Philanthropy Today - Philanthropy.com

These are items on other Web sites that are of interest to the nonprofit world. The Chronicle has no control over their content or availability. To reach the Philanthropy Today staff, send an e-mail message to daily.news@philanthropy.com

Compiled by Noelle Barton, Caroline Bermudez, Maria Di Mento, Audrey Hill, and Anne W. Howard.

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March 2008

March 31, 2008

From the Chronicle: New Poll Shows Confidence in Charities Has Slipped

Confidence in charities has slipped since 2006 and only a quarter of Americans say nonprofit groups do a “very good” job of helping people, according to poll results to be released this month, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Food-Stamp Use Increases as Economic Woes Soar

As a growing number of Americans lose their jobs and food and fuel prices rise, experts predict that the number of people receiving food stamps will reach 28 million in the coming year, the highest level of recipients since the food aid program began in the 1960s, The New York Times reports.

Nutrition and poverty experts say food stamps are a vital safety net that has helped end the severe malnutrition seen in the United States as recently as the 1960s. But those same experts say that food stamps do not go as far as they used to, causing additional problems for impoverished people.

Anonymous Giving Is on the Rise

Wealthy philanthropists are increasingly choosing to give their charitable donations anonymously, in part to protect their privacy but also to avoid rifts among family members expecting an inheritance, reports the Los Angeles Times.

The decision among the wealthy to keep their donations secret sometimes disappoints recipient organizations that are eager for publicity.

“A couple of decades ago, charities were pushing donors to be identified, telling them they needed to be known to help the cause they were interested in,” said Dwight Burlingame, associate executive director of Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy. “Now the pendulum is swinging the opposite way.”

But while some wealthy donors decide to give anonymously to head off publicity or keep family members in the dark about how much money they actually have, others fear their philanthropy could make them targets of crime.

Last year, the La Jolla, Calif., billionaire Ernest Rady, his wife, and their housekeeper were attacked in their home with a stun gun in a home-invasion robbery. The family has contributed $60-million to what became Rady Children’s Hospital and $30-million to the Rady School of Management at the University of California at San Diego.

(See an article from The Chronicle about the rise in anonymous giving.)

Donations to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Causes Increase

More philanthropists are making substantial bequests to help support lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender causes, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

Over the last 30 years, gay nonprofit groups like the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, the Horizon Foundation, and the Pride Foundation have funneled millions of dollars into numerous HIV/AIDS treatment services, and civil-rights, social-advocacy and political campaigns. Such organizations have traditionally relied on large numbers of small donations, but that trend is changing.

According to Funders for Lesbian and Gay Issues, a New York group that advises grant makers, charitable donations made by donors in New York to gay organizations nationwide increased from less than $30-million in 2002 to $65.5-million in 2006.

And according to a survey of 1,300 donors conducted by the Horizon Foundation, about 52 percent said they are “very likely” to make estate gifts to gay causes, and 87 percent said they think it is “important” and “very important” to help future generations. The foundation estimates it will receive at least $35-million in future estate gifts to its lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender endowment fund.

“The success of this vision does not depend on any assumption that LGBT people are richer than the non-LGBT population,” said Roger Doughty, executive director of the Horizon Foundation. “All our projections are based on assumptions that we are ‘average,’ except that fewer of us have children and the lives of many reaching their ‘planned giving years’ have been deeply touched by the growth, struggles, and triumphs of the LGBT movement.”

South Korean President Promises to Give His Salary to Poor People

South Korea’s new president, Lee Myung-Bak, promised on Sunday to donate his salary to the poor, reports CNN.com.

Mr. Lee is the former chief executive of an engineering and construction company and has a large personal fortune. While serving as the mayor of Seoul from 2002 to 2004, he donated his salary to the children of street cleaners and firefighters.

During the election campaign, Mr. Lee said he would donate his entire personal fortune of more than $30.2-million to the poor, and he said he would keep only a retirement house in Seoul.

A New Chronicle Column on Fund Raising Makes Its Debut

The Chronicle of Philanthropy and The Chronicle of Higher Education have joined forces to start Prospecting, a new online column dedicated to fund raising.

Journalists from both publications will be contributing regularly to this blog to offer a wide array of perspectives about fund-raising trends and techniques that are working for nonprofit organizations in the United States and around the world.

We’ll also examine what’s on the minds of the tens of thousands of people who raise money — as professionals, board members, and volunteers — for charitable causes of all kinds. And we’ll make sure you keep up-to-date with important fund-raising news.

March 28, 2008

Harvard Announces New Manager of Its Endowment

The former chief investment officer of Wellesley College, Jane Mendillo, has been selected as chief executive of Harvard Management Company, the company that manages Harvard University’s $35-billion endowment, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Ms. Mendillo oversaw an average annualized return of 13.5 percent in Wellesley’s endowment during the past five years, compared with a return of 12.3 percent for all endowments, with $1-billion or more in assets over that period. During those same years, Harvard achieved an average annualized return of 18.4 percent.

Observers say that Ms. Mendillo’s endowment-management experience, as well as her previous 15 years of work experience in Harvard Management in various positions, made her an ideal candidate to lead the staff of 175. She takes over for Mohamed El-Erian, who left the post in September to return to Allianz SE’s Pacific Investment Management Company after less than two years at Harvard.

“It sounds like Harvard came to the conclusion that they need to move to a more traditional endowment manager,” says Allen Proctor, consultant to endowments and a former Harvard chief financial officer. “The board wanted someone who sees being an effective communicator with the university constituencies as an important part of the job.”

Although Ms. Mendillo expressed enthusiasm about the job, calling it “the pinnacle of the profession,” critics of the size of recent pay packages to many of the endowment’s top money managers — as high as $35-million — will be watching closely, the newspaper said.

Ms. Mendillo’s compensation package will be tied to performance.

See The Chronicle’s most-recent survey of nonprofit endowments.

(A paid subscription is required to view the Journal article, and a paid subscription or short-term pass is required to view the Chronicle article.)

Nonprofit Groups Face Interest-Rate Spike

Nonprofit groups are beginning to feel the effects of credit-market turmoil in an explosion of high interest charges that are quickly tightening budgets and forcing some groups to cut back on services, reports The Boston Globe.

Among nonprofit groups in the New England area, the public-television organization WGBH now faces $1-million in unexpected interest charges. The station’s chief executive, Jonathan C. Abbott, says that programs the station offers could be affected as a result.

Nonprofit groups have mostly been affected by the recent credit-market crisis because of the ways in which they have traditionally borrowed money. Those that sell their debt at weekly auctions to determine the interest rate on their borrowing have been particularly vulnerable to rate fluctuations, but even organizations such as WGBH, which use variable bonds that reset every week based on certain bond indexes, have been subject to interest-rate spikes.

WGBH and other local nonprofit groups have recently persuaded the state agency, MassDevelopment, to allow them to refinance or restructure their debt into lower-cost loans with more-stable rates.

Although WGBH will attempt to complete its refinancing as soon as possible, Mr. Abbott expressed dismay at the unexpected costs now faced by so many nonprofit groups. “It’s like a virus, the way it’s infected the financial markets,” he said and added, “You’ve got a lot of relatively conservative institutions that are just dismayed.”

See The Chronicle’s article on the credit crunch facing nonprofit groups.

(Free registration is required to view the Globe article, and a paid subscription or short-term pass is required to view the Chronicle article.)

Major American Theater Awards Announced

The board of directors of the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust has announced the creation of two major playwriting awards to be given biennially, reports the Associated Press.

The first prize of $200,000 will be given this September to an established American playwright as part of the Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award while the Steinberg Emerging Playwrights Award, to honor two early-career playwrights, will begin in 2009 with award stipends of $50,000.

The New York Times reports that the prize of $200,000 for established playwrights is among the largest ever given in American theater.

(Free registration is required to view the Times article.)

British Charity Manager Jailed After Stealing From Nonprofit Group

A British charity manager was sentenced to jail yesterday for two years and nine months after stealing nearly $300,000 from the nonprofit group Dorset Scope, which aids people with cerebral palsy, reports The Telegraph.

John Cunningham started cashing checks and creating false invoices six months after he was hired as a finance manager in October 2003. While at first he extracted only small amounts, Mr. Cunningham quickly began to steal up to $8,000 a month.

Paul Barnard, the chief executive of Dorset Scope, called the shock of the revelations “almost too great to bear.”

Mr. Cunningham admitted his crimes to police in January 2007 and admitted the thefts in court last month.

Opinion: How to Orchestrate a Successful Succession

While each search for a new leader has elements that set it apart from others, there are steps that help lead to a smooth transition, writes William G. Bowen, president emeritus of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

(A paid subscription or short-term pass is required to view this article.)

Coming Next Week: Fund-Raising Discussion

Join our online discussion next week about the state of fund raising for the rest of 2008 — and beyond.

Taking your questions will be Paulette V. Maehara, president of the 28,000-member Association of Fundraising Professionals.

The discussion will be held Tuesday, April 1, at 2:30 p.m. Eastern time and is open to everyone, not just Chronicle subscribers.

People who ask questions in advance have a better chance of receiving answers during the online discussion.

Coming Next Week: Fund-Raising Conference News

Reporters and editors from The Chronicle will update our Web site regularly next week with news from the annual meeting of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

If you’re attending the meeting, please stop by our conference booth and meet our staff members. You can find The Chronicle at Booth 718. You can also submit questions for our online discussion April 1 with Paulette Maehara, the association’s president, either at the booth or by going to http://philanthropy.com/live.

From The Chronicle: Nonprofit Ethics

A study by the Ethics Resource Center, in Washington, shows that the ethical standards at charities are declining at what the report’s authors say is a disturbing rate, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

March 27, 2008

Charity Official Accused of Arranging U.S. Legislators' Trip for Iraq Spy Agency

Three American legislators went to Iraq in 2002 on a trip arranged by a charity official, who was secretly paid by Saddam Hussein’s spy agency, according to federal prosecutors, the Associated Press reports.

Muthanna Al-Hanooti was a public-relations coordinator with Life for Relief and Development, a charity in Michigan that provides aid to people in the Middle East. He was allegedly paid with 2 million barrels of oil by the Iraqi government for arranging the trip. Mr. Al-Hanooti was arrested this week and pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of conspiracy to act as an unregistered agent of a foreign government, illegally purchasing Iraqi oil, and lying to authorities.

The three representatives were not named in the indictment and have not been charged with any offense. The Justice Department says it has “no information whatsoever” that the legislators knew that Hussein had paid for the trips.

Gates Foundation Gives $25-Million to Study Animal and Human Diseases

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has given Washington State University $25-million to help build a new school for studying infectious diseases that affect both animals and humans, reports The Seattle Times.

The grant, the largest private donation to the university, will support research on new vaccines, emerging diseases, and how to control diseases.

Texas Foundation President Arrested on Drug Charge

Scott Mitte, president of the board of the Roy F. and Joann Cole Mitte Foundation, was charged Monday with cocaine possession after he was found with about an ounce of the drug in his car, reports the Austin American-Statesman.

Mr. Mitte had been planning to work with the police as a “cooperating individual” to help them identify a drug supplier. But when he arrived at the sheriff’s department, police searched his car as a standard procedure and found the packet of drugs. The executive director of the Mitte Foundation, Cheryl Nolting, told the newspaper that the foundation had no comment.

Earlier this year, the foundation announced that it could no longer pay for several scholarships it had committed to, sending six universities scrambling to support the students, reports The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

It is not clear why the Mitte Foundation, which reported assets of $26-million in 2006, ran out of money for the scholarships. The fund says it suffered because of the stock market downturn. Scott Mitte, who is the founding couple’s son, reportedly spent money extravagantly as president of the fund.

(A paid subscription or temporary pass is required to view the Chronicle article.)

Editorial: Barack Obama's Volunteer Plan

An editorial in The Boston Globe praises Sen. Barack Obama’s plan to create a $4,000 tuition credit for student volunteers, but warns that charities would need technical support to help them track and manage volunteers.

The column points out that students are more likely to register to vote and earn better grades after volunteering and that students at state and community colleges would benefit most from the tax credit, which would support two-thirds of the average Massachusetts state college’s tuition.

“Nonprofits would have to grow to scale to train and position students where they can do the most good,” the editorial says. “There will be growing pains, but the challenge for nonprofits isn’t a lack of needs; it’s figuring out how to expand to address all the problems crying out for help. By putting college students to work as mentors, tutors, and volunteers, that challenge can be met.”

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Opinion: Liberals Are Less Charitable Than Conservatives

Liberals are less generous than conservatives, despite their claims to hold the more compassionate viewpoint, says George F. Will in an opinion article in The Washington Post.

Mr. Will gives the example of Austin, Tex., a mostly liberal city that The Chronicle of Philanthropy ranked 48th out of America’s 50 largest cities in per capita charitable giving. He notes that Arthur C. Brooks, a professor at Syracuse University, in his book “Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism,” found that conservative families give more blood, time, and money on average.

Mr. Wills points out two causes for this: religion and views on the role of government.

“While conservatives tend to regard giving as a personal rather than governmental responsibility, some liberals consider private charity a retrograde phenomenon — a poor palliative for an inadequate welfare state and a distraction from achieving adequacy by force, by increasing taxes,” Mr. Will writes.

For more on charity’s political divide, read The Chronicle’s profile of the book by Mr. Brooks.

(Free registration is required to view the Washington Post article, and a paid subscription or temporary pass is required to view the Chronicle article.)

Give and Take, a Roundup of Nonprofit Blogs

Give and Take is a service of The Chronicle of Philanthropy that rounds up the best postings that appear on blogs about the nonprofit world.

Among the most-recent postings:

A proposal to let donors vote for charity board members.

A look at public-policy ideas and plagiarism.

You can also read previous postings on issues about philanthropic giving, fund raising, and management of nonprofit organizations.

Give and Take is updated regularly throughout the day.

From The Chronicle: Charity Fraud

Most cases of employee fraud at charities stem from a lack of proper internal controls that deter theft, according to a new study reported on by The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

March 26, 2008

Tobacco Company Paid for Lung-Cancer Research

A 2006 study that concluded that CT scans could have prevented 80 percent of lung-cancer deaths was paid for with money from a major tobacco company, according to The New York Times.

The Foundation for Lung Cancer: Early Detection, Prevention & Treatment, contributed to the research. In its review of the group’s tax records, The New York Times found that most of its budget, $3.6-million, came from the Vector Group, parent company of the Liggett Group, which makes of several brands of cigarettes.

A Vector spokesman confirmed the company’s donation to the organization but said Vector “had no control or influence over the research.”

The American Cancer Society, which gave more than $100,000 to the study’s researcher, said it never would have done so if it had known of the connection to the tobacco company. “If you’re using blood money, you need to tell people you’re using blood money,” said Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

2 Couples Donate $45-Million to Pennsylvania Trade School

Two couples are donating a combined $45-million to the Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades, which currently enrolls 250 students in Media, Pa., reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The donors, Henry M. and Lee Rowan and H. FitzGerald and Marguerite Lenfest, are philanthropists with strong ties to area businesses. The money will go to the school’s endowment. Students who attend Williamson typically receive an associate’s degree after three years and can study carpentry, masonry, power-plant technology, machine-tool technology, painting and coating technology, as well as horticulture and turf management.

The school’s president, Paul Reid, said he anticipates the investment income from the school’s endowment will now cover about two-thirds of the annual operating costs.

Yahoo Joins Google and Others in Nonprofit Technology Venture

Yahoo announced Tuesday that it would join with MySpace and Google to form the Google-initiated nonprofit organization called the OpenSocial Foundation, reports the Associated Press. The nonprofit group intends to create a common coding standard for photo-sharing and other social-network tools that work across the Web.

The companies believe that a nonprofit group overseeing the new photo-sharing platform, which will be available starting July 1, can provide maximum transparency as well as guidelines around technical and legal issues, and can ensure that intellectual-property assets remain available to everyone.

Other participants in OpenSocial include Friendster, hi5, LinkedIn, Ning, and the Google-owned Orkut and Bebo.

Monks Run Multimillion-Dollar Company to Benefit Charity

A group of monks who pray, work, and live at Our Lady of Spring Bank Abbey, in Wisconsin, began an online ink and toner business in 2002 as a way to stem dwindling income for the abbey. Today, the monks run a multimillion-dollar operation, with all profits after operating costs going to charity, reports The San Francisco Chronicle.

Bernard McCoy, a Cistercian monk and the company’s founder, receives no compensation for his role as chief executive officer. He created LaserMonks.com to sell discounted (including off-brand and remanufactured) inkjet products.

The business model has been deemed “commerce with compassion” in a recent book by Sarah Caniglia and Cindy Griffith, who now live at Our Lady of Spring Bank and manage operations for both LaserMonks.com and its two offshoots. The two women, who once ran their own marketing company, explain in their book how the monks’ model changed their views on the corporate experience.

Ms. Caniglia estimates that LaserMonks sales in 2007 totaled $4.5-million; Father Bernard estimates the group’s annual operating costs are $200,000. Beneficiaries of LaserMonks.com profits, according to the women’s book, have included “formal charities like Faith in Action, as well as not-so-formal efforts, like sending a nurse from Wisconsin to Louisiana to treat victims of Hurricane Katrina.”

As for skepticism about monks running a business, Father Bernard responds, “Enterprise and entrepreneurial spirit have always been a part of who we are.”

IBM to Send 'Fast-Track' Employees to Nonprofit Groups Abroad

Among programs that send corporate employees to work abroad, IBM’s Corporate Service Corps is particularly innovative, reports The New York Times. It provides leadership training to promising employees, while giving the company a presence in places where it does not yet do much business.

The company received more than 5,500 employee applications for the program from over 50 countries. It selected 100 workers from 33 countries. Participants will be divided into teams of 12 and will be deployed to projects in Romania, Turkey, Vietnam, the Philippines, Ghana, and Tanzania starting in July. IBM says it hopes to build the program up to 600 participants over the next three years.

During the four-week stints, the company hopes that participants will be challenged by working within another culture on unfamiliar projects. When employees return from the program, they will enter two months of intensive debriefing to discuss what they learned about leadership and the countries they visited in hopes of improving and further developing programs for the Service Corps.

“As a development tool, this is a four-for-one,” explained Allan R. Cohen, dean of the Olin Graduate School at Babson College. “It’s stretching to work in another culture, to work in a nonprofit where the measurement of accomplishment isn’t clear, to take a sabbatical from your everyday routine, and to learn to accomplish things when you can’t just bark orders.”

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Nonprofit Groups Seek New Tactics in Anticipation of Recession

Although most nonprofit organizations appear to be weathering the latest economic downturn, uncertainty remains, reports The Boston Globe.

Smaller social-service agencies are already feeling the pinch, and even large educational and cultural institutions that typically have a hefty endowment cushion are worried about how changing financial conditions might affect their higher-end donors. In response, some groups are now seeking new ways to structure gifts.

“We need to be more creative about how we address donors, and talk with them about how they can work with financial planners or tax experts to accomplish their philanthropic goals,” Heather L. Feltman, the head of Lutheran Social Services of New England said.

While nonprofit groups can work with donors to reshape gifts or extend payment deadlines, other methods can include focusing on estate-planning tools. Nadia Yassa, director of estate and gift planning at the Boston Foundation, said that these tactics provided a “silver lining” to an uncertain economic environment, including the chance to sell depreciated assets in ways that benefit both a charity and the donor.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

From The Chronicle: Candidate Obama's Philanthropy

The Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, gave $240,000 to charity in 2007, according to a campaign spokesman, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

March 25, 2008

Foes of Barnes Move Ask Judge to Reconsider

A group trying to block the move of the Barnes Museum from its location in suburban Philadelphia has asked a judge in Montgomery County, Pa., to reopen the court case that allowed the museum to move in the first place, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

The Barnes Foundation, which oversees the museum, wants to move the multi-billion-dollar collection of Picasso, Renoir, and Cezanne paintings to downtown Philadelphia to make the museum more financially viable. Moving the collection would flout the wishes of the museum’s founder, who died in 1951 and who asked in his will that the collection not be moved.

Judge Stanley R. Ott, however, ruled in 2004 that the museum could move. In response, a separate group, Friends of the Barnes, has tried to secure additional funds for the museum by encouraging more people to visit the museum and by seeking government bonds. Given the museum’s new financial support, the Friends feel the judge should now block the relocation.

The judge did not say when he would rule but promised a decision quickly.

Nearly All Recipients Repay Microfinance Loans

People who invest in microcredit loans to help some of the world’s poorest people are finding that nearly all of those recipients of the loans are repaying them, making such charitable giving even more attractive, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Microcredit investor David Mesenbring says giving loans as small as $50 or $100 can get a person or family out of poverty.

Meanwhile, a nonprofit Web site run by KIVA allows investors to loan $25 or more online, and after repayment, the money can be lent again. KIVA spokeswoman Fiona Ramsey says the long-term plan is for individuals to recoup interest from the borrower, the Journal reports.

“We have a perception that the poor are a [poor] credit risk, but actually they’re a very good credit risk,” Ms. Ramsey tells the paper. “The poor are highly motivated to be successful. Usually, this is their only chance for a loan.”

Girls Scouts Set to Get a Makeover

To stop declines in membership, Girl Scouts of America has hired its first chief marketing executive and will open an edgier advertising campaign aimed at reaching a new generation of girls, reports The Wall Street Journal.

The article notes the difficulty of reaching and connecting with media-savvy young girls, especially since the Girl Scouts’ image is seen as old-fashioned by many. Also, the group is now competing for girls’ free time with unorganized activities, such as hanging out at the mall, which may be difficult to convince girls to give up.

In response, the advertising campaign — which will run in popular entertainment magazines — will emphasize nonconformity. The organization is dropping requirements that older scouts wear green uniforms. (Cookie sales will continue, though.) Girl Scouts will also try to get its message out to mothers of girls and make a special effort to reach Asians, Hispanics, and members of other minority groups.

The advertising shake-up comes amid other changes at the Girl Scouts, especially efforts to cut down on the number of local chapters and streamline the organization’s operations.

Five Arts Leaders Discuss L.A. Cultural Scene

In a conversation with the Los Angeles Times, five leaders of prominent local cultural institutions discussed what attracted them to the city and how they hope to remake its arts scene.

The leaders — from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Center Theatre Group, and Getty Trust — talked about the importance of cultural-education programs and the difficulties of reaching people in a city long dominated by the pop values of Hollywood.

The five also talked about problems securing donations from individuals in Los Angeles, a cosmopolitan city whose residents long looked elsewhere for high culture. Says James N. Wood, president of the Getty Trust, “I guarantee you, Chicago is giving more per capita than L.A.”

However, they all agreed that Los Angeles has been reborn lately and that the city has a chance to grow into, if it has not already become, one of the premier cultural centers in the world.

A longer transcript of the conversation is also available.

(Free registration is required to view these articles.)

Two Former Smithsonian Leaders Die

Two prominent leaders of nonprofit groups run by the Smithsonian Institution have died this week.

Michael H. Robinson, 79, an Englishman, remade the National Zoo, in Washington, from a series of cages into a rolling campus with natural environments for animals to live in, reports The Washington Post. Mr. Robinson, a noted animal lover, led the zoo for 16 years. According to The Post, he “shar[ed] his home at various times with giant crab spiders, a crab-eating raccoon, a kinkajou, several coatimundis, an otter, an ocelot, a jaguarundi and a giant rat.” He died of pancreatic cancer on March 22.

David Challinor, 87, oversaw many scientific institutions at the Smithsonian, including the National Zoo and the National Museum of Natural History, reports The New York Times. He worked as a farmer and banker before earning a Ph.D. in biology in his 40s and was as well known for his administrative acumen as his scientific work. A champion rower, he also took up writing later in life on topics such as global warming. He died of heart failure on March 5.

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From The Chronicle: Case Foundation's Award Finalists

Nine months after opening itself up to unsolicited applications for the first time, the Case Foundation, in Washington, has announced 20 finalists for its Make It Your Own awards, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

From The Chronicle: Outlook for Charities on Capitol Hill

Read a transcript of today’s online discussion about what’s on the agenda for nonprofit groups on Capitol Hill, including the outlook for tax incentives to encourage charitable giving.

March 24, 2008

More Women Take Top Financial Roles at Nonprofit Endowments

Women now manage 10 of the 50 largest endowments and foundations in the country, reports The New York Times.

The number of women in top roles is greater than in the for-profit world, says the newspaper.

Women in the top jobs oversee more than $60-billion at organizations including the Ford Foundation and Carnegie Corporation, the paper reports. Some women seek such positions because of the mission of the organization, while others find the flexible schedules appealing.

Susan E. Manske, who says she loves investing, left Boeing’s pension fund for the top spot at the $6.5-billion MacArthur Foundation. “This married my interest with working in a culture of philanthropy,” Ms. Manske tells the Times.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Rockefeller Foundation Gives $500,000 to Develop 'Social' Stock Market

The Rockefeller Foundation has contributed $500,000 to studying the feasibility of a “social stock exchange” in the United Kingdom, reports The Financial Times.

The market would allow investors to trade shares in projects that seek to preserve the environment, such as clean technology, and that promote health care, aid for the poor, or other social goals.

Such a market could begin next year if a demand exists, the newspaper reports. Rockefeller’s managing director, Antony Bugg-Levine, said, “There is a new class of rich people unhappy with the old binary system of making money with one hand and giving it away with the other.”

He said the foundation chose to test the idea in Britain because it felt the government was supportive of efforts to promote businesses with social missions.

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Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie Give $8.5-Million to Foundation

The actors and philanthropists Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie gave more than $8.5-million to their charitable foundation in 2006, reports Fox News.

Mr. Pitt provided more than $4.4-million and Ms. Jolie more than $4.1-million to the Jolie Pitt foundation, which had $27,000 in expenses, the news agency reports.

The foundation gave $1-million each to Doctors Without Borders and the Global AIDS Alliance and smaller grants to the Namibia Red Cross Action Program, the Daniel Pearl Foundation, Global Green USA, and the Epidermolysis Bullosa Medical Research Foundation, among other grantees.

Paul Allen Gives $5-Million to Fight Tuberculosis

Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, has given $5-million to the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, his first grant to a global-health cause, reports The Seattle Times.

The donation will support research into new tuberculosis drugs, and officials at the institute hope it will be the first of many such donations by Mr. Allen.

While Mr. Allen’s former business partner, Bill Gates, has given generously to global health issues, Mr. Allen’s philanthropic interests have been a bit more other-worldly, and have included support for an experimental spaceship and research into alien civilizations, the Times reports.

Mr. Allen’s grant, made by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, in part requires matching funds from other donors. With the grant money, the institute will hire a new researcher and study innovative approaches to fighting tuberculosis, the paper reports.

See a Chronicle of Philanthropy article about Mr. Allen’s giving and The Chronicle’s annual list of the donors who gave the most to charity, on which Mr. Allen ranked No. 42.

(A paid subscription or short-term pass is required to view the Chronicle article about Mr. Allen’s giving; the list of most-generous donors is free.)

From The Chronicle: Online Giving

Affluent people are increasingly likely to use the Internet to make their charitable donations, according to results of a study released today, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports. But charities are turning off some of their biggest donors — people who give $1,000 or more, the survey found. Some charities send too many messages to donors who say they don’t want them, while others don’t take advantage of the interest many donors express in expanding their online interaction with nonprofit organizations, the survey found.

From The Chronicle: Muslim Charity

Muslims around the globe contribute billions of dollars to humanitarian causes a year, but their efforts are often poorly organized and not well known to the world, said participants at the inaugural meeting of a group of Islamic charities and philanthropists, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports. The new organization, the World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists, was formed to help Islamic donors and nonprofit groups to overcome these obstacles. It is meeting this week in Istanbul.

March 21, 2008

Charity Donors Are Happier Than Stingy People, New Research Finds

People who give away money are happier than those who do not, according to new research published today in the journal Science.

Elizabeth W. Dunn, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver, started her experiment by trying to prove the ways in which accumulating money led to more happiness. She and two colleagues surveyed 632 Americans, asking about their level of happiness, personal spending habits, and how much they donate to charity, reports Forbes.

Ms. Dunn found that while people tend to think that spending money on themselves rather than giving it away will make them happier, the opposite turns out to be true. The researchers used a variety of settings and tactics to test the hypothesis that giving away money leads to more happiness, and the results held — whether on a college campus and in a corporate setting.

(Free registration is required to view this article on the Forbes site.)

Red Cross Spent Thousands on Unused Hotel Rooms During Wildfires

The American Red Cross is attempting to deflect criticism over its management practices after news broke in San Diego on Thursday that the organization spent $688,000 for hotel rooms that went unused by relief volunteers during October’s wildfires, reports The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Laura Howe, a Red Cross spokeswoman, said, “The fault in this clearly lies with us. The bottom line is our people should have recognized the unused room nights and canceled them more quickly than we did.”

The organization has been negotiating with hotel and motel operators to secure rebates and room credits and says it plans to take $688,000 from its general operating funds to reimburse its account for Southern California fire victims, many of whom were unable to find lodging during the wildfires when area lodgings were booked.

Ms. Howe said that new procedures have been adopted to make sure that situation does not happen again.

Miami Pastor Accused of Stealing Thousands From Nonprofit Group

A pastor in Miami was charged with grand theft on Wednesday for allegedly stealing more than $10,000 in cash from a local grant to a nonprofit organization, reports The Miami Herald.

The Rev. Gaston Smith, pastor of Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, is accused of taking the money from the nonprofit group, Friends of MLK, which received $25,000 in 2004 from the Metro Miami Action Plan Trust, a county-affiliated anti-poverty group.

Prosecutors say that the $10,000 was taken out in ATM withdrawals over a period of three months, including a $500 withdrawal at a Las Vegas martini bar. The police are also investigating possible links from the nonprofit group and Mr. Smith’s church to a company owned by the family of a Miami city commissioner, Michelle Spence-Jones.

Michael Tein, Mr. Smith’s lawyer, said the charges were groundless. ‘‘Pastor Smith is 100 percent innocent.’‘

Ritz-Carlton Offers Guests Opportunities to Volunteer in Cities They Visit

Starting April 1, the 70 hotels worldwide that are members of the Ritz-Carlton chain will offer at least one option for guests to volunteer during their hotel stay, reports USA Today.

Billed as “Give Back Getaways,” these volunteer opportunities will include conservation activities, preparing food for the needy, and other efforts.

Although the Ritz-Carlton is a luxury hotel, Sue Stephenson, the Ritz “social responsibility” chief who proposed the program and is overseeing it, believes that guests want opportunities to help others during heir leisure time. Most programs will last a half day and cost hotel guests $50 to $100 to cover transportation and a donation to the charity or group.

Some critics and nonprofit groups have expressed concern over guests viewing the volunteer work as a kind of “zoo experience,” but David Clemmons, founder of VolunTourism.org, a clearinghouse for volunteer vacations, who consulted with Ritz-Carlton on its new effort, said he was confident about the hotel chain’s approach. “I feel what they’ve created can stand up to the scrutiny and do good,” he said.

Opinion: Give Social Entrepreneurs More Resources to Solve Problems

Innovative nonprofit leaders take a different tack from their predecessors, writes David Brooks in an opinion piece in The New York Times.

Instead of looking to government to identify social problems and develop programs to solve them, they believe thousands of private groups need to try different approaches. After they undertake sophisticated efforts to measure what works, they seek to spread ideas nationwide.

“Their problem now is scalability,” he writes. “How do the social entrepreneurs replicate successful programs so that they can be big enough to make a national difference?”

Mr. Brooks says that the group America Forward, a consortium of social entrepreneurs, may represent the future of social innovation as a network of semipublic social-investment funds. In this new approach, “the government would not operate these social-welfare programs, but it would in essence create a network of semipublic Gates Foundations that would pick winners based on stiff competition.”

He says he hopes government will put more money into efforts to help social entrepreneurs.

He writes, “These are some of the smartest and most creative people in the country. Even if we don’t know how to reduce poverty, it’s probably worth investing in these people and letting them figure it out.”

See The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s special report on efforts by nonprofit leaders to spread effective programs nationwide.

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From The Chronicle: Cellphone Campaigns for Charities

Cellphones could offer the next most-effective way to reach potential supporters, said speakers at the annual meeting this week of the Nonprofit Technology Network, in Portland, Ore., The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

March 20, 2008

Food Banks Feel Pinch in Tight Economic Times

For a number of related reasons, food banks in the United States have seen demands on food increase while their purchasing power has declined, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Rising fuel costs, a slumping housing market, and increased unemployment have pushed more people to food banks than ever before. Some groups estimate demand has risen 20 percent in just a year.

However, food banks have a hard time meeting that demand because commodity prices have increased while support from government-aid programs has not. In addition, grains such as corn that were once given away as surplus have either been turned into alternative fuels or sold oversees to shore up a weakening U.S. dollar.

Some charities have relied on food drives run by schools and other civic groups to make up for shortfalls. Others have found that trading cheap local produce with food banks in other parts of the country — like potatoes in Idaho for citrus fruits in California — has helped them provide a variety of food.

(A paid subscription is required to view Journal article.)

Knight Foundation Gives $25-Million Grant to Newseum

In its largest gift from a foundation to date, the Newseum in Washington secured a $25-million grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, reports The Washington Post.

The Newseum will name two broadcast booths and a conference center after the Knight brothers, who founded a newspaper chain. The article did not specify what the gift would be used for, but the Newseum’s chief executive officer said the gift “‘is going to make a huge difference in our long-term ability to focus on issues facing the media.”

The Knight Foundation’s president, Alberto Ibargüen, also sits on the Newseum’s board of directors, but to avoid a conflict of interest, a special committee at the foundation has been dealing with the Newseum.

The Newseum cost $450-million to build and is scheduled to open April 11.

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Nonprofit Organization Helps 'Homeboys' Trade Gangs for Jobs

A nonprofit group in Los Angeles has helped a number of local gang members give up their former lives by offering them steady employment in a growing business, reports The New York Times.

Homeboy Industries, founded by a priest 20 years ago, has expanded from a small tortilla plant into a $5-million-a-year business that runs a bakery, cafe, maintenance service, retail store, and silk-screen operation that prints designs on T-shirts for radio stations and college groups.

The ex-gang members receive not only steady employment but also therapy, career counseling, housing aid, and funds to remove tattoos, which are a marker of gang affiliation and can be dangerous to leave on. The men and women receive up to $10 an hour and health benefits after three months of steady work. Homeboy is looking to expand its operations, especially the bakery and silk-screen business.

Read a special package in The Chronicle about charities that run for-profit ventures.

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Small Harlem Nonprofit Group Draws High-Profile Support

A small nonprofit sports program, Harlem Youth Soccer, is suddenly finding itself sharing the spotlight with celebrities, financiers, corporations, politicians, and famous athletes, reports The New York Times.

The group had a $1,250-a-seat fund-raising event in Manhattan this week that was expected to draw former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton as honorary chairmen, famous soccer players Pelé and David Beckham, as well as representatives from major companies, including Visa and Nike.

Many people have been wondering how the organization has managed to gather so much star power for a neighborhood that has previously shown little interest in soccer and faces a shortage of playing fields.

Rahsaan Harris, the program’s chairman, explained the recent fanfare. “It’s Harlem, so it’s a cultural icon and it represents a challenging neighborhood — people think of it as a concrete jungle. Connecting a world icon like Harlem to a world sport — it’s another frontier for soccer,” he said.

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From The Chronicle: Donor Dispute

St. Bonaventure University has announced it will press on with plans to build an addition to its library, despite a major donor’s failure to meet a $2-million pledge toward the project, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Give and Take, a Roundup of Nonprofit Blogs

Give and Take is a service of The Chronicle of Philanthropy that rounds up the best postings that appear on blogs about the nonprofit world.

Among the most-recent postings is a pitch for how to combat global poverty.

You can also read previous postings on issues about philanthropic giving, fund raising, and management of nonprofit organizations.

Give and Take is updated regularly throughout the day.

Online Discussion: Curbing Charity Abuses

Join our online discussion next week about what’s on the agenda for nonprofit groups on Capitol Hill, including the outlook for tax incentives to encourage charitable giving.

Taking your questions will be Dean A. Zerbe, a former top aide to Sen. Charles E. Grassley.

The discussion will be held Tuesday, March 25, at noon Eastern time and is open to everyone, not just Chronicle subscribers.

People who ask questions in advance have a better chance of receiving answers during the online discussion.

March 19, 2008

Whitney Museum Receives $131-Million Donation

The Whitney Museum of American Art, in New York, will receive $131-million from Leonard A. Lauder, chairman of the Estée Lauder Companies and chairman of the Whitney board since 1994, The New York Times reports. The majority of the money will go toward the museum’s endowment.

With the new money, the museum’s endowment will total $195-million, according to the newspaper.

Adam D. Weinberg, the Whitney’s director, said of the donation: “It will now be the first time our endowment will be large enough so that the Whitney can maintain its commitment to living artists and to adventurous programming.”

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Detroit Rescinds Nonprofit-Board Residency Requirement

The Detroit City Council decided unanimously on Tuesday to rescind a requirement that 51 percent of a nonprofit group’s board members reside in the city in order for the group to qualify for certain federal block-grant money, reports The Detroit News. Under the requirement, more than 100 area nonprofit groups were ineligible for the funds.

Nonprofit groups throughout the city celebrated the decision, although The Detroit Free Press noted that the change is only for one year, with the council expected to revisit the matter after that.

Greg Bowens, a spokesman for Mariners Inn, a homeless shelter and substance-abuse treatment center for men, told the Free Press that the board-residency requirement would have cost his organization $158,000 in Community Development Block Grant and Neighborhood Opportunity Fund grants.

Boston Financier Practices Unusual Philanthropy by Posting Bail

The identity of an anonymous donor who posted over $200,000 in bail for 40 illegal immigrants who had been arrested in a federal factory raid in New Bedford, Mass., last year has been revealed, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Bob Hildreth, a Boston financier who runs International Bank Services, a small firm that buys and sells corporate debt, says he was spurred to make the donations after seeing televised images of the shackled immigrants being sent to a detention center in Texas without the necessary time or resources to post bail and avoid deportation. Mr. Hildreth, 57, called the incident “extremely un-American.”

Donations of bail money are considered risky and unusual in the philanthropic world, the newspaper notes. Mr. Hildreth has indeed been the object of scorn from some critics, including prominent New Bedford talk-radio host Ken Pittman, who said he would ask Mr. Hildreth “to show the same compassion for American workers displaced by these illegal aliens.”

Mr. Hildreth, who has previously made donations to improve education for immigrants and to pay for literacy and citizenship classes in the Boston area, posted bail for the immigrants by working through the legal-aid group Greater Boston Legal Services. When he was told that the money would be returned to him once the cases were resolved, Mr. Hildreth said he would set it aside as a bail fund for future cases.

Leader of Va. Charity Confesses to Embezzlement

A volunteer executive director of Santa Pal, a nonprofit group in Bristol, Va., has been charged with embezzling more than $75,000 from the charity, reports The Bristol Herald Courier.

Jimmie Clark, who ran the annual Christmas program for needy children for more than five years, admitted in a letter to the charity’s board that he took money from the organization to settle personal debts.

“For the past two years, I have not been able to sleep at night and have contemplated committing suicide on numerous occasions,” Mr. Clark wrote to the board. “I truly do love this program and cannot believe that it has come to this. I am sorry for what I have done and will accept any consequence that comes with my actions ranging from incarceration to a lifetime of community service.”

The letter arrived shortly after Santa Pal’s board questioned discrepancies in the charity’s financial records and began tracking bank transactions.

Consultants Offer Tips for New Board Members

The first 90 days after joining a nonprofit board is a critical time for new members to assess an organization’s needs, as well as its leadership and management style, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Terrie Temkin, a Florida consultant who founded the company Core Strategies for Nonprofits, says that, first and foremost, new members should be sure to attend all board-related events. These meetings provide critical face-to-face time with other members, but they also allow new members to observe the group dynamic and isolate hubs of leadership.

A “new board member has to find out where the power lies on the board and where the force of gravity is,” says Jim Kristie, editor of Directors & Boards magazine, who also serves on several nonprofit boards. “It’s like any other group. There are cliques, there are leaders, and then there are other directors who aren’t pulling their weight.”

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Lapel Pins Spark Discussion on Autism

The Autism Speaks’ lapel pin starts conversations about the neurological disorder, reports The New York Times, in a first-person account of an activist’s interactions with strangers while wearing the pin.

Mark Roithmayr, president of the national nonprofit organization Autism Speaks, in New York, sports the puzzle-shaped lapel pin to help raise awareness of the disorder, which affects an estimated 1 in every 150 children.

He recounts how people initiate conversations with him about autism upon noticing the pin. Many of them have relatives affected with the disorder or are even affected themselves with a mild form of the disorder.

“I always take off my pin and give it to someone who shares his or her story. I think of it as ‘pinning forward.’” Mr. Roithmayr tells The Times. “In fact, I have learned to take a small bag of pins with me whenever I travel because passengers and airline workers — even the security guys — regularly ask me for them.”

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From The Chronicle: Google for Nonprofit Groups

The Internet search company Google has opened a “new portal” for nonprofit groups that explains how to adopt various Google applications for charitable work, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

From The Chronicle: Charities and the War in Iraq

Military and veterans charities have grown quickly in the five years since the war in Iraq began, but their leaders say they are still not meeting all the needs, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

March 18, 2008

Deficits Force States to Slash Programs That Serve the Needy

State budget woes are causing major cuts in health insurance for the needy, as well as other safety-net programs for the elderly, disabled, and unemployed, reports the Associated Press.

An analysis of 50 states’ budgets reveals that governors and legislators are making their biggest cuts in health care programs, as many states confront their worst deficits in a decade or more.

Diane Rowland, executive director of the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, noted that since many benefits cut during the last economic downturn had not been restored, “now, the only place to cut is at the core.”

See The Chronicle’s article on the ways state budgets are affecting nonprofit organizations and the people they serve.

(Free registration is required to view the AP on the Globe site, and a paid subscription or short-term pass is required to view the Chronicle article.)

Harvard Law Waives Tuition for Public-Service Pledge

Harvard Law School today plans to announce it will offer the third year of education free to students who pledge to spend at least five years working at a nonprofit organization or for the government, reports The New York Times.

The plan is designed to increase the number of Harvard law students — roughly 10 percent over the past several years — who choose public-service careers.

“We know that debt is a big issue,” said Elena Kagan, dean of the law school, with regard to the new effort, which would save students more than $40,000 in tuition.

Many students are now graduating from law school with upwards of $100,000 in student-loan debt, which prevents them from taking the lower salaries typically offered at government or nonprofit organizations.

Joshua Marquis, district attorney in Clatsop County, Ore., and vice president of the National District Attorneys Association, said, “I have had a lot of applicants who’ve said, ‘I’d like to take the job, but I really can’t afford it.’ ”

See The Chronicle’s article on the ways loan debts are affecting whether young people who want to enter the nonprofit world.

(Free registration is required to view the Times article, and a paid subscription or short-term pass is required to view the Chronicle article.)

Opinion: Donors Should Take Active Role in Giving

As fund raisers increasingly solicit people who are affluent — not just the super rich — donors should actively choose their causes rather than just responding to requests, writes Jack Shakely, president emeritus of the California Community Foundation, in Los Angeles, in an opinion article in The New York Times.

“The people I know who give the most and get the most out of it go deep,” writes Mr. Shakely. “They pick a few causes and tithe not just their treasure but also their time and talent.”

Mr. Shakely’s article appears in a special section on wealth. In another article in the section, David Cay Johnston, a veteran Times business columnist and philanthropy reporter, advises donors to seek matching gifts that increase the value of their own donation.

“With a little knowledge and persistence, a donated dollar can instantly become two, even six,” writes Mr. Johnston.

In another article, the newspaper discusses how many wealthy people are thinking more about passing along their values to their children — and therefore thinking more about philanthropy as part of their financial planning.

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From The Chronicle: Raising Money Through Special Events

Read a transcript of the Chronicle’s discussion on how to raise money through special events.

March 17, 2008

Smithsonian Chooses University President as New Leader

G. Wayne Clough, a civil engineer and president of the Georgia Institute of Technology since 1994, will be the new secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, reinstating the tradition of hiring a scientist to lead the organization, reports The Washington Post.

The last secretary of the museum complex, Lawrence Small, a former banker, was forced out after allegations surfaced of extravagant spending and compensation. The Smithsonian is also facing $2.5-billion worth of building and improvement projects, and criticism of its fund-raising plan.

At Georgia Tech, Mr. Clough has overseen the completion of $1-billion in construction projects, as well as capital campaigns that have brought in more than $1.5-billion, reports The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Mr. Clough will earn $490,000 at his new job — $60,000 less than he made at Georgia Tech and $410,000 less than Mr. Small was paid.

(Read more about the challenges facing the new head of the Smithsonian, in the view of a Chronicle of Philanthropy columnist.)

Lobbyists Can 'Buy' Spot on Board of Calif. Senate Charity

A charity tied to the California Senate may give some corporate lobbyists inappropriate access to legislators, reports the Los Angeles Times.

The group, California International Relations Foundation, was founded to pay the costs of entertaining delegations from outside the United States and an educational exchange between California and Japanese students. Its donors are mostly lobbyists whose groups and companies have business before the legislature, like the California Credit Union League, Chevron, Pfizer, and the Recording Industry Association of America, the Times says.

Contributors of $3,000 and up are given a seat on the Board of Directors; board members are invited to travel with Senate delegations on international trips to Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Jerusalem, and other locations. Some donors say that legislative staff members, who are paid with public money, have made hotel and flight arrangements for them, though board members pay their own way on the trips.

The international trips can be “a good opportunity to develop relationships with senators,” says George Steffes, a lobbyist for the engineering company Bechtel who has traveled on several Senate trips.

“You just can’t sell a board membership like this,” says Frances R. Hill, a University of Miami law professor and expert on nonprofit groups. She adds that since the group has legal status as a charity, the federal tax code says it cannot give “excess” benefits exclusively to board members, the newspaper reports.

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Young Donors Give Inherited Money for Social Change

Some young heirs are giving away almost all their new fortunes to small, social-change charities, reports the