Service Delivery Organizations

President Barack Obama on January 22 signed into law a provision allowing charitable gifts made for Haiti relief during February and most of January 2010 to be deducted on 2009 federal tax returns. This noble sentiment would work a lot better if deductions were allowed for all giving made to qualified charities by April 15.

Joel Fleishman, author of The Foundation: A Great American Secret, discusses the crucial role foundations play in fostering social innovation, breaks down the recent trends and misfortunes that shape the nonprofit sector today, and urges foundations to find greater success through greater openness.

Urban Institute author Joseph J. Cordes talks about the recession's effect on nonprofits and the premise behind his book, Nonprofits and Business. The book, coedited with C. Eugene Steuerle, examines an emerging trend blurring the lines between these two sectors as nonprofits adopt more business-like practices and for profit businesses take on charitable activities.

Nonprofits face growing demands to demonstrate their impact. Their ability to report on program performance is essential to organizational legitimacy and financial survival. This report chronicles the evaluation experiences of four youth-serving nonprofits that participated in the East of the River Initiative, a multi-year effort to increase the capacity of agencies to assess their performance. We detail key successes and challenges with the goal of sparking a dialogue between nonprofits, funders, and technical assistance providers about the proper value of evaluation in the sector.

In this commentary for SpotlightOnPoverty.org, Institute Fellow Olivia Golden lays out five strategic investments foundations can make to sustain the economic stimulus package's positive outcomes for low-income families.