The good news from the 2010 Fenton Forecast: Leadership and Effectiveness Among Nonprofits* is that 80% of the respondents to this annual survey have a postive view of the performance of nonprofit organizations.

The bad news is that nearly two-thirds of survey respondents report they plan to either reduce their giving or keep it the same as last year. This is on top of already reduced giving levels for 2008 and 2009.

Donors seems to be quite cautious about their charitable giving for the moment and into the near future. Giving will decrease or remain static for 2010, even among those with higher incomes.

Among those donors who plan to decrease giving, 56% say they will cut their donations by 23% or more. Even older Americans, ages 50 and older, intend to reduce their giving the most.

The survey, according to Fenton's press release, revealed how nonprofits can best communicate news and information about their issues. When asked which sources of information they deem the most credible, respondents ranked traditional news outlets the highest. Social media sites like Facebook ranked near the bottom for credibility. This held true with both younger and older audiences. Yet when asked how they themselves choose to share their opinions on the causes they care about, respondents ranked Facebook as their number one method.

The study reveals that the number one way people assess whether or not a nonprofit is doing a good job is by how well they manage their donated funds. People want to know that the money is being spent on programs which further the organization's mission. In addition, the public is looking for nonprofits to provide fact-based and objective information about the issues they champion.

Survey respondents were asked to rank the performance of 50 well-known nonprofits based on their effectiveness and leadership qualities. These were the top ten organizations, ranked as "extremely" or "very effective":

1. (tie) American Diabetes Association
2. (tie) Special Olympics
3. American Red Cross
4. Habitat for Humanity
5. Make-A-Wish Foundation
6. American Heart Association
7. Susan G. Komen Foundation
8. ASPCA
9. American Cancer Society
10. Humane Society

Complete survey results are available here.

*Fenton is a leading communications firm specializing in social justice issues and nonprofits.

Related

• Charitable Giving by the Generations
• Lessons from the Recession

Photo by Getty Images

I don't think any of us need to be reminded that we are all drowning in data...and a lot of us enjoy data...just not the drowning part.

NTEN is trying to do something about that. They quote research that claims Americans consume 3.6 zettabytes of information per day. One zettabyte is one billion trillion bytes. We are overwhelmed and our donors and supporters are even more so. Can you help them make sense of the information that you send them?

The answer is yes, and NTEN is sponsoring an online event called Taming the Data Monster that will help. The event will take place on July 29 from 10 am to 12:30 pm, Pacific Time. The cost is only $50 for NTEN members and $100 for non-members. You can learn more and register here.

Photo: Getty Images

Fundraising

Jordan Viator, posting at Connection Cafe, has provided some wonderful examples of Getting Creative with Online Fundraising: 10 Campaigns Using Mission Inspired Gifts aka Gift Catalogues. If you need ideas about how to offer your donors more engagement through their gifts, this is a great resource.

Allyson Kapin, at Frogloop, explores some terrific advice from Mal Warwick, guru of direct mail fundraising. Learn about the new fundraising landscape and what today's donor most wants in these two articles:
New Guiding Principles for Fundraising
Deepening Your Donors Commitment

Social Media

Are your social media efforts sustainable? Find out what that means and about the 10 Trends in Sustainable Social Media from Debra Askanase at Community Organizer 2.0.

The Agitator expounds on some data about Hispanics Using Social Media. This post is a great jumping off point for all of us concerned with reaching this audience.

Twitter is my favorite social media tool, so I really enjoyed this article by Lisa Barone in Small Business Trends: 20 Reasons People Unfollow You On Twitter

Generations

The Agitator writes about The Middle-Aged Brain, in a post that is more than applicable for marketing and fundraising.

Bill Jacobs addresses the other end of the generational spectrum in Want to attract younger donors? Hire younger people.

Meanwhile, Katya Andresen tells us Why Millennials Are Going to Keep You on Your Toes

Food for Thought

In Tragic oil spill offers crucial lesson for all nonprofits, Eric Foley, of Transformational Giving, uses BP's sad response to some creative efforts by earnest volunteers to help as an object lesson for nonprofits.

Loved BL Ochman's whatsnextblog post, The Stealth Interview, yet another reason to think before you hit "Submit". More reasons to say less rather than more when online.

Justin Wandro, of Nonprofit Success, shares a personal special moment he had recently, the insight he gained, and poses an important question for all of us in Life and Death - No time to dilly dally.

Not-to-Miss Webinars

More than 70 percent of nonprofits are either working on or thinking about re-designing their websites at any given time, so Blackbaud is offering a free web seminar entitled Indestructible Design to help nonprofits develop effective website design strategies. The date is May 25th.

Network for Good offers a free webinar, Is Your Nonprofit Facebook Page Worth It? Learn how to quantify what your organization gets out of Facebook. The webinar is on May 25th.

Photo by Getty Images

Operatic Experience, Inc., a New Jersey-based organization, sponsors the Italian Operatic Experience Summer Program. The program helps students to bridge the gap between opera-related studies, such as voice, piano, conducting, stage direction, set and costume design, and the professional operatic world.

Operatic Experience, Inc. does that through its Tuscany-based summer program that features:

• Intensive courses of important operatic languages
• Cultural experience and interaction
• Tutelage by international renowned opera professionals
• Preparation and performance of scenes, programs, and a complete opera.

Marianne Pruiksma, Artistic Director, said, "Being an International Opera singer, I know the difficulty and costs involved for great training and to be given a chance to learn and perform complete roles on stage with an orchestra. I founded this company in 2006 to present the experiences needed, to preserve Opera, Italian language and culture.

"The economic situation here in the US has cut funding to the arts drastically. There is a need for help from supporters to give scholarships to our students or support our orchestra. We are creating jobs, giving students experience, and keeping the Italian language, opera, and culture alive in our youth.

"The one very best thing about our cause, Italian Operatic Experience, is that over the past 5 years its faculty members, international operatic performers, voice teachers, stage directors, conductors, and orchestra are hired because of their passion for working one-on-one with young voice students and accompanists for a 5-week period in Italy. The students pay to be able to work with all of us and drink in our knowledge. These students are able to work with individuals that they ordinarily would never have the opportunity to.

"With the intensive Italian language classes, diction, voice, coaching, acting, and stage direction the students are prepared to perform all roles in the fully staged, with orchestra, Italian Opera that culminates the program.

"The experience for the students is multifaceted. Not only do they get to perform under the tutelage of renown performers, they make networking connections that can help them get into graduate studies at Universities, and even get jobs working with some of the stage directors or conductors. They are taught the Italian language by native speakers, experience Italian art and music history every day, and get to know the Italian culture.

"Some of these students will never be able to travel to Italy again, so this becomes a 'once-in-a-lifetime' educational experience.

"The one best thing for me is to be able to work with all of these fabulous individuals each summer."

What You Can Do:

• Visit this organization's beautiful website
• Contact the organization at 1-201-773-0773 or send in a check for your support to:
  Italian Operatic Experience
  P.O. Box 113
  Fair Lawn, NJ 07410
• Sponsor a student by offering a gift of a full scholarship
• Sponsor a student by offering a gift to pay for accommodations
• Sponsor the orchestra

Would you like to be our Cause of the Week? Tell us who you are, and why you should be featured in our blog right here. We would love to hear from you.