LOCAL: Philadelphia Volunteerism Rated 39th Out Of 50

(previously published here at www.thebulletin.us)

By: Heather J. Chin, The Bulletin

07/29/2008

Only 25.1 percent of Philadelphians aged 16 and older volunteered in 2007, according to a report released yesterday by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), a public-private partnership that oversees three federal service programs: Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America. This measurement puts the city in 39th place among the 50 major U.S. cities ranked in the annual study.

The Volunteering in America report has Philadelphia's rate at a little below the national average of 26.2 percent, which has declined for the second straight year. Overall, the report notes that 60.8 million Americans volunteered in their communities in 2007, giving 8.1. billion hours of service worth over $158 billion.

Pittsburgh fared a little better in 11th place with 32.1 percent of its residents being logged as volunteering last year, while New York City ranked 48th, with a 17.1 percent volunteerism rate.

Headcount statistics aside, Philadelphia is "far, far ahead of the national average in terms of the number of charitable organizations in the region," said Phil Arkow, marketing and communications officer of The Philadelphia Foundation.

According to a study done by Johns Hopkins University and the Pennsylvania Association for Nonprofit Organizations, there are about 20,000 nonprofit groups in the five-county Philadelphia area, with 9,000 of those in the city limits. These include everything from grassroots neighborhood organizations to the University of Pennsylvania.

"It's [also] been estimated that 27 percent of non-government jobs in the city and 15 percent of these jobs in the five counties are [with] nonprofit employees," Mr. Arkow added. "Nationally, communities are only 6.9 percent of non-government employees."

The decline might be attributed to what CNCS director, Robert Grimm, refers to as "the leaky bucket" of volunteerism, which describes a rapid turnover - how nationally, one in three people who volunteer in a given year do not continue their service the following year.

Economic pressures are cited as a possible negative factor affecting volunteerism rates, but the increase in "cross-sector" support for service learning and social responsibility programs in businesses and schools, as well as the growth of volunteer-oriented baby boomers may help raise service rates in the coming year.

Heather J. Chin can be reached at hchin@thebulletin.us

©The Evening Bulletin 2008

Big Brothers, Big Sisters Chapter Gets A Big Grant

(previously published here at www.thebulletin.us)

By: Heather J. Chin, The Bulletin

07/16/2008

Philadelphia - The Big Brothers, Big Sisters Southeastern Pa. chapter yesterday announced a $586,201 grant awarded to the national organization through the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.

The money will fund the non-profit's Big MAGIC Program, created to focus on mentoring children from poor neighborhoods in Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties who are earning low grades and seem uninterested in school. This program follows the success of the organization's Mentoring for Violence program.

MAGIC stands for Mentoring Adolescent Growth in Communities.

Big Brothers, Big Sisters is a national organization with a stated goal of improving children's lives while strengthening communities through professionally supported one-on-one mentoring relationships. It is based in Philadelphia.


Heather J. Chin can be reached at hchin@thebulletin.us

©The Evening Bulletin 2008

Philadelphia Foundation Awards $2.75M To Regional Nonprofits

(first published here at thebulletin.us)

By: Heather Chin, The Bulletin

06/25/2008

Philadelphia - The Philadelphia Foundation announced last Thursday that it has awarded $2.75 million in grants to community noprofits in the Greater Philadelphia area, nearly $1.6 million of which went to organizations in the city of Philadelphia.

A total of 196 grants were given to 161 organizations throughout Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. Grant amounts ranged from less than $100 to over $300,000.

Receiving some of the largest grants were Philadelphia nonprofits: the Children's Hospital Foundation receivied $334,000; the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania were awarded $224,000; the Regional Performing Arts Center received $180,000; the School District of Philadelphia received $67,000 for charitable medical and dental care.

Other beneficiaries this year include the Jamestown Historical Society (nearly $6,000 for windmill preservation and upkeep) and the Settlement Music School (around $3,500 for general operations and scholarships).

The grants were distributed from the Philadelphia Foundation's designated funds, which are established by donors to fund specific charities and which are awarded annually in June. Out of the 775 funds managed by the foundation, 99 of these are designated funds.

The Philadelphia Foundation was established as a public charity community foundation in 1918 with a stated mission of improving the quality of life in Southeastern Pennsylvania through permanent charitable trust funds. Over the last 10 years, the Foundation has awarded $171 million in funds to area organizations.

Heather J. Chin can be reached at heather.jean.chin@gmail.com

©The Evening Bulletin 2008

Charities Have A Big Year

(previously published here at the bulletin.us)

By: Heather J. Chin, The Bulletin

06/24/2008

Americans gave over $300 billion to charities and nonprofits in the year 2007, according to a study released yesterday, breaking the previous year's total while maintaining the basic overall rate despite economic concerns that included a fallen housing market, struggling credit, high oil and food prices and the ongoing cost of war.

The estimated donation total of $306.39 billion for 2007 included contributions from individuals (at 74.8 percent of the total), foundations (at 12.6 percent), bequests (at 7.6 percent) and corporations (at 5.1 percent), all represented in the annual survey by the Giving USA Foundation, a nonprofit educational organization that researches and publishes data and trends about charitable giving. The rate of charitable giving is reported to have had a strong start at the beginning of the year, before falling back as stock market struggles and housing and credit crisis hit. Data was culled from government sources such as the Internal Revenue Service, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the Katrina Emergency Task Relief Act, as well as from panel surveys by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University of over 7,800 households about their charitable giving practices.

The study shows that although a record breaker, this year's amount remained at 2.2 percent of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) - the same level as in 2006, as well as from 2002 to 2004 - and after adjusting for inflation, was only a 1-percent increase over 2006's $294.91 billion.

Still, this made for about an 88 -percent increase from a decade earlier, before individual giving, religious and foundation charitable donations and corporate profits all increased. The many natural disasters around the world that occurred in the last several years also made for a boost in contributions towards relief aid funds.

The high level of individual household giving has primarily been shown through itemized charitable deductions on tax returns for a range of income levels. About 51 percent of this individual giving was from the 10 percent of U.S. households in the highest income groups, while 49 percent came from "ordinary-income donors."

In Giving USA's initial study report, the 2007 pool of charitable contributions were made to a variety of sectors, including religious congregations, which received $102.32 billion (about a third of all donations), educational organizations ($43.32 billion; a 6.4 percent increase), human-services charities ($29.64 billion, an 8.4 percent increase), and health organizations ($23.15 billion, a 5.4 percent increase).

Arts, culture and humanities organizations, as well as international affairs organizations, received an increase in charitable contributions.

The only contribution pool to have received lower levels of giving were private foundations, which fell 9.4 percent to $27.73 billion since 2006.

Heather Chin can be reached at heather.jean.chin@gmail.com

©The Evening Bulletin 2008