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, Anne W. Howard, and Candie Jones.

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September 2008

September 30, 2008

Foundations Feel Wall Street Fallout

Several big foundations in New York are suffering from the recent collapse of Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns and the government takeover of the American International Group, reports The New York Times.

The Starr Foundation, which held 15.5 million shares of AIG in May, has seen its assets fall by at least $1-billion since the end of 2006. As a result, the grant maker says it will postpone some planned grants. The personal foundations of Bear Stearns executives have also taken losses, and the future of Lehman Brothers Foundation is in question now that Lehman Brothers is bankrupt.

See The Chronicle’s article on the effects on philanthropy of the problems at AIG.

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

New President Picked at Big Grant Maker

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, one of the nation’s wealthiest grant makers, has chosen Robert Tjian, a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of California at Berkeley, to serve as its new president, reports The New York Times.

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Arts Groups Innovate to Retain Attendance

Arts groups have been taking creative measures to increase donations and attendance since the 2001 economy slump, efforts that are becoming increasingly important in the current downturn, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Dance and theater groups, and museums have been trying new ways to draw participants, such as offering a “complete experience” that includes a meal and educational components, as opposed to just offering a single performance or exhibit. And many arts groups are trying to collaborate and learn from one another, the article says.

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Emory U. Announces $1.6-Billion Campaign

Emory University has announced a $1.6-billion fund-raising campaign to run through 2012 and has already collected pledges of $800-million, reports The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Spinal-Cord Charity Gets Advertising Makeover

The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation is receiving a pro bono makeover to show the public why research on spinal-cord injuries is important, reports The New York Times.

The campaign is being created by agencies owned by the Omnicom Group. John Osborn, a foundation board member and president of one of the advertising agencies owned by Omnicom, says that spinal-cord injury is generally not “thought about till something happens to someone close to you or to yourself,” he adds.

To bring the issue to the public eye, the ads seek to demonstrate the difficulty that paralyzed people experience doing normal, everyday tasks. For example, one ad shows an Aztec pyramid. The word “You” is at the bottom and the words “Your refrigerator” are all the way at the top. Another ad shows the Golden Gate Bridge, with the word “You” is at one end and the words “Your backyard” at the other.

The ads are also intended in part to raise the organization’s visibility in the wake of the deaths of Christopher and Diana Reeve, says Peter Wilderotter, the charity’s president.

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Opinion: Famous Artists Shouldn't Win Charity Prizes

The decision to give the first Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award to Tony Kushner, the Pulitzer Prize-winner author of Angels in America is inappropriate, says Terry Teachout, the drama critic for The Wall Street Journal.

The prize, given by the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, carries with it a $200,000 award. Mr. Teachout says the trust’s intention to use the prize to support “the growth and talent of outstanding playwrights . . . and encourage them to stay in their field” will not be fulfilled by showering yet another accolade on the well-established Mr. Kushner.

From The Chronicle: New Pressures on the Charity Work Force

The crisis on Wall Street –- and the likelihood that billions in federal money will be spent soothing it –- portend an era when government will need to turn more eagerly than ever to nonprofit organizations to serve social needs, said experts speaking Monday at a conference on the state of the nonprofit work force, reports The Chronicle of Philanthropy. That will require nonprofit groups to do more to attract workers who can handle those demands.

Transcript: Nonprofit Compensation Trends

Read the transcript of our online discussion today on the state of nonprofit compensation.

September 29, 2008

Los Angeles Museum Receives $55-Million Gift of Cash and Artworks

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has announced that it has received $45-million in cash and $10-million in artworks from the business entrepreneurs Lynda and Stewart Resnick, reports The New York Times.

The gift will support a new exhibition pavilion designed by Renzo Piano and will bear the couple’s name.

The Resnicks donated some of the money earlier but did not get attention for their gift.

In 2006, the Resnicks donated $25-million for a new entrance pavilion but agreed to relinquish naming rights to the oil company BP after it donated $25-million to the museum.

No details are known as to what works of art have been donated to the museum. The Resnicks are the co-chairmen of Roll International, a private holding company that owns Paramount Citrus, one of the nation’s largest citrus producers, as well as Fiji Water and Pom Wonderful pomegranate juice.

Ms. Resnick is chairwoman of the museum’s acquisitions committee.

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Religious Leaders Offered Sermons on Sunday Designed to Break Federal Law

Thirty-three pastors from across the country on Sunday attempted to break a federal tax law that forbids members of the clergy from endorsing political candidates lest their organizations lose their tax-exempt status, reports The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.

The Post quotes one pastor, the Rev. Ron Johnson Jr., who said that voting for the Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama was proof of “severe moral schizophrenia.”

The actions of the 33 pastors are part of a campaign organized by the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative legal consortium in Arizona, hoping to spark a lawsuit that will eliminate the law that prohibits tax-exempt religious organizations from politicking. The law was set in 1954.

Although the Defense Fund says it tried to recruit both liberal and conservative pastors to take part in the campaign, most of the participants seem to be socially conservative, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Of the law, the Rev. Johnson said, “The point that the IRS says you can’t do it, I’m saying you’re wrong.”

Nancy Mathis, an Internal Revenue Service spokeswoman said, “We’re aware of recent press reports, and we’ll monitor the situation and take action as appropriate.”

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

Republicans Accuse Advocacy Group of Voter Fraud

Republicans have accused the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (Acorn), a housing advocacy group that is also known for its voter-registration drives, of voter fraud, reports National Public Radio.

Sean Cairncross, general counsel for the Republican National Committee said of the group, “It is at best a quasi-criminal Democrat-affiliated organization that willfully and openly breaks the law, is a clear and present danger to the integrity of the election process, and constitutes a threat to public safety.”

Mr. Cairncross alleges that employees hired to register new voters have forged voter-registration records and have felonies on their criminal records.

Michael Slater, executive director of Project Vote, a nonprofit organization that works with Acorn in voter-registration drives, said that the Republicans’ allegations are unfounded.

He said, “It’s very unfortunate that people would misconstrue our work and treat what is essentially a hiring and employment issue and turn it into an election or political issue.”

Read an opinion article about the challenges facing the advocacy group from the latest issue of The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

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$8-Billion Pledged to Help the World's Needy

A variety of organizations have pledged $400-million for water and sanitation projects in developing countries, an effort that was announced as part of the annual Clinton Global Initiative meeting held in New York last week, reports The Wall Street Journal.

To read The Chronicle’s complete coverage from the event, see our conference notebook, which reports that a total of $8-billion — in donations, investments, and volunteer time — has been pledged for various projects around the world.

Company Will Continue Actor's Philanthropy

The actor Paul Newman, who died on Friday of cancer, expressed his wish to have his philanthropic endeavors continue after his death through his Newman’s Own Foundation, reports the Associated Press.

According to two friends of the actor, Mr. Newman wanted to be remembered for helping to start the Hole in the Wall camps for children with serious illnesses and to ensure that his popular food company, Newman’s Own, would continue to donate 100 percent of its profits to charity. To date, the company has given more than $250-million.

Said one of the actor’s friends, Robert Forrester, “He said, ‘When I’m not here, this foundation is to continue the tradition of giving all of this money away.’”

Mr. Forrester said the Newman’s Own company plans to expand and donate even more to fulfill Mr. Newman’s wish.

Government and Politics Watch: Charity Tax Breaks

The House of Representatives last week passed a tax bill that would renew and extend several provisions affecting charitable giving, including one for older people with individual retirement accounts, reports The Chronicle’s Government and Politics Watch column. But the legislation may be doomed because the House and Senate disagree over how to pay for the overall tax package.

Give and Take: A Bailout for Charities?

What role should charities have in the federal bailout now under discussion for the nation’s financial institutions? That is a key topic discussed in a new post in The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s Give and Take column.

Plus: Paul Newman’s philanthropic legacy.

Prospecting: Debunking Capital-Campaign Myths

A veteran fund-raising consultant pokes holes in myths that many fund raisers believe — and that cause capital campaigns to sink — in a new post in Prospecting, The Chronicle’s fund-raising column.

From The Chronicle: Compensation of Charity CEO's

Salaries and benefits paid to the leaders of the nation’s largest charities and foundations rose a median of 5 percent last year, according to results of a Chronicle of Philanthropy survey released today.

That gain not only outpaced inflation but also was higher than the percentage increase many corporate chief executives received, the Chronicle reported. Data from the survey are available exclusively to Chronicle subscribers.

Join us to discuss what compensation trends will be like for all people who work in the nonprofit world, given the challenges of the tight economy, in a live discussion tomorrow at noon, Eastern time.

The guest is Chuck McLean, vice president for research at GuideStar, who has compiled the organization’s comprehensive survey on nonprofit compensation for the past eight years.

The Chronicle’s online discussions are free and open to everyone. People who ask questions in advance have a better chance of getting answers.

See What's New in The Chronicle of Philanthropy

The Chronicle posted the entire contents of its October 2 issue online this morning. To see what’s inside the new issue, read the table of contents.

September 26, 2008

Government Suspends Support of Charity Run by Sacramento Mayoral Candidate

Federal officials investigating St. Hope Academy, a charity run by the Sacramento mayoral candidate and former NBA player Kevin Johnson, have suspended the government’s support of the group after uncovering possible criminal and financial irregularities, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Among the charges against Mr. Johnson is that he asked members of the federal AmeriCorps program to run errands, wash his car, and drive him to personal appointments. The findings have been given to the U.S. attorney’s office in Sacramento for review.

Gerald Walpin, inspector general at the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees the AmeriCorps volunteer program, said that existing evidence is sufficient to warrant “that immediate action be taken” before the investigation is ended.

Steve Maviglio, Mr. Johnson’s campaign manager, said, “The timing is politically motivated. The dramatization of what are administrative errors is politically motivated.” Mr. Johnson was not available to comment, the newspaper said.

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Charity Leader's Participation in Campaign Ad Draws Scrutiny

The Villages, an Indianapolis charity that provides foster care and other services to children, has drawn criticism after its president, Sharon Pierce, appeared in a political campaign ad that highlights Gov. Mitch Daniels’s record on child protection, reports the Associated Press.

Ms. Pierce said she believed that speaking about Mr. Daniels’s accomplishments was acceptable and that she had sought advice on whether it broke the Internal Revenue Service’s ban on politicking. However, critics are investigating whether her appearance in the ad crossed a line.

Mr. Daniels, a Republican, faces Jill Long Thompson, a Democrat, in the November election.

(Free registration is required to view this article on the Chicago Tribune Web site.)

Alliance Commits $3-Billion to Fight Malaria Worldwide

The Global Malaria Action Plan announced that business and government leaders will give $3-billion to combat malaria, reports The Wall Street Journal.

(To read more about the malaria effort, which was announced at the Clinton Global Initiative, see The Chronicle’s conference notebook.)

9/11 Memorial to Open by 2011 Under New Proposal

In a new arrangement that they say will resolve two of the biggest issues hindering the downtown rebuilding effort, Port Authority officials have drawn up a proposal to complete the September 11 memorial by August 2011, in time for the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attack and to disentangle the nearby transit hub, reports The New York Times.

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U.N. Receives $16-Billion in Pledges to Help World's Needy

The United Nations announced Thursday that it has collected more than $16-billion in pledges from governments to help fight poverty and infectious diseases and to support childhood education, reports The Washington Post.

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Rockefeller Foundation Provides $1-Million to Climate-Change Group

Under a $1-million grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Center for Capacity Building, a program that helps poor countries improve their resistance to floods, droughts, and other climate-related dangers, will move from the National Center for Atmospheric Research to the University of Colorado at Boulder, reports The New York Times.

The pending move comes weeks after the loss of government support for the program, which eliminated its $500,000 annual budget last month.

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New Guidelines for Microlenders to Protect Needy Clients

Critics of the fast-growing Mexican bank, Compartamos, which began as a microfinancing charity but went public in April 2007, selling for $468-million in shares on the Mexican stock market, are accusing the institution of betraying the altruistic ideals of microlending by putting its profit ahead of its clients, reports The New York Times.

Compartamos, which gave the cash garnered from the sale to its investors, defended its action on the grounds that the sale demonstrated to private investors that microfinance could be profitable and would therefore attract more private capital to the industry. However, in a move to reach a truce this week, the bank joined a group of microfinancing organizations to announce a code of conduct to protect the clients of microlenders from exploitation.

See The Chronicle’s overview of challenges facing microlending groups.

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

Prospecting: Seeking Big Gifts

Should fund raisers seek additional big gifts from people who have already made a large commitment to a capital campaign? A hospital fund raiser offers her view in Prospecting, The Chronicle’s fund-raising column.

Plus: A new report examines how much charities might lose from the woes facing the financial industry.

Online Discussion Next Week: Compensation Trends

Join us on Tuesday, September 30, at noon U.S. Eastern time for a live online discussion about nonprofit compensation trends in the current economy.

The conversation will draw on data from The Chronicle’s annual compensation study, which will be released on Monday morning, as well as the latest compensation report by GuideStar.

The Chronicle’s online discussions are free and open to everyone. People who ask questions in advance have a better chance of getting answers.

From The Chronicle: Clinton Meeting Examines Philanthropy's Faults

A session at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York focused on the challenge facing philanthropy — including whether it gets in the way of helping the needy, reports The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

See other updates about the meeting in our conference notebook.

September 25, 2008

Ellis Island Museum Plans $20-Million Expansion

The museum that pays tribute to the immigrants who came to America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries at New York’s Ellis Island is planning a $20-million expansion to include eras before and after the portal’s heyday, according to The New York Times.

Construction on the new expansion, due to be completed in 2011, began last week. Stephen A. Briganti, chief executive of the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, says about 75 percent of donations needed have been raised, including $2.3-million from the National Park Service Centennial Challenge Initiative, $1.5-million from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, and $1-million from the Annenberg Foundation.

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Corruption Charges Cripple Iraq's Red Crescent

Charges of embezzlement and mismanagement have paralyzed the Iraqi Red Crescent, the country’s leading relief charity, according to The Washington Post.

Iraqi officials say the group inappropriately spent more than $1-million on Washington lobbying firms in a failed attempt to seek U.S. funds. The charity has stopped nearly all its humanitarian work since the Iraqi government froze its assets.

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Embezzlement Charges Shadow Two Former Nonprofit Officials

Craig Rohr, former chief financial officer of Hartville Homes, which operates group homes for disabled people, has been sentenced to nine years in prison after pleading guilty last month to embezzling nearly $2-million from the nonprofit organization and from his Catholic parish, according to the Akron Beacon Journal, in Ohio.

Another nonprofit group, the Fruitlands Museum, in Harvard, Mass., says it is working to improve its accounting procedures in the wake of embezzlement allegations it has leveled against its former chief financial officer, reports The Boston Globe.

The museum claims that its former official Peggy Kempton and her children embezzled $1-million from the institution by diverting museum funds for personal use. The newspaper was not able to reach Ms. Kempton for comment.

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

Trust for Public Land Buys New Orleans Marshland

The Trust for Public Land, in San Francisco, has purchased 2,027 acres of marsh on the eastern edge of New Orleans for $1.1-million, with plans to resell it for the same price within a month to the Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge, according to The Times-Picayune, in New Orleans. The property is considered crucial to blocking overflow from Lake Pontchartrain during storms.

Drucker Innovation Award Winners Named

A San Francisco charity that fights poverty in Africa has been given a $35,000 first-place prize among this year’s Peter F. Drucker Awards for Nonprofit Innovation, according to Business Wire.

The Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University, in Calif., announced the first-place win by KickStart International, which creates and sells tools that help poor entrepreneurs in Africa.

From The Chronicle: Economy Triggers Nonprofit Reactions

Charities are taking steps to insulate themselves from the pain of the Wall Street crisis, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports. Some are altering fund raising, while others are examining their investments. Plus, read our online discussion with financial experts.

From The Chronicle: Bill Gates Talks Philanthropy

The highlight of this year’s Clinton Global Initiative for most people was a session that focused on Billanthropy — that is, the giving of Bill Clinton and Bill Gates — The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports. Keep up with all this and other developments at the gathering in New York this week by following our online conference notebook.

From The Chronicle: Hurricane Giving Hits $50-Million Mark

American charities have raised about $50-million so far for hurricane-relief efforts — much less than nonprofit groups typically raise immediately after big-scale disasters and far short of the hundreds of millions of dollars officials say are needed to help people harmed by the storms, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

From The Chronicle: Social-Enterprise Awards Announced

Grass-roots programs focused on helping homeless people, rebuilding hurricane-devastated New Orleans, and rescuing girls from the sex trade are among the winners of the eighth annual Social Entrepreneurship Awards, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Mark Your Calendar: Online Discussion Next Week on Compensation Trends

Join us on Tuesday, September 30, at noon U.S. Eastern time for a live online discussion about nonprofit compensation trends in the current economy.

The conversation will draw on data from The Chronicle’s annual compensation study, which will be online starting Monday morning, as well as the latest compensation report by GuideStar.

More details will be posted soon at http://philanthropy.com/live.

Get Ahead: Deadlines for Grants and Awards

You can get an early look at the deadlines for grants and awards compiled by The Chronicle. We have posted on our Web site all the application deadlines that will appear in our October 2 issue.

You will also find an updated list of conferences and workshops designed for nonprofit executives.

September 24, 2008

Google Offers Up to $10-Million for Innovative Ideas

The search-engine company Google is soliciting new ideas for ways help a large number people — and is offering up to $10-million as an incentive, reports CNN. Project 10^100, as it is being called, marks the company’s 10th anniversary.

The offer comes with few restrictions. “These ideas can be big or small, technology-driven or brilliantly simple—but they need to have impact,” said Google in a press release. “We know there are countless brilliant ideas that need funding and support to come to fruition.”

Ideas are due by October 20.

Former Utah Charity Leader Faces Felony Counts

In the wake of the resignation of its chief executive, the Children’s Miracle Network, in Salt Lake City, has appointed Scott Burt, its chief operating officer, as its interim leader, according to PRNewswire-USNewswire.

The charity, which raises money for children’s hospitals, was previously led by James Larry Hall II, who resigned after appearing in court September 19 on felony counts that allege he diverted and misused $400,000 from an insurance company he founded in 2003.

The charges were filed in February, but charity officials said they did not know about them until Mr. Hall’s court appearance. Mr. Hall has denied wrongdoing but was willing to plead no contest to six felony counts—a deal that the judge rejected on the grounds of insufficient proof—in order to “get it out of his life,” according to his lawyer.

Ministers Set to Challenge Law That Bars Political Endorsements

About 30 clergy members nationwide are set to protest federal tax laws governing nonprofit groups this Sunday by endorsing a presidential candidate during religious services, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The protest has been organized by the Alliance Defense Fund, of Scottsdale, Ariz., a conservative legal-advocacy group, which hopes the action will goad the Internal Revenue Service into legal action. The law currently bars charitable nonprofit groups, like churches, from partisan political activity, such as endorsing candidates.

Former Nonprofit Worker Pleads Guilty to Mail Fraud

The former director of financial services at a Washington nonprofit group has pleaded guilty to mail fraud for embezzling more than $400,000 from the organization, according to the Associated Press.

Federal prosecutors say that Earl Staubs, of Arlington, Va., opened a bank account in March 2005 under the name of his then-employer, the Center for Applied Linguistics, changed the mailing address on the account to his home address, deposited checks meant for the center, and used the money himself. Mr. Staubs, 63, is currently in prison on a separate embezzlement charge and faces up to 37 months in jail when he is sentenced later this year.

Carnegie Museum Leader Tapped to Head Guggenheim

Richard Armstrong, director of Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Museum of Art, has been named the new head of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, in New York, according to The New York Times.

Mr. Armstrong, 59, who ran the Carnegie museum for 12 years, succeeds Thomas Krens, who announced in February his decision to leave the Guggenheim after two decades. The hiring is being seen by observers as a retreat from the international focus the museum had under Mr. Krens’s leadership, when it opened branches in Berlin, Venice, and Bilbao, Spain.

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Suppliers Gain Access to CVS Officials Via Charity Event

Despite an ethics policy intended to keep suppliers from buying influence with its employees via gifts or travel, an annual charity golf tournament sponsored by CVS Caremark helps vendors that donate to the event gain access to top company officials, according to The Wall Street Journal.

“I take advantage of this [CVS Charity] Classic, asking the different manufacturers I work for if they want to participate,” said John Malmborg, president of KKM, in Lincoln, R.I. “They all chip in and we work to get to a high level of participation and have access to CVS executives on an informal basis. It really is helpful.”

CVS officials declined to talk to The Journal about the golf tournament, which has raised given $10-million to such charities as the March of Dimes and the Special Olympics since the event began in 1999. In a written statement, however, the company said that participation in the event did not “influence in any way” its merchandising decisions.

Government and Politics Watch: Senate Passes Bill to Extend Charity Tax Breaks

By a vote of 93 to 2, the Senate has passed legislation that would renew and extend several tax provisions affecting charitable giving, including one that would allow older donors to get a tax break when they give charities money from their individual retirement accounts, reports The Chronicle’s Government and Politics Watch column.

Plus: Both the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates have agreed to co-sponsor a bill to expand the country’s national-service programs and provide money to help nonprofit groups recruit volunteers and replicate innovative programs.

Prospecting: Earning Donor Trust in Cynical Society

Do donors still trust charities? A direct-marketing fund raiser explores the issue in a new post in Prospecting, The Chronicle’s fund-raising column.

Give and Take: No Longer Envious of Financial Firms

As Congress debates a $700-billion bailout of troubled Wall Street companies, the head of a Michigan community foundation recalls with amusement the days when making groups like hers run more like businesses was all the rage, notes Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

From The Chronicle: New Hurricane Fund Announced at Clinton's Global Philanthropy Conference

Former presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush announced a new fund to help victims of the recent hurricanes that ravaged Texas and other parts of the Gulf Coast, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports. Keep up with all this and other developments at this week’s Clinton Global Initiative conference, in New York, by following our online conference notebook.

From The Chronicle: $75-Million Pledged for Anti-Hunger Program

The Bill & Melinda Gates and the Howard G. Buffett Foundations last week pledged a total of more than $75-million to help farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and other impoverished areas sell their surplus crops to support anti-hunger efforts, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

September 23, 2008

Clinton Says More Philanthropy Needed in Tough Times

Former President Bill Clinton expressed concern Monday that upheaval in the financial world could undermine major worldwide charitable donations at a moment when help is most needed, reports The Washington Post.

On the eve of his annual philanthropy conference in New York, Mr. Clinton called on businesses, foundations, and others to increase their giving, saying that in the current economic downturn, philanthropy “is even more important over the next two or three years than it would otherwise have been.”

Read The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s recent interview with Mr. Clinton, and listen to excerpts from his talk with The Chronicle. The Chronicle will provide regular online updates of the meeting.

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

French Aid Group Workers Kidnapped

Two aid workers for Doctors of the World, in Paris, have been kidnapped in Ethiopia’s Ogaden region, near the Somali border, The Seattle Times reports.

The workers were kidnapped on Monday. Officials from the charity did not disclose the names of the workers or any details about the kidnappings, but said they are in contact with authorities and the workers’ families.

Preservation Group Buys Adirondacks Acreage

The Nature Conservancy, in Arlington, Va., has purchased a 14,600-acre piece of unprotected land in the Adirondacks Mountains that includes forests and wetlands — including Follensby Pond, where the essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson led a “philosophers’ camp,” in 1858, reports The New York Times.

The conservation group paid $16-million for the property.

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Foundation Named as Beneficiary of Singer’s Estate

Isaac Hayes, the soul-music singer-songwriter who died last month, left an undisclosed portion of his estate to the Isaac Hayes Foundation, according to the copy of his will filed with a probate court, reports The Commercial Appeal, in Memphis.

Some of Mr. Hayes’s estate will also go to his wife and 12 children. His foundation promotes literacy, education, music, and nutrition.

Opinion: Nonprofit Leaders Debate Separation of Church and State

In a Los Angeles Times opinion piece, Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, in Washington, and Erik Stanley, head of the Pulpit Initiative for the Alliance Defense Fund, in Scottsdale, Ariz., debate the issues surrounding federal tax laws that govern the extent to which clergy members may publicly endorse political candidates and election-ballot measures.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Give and Take: Foundations and the Internet

Foundations need to embrace interactive online communications, says a new report discussed in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Plus: What questions should charities ask to get the best measures of their performance?

Prospecting: Why Direct-Mail Appeals Bomb

Sometimes no matter how well a direct-mail appeal is written, the results are horrible. To learn why, see a new post in Prospecting, The Chronicle’s fund-raising column.

Plus: A veteran fund raiser explains why some charities thrive during hard economic times — and others do not.

Transcript: How Charities Can Weather the Bad Economy

Read a transcript of The Chronicle’s online discussion today with experts on how charities should handle the economic turbulence.

Our guests:

Dan Cardinali, president of Communities in Schools, a Washington charity that works nationwide to prevent students nationally from dropping out of school. The group has taken some creative approaches to handling the problems caused by the downturn in the economy.

Rick Dunham, a fund-raising consultant in Addison, Tex. Mr. Dunham specializes in fund raising for Christian charities and he has also worked with organizations such as the University of Southern California and Children’s Medical Center, in Dallas.

Clara Miller, chief executive, of the Nonprofit Finance Fund, in New York, which provides financial resources for nonprofit groups.

From The Chronicle: 'Genius' Prizes Awarded by MacArthur Fund

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, in Chicago, today named 25 new MacArthur Fellows, a prize commonly referred to as a “genius” award, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Among the winners were several nonprofit leaders, including Regina M. Benjamin, who founded the Bayou La Batre Rural Health Clinic, in Alabama.

September 22, 2008

Retrial in Muslim Charity Case Starts This Week

Federal prosecutors are returning to a court in Dallas this week to argue their case against the Holy Land Foundation, a Texas charity with alleged links to the militant Palestinian group Hamas, reports The Washington Post.

A previous case ended almost a year ago in a mistrial after jurors were deadlocked on charges against four of the five defendants.

Prosecutors say that five men affiliated with the group raised more than $12-million to support overseas suicide bombings. Prosecutors have streamlined the case, dismissing 29 charges each for two key defendants and focusing on counts of conspiracy to finance terrorism and conspiracy to commit money laundering, reports the newspaper.

In attacking the government’s case during the first trial, the defense said there was no evidence that private donations went to finance terrorist activities.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Trial Begins for Arts Patron

The trial of the investor and former philanthropist Alberto W. Vilar begins today, reports The New York Times.

Mr. Vilar, an arts patron who defaulted on some of his large pledges when technology stocks slumped in 2000, is charged with conspiracy to commit securities fraud and other criminal activities. He is accused of using $5-million of an investor’s money for his personal use, including donations to his alma mater, Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, Pa.

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Conservative Groups Support College Courses

Conservative organizations and foundations are helping to create new academic programs on college campuses focusing on Western culture and American history and politics, reports The New York Times.

Organizations such as the Jack Miller Center for Teaching America’s Founding Principles and History, in Philadelphia, and the Veritas Fund for Higher Education, in New York, which funnel donations to establishing those types of academic programs, may soon gain federal support as the new Higher Education Act, signed into law last month, provides grants for “academic programs or centers” devoted to “traditional American history, free institutions or Western civilization,” reports the newspaper.

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Smithsonian Expected to Name Former Gates Fund CEO to Chairman's Job

Patricia Stonesifer, former chief executive of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is expected to be named chairwoman of the Smithsonian Institution, reports The New York Times.

No one has ever previously held this position. Ms. Stonesifer is expected to improve stability and openness at the organization and help it raise more than $1-billion over the next five to seven years, reports the newspaper.

Read a profile of Ms. Stonesifer as she stepped down and a transcript of an online discussion in which she took questions posed from Chronicle readers.

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

MacArthur "Genius Prizes" to Be Announced Tuesday

Scholars, nonprofit officials, and others are learning whether they received one of this year’s coveted MacArthur “genius prizes,” as the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation prepares to announce the winners tomorrow.

The Associated Press looks at how one of last year’s winners — a medieval-history professor — has fared since he won the award.

The Chronicle will post the list of recipients as soon as they are released by the foundation.

How Wall Street's Struggles Will Affect Fund Raising

The Wall Street economic crisis will probably hit charities in New York and Boston hard, reports The Wall Street Journal and The Boston Globe.

New York nonprofit groups particularly rely on the financial industry, the Journal notes, while institutions with endowments are also expected to take a big hit to their investment portfolios, reports the Globe.

Also: Fund raisers at business schools expect gifts of $1,000 or less to decline due to the downturn in the economy, reports The Financial Times. Most business-school fund raisers say that large capital gifts of more than $100,000 will probably be unaffected.

(Free registration is required to view the Boston Globe and Financial Times articles.)

Government and Politics Watch: IRS Outlines Priorities

The Internal Revenue Service has outlined its agenda for policing charities and donors, reports The Chronicle’s Government and Politics Watch column.

Plus: The IRS has scheduled a Webcast to explain how to fill out the new version of the informational tax return for charities.

Give and Take: A Google Co-Founder's Giving

A co-founder of Google has revealed why he wants his donations to support groups that do research on Parkinson’s disease, notes a new post in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Plus: The leader of an association of grant makers complains about coverage of donor-advised funds in The New York Times.

Online Discussion Tomorrow: Coping With the Turbulent Economy

Join us tomorrow, September 23, for a live online discussion about ways charities can cope with the challenges posed by the bad news on Wall Street — combined with the recent hurricanes and the attention the public is giving to the November election.

What can your organization do to state its case to donors and supporters during anxious times? How have groups weathered previous uncertainty? And how can you stretch your resources to meet your mission when money gets tight?

Read Chronicle articles about how tumult in the financial markets affects charities’ finances and about fund raising in trouble times.

The Chronicle’s online discussions are free and open to everyone. People who ask questions in advance have a better chance of getting answers.

From The Chronicle: Aid for Whistle-Blowers

Whistle-blowers have more places to turn for help now, as a growing number of charities are stepping in to assist the parade of public employees speaking out about missteps, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Plus: Learn how nonprofit groups handle reports from whistle-blowers about their own operations.

September 19, 2008

Charities Help Cities Handle Rising Homelessness

In cities across the country where rising homelessness has caused people to use cars, tents, and scrap wood for shelter, charities have collaborated with advocacy groups to help manage these encampments as outdoor shelters, reports the Associated Press.

According to a report by the National Coalition for the Homeless, nearly 61 percent of local and state homeless coalitions say they have seen a rise in homelessness since the outset of the foreclosure crisis in 2007, a problem that has gotten worse due to continued foreclosures, rising gas and food prices, and a tightening job market, says the group.

(Free registration is required to view this article on the Boston Globe Web site.)

National Lung Association Reprimands Northwest Chapter

The American Lung Association has warned that it will sever ties with its Northwest chapter unless the affiliate seeks to take steps to follow the national charity’s policies, reports the Associated Press.

The Northwest chapter changed its mission statement, declined to run anti-smoking programs for teenagers, and started a new nonprofit group this summer without approval from the national board, all of which is in violation of its agreement with the national charity. The national group has given the affiliate one month to correct its breach of contract.

Mike Alderson, who started in June as chief executive of the Northwest chapter, issued a statement saying he disagrees with the national organization’s interpretation of the contract.

“The ALA of the Northwest will address these allegations through the appropriate channels,” he wrote. “The ALA of the Northwest will continue to help people in the states of Washington, Alaska and Idaho as we have for the past 102 years.”

(Free registration is required to view this article on the Washington Post Web site.)

Oxfam Calls for International Aid for Afghanistan

To avert what it warns could be a “humanitarian crisis” in central Afghanistan, the British charity Oxfam is calling for international assistance for the country before winter sets in, reports The New York Times.

In a letter sent several weeks ago to officials in countries that provide aid to Afghanistan, the charity warned that the $404-million appeal by the Afghan government and the United Nations had not reached its goal.

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Wealthy Parents Seek to Teach Kids Through Philanthropy

Wealthy parents are increasingly entrusting their charitable projects to their children in hopes of educating them about wealth inheritance and encouraging them to discover their own passions, reports The Financial Times.

Many entrepreneurs and corporate leaders believe by offering children a chance to get involved in charitable foundations and trusts, they can give their kids a chance to become knowledgeable about investing and financial returns and gain experience in related areas such as good governance and communication, the newspaper said.

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Baltimore Company's Sale Could Affect Giving

Baltimore’s Constellation Energy Group was sold on Thursday to Warren Buffett’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings, in Des Moines, for $4.7-billion, reports The Baltimore Sun.

The newspaper reported previously that if the company was purchased by an out-of-town entity, Baltimore would lose its last Fortune 500 headquarters, which could cause a reduction in corporate philanthropy and in the number of volunteers who participate in community projects.

Last year the Baltimore company and its employees gave $5.1-million to United Way chapters and local charities around the world, said the newspaper.

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Booster Club Leader Raises Big Money for College Athletics

Bobby Purcell, executive director of North Carolina State University’s booster club, has built one of the most successful fund-raising operations in college sports history, raising more than $200-million in donations for the school’s athletics since he took over in 1997, reports The Wall Street Journal.

With more than 20,000 donors in his club, this year he raised $27-million in donations.

A View Into the Work of Community Organizers

Though the role of community organizers is not widely understood by the public — and has been ridiculed by Republicans during the presidential race due to Democratic candidate Barack Obama’s frequent mentions of his tenure as an organizer — the job has deep roots in American society, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times.

Read a Chronicle commentary that urges foundations and donors to do a better job of explaining community organizers’ work to the public.

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

From The Chronicle: Donations to Hurricane Relief Groups Fall Short of Needs

Charities have raised just $25-million to provide relief to victims of this month’s storm — a sum far short of the hundreds of millions of dollars they say they need in the wake of hurricanes that altogether have caused nearly as much harm as Hurricane Katrina, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Give and Take: Controversy Over Charity's Ad

A new television ad campaign to raise money for breast-cancer prevention and treatment has drawn some negative reviews, notes Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Online Discussion: Coping With the Turbulent Economy

Join us on Tuesday, September 23, for a live online discussion about ways charities can cope with the challenges posed by the bad news on Wall Street — combined with the recent hurricanes and the attention the public is giving to the November election.

The Chronicle’s online discussions are free and open to everyone. People who ask questions in advance have a better chance of getting answers.

September 18, 2008

Big Relief Charities Not Ready for Major Disaster, Says Report

The major relief charities are not ready to fully respond to victims’ needs in the event of another catastrophe like Hurricane Katrina, according to a new government report, says The New York Times and The Washington Post.

“In a worst-case, large-scale disaster, the projected need for mass care services would far exceed the capabilities of these voluntary organizations without government or other assistance,” said the Government Accountability Office, which conducts research and analysis for members of Congress.

The report follows news that the American Red Cross is seeking $150-million in federal aid to help pay for its work in helping victims of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. The government’s study found that the Red Cross, Catholic Charities, the Salvation Army, and the Southern Baptist Convention combined lack the resources to respond to another large-scale disaster.

(Free registration is required to view the Times and Post articles.)

Women Give More Than Men, According to a New Study

Women are more generous than men when it comes to charitable giving, according to a review of Internal Revenue Service data by the consulting firm Grant Thornton, reports Business Wire.

American women gave almost $5-billion more than their male counterparts in 2005, the last year for which such data are publicly available, according to the Chicago firm. These findings reverse the IRS’s last study of giving by gender, in 1997, when men were found to have given nearly $3-billion more than women. Giving by women overall in 2005 reached $21.7-billion, according to study, while men overall gave $16.8-billion.

Mark Twain Museum Fights to Stay Open

A museum in Hartford, Conn., dedicated to the memory of the author Samuel Clemens — better known as Mark Twain — is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, according to reports in The Wall Street Journal.

At the center of the museum’s woes is the $19.5-million price tag of the institution itself, a 32,000-square-foot Modernist structure, which opened in 2003, that adjoins Mr. Twain’s former house. The newer building’s costs have virtually bankrupted the nonprofit organization, which runs both structures.

“It’s not, ‘If you build it, they will come,’” says Dede D. DeRosa, the organization’s board chairwoman. Since it opened, the new museum has produced only a modest increase in annual visitors, from 50,000 to 68,000. To help stay afloat, the Twain House has cut its staff from 49 employees to 17 and trimmed its operating budget from $4-million to $2.7-million.

Obituary: Philip E. Clapp, 54, Environmental Activist

Philip E. Clapp, an environmental activist and the creator of an organization that is now part of the Pew Environment Group, died of pneumonia September 17 while on vacation in Amsterdam, reports The Washington Post. He was 54.

Mr. Clapp spent three decades in Washington working on such causes as reducing global warming and pollution and on ocean conservation, focusing on solutions that were international in scope. In 1994 he started the National Environmental Trust, a policy and advocacy organization in Washington. The group worked to block attempts by Republicans in Congress to roll back environmental laws and also sought to mobilize grass-roots activists. The group merged with the Pew Charitable Trusts in January to form the Pew Environmental Group.

“In a community that’s more policy wonk than political, Phil was the political one, always,” said Timothy E. Wirth, the United Nations Foundation president, for whom Mr. Clapp worked when Mr. Wirth was a member of Congress. “He was the single-most-effective person in terms of pushing for change and pushing people to actually do things.”

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From The Chronicle: Fund Raisers Assess Wall Street's Impact

As Wall Street reels from Lehman Brothers’ collapse and AIG’s federal takeover, charities are bracing for a tough fund-raising environment, especially because many donors are growing increasingly worried about their own financial portfolios, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Plus: Arts groups that have relied heavily on giving by financial giants and their executives are especially anxious about this week’s Wall Street meltdown, given their reliance on corporate gifts, reports The Washington Post.

SPECIAL NOTICE: Because of the financial tumult in the past week, The Chronicle will be holding an online discussion to help charity officials learn how to handle these challenging times. Mark your calendar to join us on Tuesday, September 23, at noon Eastern time. A previously announced discussion on online philanthropy will be rescheduled. Details will be posted soon at http://philanthropy.com/live.

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

Government and Politics Watch: Bill to Extend Charity Tax Breaks Moves Forward

Key Democratic and Republican senators have worked out a measure to renew and extend several tax provisions affecting charitable giving, including one that allows older donors to get a tax break when they give charities money from their individual retirement accounts, according to Government and Politics Watch, The Chronicle’s online column.

Plus: The American Civil Liberties Union announced today its “I’m a Constitution Voter” campaign, which seeks to get Americans to pledge to consider civil-liberty concerns when they vote for president in November.

Give and Take: AIG Bailout and Eli Broad

An education consultant is questioning whether the billionaire Eli Broad’s philanthropic and business decisions are inconsistent given his role at the insurance giant American International Group, or AIG, which was taken over by the U.S. government yesterday with an $85-billion buyout, notes a new post in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Prospecting: Surviving Wall Street's Woes

A Minneapolis fund-raising consultant offers several tips to help institutions in the midst of big fund-raising campaigns weather the latest Wall Street crisis, according to a new post in Prospecting, The Chronicle’s fund-raising column.

Plus: Dueling views on the value of donating in response to major disasters.

Correction: Capital Campaign at University of California's Berkeley Campus

An article in the San Francisco Chronicle summarized in Philanthropy Today on Wednesday inaccurately stated the campaign goal of the University of California at Berkeley. The campaign, to be announced Friday, seeks to raise a total of $3-billion by the time it concludes in five years. During the past three years, the university has raised more than $1-billion toward that goal as part of the campaign’s “quiet phase.”

September 17, 2008

Berkeley Plans $3-Billion Campaign

The University of California at Berkeley is planning on Friday to announce a $3-billion campaign to raise private funds, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

The campaign will provide scholarships for students, financial support for faculty and programs, and money for capital projects, the paper reports. The institution has already raised $1.24-billion toward its goal during a three-year quiet phase; the campaign is expected to take another five years to complete.

UC-Berkeley got about one-third of its budget in state funds for the 2007 fiscal year. But it is competing with heavily endowed private institutions for students — colleges that often can offer better financial-aid packages, the Chronicle reports.

“Even though we are a public institution, we will need the type of support that elite private institutions get,” the university’s chancellor, Robert Birgeneau, tells the paper.

Note: The university reported to The Chronicle of Philanthropy that the article by the San Francisco newspaper was incorrect in the figure it provided for the university’s goal. This item has been updated to reflect the accurate information.

Nonprofit Group Posts Controversial Essays by Head of 'Faith-Based' Office

Strongly worded essays written by Jedd Medefind were taken off of his personal Web site around the time he took a position in the Bush administration two years ago as head of the White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives, reports a column on the Los Angeles Times Web site.

In one of his essays, he said liberals operate with “a profound moral blindness,” the paper reports.

An organization that has called into question the faith-based office since its creation in 2001, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, has located some of Mr. Medefind’s essays using an online archive.

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Actors Donate $2-Million to Help Ethiopian Children

Actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have given $2-million to create a center for children affected by AIDS and tuberculosis in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, reports Agence France-Presse.

The couple is working with the nonprofit group Global Health Committee on the clinic, which will be named for their three-year-old adopted Ethiopian daughter, Zahara. This is the second such facility supported by Ms. Jolie and Mr. Pitt; the first was in Cambodia, the news agency reports.

“Our goal is to transfer the success we have had in Cambodia to Ethiopia, where people are needlessly dying of tuberculosis, a curable disease, and HIV/AIDS, a treatable disease,” Ms. Jolie, says.

Give and Take: Philanthropic Monkey Business?

A fund-raising consultant muses about the implications of last month’s findings by scientists from the Yerkes Research Center, in Atlanta, that capuchin monkeys show concern for others’ welfare and enjoy giving to their peers, notes a new post in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

From The Chronicle: Texas Court Rules in Planned-Gift Lawsuit

A Texas court is poised to rule on a lawsuit against the National Heritage Foundation, a Virginia charity that was one of the leading promoters of a controversial giving technique that was effectively abolished by a 1999 law, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

September 16, 2008

Donations Fall as Stock Market Plummets

As the stock market plummets to new lows, charities are feeling the brunt, as both corporations and the wealthy are curtailing their luxury spending and their charitable donations as never before, Reuters reports.

“This is the worst fund-raising environment I have worked in my 25-plus-year career in fund raising for nonprofit organizations,” said Jeff Towers, the chief fund raiser at the American Red Cross.

U.S. corporations donated an average of 1.5 percent of their pretax profits to charity in 2004, but that portion has since declined to 0.7 percent, said Mark Shamley, of the Association of Corporate Contribution Professionals, in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.

With the recent implosions by finance giants like Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch, the gloomy outlook for fund raising is likely to get worse as charitable donations from corporations have continued to decrease or remain flat, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s most recent survey of corporate giving.

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Red Cross Seeks $150-Million From Government

The American Red Cross said on Monday that it has asked Congress for $150-million in emergency money to shore up its disaster-relief reserves, after back-to-back Gulf Coast hurricanes have pushed the organization into deep debt, reports The Washington Post.

The request for federal aid is unusual for the 127-year-old charity, but it had to do the same in 2004, when four hurricanes hit Florida. The organization sought and received $70-million in federal aid that year but was able to return about half of that amount. Red Cross officials estimates it will spend more than $70-million on current hurricane-relief efforts.

Last week the organization kicked off a national campaign to recover those costs and has so far raised $10-million, said Suzy C. DeFrancis, a spokeswoman for the group.

See The Chronicle’s interview with the new chief executive and top fund raiser at the Red Cross.

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Conservation Groups Sue Federal Government

Three conservation groups are suing the federal government over a decision to give $350-million to forestry foundations, charging that the money illegally bypassed the U.S. Treasury and Congress, reports the Associated Press.

The lawsuit was filed last week in the U.S. District Court, in Seattle, against the office of the U.S. trade representative, the U.S. Commerce Department, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Plaintiffs included the Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation Northwest, and the Forest Stewardship Council-United States.

At the center of the case is $350-million in contributions made by Canada to settle a 2006 lumber trade dispute. Officials at the office of the U.S. Trade Representative chose which timber groups would receive the donations, and the conservation groups allege that since the money was distributed without congressional approval or public process, it was a form of money laundering.

Peter Goldman, director of the Washington Forest Law Center and a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the way the payments were made violated federal laws because money owed to the United States in the settlement of a lawsuit is supposed to go directly to the U.S. Treasury.

Gretchen Hamel, a spokeswoman for the U.S. trade representative, said that her office does not comment on pending litigation.

Steinberg Trust Establishes New Award for Playwrights

The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, in New York, has established the Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award, which trust officials said they established to make people aware of the importance of the theater to society, reports The New York Times.

The first of what the trust says will be an annual award will be presented tomorrow to Tony Kushner, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright behind the Broadway hit, Angels in America. The newly created prize amount is $200,000, the largest theater award in the country, and one of the biggest in the arts.

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Harvard Endowment Achieves Smaller Returns

Officials who run Harvard University’s endowment said Friday that the fund had earned an 8.6 percent return for the fiscal year that ended June 30, significantly less than the previous year’s 23-percent return, reports The New York Times.

Despite the smaller return, the endowment grew to $36.9-billion, up from $34.9-billion in the previous fiscal year. Harvard officials said that the endowment outperformed its internal goals, with many of its emerging-market holdings and private-equities holdings outperforming their benchmarks by about 3 percent.

Harvard also exceeded its goals for domestic, foreign, and inflation-indexed bonds. Other assets such as liquid commodities, timber and land, and real estate also beat the benchmarks by nearly 3 percent.

See how Harvard’s endowment compares with those of other nonprofit institutions in The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s recent report on endowment holdings at some of the county’s largest organizations.

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

From The Chronicle: Hurricane Relief

Relief groups say Hurricane Ike has left hundreds of thousands of people seeking food and shelter. But they worry donors will underestimate the needs because of what they call the ‘Katrina’ effect, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Government and Politics Watch: Nonprofit Hospitals

A top aide to U.S. Sen. Charles E. Grassley says the senator is considering legislation to tighten the rules on how nonprofit hospitals operate, notes Government and Politics Watch, The Chronicle’s online column.

Plus: A new Web effort encourages charities to rate Congressional candidates.

Prospecting: What's in a Name Change?

Will the decision by America’s Second Harvest to change its name harm fund raising at the group, asks a new post in Prospecting, The Chronicle’s fund-raising column.

From The Chronicle: Transcript of Today's Discussion on Volunteers

Read the transcript of today’s discussion on recruiting minorities to serve as volunteers.

From The Chronicle: Hospital Endowments

Nonprofit health-care organizations generated 8 percent on their investment assets last year, according to a new study whose results are summarized in The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

September 15, 2008

New Smithsonian Leader Plans to Carry Out Widespread Changes

The new chief executive of the Smithsonian hopes to curb the scandals that have plagued the institution as he faces the task of restoring faith in the organization and transforming its operations, reports The New York Times.

G. Wayne Clough, who previously served as president of the Georgia Institute of Technology, has undertaken measures to prevent future misconduct, the newspaper says. These days museum directors must have their travel plans approved by an undersecretary of the Smithsonian, the board holds four meetings a year instead of three, the inspector general reports directly to the board chairman instead of to the secretary, every new executive must have a background check, and ethics issues are frequently discussed by managers, the newspaper says.

Mr. Clough has resigned from three corporate boards he served on in order to avoid conflicts of interest. His salary of $490,000 is substantially less than his predecessor, Lawrence M. Small, who made $916,000 in 2007. Mr. Clough also pays his own rent and walks to work, whereas Mr. Small received a substantial housing allowance and had a chauffeur.

Mr. Clough is also seeking to raise more private money so the organization does not have to depend so much on government aid. The Smithsonian plans to conduct a fund-raising campaign next year.

Despite Mr. Clough’s efforts, criticism of the organization continues to get a high profile. Some critics say that the Smithsonian is compromising its mission by accepting research grants and donations from oil companies, reports The Washington Times.

Linda St. Thomas, a spokeswoman at the National Zoo, told the newspaper that the Smithsonian has nothing to hide and that oil companies have no control over scientific data.

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

Winners of Medical-Research Prizes Announced

Five scientists have won the Lasker Awards for medical research, reports The New York Times.

The awards are given in three categories: basic research, clinical research, and the special-achievement award in medical science. The prize in each category is $300,000.

Akira Endo, a Japanese scientist who discovered the first cholesterol-lowering statin drug, won the prize for clinical research.

Stanley Falkow, a microbiologist at Stanford University, won the special-achievement award for his work on disease-causing microbes.

The basic research award was shared by three scientists from the United States and England for their work on micro-RNA’s. The Americans are Victor R. Ambros, of the University of Massachusetts Medical School and Gary B. Ruvkun of Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston. The third recipient is David C. Baulcombe of the University of Cambridge.

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Oprah Winfrey Tops List of Most-Generous Celebrities

Oprah Winfrey has topped a list of the 30 most-generous celebrities for the second consecutive year, reports Reuters.

The list was compiled by the Giving Back Fund, an organization that helps athletes, entertainers, and other celebrities with their giving. Ms. Winfrey gave $50.2-million to causes related to education, health care, and advocacy for women and children through her foundation and Oprah’s Angel Network.

Second place went to Herb Alpert, a trumpeter and co-founder of A&M Records. Mr. Alpert donated $13-million to education. Barbra Streisand came in third, with $11-million given through her foundation to advocacy, AIDS research, civil rights, the environment, and women’s issues.

Ms. Winfrey’s donation of $50.2-million placed her at No. 37 on The Chronicle’s Philanthropy 50 list of the most-generous donors in America in 2007.

To learn more about gifts of $1-million or more announced in the past year, see The Chronicle’s extensive database.

D.C. Charities Concerned About Reduced Giving From Mortgage Companies

Many nonprofit organizations are fearful that after the federal takeover of the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two companies will scale back or eliminate their charitable giving, leaving some charities in the Washington area in dire straits, reports The Washington Post.

The two companies are the largest corporate donors in the Washington area, giving $47-million to charities, including food pantries, homeless shelters, scholarship programs, and social-service groups.

Chuck Bean, executive director of the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington, said the consequences would be devastating if Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reduced or stopped their giving programs. He said, “They are numbers one and two. Numbers three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and 10 are not prepared to pick up the slack. There’s going to be scores of unmet needs.”

The two companies have not yet announced changes in their giving.

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Budget Cuts and Delays Plague Peace Corps

Due to budgetary concerns, the Peace Corps is planning to cut 400 volunteer positions and, as a result, delay the deployment of nominees until next year — or, in some instances, indefinitely — reports the Los Angeles Times.

The Peace Corps has a budget of $330.8-million and is bracing itself for an $18-million shortfall over this fiscal year and the next due to the decreased value of the dollar and higher food and fuel costs.

Furthermore, the House Appropriations subcommittee that approves Peace Corps financing has supported the Bush administration’s request for $343.5-million for the program, but its Senate counterpart has approved $337-million. Until the budget is approved by both committees—which might not be until after the new president is inaugurated—the Peace Corps must make do with its current budget.

Rocio Enriquez, who was supposed to go overseas in September for the Peace Corps, is frustrated by the process. He said, “The Peace Corps application process is kind of like roulette — you don’t know what you’re going to get.”

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San Francisco Opera Receives $40-Million Gift

The San Francisco Opera has received a $40-million gift, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

The gift was made by the opera company’s board chairman, John A. Gunn, and his wife, Cynthia Fry Gunn. The gift will support new productions, multimedia projects, and outreach efforts, and $5-million will support the general director’s position.

Mr. Gunn is chief executive of Dodge and Cox Investment Managers.

From The Chronicle: Hurricane Relief

In the wake of Hurricane Ike’s destructive tear through Texas, relief groups continue to feed and shelter thousands of evacuees from Galveston, Houston, and other areas damaged by the storm, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

But many charities are concerned about how they will pay for their aid efforts, given that few have raised anywhere near the amount necessary to help victims of Hurricane Gustav alone.

Give and Take: Wall Street's Meltdown and Corporate Philanthropy

As Wall Street is rattled by the meltdown of the financial giants Merrill Lynch & Company and Lehman Brothers, the nonprofit world braced for what the fallout would mean for corporate giving, notes Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Plus: Sen. Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, are under attack for giving an average of $369 per year to charities during the past decade.

From The Chronicle: National Service Gets the Campaign Spotlight

Proponents of expanded national-service programs got a big lift from a high-profile conference last week, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Plus: New York Gov. David A. Paterson announced last week that he has created a cabinet position for national and community service.

From The Chronicle: New Foundation Seeks to Use Technology to Solve Social Problems

The inventor of the World-Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, this weekend announced plans for a new foundation to help promote the use of the Web for scientific research and to help ease the digital divide in developing nations, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

The foundation, which is scheduled to begin operations early next year, received a $5-million kick-off grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Online Discussion Tomorrow: How to Recruit a Diverse Mix of Volunteers

Join us tomorrow for a live online discussion at noon U.S. Eastern time to discuss ways to recruit a more diverse mix of volunteers.

You can share your ideas and pose questions to our experts. Joining us online will be:

Sandra Delgado Searl, director of Hispanic mentoring at Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, in Philadelphia

Margarita Rodriguez-Corriere, director of the Hispanic Initiative at Junior Achievement Rocky Mountain

The Chronicle’s online discussions are free and open to everyone. People who ask questions in advance have a better chance of getting answers.

See What's New in The Chronicle of Philanthropy

The Chronicle of Philanthropy this morning posted the contents of its latest issue online. To learn what’s in the latest edition, browse this guide.

September 12, 2008

Aid Groups Call Conditions in Haitian City 'Appalling'

Government officials and aid workers in Gonaives, Haiti, say the floods that have devastated the city and claimed hundreds of lives pose a growing health risk and potential for riots due to lack of clean water and food, reports Reuters.

The storms that have pounded Haiti in the past few weeks have triggered a national crisis, ruining infrastructure and crops. Gonaives is not the only city affected, but bringing aid to its 300,000 residents is only feasible by helicopter and boat since the storm destroyed bridges and cut off all roads leading to the area.

“There is a need for almost everything right now,” said Oxfam program director Charlie Rowley. “It’s food, very clearly. The hygiene situation is appalling. There is enormous overcrowding in the shelters,” he said. “The conditions in the [temporary] camps are appalling. Because of the flooding and the mud, there is nowhere to put people.”

Dallas Hospital Receives $80-Million in Pledges

Parkland Memorial Hospital officials announced Wednesday that almost $80-million in charitable pledges have been collected to help build Dallas County’s new public hospital, reports The Dallas Morning News.

Annette and Harold Simmons and their family will make a $50-million challenge grant, contingent on the Parkland Foundation’s commitment to raise an additional $100-million for the hospital over the next five years. Jan and Trevor Rees-Jones’s foundation pledged $25-million, contingent on the passage of the November 4 county bond issue for the new hospital.

Nearly $5-million has been pledged by several other contributors.

NEA Chairman Says He Will Step Down in 2009

Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, announced Friday that he will step down in January 2009, reports the Associated Press.

Upon his departure, Mr. Gioia, whose resignation comes well before his second four-year term was to end, will work part-time at the Aspen Institute, as well as resume his literary life as a poet.

“I have traveled nearly every week for six years, and I usually work six to seven days a week,” said Mr. Gioia. “I feel I’ve earned the right to return to my private life as an artist.”

Red Cross President Tackles Debt and Disasters

The American Red Cross’s recently appointed president, Gail J. McGovern, has had to move quickly to try to help the charity recover from debt as it responds to the latest series of storms, reports The Washington Post.

“Everyone says, ‘Boy, this is trial by fire,’” said Ms. McGovern, in a recent interview at the Disaster Operations Center. “No, this is trial by hurricane.” Her chief priority is raising money, and this week the organization began a $100-million campaign to recover the $70-million that it had to take out in loans to aid evacuees of Hurricane Gustav and to replenish the disaster fund.

“I would like to live in a world where we’re not fund raising episodically with each storm,” said Ms. McGovern. “Our mission is so much bigger than these epic storms. Our mission is to be there for the American people every day.”

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Columbia U. Emphasizes Service Requirements in Pitch to Students

Columbia University’s effort to integrate volunteer service into its curriculum by offering students credit for the donated hours they spend on community projects has become a highlight of the university’s pitch to prospective students, reports The New York Times.

For the past six years, service learning has been a requirement for all of the university’s engineering majors, and other academic departments are now considering following suit in what experts point to as one of just a few programs nationwide that have mandatory service requirements for graduation.

“We obviously want to create engineers and applied scientists who are technically adept but also effective in this global society,” said Jack McGourty, associate dean of Columbia’s Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. “We want to create students who are socially aware.”

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Government and Politics Watch: Senator Biden's Charitable Giving

Sen. Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, have given an average of $369 per year to charities during the past decade, according to tax returns posted today on Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign Web site, The Chronicle’s Government and Politics Watch column reports.

From The Chronicle: Presidential Candidates Speak Up on National Service

The Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama both said on Thursday night that they support efforts to expand the country’s national-service programs. But Senator McCain, the Republican contender, said he was wary about too much government involvement, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Prospecting: Event Planner Questions Cancer Telethon's Planning

A professional event organizer says that last week’s widely broadcast cancer telethon — while an admirable undertaking — was poorly organized and, as a result, raised far less money than it could have, reports Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online fund-raising column.

Give and Take: Predictions for End-of-Year Donations

A nonprofit consultant makes predictions for what the nonprofit world will experience in November and December, the two months when giving in America is usually highest because of the holiday season and the approaching conclusion of the tax year, notes a new post in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best posts about the nonprofit world.

Online Discussion Next Week: Recruiting a Diverse Mix of Volunteers

Mark your calendar for our online discussion next Tuesday on how to recruit a more diverse mix of volunteers.

As minority groups grow in proportion to the United States population, charities are increasingly serving more people with diverse backgrounds. In many cases, though, these same charities are relying heavily on volunteers who do not share the cultural backgrounds of the people they serve.

How can your charity overcome this divide? What are other nonprofit groups doing to recruit a more diverse mix of volunteers? And why are these efforts important?

Join us on Tuesday, Sept. 16, at noon U.S. Eastern time, when our guests will be:

Sandra Delgado Searl, director of Hispanic mentoring at Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America, in Philadelphia

Margarita Rodriguez-Corriere, director of the Hispanic Initiative at Junior Achievement Rocky Mountain

The Chronicle’s online discussions are free and open to everyone. People who ask questions in advance have a better chance of getting answers.

September 11, 2008

Bill Clinton Investigates 9/11 Scholarship Fund Complaints

Former President Bill Clinton is working with a college scholarship fund for relatives of those who died in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, in response to criticism that it has not given out enough aid, report the Associated Press.

The Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund, which has raised more than $128-million, has given $27.3-million to nearly 1,000 students through this past June and signed up thousands more children to receive college aid once they are old enough.

In recent years, however, some families have said that the fund’s administrator, Scholarship America, in Minneapolis, is doling out grants that are too meager. They have also complained about bureaucratic hurdles and unexplained changes in the awards from year to year.

“There are a lot of real problems here,” Mr. Clinton said Wednesday in a speech. He called for more “transparency and accountability” in the program. “From my point of view, this is your money,” he said to the families. He was scheduled to meet that evening with representatives of Scholarship for America.

Scholarship for America spokeswoman Janine Krantz Fugate said the fund has performed well and was never intended to cover all college expenses, only those not covered through families’ savings and traditional student loans.

In related news, Mr. Clinton has been named to succeed his White House predecessor, George H.W. Bush, as chairman of the nonprofit National Constitution Center, in Philadelphia, according to the Associated Press.

Birthright Israel Gets $30-Million Pledge

The Adelson Family Foundation, in Las Vegas, has pledged $30-million to the Birthright Israel Foundation, in New York, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

The gift is the latest given by Sheldon G. Adelson, chairman of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, and his wife, Miriam Adelson, to the charity, which supports trips to Israel for young Jewish adults. The Adelsons have given nearly $100-million in the past two years to Birthright Israel.

The latest pledge will be paid in two installments, with $20-million being given next year and the remainder in 2010, said Michael Bohnen, president of the Adelson Foundation.

In the statement, Mr. Adelson — whose net worth was estimated last year by Forbes magazine at $28-billion, making him the third richest American — said the gift was intended to challenge other donors to give to the charity despite difficult economic times.

Portland State U. Gets $25-Million 'Sustainability' Grant

Portland State University, in Oregon, has received a $25-million grant from the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation, earmarked for research and education on “sustainability” issues, such as finding better ways for people and nature to coexist, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The gift, the largest in the university’s history, comes with a condition: The institution must raise an equal amount for sustainability programs within the next decade.

The foundation had long been planning to give Portland State the gift, said Wim Wiewel, the university’s president, but the academic institution chose the field of study for which they wished to receive support.

Mr. Wiewel, whose own research work has largely been in the area of urban planning, said the focus on sustainability will help Portland State form stronger ties to its home city.

Seattle Orchestra's Conductor to Step Down

Gerard Schwarz, music director of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra for two decades, has said he will quit the job at the end of his contract in 2011, according to The New York Times.

Mr. Schwarz, who is credited with helping the orchestra achieve national prominence, said he wanted to go out on top.

“The orchestra sounds great,” he said. “The audience is huge, supportive, a phenomenal community. We balanced the budget again for a second year running. We’re making records. If you’re going to go, this is the time to go, when you’re on track.”

The orchestra announced it would name Mr. Schwartz conductor laureate and guarantee him several weeks of concerts a year. It also recognized his prowess as a fund raiser by planning an endowment campaign to coincide with his last three years as music director. The goal for the endowment, which currently stands at $30-million, is $100-million.

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Opinion: 9/11 Fund Head Opposes Government Payouts to Future Victims

While the government’s decision to pay 5,560 victims a total of $7-billion was the right thing to do, it was a unique case that should not be repeated for those who suffer in other disasters or attacks, writes the former administrator of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund in a commentary published by The Washington Post.

“Cold though it may sound, this is as it should be,” writes Kenneth R. Feinberg. “Bad things happen to good people every day; Congress does not come to their financial rescue with generous, tax-free checks.”

Americans, he writes, are taught by their history that “we all must take our chances in life. Private insurance is available to guard against uncertainties. So is private charity, and it is notable that the American people donated $2.5-billion to help victims of the September 11 attacks.”

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Government and Politics Watch: IRS Releases New Form 990-EZ

The Internal Revenue Service today released the latest version of its Form 990-EZ, the short version of its informational tax form for groups with 2008 receipts of less than $1-million, reports The Chronicle’s Government and Politics Watch column.

Prospecting: Lessons From the Pentagon Memorial

The Pentagon Memorial, which opens to the public today, succeeded in overcoming setbacks thanks to its defined plan and straightforward fund-raising approach, notes an item in Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online fund-raising column.

Give and Take: "Mad Men" and Corporate Giving

The television show “Mad Men” may provide a history lesson on corporate giving, according to a new post in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best posts about the nonprofit world.

Plus: Exploring what the federal government’s takeover of mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae means for philanthropy.

From The Chronicle: What Wealthy Donors Want

Wealthy donors say they understand why charities need money for operating expenses, a new study has found, and they are willing to provide it, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

From The Chronicle: Rebuilding Shattered Lives

The Survivors’ Fund, set up to help victims of the 2001 attack on the Pentagon, became a model for such efforts by offering people more than just money to see them through their recovery, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

September 10, 2008

Board Members Sue Embattled Advocacy Group

Two board members of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now — or Acorn — are heading to court to get the organization to turn over its financial records, The New York Times reports.

The suit comes after revelations this summer that the brother of Acorn founder Wade Rathke had embezzled more than $1-million from the organization.

The Times reports that the two board members, Marcel Reid and Karen Inman, are also looking to force Acorn to cut all ties with Mr. Rathke, whom they allege is still overseeing the group’s employees and its expenditures.

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Metropolitan Museum Picks New Director

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has selected its own Thomas P. Campbell, a tapestries curator who has been at the museum since 1995, to be its next director and chief executive, reports The New York Times.

Mr. Campbell, 46, will succeed Philippe de Montebello on January 1, after Mr. de Montebello’s retirement as director, a position he has held for 31 years, the paper reports. The museum’s search for a new leader was done with the utmost of secrecy, the paper reports, and the board selected Mr. Campbell over other finalists that included two Met curators who outrank him.

“Clearly we wanted a scholar and art historian who is respected in his field, has a keen intellect, and can be decisive,” James R. Houghton, chairman of the Met, tells the Times.

Mr. Campbell’s selection was the right choice, according to The Wall Street Journal’s Leisure and Arts features editor, Eric Gibson, who points out in his column that Mr. Campbell’s background is in curating, not business or management. The board’s selection shows that it does not want to “tamper” with the progress made by Mr. de Montebello, Mr. Gibson writes.

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Economy Prompts Charities to Consider Mergers

More nonprofit organizations are considering mergers to respond to financial challenges in a tough economy, reports The Providence Journal.

Two affiliates of the national Planned Parenthood organization, in Rhode Island and Connecticut, recently started planning a merger, the paper reports.

“Partnering between affiliates and sharing administrative costs is becoming essential in this economy; few Planned Parenthood affiliates of our size have survived without this kind of linkage,” John R. Morton, chairman of the board of the Rhode Island affiliate, wrote to his supporters in a letter.

Meanwhile, United Way of Rhode Island created a mergers-and-acquisition fund to help organizations, the Journal reports.

“We are trying to get good programs to stay up,” the United Way’s president, Anthony Maione, tells the paper. “There will be continued streamlining.”

Thrift Stores Face New Challenges

Thrift stores across the country are experiencing an increased demand for their products and a drop in the level of donations, reports The New York Times.

More people are holding on to their old clothes or trying to make money from these and other items by selling them online, the Salvation Army tells the paper. That organization has seen sales increase 5 to 15 percent, while donations are down 10 to 25 percent.

Because of the trend, the Salvation Army is preparing an advertising campaign to draw more donations, the paper reports.

“We’re going to be more aggressive about marketing,” says George Hood, national community-relations and development secretary for the Salvation Army. “Instead of operating like a charity, we now know we have to operate like a real retailer.”

At Goodwill Industries International, which has 2,200 thrift stores, sales were up more than 6 percent for the first seven months of 2008 over the same time period in 2007. Donations for that time period were up 10.7 percent nationally at Goodwill stores, though they were down by 5 percent at the charity’s stores in New York and Northern New Jersey.

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Fund Offers Help to Pay Immigrants' Bonds

A new national bond-assistance fund has been started to help immigrant workers who are increasingly being detained for working illegally in the United States, reports The Washington Post.

The National Immigrant Bond Fund, started by the Boston businessman Robert Hildreth, was established after a recent increase in workplace arrests of immigrant workers, the paper reports. In 2002 there were just 512 such raids, but that number has grown to nearly 5,000 a year.

The fund offers to pay up to half of an immigrant’s bond, giving immigrants a financial incentive to show up in court — something many in the past had opted not to do because of the difficulty of finding legal representation, the Post reports.

One critic of the fund, Mark Krikorian, of the Center for Immigration Studies, says the fund’s goal is to “obstruct enforcement of immigration law until Congress passes an amnesty.”

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Government and Politics Watch: Senator Requests New Disclosures for Colleges

Sen. Charles E. Grassley on Tuesday called on officials at the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Treasury Department to develop an addition to the Form 990 that would be specifically geared to colleges and universities, according to The Chronicle’s Government and Politics Watch column.

Prospecting: How Charities Use Technology to Find Donors

A new study commissioned by The Chronicle of Philanthropy finds that large charities are much more likely than small groups to use screening tools to help them find donors, reports Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online fund-raising column.

Plus: How to gauge the effectiveness of planned-giving fund raisers.

Give and Take: Taking On the Stereotype of 'Community Organizers'

As the debate over Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s remarks at the Republican Convention about community organizing continues, the president of an antipoverty advocacy group attempts to break the stereotype about who community organizers really are, according to a new post in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best posts about the nonprofit world.

From The Chronicle: Companies Pledge $400-Million in Donated Service

As part of a new campaign by the Corporation for National and Community Service, companies have promised to give employees time off — worth more than $400-million — for volunteer work that puts their business skills to use, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

One of the companies, the IBM Corporation, has pledged an additional $250-million worth of donated employee time over three years as part of its Services Corps program, which sends employees to developing countries to volunteer and build leadership skills, reports the Associated Press.

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Get Ahead: Deadlines for Grants and Awards

You can get an early look at the deadlines for grants and awards compiled by The Chronicle. We have posted on our Web site all the application deadlines that will appear in our September 18 issue.

You will also find an updated list of conferences and workshops designed for nonprofit executives.

September 09, 2008

'Stand Up to Cancer' Event Raises $100-Million

Officials at the Entertainment Industry Foundation, in Los Angeles, say their Stand Up to Cancer celebrity fund-raising event has helped to raise $100-million for research on cancer treatment, reports Reuters.

Foundation officials said the television show was also seen in more than 170 nations. The effort, which was started by the foundation in May, is focused on accelerating research into new cancer treatments and diminishing cancer’s standing as a leading cause of death.

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Heinz Foundation Announces Annual Award Winners

The Heinz Family Foundation, in Pittsburgh, has tapped Joseph DeRisi, a molecular biologist who is searching for a cure for malaria, as one of five people named Heinz Award winners today, reports the Associated Press.

The annual $250,000 prize is given to people who make important contributions in the arts and humanities; the environment; the human condition; public policy; or technology, the economy, or employment.

Other winners include Thomas FitzGerald, of Louisville, Ky., who founded the Kentucky Resources Council; Robert Greenstein, of Washington, who founded the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; Ann Hamilton, of Columbus, Ohio, who is an artist and a professor of art at Ohio State University; and Brenda Krause Eheart, of Champaign, Ill., who founded Generations of Hope and Hope Meadows, housing programs for foster children, their adoptive parents, and elderly people.

Board Member of Private School Ousted

An alumnus of the Phillips Exeter Academy, in N.H., has successfully ousted the vice president of the school’s board of trustees, Paul Goldenheim, according to the Boston Globe.

Dr. Goldenheim was a vice president and chief medical officer at Purdue Pharma, in Stamford, Conn., when he and the company pleaded guilty to charges of “misbranding” the company’s painkiller OxyContin. The government convicted Purdue of playing down the addictive qualities of the drug.

Before the sentencing, Mr. Goldenheim offered to resign from the academy’s board. When trustees declined to remove him, an Exeter alumnus, whom the newspaper did not name, contacted other Exeter graduates to protest Mr. Goldenheim’s involvement on the board.

Neither the president of the board, Charles Harris, nor Dr. Goldenheim were willing to comment on the matter, the newspaper reported.

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Universities Pushed to Spend Endowments on Tuition Aid

Federal lawmakers met with 24 college presidents on Monday to push colleges and universities to justify their tax exemptions by spending more of their endowments on tuition assistance for needy students, reports The New York Times.

Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, pointed out that tax exemptions for universities in the 2007 fiscal year amounted to more than $17-billion — which, he said, leads him to question whether universities were doing enough for society. He cited a survey finding that showed that in 2007, universities spent only 4.6 percent of their assets but earned an average return of 17.2 percent.

Although Mr. Grassley has suggested in the past that the wealthiest universities spend 5 percent of their endowments each year, as private foundations are currently required to do, he stopped short of saying he was planning any specific legislation on the topic.

Instead he thanked those colleges that have already increased the amount they spend on student aid, reports The Chronicle of Higher Education, and offered a suggestion: “I would like to encourage you folks to look inward and see what could be self-corrected, and that would make everyone’s job a lot easier.”

Read The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s most recent survey of endowment assets. Also see a look at questions members of Congress are raising about all wealthy nonprofit institutions.

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Give and Take: How Politicians Choose Charity Beneficiaries

How can politicians know which charities are most worthy of disaster funds, asks a new post in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best posts about the nonprofit world.

Plus: A dust-up over a product endorsement is causing problems for an environmental charity.

Prospecting: Choosing a Charity

A new Web site enables individual donors to get a customized list of charities that match their interests, reports Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online fund-raising column.

Online Discussion: Building a Better Annual Report

Read the transcript of our discussion today on ways to create better annual reports.

From The Chronicle: Roadblocks to Increased Volunteerism

Seventy-three percent of adults ages 44 to 79 volunteered for an organization in the past year, but significant barriers remain to tapping the full potential of these “experienced Americans,” according to a study commissioned by the AARP, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

September 08, 2008

Religious Officials Oppose Move by Churches to Challenge IRS

A group of Christian and Jewish clergy members have organized to oppose a move by some churches to break Internal Revenue Service tax laws by giving politically explicit sermons, reports The Washington Post.

The Alliance Defense Fund, a socially conservative nonprofit legal consortium in Scottsdale, Ariz., is taking on the IRS by asking several dozen pastors to give sermons on September 28 in which they openly endorse or oppose political candidates.

Under the IRS code, nonprofit, tax-exempt entities may not “participate in, or intervene in, … any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office.”

The Alliance Defense Fund wants to trigger an IRS investigation into the churches where the sermons are given; the group then plans to challenge in federal court whether the government has the right to deny clergy members a chance to speak out freely.

Christian and Jewish leaders opposing the Alliance Defense Fund’s effort will petition the IRS to stop the protest before it starts and investigate the fund’s tax-exempt status, reports the newspaper. The clergy members, who are supported by a former IRS lawyer, Marcus S. Owens, are also calling on churches to give sermons on the separation of church and state on September 21.

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Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac May Cut Giving, Nonprofit Groups Fear

The federal government’s takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is worrying nonprofit groups that have benefited from the mortgage companies’ philanthropy in the past, reports The Washington Post.

Freddie Mac and its foundation have donated more than $348-million to groups in the District of Columbia, and Fannie Mae and its foundation have given more than $1-billion to education, low-cost housing, education, and economic-development programs. But Fannie Mae dissolved its foundation last year, and leaders at Washington nonprofit groups are concerned that under the takeover, government officials will cut the mortgage companies’ giving in an effort to cut costs.

“I don’t suspect the government will take up their slack,” says Bo Sims, a staff member at D.C. Central Kitchen.

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Woman With Multiple Sclerosis Encourages Giving

A woman suffering from multiple sclerosis is using her Web site, 29gifts.org, to encourage people to give their money and time to help others, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

Cami Walker engaged in a ritual of giving 29 gifts away over 29 days to take her mind off her sickness and despair. When she found that the ritual made her feel better, she created her Web site to challenge 2,000 people to perform the giving ritual, reports the newspaper. So far, more than 1,300 people have pledged to make such efforts.

Hunger Organization Changes Name

America’s Second Harvest, a nationwide organization of more than 200 food banks that provide food and related items to needy people, has changed its name to Feeding America, reports the group’s Web site.

The group’s new name is an effort to familiarize the American public with the group and the issue of hunger, reports the Web site.

Opinion: Examining Obama's Plan to Help Religious Groups

Senator Obama’s plans to expand President Bush’s effort to help religious groups has drawn criticism from both liberals and conservatives, but the plan could work if it required religious groups that receive government funds to work with religious communities from faiths different than their own, write Matthew Weiner and Travis Rejman in The Huffington Post.

This would allow the program to keep religious groups from proselytizing, or serving only their own, and would keep the spirit of church and state separation, because it would keep any one church from exerting too much influence over the government, write Mr. Weiner, who is director of programming at the Interfaith Center of New York, and Mr. Rejman, who is executive director of the Goldin Institute, in Chicago.

From The Chronicle: National Service Gets the Campaign Spotlight

The presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama will join a two-day conference on national service this week, to be sponsored by the Carnegie Corporation and Time magazine.

The Chronicle examines the issues in a detailed article and offers an opinion article from our columnist Leslie Lenkowsky asking whether national service has proved it deserves an expansion in government spending.

In addition, in a column available only to our online readers, Paul Light makes recommendations on what the next President can do that will make a difference in promoting national service. We hope you will add your suggestions to the debate.

Government and Politics Watch: The Debate Over Sarah Palin's Jab at Community Organizers

A spirited debate has erupted on The Chronicle’s Government and Politics Watch column after Sarah Palin’s dig at the achievements of community organizers. We excerpt several new articles about the debate she touched off, plus you’ll want to join in the discussion with our readers.

Online Discussion Tomorrow: Creating a Better Annual Report

Join The Chronicle online tomorrow at noon U.S. Eastern time for a live online discussion on ways to build a better annual report.

How can your organization get more mileage out of its annual report? What are some creative ways to present it to donors and supporters? How can your organization use online tools to present its annual report in new ways?

Join two experts — Kivi Leroux Miller, a marketing consultant and Ken Grunke, a charity fund raiser — who will take those questions and answer many others.

The Chronicle’s online discussions are free and open to everyone. People who ask questions in advance have a better chance of getting answers.

September 05, 2008

University Offers Bonuses for Professors

To improve its status, retention rate, and fund raising, Kent State University is paying cash bonuses to faculty members if the university exceeds its goals in those areas, reports The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The bonuses are built into a contract, approved last month, that covers 864 full-time, tenure-track faculty members who teach and do research on any of the university’s eight campuses.

The message behind the institutional-performance bonuses, which are much more common in private industry and for university presidents than for professors, is that faculty members should benefit from the work they do that influences a university’s success, said Lester A. Lefton, Kent State’s president.

The “success bonus pool” will be divided among faculty members if the Ohio institution improves retention rates for first-year students and increases the research dollars it generates and the amount of private money raised through its foundation.

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United Way Board Chairman Resigns Amid Investigation of Former CEO's Pay

Graham Denton, the chairman of the board of the United Way in Charlotte, N.C., has stepped down after a local news investigation revealed a $2-million retirement package paid to the charity’s former chief executive, Gloria Pace King, reports WCNC.

Mr. Denton was a member of the executive committee that approved Ms. King’s multimillion-dollar retirement package. Since a board meeting last week, at least three United Way board members have resigned, including Anne Caulkins, publisher of The Charlotte Observer. Carlos Evans, Wachovia’s Executive Vice President, will take over as chairman.

A story in The Charlotte Observer reported earlier this week that local United Way board members are concerned that the retirement package they approved for Ms. King might be a violation of Internal Revenue Service rules that regulate compensation for charity leaders.

Watchdog Groups Monitor Convention Partying

To better monitor social functions sponsored by companies and lobbyists for public officials at political conventions, watchdog groups deployed staff members to crash parties held during the Democratic convention in Denver last week and the Republican convention in St. Paul this week, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Before the conventions began, activists from several nonpartisan government-watchdog groups agreed to collaborate to look for violations of rules established by Congress last year that restrict corporate-sponsored socializing in Washington and at the political conventions.

“The parties, frankly, are where a lot of the action is,” said Nancy Watzman, who works for the Sunlight Foundation, a Washington charity that aims to make the business of governing more transparent. “I’ve seen every single example of all the loopholes in the ethics law here.”

New Charity's Founder Draws Scrutiny

The self-described “nonprofit entrepreneur” Roger Chapin has drawn Congressional scrutiny with his newest charity, the Make America Safe Foundation, which includes among its goals efforts to “wake up the country to the grave peril posed by radical Islamists,” reports Forbes.

Paperwork filed by the organization states that Mr. Chapin’s San Diego home will serve as the headquarters for the new group, which was incorporated last fall in Washington and has received tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service.

Mr. Chapin, who will serve as the group’s unpaid president, did not respond to a request for comment, the magazine said.

In addition to the new group, Mr. Chapin operates the charities Help Hospitalized Veterans, in Winchester, Calif., and the Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes Foundation, in Ossining, N.Y. Earlier this year, Mr. Chapin testified before a U.S. House committee and received criticism for how much of the groups’ incomes were spent on fund-raising and direct mail.

Rival News Anchors Team Up to Raise Funds for Cancer Research

CBS evening news anchor Katie Couric will be joined by ABC anchor Charles Gibson and NBC anchor Brian Williams on a commercial-free special tonight called Stand Up to Cancer that will air on all three networks to raise money for cancer research, reports the Los Angeles Times.

All three anchors have lost family members to cancer and will use tonight’s program to report on research efforts and raise support for new cancer therapies. The special is part of an ongoing public-awareness campaign by Ms. Couric, whose husband, Jay Monahan, died of colon cancer.

“It’s all about collaboration,” said Ms. Couric. “Collaboration among the networks, collaboration among cancer researchers all around the country. And ultimately, the collaboration of the American people, who can unite behind a single cause that affects so many people.”

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Government and Politics Watch: Charities Protest Remark by Gov. Palin

A civil-rights group and others are protesting Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s jab at community organizers during her speech at the Republican National Convention, reports Government and Politics Watch, a Chronicle online column.

Plus: The Republican platform includes a plank for ‘faith-based’ groups.

Online Discussion Next Week: Creating a Better Annual Report

Mark your calendar for our online discussion next Tuesday on how to create a better annual report.

Too often, groups waste valuable time and money producing reports that aren’t read and that fail to meet even their most basic goals.

As a result, some marketing experts are advising charities to rethink the way they produce annual reports. And with the growth of online marketing, some groups are finding new and creative ways to communicate with their supporters without producing costly, bulky reports.

Experts will be available to answer these and other questions about how to create a better annual report. More information about the discussion, to be held Tuesday, Sept. 9, at noon U.S. Eastern time, is available at http://philanthropy.com/live.

From The Chronicle: Updates on Storm-Related Relief Efforts

As disaster-relief groups prepare for hurricanes and tropical storms that could reach U.S. coastal areas next week, many are concerned that donations will fall far short of the cost of relief operations, based on anemic contributions so far, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Meanwhile, relief workers in the most-damaged parts of Southern Louisiana say the need for food and shelter there could stretch on for weeks after Hurricane Gustav, and some residents are being told to expect no electricity until October.

From The Chronicle: The McCains Urge Americans to Seek Out Service Roles

In their speeches at the Republican National Convention Thursday night, Sen. John McCain and his wife, Cindy, made strong appeals for Americans to get involved in charity work and public service, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

September 04, 2008

Economy Causing Older Donors to Cut Back Gifts, Study Finds

The troubled economy is causing more older donors to cut back their giving this fall, while younger people plan to step up their giving, finds a new study by the Grizzard Communications Group, a direct-marketing firm that works with nonprofit organizations. The results of the study were distributed on Business Wire.

The company said its study found that donors ages 25 to 34 are more likely to increase their giving to charitable organizations this fall while those over the age of 65 were more likely to say they will give less.

Of all respondents, 44 percent say they will contribute the same amount to charity compared to what they gave last fall. Almost 30 percent of all respondents say they plan to give less to charitable efforts, and about a quarter say they plan to stop giving altogether.

European Foundation’s Funds Can’t Be Frozen Without a Hearing

The European Court of Justice has ruled that the assets of a foundation suspected of collaborating with terrorists cannot be frozen until the organization has received a chance to clear its name, reports the Financial Times.

The Al Barakaat International Foundation, which was established in Sweden by the Saudi businessman Yassin Abdullah Kadi, had its funds frozen by the European Union because the foundation’s name and because Mr. Kadi’s name appeared on a United Nations list of those with suspected ties to Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaeda, or the Taliban.

European Court judges said that the rights of the foundation and of Mr. Kadi had not been given due respect and that the European Union had not put forth evidence that justified the inclusion of names on the list.

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EBay Starts Socially Responsible Retail Site

EBay, the online auction company, has started a Web site to sell goods produced with social and environmental goals in mind, reports the Associated Press.

WorldofGood.com will sell fixed-price products that have a positive effect on suppliers and the planet, such as fair-trade jewelry and housewares made from renewable sources like bamboo. The nonprofit groups Rainforest Alliance and Co-op America will screen sellers and verify items listed on the site, reports the news service.

Give and Take: 'On the Spot' Marketing

Reaching donors with the right message at the right time is essential, says a new post in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog items about the nonprofit world.

Prospecting: Are Charities Too Focused on Consumer Needs?

Are charities doing too much to encourage donors to focus on their own needs — instead of those of others — asks a new post in Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online column about fund raising.

From The Chronicle: $400-Million Grant Announced

The philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad announced this morning that their foundation is awarding $400-million to a biomedical research institute, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

From The Chronicle: Inside Look at a Red Cross Relief Effort

For Kay W. Wilkins, chief executive of the Southeast Louisiana chapter of the American Red Cross, Hurricane Gustav was a chance to test changes that her charity has made in the three years since Katrina devastated the region. The Chronicle spent a day with Ms. Wilkins reviewing what went right — and what still needs work.

September 03, 2008

Churches' Online Messages Face New Scrutiny

As churches increasingly use the Internet to spread their message, the Internal Revenue Service has created new guidelines to explain that such communication will be treated the same as print material or broadcast sermons, reports The New York Times.

The primary concern is that sermons may cross into politics, which could threaten a church’s charitable tax status, the newspaper says.

“Webcasting” — which can include video of sermons on YouTube or recorded for a church’s Web site — is more public and accessible by watchdog groups, which can file complaints with the IRS if they believe a church has expressed support or opposition to candidates for public office.

For example, the charitable tax status of a ministry overseen by Bill Keller, a televangelist who said earlier this year on his Web site that a vote for Mitt Romney was “a vote for Satan,” is now being reviewed by the IRS after a blogger complained about the comment.

“What we are learning is that you can preach to the choir and say anything you want to people who think just like you do,” said Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, an author and blogger, “or you can preach to the world and accept certain limits.”

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Olympian Michael Phelps Plans to Start a Foundation

The Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps will use a $1-million bonus from the Speedo company to start a foundation to promote youth swimming, reports the Associated Press.

Speedo, which has sponsored Mr. Phelps since he was 16, promised him the $1-million if he tied or broke Mark Spitz’s record for most gold medals at a single Olympics.

Mr. Phelps plans to open the foundation bearing his name with an eight-city tour.

Speedo has promised to donate an additional $200,000 to the foundation, reports the news service.

Guggenheim Narrows In on New Director

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation will most likely name Richard Armstrong as its new director later this month, replacing Thomas R. Krens, who resigned in February, reports The New York Times.

Mr. Armstrong, who is the leading candidate for the position, was formerly the director of the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh and has worked at the Whitney Museum of American Art, in New York, in a variety of positions.

Mr. Armstrong would be responsible for running the Guggenheim Museum, in New York, as well as satellite museums in Berlin, Venice, and Bilbao, Spain, as well as its new branch in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, which is expected to open in 2013.

Mr. Krens had been a controversial director of the foundation, drawing criticism for focusing too much on Guggenheim museums in other countries and dipping into the foundation’s endowment to cover operating costs, reports the newspaper.

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Congo Plane Carrying Aid Workers Crashes

A plane carrying 17 United Nations and other aid workers has crashed into a mountain in eastern Congo, and a United Nations spokesperson says he fears all passengers on board are dead, reports The New York Times.

The plane went down during a storm on Monday and rescuers have been unable to reach the steep and thickly forested crash site. Congo has one of the world’s worst records for air safety, reports the newspaper.

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From The Chronicle: Aid Groups Apply Lessons From Hurricane Katrina

A firsthand look at a shelter in Jackson, Miss., following Hurricane Gustav finds that aid groups have largely avoided many of the problems that plagued the response to Hurricane Katrina three years ago, both because of preparations made in advance of the storm and because the hurricane did less damage than predicted, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

But charity volunteers and staff members are already looking ahead to the potential problems that could be caused by three big storms in the Atlantic that forecasters say could bring trouble to America’s coastal regions in the next week or so.

Government and Politics Watch: Senator Grills Two Hospitals for Details

Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, is turning up the heat on two tax-exempt hospitals, demanding information about their nonprofit status, billing practices, and the kinds of patients they serve, reports Government and Politics Watch, a Chronicle online column.

Plus: A bill that would increase the mileage deduction for volunteers gains momentum in the Senate.

Give and Take: Vanity and Philanthropy

Vanity Fair has shaken up its annual list of the 100 most powerful people in the world by including leaders in the nonprofit world, says a new post in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Join the Debates: Upholding a Donor's Intentions

News that Leona M. Helmsley left most of her fortune, worth at least $4-billion, to benefit the care of dogs has touched off much controversy about philanthropy and public policy.

Two Chronicle columnists — Pablo Eisenberg and Leslie Lenkowsky — will debate the issue in person on Friday, Sept. 5, at noon Eastern time, along with other experts, at a lunch session sponsored by the Hudson Institute’s Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal.

Joining them will be Ray D. Madoff, a professor at Boston College, and Judge Robert H. Bork.

Readers of Philanthropy Today are encouraged to participate in this free session in person or to send e-mail questions and comments for The Chronicle’s editor, Stacy Palmer, to pose when she moderates the debate.

For more information, see the Bradley Center’s Web site.

September 02, 2008

Smithsonian to Reduce Pay for Top Executives

In the wake of compensation scandals that have beset the Smithsonian Institution, the organization has decided to lower the pay of at least 17 executives five years from now, reports the Associated Press.

After news reports spotlighted the fact that Lawrence M. Small, the Smithsonian’s former secretary, earned $916,000 in 2007 and charged the organization for housekeeping, repairs to his swimming pool, and a number of other expenses, the Smithsonian has undertaken efforts to reform its structure and ethics.

The projected cuts may range from $6,000 to $80,000 each in base salaries. The chief financial officer position may have a pay cut of as much as $120,000, or 41 percent less than the current salary earned by Alice Maroni, chief financial officer.

The Smithsonian is waiting five years to make salary changes because, officials say, it wants to prevent current leaders from leaving. The institution decided to reduce pay, said officials, to bring them more in line with similar positions elsewhere in the federal government.

Some believe that the Smithsonian has not done enough to overhaul its pay scales. Wayne Clough, the current secretary of the Smithsonian, earns more than $500,000 per year.

Pablo Eisenberg, a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Public Policy Institute and a regular contributor to The Chronicle of Philanthropy, tells the Associated Press, “One has to ask, what’s the logic of paying Clough $500,000 and then paying the others so much less?”

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Jerry Lewis Telethon Raises $65-Million

The annual Labor Day telethon for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, featuring the comedian Jerry Lewis, raised $65-million, reports the Associated Press.

The telethon also asked people to donate for victims of Hurricane Gustav. The event raised $1.2-million more than last year.

Mr. Lewis was surprised by the total, given the state of the economy. “Each year I tell myself, ‘This has got to be it. There’s no way we can do better,’ he said. “Then, the following year, I’m astounded to see that generosity driven by love and compassion has a greater capacity than I thought possible.”

Kresge Foundation's Investment Strategy Yields Big Returns

The Kresge Foundation’s investment approach has been highly successful, outpacing most large foundations and endowments, reports The Wall Street Journal.

The foundation embraces investments in small funds, shuns consultants, and seeks overlooked specialty investments.

The grant maker, in Troy, Mich., earned a return of 9.3 percent for its fiscal year ending in June. On average, foundations and endowments with assets totaling at least $1-billion earned returns of 4.7 percent, according to the Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service. Kresge’s assets total $3.8-billion.

Edward Hunia, Kresge’s chief investment officer, took his current position in 1992, when the philanthropy had $1.2-billion in assets. Under his tenure, those assets have more than tripled. The foundation has earned a 16.3-percent return over the past five fiscal years.

Mr. Hunia plans to retire from the foundation at the end of the year but would like to help smaller foundations boost their own investments.

Read The Chronicle’s most recent survey of nonprofit endowments.

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New Gates Leader to Avoid News Media for 100 Days

The new chief executive of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in Seattle, starts his new job today and will not grant interviews to the news media for 100 days, reports the Associated Press.

Jeff Raikes, who served as president of Microsoft’s business-software division, says the 100-day news blackout will allow him to focus on his new duties. Mr. Raikes also said that the foundation could hire as many as 200 new employees later this year.

For more on Mr. Raikes, read The Chronicle’s article on his appointment. And see this online discussion that Patty Stonesifer, his predecessor, held with The Chronicle as she was stepping down from the chief executive job.

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Google's Philanthropy Examines Weather Data's Impact on Disease

Google.org, the philanthropic branch of the technology company, is seeking ways to use weather data to combat disease all over the world, reports The New York Times.

The organization is holding a meeting this month in Nairobi, Kenya, with African climate, health, insect, and weather experts and is analyzing how climate change affects the spread of diseases such as cholera and how weather data can reach health officials more quickly.

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NAACP Board Approves New Leader

The NAACP’s board has approved a three-year contract for the organization’s new president, reports the Associated Press.

At age 35, Benjamin T. Jealous is the youngest leader ever appointed by the civil-rights organization. The board voted 35-2 to approve Mr. Jealous’s contract. The two dissenting votes were directed toward the selection process and not toward Mr. Jealous, said Julian Bond, the board’s chairman.

For more on Mr. Jealous and the NAACP, read The Chronicle’s article on his appointment.

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From The Chronicle: Aid for Victims of Hurricane Gustav

While Hurricane Gustav didn’t turn out to be as destructive as expected to the Gulf Coast, disaster-relief groups continue to seek donations, saying the storm heavily damaged many parts of Louisiana and Mississippi and that they are providing aid to tens of thousands of evacuees, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.