A list of the essential articles I posted to Twitter from February 21– March 6, 2010.  This week’s topics include: Nonprofit Strategy & Governance; Social Media; Israel Finance & Economy; Global Finance & Economy; & Potpourri.

Sorry for the (relatively) long hiatus.  Between the holiday of Purim and a cold that knocked me out last week (and still lingers), I’ve been of the grid.  Good to be back.

Tizku Lemitzvot [May you continue to merit doing good deeds],

Shuey

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Nonprofit Strategy & Governanace

Game Changer? New US tax-status L3C allows company to focus on charity, earning profit is secondary. On @charitylawyer http://ow.ly/19LWC

Great facts that show NPOs playing critical role in economy (while silmutaniously misunderstood & under-appreciated) http://ow.ly/1ahxh

Does your Nonprofit bore people to tears? NPOs should use humor more often. http://ow.ly/1a7GL via @nptechblogs

As recession vaporized 1/5 of foundations’ assets, consider Program Related Investments (PRI) http://ow.ly/1aklC

Confused about Foundations & Program Related Investments (PRI)? Foundation Center elaborates: http://ow.ly/1alyW

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Social Media

Get most out of Twitter: Tap into discussions rather than broadcast own thoughts http://ow.ly/1e2bs via @ToldotYisrael

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Israel Finance & Economy

Israel is planning 2-year budget http://ow.ly/1adoN, could doing the same help NPOs develop strategy & save time/money?

G.S.: Bank of #Israel didn’t raise interest rates b/c of low inflation. Still predicts 3% by year’s end. http://ow.ly/1af8v via @Israel_News

Bill to abolish bank fees for checking accounts in #Israel doesn’t even make it out of the committee http://ow.ly/1adGk

#Israel c’tee recommended regulations to force Institutional Investors to stick to safer investments http://ow.ly/1b50K

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Global Finance & Economy

Don’t get comfortable! Only 2 months into the year & already many economic assumptions for 2010 are under fire. http://ow.ly/1a7lW

Europe’s Recovery Shows Signs of Stalling: http://ow.ly/1aGrx. With EURO weaking, US Dollar might gain strength…

The global economic crisis has the public angry at banks, not the Government. Will that change soon? http://ow.ly/1b4Z3

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Potpourri

Reduce Your Tax Bill by Accurately Deducting Charitable Gifts, on @Charitynav http://ow.ly/1e7yl

Change is hard but don’t fret: 5 Ways to Make Change Easier http://ow.ly/1a7yp via@guykawasaki

An article was recently posted on Midot’s website highlighting a joint study done by Midot and Sheatufim.   The study was presented at a Sheatufim conference on June 23, 2009.  The many findings of the study include:

• Israeli philanthropic foundations are investing great resources in the grant process and in grant selection before the transferring of funds to nonprofits; however, most foundations lack clear criteria that accompany the process and rely only on the reports from the recipients themselves.
• Even though the processes of the different foundations are similar, there exists little cooperation between the various foundations.
• Most foundations do not rely on external professionals to help check the recipients’ usage of the grants.
• Most foundations do not implement a suitable analysis before the donation is given.
• Foundations reported a lack of evaluation and measurement tools to check recipient organizations.  Foundations also noted a lack of tools to help analyze the financial statements of the organizations.

In response to the report, the article quoted Shlomo Dushi, Sheatufim’s CEO:

“During a period of a world financial crisis, the purpose of philanthropic foundations  is critical as they can provide much needed oxygen to organizations.  There is a need to formulate a shared tool that will provide an answer to the needs of  the foundation so that it can invest its grants in an effective manner.”

Recommendations of the Study:

1. To create a shared tool that foundations can use to evaluate nonprofit organizations.
2. To request help and advice from external professionals in the field when reviewing charities.
3. To define clear criteria to analyze nonprofits.
4. To work in cooperation [shituf pe’ulah] between the various foundations.

Personally, I wonder if item #4 will actually help foundations analyze their recipients better or if it will just lead to a Big Brother syndrome, with all foundations sharing information to the detriment of the nonprofit organizations.  Jury is still out with this question.  Any thoughts?

Tizku LeMitzvot [May you continue to merit doing good deeds],

Shuey

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Some Background Information:

• Midot is an Israeli version of Charity Navigator.  The biggest glaring difference is that while Charity Navigator grades charities based only on their financials, Midot analyzes many different aspects, such as board participation and target audience.  Midot was founded by Meitav Investment House and the JDC.
• Sheatufim is an organization whose goals boil down to making nonprofits function better.  Contact Sheatufim to see if your charity can qualify for their programs.  The organization was founded by Zionism 2000,  the Rashi Foundation, the JDC, and the Gandyr Foundation.   For a full list of their partners and cooperating organizations, click here for Hebrew and here for English.