How to Become an International Disaster Volunteer discusses the immense value an experienced water systems engineer, trauma surgeon, or communications specialist could bring to a disaster stricken community, while also explaining how their professional educations do not prepare them for the logistical, psychological, and physical demands of traveling to, and functioning in, an international catastrophe with little water or electricity, limited sleep and food, a chaotic working environment, and with team members from diverse backgrounds and with different personalities. This book provides a step-by-step guide for the entire process, including self-evaluating tactics, fitness measurements for volunteering, how to research disaster relief organizations, how to gain appropriate training and applicable experiences, the best practices during deployments, and the personal recovery process upon returning home. Each chapter focuses on one aspect of the progression, but also includes case studies of disasters, profiles of relief organizations, and checklists for each stage.

Between the Mountain and the Sky shows us the goodness that is possible when a single person--regardless of age--takes action to help another and, in the process, changes the lives of hundreds. Maggie's story begins in suburban New Jersey, in a comfortable middle-class family that supports her decision to travel the world during a gap year before starting college. During her travels, the trajectory of her life alters when she has a surprise encounter with a Nepali girl breaking rocks in a quarry. Maggie decides to invest her life savings of five thousand dollars to buy a piece of land and open a children's home in Nepal. That home becomes Kopila Valley Children's Home, and eventually, the nonprofit Maggie launches, the BlinkNow Foundation, also starts the Kopila Valley School, which provides tuition-free education for more than four hundred students. Maggie and BlinkNow's work have been recognized around the world for their innovative, sustainable work. However, this book isn't a how-to for fledging philanthropists or nonprofit founders--it's a coming-of-age story about a young woman suspended between two worlds, as well as the love, loss, healing, and hope she experiences along the way. And Maggie's inspiring, intimate tale shows readers an important truth: the power to change the world exists within all of us.

In the past decade, the emerging narratives about philanthropy in Africa are the capacities to give not only to help, but also to address the root causes of injustice, want, ignorance, and disease. The narratives are also about the questioning of the role and place of Africans in the world's philanthropic traditions, and what constitutes African specificities, as well as African differences and varieties. Giving to Help, Helping to Give deftly explores African philanthropic experiences - the varieties, the challenges, and the opportunities - while also documenting, investigating, analyzing, and reflecting on philanthropy in multifaceted Africa. This ground-breaking book rightly tackles the varied modes, forms, vehicles, and means in which philanthropy is expressed. It is a pioneering and ambitious effort in a field and community of practice that is new, both in terms of scholarship and in professional practice. Many of the chapters boldly engage the burden of reflections, questions, ambivalences, and ambiguities that one often finds in an emerging field, innovatively positing the outlines, concepts, frameworks, and theories of scholarship and practice for a field critical to development on the continent. *** "Overall this volume effectively represents the vibrancy and diversity of emerging institutions of philanthropy on the African continent. The contributions are clearly located in an emerging community of practice and scholarship and provide a wealth of new data on a rapidly changing philanthropic landscape." -- Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, August 2016 [Subject: African Studies, Development Studies, Sociology]A?A?

Female philanthropy was at the heart of transformative thinking about society and the role of individuals in the interwar period. In Britain, in the aftermath of the First World War, professionalization; the authority of the social sciences; mass democracy; internationalism; and new media sounded the future and, for many, the death knell of elite practices of benevolence. Eve Colpus tells a new story about a world in which female philanthropists reshaped personal models of charity for modern projects of social connectedness, and new forms of cultural and political encounter. Centering the stories of four remarkable British-born women - Evangeline Booth; Lettice Fisher; Emily Kinnaird; and Muriel Paget - Colpus recaptures the breadth of the social, cultural and political influence of women's philanthropy upon practices of social activism. Female Philanthropy in the Interwar World is not only a new history of women's civic agency in the interwar period, but also a study of how female philanthropists explored approaches to identification and cultural difference that emphasized friendship in relation to interwar modernity. Richly detailed, the book's perspective on women's social interventionism offers a new reading of the centrality of personal relationships to philanthropy that can inform alternative models of giving today.

This book is about the invaluable contribution of charities and humanitarians in our world, the benevolence of the majority, and the atrocities of a (very small) minority. Mankind's difficulties often stem from natural disasters, including terrible weather conditions creating human misery. The tsunami and the famine in Ethiopia are typical examples. The other difficulties that have beset humanity from time immemorial are man-made, like wars, slavery, and pogroms. We also have dictatorships, pariah states, and police states, which do not seek to serve their people and alienate the international community. The people in these places become outcasts, despite genuine and determined efforts by others to bring them into the fold. In any society, we see the destructive effects of misunderstanding, greed, envy, hatred, and discrimination. Senseless acts of individual barbarism also pose a problem. Governments, democratic or otherwise, are installed with all the natural and human resources, as well as the goodwill of the global community, to serve and, where necessary, manage the difficulties of the people. History and current affairs indicate that no government is capable of delivering utopia to its people - even those unhampered by ideology, political sensitivities, self-interest, and retribution. Mankind's difficulties are ever so complex. Invariably, the void left has to be managed for mankind to have a life worth living. "Nature abhors a vacuum," so says the adage. Political stalwarts like Abraham Lincoln and courageous clergymen William Wilberforce rise to the fore. This pious hegemony is ably supported by charities, humanitarians, and ordinary individuals who have shown courage and compassion and the willingness to save and improve lives. Charities continue to make the difference. The courage and compassion of Lincoln, Wilberforce, Nightingale, and Mother Teresa may be unsurpassed, but Providence will continue to provide heroes and heroines for humanity.

Wouldn't charity governance be so much easier if it wasn't for all of your fellow trustees? Being knowledgeable and experienced as a trustee is important, but having the ability to interact effectively with your fellow board members, that is where good governance really starts. Get it wrong and, very quickly, you've got a battle on the board. Working in sustained harmony towards a common goal can be a tall order for many trustees. Debra Allcock Tyler's approach to this challenging subject is characteristically engaging as she adopts a different ABBA tune as the theme for each chapter. Frank and with real-life examples firmly to the fore, she mixes leadership theory with practical advice delivered straight from the shoulder. It includes: * Understanding the trustee role * Working with fellow trustees and the CEO * Compliance and regulation * Dealing with information and understanding the money * The psychology of decision-making * Managing risk and handling crisis So, if you are a trustee or about to become one, you will benefit from the insights and hard-won wisdom distilled in this book. If you want to be the dancing queen (or king) of good governance and avoid a waterloo for your charity, then this book is for you.

A hands-on guide to help your nonprofit build its brand, raise its profile, strengthen impact and develop deeper relationships with donors, volunteers, and other stakeholders. "Breakthrough Nonprofit Branding" is about the power a constituency-focused, compelling brand can have to revolutionize an organization and the way people view and support it.Shows how to optimally define what your organization stands for to differieniate, create value and breakthroughExplains how to build loyal communities inside and outside of your organization to increase social impactFeatures seven principles for transforming a brand from ordinary trademark to strategic advantageIncludes case studies of eleven breakthrough nonprofit brands and transferable ideas and practices that nonprofits of any size, scope or experience can implementOther title by Daw: "Cause Marketing for Nonprofits: Partner for Purpose, Passion, and Profits"

A practical road map and essential tool for nonprofit leaders, board members, and volunteers, this book reveals the vital principles you need to know to build and manage your organization's most valuable asset - its brand. In today's highly competitive nonprofit world, building a breakthrough brand is no longer a "nice to do," but the new imperative.

"Jocelyne Daw," a pioneer and leader in building business and community partnerships has over 25 years of nonprofit leadership experience.

"Carol Cone," named by PR WEEK as the most powerful and visible figure in the world of cause branding, has been linking companies and causes for over 25 years.

Over the past couple of decades, differentials in the level of private contributions to charitable organizations have become a central matter of public policy. Because private charitable contributions finance many socially valuable activities (for example, education and the arts), many governments have tried to boost private philanthropy through various active policy interventions. Furthermore, the temptation to rely on private contributions to finance the provision of public goods has increased substantially in recent years as fiscal constraints have become tighter. Yet there is little robust quantitative evidence regarding the differentials in private charitable giving across countries, and more importantly very little consensus on why these differentials may exist. This volume provides an original, comparative, and historical analysis of charitable giving and of tax policies towards private philanthropy across different countries. It sheds new light on the determinants of private philanthropy and offers interesting practical insights for improving tax policies towards charitable giving.

Many institutions facing dwindling state and government funding often rely on the patronage of others in order to establish monetary security. These donations assist in the overall success and development of the institution, as well as the students who attend. Facilitating Higher Education Growth through Fundraising and Philanthropy explores current and emergent approaches in the financial development and sustainability of higher education institutions through altruistic actions and financial assistance. Featuring global perspectives on the economics of philanthropy in educational settings and subsequent growth and development within these environments, this book is an exhaustive reference source for professors, researchers, educational administrators, and politicians interested in the effects of altruism on colleges and universities.

A Philanthropic Covenant will feature eight essays from several prominent African American grantmakers, scholars, activists and clergy that will examine critical elements of modern philanthropy and how they affect Black communities for good and for ill. Each chapter will include statistical documentation of the issues, strategic recommendations to improve the quality of Black life, and examples of outstanding models already being practiced throughout the country. A Philanthropic Covenant is intended to inform individuals, grantors, religious organizations, fundraisers and youth how philanthropy--time, talent and treasure--can be strategically mobilized to assist Black communities in dealing more effectively with the issues outlined in The Covenant with Black America. Throughout the book, emphasis will be placed on the role, responsibilities and potential of African Americans and African-American philanthropy, in particular, to affect positive change in their own communities.

Just days after September 11, 2001, Kenneth Feinberg was appointed to administer the federal 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, a unique, unprecedented fund established by Congress to compensate families who lost a loved one on 9/11 and survivors who were physically injured in the attacks. Those who participated in the Fund were required to waive their right to sue the airlines involved in the attacks, as well as other potentially responsible entities. When the program was launched, many families criticized it as a brazen, tight-fisted attempt to protect the airlines from lawsuits. The Fund was also attacked as attempting to put insulting dollar values on the lives of lost loved ones. The families were in pain. And they were angry. Over the course of the next three years, Feinberg spent almost all of his time meeting with the families, convincing them of the generosity and compassion of the program, and calculating appropriate awards for each and every claim. The Fund proved to be a dramatic success with over 97% of eligible families participating. It also provided important lessons for Feinberg, who became the filter, the arbitrator, and the target of family suffering. Feinberg learned about the enduring power of family grief, love, fear, faith, frustration, and courage. Most importantly, he learned that no check, no matter how large, could make the families and victims of 9/11 whole again.

Agent Orange, the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, the Virginia Tech massacre, the 2008 financial crisis, and the Deep Horizon gulf oil spill: each was a disaster in its own right. What they had in common was their aftermath- each required compensation for lives lost, bodies maimed, livelihoods wrecked, economies and ecosystems upended. In each instance, an objective third party had to step up and dole out allocated funds: in each instance, Presidents, Attorneys General, and other public officials have asked Kenneth R. Feinberg to get the job done. In Who Gets What? , Feinberg reveals the deep thought that must go into each decision, not to mention the most important question that arises after a tragedy: why compensate at all? The result is a remarkably accessible discussion of the practical and philosophical problems of using money as a way to address wrongs and reflect individual worth.

Does a kindly, charitable interest in others have health benefits for the agent, particularly when coupled with helping behaviours? Although the answer remains unclear, researchers have established that there is an association between generous emotions, helping behaviour, and longevity. Increasingly, emotional states and their related behaviours are being studied by mainstream scientists in relation to health promotion and disease prevention. If helping affect or behaviour can be linked with health and longevity, there are significant implications for how we think about human nature and prosperity. Although studies show that those who are physically or psychologically overwhelmed by the needs of others do experience a stressful burden that can have significant negative health consequences, little attention has been given to whether there are health benefits from helping behaviour that is fulfilling, not overwhelming. In this book, Stephen Post brings together distinguished researchers from basic science to address this question in objective terms. The book provides heuristic models, from evolution and neuroscience, to explain the association between altruism and health, and examines potential public health and practical implications of the existing data.