• GuideStar sponsors a free webinar on Jan 20: "Stay Ahead of the eight Ball in 2010, Tips from the Experts." Some big names here with Katya Andresen of Network for Good, Larry Checco, branding guru, and Terry Axelrod from Benevon. More info and registration.

• As we get ready for next year's fundraising campaigns, it is useful to remember what giving should be all about. The Reverend Eric Foley of the Transformational Giving blog writes about the differences between transformational gifts where "the head, heart, and hand come attached to the check" and a transactional gift that is simply a "financial transaction" and where "what changes hands can fit on a receipt."

• In a similar way, Jacob Harold writes on The Case Foundation blog that you should, "Pick issues with your heart; choose organizations with your head." Harold has more suggestions for the donor who really thinks about how to make a donation count.

• If you are confused by all the labels popping up around philanthopy lately, don't feel alone. I found this post by Amy Carol Wolff on SocialEarth to be helpful in explaining the differences between the terms "microfinance" and "peer-to-peer." This is one resource you might want to bookmark for future reference when the terms get confusing again.

• Allyson Kapin of Frogloop has rounded up some of the bigget names in nonprofit thinking and asked them for the "Best Nonprofit Strategies to Utilize in 2010." Check out what Jocelyn Harmon, Beth Kanter, and Mal Warwick have to say.

• Finally, for the December Carnival of Nonprofit Blogs, Jeff Brooks has compiled advice from the experts that will help you fundraise better and more efficiently in 2010. Read about ostrich budgeting, charity photos that grab you without using tears, and fundraising by the numbers.

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Kurt Aschermann, president and chief operating officer of Charity Partners, pointed out to the TheNonProfitTimes recently that there are some things potential employees seeking work in the nonprofit world might not think of when they are considering a sector change.

Aschermann suggests that both job seekers and nonprofit employers make sure that they understand and/or explain these common, but often overlooked differences between for-profit and nonprofit careers.

1. Hours. Nonprofit hours don't always fit a business template. Fundraisers may need to seek out potential donors in the evening or on the weekend. Special events, fundraising or program-related, may need to be staffed during "off-hours," on weekends, or even on holidays. Fulfilling a social mission is not like selling a product during specified "open" hours.

2. Budgets that are often not even adequate, much less luxurious. Effective use of every dollar is typical of nonprofit work. Seeking inkind gifts might mean using a supplier that is not the preferred one; having to make do with out-of-date office furniture, or even computers, is more often the norm than the exception. Flexibility and a frugal eye are important for most nonprofit groups.

3. Reaching agreement within a group. Nonprofits depend much more heavily on consensus to reach decisions. Working with volunteers is very different than working with paid staff, for instance. Nonprofits tend to be more open, democratic, and process driven than companies that deal with products and customers.

4. Dealing with multiple audiences. Aschermann points out that people working in for-profit are accustomed to one audience -- people who are potential purchasers and users of the product that is being marketed.

   But in nonprofit, there are multiple audiences with unusual relationships with the organization. A donor often is not the consumer of the service or product, for instance. Volunteers do the work of paid staff, but enjoy a very different relationship with the nonprofit. The people who actually consume the nonprofit service or product vary widely, and may be motivated in ways that are difficult to understand.

Such differences can represent a mine-field for an employee coming from the for-profit world. Potential nonprofit hires deserve to know as much as possible about the world they are entering before they make the leap.

Job seekers can help by doing their research, engaging in many informational interviews with people who work in the sector, serving as a volunteer first, or getting an internship.

Nonprofit employers need to explore all of these issues with a job candidate to make sure that he or she is fully aware of the differences between for-profit and nonprofit work.

Related:

• Eight Tips for Jumping Ship: For-Profit to Nonprofit Career
• So You Want a Nonprofit Job?
• Top Tip for Nonprofit Job Seekers: Informational Interviews
• Finding a Good Volunteer Opportunity
• Finding Nonprofit Jobs Online

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I looked back at which articles and blog posts were most popular with readers this year. There has been a wealth of things to write about in the nonprofit and philanthropic world during 2009...what with recession worries and a strong interest in using social media for good.

It is no surprise then that two of these articles are about surviving the recession, one is about social media, and two involve fundraising. The final most popular article is a review of what I think may be the best philanthropic book of the year.

• Generosity Will Get You Everywhere in Social Media

  The idea of being generous cannot be overemphasized when it comes to using social media. Whether you are using Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or a variety of other social media platforms, it is crucial that you listen, then engage, and make sure...

• Characteristics of Nonprofits That Are Staying Afloat Despite the Recession

  A small study of nonprofits in the Northwest by Retriever Development Counsel revealed several telling characteristics of nonprofits that seem to be surviving the recession relatively intact...

• Don't Call It a Crisis

  It may be that the economic downturn and its effects, are not a short-lived crisis that we'll awake from like a bad dream, but just the way it's going to be into the foreseeable future. We would do better to confront...

• Save Time and Make More Money with Short, Direct Fundraising Emails

  One of the masterminds of President Obama's presidential campaign's online efforts, Thomas Gensemer who is managing partner of Blue State Digital, said recently that email newsletters are a waste of time. They "don't get read, yet they take more effort to prepare...

• Cause Marketing Creates Welcome Debate

  I've loved the debate this week about cause-related marketing created by an article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review by Professor Angela Eikenberry, assistant professor in the School of Public Administration at the University of Nebraska at Omaha...

• The Life You Can Save - A Review

  There are enough statistics in this little book to make one's head spin. The most telling statistic, of course, is that there are 1.4 billion people in the world who are living on $1.25 or less per day (the poverty line as set by the World Bank). Despite these daunting figures, Peter Singer wants to convince us...

Sandy Stonesifer, Slate columnist and charitable expert, recently took on a similar question from a reader. She explores this important donor decision in considerable depth and references a number of good resources about international giving.

My answer is yes, do channel at least a portion of your charitable gifts internationally, but with careful consideration of the organizations that you decide to support. The best guide for me has been the wisdom of Peter Singer, a bioethicist and author of The Life You Can Save.

Singer thinks that we all should be doing more to help alleviate global poverty. Singer says that poverty has already been reduced around the world and that if those of us who have more than enough really stepped up, we could make even more headway. He even suggests a number of charitable organizations that he thinks are particularly effective at using our donor dollars to make a difference.

The worst thing that we can do is give in to apathy and a sense of futility in the face of problems that just seem so large that we think our contribution can't possibly help. Humans are programmed to respond more vigorously to the needs of people who are the closest to us and the best known. At one time, perhaps that was acceptable, but in today's interlinked world we are all neighbors, family, and friends.

More information about global giving:

• A Little Charity Goes a Long Way Slate
• The Life You Can Save - A Review About.com
• Nicholas Kristof's Advice for Saving the World Outside Magazine
• Taxes and International Giving About.com
• Giving Internationally Through a Charitable Gift Account About.com
• A Donor's Guide to Global Emergencies About.com
• Gifts Without Guilt About.com

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