Philanthropy

Affinity Group Network

The Council on Foundations' Affinity Group Network is composed of nonprofit organizations that cover a range of issues and population groups focused on a specific area of interest, and that tend to be oriented towards grantmakers who want to fund efforts in those particular areas. Some groups primarily engage in networking and information exchange among members, while others emphasize advocacy efforts centered around an issue or cause within philanthropy and beyond. The Web site includes a list of affinity groups in a variety of fields, summaries of their work, key staff member contact information, and links to their individual Web sites.

American Association of FundRaising Counsel

The American Association of Fundraising Counsel is a membership organization composed of consulting firms that advise nonprofits on fundraising matters. The association's Web site has useful data regarding trends in philanthropy, including sources and distribution of funding. A particularly helpful feature on the site is the How to Choose Counsel area, which elucidates various factors to consider in selecting the right firm.

Association of Small Foundations

The goal of the Association of Small Foundations is to help foundations with few or no staff. The Web site offers program information, a calendar of events, links to philanthropy organizations, a listing of members by state, links to members' sites, an online version of the association's newsletter, and more.

Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action

The Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action is a neutral open forum that brings together researchers, scholars, and practitioners from around the world and works to strengthen the research community in the emerging field of nonprofit and philanthropic studies. Its main forms of outreach are an annual conference, a variety of publications, and electronic discussions and seminars. The association's Web site includes information about these various activities, as well as the option to register for a listserv-based discussion group.

CharityChannel

CharityChannel is a Web site that features reviews written by a volunteer community of nonprofit-sector professionals from the fundraising field of nonprofit periodicals, books, and software; free discussion forums with thousands of participants; and a searchable career database.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy

Like its biweekly print analog, The Chronicle of Philanthropy's Web site is full of useful information for fundraisers, grantmakers, nonprofit managers, and others. The site is organized into broad topic areas-Gifts and Grants, Fund Raising, Managing Nonprofit Groups, Technology, and Jobs. It includes a summary of the contents of the Chronicle's current issue, with an archive of articles since 1987; a database of all corporate and foundation grants listed in the Chronicle since 1995; a listing of award and RFP deadlines; surveys conducted by the Chronicle and reports of other surveys conducted by other organizations; job opportunities in the nonprofit sector; a listing of upcoming conferences and workshops; and annotated links to other nonprofit resources on the Internet. In-depth information on nonprofit employers, technology companies, fundraising service companies, consultants, and direct-marketing service companies is also available. Visitors can also sign-up for free e-mail updates about changes to the site and breaking news stories. Some of the material is available only to Chronicle subscribers.

Common Grant Applications

The common grant application format has been adopted by groups of grantmakers to allow grant applicants to produce a single proposal for a specific community of funders, thereby saving time. Before applying to any funder that accepts a common grant application form, be sure to check that your project matches the funder's stated interests, and ascertain whether the funder would prefer a letter of inquiry in advance of receiving a proposal. Also be sure to check whether the funder has a deadline for proposals, as well as whether it requires multiple copies of your proposal.

Community Foundation Locator

This extremely useful tool from the Council on Foundations has links to community foundations that provide aid to specific communities in all 50 states.

Council on Foundations

The Council on Foundations (COF) is a membership organization for grantmakers, which serves the public good by promoting and enhancing responsible and effective philanthropy. It provides leadership expertise, legal services, and networking opportunities-among other services-to more than 2,000 members and to the general public. The COF Web site offers a wealth of information for and about foundations. Site features include: Networking, including links to member Web sites, colleague organizations, and affinity groups; Publications; Career Center, with job postings and resources; Finding Answers, where you can search the council's FAQs; Legal, which includes excerpts from select publications and special articles offering advice on legal issues of concern to foundations, as well as legislative analysis, IRS regulations, board issues, grantmaking legal issues, and international legal information; the Newsroom, featuring news, press releases, media alerts, and issue papers; Events, announcing council conferences and workshops; and Tools, featuring a collection of resources helpful to the work of grantmakers. The council also offers a wide range of services and programs for grantmakers; Foundation News & Commentary, COF's flagship magazine; and Breaking News, a current awareness service. Much of the site is for members only, and members are required to register to obtain a username and password.

EPhilanthropy Foundation

The ePhilanthropy Foundation aims to foster the ethical use of the Internet for philanthropic purposes. The Foundation provides educational services via conferences and seminars, through its various publications, flyers and printed articles and over the Internet in its various eLearning courses. The Web site includes an area for education, resources, and an ethics center.

Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers

The Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers (RAGs) is a membership association of the nation's largest RAGs across the country that help more than 4,000 local grantmakers practice more effective philanthropy in their communities. The forum assists RAGs in providing local leadership to grantmakers on the issues of public policy, promoting the growth of new philanthropy, technology, and measuring effectiveness and impact. The forum's Web site includes the Regional Association Locator, which lists contact information for each individual RAG in the United States.

Gift Planning Resources Center

The Gift Planning Resources Center Web site provides an alphabetical listing of links (in English, with some information provided in French) to organizations in the United States and Canada that deal directly with planned giving; or to sites that offer planned giving information. A short description of the linked resource is provided.

GrantCraft

GrantCraft is a resource for grantmakers, from the Ford Foundation, that is designed to encourage conversations and reflection about the practice of effective grantmaking. Among the tools available on the Web site are guides, videos, and case studies that present the practitioners view of philanthropy. These materials incorporate insights from grantmakers working at a range of foundations of different sizes and fields of interest.

GuideStar

Produced by Philanthropic Research, Inc., GuideStar offers a searchable database of more than 850,000 United States nonprofit organizations; nonprofit sector news and articles; an online marketplace to find requests for donations, in-kind gifts, volunteers, and job postings; a conference calendar; and additional resources for nonprofits.

INDEPENDENT SECTOR

The INDEPENDENT SECTOR (IS) is committed to promoting, strengthening, and advancing the nonprofit and philanthropic community to foster private initiative for the public good. The Web site provides an overview of IS programs in the Issues section, including the Three Sector Initiative, Corporate-Nonprofit Partnerships, Emerging Leadership, Giving and Volunteering, Tax Policy, Nonprofit Advocacy and Lobbying, Accountability, Civil Society Education, and Faith-Based Organizations in the Nonprofit Sector. The Research directory includes the Nonprofit Almanac and Desk Reference, which provides facts and figures on the size and scope of the nonprofit sector; Giving and Volunteering in the United States, which covers the giving and volunteering habits of individuals; and the Measures Project which focuses on measuring the impact of the third sector on society. IS's Public Affairs program advocates on behalf of the nonprofit sector in areas such as tax issues, nonprofit advocacy and lobbying, government funding, accountability, and public policy. Click on GiveVoice.org to connect with your legislators and government officials about the issues affecting the nonprofit sector. The NonProfit Pathfinder, designed for scholars, researchers, practitioners, funders, and the media, gathers and organizes online information on philanthropy, the nonprofit sector, and civil society organizations.

Internet Prospector

Internet Prospector is a nonprofit service to the prospect research community, produced by volunteers nationwide who "mine" the Web for prospect research "nuggets." Although designed for nonprofit fundraisers, anyone seeking tools for accessing corporate, foundation, biographical, international, and online news sources will find this Web site useful. You'll find an online newsletter and an archive of past issues. A search engine is also provided, allowing you to quickly search for information from back issues located on the site. An option to subscribe to the free monthly newsletter is also available.

National Center for Charitable Statistics-Resources on Nonprofits and Philanthropy

The National Center for Charitable Statistics' Resources on Nonprofits and Philanthropy serves as the national repository of statistical information on the nonprofit sector from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and other sources. The Web site has microdata on nonprofit organizations, database documentation and data dictionaries, and IRS forms and publications, from which most of the data is collected.

National Center for Family Philanthropy

Established in 1997 by a group of family foundations, the goal of the National Center for Family Philanthropy (NCFP) is to serve as a resource for family philanthropists by publishing books, conducting research, and offering educational seminars on family foundations. The center's Web site includes a set of links to family foundations' Web sites, links to resources on foundations and nonprofit organizations, and NCFP publications that can be ordered online.

National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy

The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) promotes philanthropy that addresses the unmet needs of disadvantaged populations through action research, providing technical assistance to nonprofits, and engaging in policy advocacy. NCRP's reform activism targets foundations, corporate grantmakers, individual donors, and workplace giving programs. In addition to information about the committee's projects, publications, and advocacy program, the Web site has the current issue of the NCRP newsletter, Responsive Philanthropy, as well as a selection of articles from past issues.

Philanthropic Capacity Building Resource (PCBR) Database

As an initiative of the nonprofit Human Interaction Research Institute, PCBR provides exchange and use of information about nonprofit capacity building among foundations, capacity-building service providers, nonprofits, intermediary organizations, researchers, evaluators and academic institutions.

Philanthropy Roundtable

The Philanthropy Roundtable is an association of grantmakers founded on the principle that "voluntary private action offers the best means of addressing many of society's needs, and that a vibrant private sector is critical to creating the wealth that makes philanthropy possible." The Web site features highlights of articles from current and past issues of Philanthropy, a journal that covers relevant topics in the philanthropy field, and provides information about the roundtable's publications, conferences, and events.

Quality 990

Quality 990 was created to serve organizations and individuals concerned with improving the quality of financial reporting in the nonprofit sector. It is dedicated to improving the quality of IRS Forms 990 filed by nonprofit organizations. With new regulations and wider, simpler access to a nonprofit's tax form, this site offers many resources to assist the community involved in filing this form. There is information on forming or joining a Nonprofit Accountability Collaborative (990 NAC), which are forums consisting of accountants, nonprofit managers, regulators, and the general public. Local 990 NAC activities fall under two main categories: education and recommendations. Comprehensive guides to the form are available, along with links to information that help in understanding the form itself and the rules to its disclosure.

Regional Association Locator — Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers (RAGs)

The Regional Association Locator, part of the Forum of RAGs Web site, lists contact information for each individual RAG in the United States.

Third Sector New England

Third Sector New England encourages active democracy and capacity building among the voluntary or independent sector. The organization publishes The Nonprofit Quarterly and sponsors programs, services, and conferences. Additionally, Third Sector New England makes grants to organizations in Massachusetts that are active in social and economic justice issues. Guidelines and applications for the grants are available on the Web site.

Women's Philanthropy Institute

The Women's Philanthropy Institute is a nonprofit educational institute that brings together philanthropists, volunteers, and professional funders to educate and empower women as philanthropists, donors, and volunteers. The institute's Web site provides information about the institute's programs and services, a bulletin board, and several related articles.

Worldwide Initiatives for Grantmaker Support

Sponsored by the Council on Foundations, the Worldwide Initiatives for Grantmaker Support (WINGS) seeks to bring together grantmakers and support organizations serving philanthropy from around the world to create a forum in which to discuss the variety of common issues related to their support of grantmakers worldwide. The Web site includes a directory of WINGS network organizations, case studies of organizations supporting community foundations, a directory of associations serving grantmakers, a quarterly newsletter, a calendar of events, and annotated links to related Web sites.