massnonprofit.org :: News and Information about the nonprofit sector in Massachusetts.

Girls Scouts of Eastern Mass. Appoint Two Senior Officers

August 18, 2008 — Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts, formed last February through the merger of three existing eastern Massachusetts Girl Scout councils – Patriots’ Trail, Southeastern Massachusetts, and Spar & Spindle – recently announced today new leadership positions as part of a realignment plan and organizational restructuring for the organization. MORE

Jumpstart Spearheading Third Annual Read for the Record Effort

August 18, 2008 — Jumpstart, a Boston-based, national early education nonprofit that inspires children to learn, is inviting the public at large to read a book to a child on Oct. 2, and perhaps help set a Guinness world record for the most number of people reading the same book on the same day. MORE

No. Berkshire Coalition Launches Campaign to Save Energy

August 15, 2008 — Working together as a community to solve the energy crisis is the idea behind a new campaign launched yesterday by The Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, based in North Adams, a nonprofit which seeks to improve the quality of life in the Northern Berkshires. MORE

Campaign for Shakespeare & Company Reaches $7.5M Point

August 12, 2008 — Shakespeare & Company, based in Lenox, now in its thirty-first season, recently announced that its ongoing $10 million capital campaign reached the $7.5 million mark and that an anonymous donor has stepped forward to offer a $1 million challenge grant to help inspire new donors. MORE

Kay O’Rourke Is New Executive Director at Wellspring House

August 8, 2008 — Kay O’Rourke has been named executive director of Wellspring House, a Gloucester-based nonprofit that provides education, emergency shelter, affordable housing, job training, family support, and mentoring programs to North Shore families. MORE

36 Nonprofits Share in $2.3M Grants for Commonwealth Corps

August 18, 2008 — Gov. Deval L. Patrick announced $2,384,660 in grant funding for 36 public and nonprofit organizations that will enable them to take on nearly 300 volunteers this fall through the state’s new Commonwealth Corps program. MORE

Verizon Foundation Gave $1.2M in Grants to Mass. Nonprofits

August 15, 2008 — The Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications, yesterday announced that it gave $1.2 million in grants during the first half of 2008 to more than 100 nonprofit groups in Massachusetts to strengthen literacy and education, raise awareness of domestic violence, and improve health care through the use of technology. MORE

Study: Most Nonprofits Advocate, But Devote Few Resources to It

August 14, 2008 — While nearly three-fourths of nonprofits engage in some type of policy advocacy or lobbying, the vast majority devote less than 2% of their budget to the effort, according to a recently completed national study. MORE

Annual Pan-Massachusetts Challenge Aims to Raise $34M

August 12, 2008 — More than 5,000 cyclists from 36 states and eight countries rode across the state during at the beginning of August in the annual Pan-Massachusetts Challenge, seeking to raise $34 million for cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute through its Jimmy Fund. As of today, the organization had collected $24,000,000. MORE

Nellie Mae Education Foundation Names New VP of Programs

August 8, 2008 — The Nellie Mae Education Foundation, based in Quincy, the largest philanthropy in New England devoted exclusively to education, has named Mary Sylvia Harrison as vice president of programs, five months after it announced a realignment of its strategic grant making priorities. MORE