http://philanthropy.com/news/updates/index.php?id=10171

First and foremost, I found it extremely encouraging that employees are feeling more willing to volunteer during the tough times we are having. With unemployment on the rise and the economy still suffering, it seems more likely that people with jobs would want to spend their time making money rather than not. However, this survey has shown otherwise.
I personally find great satisfaction in giving of my time and energy to those in need. I cannot always give money as I do support myself and volunteering is a great way to give back some of the blessings I have received.
The fact that the survey polled larger companies leads me to believe that the findings are pretty accurate, since employees of All State and The Gap tend to be, what I believe, "typical" Americans. Obviously, with all surveys, there will be outliers and the results cannot be guaranteed for every single person, but the 71% findings is astounding.
The idea of companies donating to charities that its employees is really cool. It might be interesting if larger retail companies also created the option for customers to choose where the company donated funds. Of course, there would need to be a list of options for customers to choose from because otherwise it would be much to chaotic.
I had never heard of companies allowing employees to volunteer during the workday, but this is a really cool concept. Often non-profits need people to volunteer to do work during normal business hours and that cuts down on a huge chunk of volunteers. If companies continued to adapt this concept to fit their own personal schedules, it could really benefit the company, non-profits, employees, and employee relations. I would definitely consider it a plus if a company I was applying for allowed me to do my volunteer work when it was the best time for everyone.

http://philanthropy.com/news/updates/index.php?id=10035

Generosity is a difficult value to maintain in the current economic crisis. As more and more nonprofits seek different methods of keeping donors active and even attempting to gain new, untapped resources in new donors, two people have made a more than generous donation to a well-known American university.
Amherst College is a small liberal arts university located in Amherst, Massachusetts. The school only enrolls 1,600 students which allows for more in-depth learning in the classroom.
It was founded in 1821 and is one of the Five Colleges. It is an honor to be accepted to this institution and a great reward to attend classes there. Students work hard to maintain good grades under a heavy course load.
The strong standards that educational institutions such as Amherst require are what causes such strong loyalties for alumni.
What other schools have received such large, anonymous donations? The fact that two alumni were willing to donate $125 million total is simply astounding. This kind of generosity is what will allow schools and nonprofits in general to continue to thrive. A strong passion for whatever you believe in must lead to such an astronomical gift and these alumni must love their alma mater.
This passion is a resource that needs to be tapped on a national level. It does not necessarily need to be huge monetary gifts, although those are needed to keep any philanthropic organization running, but also gifts of time and energy. Few people actively volunteer any part of their lives to volunteer. We are so selfish with our time, spending it watching four hours of television as opposed to helping someone in need. If everyone could learn to donate an hour out of their week, great things could be accomplished in the United States and worldwide.