Federal grants under the economic stimulus bill

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has created substantial new grant opportunities for nonprofits. For an overview of programs covered, you can skim our Special Reports to learn more.
Here is a sampling of grant funding opportunities to watch for and where you might see the opportunities coming up at the federal grants site or your [...]

Civil society is the source of hope

Following years of business-oriented deregulation under both Republican and Democratic administrations since the 1980s, the election of Barack Obama demonstrates essential truths about the relationship of the business, government, and civil society sectors. For over a generation, the ideological forces to starve government, get the beast off our backs, free up economic opportunity and make [...]

College Loan Forgiveness: Know your benefits and spread the word

As we witness what Bill Moyers calls the “arc of history” from the civil rights laws of the 1960’s to the election of Barack Obama, it reminds us that our movement towards greater social justice takes time and comes in baby steps.
The nonprofit sector’s emerging leaders have received a baby step with the passage last [...]

Nonprofits and Financial Planning Changes

If you are working at a small or midsize nonprofit and are concerned about financial planning for your retirement, it’s time for you to get up to speed on the changes about to happen on January 1 for the 403(b) plan that you have or that your employer could offer. While many of your family [...]

“Democracy is not a spectator sport”

“It’s time for us to realize that democracy is not a spectator sport.”
Sam Daley-Harris, founder of RESULTS
What kind of day was it that turned on 18 diverse nonprofit leaders from Montana? Lit a fresh fire in the heart of a missionary reverend from Connecticut? Created bright eyes and smiles on the faces of young women [...]

Ethics and Nonprofits: the bad and the good news

The Ethics Research Center’s newly released “National Nonprofit Ethics Survey” (free downloads) should definitely receive its share of attention from the nonprofit sector given the substantial focus that we have had on nonprofit accountability and transparency in recent years. The study is a longitudinal research effort that has involved 1,418 nonprofit staff since 2000 [...]

Is there a nonprofit workforce crisis?

This was the theme of the recent Sounding taken by the Listening Post Project (LPP) of the Center for Civil Society Studies at Johns Hopkins University. The LPP is an “information platform” for the nonprofit sector created by the Center in collaboration with leading nonprofit umbrella groups to spot developing challenges to American nonprofits and [...]