The Chronic of Philanthropy, December 13, 2007

The cover story of the 12/13/07 Chronicle of Philanthropy (subscription required) is about two new organizations that aim to help donors make philanthropic gifts by rating the effectiveness of nonprofits. One explicitly sets out to become "the nonprofit equivalent of a Zagat [...] guide." There's also a summary of the results of a recent survey by the Indiana Center for Philanthropy about the giving habits of wealthy donors. They surveyed 1,400 households with annual incomes of more than $200,000 or net assets more than $1 million. Interesting, yet somehow unsurprising factoid relating to the arts: "Arts and culture groups benefited more from people whose primary residence was located in a city of more than 500,000 people. Those households gave more than $44,000 on average to arts organizations, compared with $16,000 from other households." I also was interested in a story about organizations using websites like Blurb.com to self-publish books--both as a revenue generating tool & a acknowledgment/marketing tool.