JULY/AUGUST 1994
Library of Nr.rf-
Kdieio/*
VOLUME I, ISSUE n / $5.00
PhilantbropvJoumal
Trolling for dollars
Solicitors pocket most funds they raise for charities
Professional solicitors keep more
than 60 percent of the charity
funds they raise, according to a
recent report. State lawmakers
hope to curb that with a new
law. But officials predict the
problem won’t go away soon.
By Susan Gray
P rofessional solicitors kept
more than 60 percent of the
money they raised tor chari
ties between May 1993 and April
1994, a state regulator has reported.
Some kept as much as 90 percent to
95 percent.
Retaining that much money is
legal. In 1988,the Supreme Court
ruled that solicitors can keep as
much as they want of the charitable
money they raise as long as they dis
close the amount to the charity and
to the state soUcitation and licensing
section.
A bill under consideration by
state lawmakers would tighten the
REGULATION
regulation of professional solicitors.
It would not limit how much money
they can keep, but, it would require
solicitors to identify themselves as
professionals to donors. It also would
require that, if donors ask how much
of a don tion goes to charity, they
disclose that informaton.
THE NUMBERS
The State Soliciting and
Licensiqg Section reported on fund
raising by 47 hcensed solicitors oper
ating in North Carolina, although at
least twice that number of sohcitors
probably work in the state, according
to people familar with the solicitation
industry.
“Oh, there’s more!” says Lionel
Randolph, chief of the St^e
Soliciting and Licensing Section.
“Absolutely no doubt. We discover
them almost everyday.”
According to the report, only 10 of
the 47 solicitors gave more than halt
the money they raised to charity.
Only one. Response Djmamics Inc. of
Virginia, gave more than 75 percent.
In comparison. United Way affili
ates in North Carolina give an aver
age 88 percent of the funds they raise
to charity, Randolph says.
“The stats here are very dismal,”
he says. “First of all, the gross
amount raised has decreased by
about $1.5 million. However, they
more than made up for that by
returning even less to their sponsors.
Look for REGULATION, page 16
Making choices
Food banks
harvest
software gift
Two companies each offered to
donate a software system to
connect 185 food banks that are
members of the national
Second Harvest network. The
two offers left Second Harvest
with some difficult decisions.
By Todd Cohen
5 econd Harvest, the national
network of 185 food banks,
is going hi^-tech. Thanks
to a gift of software from Lotus
Development Corp. in Cambridge,
Mass., members of the Chicago-
based nonprofit soon will be plumed
into one another’s computers.
Deciding how to divvy up the
nearly 900 million pounds of food
distributed each year by Second
Harvest will be speeded through
electronic messages, which are
quicker and less costly than phone
calls, faxes or mail.
Second Harvest’s leap into the
TECHNOLOGY
electronic frontier, however, did not
come without some tough choices. In
addition to the offer of ec;Mail from
software giant Lotus, Second
Harvest had received an offer of
software from Xcellenet
Remoteware in Atlanta. The two
offers were worth an estimated
$100,000 and $200,000, respectively -
for the software itself and technical
Look for GIFT, page 21
Illustration by Margaret Baxter
Public journalism
Rebuilding communities
throng media
As newspapers lose readers and the
public’s trust, and as communi
ties face increasing social prob
lems, some foundations are
funding efforts to better plug
newspapers into their communi
ties. Advocates of “public jour
nalism” hope that a more
engaged media will help reunite
communities.
By David E. Brown
A newspaper photographer
/j happens upon two men hav-
/ ling a heated argument. One
is brandishing a gun. Does the pho
tographer try to mediate? Or play
objective observer and fire away with
the camera?
And if he does the latter, is he a
good journalist or a cop-out?
A Congressional candidate releas
es a tongue-in-cheek Top 10 list of
reasons her opponent is a scoundrel.
Is it just too cute for the newspaper
not to publish? Or is she leading the
public by the nose with a publicity
stunt?
Is “Man Bites Dog” enough? Or
should the press be helping man and
dog work out their differences for the
good of the community?
“Traditionally, a newspaper just
kicks butt, and there’s no obligation
beyond that,” says Davis “Buzz”
Merritt, editor of the Wichita Eagle.
“I like the idea of the journalist as a
fair-minded participant. We need to
see that public life goes well. Clearly,
just telling the news doesn’t do that.”
Says Ferrell Guillory, associate
editor of The News & Observer in
Ralei^, ‘“We live in a society where
communication can fracture people
as well as bring them together.
Newspapers are very good at criticiz
ing, analyzing, holding people to
account. But they are not very good at
coming up with solutions.”
And across the country, they are
in trouble. A gradual decline in circu
lation that began some 30 years ago
continues; 'The news media appear to
be going the way of pohticians in the
public’s trust. And advertisers, once
dependent on newspapers, have effec-
Look for MEDIA, page 11
From a whisper to a
shout
Nonprofit
voices
sou^t on
health care
At a meeting sponsored by the
North Carolina Center for
Nonprofits in Durham last
month, experts called on non
profits to become more
involved in the national
debate on health-care reform.
On the state level, a new ini
tiative to create universal cov
erage for North Carolinians by
1995 may provide some open
ings.
By Barbara Solow
Durham
A Ithough they have much at
stake, nonprofit organiza-
/ 1 tions have been slow to
involve themselves in the national
debate on health care.
So says Donald Tebbe, a health-
HEALTH
care reform consultant for the
Nonprofit Risk Management Center
in Washington, D.C.
Tebbe spoke to members of the
North Carolina Center for
Nonprofits in Durham last month
at a special session on health-care
reform.
“This issue has a greater
impact on nonprofits than any
Look for HEALTH, page 25
NSIDE
Careers 26
Connections 3
Corporate Giving 12
Grants and Gifts 19
Ideas 26
In July/Aug 18
Job Opportunities 24
Opinion 10
People 19
Professional Services...22
R.S.VR 18
Technology 1
Closing the
loopholes
A proposed update of
North Carolina's lobby
ing law includes stricter
reporting requirements
for nonprofit and for-
profit lobbyists.
Page 4
^ FOUNDATIONS .
f VOLUNTEERS.
Happy 50th
Preventive
As the foundation she
measures
founded approaches its
Like their counterparts
50th birthday, Kate
across the country. Tar
Bitting Reynolds would be
Heel nonprofits are taking
pleased to know the Kate
steps to avoid potential lia-
B. Reynolds Charitable
bility problems for direct
Trust still is serving poor
service volunteers and
and needy people and
funding health care.
board members.
• Page 6
• Page 8
giSNDRAiSING
What's in a
name?
Naming a building or
program after a
donor is a well-inten
tioned move, but
fundraisers say there
can be pitfalls.
Page 14