Welcome to Research Friday! As part of a continuing series, we invite a nonprofit scholar, student, or professional to highlight current research reports or studies and discuss how they can inform and improve day-to-day nonprofit practice.

Most researchers agree that low-income earners volunteer less (Wilson, 2012) and Pho (2008) extended this finding to include medium-wage earners. A related research question is the impact or positive incentive of volunteer stipends among low-wage earners (McBride, Gonzales, Morrow-Howell, & McCrary, 2011). Does the incentive of monetary support influence how people allocate their altruistic desires to help others? Is there a positive result for organizations that provide stipends for volunteers?

In March of this year, The Virginia G. Piper Trust funded an expansion of the Encore Fellowships program that originated in California. Experience Matters is a nonprofit organization that capitalizes on the time and talent of older adults (age 50+), who are seeking paid or unpaid positions that apply their skills to social purposes. According to Nora Hannah, CEO of Experience Matters, the Piper Trust support will allow Experience Matters to place adult volunteers with nonprofit organizations that are typically unable to afford this level of talent.

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Working in the fundraising office of an international nonprofit can sometimes be a bit of a soul-killing experience. "The field" is hundreds or thousands of miles away, and it's hard for me to see that I’m "making a difference" when sitting behind a computer all day. This is why I’m grateful for our office volunteers.

For one thing, they’re just fun. We have volunteers of all ages, races, and walks of life. We have home-schooled kids and recovering addicts. Peter: a former mechanic who rarely smiles but keeps coming back, week after week, and Lorraine: a well-dressed socialite who buys every employee in our department a present on her birthday. I love getting to know them personally while hosting them in our office, and their attitudes remind me that my job is a privilege.

Volunteers walk in the door exuding that bushy-tailed enthusiasm I had as an intern. They’re sacrificial, hard-working, and grateful for the chance to serve. To the cause of fighting extreme poverty, they freely give their time— time they cannot get back— and to me, they give encouragement and the occasional kick in the pants. Their service reminds me that beyond just being thankful for my paycheck (so many of our volunteers are unemployed), I should be thankful to work in a place that allows me to exercise my beliefs and help others improve their circumstances— even if I may never meet those people.

If you need a reminder that your job is a gift and a…

Welcome to Research Friday! As part of a continuing weekly series, each Friday we invite a nonprofit scholar, student, or professional to highlight current research reports or studies and discuss how they can inform and improve day-to-day nonprofit practice.

Each year, through the publication of Giving USA, we learn about the generosity of Americans. In 2010, we gave nearly $300 billion in support of a wide variety of charitable causes—3.8 percent increase over the prior year. Almost all of this was given to causes within the United States. However, the 5 percent given to international causes reflected a 15.3 percent increase over the prior year, and was the largest percentage of growth among recipient areas. This level of increased global philanthropy is worth a further look. The Hudson Institute’s Center for Global Prosperity recently published its Annual Index of Global Philanthropy and Remittances for 2010 and reported “financial flows to the developing world from the United States increased notably in 2010 to $326.4 billion from $226.2 billion in 2009,”1 largely due to the improved economy. This support consists of four sources: U.S. government aid, capital investment, philanthropy and remittances. Accompanying the Annual Index is an Executive Summary. Both papers serve as resources for this blog post, which touches on only a…

In the world of nonprofit sponsorship, it’s no secret that cause marketing has rapidly become the most popular method for nonprofits and businesses to simultaneously make money. A lot of money.

According to a recent study, 90% of Americans want companies to tell them the ways they are supporting causes. And 83% of these consumers say that they wish brands would support causes.

Arguably, cause marketing is becoming something of a social movement.

I have seen my fair share of nonprofit marketing: the good, the bad, and the outrageous. My nonprofit experience runs the gamut from granting sick kid’s wishes, to helping torture survivors from around the world and even fundraising for first-class symphony orchestras. (Some days I question whether or not I might be a nonprofit junkie. All signs point to yes.)

These experiences have led me to wonder— are cause-centric promotions a good thing? Or bad thing?

I have worked on cause marketing campaigns that brought in millions and millions of dollars. The supremacy of slapping a logo on a product is often mind-boggling to me. If a water bottle, toy, pen, key ring, t-shirt, water heater, or whatever, has a nonprofit’s logo on it— you are more likely to buy it. And that purchase can bring copious amounts of cash through the doors of nonprofits. Nonprofits that otherwise would not have received that money…

I really hesitate to use the phrase “perfect storm” here, because it has become so over-used since the movie of the same name was released more than a decade ago. Nonetheless, I think it is descriptive for what nonprofit publishers, like me, have experienced recently. But I’m a first time blogger here, so before I invoke that well-worn (but apt!) cliché, I think some context is in order.

My job title indicates that I am responsible for publishing and community at a Scottsdale-headquartered nonprofit profession association. In case you haven’t heard of WorldatWork, we have more than 20,000 members and annual revenues of around $20 million. Although, we serve members around the world, our average member works in the human resources department of a large company (5,000+ employees) in North America. My guess is that we are larger than the average Arizona nonprofit, in both employees and revenue, but if part of your organizational mission is to deliver information, content or education, this story may resonate.

Our publishing operation is extensive— it consists of a monthly printed magazine, a quarterly journal, various e-newsletters and about a dozen books per year. We have in-house, full-time editorial and creative staff. The good news for us has been that there are many consultants, vendors and other service providers who are eager to sell to and serve our membership. For about two decades, this…