THE CHRONICLE OF
PHIL A NTHROPY®
The Newspaper of the Nonprofit World
Volume XXIV, No. 8 • March 8, 2012 • $5
Visualizing Data Helps
Charities Get Attention
Graphics give nonprofits an advantage in reaching
the public and in improving their work
By Nicole Wallace
THE CORAL TRIANGLE, tropical ma- rine waters off the coast of In- donesia, Malaysia, and several other Asia Pacific countries, teems
with life. The region is home to more
than 500 species of reef-building corals, three-quarters of all known species, and more than 3,000 kinds of fish,
while its shores provide nesting grounds
for six of the world’s seven species of sea
turtles.
It’s only in the past decade that scien-
tists have fully understood the region’s
ecological and economic importance, so
a big part of the World Wildlife Fund’s
conservation work is getting the word
out about what the Coral Triangle is
and why it matters. To educate peo-
ple without overwhelming them, the
charity created a series of infograph-
ics, documents that combine key facts,
anecdotes, and imagery. The idea is to
explain topics quickly, like the threat
climate change poses to the Coral Tri-
angle, and move the viewer to want to
learn more.
Explaining the Mission
At a time when people are bombarded
with more information than ever, charities are looking for ways to visualize
data to explain complex issues succinctly, spur advocacy, support their fund-raising, and show donors where their
money is going. Some, like the World
Wildlife Fund, are creating infographics that can be shared easily via social
media, while others are creating interactive Web tools that allow users to slice
and dice the data on their own.
Good visualizations can also help
charities better understand their own
Continued on Page 7
Feeding America created this interactive map
showing how many people in each county can’t
afford food, as a resource for policy makers.
Budget Deficit Forces Questions
About Charity Spending on Lobbying
By Lisa Chiu
WASHINGTON
WHEN PRESIDENT OBAMA sought o limit the value of all item- ized deductions last year,
many interest groups set out to per-
suade Congress to block the plan.
Among them was a mix of powerful
real-estate groups that spent nearly
$30-million to preserve the mortgage-interest deduction and lobby lawmakers on other matters important to the
industry.
Another group was much smaller: a
coalition of nonprofits spent $830,000 to
protect deductions for gifts to charities
and to press legislators about other is-
sues important to the nonprofit world.
Foundations Face Growing Turnover,
Causing Instability for Many Charities
By Ben Gose
WHEN the nonprofit group Vir- ginia Organizing first tried to btain a grant from the Cameron Foundation to support community
organizing in Petersburg, Va., the foundation’s program officer conceded that
she didn’t really understand what organizing was about, says Joe Szakos, the
charity’s executive director. Virginia
Organizing didn’t get a grant.
The next year, in 2010, another pro-
gram officer took over the charity’s ap-
plication, and he made clear that he un-
derstood the charity’s mission. Virgin-
ia Organizing won an $18,000 one-year
grant to advocate for improvements to
health-care policies and other social-
policy issues in Petersburg, where the
foundation is also based.
Technology Help
n The Chronicle’s annual guide to
technology offers practical tips
for solving some of the most
common challenges nonprofits
face in dealing with online giving,
social media, and more Page T-1
Let’s Make a Deal
n A growing number of “deal of
the day” companies in cities
around the country copy the
Groupon model to help local
charities raise money and attract
new donors. Page 14
