Charitable Giving Report: How Nonprofit Fundraising Performed in 2013

The Charitable Giving Report, derived from The Blackbaud Index, includes overall giving data from 4,129 nonprofit organizations representing $12.5 billion in total fundraising from 2013. The Report also includes online giving data from 3,359 nonprofits representing$1.7 billion in online fundraising from 2013. This year's report features the addition of overall charitable giving data from 985 organizations and online giving data from 778 organizations

Susceptibility inhomogeneity and non-Fermi liquid behavior in UCu_{5-x}Pt_x

Transverse-field muSR shifts and relaxation rates have been measured in the non-Fermi liquid (NFL) alloy system UCu_{5-x}Pt_x, x = 1.0, 1.5, and 2.5. At low temperatures the fractional spread in Knight shifts delta K/K approx deltachi/chi is gtrsim 2 for x = 1, but is only half this value for x = 1.5 and 2.5. In a disorder-driven scenario where the NFL behavior is due to a broadly distributed (Kondo or Griffiths-phase cluster) characteristic energy E, our results indicate that delta E/E_{rm av} approx (delta K/K)_{T=0} is similar for UCu_{5-x}Pd_x (x = 1 and 1.5) and UCu_4Pt, but is reduced for UCu_{5-x}Pt_x, x = 1.5 and 2.5. This reduction is due to a marked increase of E with increasing x; the spread delta E is found to be roughly independent of x. Our results correlate with the observed suppression of other NFL anomalies for x > 1 in UCu_{5-x}Pt_x but not in UCu_{5-x}Pd_x, and are further evidence for the importance of disorder in the NFL behavior of both these alloy systems.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, submitted to 10th International Conference on Muon Spin Rotation, Relaxation, and Resonance, Oxford, UK, August 200

Effect of annealing on glassy dynamics and non-Fermi liquid behavior in UCu_4Pd

Longitudinal-field muon spin relaxation (LF-muSR) experiments have been performed in unannealed and annealed samples of the heavy-fermion compound UCu_4Pd to study the effect of disorder on non-Fermi liquid behavior in this material. The muon spin relaxation functions G(t,H) obey the time-field scaling relation G(t,H) = G(t/H^gamma) previously observed in this compound. The observed scaling exponent gamma = 0.3 pm 0.1, independent of annealing. Fits of the stretched-exponential relaxation function G(t) = exp[-(Lambda t)^K] to the data yielded stretching exponentials K < 1 for all samples. Annealed samples exhibited a reduction of the relaxation rate at low temperatures, indicating that annealing shifts fluctuation noise power to higher frequencies. There was no tendency of the inhomogeneous spread in rates to decrease with annealing, which modifies but does not eliminate the glassy spin dynamics reported previously in this compound. The correlation with residual resistivity previously observed for a number of NFL heavy-electron materials is also found in the present work.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to 10th International Conference on Muon Spin Rotation, Relaxation, and Resonance, Oxford, UK, August 200

Glassy Spin Dynamics in Non-Fermi-Liquid UCu_{5-x}Pd_x, x = 1.0 and 1.5

Local f-electron spin dynamics in the non-Fermi-liquid heavy-fermion alloys UCu_{5-x}Pd_x, x = 1.0 and 1.5, have been studied using muon spin-lattice relaxation. The sample-averaged asymmetry function Gbar(t) indicates strongly inhomogeneous spin fluctuations, and exhibits the scaling Gbar(t,H) = Gbar(t/H^\gamma) expected from glassy dynamics. At 0.05 K \gamma(x=1.0) = 0.35 \pm 0.1, but \gamma(x=1.5) = 0.7 \pm 0.1. This is in contrast to inelastic neutron scattering results, which yield \gamma = 0.33 for both concentrations. There is no sign of static magnetism \gtrsim 10^{-3} \mu_B/U ion in either material above 0.05 K. Our results strongy suggest that both alloys are quantum spin glasses.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Physical Review Letter

Preparing Students for Success on Examinations: Readiness Assurance Tests in a Graduate-Level Statistics Course

Formative feedback is one way to foster students' readiness for statistics examinations. The use of Readiness Assurance Tests was examined as an educational intervention in which feedback was provided for both correct and incorrect responses in a graduate-level statistics course. Examination scores in the intervention group ( n = 56) were compared with those in a control group ( n = 42). Intervention group examination scores significantly improved from 75.92 ± 14.52 on the Readiness Assurance Test to 90.06 ± 7.06, p < .001, on the midterm, and final examination scores improved from 78.23 ± 17.29 to 85.6 ± 6.98, p = .002. Intervention group midterm scores were significantly higher than those of the control group (90.06 ± 7.06 versus 79.7 ± 11.6, p < .001); however, no differences were found between the groups on the final examination (85.35 ± 9.46 versus 85.6 ± 6.98, p = .91). Use of Readiness Assurance Tests was an effective modality to increase student self-efficacy, learning experience, and, relative to a control group, midterm examination performance in statistic

Charitable Giving Report: How Nonprofit Fundraising Performed in 2012

This report provides the largest analysis of overall and online giving trends in the nonprofit sector. Its aim is to provide a benchmark for giving and help inform nonprofits' fundraising strategies in 2013. Provides data on giving by sector and month, and outlines strategies that fundraisers are using in various sectors

Susceptibility Inhomogeneity and Non-Fermi-Liquid Behavior in Ce(Ru_{0.5}Rh_{0.5})_2Si_2

Magnetic susceptibility and muon spin rotation (\muSR) experiments have been carried out to study the effect of structural disorder on the non-Fermi-liquid (NFL) behavior of the heavy-fermion alloy Ce(Ru_{0.5}Rh_{0.5})_2Si_2. Analysis of the bulk susceptibility in the framework of disorder-driven Griffiths-phase and Kondo-disorder models for NFL behavior yields relatively narrow distributions of characteristic spin fluctuation energies, in agreement with \muSR linewidths that give the inhomogeneous spread in susceptibility. \muSR and NMR data both indicate that disorder explains the "nearly NFL" behavior observed above \sim2 K, but does not dominate the NFL physics found at low temperatures and low magnetic fields.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, REVTeX, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Superconductivity of the Ternary Boride Li_2Pd_3B Probed by ^{11}B NMR

We report a ^{11}B NMR measurement on the recently discovered superconductor Li_2Pd_3B. The nuclear spin lattice relaxation rate 1/T_1 shows a well-defined coherence peak just below T_c (H=1.46 T)=5.7 K, and the spin susceptibility measured by the Knight shift also decreases below T_c. These results indicate that the superconductivity is of conventional nature, with an isotropic gap. Our results also suggest that the $p$-electrons of boron and the d-electrons of palladium that hybridize with boron $p$-electrons are primarily responsible for the superconductivity.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Spin dynamics in a structurally ordered non-Fermi liquid compound: YbRh_2Si_2

Muon spin relaxation (muSR) experiments have been carried out at low temperatures in the non-Fermi-liquid heavy-fermion compound YbRh_2Si_2. The longitudinal-field muSR relaxation function is exponential, indicative that the dynamic spin fluctuations are homogeneous. The relaxation rate 1/T_1 varies with applied field as H^{-y}, y = 1.0 \pm 0.1, which implies a scaling law of the form \chi''(\omega) \propto \omega^{-y} f(\omega/T), \lim_{x\to0} f(x) = x for the dynamic spin susceptibility.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. To be published in proceedings of musr2002 (Physica B