Small Nonprofits Solving Big Problems

There are over 1.5 million nonprofits in the United States. Of those, three-quarters (almost 1.2 million) have annual budgets under $1 million, and most are even smaller. These "small" organizations respond to localized needs and are staffed by people with deep knowledge and caring for the communities where they live and work. They are small in budget size only; their impact and community engagement are crucial to building just and vibrant neighborhoods and cities. They provide after-school programs, community centers, creative outlets, job training, food pantries, and much more.As a result of the 2008 recession and the ensuing economic fallout, increasing numbers of Americans have suffered serious financial woes. As unemployment rose, so did the number of people living in poverty and the need for social services. At the same time, credit became harder to obtain, and funding began to decline, especially from government sources. These conditions have persisted and are now particularly challenging for small "safety net" social service organizations that rely on government funding. These organizations, which always run lean, are now stretched even further and in danger of reducing services or even closing their doors.The following report draws on Nonprofit Finance Fund's experience working with 22 nonprofits through the Capital and Capacity for Economic Recovery (CCER) program in Greater Philadelphia, as well as our 30 years of work with small social service organizations nationwide. It highlights these nonprofits' common financial challenges and offers suggestions for how they and their supporters can enact financially stabilizing practices in response. We draw on real-life lessons from nonprofits that used small capacity grants and financial training opportunities to create positive programmatic and infrastructure shifts for the benefit of their clients

What is the evidence for harm minimisation measures in gambling venues?

What techniques are currently being used for electronic gambling machine harm minimisation, and do they work? Overview The use of electronic gambling machines (EGMs) in Australia and New Zealand constitutes the largest sector of the gambling industry. The costs arising from the harms of gambling detract significantly from its benefits, and in all Australian jurisdictions various policy measures have been implemented to reduce these harms. If successful, these would maximise the net benefits associated with EGM gambling. This article reviews the available evidence for a range of these practices, particularly those implemented within EGM venues via ‘codes of practice’. These codes of practice are intended to give effect to the principles of ‘responsible gambling’ within EGM venues. These measures are: self-exclusion, signage, messages, interaction with gamblers, the removal of ATMs from gambling venues, and ‘responsible gambling’ assessed overall in a venue context. In addition, we review the evidence in support of two major recommendations of the Productivity Commission’s 2010 report into gambling, pre-commitment and one-dollar maximum wagers. We conclude that there is a modest level of evidence supporting some measures, notably self-exclusion and, to a greater extent, the removal of ATMs. There is also some evidence that ‘responsible gambling’ measures have, collectively, reduced the harms associated with gambling. However, there is limited evidence available to confirm the effectiveness of most individual ‘responsible gambling’ measures actually implemented in venues. Further, policy measures implemented outside the control of venues (such as ATM removal, reduction in bet limits, and the prohibition of smoking) appear to be associated with more significant effects, based on analysis of EGM revenue data in Victoria. The evidence for prospective measures is necessarily limited since the ultimate test is post-implementation efficacy, but there is growing evidence to suggest that pre-commitment, one-dollar maximum bets or other machine design changes may yield significantly more effective harm minimisation effects than in-venue practices such as signage or, indeed, self-exclusion. In considering evidence about the effects of existing or prospective measures it is important to emphasise that packages of measures might be more effective than single ones, and that an inability to confirm a statistically significant effect does not mean that no effect exists. Evidence Base, issue 2, 201

Funding the Extraordinary: An Evaluation of The Kresge Foundation Arts and Culture Program's Institutional Capitalization Grantmaking

In undertaking an assessment of Kresge's Capitalization Program, NFF applied its own high-level framework to help answer Kresge's primary research questions and assess the progress of each grantee in meeting its stated capital targets. NFF has found that effective capitalization in the nonprofit sector requires attention to three key financial priorities: liquidity, adaptability and durability:1. Liquidity: Does the organization have adequate cash to meet its operating needs?2. Adaptability: Does the organization have flexible funds that allow it to make adjustments as circumstances change?3. Durability: Does the organization have sufficient resources to address the range of needs that it may face in future years?NFF's review of Kresge's grantees sought to assess capitalization by looking for evidence of organizational progress in building liquid funds for immediate operating needs, as well as longer-term balance sheet savings for adaptability and durability. NFF's evaluation of grantees involved a combination of data analysis and interviews

Synthesis and X-ray crystal structure of [2(phosphinomethyl)ferrocenyl]diphenyl-phosphine

[2-(Phosphinomethyl)ferrocenyl]diphenylphosphine 2, is an air stable primary phosphine bearing a 1,2-disubstituted ferrocene framework, which has been prepared by reduction of the corresponding phosphonate. Confirmation of its structure has been obtained by X-ray single-crystals diffraction analysis. Despite its high stability toward oxidation, phosphine 2 still displays a normal coordinative behaviour toward [(pi-cymene)RuCl2]2. The expected (pi-cymene)RuCl2(phosphine) complex is formed by coordination of the primary phosphine function, while the conceivably competitive complexation of the PPh2 group was not observed

Promoting Food Safety Awareness for Older Adults by Using Online Education Modules

Older adults are susceptible to and at greater risk for food-borne illness in comparison to those in other adult age groups. Online education is an underused method for the delivery of food safety information to this population. Three online mini-modules, based on social marketing theory (SMT), were created for and pilot-tested with older adults. These mini-modules were effective in promoting familiarity with food safety behaviors and were well-received, supporting the development of future SMT-based online education for this target audience

On gambling research, social science and the consequences of commercial gambling

Social, political, economic, geographic and cultural processes related to the significant growth of the gambling industries have, in recent years, been the subject of a growing body of research. This body of research has highlighted relationships between social class and gambling expenditure, as well as the design, marketing and location of gambling products and businesses. It has also demonstrated the regressive nature of much gambling revenue, illuminating the influence that large gambling businesses have had on government policy and on researchers, including research priorities, agendas and outcomes. Recently, critics have contended that although such scholarship has produced important insights about the operations and effects of gambling businesses, it is ideologically motivated and lacks scientific rigour. This response explains some basic theoretical and disciplinary concepts that such critique misunderstands, and argues for the value of social, political, economic, geographic and cultural perspectives to the broader, interdisciplinary field of gambling research. © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. **Please note that there are multiple authors for this article therefore only the name of the first 5 including Federation University Australia affiliate “Angela Rintoul” is provided in this record*

The prion protein constitutively controls neuronal store-operated ca2+ entry through Fyn Kinase

The prion protein (PrPC) is a cell surface glycoprotein mainly expressed in neurons, whose misfolded isoforms generate the prion responsible for incurable neurodegenerative disorders. Whereas PrPC involvement in prion propagation is well established, PrPC physiological function is still enigmatic despite suggestions that it could act in cell signal transduction by modulating phosphorylation cascades and Ca2+ homeostasis. Because PrPC binds neurotoxic protein aggregates with high-affinity, it has also been proposed that PrPC acts as receptor for amyloid-\u3b2 (A\u3b2) oligomers associated with Alzheimer\u2019s disease (AD), and that PrPC-A\u3b2 binding mediates AD-related synaptic dysfunctions following activation of the tyrosine kinase Fyn. Here, use of gene-encoded Ca2+ probes targeting different cell domains in primary cerebellar granule neurons (CGN) expressing, or not, PrPC, allowed us to investigate whether PrPC regulates store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE) and the implication of Fyn in this control. Our findings show that PrPC attenuates SOCE, and Ca2+ accumulation in the cytosol and mitochondria, by constitutively restraining Fyn activation and tyrosine phosphorylation of STIM1, a key molecular component of SOCE. This data establishes the existence of a PrPC-Fyn-SOCE triad in neurons. We also demonstrate that treating cerebellar granule and cortical neurons with soluble A\u3b2(1\u201342) oligomers abrogates the control of PrPC over Fyn and SOCE, suggesting a PrPC-dependent mechanizm for A\u3b2-induced neuronal Ca2+ dyshomeostasis

Toward Philosophy of Science’s Social Engagement

In recent years, philosophy of science has witnessed a significant increase in attention directed toward the field’s social relevance. This is demonstrated by the formation of societies with related agendas, the organization of research symposia, and an uptick in work on topics of immediate public interest. The collection of papers that follows results from one such event: a 3-day colloquium on the subject of socially engaged philosophy of science held at the University of Cincinnati in October 2012. In this introduction, we first survey the recent history of philosophy of science’s social involvement and contrast this with the much greater social involvement of the sciences themselves. Next, we argue that the field of philosophy of science bears a special responsibility to contribute to public welfare. We then introduce as a term of art “SEPOS” and articulate what we take to be distinctive about social engagement, with reference to the articles in this collection as exemplars. Finally, we survey the current state of social engagement in philosophy of science and suggest some practical steps for individuals and institutions to support this trajectory