A Philadelphia doctor has been convicted of the first-degree murders of three babies delivered and killed with scissors in late-term abortions.

Dr Kermit Gosnell, 72, was acquitted on another charge of killing a fourth baby, who let out a whimper before he cut its neck, prosecutors said.

He was also found guilty of involuntary manslaughter of an adult patient who died of an overdose.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Health & Medicine • Law & Legal Issues • Life Ethics • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

Humanitarian agencies are running low on funds to help millions of people affected by the war in Syria, prompting one United Nations official to warn: “Our capacity to do more is diminishing.”

Syria's two-year-old war has fueled a humanitarian catastrophe in the region, U.N. officials say. The U.N.’s Security Council has demanded an end to the escalating violence and condemned human rights abuses by all sides.

“Our agencies and humanitarian partners have been doing all we can. The needs are growing, while our capacity to do more is diminishing,” U.N. Under-Secretary General Valerie Amos said in a video appealing for worldwide support of aid efforts.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Poverty • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Foreign Relations • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Middle East • Syria

Check out this resource for your awareness and prayers.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Death / Burial / Funerals • Spirituality/Prayer • * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Rural/Town Life • Science & Technology • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Corporations/Corporate Life • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Evangelicals

Some dodge the stones and bottles thrown at their tents in the dead of night, others watch helplessly as their tarpaulin shelters, huddled in camps sprawled across the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, are destroyed with knives and sticks.

Rights group Amnesty International has collected dozens of such testimonies from Haitians who have been kicked out of makeshift camps set up by those left homeless by the January 2010 earthquake. Many camp residents have moved out, but just over 320,000 Haitians still live in them.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Poverty • * General Interest • Natural Disasters: Earthquakes, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, etc. • * International News & Commentary • Caribbean • Haiti

Imagine you were forced to leave your home? Given no option but to pack everything into one bag and to leave Northern Ireland.
That is exactly the situation that more than 500,000 Syrians have been forced into.

Into Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan they continue to pour, in search of safety and shelter from the bombs and bullets that have killed 60,000 people. Three-and-a-half thousand crossed into Jordan last Wednesday alone.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Poverty • Violence • * International News & Commentary • Middle East • Syria

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Watch it all--very heartwarming.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Aging / the Elderly • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Marriage & Family • * General Interest • Natural Disasters: Earthquakes, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, etc.

People put information on Facebook, news outlets did stories on our loss, and we sent emails to our friends.

The outpouring of support was immediate and generous. A contractor who got a tweet from his pastor at Seacoast Church had his own tools stolen several months ago, so he knew how it felt to lose such needed items. He purchased for us some brand new tools and also some used tools, spending over $700 of his own money.

Members of the Charleston Trident Home Builders Association and the Custom Residential Architects Network donated more than $4,000 in a matter of days. One of our board members offered to match donations by other members up to $2,500.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Stewardship • * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Religion & Culture • * South Carolina • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

A high-profile panel of religious charities has issued a wish list this holiday season.

The charities want smarter donors and active board members, plus a few more IRS audits of churches that break the law.

Most of all, they want Congress to leave them alone.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Religion & Culture • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

Founded in 1872, Louisville’s Woodcock Foundation has given scholarship money to needy college students for the past 50 years.

With assets that once totaled about $1.5 million, the Episcopal-church-affiliated charity gave away nearly $500,000 in the past five years alone to 60 to 70 students a year.

But now the foundation — named after the third bishop of the Diocese of Kentucky, the Right Rev. Charles Edward Woodcock — has only $8, and students who were awarded scholarships last year never got their money.

Makes the heart sad--read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Law & Legal Issues • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

At first blush, it seems to make policy sense, too. The rich fabric of America’s civic life, from Boy Scouts to community orchestras to soup kitchens, is the envy of the world. Its diversity reflects in part how much it depends on private givers with diverse interests and motives, and not just on the government. Their giving is encouraged by the charitable deduction, enacted in 1917, just four years after the income tax itself. The deduction lets people feel they are beating the system even as they practice virtue.

But there’s a question of fairness that complicates the issue. Overwhelmingly, the deduction benefits the wealthy — and the rest of the country has to make up the gap.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Taxes • The U.S. Government • Budget • Medicare • Social Security • The National Deficit • Politics in General • House of Representatives • Office of the President • President Barack Obama • Senate

The recession continued to affect how much Americans gave to charity last year, and the triple whammy of Superstorm Sandy, a national election and the looming fiscal cliff may cut how much we donate in the crucial final month of 2012, experts say.

Charitable giving overall increased by $6 billion in 2011, an increase of almost 4 percent from 2010, according to the 2012 report by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. Individuals gave $217 billion, compared with $209 billion in 2010.

“A little less than two years out from the end of the Great Recession, we’re starting to see charitable giving increase modestly each year,” said Geoffrey Brown, executive director of the Giving USA Foundation, which publishes the report.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Stewardship • * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Religion & Culture • * General Interest • Natural Disasters: Earthquakes, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, etc. • * International News & Commentary • America/U.S.A. • * Theology • Anthropology • Ethics / Moral Theology

The Church of England and other religious groups are not necessarily acting for the good of the public, Britain’s charity watchdog has ruled.

Its officials decided that religion is not always for “the public benefit” as it denied charitable status to the Plymouth Brethren, an exclusive Christian group, for one of its churches in Devon.

In a letter to the Plymouth Brethren, the watchdog set out its most recent decision that “there is no presumption that religion generally, or at any more specific level, is for the public benefit, even in the case of Christianity or the Church of England”.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of England (CoE) • * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • England / UK

The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling upholding the Affordable Care Act—or "Obamacare," as some have dubbed it—has advocates of faith-based nonprofits concerned about potential unintended "collateral damage" to their bottom lines.

The worry: Chief Justice John Roberts's nod to lawmakers' wide discretion to impose taxes—and to condition taxes to influence behavior—could pose threats both to charities' tax exemptions and to donors' tax deductions.

"It's an issue that's definitely on our radar," said Rhett Butler, government liaison for the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Health & Medicine • --The 2009 American Health Care Reform Debate • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture

Three months ago, Amy Green's life made a drastic turn. Although she was forced to spend Labor Day 200 miles away from home, she's thankful for a labor of love that spans 365 days a year.

"On June the 2nd, 2012 my son was involved in a motorcycle accident," said Green. "He suffered a spinal cord injury, actually he's a C5 prognosis, had a broken neck...."

After 30 days of sleeping on a couch – Green moved in across the street to the Ronald McDonald House.

"If the Ronald McDonald House wasn't here, our families would be sleeping in their cars, they're sleeping in the waiting rooms....

Read it all. If you have the time, I encourage you to check out the photo library of this wonderful place there.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Children • Health & Medicine • Marriage & Family • * South Carolina • * Theology • Pastoral Theology

Since its founding in 1998, Water Missions International has traveled all over the globe.

Now the nonprofit agency is traveling from West Ashley to North Charleston.

Water Missions, which provides sustainable safe water to people in developing countries and those hit by disasters, is moving its headquarters today to a new location near Virginia Avenue on the Old Navy Base.

“Water Missions International really shows what kind of world we live in,” said North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey. “It’s an agency that cares about people. It doesn’t care who the people are, but it cares about making their life better when tragedy strikes.

Read it all from the front page of yestserday's local paper.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • * South Carolina

Ever wonder how charitable the people are who live in your state or community? It turns out that lower-income people tend to donate a much bigger share of their discretionary incomes than wealthier people do. And rich people are more generous when they live among those who aren't so rich.

That's according to a new study by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, which breaks charitable giving down by ZIP code. It found that generosity varies greatly from one region of the country to another.

Read or listen to it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Stewardship • * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Psychology • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Personal Finance • * International News & Commentary • America/U.S.A.

Watch it all--if it doesn't bring tears to your eyes, something is wrong.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Children • Health & Medicine • Marriage & Family • Military / Armed Forces • * Economics, Politics • Defense, National Security, Military • Economy • Housing/Real Estate Market

Months of warnings have failed to prevent a serious malnutrition crisis in Niger, Save the Children has said.

The charity says more than six million people are affected there, and about 18 million across West Africa.

It says a rising number of children now need medical treatment for the condition, as the crisis is reaching a new level of seriousness.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Children • Dieting/Food/Nutrition • Health & Medicine • Poverty • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Niger

Under new rules announced on Wednesday (May 2), the Vatican will more closely oversee the operations of Caritas Internationalis, a global confederation of 162 national Catholic charities. The decision comes after the Vatican last year vetoed the re-election of the organization's then-secretary general, Lesley-Anne Knight, complaining of a lack of coordination with Vatican officials.

The new rules issued by the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, will require all Caritas Internationalis officials make a formal promise of fidelity to church teachings and leaders.

Read it all

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Religion & Culture • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic • Pope Benedict XVI • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology • Pastoral Theology

Almost nine out of 10 charity bosses fear big donations from wealthy backers will be hit by Chancellor George Osborne's cap on tax relief for charitable donations, according to a survey.

The findings of the survey of 120 charity chief executives and senior executives conducted by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) will intensify the pressure on the Government to rethink its plans unveiled in last month's Budget.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Stewardship • * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Personal Finance • Taxes • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • England / UK

Episcopal Bishop Terry White of Louisville and his colleague Bishop Chilton Knudsen of Lexington have set a wager on Saturday's Cardinals - Wildcats game. The amount of the wager is shrouded in sacred mystery. If the Cats win Bishop White makes a donation to the Cathedral Domain Camp and Conference Center for the Diocese of Lexington. If the Cardinals win, Bishop Knudsen makes a donation to All Saints Camp and Conference Center for the Diocese of Kentucky.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Sports

For the fourth year in a row, President Obama is proposing lower tax deductions for the wealthy on donations to churches and other nonprofit organizations. And for the fourth year in a row, nonprofit groups say the change would lead to a dramatic drop in charitable giving.

The reduction, included in Obama's 2013 budget proposal, rankled the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America.

"We were hoping this would not come up again this year. We asked that they not renew it, but unfortunately the request was not taken," said Nathan Diament, the group's Washington director. "It's a real concern."

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Stewardship • * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Taxes • The U.S. Government • Budget • Politics in General • Office of the President • President Barack Obama

The International Committee of the Red Cross says it is in talks with "all those concerned" in Syria's conflict to negotiate a ceasefire.

The group says it wants to negotiate a brief truce in the most affected areas to allow it to deliver aid packages.

Correspondents say the fact that the ICRC has spoken publicly about the negotiations shows just how concerned it is by the situation in Syria.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Health & Medicine • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Foreign Relations • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Middle East • Syria

From here:

Air Serv International, which provides air services to humanitarian organizations in Africa and Asia, has named one of its aircraft “Spirit of John Stott”. This is tribute to John Stott, the late Rector Emeritus of All Souls Langham Place, London, evangelical Christian leader, and author of many well known books, including Basic Christianity and The Cross of Christ. John was also the framer of the Lausanne Covenant and founder of the Langham Partnership that supports a number of initiatives for Christian leaders and pastors, particularly in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

The aircraft which has been named “Spirit of John Stott” is a Cessna Caravan 208B.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Church History • * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Asia • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Evangelicals

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Watch it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Health & Medicine • Military / Armed Forces • Psychology • * Economics, Politics • Defense, National Security, Military • * General Interest • Animals

Through some basic analysis of census data, we can see what adopting the 180 percent [of the Federal poverty] line as the definition of poverty in North Carolina would have meant over the last nine years.

In every year since 2003, the number of North Carolinians under a 180 percent line hovers around 35 percent of the population, while the number of people falling below current poverty standards averages about 15 percent.

That is, the current poverty definitions show that approximately one in six people in North Carolina are in poverty. Using the more accurate 180 percent line would increase that proportion to one in three.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Children • Dieting/Food/Nutrition • Marriage & Family • Poverty • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • State Government

Anonymous "layaway angels" are rescuing Christmas for needy families across the nation.

Mystery donors are visiting stores and paying the balance on accounts that allow customers to pay for purchases over several months. Some donors ask the store to apply the money to children's toys or clothing; they aren't told recipients' names. Nor do recipients learn the identities of the donors.

More than 15 layaway accounts totaling almost $4,000 have been paid by strangers at a Kmart in Lafayette, Ind., says store manager Vic Sutherland. "It's pretty awesome," he says. "With the economy the way it is, you wouldn't expect it."

Fantastic stuff--read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Stewardship • * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • * Economics, Politics • Economy • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • * International News & Commentary • America/U.S.A.

Charitable giving is trickling back up as the economy heals, but it could take years to return to pre-recession levels, nonprofit leaders say.

Giving totaled $291 billion in 2010, according to the 2011 annual report by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. That’s up 3.8 percent from 2009 and follows two consecutive years of declines.

This year shows little change. Charity Navigator, a Glen Rock, N.J., organization that evaluates nonprofits, anticipates donations will be flat during the holiday season.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Stewardship • * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Personal Finance

Nearly one in five clients of Christian rescue missions said they were victims of physical violence within the past year, a 6 percent jump from the previous year, according to a new survey.

“It’s quite possible that the uptick in physical violence ... is due to a friend or family member’s feeling of desperation and helplessness accompanying their unemployment and underemployment,” said John Ashmen, president of the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions (AGRM).

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Poverty • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Housing/Real Estate Market • Labor/Labor Unions/Labor Market • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007--

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Children • Marriage & Family • Military / Armed Forces • Psychology • * Economics, Politics • War in Afghanistan

BOB ABERNETHY: One important lobby is the Christian group Bread for the World, which fights hunger here and abroad. Reverend David Beckmann, a Lutheran pastor, is president of Bread for the World. David welcome.

DAVID BECKMANN (President, Bread for the World): Thank you.

ABERNETHY: Bring us up to date, how many hungry people are there in the United States?

BECKMANN: It’s now 1 in 7 Americans who lives in a household that runs out of food.

Read or watch it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Dieting/Food/Nutrition • Poverty • Religion & Culture • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Evangelicals • * Theology

Fixing a painful toothache isn't in the budget of Brandon Crew, a 24-year-old maintenance worker and father to be.

Neither is food.

Earning $300 per week working at a local hotel, Crew said he and his girlfriend are barely “scraping by....”

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Poverty • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Housing/Real Estate Market • Labor/Labor Unions/Labor Market • Personal Finance • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • * South Carolina

[In this work]... the 40-year veteran urban minister "takes the gloves off" and argues that much of Americans' charitable giving "is either wasted or actually harms the people it is targeted to help."

The reason is that the "compassion industry" is "almost universally accepted as a virtuous and constructive enterprise," but its "outcomes are almost entirely unexamined." Years of charitable giving at home and abroad, Lupton contends, have made barely a dent in reducing poverty and often encourage dependency. Toxic Charity offers some statistics, but more stories, as evidence that both our philosophy and practice of charity are frequently misguided.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Books • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Poverty • Religion & Culture • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Evangelicals • * Theology • Pastoral Theology

He's 96 and drives an Olds Cutlass. She's 90 and carries pre-cooked meals to the doors of those in need, stopping to chat as long as she can.

Together, they've put in more than 5,500 hours of volunteering.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Aging / the Elderly • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Dieting/Food/Nutrition • * South Carolina

While the overall U.S. economy seems to be stuck in neutral, there are a few bright spots. One of them is charitable giving to the arts, which was up more than 5 percent last year.

But a new study cautions that much of that support serves audiences that are wealthier and whiter than the country as a whole.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Art • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Music • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Consumer/consumer spending • Personal Finance

The Diocese of Hyderabad has launched an appeal for funds to help its local flood-stricken community, and the ACT Alliance has issued an appeal for Pakistan – hit by severe flooding for the second time in just two years.

Over 5.4 million people have been affected by the floods that have hit Sindh province, southern Punjab and north-eastern Balochistan. Already 248 people have died, and communities that had barely recovered from the devastating floods of last year have seen their homes and livelihoods destroyed a second time.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Pastoral Care • * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • * General Interest • Natural Disasters: Earthquakes, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, etc. • * International News & Commentary • Asia • Pakistan

Boeing has only been in South Carolina a few years, depending on how you count its ownership interest in suppliers it eventually acquired entirely, but it's already making its mark on the community.

As it ramps up production of the 787 Dreamliner at its campus next to the Charleston International Airport, it seems the company is also ramping up its giving, especially to area civic events and various health and education initiatives.

Last year, for example, Boeing gave $25,000 to the Trident Technical College Foundation as one of several sponsors of the organization's 'A Night in the Valley' wine dinner and auction. This year, Boeing's doubled its giving to become the sole presenting sponsor, said Meg Howle, vice president for advancement at the college.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Corporations/Corporate Life • * South Carolina

Operation Hope built a nonprofit powerhouse over the last decade, spinning a stockpile of donations from Wall Street firms into 27 financial education centers across the country.

But the charitable organization’s donor base has retrenched in the wake of the financial crisis. Citigroup’s foundation last year cut its giving 60 percent, to $115,000. The ING Foundation delayed paying its $300,000 commitment to Operation Hope. And the CIT Group, a lender that was once one of the organization’s biggest benefactors, stopped giving altogether.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Consumer/consumer spending • Corporations/Corporate Life • Stock Market • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007--

(Here the founder of a Catholic Worker house describes their work in an area of stark inequalities[:])

It is the best of times and the worst of times in Oklahoma City. Our perception of how we are doing depends on where we are in the great economic scheme of things. If you are in the oil business, you are riding high. Driven by the strong prices for energy, Oklahoma’s oil sector is spending money lavishly, most notably on the new 50-floor skyscraper headquarters of Devon Energy in downtown Oklahoma City. The city is investing nearly $750 million over the next few years in its central core.

But this is a tale of two cities. Just a dozen blocks from the glamour of bio-engineering research institutes, I tried to get a health department inspector to condemn a rented house which had no heat, no electricity, no running water, no hot water, and in which the sewer was clogged. The tenant is a disabled man whose neighbours allow him to use their bathroom. The inspector called the landlord, but two months later there was still no hot water and the sewer was still blocked.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Poverty • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • City Government • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic

- It took 32 days for Fatima Mohammed to make it from her drought-racked farm in Somalia to the relative safety of a sprawling refugee settlement in northeastern Kenya. There were days, she recalled, when her children were so thirsty that they could not walk and the men in her family would ferry them ahead, returning to carry two more children in their arms.

Fatima Mohammed told Catholic News Service that her family had lived through drought before, but that support from aid agencies helped them survive until the rains returned.

"This time, al-Shabaab won't let them in," she said, referring to the Islamist group that controls portions of Somalia. "So when our animals started dying, our only choice was to stay and die ourselves, or else start walking for Kenya."

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Dieting/Food/Nutrition • Poverty • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Kenya • Somalia

A group of economists is launching a charity with a simple but radical plan: Give money to very poor people, and let them spend it however they want.

The recipients live in rural Kenya, typically in mud huts with dirt floors. They make about $1 a day.

The charity is called GiveDirectly. It's the outgrowth of relatively new technology, and a very old economic idea.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Stewardship • * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Personal Finance • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology • Pastoral Theology

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Religion & Culture • * International News & Commentary • Asia • China

Watch it all--please.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Children • Health & Medicine • Military / Armed Forces • Psychology • * Economics, Politics • Defense, National Security, Military

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has earned a fierce reputation for defending Muslim civil rights.

Middle Tennessee Muslims turned to the group this year over a proposed state law they feared would threaten their faith. When vandals torched a Columbia mosque and construction equipment at the new Islamic Center of Murfreesboro site, CAIR demanded authorities investigate both incidents as hate crimes.

But the Washington, D.C.-based group’s work is being threatened as it faces scrutiny for failing to file tax returns.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Taxes • * International News & Commentary • America/U.S.A. • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Islam

Charitable giving recovered somewhat last year, according to new estimates by the Giving USA Foundation, but experts are predicting that this year will present more challenges to nonprofit fund-raisers.

Individuals, companies and philanthropic institutions made gifts and pledges totaling an estimated $290.89 billion in 2010, an increase of 2.1 percent on an inflation-adjusted basis over a revised estimate of $284.85 billion the year before.

The increase was the first since 2007, when the recession started and led to the biggest decline in giving in more than 40 years.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • History • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Consumer/consumer spending • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007--

When Kasey Sands and her family returned home last month a few days after a tornado flattened much of Joplin, Mo., a dozen strangers were removing trees toppled in their yard.

"I asked them who they were, and they said they were veterans," says Sands, 27. "They said they like to help with peace and not just with war."

They were Team Rubicon, a non-profit group of veterans formed after the 2010 Haiti earthquake to help in the immediate aftermaths of disasters. They also raced in after tornadoes struck Alabama in April and following earlier crises in Chile, Burma, Pakistan and Sudan. More than 500 people have volunteered; 25 were in Joplin for a week.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Military / Armed Forces • * General Interest • Natural Disasters: Earthquakes, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, etc.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Children • Sports

Businesses, nonprofits and informal groups of friends in southwest Missouri are joining together to offer what help they can to victims of the Joplin tornado.

The generosity pouring into Habitat for Humanity in Springfield has, on a couple of occasions, choked up Eric Allen, director of the ReStore.

He estimated 30-40 people came with donations on Tuesday. Some were low-income families who have received homes through Habitat. Others were tradespeople who regularly make donations to the organization or shoppers who appreciate bargains at the ReStore.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Marriage & Family • Religion & Culture • * General Interest • Natural Disasters: Earthquakes, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, etc.

BOB FAW, correspondent: Question: What do this longtime alcoholic, this up and coming project manager, this receptionist who was homeless, and Noah Haynes, who just turned one, have in common? Answer: The chance at a better life because of this former corporate high-flyer and mother of four.

NANCY MURRAY (Builders of Hope): We’re building houses. We’re rescuing houses that are slated for demolition, rebuilding them and making them available and affordable to families who otherwise would be living in pretty substandard conditions....

Read or watch it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Poverty • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Housing/Real Estate Market

As recession-racked cities struggle to balance their budgets with everything short of feeling behind sofa cushions for loose change, a growing number are seeking more money — just don’t use the word taxes — from nonprofit institutions that occupy valuable land but by law do not pay property taxes.

Boston has been sending letters to its largest nonprofit institutions this year, telling them the value of their land and asking them to begin making annual payments that would eventually rise to a quarter of what they would owe if they paid property taxes. Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel of Chicago wants the city to begin charging water fees to nonprofits, which have been spared them in the past. And the mayor of Providence, R.I., Angel Taveras, cited Boston’s example this month when he called on nonprofits to pay more money to the city.

“Every citizen, every city worker, every taxpayer, every business and every organization — including tax-exempt institutions — must share part of the burden of saving our city,” Mr. Taveras said in his budget address. He proposed closing Providence’s $109 million budget gap by shutting schools, laying off workers, cutting the Police and Fire Department budgets and raising taxes on homeowners as well as seeking larger payments from the city’s prestigious universities and other nonprofit institutions.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Housing/Real Estate Market • Taxes • Politics in General • City Government

Nearly half the charities and voluntary groups in Yorkshire are expecting to reduce staff numbers over the coming weeks as funding cuts bite, a new study suggests.

Almost 50 per cent of the “third sector” organisations which responded to a survey by Involve Yorkshire and Humber – an umbrella group representing charities across the region – said they were planning to reduce their workforce over the next three months to help to cut their costs.

The study represents yet another blow to David Cameron’s Big Society project, with critics having warned for months that cuts to local authority budgets would have a fatal knock-on effect for many charities which rely on councils for much of their fnding.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • England / UK

Charities are seeing improvements in fundraising, but progress is slow, a report out today says.

Fewer charities reported declines in fundraising last year compared with 2009.

But a larger percentage of organizations reported bringing in about the same amount of revenue both years, says the report by the Nonprofit Research Collaborative, a coalition of six organizations that focus on philanthropy.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Consumer/consumer spending • Corporations/Corporate Life • Personal Finance • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • * International News & Commentary • America/U.S.A.

With South Carolina facing a projected $700 million budget shortfall next year, it’s important not to overlook a sector of our economy that has the power to both stimulate economic growth and provide a wide range of social good: the nonprofit sector.

According to the S.C. Association of Nonprofit Organizations, public charities employ more than 7 percent of the state’s workforce and generate nearly $13 billion annually in revenue.

In addition to improving social and economic equity, human and environmental health, access to opportunity and community vitality, nationally the nonprofit sector accounts for 5 percent of gross domestic product, 8 percent of wages and salaries and 10 percent of employment. If the nonprofit sector in the United States were a country, it would be the eighth-largest economy in the world, ahead of Canada, Spain, Brazil and Russia.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Labor/Labor Unions/Labor Market • * South Carolina

As the extent of the death and destruction from the massive disaster in Japan comes into focus, religious relief organizations are sending and supporting teams to assess the damage.

Groups such World Vision and Baptist World Aid have teams on the ground determining what kinds of experts and supplies will be needed in the recovery from the earthquake and tsunami that struck Friday (March 11).

Rachel Wolff, a spokeswoman for World Vision, said a relief manager who worked on the scenes of earthquakes in Haiti and Pakistan was stunned by the extent of the destruction.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Religion & Culture • * International News & Commentary • Asia • Japan

Houses of worship and other charities often aren’t in competition for dollars but instead tend to reap donations from similar donors, a new study shows.

Slightly more than 50 percent of people who financially supported congregations also gave to at least one charitable organization in the last year, according to a study conducted by Phoenix-based Grey Matter Research Consulting.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Stewardship • * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Economy • * International News & Commentary • America/U.S.A.

Caught this one on the morning run--I thought it was fair. Watch it all--KSH.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Health & Medicine • Poverty • Religion & Culture • * International News & Commentary • Caribbean • Haiti • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Evangelicals

Panera Bread will open a nonprofit restaurant Monday in Portland where customers can pay what they wish for food
.
It's the third "Panera Cares" community cafe for the company and its first West Coast location.

Panera (PNRA) opened community cafes last year in Clayton, Mo., and Dearborn, Mich. The restaurants are owned and operated by a nonprofit arm of the national restaurant chain, which receives no profit from the business.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Poverty • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Corporations/Corporate Life • Personal Finance • Politics in General • City Government • * International News & Commentary • America/U.S.A.

The last few years have proven financially tumultuous for millions of Americans, who have passed on their troubles on to nonprofit organizations and places of worship. So what does that mean for charitable giving as 2010 draws to a close? Just like the reasons for giving, the answers are diverse. One theme, however, stands out: churches and Christian organizations must make significant changes to stay relevant in an era characterized by diminishing middle class incomes, growing need, and changing donor demands.

In a recent conversation on charitable giving, I spoke with "Jeff," a friend from California. In his thirties, Jeff admitted to having extra money to give to charity, but not enough time to really investigate who or what he could start supporting. When I asked him what causes he currently supports, Jeff said he still gave monthly to an orphanage where he had volunteered in India several years ago. The orphanage doesn't many updates, but the experience of volunteering - although it was years ago - makes his monthly gift an unquestioned and essential part of his life today.

Jeff's experience isn't an isolated one. A recent report on "High Net Worth Philanthropy," released by The Center for Philanthropy at Indiana University, indicates that firsthand experience with an organization's work is frequently linked to a long-term giving commitment.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Stewardship • * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Religion & Culture

Christians and atheists are fighting again—this time over who can raise more money for charity.

The Christian and atheist communities on the online forum Reddit are in a battle to raise the most money for their causes. In the spirit of Christmas (or in atheists’ case, human generosity), community members are even donating money to each other’s groups.

The Reddit.com social networking site allows users to rate the popularity of various websites, as well as join like-minded communities, including groups like reddit.com/r/christianity and reddit.com/r/Atheism.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Blogging & the Internet • --Social Networking • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Religion & Culture • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Atheism

It would be reasonable to ask why the government should subsidize charitable contributions at all. But for now, let’s discuss this simpler and more politically relevant question: If we are going to continue subsidizing these donations, what is the best way to do it?

First, I should clarify a simplification I’ve made. In the current system, strictly speaking, your eligibility to deduct a charitable contribution doesn’t depend on whether you have a big mortgage. But it might as well. You can deduct charitable contributions only if you itemize rather than take the standard deduction, and the most common way a household collects enough deductions to make itemizing worthwhile is to have a big mortgage. (Living in a high-tax city like New York can also help a taxpayer cross that threshold, because state and local taxes are deductible, at least for now.)

But I challenge anyone to justify a system in which we essentially subsidize contributions made by people with big mortgages. For one thing, this set-up magnifies the already large distortion created by the mortgage interest subsidy, since having a mortgage qualifies taxpayers for other subsidies as well.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Law & Legal Issues • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Taxes • The U.S. Government

When Jermaine Robinson got out of Rikers Island jail last March, he had nowhere to live and few real prospects for finding a job. But he did have something that would prove almost as valuable: The address of the storefront Harlem office where Getting Out and Staying Out operates.

"Without them, I wouldn't have gotten where I am right now," 23-year-old Robinson says.

The nonprofit, founded by retired cosmetics executive Mark Goldsmith six years ago, has helped some 1,500 young men incarcerated at Rikers chart new lives.

Only about 20 percent of those who go through the program return to prison, compared with nearly 60 percent for Rikers as a whole.

Read or listen to it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Aging / the Elderly • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Law & Legal Issues • Prison/Prison Ministry • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Corporations/Corporate Life

Along with jobs and 401(k)s, a major casualty of the Great Recession has been charitable giving. According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, America's charities report an 11% drop in contributions in the past year alone. There's one big exception: Charitable contributions to religious groups dropped by only 0.1% from 2007 to 2009.

Americans are generous people. In 2006, as detailed in our recent book, "American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us," 80% of all Americans reported having made a charitable contribution in the previous year. But some—the religious—contributed more than others.

Of the most secular fifth of Americans, two-thirds said they gave money to charity in the previous year. That's an impressive number, but it pales next to the 94% of the most religious fifth who reported making a charitable donation.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Stewardship • * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Religion & Culture • * International News & Commentary • America/U.S.A.

The lower the temperature, the longer the line out Crisis Ministries' door.

The 124-bed Charleston homeless shelter already is inching toward its overflow capacity, although winter does not start officially for another week. Lows this week have reached the 20s, and even chillier temperatures are forecast for next week.

"We typically don't see this kind of weather until January," said Amy Zeigler, grants manager for the shelter.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Poverty • * South Carolina

Chris Hughes, one of the founders of Facebook and the chief digital organizer for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, knows a thing or two about building online communities.

Now he is applying his expertise to a new venture called Jumo, which aims to connect people with nonprofits and charitable organizations.

The site, which is being unveiled on Tuesday, aims to “do what Yelp did for restaurants,” Mr. Hughes said, indexing charities “to help people find and evaluate them.”

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Blogging & the Internet • --Social Networking • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Psychology • Science & Technology • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Corporations/Corporate Life

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Watch it all-wonderful stuff.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • * Economics, Politics • Defense, National Security, Military • Economy • Housing/Real Estate Market • * International News & Commentary • America/U.S.A.

Watch it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Death / Burial / Funerals • * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Children • Marriage & Family • Psychology • * Theology • Pastoral Theology

Donations to the nation’s biggest charities dropped 11 percent last year, a decline that was the worst in the two decades since The Chronicle started its Philanthropy 400 ranking of the organizations that raise the most from private sources.

Nonprofit organizations say they don’t expect to have done much better by the time 2010 ends. More than one in four of the groups provided projections for 2010, and the median change they predicted was an increase of just 1.4 percent.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Consumer/consumer spending • Corporations/Corporate Life • Personal Finance • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007--

Here is the introductory blurb--

Caroline Cox was made a peer by Margaret Thatcher back in the 1980s, and since then she has been using her seat in Britain's House of Lords to speak out against injustices around the world on issues ranging from slavery in Sudan to the persecution of Christian minorities around the world. When she isn't sitting in the Lords, the 'battling Baroness' is traveling the world on behalf of HART - The Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust, an organsiation she founded several years ago.

Listen to it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Religion & Culture • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Sudan • Australia / NZ • England / UK

This is a great piece--and I like her five H's. Watch it all--KSH.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Dieting/Food/Nutrition • Poverty

Local charities are hurting since some quit holding raffles over legal concerns, according to testimony at a public hearing on the state's gaming laws Thursday evening in North Charleston.

It was the first of several hearings around the state by a subcommittee appointed by Sen. Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston. The senators are drafting a bill that would call for a referendum next year to let voters decide on a constitutional amendment declaring charitable raffles legal. They're drafting another bill to allow poker in homes.

As it is, state law written a century ago says all games of chance are illegal. Many charities quit holding raffles after a 2006 raid on a game of Texas Hold 'em at a Mount Pleasant home.

Read it all front the local paper on the front page of the local section.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Gambling • History • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Economy • * South Carolina • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

A senior Christian leader has warned much of the aid flowing into Pakistan to help deal with massive flooding may never be used for relief.

Retired Anglican bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, a Pakistani national who has spent much of his life in Britain, is visiting Australia to discuss issues around Islam and its growth in the West.

"The misery that the (Pakistani) people are in has been caused, to some extent, by corruption and incompetence," Bishop Nazir-Ali told reporters in Canberra on Monday.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of England (CoE) • CoE Bishops • * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Poverty • Religion & Culture • * International News & Commentary • Asia • Pakistan

The U.S. tied with Switzerland for fifth place in a “world giving index” by the British-based Charities Aid Foundation that measured charitable behavior across the globe.

The ranking in the “World Giving Index 2010” was based on the U.S.’s showing in three categories—60 percent of Americans gave to an organization; 39 percent volunteered for a group; and 65 percent were willing to aid a stranger.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Stewardship • * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Globalization • Poverty • Religion & Culture • * International News & Commentary • America/U.S.A.

Five years after Hurricanes Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, survivors and those working on their behalf say work is far from finished.

Church World Service says that what progress has been made is in great part due to the support, funding and labour of the US faith community and of humanitarian agencies.

"If it weren't for the volunteers and agencies who assisted me, I don't know where I would be," said Gloria Mouton, 62, whose home in New Orleans East was among those repaired by volunteers from across the US during the 2009 CWS Neighborhood New Orleans ecumenical project.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Pastoral Care • * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Hurricane Katrina • Poverty • Religion & Culture

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Poverty • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Corporations/Corporate Life • Labor/Labor Unions/Labor Market • Politics in General • City Government

A Roman Catholic adoption charity's appeal to be allowed to discriminate against gay people wanting it to place children with them has been rejected.

Catholic Care wanted exemption from new anti-discrimination laws so it could limit services provided to homosexual couples on religious grounds.

The Charity Commission said gay people were suitable parents and religious views did not justify discrimination.

The Leeds-based charity said it was "very disappointed".

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Children • Law & Legal Issues • Marriage & Family • Religion & Culture • Sexuality • --Civil Unions & Partnerships • * International News & Commentary • England / UK • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic

An atheist foundation that seeks to foster charitable giving among nonbelievers is encouraging members to donate to a religious charity -- and the move is stirring mixed feelings among members.

Foundation Beyond Belief, a nonprofit headquartered in Georgia, has designated London-based Quaker Peace & Social Witness as one of 10 charities its members will support this quarter.

"Reactions in the nontheist community have ranged from applause to gasps of dismay," said secular humanist Dale McGowan, executive director of the foundation, in a statement.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Religion & Culture • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Atheism

Customers who walk into the Saint Louis Bread Co. in Clayton, Mo., often stop, glance up at a sign and gape. Too many choices? Hardly. "We encourage those with the means to leave the requested amount or more if you're able," the sign reads. "And we encourage those with a real need to take a discount." Huh? I'm about to buy lunch at a fairly upscale sandwich joint, and I can name my own price?

Two greeters are available to confirm my suspicions: at this establishment, you can pay what you want....

Read it all (you need a subscription to do so).

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Poverty • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Corporations/Corporate Life

Charities are always looking for new ways to raise funds, and for some, reaching out electronically with social media tools like Twitter and Facebook is a perfect match.

For example, the American Red Cross' successful text-messaging campaign raised tens of millions of dollars for Haiti. It spurred charities' interest in the use of social media, but nonprofits are finding that some of these new fundraising methods need to be handled with care.

Northern Virginia Family Service, a relatively small nonprofit in Virginia that helps needy families, participated in a new Pepsi Refresh contest, hoping to receive some of the $20 million Pepsi is giving away this year to nonprofits and individuals that win the most votes online for their charitable proposals.

The group wanted to win $50,000 so it could buy a much-needed walk-in freezer and refrigerator for its food pantry. It has used Facebook and Twitter as well as an updated Web site and a YouTube video to win support.

Read or listen to it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Blogging & the Internet • --Social Networking • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations

Four or five Sundays in 2005, his own atheism notwithstanding, Dale McGowan took his family into the neo-Gothic grandeur of St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral in Minneapolis on a kind of skeptic’s field trip.

Mr. McGowan went because he wanted his three young children to have “religious literacy.” He went because his mother-in-law, Barbara Maples, belonged to the congregation. He went because, as a college professor with a fondness for weekend sweatpants, church gave him the rare chance to wear the ties she invariably gave him for his birthday.

Something else began to strike Mr. McGowan on those visits. He listened to the vicar preach about ministering to the poor, and he learned that the cathedral helped to sponsor a weekly dinner for the homeless. Most importantly, he watched as the collection plate moved through the pews and as his mother-in-law, who volunteered at those dinners, dropped in her offering.

All those details added up to a nonbeliever’s revelation. The theology and the voluntarism and the philanthropy, Mr. McGowan came to realize, were part of a greater whole, a commitment to charity as part of religious practice. And on that practice, this atheist felt lacking. To put it in church slang, he was convicted.

Rather than adopt faith, however, Mr. McGowan set out to emulate it, or at least its culture of giving. He set out to, in effect, create the atheist’s collection plate....

Read it all

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Parishes • * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Poverty • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Atheism

Nickels, dimes and quarters added up quickly last Christmas despite the economic slump as Americans donated a record $139 million to the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle campaign.

“America is an incredibly generous nation and philanthropy is alive and well, despite the current economic conditions impacting so many,” said Commissioner Israel L. Gaither, national commander of the Salvation Army.

“We are grateful for every donor, volunteer and corporate partner for supporting the Salvation Army’s mission by giving more than ever during a time when some have so little to give.”

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Stewardship • * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Poverty • Religion & Culture

Employees at Catholic Charities were told Monday that the social services organization is changing its health coverage to avoid offering benefits to same-sex partners of its workers -- the latest fallout from a bitter debate between District officials trying to legalize same-sex marriage and the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington.

Starting Tuesday, Catholic Charities will not offer benefits to spouses of new employees or to spouses of current employees who are not already enrolled in the plan. A letter describing the change in health benefits was e-mailed to employees Monday, two days before same-sex marriage will become legal in the District.

"We looked at all the options and implications," said the charity's president, Edward J. Orzechowski. "This allows us to continue providing services, comply with the city's new requirements and remain faithful to the church's teaching."

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Law & Legal Issues • Church/State Matters • Marriage & Family • Religion & Culture • Sexuality • --Civil Unions & Partnerships • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

Check it out.

Watch for the answer to the question "what's the greatest compliment you can receive?"

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Dieting/Food/Nutrition • Poverty

"The tenor of the calls has changed," said Barry Waldman, vice president of communications for Trident United Way. "Two years ago, it was all people who were chronically poor and didn't know how to go about getting help. And now we get calls from people who had a job, are desperate to get work again and can't believe they are in this situation."

Waldman said it has become a conundrum for nonprofits across the Lowcountry and the nation: The need for their services is reaching record levels while many of the people who once donated to these charities are unable to do so and now need help themselves.

With the state's unemployment rate over 12 percent, more people are struggling to make the rent, pay their utilities and even buy groceries. The Lowcountry Food Bank, which distributes food to many other charitable organizations, has sent out 40 percent more food than it did last year.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Poverty • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Labor/Labor Unions/Labor Market • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • * South Carolina

[William] Oppenheim founded Omprakash Foundation, an online database of volunteer opportunities that, unlike many others, is completely free and education-driven. He is not selling volunteer trips, he is connecting volunteers and donors with opportunities.

“There are all these companies where you will pay them $5,000 and they will sell you this trip,” he said. “This passion has just grown from my interest in education around the world.”

So far, there are more than 100 educational partners in 26 counties. For instance, his foundation connected a journalism club at a private school in California with a journalism program at a girls’ school in Kenya.

He sounds like quite a guy--congratulations to him. Read it all and there is much more there.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Education • Young Adults

I served my CPE internship in a VA hospital where the two wards I was to help care for had many mentally ill people on them. My supervisor said, early on in the program, "Kendall, the mentally ill are the lepers of modern day society." It rings ever more true the more distance I get from the remark. During that summer you cannot imagine how FEW of the patients on these wards who struggled with this kind of sickness were visited by their family members. Watch it all--and note particularly her response when she is asked about how she sees her sister--KSH.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Health & Medicine • Movies & Television • Psychology • Mental Illness

We need to rededicate ourselves to the work of Christian charity and the Catholic soul of our insti­tutions. Charity is a duty for the whole believing community. But it is also an obligation and privilege for every individual member of the Church, flowing from our personal encounter with the mercy of Jesus Christ.

Government cannot love. It has no soul and no heart. The greatest danger of the modern secularist state is this: In the name of humanity, under the banner of serving human needs and easing human suffering, it ultimately, ironically—and too often tragically— lacks humanity. As Benedict foresees in his encyclical, Deus Caritas Est:

The state which would provide everything, absorbing everything into itself, would ultimately become a mere bureaucracy incapable of guaranteeing the very thing which the suffering person—every person—needs: namely, loving personal concern. We do not need a state that regulates and controls everything, but a state that, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, generously acknowledges and supports initiatives arising from the different social forces and combines spontaneity with closeness to those in need. The Church is one of those living forces: She is alive with the love enkindled by the Spirit of Christ. This love does not simply offer people material help, but refreshment and care for their souls, something that often is even more necessary than material support.

In the face of modern critics who would crowd out the Church’s ministry of love, American Catholics must reclaim the vision Benedict speaks of here. We need to insist on the guarantees promised by the founders at the beginning of the American proposition: autonomy and noninterference from civil authorities.

But a more important task also remains. Catholics must come to a new zeal for that proposition, a new faithfulness to their own Catholic identity as they live their citizenship, and a new dedication to renewing the great public philosophy implicit in America’s founding documents.

Read it carefully and read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Law & Legal Issues • Church/State Matters • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Economy • The U.S. Government • Politics in General • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic

Watch it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Children • Health & Medicine

It's unusual to hear about any new business owner who feels that giving back is an integral part of the business plan.

Imagine how rare that trait is for a business that started the exact moment as the current recession. Chris Rutledge, the young owner of Red Line Painting had a plan when he started out and despite news reports that sent others to stockpile, he kept his hands open.

He stuck to his plan and faced down the economic tsunami that took out much older corporate giants and kept taking it one day at a time. It's all working out, slowly but surely.

This is wonderful--read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Stewardship • * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Corporations/Corporate Life

Homeowners and businesses were not alone in taking on piles of debt over the last decade. Nonprofits of all sizes did the same, and now they, too, are paying the price.

Far from being conservative stewards of their assets, many nonprofits engaged in what some experts call risky financial behavior. “They did auction-rate securities, interest-rate arbitrage, complex swaps — which backfired on them the same way it would backfire on any hedge fund or asset manager,” said Clara Miller, chief executive of the Nonprofit Finance Fund, which has experienced a huge increase in organizations turning to it for assistance with soured bonds. “Organizations got to be all fancy-pants with their financial management.”

Those struggling now include the full range of nonprofits, including museums, colleges, orchestras and small local social service providers.

For example, Brandeis University, with $208 million in tax-exempt bonds outstanding, plans to close its art museum and sell off the collection to raise money. The Orange County Performing Arts Center, with $265 million in bonds, has laid off staff members. Copia, a culinary center in Napa, Calif., went bankrupt in December with $78 million in bond-related debt that its lawyer blames for its failure.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Credit Markets • Stock Market • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007--

With all of the talk in recent months from activist groups like Greenlining and the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy about how charitable foundations need to devote more of their resources to urban areas and racial minorities, observers may have forgotten how much of American poverty is white and rural.

Earlier this month, the Council on Foundations, a national association for philanthropic organizations, attempted to chart a progressive course aimed at combating problems facing rural America. It hosted a three-day conference at Bill Clinton’s Presidential Library, which sits only a short distance from the Mississippi River Delta, home to some of the country’s most abject poverty.

According to a new report from The Bridgespan Group, which analyzed grant-making in 2006 by the top 1,000 foundations, grants to rural America accounted for only 6.8% of overall giving even though 17% of the nation’s population is rural and 28% of that rural population lives in poverty. A 2003 analysis of poverty by U.S. Department of Agriculture revealed that of the 14.2% rural Americans who lived in poverty, 11.3% were white, 30.5% were black, 25.4% were Hispanic and 19.5% were classified as belonging some other ethnic group. With respect to corporate gifts, only 1.4% of the 11,000 grants made by 124 Fortune 500 companies in 2000 went to rural organizations.

Read the whole article.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Poverty

Charitable giving in the United States fell by 2 percent last year, the largest year-over-year drop and only the second decline since the Giving USA Foundation began tracking American philanthropy 53 years ago, according to a report being released today.

Individual donations dropped by about 2.7 percent from 2007 to last year, corporate giving fell by about 4.5 percent and foundation contributions grew by about 3 percent, according to the report.

Nationwide, recipients collected about $307.7 billion last year, down from the record of about $314.1 billion in 2007, according to the report, which was done for the foundation by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. The only other annual decrease since the report was first published in 1956 occurred during the 1987 recession, when giving declined by 1.3 percent.

Read the whole article.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Stewardship • * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • * Economics, Politics • Economy

Watch it all-makes the heart glad.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Children • Dieting/Food/Nutrition • Poverty

For the past few years, Carl Anglesea gave about $400 each year to charity. But he lost his job as a software developer in August, and since then Anglesea, 54, of Chuluota, Fla., hasn't given a dime. What he has done, though, is triple his hours as a volunteer AARP tax counselor helping people fill out tax forms. "I'd like to give cash, but I can't," he says. "So I'm committing to more hours as a substitute."

This is a trade that works well for Anglesea and many like him. After all, time is money, and community-minded individuals may be happy to give whichever of the two they are better able to spare. But the time-money swap, which is washing over the charity world like a tidal wave during this recession, poses stiff challenges for nonprofits. They can't pay the rent with volunteer hours. One in two nonprofits says its funding has fallen, according to "The Quiet Crisis," a new report by Civic Enterprises, a social-issues think tank. When the economy was this rotten in the early 1970s, charitable giving fell more than 9%, adjusted for inflation. Experts believe something like that will occur in this recession too.

The projected budget shortfalls come at a time when nonprofits' services are most in demand. Last year the United Way saw a 68% increase nationally in the number of calls for basic needs, according to "The Quiet Crisis." The state of Arizona reported a doubling in the number of people who sought social services last year, and 70% of the nonprofits in Michigan reported an increased demand for services.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • * Economics, Politics • Economy • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007--

President Obama's proposal to limit the tax deductibility of charitable contributions would effectively transfer more than $7 billion a year from the nation's charitable institutions to the federal government. But the high-income taxpayers affected by the rule change are likely to cut their charitable giving by as much as the increase in their tax bills, which would, ironically, leave their remaining income and personal consumption unchanged.

In effect, the change would be a tax on the charities, reducing their receipts by a dollar for every dollar of extra revenue the government collects. It is hard to imagine a rationale for taxing schools, hospitals, medical research budgets and arts organizations in this way. I suspect that the administration officials who drafted this proposal did not understand that it would have this perverse effect.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Taxes • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • The Fiscal Stimulus Package of 2009 • The U.S. Government • Politics in General • Office of the President • President Barack Obama

President Obama's proposed 2010 federal budget contains a 7% cut in charitable tax deductions for the nation's wealthiest taxpayers. Some religious groups are asking how that will affect their bottom line.

The answer: it depends who you ask.

Here's what it means in real terms for the 5% of Americans whose household income exceeds $250,000 a year. Those families can currently save $350 in taxes for every $1,000 donated to charity; under Obama's plan, that amount would drop to $280 per $1,000 donation.

"By doing this, you raise the cost of giving" said Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at The Tax Policy Center, a liberal Washington think tank.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Taxes • Politics in General • Office of the President • President Barack Obama

Among those shocked by President Obama's 2010 budget, the most surprising are the true-blue liberals who run most of America's nonprofits, universities and charities. How dare he limit tax deductions for charitable giving! They're afraid they'll get fewer donations, but they should be more concerned that Mr. Obama's policies will shove them aside in favor of the New Charity State.

What did these nonprofit liberals expect, anyway? Mr. Obama is proposing a vast expansion of the entitlement state, and he has to find some way to pay for it. So logically enough, one of his ideas for funding public welfare is to reduce the tax benefit for private charity. His budget proposes to raise the top personal income tax rate to 39.6% in 2011 from 35%, and the 33% rate to 36% while reducing the tax benefit from itemized deductions for the top two brackets to 28% from 35% and 33%, respectively. The White House estimates the deduction reduction will yield $318 billion in revenue over 10 years.

From the Ivy League to the United Jewish Appeal, petitions and manifestos are in the works. The Independent Sector, otherwise eager to praise the Obama budget, worries the tax change "could be a disincentive to some donors." According to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, total itemized contributions from the highest income households would have dropped 4.8% -- or $3.87 billion -- in 2006 if the Obama policy had been in place. That year, Americans gave $186.6 billion to charity, more than 40% from those in the highest tax bracket. A back of the envelope calculation by the Tax Policy Center, a left-of-center think tank, estimates the Obama plan will reduce annual giving by 2%, or some $9 billion.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Taxes • The U.S. Government • Budget • Politics in General • Office of the President • President Barack Obama

Roberton Williams, senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center, said it's impossible to calculate the exact effects of all the tax changes, but said the overall result is clear - less philanthropic giving.

"This will lead people to give less to charities if they behave the way they've behaved in the past," he said. "We've already seen a drop in giving as a result of the economic collapse. On top of that, this will just reduce the amount of giving."

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Taxes • The U.S. Government • Budget • Politics in General • Office of the President • President Barack Obama

SCO Family of Services, a nonprofit agency based on Long Island, started the year with a $25 million credit line at its bank, which it planned to use to pay its bills while awaiting government reimbursements and donations.

Now, after its bank has cut its credit line twice and withdrawn a promise to support a critical bond offering, the organization is worried about whether it can pay its employees this month.

“I spend a good part of my day every day just trying to manage cash flow,” said Johanna Richman, chief financial officer at SCO, which provides services to children with developmental disabilities.

SCO is one of hundreds of charities caught in the credit crunch as skittish banks reduce their lines of credit or cut them off entirely at a time when the need for their services is climbing sharply, nonprofit leaders say.

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Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • * Economics, Politics • Economy • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007--

The struggles of the Big Three automakers are sending shock waves through the philanthropic community: The three companies gave a combined $116 million in charitable donations last year.

Listen to it all from NPR.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Charities/Non-Profit Organizations • * Economics, Politics • Economy • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007-- • The Possibility of a Bailout for the U.S. Auto Industry