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Nonprofits not using skills of volunteers, poll shows

NEW YORK — Though nonprofits often say they need more pro-bono support, nearly 40 percent plan to spend upward of $50,000 on outside consultants this year, according to a recent survey.

The research suggests corporate grant makers and nonprofits are more focused on giving and getting cash rather than making effective use of skilled volunteers to offset falling contributions, said Evan Hochberg of Deloitte LLP, which commissioned the poll.

“If we’re serious about making volunteerism a powerful solution, we have to be more thoughtful in how we leverage intellectual capital and value skills and donation of time as currency,” he said.

The poll of 360 nonprofit executives was conducted by Taproot Foundation.

Becoming wealthy came naturally, book shows

NEW YORK — W. Randall Jones wanted to know the secret to becoming rich. So, he asked the wealthiest self-made man or woman in 100 towns across the country.

Jones, founder of Worth magazine, visited communities as small as Belspring, Va., with a population of 169, and as large as New York City, for his recent book “The Richest Man In Town: The Twelve Commandments of Wealth.” What he found, he said, is that many never set out to become so rich.

“I’m convinced now that they’re intrinsically, innately, almost genetically programmed to do whatever it is they’ve done to become wealthy,” he said.

Their fortunes are a product of discovering what they’re passionate about and gifted at early on in their lives, Jones said. Jonathan Nelson, the richest man in Providence, R.I., and chief executive of Providence Equity Partners, said he learned this lesson in a Beethoven class when he realized he would never match the innate gift some classmates had for perfect pitch — no matter how much he practiced.

Associated Press