April 2003 Archives

VolunteerToday.com ~~ The Electronic Gazette for Volunteerism

*NEWS* Find news you can use on a variety of topics; opportunities to raise money, changes in postage rates; statistics and facts that impact volunteer programs; and more.
~ April 2003 Topics ~	Getting On the Air SBC Technology Grants VolunteerMatch and the Volunteer Program Some Facts on Nonprofit Finances in the US

Getting On the Air

Many nonprofit and volunteer programs use Public Service Announcements (PSA’s) to get the word out about their programs, need for money, and volunteers. How might the impending war on Iraq impact the availability of time for PSA’s? The West Glen Communication group of New York recently polled 150 TV and radio stations in major markets across the US to find the answer to that question.

The broadcasters reported they would be doing 24/7 coverage of the war, at least for the first few days and would not be airing advertising. When returning to regular programming it was anticipated that advertisers might hold back having commercials aired, in order to not appear opportunistic. But soon after this the expectation was that more airtime might be given to human and social causes, especially those such as disaster relief, ethnic tolerance, mental health, and volunteerism. There were such gains in time for PSA's following the September 11 terrorist attacks. Is your organization prepared?

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SBC Technology Grants

SBC Communications is awarding $9 million in grants to nonprofit technology projects in the 13 states in which the company provides telecommunications services. The goal of the grants is to help local organizations use technology more efficiently and be better able to fulfill their missions. Applications are being accepted for such things as computer networking, high-speed Internet access, technology training, and online efforts to deliver services. Grants range from $2500- $25,000. For more information go to http://www.sbc.com/foundation.

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VolunteerMatch and the Volunteer Program

VolunteerMatch, the online volunteer-matching service founded in 1998 logged its one-millionth potential volunteer. Sophia Wu, an eighth grade student from Southern California was put in touch with a voluntary organization, following a visit to the site. Are your volunteer positions listed on this site? If not, visit VolunteerMatch to learn more, available through our Internet Resources page.

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Some Facts on Nonprofit Finances in the US

The number of nonprofit organizations filing tax returns with the IRS went from 207,272 in 1998 to 211,615 in 1999, a 2.1% increase

This was a lower increase than in the previous two filing years

Of the 637,351 charities registered many are not required to file, as they are churches or other religious groups

Revenue for the groups reporting in 1999 was $800.7 billion, versus $752 billion in 1998, a 6.5% increase

Total assets of charities in the US is recorded as $1.45 trillion as of 1999

This information and more, is available in the Internal Revenue Service’s fall 2002 Statistics of Income Bulletin.

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