On the day before we gorge ourselved on turkey and all the fixings, let's remember to take a minute tomorrow to reflect on what we are thankful for. And let's remember our community nonprofit and social service organizations at that time.  How can we help but be thankful for the organizations and people who bring happiness, education, nourishment and a better life to those who need it most?  On this holiday, and during this tough econoic time, please thank the organizations in your community that provide so much to your family, friend and neighbors.

Your Monday won't be complete without checking out Megan Grenwell's article in the Washington Post on the Working Group for Effective Social Investing.  Megan talks to DC Central Kitchen's Robert Egger, our friend over at Tactical Philanthropy, Sean Stannard-Stockton, and, of course, Steve Butz.

Megan also hints to a study from Bank of America and the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, which, in today's release of initial highlights, found that almost 60 percent of wealthy households in the U.S. stopped giving last year due to "no longer feeling connected to the organization."  Whoa.  Full results are expected to come out in early 2009 and you can bet that we here at The ETOlutionist sure are curious to see the rest of the findings.

Word is out on the Alliance for Effective Social Investing and boy, are people talking.

Check out Tactical Philanthropy's Sean Stannard-Stockton who mentions the Alliance here and here.  The Foreign Policy Association's Philanthropy blog also included a post on the Alliance as did the Traccing: Green blog.

Its great to see people talking about such an important issue all over the blogosphere. 

Got an opinion yourself?  Share your comments below!

For those of you who may have missed it, be sure to check out the Chronicle of Philanthropy's  article, "Making a Measurable Difference," which highlights the formation of a new group called the Alliance for Social Investing, organized by our own Steve Butz and David Hunter.
 
We expect to see even more buzz about this exciting endeavor in the coming weeks -- so be sure to check back in with us often. 

In the meantime, what are your intial thoughts about the Alliance and its objectives?  Sound off in our comments section!

The call for applications for the Superstar Foundation's Veronic Grants is closed for this year, winners to be announced soon, but we're still talking about the mission - rewarding the Superstar social service providers who deserve it most.

Click here to here our own Steve Butz interviewed on NPR's Kojo Nnamdi show yesterday, promoting the Foundation.

Interview Summary: The pay is mediocre, the work is stressful and the hours are long. So what, if anything, should be done to encourage good social service workers to stay in the profession? One man thinks hard, cold cash might do the trick -- and he's set up a Baltimore-based foundation to find and reward those who excel in his former profession. We'll explore this reward system and discuss the state of social work in the United States.

If you have yet to perform your civic duty today or even if you already have, check out the Chronicle's piece which details each of the candidates stances on philanthropic topics. Depending on how you feel about certain issues, the info just might help you decide or change your mind altogether. Though they both support the New National-Service Bill and share public service backgrounds, their opion on  certain issues differs.  On topics as varied as education to health to the federal governement charities, you'll get the scoop here.

This election season, the Chronicle has done a great job of summing it all up for us. Articles have told us what we want to hear most about what we care about so deeply - the future of philanthrop and the nonprofit sector in this country.

Social Solutions and founder, Steve Butz, were featured in the Washington Business Journal yesterday detailing a new effort to establish a systems - and a set of metrics - by which to measure nonprofit organzations. Bravo for their determination to change the sector and the way we give. 

Check out the article below.

Area nonprofit execs study new way to measure return
Washington Business Journal - By Jonathan O'Connell

A Baltimore software company is working to create a new national model for evaluating the work of nonprofits, and it has convinced a slate of big names in charity to jump on board.

Begun in 2000, Social Solutions Inc. provides data-tracking software to thousands of nonprofits that offer social services. But founder and President Steve Butz still sees no standard measure by which givers can judge which organizations actually deliver social good.

He is trying to create a new system that will use six data-driven metrics to rate nonprofits and has convinced some of the Washington area’s leading thinkers about philanthropy to join him.

They include Brian Gallagher, chief executive officer of the United Way of America, Bob Ottenhoff, CEO of GuideStar, a Williamsburg, Va.-based organization that tracks nonprofits nationally, Mario Morino and Carol Thompson Cole, founder and president of Venture Philanthropy Partners, and Robert Egger, founder of D.C. Central Kitchen, a job training program.

Nonprofits frequently convince funders to give by providing anecdotes and basic data, such as the number of teenagers their program serves. What they don’t do is show whether those teens are doing better afterward and if the program caused that improvement, Butz said, and some programs actually make their lives worse.

Domestic violence counseling might lead abusers to attack more than they did before, for example, or a youth program might discourage kids rather than motivate them.

“The risk that we’re talking about, very frankly, is the risk that the money is going to no good at all,” Butz says.

The informal group plans to meet Nov. 18 in D.C. to iron out plans.

Egger said he joined because the current culture of judging organizations based how much they spend on overhead “is an intellectual albatross around the neck of the nonprofit sector.”

Nonprofits must have the expertise and money to innovate, just as businesses do, he said. “The sector is dying from this intellectual quicksand.”

Check out our most recent podcast featuring Sean Stannard-Stockton, author of the Tactical Philanthropy blog, who joins us to talk about the upcoming Tactical Philanthropy Forum on November 19th in San Francisco.  Sean has some heavy hitters joining him for the event, including Paul Brest of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Bill Somerville of the Philanthropic Ventures Foundation. 

We look forward to hearing about the discussions held at this event - as they are sure to be insightful.

Readers of this blog probably aren't surprised to hear that Isaac Castillo of the LAYCis a fan of ETO Software, but did you ever think it would go this far?

We might be biased, but we think Isaac's Query Wizard beats out any Obama, McCain, Hannah Montana, or other costume de jour this year. 

Happy Halloween!

Check out Social Solutions featured here in a Fast Company article. The piece details not only nonprofit's need for funds and the tools, such as ETO,  that can help secure them, but also the software's ability to increase program and organizational effectiveness.   Anisha Chablani at Roca and Isaac Castillo at LAYC, phenominal users of ETO,  are also included. 

A good time to spread the word of the need for nonprofit effectiveness. As we all encounter a slow economy, organizations have to find a way to stand out and prove their worth to funders. What better way than through ETO.

Fast Company, nonprofit, LAYC, Roca