Effects of age, density, and seasonality on molt pattern in the mammal genus (Peromyscus)

Molting, or replacement of pelage (hair) in mammals, occurs during ontogeny as individuals transition from juveniles to adults. Environmental factors can cause variation in molt in many species for thermoregulatory and camouflage purposes. Within and among years molt can vary by time and age or by reproductive status. Past studies have found differences in molt pattern and timing depending upon age, and between captive reared and wild caught individuals. There has been little investigation into the molting characteristics of Peromyscus leucopus and P. maniculatus, specifically in comparison to adults and juveniles. I used molt observed from museum specimens collected at Bartlett Experimental Forest over a three-year period to determine if there are evident molt patterns in both Peromyscus spp. Specifically, I looked for differences in percent molt and number of individuals molting as a result of seasonality and age. Molts were digitized in Photoshop and pattern and symmetry were analyzed in ImageJ. In both species, individuals show a seasonal trend in molt timing and symmetry. This may reflect differences in resource availability and energy expenditure among years

Seeking Shared Success: Business Model Innovation Through Mergers, Affiliations, and Alliances

Learn how alliances, affiliations, and mergers represent a path to enhanced sustainability and greater impact for community foundations. Hear perspectives from community foundation leaders, access tools for considering a new structure, and read case studies from six community foundations

Fueling Impact: A Fresh Look at Business Model Innovation and New Revenue Sources

Do you want to know how community foundations are finding innovative new sources of support, and diversifying their revenue base? How new revenue sources strengthen each community foundation's differentiation and sustainability?Difficult economic times in 2008-2010 have been an important wake-up call -- a reminder that diversifying revenue sources is an essential component of a strong business model

The Evaluation of Capacity Building Grants: Key Learnings for a Successful Program

Whether prompted by venture philanthropy, high engagement grantmaking, or a growing interest in nonprofit management, many foundations now have programs aimed at capacity building for their grantees. Grants from these programs are often highly targeted to meet the specific organizational needs of individual grantees. But how can a foundation get from the apples and oranges of individual grantee results to a succinct way of reporting overall program achievements? This was the question that the Maine Community Foundation (MCF) brought to FSG. Our analysis not only helped them evaluate their program, it also highlighted three basic lessons that can increase the likelihood of success for any capacity building initiative

Measuring Success in Donor Development: Per Capita Giving Levels Highlight Successful Strategies

Every foundation wants to maximize its investment returns and achieve social impact with the leanest possible organization. Many standard metrics exist -- such as portfolio returns and operating cost ratios -- to help community foundations compare themselves to their peers and set appropriate performance targets. But community foundations also need to raise money from donors, and finding meaningful ways to measure this crucial aspect of their performance is much more complicated.It's easy enough to measure how much money comes in the door, but merely comparing the total contributions received by different community foundations doesn't take into account important variations in size and location. If community foundations are to learn from each other's success, they must find ways to cancel out these distortions and create truly comparable performance data. None of the measures community foundations currently use to gauge the success of their fundraising yet achieves this goal:Total ContributionsComparing total gifts received requires a rigorously-defined peer group to be meaningful. And given the substantial diversity in population and wealth within the areas served by community foundations, identifying a meaningful peer group is very difficult.Past PerformanceComparing this year's gifts with those received in prior years eliminates the challenge of peer group selection, but it doesn't permit foundations to learn from each other. Lower performing foundations will miss opportunities to improve and, of course, one or two large gifts in any year can make year-to-year comparisons meaningless.New funds establishedUsing the aggregate number of new funds established to serve as a proxy for the foundation's penetration of potential donors in its service area is also susceptible to the low expectations trap: It is difficult to measure performance or to set objectives effectively without a sense of the region's potential for giving.Our experience suggests that a new measure -- per capita giving within the foundation's service area -- combined with a new goal setting process can enable community foundations to better understand their own performance and highlight successful strategies

From Crisis to Opportunity: Learning from One Region's Response to the Economic Downturn

How can community giving practices be transformed, using lessons learned from the recent economic crisis?This report profiles a number of Pacific Northwest funders who have worked over the past year to respond to urgent community needs. While these actions were in direct response to the economic crisis at hand, the lessons learned from these community-based philanthropists can provide future direction for doing more with limited resources at any point in time. These funders were intentional about how best to apply and leverage their assets, and they collaborated with others to avoid wasting time, effort and money

Growing Smarter: Achieving Sustainability in Emerging Community Foundations

It's a striking paradox: as community foundations grow their assets, their sustainability is often threatened. That's the conclusion of a new paper written by FSG Social Impact Advisors and sponsored by The James Irvine Foundation. "Growing Smarter: Achieving Sustainability in Emerging Community Foundations" is based on research with growing and small community foundations. The information and models presented have relevance to community foundations of virtually any size that are interested in better understanding and enhancing their economic models

The Health-Related Quality of Life of Adults with Down Syndrome

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to examine the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and factors associated with the HRQOL of adults with Down syndrome (DS) as reported by adults with DS and their caregivers. The study was designed to compare measures of HRQOL, health problems, health risks, and health-care utilization of adults with DS based on self-report with those from caregiver-report and to explore associations between HRQOL and health problems, health risks, health-care utilization, adaptive behavior, and demographic characteristics. Background. The life expectancy of individuals with DS has lengthened from approximately 30 years around 1960 to over 50 years currently. As adults with DS are living longer, measures such as HRQOL can help health-care providers understand the impact that health has on the quality of life of adults with DS and adapt interactions and interventions appropriately based on these findings. Currently, no studies have been identified that measure the HRQOL of adults with DS with an internationally-recognized standardized instrument. Additionally, there is controversy about assessing subjective concepts, such as HRQOL through the use of a proxyrespondent, (e.g., a parent, sibling, or unrelated caregiver). Because HRQOL has not been assessed previously in adults with DS, contributing factors to HRQOL have not been explored. Methods. Applying the Life Course Perspective (LCP) as a theoretical framework, a mixedmethods design was employed in this descriptive, correlational, cross-sectional study. Established surveys, investigator-developed questionnaires, and a semi-structured interview were administered during face-to-face meetings with 60 adults with DS and their caregivers in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Findings and Conclusions. Self-reported HRQOL of adults with DS is above average, as is caregiver-reported HRQOL of adults with DS. There were no significant associations identified between the scores of physical HRQOL of adults with DS as reported by adults with DS and by their caregivers. There were also no significant associations identified between the scores of mental HRQOL of adults with DS as reported by adults with DS and by their caregivers. Not all variables of health problems, health risks, and health-care utilization of adults with DS obtained via self-report were associated with those obtained via caregiver-report, and some significant differences were identified. Problems with teeth or gums and asthma per caregiver-report and race of adults with DS were found to predict 28.5% of the variance of self-reported physical HRQOL of adults with DS; other health problems and feeling sad or blue per self-report and number of times going to the bathroom at night and allergies per caregiver-report were found to predict 40% of the variance of self-reported mental HRQOL of adults with DS; resistance to health care and trouble walking per self-report, trouble walking and weight problems per caregiver-report, and state of residence were found to predict 54% of the variance of caregiverreported physical HRQOL of adults with DS; and problems with appetite per caregiver and living arrangements of adults with DS were found to predict 39.1% of the variance of caregiverreported mental HRQOL of adults with DS. Although adaptive behavior scores predicted one or more component of HRQOL of adults with DS in preliminary regression models, they were not predictors in the final model. Health risks did not predict either component of HRQOL. Finally, the LCP is a valid theoretical framework for investigating HRQOL of adults with DS, as expected theoretical relationships between health problems and HRQOL were supported

Align, Adapt, Aspire: Ten Years of Community Foundation Business Model Evolution

Community foundations understand how the traditional community foundation business model falls short of new aspirations. Sustainability is an ongoing challenge and many community foundations work towards continually adapting their business model to support a changing context and achieve enough clarity to do so in a way that is aligned with values, strategy, and culture. In In Align, Adapt, Aspire: Ten Years of Community Foundation Business Model Evolution, CF Insights examines the evolution of community foundation business model and highlights principles behind successful community foundations given shifting community needs, donor priorities, and economic circumstances