non-profit

A look into the fundraising conditions for Michigan nonprofits

Stateside Staff — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 20:35:55 +0000

It has been a challenging few years for nonprofit groups in Michigan. Whether they depended on private donations or corporate donations or both, the Great Recession hurt organizations all over the state.

But as our state gradually recovers, so are the nonprofits, especially in certain areas of Michigan.

Montgomery Consulting of Huntington Woods is out with a new survey of fundraising conditions in Michigan.

It gives us a quick look at who's on the rebound and who is still struggling.

Today Michael Montgomery joins us from Huntington Woods. He gives us a look at Michigan's regions and where nonprofits are doing the best in terms of meeting their fundraising goals.

He also gives us some tips for those who run nonprofits in Michigan and people who are prospective donors.

Stateside: Solving the data needs of non-profit groups

Stateside Staff — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 19:49:09 +0000

The following is a summary of a previously recorded interview. To hear the complete segment, click the audio above.
When it comes to data and knowing just what to do with it, it seems there are two camps in this world.
Those who can plunge into mining, parsing, analyzing and figuring out how to really use data, and those who are fairly clueless when it comes to crunching data.

Luckily for some non-profit groups in the Ann Arbor/ Detroit area, those types aren’t just smart, they are nice, and willing to help.

Thanks to some hard-working grad students at the U-M School of Information. The A2 Data Dive is coming up this weekend on the Central Campus of the University of Michigan.

Co-founders, Claire Barco and Nikki Roda tell us more about the A2 Data Dive.

Stateside: Michigan nonprofit, MI-C.O.P.S. supports families of fallen officers

Stateside Staff — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 19:52:54 +0000

West Bloomfield Township this week lost a police officer in the line of duty—a tragic "first" for the community.
39-year-old Officer Patrick O'Rourke was responding to a "shots fired" call at a home in West Bloomfield. His partner says they thought they were coming to help a family in distress with a possible suicide. Instead, a blast of bullets through a bedroom door killed Officer O'Rourke.
He leaves behind his wife Amy and four small children. His funeral will be held tomorrow morning.
Diane Philpot knows the agony of losing a first responder in the line of duty.

Ohio woman granted canoe wish, despite her fear of water

Kyle Norris — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 17:14:45 +0000

A 78-year-old woman says a 6-mile canoe trip down a river in northeast Ohio was a dream come true. That’s despite the fact that she’s afraid of water.
Kay Riffle took her first canoe ride thanks partly to the Second Wind Dreams group. The nonprofit organization works to help grant dreams for seniors.

Nonprofits: Tackling illiteracy in Chicago

Niala Boodhoo — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 20:11:54 +0000

In Chicago, literacy rates are pretty grim. More than one in three adults cannot read well enough to fill out a job application. Many are working toward improving literacy rates in Chicago, among them, the nonprofit Open Books. In the second story in our series on nonprofits, I took at look at Open Books, mostly because of the organization’s funding structure.

Late government payments strain nonprofits

Kate Davidson — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 12:33:16 +0000

DETROIT — Nonprofits are a vibrant part of the Midwest economy. They employ a lot of people and the need for their services has grown. But charities that contract with governments to provide social services also depend on those governments for payments. When promised payments are late, the results can be crippling.
Here’s the story of two non-profits — one old and one new — and their fight to survive the effects of late payments in hard times.

Helping communities save money and the environment

Michigan Radio Newsroom and What's Working — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 17:51:28 +0000

We continue our What’s Working series today with guest Sarna Salzman. She’s the Executive Director of SEEDS, or Seeking Ecology Education and Design Solutions.
SEEDS is a non-profit based in Traverse City that acts as an energy consultant for local businesses and municipalities. In addition, SEEDS hosts the northwestern Michigan branch of Youth Corps, which gets kids involved in projects such as cleaning up parks, organizing gardens, and spreading awareness about environmental issues. Last but not least, SEEDS works with local school districts to develop after-school programs aimed at ecological awareness.

Community leaders in Flint hoping to raise awareness of growing homeless population

Lindsey Smith — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 20:34:54 +0000

In 2008, the state estimates there were a little more than 86,000 people without a home. Half of them were families.