure out that most prospects and donors have similar questions. It doesn't matter if the cause is a cancer cause or an environmental cause. The fundamental questions that people have are the same. That led me to try and organize the most important questions, and to ...

(July 21, 2008) Do you still get tongue-tied when pressed for a 30-second answer to the question, ‘Why should I give?’ When making your case for support, be it on a postcard or in an elevator, you often have just a moment—and a few sentences—to catch a donor’s attention. According to author Tom Ahern, who specializes in fundraising communication, the trick is having a strong grip on what a gift can accomplish, wielding words that nail down core concepts and avoiding those that cloud and ...

(July 21, 2008) 'Isn’t Email Just Like Regular Direct Mail—But on Steroids?' It’s been a while since a nonprofit executive asked me that question, but it still makes me smile. And groan a little too. The myths and confusion engulfing email only seem to proliferate with each passing year. So here we are in 2008. A cool $10 billion or so is now being raised annually online. But what is the truth about email? Is it the best way to reach a mass audience of potential online donors? Or is the ...

Nonprofits across most sectors saw a decline in revenue and in the number of donors in the first three months of 2008, a new report says. Revenue at nonprofits surveyed fell 1.8 percent in the first three months of 2008, compared to the same period in 2007, the first decline in 2½ years, while the number of donors fell four percent, continuing the slide since the Gulf Coast hurricanes in fall 2005. Revenue per donor, however, grew 2.1 percent in the first quarter, compared to the ...

In This Issue: News From The Nonprofit World Mark Your Calendar Job Bank Tech Tip TANO c/o Austin Community College 5930 Middle Fiskville Road, Austin, Texas 78752 (512) 223-7075 ...

White House Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Regional Conference, Dallas, TX The White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives will be hosting a regional conference on August 29 in Dallas, Texas. This conference is will place special emphasis on opportunities for partnership at the state and local level, ranging from funding provided through grants and contracts, to non-financial partnerships like mutual-referral relationships with local government agencies, to ...

2008 Risk Management and Finance Summit for Nonprofits Sunday to Tuesday, September 7–9, 2008 Marriott City Center • Minneapolis, MN Main Register Program Location Mark Your Calendar! The 2008 Risk Management and Finance Summit for Nonprofits will be held September 7–9, 2008 at the Marriott City Center in Minneapolis, MN. Mark your calendar today and plan to attend this annual gathering of leaders ...

CENTERS FOR FAITH-BASED AND COMMUNITY INITIATIVES 2008 EVENTS AND TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES August 2008 August 29 White House Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Regional Conference, Dallas, TX This conference is will place special emphasis on opportunities for partnership at the state and local level, ranging from funding provided through grants and contracts, to non-financial partnerships like mutual-referral ...

What would your nonprofit do if it were forced to give up its logo or tag line because another organization successfully claimed it as their own? The American Red Cross survived such a threat recently when a federal court in New York threw out Johnson & Johnson’s lawsuit attempting to stop the American Red Cross from using the Red Cross emblem on first aid and other health and safety products sold to the public. Johnson & Johnson also claimed that the Red Cross should destroy its inventory of ...