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Run by the U.S.'s Better Business Bureau, the Alliance provides information on charities so that you know where your money goes. (Did you know some charities spend more than 50 percent of their budget -- and sometimes much more than that -- on fundraising, rather than the cause they say they support?!) The Alliance will help you put your hard-earned money toward the causes you believe in, rather than help fund someone's junk mail campaign or executive salaries. From This is True for 23 May 2004 Suggestions for further reading:
 By: Greg MortensonDavid Oliver Relin List Price: $15.00 Amazon Price: $9.00 Editorial Review: The astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his humanitarian campaign to use education to combat terrorism in the Taliban?s backyard Anyone who despairs of the individual?s power to change lives has to read the story of Greg Mortenson, a homeless mountaineer who, following a 1993 climb of Pakistan?s treacherous K2, was inspired by a chance encounter with impoverished mountain villagers and promised to build them a school. Over the next decade he built fifty-five schools?especially for girls?that offer a balanced education in one of the most isolated and dangerous regions on earth. As it chronicles Mortenson?s quest, which has brought him into conflict with both enraged Islamists and uncomprehending Americans, Three Cups of Tea combines adventure with a celebration of the humanitarian spirit.  By: Leslie CrutchfieldHeather McLeod Grant List Price: $29.95 Amazon Price: $19.77 Editorial Review: An innovative guide to how great nonprofits achieve extraordinary social impact. What makes great nonprofits great? Authors Crutchfield and McLeod Grant searched for the answer over several years, employing a rigorous research methodology which derived from books on for-profits like Built to Last. They studied 12 nonprofits that have achieved extraordinary levels of impact?from Habitat for Humanity to the Heritage Foundation?and distilled six counterintuitive practices that these organizations use to change the world. This book has lessons for all readers interested in creating significant social change, including nonprofit managers, donors and volunteers. Leslie R. Crutchfield (Washington, D.C.) is a managing director of Ashoka and research grantee of the Aspen Institute. Heather McLeod Grant (Palo Alto, CA) is a nonprofit consultant and advisor to Duke University?s Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship and the Stanford Center for Social Innovation. Crutchfield and Grant were co-founding editors of Who Cares, a national magazine reaching 50,000 readers in circulation between 1993-2000.  By: Reynold Levy List Price: $29.95 Amazon Price: $19.77 Editorial Review: Yours For the Asking is a how-to guide for anyone with an instinct to raise funds who has fears, qualms, or hesitancies to do so. It explains in easy to understand language how to reach wealthy people face to face, in writing, in large groups, at special events, and over the Internet. And?once their attention has been gained?how to bring home the bacon. It solves the mystery of fundraising from foundations, those notoriously elusive entities that seem to house experts in closing doors, ignoring solicitations, and, when pressed for an answer, saying no. It also demonstrates how many ways there are to tap the resources of donors?large and small?for the institution that commands your respect, affect, and attention. As President of Lincoln Center, Reynold Levy has led the effort to raise over one billion dollars in five years?among many other notable fundraising distinctions?and he is uniquely qualified to write this book.  By: Lora Leigh List Price: $12.99 Amazon Price: $12.99 Editorial Review: Book 3 in the Wolf Breeds series The forces of survival and destruction swirl in the darkest corners of men's minds. The nature of the beast cannot be harnessed, and survival is the purest of all instincts. Survival of the species itself goes soul deep. But can the human heart accept and adapt as easily? Can Charity bestow the love and the acceptance that has always been a part of her, to the man whose very survival depended on the hardening of his heart, of his soul? And can Aiden maintain that cruelty now, in the face of the sacrifices she made? Only time and nature can tell  By: Matthew BishopMichael Green List Price: $27.00 Amazon Price: $17.82 Editorial Review: An examination of how today?s leading philanthropists are revolutionizing the field, using new methods to have a vastly greater impact on the world. For philanthropists of the past, charity was often a matter of simply giving money away. For the philanthrocapitalists ? the new generation of billionaires who are reshaping the way they give ? it?s like business. Largely trained in the corporate world, these ?social investors? are using big-business-style strategies and expecting results and accountability to match. Bill Gates, the world's richest man, is leading the way: he has promised his entire fortune to finding a cure for the diseases that kill millions of children in the poorest countries in the world. In Philanthrocapitalism, Matthew Bishop and Michael Green examine this new movement and its implications. Proceeding from interviews with some of the most powerful people on the planet?including Gates, Bill Clinton, George Soros, Angelina Jolie, and Bono, among others?they show how a web of wealthy, motivated donors has set out to change the world. Their results will have huge implications: In a climate resistant to government spending on social causes, their focused donations may be the greatest force for societal change in our world, and a source of political controversy. Combining on-the-ground anecdotes, expert analysis, and up-close profiles of the wealthy and powerful, this is a fascinating look at a small group of people who will change an enormous number of lives. |
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