Nonprofit

Nonprofits. The term itself brings to mind charitable institutions like Project Home, Wheelchair Recycling Program, or Big Brothers and Sisters, all extremely worthy organizations. According to the Wisconsin Nonprofits Association, Wisconsin has about 30,000 nonprofits, a third of which file 990 forms. Madison, meanwhile, has more nonprofits per capita than any other city, with about 3,000. Some are large, some small, but all are in need of funding, and the wells are running low. How bad is their plight? IB learned that sometimes, it depends on who you ask. Full Story 

Confused. Lost. Chaotic: Three words that Sina Davis, 48, used to describe her life before moving from Chicago to Madison in 2008. Though she's reluctant to discuss the gritty details of her previous life, Davis, a single mother, had admittedly bottomed-out. "I felt myself drowning in Chicago," she said, "and I couldn't swim. I had to change my lifestyle." Efforts to overcome the obstacles and barriers she faced just weren't working, she explained. She tried living with the mother of her grandchildren, "but that didn't work out," she said. To complicate matters, after years without health or dental care, her teeth were beginning to fall out. Full Story 

It's been said that businesses invest in their communities so that employees have a great community to enjoy when the whistle blows. Some companies have chosen to invest in Greater Madison by setting up foundations or endowments, and they have simple advice to others contemplating the same: define your focus, make sure it's an unmet or under-served need, and get your employees involved. Full Story 

As if it isn't hard enough these days as a nonprofit, struggling to make ends meet in an economy that challenges it every step of the way, imagine putting everything you've got on the line — every hope for the upcoming year — on one event. Full Story