Todd Cohen

Editor’s note: William C. “Bill” Friday, who shepherded the University of North Carolina system through three decades of tumultuous change and rapid growth as one of the nation’s longest-serving university presidents, died peacefully in his sleep Friday morning at age 92, according to his assistant, Virginia Taylor. “He is the greatest man of our generation,” former North Carolina Gov. Jim Hunt said. Few people, if anyone, deserve more credit that Friday for the Raleigh-Durham area’s development as a global center for research, innovation and entrepreneurship. On his 92nd birthday earlier this year, WRAL Tech Wire saluted him with a...

The seeds of a quiet revolution are taking root throughout the global economy, sprouting change and new business models for anyone who wants to get involved in fixing social problems. Helping to drive that change are hybrid “social businesses” that blend the mission of charity with the processes and efficiencies of business. The theory and practice of that revolution were joined last week at N.C. A&T State University in Greensboro, where 500 people gathered for a social business conference that featured a competition among 31 student teams from throughout the 17-campus University of North Carolina system that had designed...

One of every two women in the U.S. was a Girl Scout, according to estimates by Girl Scouts USA. The Girl Scouts – North Carolina Coastal Pines is counting on a lot of those women to help girls become Scouts and leaders. “You can’t be something you haven’t seen,” says Rusine Mitchell Sinclair, who has served as the Raleigh-based council’s CEO since Aug. 1, 2007. “It’s so important for girls from all of our areas, whether major cities or rural areas, to have role models.” Mitchell Sinclair credits her own experience as a Girl Scout in a small town...

Editor’s note: Few people, if anyone, deserve more credit that William Friday for the Raleigh-Durham area’s development as a global center for research, innovation and entrepreneurship. On his 92nd birthday – today – WRAL Tech Wire salutes him with this tribute written by Todd Cohen, founder of Philanthropy North Carolina. RALEIGH, N.C. – North Carolina owes a huge debt of gratitude to William Friday. Friday, who turns 92 today, is our state’s father figure and beloved son, and its truest servant-leader. More than any other single individual in the second half of 20th century, Bill Friday helped shape the transformation of...

Editor’s note: Todd Cohen is founder and editor of Philanthropy North Carolina. RALEIGH, N.C. – Friends, After 21 years of reporting on the charitable world, I have officially launched Philanthropy North Carolina, offering news and media services for nonprofits. I also have left the Philanthropy Journal, a publication I edited since founding it in 1993. I left because the Institute for Nonprofits at North Carolina State University, PJ’s home since January 2010, eliminated my job, saying it wants to take PJ in a different direction. A second position at PJ also was eliminated, and the remaining two PJ staffers...

Nonprofits posted big gains online in 2011 in revenue from fundraising and in advocacy response rates, although fundraising response rates were nearly flat, a new study says. Overall online fundraising revenue grew 19 percent from 2010, with the number of gifts growing 20 percent, while the typical gift size fell 2 percent, says the 2012 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study from M&R Strategic Services and NTEN. The study, based on analysis of aggregate data from 44 nonprofits, also found advocacy response rates grew to 2.8 percent, up 28 percent from 2010. And nonprofit email-driven donations forms had a median completion rate...

“Social impact bonds,” which raise private investment capital to fund prevention and early-intervention social programs, with government repaying investors only if the work improves social outcomes, represent a “promising new product” that could become a multi-billion-dollar source of growth capital to fund effective social programs, a new white paper says. “Social impact bonds offer an innovative way to scale what works,” says the white paper, prepared by Social Finance Inc. and supported by the Rockefeller Foundation. “If they work as hoped, proven innovations will no longer languish for years as service providers struggle to access the capital needed to...

Editor’s note: Todd Cohen is editor and publisher of The Philanthropy Journal. RALEIGH, N.C. – Ripped apart by a culture of greed and blame, the U.S. has become its own worst enemy, and we need a commitment to public service to help make ourselves whole again. After its struggle and sacrifice during the Great Depression, “the greatest generation” defeated the Axis powers in World War II and powered the post-war economic boom. But despite our economic and military might, we have lost our way, trapped in a self-fulfilling cycle of fear, hate, intolerance, finger-pointing, self-absorption and a righteous and...