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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February 2009

February 27, 2009

Focus on the Family Chairman Resigns

James Dobson, who founded the conservative evangelical group Focus on the Family, has resigned from his role as chairman of that organization, according to the Associated Press.

Mr. Dobson, 72, announced his decision to the board of the Colorado Springs ministry on Wednesday and the charity’s employees were told this morning during a monthly worship service, according to Jim Daly, the group’s chief executive officer. Mr. Dobson will be replaced as board chair by Patrick P. Caruana, a retired Air Force official. The move was part of an existing succession plan, according to the news service.

Mr. Dobson will continue to be involved in some of the charity’s activities, such as his hosting of Focus on the Family’s national radio program, Mr. Daly said, and will also continue to speak out publicly about social issues. Mr. Dobson has for decades been one of the key public voices among social conservatives, and endorsed Sen. John McCain during the Arizona Republican’s run for the presidency last year.

Calif. Bill Links College Executives' Pay to Tuition

A California legislator this week proposed a bill to prohibit salary increases for top college officials in years in which they raise tuition, The Chronicle of Higher Education reports.

A measure, by Sen. Leland Yee, a Democrat, would apply to presidents, chancellors, vice chancellors and general counsels at the University of California, California State and the state’s community-college system. Mr. Yee has been a vocal critic of the University of California’s pay policies in recent years.

More Museums Lay Off Workers

With its endowment down 27 percent and government grants likely to be reduced, the Walters Art Museum unveiled a restructuring plan that includes firings and staff furloughs but pledged to maintain free admission, The Baltimore Sun reports.

The Walters move comes on the heels of a rash of museums trimming staffs and programs nationwide, with the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Atlanta’s High Museum of Art all announcing layoffs and other cost-cutting measures this week, according to a New York Times roundup. The Las Vegas Sun reports that the Las Vegas Art Museum will close tomorrow.

(Free registration is required to view the Baltimore Sun and New York Times articles.)

Tough Times Tone Down Lavish Fund-Raising Bashes

The economic crisis is prompting even wealthy and relatively unscathed donors to scale back what have been big-ticket, high-glitz annual charity galas, reports The New York Times.

“It’s somehow considered kind of gauche to be too aggressive” about the décor and price of charity galas, said John Dobkin, vice president of Wilderstein, a Victorian house museum in upstate New York.

The article offers practical tips on cutting galas’ costs, such as soliciting food and wine donations and substituting balloons for flowers.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

L.A. Museum Veteran to Run Smithsonian's Hirshhorn

Richard Koshalek, former director of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, has been named to lead the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, The Washington Post reports.

“This is the perfect time and place in Washington” given the Obama administration’s more expansive view of the role of arts and culture, said Mr. Koshalek, who will take up his new post in April. He becomes the second new head of a Smithsonian art gallery hired this month. Johnnetta Cole, the former president of Spelman College, was named to head the National Museum of African Art.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

New York Arts Group Moves Forward on Ambitious Renovation Despite Madoff Losses

New York City Center, which was supported by many donors who have lost money with Bernard Madoff, will continue with a planned $300-million makeover despite donors’ losses, Bloomberg reports.

The renovation “has not been affected by the Madoff situation,” said Arlene Shuler, president of the City Center. The plan, started in late 2005 and once scheduled for completion in 2010, had already been scaled back over the years and remains in the design phase.

Six of the organization’s 32 directors were investors in Mr. Madoff’s alleged Ponzi scheme, and Mr. Madoff himself served on the board until his arrest in December.

Obama's Giving Plan: What Does It Mean for Charities?

The Obama plan to limit charitable deductions by the very wealthy has stirred alarm in some quarters of the nonprofit world — but some fund raisers and giving experts say it won’t make much of a difference to charitable giving, The Chronicle of Philanthropy notes.

Plus:

White House officials say they doubt President Obama’s proposal to place new limits on tax breaks for charitable deductions would dampen giving.

A round-up of what blog writers are saying about the Obama proposal.

Leaders of coalitions that represent charities and foundations respond to the plan.

From The Chronicle: National Service Would Get Increase in Obama's Budget

President Obama has proposed a spending increase for AmeriCorps and other national-service programs, as well as the creation of a “social innovation fund,” as part of his 2010 budget priorities, notes The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Government and Politics Watch: Government Studies Whether Taxpayers Report Cash Gifts Accurately

The U.S. Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, is looking into the “misreporting” of cash contributions to charity by individuals when they file their tax returns, The Chronicle’s Government and Politics Watch blog reports.

Plus:

About a dozen advocacy groups and Muslim charities told a federal court today that the government’s seizure of a charity’s assets because of allegations it assisted terrorists hurts humanitarian work and America’s efforts to fight terrorism.

The accountability office has also released a report that describes the ways federal funds are provided to tax-exempt organizations and attempts to quantify the amounts nonprofit organizations receive through government programs.

The White House has yet to provide details on its new Office of Social Innovation, but next week the Aspen Institute, in Washington, is holding a meeting to discuss parts of the effort, which seeks to provide federal assistance to innovative nonprofit groups that are working on the country’s most pressing problems.

Prospecting: Mobilizing Sports Fans to Give

A new effort is under way to persuade World Cup fans to give to antimalaria charities and offers ideas on how other charities can use such approaches to attract support, notes Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online column.

Online Discussions Next Week: Careers and Fund-Raising Advice

Join us on Tuesday, March 3, at noon Eastern time for a live discussion about how young nonprofit employees can move up the ladder during tough economic times. How can they assert themselves as leaders in their organizations? What resources exist to help young workers develop?

Also: On Thursday, March 5, at noon Eastern time we will host a live discussion for readers to pose questions directly to the veteran fund raiser Cass Wheeler, who has navigated the American Heart Association through recessions, the fallout from the 2001 terrorist attacks, and a major national reorganization — all while doubling the organization’s revenue between 1997 and 2008.

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

For an archive of past discussions, go to: http://philanthropy.com/live.

February 26, 2009

Two Money Managers Charged With Fraud in $550-Million Case

Two financial officials who oversaw investments for Carnegie-Mellon University and other institutions have been charged with fraud in a case involving an estimated $550-million, Reuters reports.

Paul Greenwood and Stephen Walsh managing general partners of WG Trading Company, based in Greenwich, Conn., have been accused of using client money as “their personal piggy-bank,” according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the news service says. Lawyers for the two men were not available for comment at the time the article was published.

Update: Army Relief Fund Defends Large Reserves

Responding to news-media reports on its large cash stockpile, the U.S. military’s biggest charity defended its practices, saying fiscal prudence and long-term strategy justified building a nearly $200-million investment fund, Military.com reports.

In a letter on its Web site and a conference call with reporters, the Army Emergency Relief fund cited its positive reviews from charity watchdog groups and disputed the Associated Press’s assertion that from 2003 to 2007 its reserves were nearly double the amount the fund spend on the needs of soldiers and their families facing financial hardship.

Retired Col. Andrew Cohen, the nonprofit group’s deputy finance director, said that in recent years the organization has refocused from saving to giving, undergoing “a culture change about how to say yes.”

Antihunger Groups Join Forces to Press for U.S. Aid

A coalition of more than 30 food-aid groups is calling on the Obama administration and Congress to make worldwide hunger a bigger budget priority, reports Reuters.

The United States should bump spending on food and agricultural aid by 60 percent — to $6.36-billion by 2010 — and commit to more than doubling that by 2014, according the coalition, which includes CARE, Catholic Relief Services, Save the Children, and Mercy Corps.

The members, which have often differed on how best to feed the world’s hungry, have also forged consensus that traditional emergency shipments of U.S. agricultural products should be balanced with long-term cash and development efforts.

Experts Offer Advice on Giving in Down Times

The economic crisis is fostering a “psychology of conserving assets” that creates a conflict for wealthy donors who want to keep giving at a time when it is perhaps more needed than ever, one philanthropy expert tells The New York Times.

The article features advice from lawyers, consultants, and other experts on how to continue giving without courting financial peril if the economic free-fall continues. Strategies include paring donations to focus on core causes and institutions, creating trusts that offer donors significant tax advantages, and providing professional services to favored charities in lieu of cash.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

From The Chronicle: Obama's Plan to Alter Charitable-Giving Deduction

President Obama’s health-care plan includes a cap on itemized deductions, which would reduce the tax incentives for wealthy donors to make charitable gifts, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

From The Chronicle: Court Rules in Helmsley Estate Case

A Judge with the Surrogate’s Court, in New York, has ruled that the trustees of the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust do not have to limit the distribution of money to charities focused on the care and welfare of dogs, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

From The Chronicle: Quick Action Expected on National-Service Legislation

The Senate and House are both likely to move quickly to adopt legislation to expand the country’s national-service programs following President Obama’s call Tuesday night to send him a bill, a key House Democrat said yesterday, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

From The Chronicle: Nonprofit Mergers Mirror Those in Business World

Nonprofit organizations merge at almost the same rate as for-profit businesses do, according to a new study, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Government and Politics Watch: Reaction to Obama's Tax Proposal

A Washington lawyer who represents colleges and universities says President Obama’s plan to reduce the tax incentive for wealthy people to make charitable gifts would have an “exponentially negative impact,” reports Government and Politics Watch, The Chronicle’s online column.

Plus:

Michael Posner, president of the nonprofit Human Rights First, is expected to be named assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights, and labor at the State Department.

Hillary Clinton’s support of nonprofit groups during her recent State Department trip to China.

A nonprofit association’s guide to stimulus money.

Prospecting: Using Self-Deprecating Video to Raise Funds

Ken Gordon, editor of nonprofit JBooks.com, enlisted the help of former Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky (one of JBooks.com’s authors) to create a humorous video on YouTube that he hopes will spur giving, notes Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online fund-raising column.

Plus: Federal workers give more, despite recession.

Give and Take: What Corporate Giving Can Teach Individual Donors

The Wallet, a Wall Street Journal blog about personal finance, asked three corporate leaders to share their thoughts about what lessons corporate philanthropy could teach individual donors, according to a new post summarized in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Plus:

Drawing inspiration from Iraq museum’s reopening.

Nonprofit discussions of race in a ‘post-racial’ America.

Online Discussions Next Week: Career and Fund-Raising Advice

Also: Join us on Thursday, March 5, at noon Eastern time for a live discussion with the veteran fund raiser Cass Wheeler, who has navigated the American Heart Association through recessions, the fallout from the 2001 terrorist attacks, and a major national reorganization — all while doubling the organization’s revenue between 1997 and 2008.

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

For an archive of past discussions, go to: http://philanthropy.com/live.

February 25, 2009

Gates Foundation Gives $100-Million for Anti-AIDS Gels

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has earmarked a $100-million grant to a Maryland nonprofit group that is developing sexual gels to protect women from the AIDS virus, Bloomberg reports.

The British government’s Department for International Development donated an additional $28.5-million to the International Partnership for Microbicides to pursue such treatments. Researchers recently announced encouraging results in clinical trials of gels aimed at preventing HIV infection.

The grants are the Gates Foundation’s second and the British government’s third to the microbicides project.

Donor Redirects School Gift to Protest Animal Treatment

Madeleine Pickens, wife of the billionaire businessman and philanthropist T. Boone Pickens, has told Oklahoma State University to find another use for the $5-million she recently gave the school’s Center for Veterinary Health Sciences, The Oklahoman reports.

In a letter to the school’s president, Ms. Pickens wrote that she has not changed her mind about donating to Oklahoma State but is “very concerned about the practices at the vet school.” She said she had been told by a veterinary student that the center buys animals from breeders and performs multiple operations before euthanizing them.

University officials did not respond to the newspaper’s calls for comment.

Philadelphia Art Museum Cuts Staff and Salaries and Mulls Ticket Increase

After its endowment lost more than a quarter of its value since July, the Philadelphia Museum of Art is eliminating 30 positions and cutting senior staff salaries to close an anticipated $5-million budget deficit, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The job cuts amount to about 7 percent of the staff. The museum is also postponing major exhibits and will seek city approval to increase ticket prices, now in the $10-$14 range, come July.

For Some, Volunteering Lessens Sting of Job Loss

Reuters reports on newly unemployed Americans who are volunteering for charity and service organizations.

The article acknowledges a lack of hard evidence that growing joblessness is increasing volunteerism but cites anecdotal evidence from individuals who are helping to build homes for the poor or acting as mentors for children.

Interest has spiked in service agencies, such as Projects Abroad, which sends volunteers to work in developing countries. January applications to Project Abroad were nearly 50 percent ahead of a year earlier. Founder Peter Stowe said a growing proportion of the new applicants are middle-aged and unemployed or underemployed.

Prospecting: Drop in Gifts of $1-Million or More From Individual Donors

Charitable gifts of $1-million or more from individual donors fell by 33 percent in the last half of 2008 compared with the same period in 2007, according to a new analysis of big gifts by researchers at the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy, reports Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online fund-raising column.

Plus: Despite the recession, giving to religious organizations remains strong.

Give and Take: An Appeal to Bankers

Taking a cue from President Obama, who praised a banker’s generosity to his employees in his speech last night, the philanthropy experts Matthew Bishop and Michael Green call on bankers to be more charitable as a way to quell public anger, says a new post summarized in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Plus: Debating Google.org’s revamp.

From The Chronicle: President Calls on Congress to Pass National-Service Bill

In a speech Tuesday night to a joint session of Congress, President Obama called on lawmakers to pass a bill that would greatly increase participation in national-service programs, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

From The Chronicle: Giving to Colleges Stays Strong

Boosted by a healthy year-end finish in 2007, private giving to colleges and universities remained strong in fiscal 2008, according to a new report by the Council for Aid to Education, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

From The Chronicle: Corporate Leaders Make Case for Philanthropy

Corporate leaders talked Monday about how they are striving to make the case for why their companies should give back to charities as profits tumble and boards take a closer look at every aspect of the business, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

February 24, 2009

Judge Reinstates Charity’s Ousted Board Members

An Oklahoma county judge has reinstated five trustees of the antihunger group, Feed the Children, who had been kicked off the charity’s board in December, reports The Oklahoman.

Patricia Parrish, an Oklahoma County district judge who ordered the reinstatement yesterday, said she did so because the bylaws of Feed the Children, in Oklahoma City, were not followed when the five trustees were ousted.

In her ruling, Judge Parrish said the five reinstated trustees — who sued to get their jobs back — cannot take action against the organization’s founder, Larry Jones, at this time. She also invalidated the election of five new board members and made public court records that had been sealed.

Google Eyes New Philanthropy Tack as Charity Chief Resigns

The head of Google’s charity unit is stepping down to become the technology giant’s “chief philanthropy evangelist,” a move that could represent a shift from traditional grant making in the firm’s philanthropic approach, The New York Times reports.

Announcing the move on a company blog, Larry Brilliant signaled a greater emphasis on Google.org projects developed with company engineers, such as data-based efforts to track flu outbreaks or individual energy use.

While the unit has “been able to support some remarkable nonprofit organizations,” Mr. Brilliant wrote, “our greatest impact has come when we’ve attacked problems in ways that make the most of Google’s strengths in technology and information.”

Read about an interview with Mr. Brilliant that The Chronicle conducted when he first took the Google job.)

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

Survey Finds More Teenagers Volunteer Than Work Part-Time

A national survey conducted for the antipoverty organization World Vision found that 56 percent of American teenagers volunteer to support a charitable cause, the Associated Press reports.

According to the Harris Interactive poll of approximately 2,000 adults, teenagers are 10 percent more likely that their parents to give their time to charity. Adolescents were 17 percentage points more likely to volunteer than to have a part-time job.

(Free registration is required to view this article on the Los Angeles Times site.)

N.Y. Ballet Lays Off Dancers and Metropolitan Museum Closes Stores

Eleven of the New York City Ballet’s 101 dancers have been let go as the venerable company grapples with an anticipated $5.5-million deficit, The New York Times reports.

Peter Martins, chief ballet master, said the cost-cutting measures, which also include reductions in salaries as well as marketing and administrative expenses, would not affect the quantity or scope of performances.

The Times also reports on cutbacks at another New York cultural institution, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The museum has closed 15 of its 23 satellite stores nationwide and started a broad assessment of costs museum executives said could include “head-count reductions.”

(Free registration is required to view these articles.)

British Charities Vulnerable to Fraud, Says Report

Most British charities are not doing enough to protect themselves from fraud, according to a study by independent watchdog group the Fraud Advisory Panel, reports Third Sector Online.

Three-fifths of the more than 1,100 charities surveyed by the panel have no significant antifraud procedures in place, even though half of the respondents consider fraud a significant hazard. Only 11 percent have a detailed antifraud policy.

Students Plot Social Entrepreneurship at Clinton Initiative Seminar

About 1,000 college students from every state and some 60 countries designed efforts to tackle hunger, pollution, AIDS and human trafficking at last week’s second annual Clinton Global Initiative University, reports The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Participants in the three-day meeting at the University of Texas in Austin were selected based on their submission of detailed “commitments to action” ranging in scope from global problems to more modest plans to plant sustainable gardens and record and sell indigenous music to benefit destitute villages in the developing world.

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

'Slumdog' Success Helps Indian Children's Charities

Organizations serving street children in India are reporting a surge in interest and donations in the wake of “Slumdog Millionaire’s” Academy Awards success, reports Third Sector Online.

The film, which tells the story of a boy from the Mumbai slums who wins millions on a game show, received eight Oscars on Sunday, including one for best picture.

Traffic at the Web site of Railway Children, which is active in Mumbai, has increased tenfold in recent days, and SOS Children’s Villages reports reaping more sponsors for its India programs. “Raising the issue of street children is an enormous benefit to us,” said Andrew Cates, chief executive of the charity.

Give and Take: How Can Journalists Do a Better Job of Covering Philanthropy?

Journalists do a poor job of covering the nonprofit world, says a new blog post summarized in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Offer your ideas for improving coverage and The Chronicle’s editor will share them Wednesday at a special breakfast briefing for journalists that The Chronicle is sponsoring with the Bridgespan group and the Edelman public-relations company.

Philanthropy and Twitter: Share Your Favorites

The Chronicle’s latest issue includes an examination of how some nonprofit groups are using the social-networking site Twitter to raise awareness and money.

As an extension of that story, The Chronicle is inviting readers to help us compile a comprehensive list of charities, foundations, and others in the nonprofit world that are using Twitter.

To share the name of your group and your Twitter handle — and offer details on how you are using the tool to advance your cause — please visit our Forums page.

And here’s the best news: We guarantee we will not limit your submission to 140 characters.

Transcript: How to Appeal to Individuals

See a transcript of today’s online discussion about the best ways charities can recruit individuals to support their causes.

February 23, 2009

Army Charity Stockpiles Nearly Twice as Much Cash as It Gives Away

Army Emergency Relief, a charity run by the military, boosted its reserves to $117-million from 2003 to 2007 while spending $64-million on aid for cash-strapped soldiers and their families, the Associated Press reports.

Most of the money the charity raises is provided by troops; most of what it dispensed was in the form of loans, the news service reports. Though the fund is legally separate from the Army, senior officers often reward soldiers who contribute heavily and punish those who fall behind on loan repayment by withholding transfers and promotions, the newspaper said.

Executives of Army Emergency Relief said the charity needs to keep the sizable reserves on hand to be ready to handle catastrophes. Smaller, similar charities serving Navy and Air Force personnel spent millions more on aid than they kept in reserve during the same five-year period.

Former Trustees Sue Feed the Children

Five former trustees of Feed the Children are suing the antihunger charity over what they say was their unlawful ouster from the board in December, reports The Oklahoman.

The organization, best known nationally for the emotional televised appeals for donations made by its founder, Larry Jones, replaced the fired board members with Christian pastors from the across the country. The board members are seeking to be reinstated.

Feed the Children is one of the most successful fund-raising organizations in the United States. It raised $932-million last year from private sources, including donations of food and other goods — more than all but six other nonprofit groups, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual Philanthropy 400 ranking of the charities that raised the most money in the United States.

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

Nonprofit Theaters Plan Layoffs and Smaller Shows, Survey Finds

A survey of American nonprofit theaters found that more than half plan to offer cheaper tickets and nearly as many will eliminate administrative staff positions in expectation of shrinking sales and fund raising, Bloomberg news service reports.

The Theatre Communications Group surveyed 210 member organizations last month. Most reported that they are producing new calculations of expenses for the coming year, with theaters that have budgets exceeding $10-million reducing spending by an average of $750,000. A third of companies said they would alter programs to include shows with smaller casts.

88 College Workers Earned $1-Million or More in Annual Pay, New Study Finds

On many college campuses, the people who make the most money aren’t the chief executives but football coaches, medical-school professors, and investment officials, notes The Chronicle of Higher Education, in an analysis of salaries of top officials at 600 private institutions.

Chief executives accounted for only 11 out of 88 private-college employees who made $1-million or more in the 2006-7 fiscal year, the newspaper noted.

Many nonprofit organizations pay other workers more than the chief executive. To learn more, see The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s most-recent annual survey.

(A paid subscription or short-term pass is required to view each of these articles.)

Animal Advocates Question Charity's Salaries

Animal-advocacy groups and donors are criticizing executive pay at the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, The Boston Globe reports.

Four of the top five officials at the society earn more than $200,000 a year, according to the organization’s latest informational tax return. The organization has lost 25 percent of its endowment and this month announced plans to close three animal shelters.

The owner of a Boston pet-care business that has raised $30,000 for the society in recent years said it has “severed our ties with the MSPCA” over the pay issue.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Prospecting: Oscar Victory Leads to a Charity Effort

The acclaimed film “Slumdog Millionaire,” which won an Academy Award for best picture on Sunday night, has spawned a campaign to raise money and visibility for easily-treated diseases that afflict the world’s poor, reports Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online fund-raising column.

Plus:

A donor pleads with charities to stop sending so many appeals

An online competition raises money for dog lovers

A site that offers games now runs charity competitions

Government and Politics Watch: National Service and the Stimulus Plan

The Corporation for National and Community Service held a conference call last week to explain its plan for spending the $201-million it was allocated in the new economic-stimulus plan, reports Government and Politics Watch, a Chronicle of Philanthropy column.

From the Chronicle: 10 Fund-Raising Approaches for Thriving in the Recession

The Chronicle interviewed dozens of charity fund raisers and other experts nationwide to learn what nonprofit organizations are doing now — and what trends in the charity world offer optimism as the recession grows deeper.

Online Discussion Tomorrow: Seeking Donations from Individuals

Join us on Tuesday, February 24, at noon Eastern time for a live discussion about the best ways to appeal to individuals. You’ll learn practical tips and strategies to help your organization at a time when corporate, foundation, and government cuts are prompting many charities to intensify their focus on individuals.

Providing expertise on this subject will be two veteran fund raisers: Sam Prince, director of development at Legal Aid of Northwest Texas, and Mark Publow, vice president of strategic initiatives at Childhelp. in Scottsdale, Ariz.

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

For an archive of past discussions, go to: http://philanthropy.com/live.

Read the Latest Issue of The Chronicle of Philanthropy

The latest issue of The Chronicle of Philanthropy was posted online this morning. The table of contents is available free online.

February 20, 2009

Strapped Charities Increasingly Seek Bankruptcy Protection

Insolvent charities, under pressure from donors to operate more like businesses, are more frequently filing for bankruptcy to get out from under mounting debts, reports The New York Times.

Among the organizations that have declared bankruptcy: a Maine rape-crisis charity, a Pennsylvania retirement community, and the Baltimore Opera Company. Such groups have sought the protection as donations have dried up and loans have become harder to come by amid the global credit crunch.

“Our expectation is that this is just the tip of the iceberg,” Diana Aviv, chief executive of the trade association Independent Sector, told the newspaper.

(Free registration is required to read this article.)

Tight Government Budgets Strain Religious Charities

Religious charities are being forced to eliminate programs, reduce their staffs, or try to borrow in the face of cutbacks in government funds, The Washington Post reports.

Strapped state and local agencies are reducing the amount they provide in contracts or delaying payments to religious charities, which are also being hit with deep cuts in private giving. “It’s only going to continue to get worse,” said Larry Snyder, chief executive of Catholic Charities USA, which gets about 65 percent of its revenue from government contracts.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Downturn Swelling Crowds at Suburban Food Banks

Food banks in upscale areas are seeing a marked increase in customers from what one New Jersey food-pantry operator called “the next layer of people,” newly jobless blue- and white-collar workers facing a financial crisis for the first time, The New York Times reports.

Demand at food banks across the country rose 30 percent last year, according to a survey by the national hunger-relief organization Feeding America. Food pantries in well-to-do areas such as Morris County, N.J., Lake Forest, Ill., Greenwich, Conn., and Marin County, Calif., are reporting long lines and adding hours or loosening restrictions on visits to accommodate the crowds.

(Free registration is required to read this article.)

Glass Tycoon Set to Become China's Biggest Philanthropist

Chinese officials say one of the country’s richest men intends to give most of his fortune to charity, Agence France-Presse reports.

Cao Dewang, 63, will donate 70 percent of his shares in the Fuyao Glass Industry Group, worth 4.1-billion yuan ($600-million), to establish a philanthropic foundation, the Chinese Securities Regulatory Commission said. If approved by authorities, the move would make Mr. Cao China’s biggest philanthropic entrepreneur, topping the real-estate mogul Yu Pengnian.

The Chinese news media have suggested that Mr. Cao was following the example of Bill Gates, who announced last month that he would start a campaign to encourage philanthropy among wealthy Chinese.

Obama Strategist Urges Charities to Eschew E-Newsletters

A leader of President Obama’s groundbreaking online campaign is advising charities to ditch e-mail newsletters, calling them “a waste of time,” reports the Web site Third Sector Online.

Speaking at a presentation in London, Thomas Gensemer, managing partner of Blue State Digital, said short, personalized e-mail messages to supporters that offer clean instructions for participation are a more effective online strategy. “E-mail is still a killer application but only when used properly,” he said.

Blue State ran Mr. Obama’s electronic campaign, which raised more than $500-million in Internet contributions and spawned tens of thousands of online support groups.

'Slumdog' Producers Disavow Charity Connection

The makers of Slumdog Millionaire have disavowed any intent to link the Indian children’s charity Hope Foundation with a brutal criminal enterprise depicted in the much-lauded film, reports the British daily Telegraph.

In the film, a heavy favorite to win Best Picture at Sunday’s Academy Awards, the fictional Hope Orphanage is a front for a gang boss who plies the streets of Mumbai in an orange bus, scooping up children to work as beggars and prostitutes. The Hope Foundation, in Calcutta, uses a similar vehicle in its work providing shelter, food, and other services to orphaned and abandoned youths in Calcutta.

Responding to concerns raised by the foundation, which said it received hundreds of calls and e-mail messages about the movie, its producer, Celador Films, issued a statement asserting that “there was no intention to imply a connection” to the real-life charity.

Give and Take: Diversity Efforts in Philanthropy

A new article on efforts to encourage diversity in foundation giving is sparking discussion, notes Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Government and Politics Watch: Aid for Volunteers

A Wisconsin Congressman has introduced a bill designed to help people who use their vehicles as part of their volunteer work for charities, reports Government and Politics Watch, The Chronicle’s online column.

From The Chronicle: Philanthropy Should Focus on Housing

A turnaround in the housing crisis is crucial to the economic recovery, and grant makers should not sit by waiting for the government alone to find a solution, says Jonathan Fanton in an opinion article in The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Online Discussion Next Week: Seeking Gifts From Individuals

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

For an archive of past discussions, go to: http://philanthropy.com/live.

February 19, 2009

Volunteer Agencies See Jump in Applications

The floundering economy and President Barack Obama’s promotion of service and volunteerism have led to a major increase in applications at organizations such as the Peace Corps and Teach for America, according to the Associated Press.

Teach for America, which recruits heavily at college campuses, saw applications rise almost 50 percent last year. Peace Corps applications increased 16 percent, with a big spike around the time of the inauguration.

“There’s something in a declining economy that clarifies our values,” said Michael Brown, CEO and co-founder of the Boston education and mentoring nonprofit group City Year, which has seen applications triple, to almost 1,600.

Black Colleges Hit Particularly Hard by Downturn

The economic crisis is having a disproportionate impact on historically black colleges and universities relative to other institutions of higher learning, says The New York Times.

Smaller endowments and a higher ratio of disadvantaged students who now face a tighter credit market when seeking loans are making it especially tough for black colleges, the Times reports. Facing declining enrollment and large deficits, several of the nation’s most prestigious such institutions, including Spelman and Clark, in Atlanta, and Stillman College, in Tuscaloosa, Ala., have laid off staff members, cut salaries, or eliminated some classes.

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Economy Takes Toll on 'Most Expensive' Art Form

Opera has had an especially difficult time weathering the economic storm, NPR’s All Things Considered reports, citing cutbacks in staff and productions at New York’s Metropolitan Opera and the Los Angeles Opera, as well as the Baltimore Opera’s recent declaration of bankruptcy.

Marc Scorca, president of Opera America, which represents 110 U.S. organizations, noted that opera “is absolutely the most expensive of the performing arts.” He added: “The minute that we saw the significant change of the market in October, our opera companies began making reductions.”

Update: Twestival Take Stands at $250,000

With proceeds counted from about two-thirds of its approximately 175 venues, organizers of Twestival — the fund-raising event for users of the social-networking site Twitter — announced that the February 12 gatherings have so far raised $250,000 for its beneficiary, Charity: Water, the Guardian, in London, reports on its PDA blog.

Money raised from the first worldwide gathering of Twitter users will pay for safe drinking water for about 17,000 people in Africa and India, Twestival co-organizer Amanda Rose said. While noting that the event fell well short of its ambitious $1-million goal, Ms. Rose said the Twitter campaign “does not end here.”

Kennedy Center's Offer of Help Draws Big Response

Scores of financially troubled arts organizations nationwide are seeking management help via an online hotline launched earlier this month by Kennedy Center President Michael Kaiser, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Mr. Kaiser, author of the recently published arts-management how-to book The Art of the Turnaround, said he received 110 e-mails with 24 hours of unveiling the Arts in Crisis initiative on February 3.

Read The Chronicle’s article on the program, which is staffed by Kennedy Center employees and arts-manager “mentors” who can offer expert advice to local cultural leaders.

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Armani Announces Schools Gift at N.Y. Store Launch

Opening his new flagship shop on New York’s Fifth Avenue on Tuesday, Giorgio Armani announced a $1-million gift to the city’s Fund for Public Schools, reports the International Herald Tribune.

The Italian designer’s donation will support an Armani Arts Institute to supplement arts offerings for disadvantaged students in the Bronx.

Give and Take: Endowment Advice From Yale's Investment Guru

David F. Swenson, the chief investment officer of Yale University’s endowment, says most endowments are on a fruitless search for market-beating returns and should abandon active management in favor of passive investments like index funds, according to a new post in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Plus:

A new way to aid arts groups.

Paris Hilton party promotes philanthropy.

Prospecting: Can Social-Network Sites Guarantee Donor Privacy?

Facebook’s recent attempt to revise its online user agreement to assert ownership of all content posted by users to the social networking site has prompted some discussion of whether the Web site’s policies might compromise the anonymity of donors who give to nonprofit groups through Facebook’s “Causes” pages, notes a post in Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online fund-raising column.

From The Chronicle: New Answers to Your Social-Media Questions

John Haydon, an author and consultant in Boston, has answered an array of new questions from Chronicle readers related to a recent live discussion on how charities can effectively use online tools such as Twitter and Facebook to raise awareness and money.

The latest questions and answers have been added to the free transcript of the discussion.

Readers are invited to read transcripts of all of our previous discussions and get information about forthcoming events on our Live Discussions page.

From The Chronicle: Nonprofit Compensation Up for Review

A new Internal Revenue Service report about tax-exempt hospitals has triggered questions about compensation of all nonprofit executives and may embolden investigations by federal and state regulators who already are taking a hard look at how charities compensate their top officials, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

From The Chronicle: Gates Foundation's Agricultural Grants

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said today it is awarding $48-million to help poor cocoa and cashew farmers in Africa improve the quality of their crops and increase the opportunities to sell their product on the global market, reports The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

February 18, 2009

Texas Billionaire's Legal Woes Could Cost Charities

The freezing of Texas billionaire Allen Stanford’s assets amid federal fraud charges could have a significant impact on the financier’s numerous charitable beneficiaries in the Houston area and elsewhere, The Houston Chronicle reports.

Mr. Stanford and three of his companies were charged Tuesday in what federal regulators described as a massive scheme to fraudulently sell $8-billion in high-yield certificates of deposit, Reuters reports. Mr. Stanford has denied any wrongdoing, the wire service says.

The Houston Chronicle lists several local museums and arts groups among Mr. Stanford’s beneficiaries. He is also a major backer of St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, in Memphis, sponsors charity golf tournaments, and is a leading benefactor of cricket in the West Indies, where he lives, holding dual U.S.-Antiguan citizenship.

Pittsburgh Poetry Forum and N.Y. Dance Group Shut Down

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the city’s International Poetry Forum is closing after 43 years.

The literary group, which held readings by international luminaries such as Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Seamus Heaney, Robert Pinsky, and John Updike held its farewell event last week. It has seen its stock portfolio plummet by 25 percent, while equally hard-hit foundations have cut back on grants.

New York’s 77-year-old New Dance Group has also shuttered, according to The New York Times.

The dance-education organization, founded in the Depression, ran out of money and can no longer afford rent at its building, its chairman, Marvin Preston, says. While staff members have been dismissed, the group’s board will remain in place and seek funds to preserve its archives and mount exhibits.

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Gates Foundation Announces Micro Savings Grant

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will earmark $12.5-million for efforts to promote micro savings among the world’s poorest people via mobile technology, the Associated Press reports.

The grant, announced Tuesday at a gathering of wireless-industry executives in Barcelona, aims to help the 2.5 billion people who live on less than $2 a day put money in the bank using cell phones. The program aims to use rising mobile use to improve the target population’s access to banking services.

Brandeis U.'s President Finds Rough Course in Financial Crisis

The continuing dispute over plans to close Brandeis University’s Rose Art Museum has shaken confidence in President Jehuda Reinharz’s stewardship of the Boston-area private school, reports The Boston Globe.

Mr. Reinharz, who took office in 1994, has won praise for raising hundreds of millions of dollars and propelling Brandeis into the top rank of U.S. universities. But he’s also been criticized for what detractors characterize as a series of rash decisions that have tarnished the school’s reputation. Faculty critics say the Rose controversy points up Mr. Reinharz’s unwillingness to seek faculty input.

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Iraq Veterans Volunteer on Behalf of War's Victims

An increasing number of U.S. veterans returning from the Middle East are mounting charitable efforts to assist Iraqi civilians injured, displaced, or otherwise affected by the war, The Boston Globe reports.

While organizations started by returning fighters generally champion veterans’ causes, some Iraq War veterans have raised money or started nonprofit groups to aid Iraqi schools and hospitals, distribute food, and foster cultural understanding, the Globe reports. One such effort, Collaborative Revolution, organizes social events for Iraqis who have managed to relocate to America.

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Opinion: The Arts Need to Build a Stronger Case

In a Wall Street Journal column, the composer and classical-music critic Greg Sandow warns arts advocates not to take too much comfort from the restoration of $50-million for the National Endowment for the Arts in the final stimulus bill.

Despite that victory, Mr. Sandow writes, arts advocates need to find new, stronger arguments for financing. He notes that claims of a strong economic ripple effect from cultural institutions can be made with equal validity about other businesses and industries, and adds that arts backers must overcome perceptions that they “largely serve an upscale audience.”

Give and Take: Seeking Software Developers for Charity

Kiva, a charity that uses the Internet to match entrepreneurs in developing countries with people who want to loan them money to build their businesses, is asking software programmers to develop new online applications to further promote its microfinance mission, says a new post in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

From The Chronicle: Nonprofit Layoffs

A growing number of nonprofit groups are laying off employees because of the recession, while others are adopting hiring and wage freezes or asking employees to take unpaid days off to stretch their money further, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

February 17, 2009

Wall Street Pay Limits Could Diminish Charitable Donations

Charities that rely on the generosity of donors who work in the financial industry fear that new federal limits on executive pay for bailed-out banks could also put a dent in donations, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Wall Street executives and employees have been reliable supporters of food banks, antipoverty programs, museums, and libraries. With the federal government’s new economic stimulus package placing limits on how much executives of bailed-out financial firms can earn, the leaders of those charities are expressing worry about maintaining revenue.

“I hope we don’t vilify everybody in the financial-services sector,” says Lisanne Finston, executive director of Elijah’s Promise, a New Jersey soup kitchen whose revenue fell 19 percent last year while demand for its services spiked.

Recession and Home Blazes Send Red Cross Reeling

American Red Cross chapters are struggling to meet demands for services as donations dwindle and a seasonal surge of household fires stretches their resources thin, the Associated Press reports.

Staff members have been laid off, office hours reduced, salaries cut, and training programs scrapped at Red Cross offices nationwide. “Every chapter is finding this a challenging environment,” said Suzy DeFrancis, national Red Cross spokeswoman.

House fires, which account for most of the approximately 71,000 local disasters the Red Cross responds to annually, have been unusually frequent this year, in part due to unorthodox heating methods used by financially strapped families amid this winter’s bitter cold.

See The Chronicle’s roundup of nonprofit layoffs.

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Budget Ax Cuts Matching Grants for Florida Colleges

Florida lawmakers have eliminated matching grants for state universities for the 2008-9 academic year, severely curtailing an incentive to attract private donations, reports the Tallahassee Democrat.

Legislators have yet to decide if the matching-grant program will be restored for the next academic year. In the meantime, Florida institutions of higher education have attracted more than $102-million that won’t be matched by the state as planned, about half of them from the University of Florida.

Charity Gambling Booms in Michigan

Michigan state officials are exploring tighter controls on charity-sponsored casinos, which have nearly tripled their take in the past four years, reports the Associated Press.

Casino-style games earned Michigan charities $10.5-million in fiscal 2008, compared with $3.6-million in fiscal 2004. The number of licenses for such gaming issues by the Michigan Lottery increased nearly sixfold in that time.

The Michigan Gaming Control Board formed a committee last year to study issues surrounding charity-sponsored gambling, and a Detroit-area state legislator has proposed limiting gambling venues to a single, four-day charitable event per month.

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How Arts Groups Won a Victory in New Stimulus Measure

The actor Robert Redford played a key role in helping persuade Congress to put $50-million into the stimulus plan that President Obama will sign today, reports The New York Times.

The arts money had been passed by the House but stripped from the bill by the Senate, so it became the subject of an intense fight among Congressional negotiators. The newspaper takes an inside look at how the money was restored to the National Endowment for the Arts.

“We had the facts on our side,” said Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, Democrat of New York, who co-chairs the Congressional Arts Caucus. “If we’re trying to stimulate the economy and get money into the Treasury, nothing does that better than art.”

Read more about the victories and losses by charities and foundations in the measure President Obama is signing today.

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Downturn Spurs Some Mass. Foundations to Increase Grants

Several Massachusetts foundations are digging into dwindling endowments and living donors are putting more money into the funds so they can increase their giving this year despite the fiscal crunch that is spawning cutbacks across the nonprofit world, The Boston Globe reports.

The Philanthropic Initiative, a group in Boston that advises donors, said about 5 percent of its clients are increasing their grants as a way to reduce the harm caused to needy people and other parts of society due to the recession.

“We have more money than we need, and the foundation needs it more than us,” said Ken Nickerson, a hedge-fund manager whose Eos Foundation plans to increase its spending on antipoverty programs despite losing 30 percent of its endowment since last year. Mr. Nickerson and his wife contributed $10-million to offset the losses.

See The Chronicle’s article on foundation giving and assets at foundations nationwide.

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Wiesel Foundation to Persevere Despite Madoff Losses

In a USA Today interview, Elie Wiesel, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, said losing almost all of his foundation’s assets in the Bernard Madoff scandal “will not change” the work it does on human-rights and global ethical issues.

The Elie Wiesel Foundation, founded by the author and Holocaust survivor, reported late last year that it had invested $15.2-million, most of its funds, in Mr. Madoff’s alleged Ponzi scheme.

“All my life has been about learning and teaching and building on ruins. That will not change,” said Wiesel, who started the foundation with his wife, Marion, in 1986. “I don’t want my name linked with that crook.”

Obituary: Alison L. Des Forges, 66, Human-Rights Activist

Alison L. Des Forges, a historian known for documenting the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and a senior adviser to the New York organization Human Rights Watch, died Thursday night as a passenger on Continental Airlines Flight 3407 when it crashed near Buffalo, N.Y. according to The New York Times. She was 66.

Ms. Des Forges, who served as senior adviser to Human Rights Watch’s Africa division, received a 375,000 “genius grant” from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in 1999. Her book of that year, Leave None to Tell the Story: Genocide in Rwanda, is widely recognized as a definitive record of that era.

“Her death is a devastating blow,” Kenneth Roth, the president of Human Rights Watch, wrote in an e-mail message today to the group’s board. “She epitomized the human rights activist — principled, dispassionate, committed to the truth and to using that truth to protect ordinary people.”

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From The Chronicle: Construction Projects Stalled at Many Charities

Nonprofit organizations in the United States have an estimated $166-billion worth of construction and renovation projects on hold because of the economic downturn, according to a survey released today, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Give and Take: Why Should Anybody Stop a Charity With a Great New Idea?

Just because there already may be too many nonprofit groups is no reason why someone with a great idea and the ability to deliver on it shouldn’t start another one, says a new post in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Plus: A sign that text messaging as an advocacy tool has arrived can be found in a new course at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Prospecting: Crafting an Effective Pitch in the Recession

As public-radio stations nationwide run pledge drives this month, they are grappling with how much to mention the bad economy, notes a post in Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online fund-raising column.

Plus: Hospitals managed to persuade lawmakers to get rid of a provision in the economic-stimulus measure that would have placed new restrictions on the amount of information their fund raisers could obtain about former patients.

From The Chronicle: Using Twitter and Other Online Tools

Read a transcript of today’s discussion on using Twitter and other online tools to spread nonprofit groups’ messages.

February 13, 2009

Connecticut Opera Shuts Down and Offers No Refunds for Subscribers

With attendance dropping and sources of financial support drying up, the Connecticut Opera is going out of business after 67 seasons, the Associated Press reports.

The opera’s bank account was frozen following a poor turnout for its November production of Don Giovanni. The company canceled its final two productions and notified its 2,000 subscribers that it will not be refunding tickets.

John Kreitler, chairman of the opera’s board, said the group would not file for bankruptcy, because that would cost too much, and plans to work directly with creditors to resolve debts.

FBI Raids Office of Georgia Food Charity

FBI agents executed two search warrants Wednesday at the Georgia headquarters of the religious nonprofit group Angel Food Ministries, reports The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

IRS officials also took part in the operation, but neither agency would reveal what authorities were seeking in the raid, according to the York Daily Record, in Pennsylvania, which reported last month that Wesley Joseph Wingo, founder of Angel Food Charity, and his family were paid salaries totaling $2.5-million by the charity in 2006.

Angel Food, which Mr. Wingo founded in 1994, sells an estimated $100-million worth of discounted groceries yearly to churches in nearly 40 states, which distribute the food to the needy, according to the York newspaper.

The charity’s spokesman, Ronn Torossian, said the organization was cooperating with the FBI but would have no further comment.

Recession Causes Money Woes for Law-Enforcement Museum

Organizers of the planned National Law Enforcement Museum in Washington are reducing the project’s budget by more than a third and delaying the planned opening by two years as the recession cuts into fund raising, the Associated Press reports.

The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund eliminated $29-million from the museum’s estimated $80-million cost and is reducing its anticipated size by nearly half. The completion date has been pushed back from 2011 to 2013. Craig Floyd, chairman of the fund, said the group has raised more than $37-million, but donations have slowed.

Jewish Charity Retools Fund-Raising Approach

Birthright Israel, an organization that has relied largely on multimillion-dollar gifts from big donors to send young people on free trips to Israel, is switching its focus to smaller donors to support a new $50-million campaign, reports the weekly Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles.

The charity is reducing the number of trips it finances by two-thirds, offering 8,000 slots for North Americans, compared with 24,000 last year. Many of the donors the group has traditionally relied on for support have been hard hit by the collapse of the financial industry and the recession.

Pebble Beach Golf Tournament Expected to Raise 10% Less for Charities

Charitable donations from the annual AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament, which began this week in California, will probably drop by about 10 percent from last year’s record $6.74-million, due to declining ticket sales and corporate sponsorship, reports the San Jose Mercury News.

The annual tourney pairs PGA golfers on the links with Hollywood stars and business titans, many of whom reserve skyboxes and hospitality tents for the duration of the weeklong event. But corporate belt-tightening and concerns over how such lavish perks will be perceived amid the economic downturn have cut into sponsorship, said Ollie Nutt, head of the Monterey Peninsula Foundation, which distributes proceeds from the event to some 200 charities.

Prospecting: Why Donors Should Be Offered a Behind-the-Scenes Glimpse

Fund raisers should look at ways to give donors a special insight into the operations of their organizations, urges a veteran marketing expert in Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online fund-raising column.

From The Chronicle: Charities to Get Aid in Compromise Stimulus Plan

Many types of charities would benefit from the compromise economic-stimulus plan now pending in Congress, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

From The Chronicle: IRS Releases Study on Compensation and Charity Benefits Offered by Nonprofit Hospitals

The Internal Revenue Service on Thursday released findings from a much-anticipated study of nearly 500 nonprofit hospitals that is sure to raise controversy over how much compensation hospitals pay to top officials and how hospitals set that compensation, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

The tax agency also looked at another controversial topic: How much hospitals do to provide charitable services to people in the neighborhoods where they are located to qualify for a federal tax exemption.

Give and Take: Twitter Followers Join Forces to Raise Money

See photos from the global Twitter fund-raising event, designed to provide money for water projects in needy countries, in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world. Plus: A foundation honors people who make the best use of Twitter, the blogging site for short messages.

Plus:

Are charities that use the word “minorities” to describe the people they serve hindering their ability to carry out their missions?

Did Melinda Gates exaggerate the success of antimalaria efforts?

Online Discussion Next Week: Using Social-Networking Tools to Benefit Charity

Join us Tuesday, February 17, at noon Eastern time for an online discussion about the difference among sites like Digg, Facebook, and Twitter — and how charities can use these tools to connect with potential supporters.

The guests:

Chris Garrett, an Internet marketing and new-media consultant in Yorkshire, England, and author of ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income. He founded OMIQ, a company that helps businesses with their online media.

John Haydon, a sales consultant in Boston and the publisher and founder of the Web site corporatedollar.org, which offers marketing advice to small nonprofit groups. Mr. Haydon is also the author of a recently released electronic book, Twitter Jump Start: The Complete Guide for Small Nonprofits.

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

February 12, 2009

N.Y. and Minn. Hospitals Receive $50-Million Gifts

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital trustee Ronald Stanton has pledged $50-million to bolster cancer-fighting efforts at the hospital, Crain’s New York Business reports.

The gift will establish the Ronald P. Stanton Clinical Cancer Program and help the hospital procure new equipment and build a new center for blood infusions and donations. Mr. Stanton, a member of the NewYork-Presbyterian board since 1983, is the chairman of the fertilizer and chemicals firm Transammonia.

The University of Minnesota’s new pediatric hospital will be named after Dr. Kurt Amplatz, inventor of a cardiac device for children, following his daughter’s $50-million donation, reports The St. Paul Pioneer Press. The gift by Caroline Amplatz, a lawyer, is the second-largest in the history of the university, where Dr. Amplatz taught from 1957 to 1999.

More Madoff Fallout: Tax Fines and Medical Setbacks

Foundations that lost billions in Bernard Madoff’s alleged $50-billion Ponzi scheme could also face hefty fines under an obscure tax rule intended to discourage private philanthropies from risky investing, reports The New York Times.

The rarely invoked excise tax penalizes foundations that fail to vet investments properly, heed red flags, or otherwise exercise diligence with their money. Marcus S. Owens, a Washington tax lawyer specializing in exempt organizations, estimated the potential hit for Madoff’s philanthropic investors to be around $1-billion.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the scandal could have a deep and lasting impact on U.S. health care. Madoff investors such as the Picower Foundation, Carl J. and Ruth Shapiro, and Morton Zuckerman were major donors to hospitals and to scientific and medical research.

(Free registration is required to view the New York Times article, and a paid subscription is required to view the Wall Street Journal article.)

Update: Entertainment Fund Defends Nursing-Home Closure

Leaders of the Motion Picture & Television Fund, which provides services to elderly entertainment-industry veterans, say the organization risked going broke if it continued operating a Los Angeles acute-care hospital and care facility, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

About 100 residents will be displaced by the closure, which has sparked protests from patients’ families and the facility’s staff.

Inspired by Film, Orchestras Mobilize to Fight Hunger

More than 160 orchestras in 45 states are expected to take part in food drives in advance of the spring release of a movie about a Juilliard-trained musician with schizophrenia who becomes homeless, the Associated Press reports.

The Soloist, starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. and scheduled for release April 24, “reminds us that classical music has the power to sustain spirits and change lives, even under the most difficult circumstances,” said Jesse Rosen, president of the League of American Orchestras. Food collected in drives beginning in late March will be distributed to local organizations through the national antihunger network Feeding America.

Twitter Users Set to Participate in Worldwide Charity Event

Users of the online social networking service Twitter will gather in more than 200 cities today for a global meet-and-greet charity fund-raising event dubbed Twestival, The New York Times reports on its technology blog Bits.

Proceeds from the events and related online fund-raising will benefit a group called Charity: Water, which works to provide safe drinking water in developing nations. Organizer Amanda Rose said the goal is to raise $1-million at events across the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia.

Check the Chronicle’s Web site after the event tonight for additional coverage from a Twestival event.

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

From The Chronicle: Nature Conservancy Cuts Staff by 10%

The Nature Conservancy, one of the nation’s largest charities, said Wednesday that it is reducing its staff by 10 per cent, due to the worsening economy, coupled with a drop in donations and other income, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Government and Politics: Foundation Assets Frozen in U.S. Terror Probe

The U.S. government has frozen the assets of a foundation in Maryland, saying the grant maker aided the Sri Lankan separatist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, according to Government and Politics Watch, The Chronicle’s online column.

Prospecting: Giving Site Plays Cupid for Valentine's Day

GlobalGiving, a Web site that matches donors with community-based development projects, is encouraging its donors to play Cupid, notes a new post in Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online fund-raising column.

Online Discussion Tuesday: Social Networking Tools

The guests:

Chris Garrett, an Internet marketing and new-media consultant in Yorkshire, England, and author of ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income. He founded OMIQ, a company that helps businesses with their online media.

John Haydon, a sales consultant in Boston and the publisher and founder of the Web site corporatedollar.org, which offers marketing advice to small nonprofit groups. Mr. Haydon is also the author of a recently released electronic book, Twitter Jump Start: The Complete Guide for Small Nonprofits.

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

February 11, 2009

Strapped Nonprofit Groups Seek to Loosen Endowment Rules

Hoping to avoid layoffs and deep program cuts in the wake of huge investment losses, universities, museums, and other nonprofit groups are pressing states to loosen spending restrictions on their endowments, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Laws passed in the 1970s to prevent charities from burning through gifts too quickly are now hamstringing philanthropic organizations nationwide, playing a role, for example, in Brandeis University’s controversial decision to close its Rose Art Museum.

Encouraged by nonprofit organizations, 26 states have passed legislation easing the restrictions since the spring of 2007, 12 of them in the past eight months. Similar bills are pending in 21 states.

L.A. Museums' Collections Grow Despite Downturn

Los Angeles museums added scores, if not hundreds, of works to their collections in 2008, reports the Los Angeles Times.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art gained 4,747 pieces, including 3,500 photographs from collectors Marjorie and Leonard Vernon. The Museum of Contemporary Art, where financial problems led to the recent departure of director Jeremy Strick, added 141 works, and the J. Paul Getty Museum made 894 acquisitions, including an Ethiopian manuscript and a Gauguin painting.

Roy Hamilton, a curator at UCLA’s Fowler Museum, said institutions such as his that rely heavily on gifts are less likely to be severely hurt by the grim economy, but museums that struggle to amass acquisition funds could be affected.

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Calif. Fund's Decision to Close Nursing Home Sparks Anger

The families of residents of the Motion Picture & Television Fund’s nursing home in Los Angeles are pressing the fund’s managers to explain why the are closing the facility after authorizing expensive bricks-and-mortar projects in recent years, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Citing a $10-million annual operating deficit, the fund, which provides services for retired entertainment-industry veterans, plans to shut down the facility by the end of the year and relocate about 100 elderly residents to other homes. Recent financial disclosures have shown that the fund authorized construction of new executive offices and a gym and aquatic center while it faced deepening fiscal problems.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Met Unveils Scaled-Back Season

Amid news of spending cuts and shrinking endowments and donations, the Metropolitan Opera announced a 2009-10 season in which it will mount eight new productions but also scrap or replace four planned operas deemed too costly, The New York Times reports.

“The cuts we have made are going to help us make ends meet, but we have not solved the problem yet,” Peter Gelb, the Met’s general manager, said. “But we can’t stop and wait until the economics are settled to announce the season. We have to move forward.”

The Met also reduced the number of its high-definition live broadcasts to movie theaters worldwide from last season’s 11 to nine, but Mr. Gelb said a 10th screening could still be added.

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Market Decline Takes Toll on Major Fort Worth Foundations

The stock-market plunge has cost many of the biggest philanthropic institutions in Fort Worth, Tex., as much as 30 percent of their investment portfolios, reports the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

The Sid W. Richardson Foundation, with assets of $426-million, has seen its portfolio wither by 25 to 30 percent. And even though the Amon G. Carter Foundation pulled out of Bear Stearns, Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae relatively early in their declines, the $493-million foundation suffered 16 percent losses.

Government and Politics: Hospitals Fight Provision in House Stimulus Bill

The Association for Healthcare Philanthropy is fighting a little-known provision in the House version of the roughly $800-billion economic-stimulus legislation that could restrict hospital fund-raising efforts, according to Government and Politics Watch, The Chronicle’s online column.

Plus: Charitable 2-1-1 call centers seek support from Congress.

Give and Take: An Emergency Meeting to Increase Volunteerism

The Knights of Columbus, a Catholic lay organization, is calling on charities and volunteers nationwide to help the country’s needy people during the current economic crisis, notes an item in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Plus:

Did the latest PETA protest go too far?

Kennedy Center effort to help arts groups raises questions.

Prospecting: Museum Finds Way to Energize Revenues

At a time when the crumbling economy is forcing many museums and other arts organizations to cut hours, performances, and staff members, the Maryhill Museum, in rural Goldendale, Wash., has find a novel way to raise funds through an agreement with an alternative energy company, notes a new post in Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online fund-raising column.

February 10, 2009

Financial Planners Increasingly Promote Charitable Trusts

The recession is creating optimum conditions for wealthy donors to set up charitable trusts as a way to give money and also shelter income from estate taxes, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Assets, including cash, stocks, and art, can be transferred to a “charitable lead trust” for a set numbers of years, during which payments are made to a designated charity or charities. When the term expires, the remainder of the trust goes to heirs. Because the assets are not part of the donor’s estate, any appreciation is not subject to estate taxes.

Estate planners say low interest rates and depressed asset values make the trusts more attractive. The so-called “hurdle” rate, which the Internal Revenue Service uses to predict the growth of assets in such trusts, is at a historic low of 2 percent; gains beyond that rate, which is locked in for the life of the trust, can generally be passed on to heirs tax-free, the Journal notes.

Calif. Conservation Corps Threatened by Budget Ax

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed shutting down the California Conservation Corps, which employs hundreds of often-troubled teens and young adults to work for minimum wage on environmental, disaster-response, and community projects, to help close the state’s $42-billion budget gap, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The plan would save $17-million and shift the corps’s work to a dozen nonprofit conservation organizations across the state.

A bipartisan group of four former California governors — including Jerry Brown, who founded the corps in 1976 — signed a letter last week urging Governor Schwarzenegger to reconsider the decision.

Federal Officials Probe Canceled Inaugural Benefit Ball

Federal and Washington agencies are investigating a possible fraud case against the organizer of an unofficial inaugural ball that was advertised as a fund raiser for injured Iraq war veterans, The Washington Post reports.

The Veterans Presidential Inaugural Ball was canceled the day before President Barack Obama’s inauguration. Federal prosecutors, the Secret Service, and the Washington attorney general’s office are looking into whether organizer Darryl Dante Hayes, who sold $250 and $500 tickets to the event and collected donations of cash and services, ever intended to mount the ball.

Mr. Hayes, who ran a successful inaugural ball in 2001 but also declared bankruptcy five times over the following two years, denied any wrongdoing. He said the veterans event was scuttled because most of his corporate sponsors pulled out. He said he intends to refund all of the money raised.

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Update: BBC Panel Member Resigns Over Nixed Gaza Appeal

A member of the BBC’s charity advisory panel has resigned over the British state broadcaster’s refusal to air an appeal for donations to aid Palestinian victims of the conflict in the Gaza region, according to Third Sector, a magazine and Web site covering the British nonprofit field.

Niaz Alam, a five-year member of the BBC’s Charity Appeals Advisory Committee, said in his resignation letter that he “strongly believed the BBC had made the wrong decision.” The broadcaster decided last month not to air an appeal for the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Gaza Crisis campaign, saying that to do so could compromise its impartiality.

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Disease Charities Strike Partnerships With Drug Firms

Disease-fighting nonprofit groups are increasingly investing in for-profit pharmaceutical companies in an effort to develop new treatments, according to The Wall Street Journal.

About a dozen such charities, including the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, are spending money raised from donors on efforts to bring new drugs to market, often in exchange for financial stakes in the resulting products. Many cite the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s 10-year relationship with Vertex Pharmaceuticals as an inspiration for the strategy.

Aaron Kesselheim, a doctor at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a health-policy analyst, said the practice creates a “potential minefield” of conflicts for disease charities, which do patient advocacy and make recommendations to doctors and drug regulators.

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Foundation Readies Campaign for L.A. Immigrants

The California Community Foundation, in Los Angeles, will unveil today a five-year, $3.75-million program to improve English-language and job skills and increase civic participation among the city’s immigrants, according to the Los Angeles Times.

A report to be released in conjunction with today’s announcement documents the economic impact of immigrants, who make up nearly half of the Los Angeles work force, and asserts a pressing need for English classes, job training, and leadership programs for foreign-born residents.

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From The Chronicle: Update on Senate Economic-Stimulus Package

The economic-stimulus package passed by the Senate today does not include a number of measures that nonprofit and foundation leaders had proposed to help ease the impact of the recession on the philanthropic world, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Government and Politics Watch: AmeriCorps Expansion

If Congress moves to expand AmeriCorps, the national-service program, it should focus more on improving its quality than on increasing the number of people who participate, a consultant who helped draft the legislation that created the program told a forum on national service today, according to Government and Politics Watch, The Chronicle’s online column.

Give and Take: 'Microlending' Thrives in Poor Economy

Despite the sour economy, organizations that use the Internet to make microloans appear to be thriving, reports The Wallet, a Wall Street Journal blog on personal finance highlighted in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

From The Chronicle: How Charity Endowments Have Fared in the Downturn

Some of the nation’s largest charitable institutions suffered major losses to their endowments in 2008, forcing them to make deep cuts in operations that would have been unthinkable only a year ago, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Transcript: Coping With A Flooded Job Market

See a transcript of our live discussion today on the ways nonprofit leaders can find the best candidates in a growing pool of applicants.

February 09, 2009

U.K. Government Set to Announce Plan to Bolster Charities

The British government is due to announce plans today to provide a £42.5-million ($62.9-million) cash infusion for recession-hit charities in England and Wales, the BBC reports.

The plan will include grants for providing employment advice, mental health, and family support services in deprived areas; aid for social entrepreneurs; and assistance to help charities train volunteers and team up or merge.

The British National Council for Voluntary Organisations had asked Prime Minister Gordon Brown for at least £100-million, or about $147-million.

Rasmuson Foundation Will Stop Making Big Grants

The Rasmuson Foundation, Alaska’s largest private philanthropic organization, will issue no grants worth more than $25,000 this year and plans to cut its 2009 grant making by 14 percent, to $19-million, the Associated Press reports.

Diane Kaplan, the foundation’s president, said in a speech last week to nonprofit groups that the number of small-grant awards will be about the same as in 2008, but the average amount given to each organization will drop by one-third.

The stock market collapse cost Rasmuson more than a third of its market value last year, as its assets plunged from $600-million at the end of 2007 to an estimated $380-million.

See The Chronicle’s study of how grant makers were affected by the downturn and what they are doing to cope.

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Sales Slow at Charity Thrift Stores

Sales growth at Goodwill Industries secondhand shops declined steadily toward the end of 2008, mirroring an overall trend in the resale industry, the Associated Press reports.

Sales at established Goodwill locations grew 4.6 percent in December compared with the previous year. Growth rates were 7.1 percent in November and 9.8 percent in October.

“The broader economy is reflected in those numbers,” Jim Gibbons, chief executive of Goodwill, told the news service. “We have more shoppers than we have before, but people are buying less.”

The Salvation Army said sales grew 2 percent to 8 percent at its 1,300 American thrift stores, figures comparable to past years. But sales of big-ticket items such as furniture are down, as are donations, Melissa Temme, a spokeswoman for the charity said.

Housing Group for the Poor Gains Donations and Other Aid

As home lending dries up, Habitat for Humanity affiliates in the Washington, D.C., area are seeing a spike in interest in Habitat homes and are looking for innovative solutions to the foreclosure crisis, reports The Washington Post.

Charlene McCall, executive director for Habitat in suburban Prince George’s County, Md., said attendance has doubled at the volunteer home-building organization’s information meetings on obtaining housing. Dennis Smyth, interim chief of the Washington branch, said rising donations from individuals are helping make up for a drop in corporate giving.

In Montgomery County, Md., Habitat is collaborating with local governments to buy and rehabilitate foreclosed homes — the first such effort by a U.S. Habitat branch, according to John Paukstis, the Montgomery chapter’s executive director.

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President of Brandeis U. Apologizes for Handling of Museum Controversy

Jehuda Reinharz, president of Brandeis University issued a public apology to people at his institution on Thursday, saying he “screwed up” the disclosure of plans to shut down the school’s Rose Art Museum, reports The Boston Globe.

Mr. Reinharz said the Rose will stay open but “be more fully integrated into the university’s central mission.” He elaborated in an interview with the newspaper, saying the Rose would be “a gallery and teaching site” but that “we don’t want to be in the public museum business.” Only a “minute number” of the museum’s nearly 7,200 works would be sold, he said.

Plus: See an opinion article from the new issue of The Chronicle examining what the Brandeis case and others like it mean to the ties between charities and donors.

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Opinion: Obama Should Keep Pledge to End Religious Hiring

A Los Angeles Times editorial calls on President Barack Obama to fulfill his campaign promise to bar religious charities that receive federal money from hiring people only of their own faith.

The Bush administration’s Office of Faith-Based Community Initiatives did not ban such practices. Mr. Obama had pledged to reverse that decision, the Times wrote, but his amended executive order creating a revamped Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships lacks “a clear statement that faith-based services that accept federal money may not discriminate in hiring on the basis of religion.” Instead it establishes an advisory council to refer legal questions over recipients’ practices to the attorney general.

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From The Chronicle: Federal Aid and Charities

The compromise economic-stimulus package now before the Senate cuts some proposed spending on social programs of interest to nonprofit groups as part of an effort to trim $100-billion from the bill’s cost, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Prospecting: What's the Danger of Raising Money in Small Sums?

Nonprofit groups should not succumb to the “sirens song” of social media, which lures charities with the promise of raising money fast and on the cheap, warns a nonprofit leader in a new post in Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online fund-raising column.

Plus: Cambridge University has raised more than $1-billion in its capital campaign.

Give and Take: Collaboration Among Grant Makers

Foundations are learning that some of their collaborative efforts are paying off, writes a community foundation head in a blog post summarized in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Plus:

How President Obama’s effort to aid religious groups is viewed by a range of observers

How blogging can help your career

Why charities might want to turn down offers of free advertising time or space

Online Discussion Tomorrow: Coping With a Flooded Job Market

Join us tomorrow at noon Eastern time for an online discussion about the ways nonprofit leaders can find the best candidates in a growing pool of applicants.

As the economy worsens and more people are in the job market, what message should charities send to those who are approaching them for positions? What can job seekers do to stand out?

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

Read the Latest Issue of The Chronicle

The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s new issue was posted online this morning. Among the highlights are a special report on the economy, our annual technology guide, and an exclusive look at the contours of a new White House office to spur social innovation — and give more attention to nonprofit groups. You can see all the articles in the new issue in our table of contents.

February 06, 2009

Congressional Efforts to Aid the Arts in Recovery Plan Under Attack

The proposed $50-million for the National Endowment for the Arts in the economic stimulus bill is prompting criticism from those who say the allocation would be wasteful spending, reports The Boston Globe.

Advocates for the federal aid say there is a historical resonance to the proposal, reviving memories of the way President Franklin D. Roosevelt supported the hiring of thousands of artists, writers, painters, and photographers as part of the New Deal, reports the newspaper.

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Confrontational Tactics Help Gain Attention for Housing Advocate

Bruce Marks, chief executive of the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, a nonprofit group in Boston that helps people avoid foreclosure, employs some unorthodox tactics in furthering his cause, reports National Public Radio.

Mr. Marks, who has been called a “bank terrorist,” has camped out on the front lawns of bank CEO’s, made big scenes at their country clubs, and dug into their personal lives to embarrass them when they or their companies have, in his view, behaved unethically, reports the radio station.

Humanitarian Groups Face Trouble Getting Aid to Gaza

The United Nations said on Wednesday that armed Hamas police in Gaza had seized aid supplies from its warehouse, reports The New York Times.

Christopher Gunness, a spokesman for the refugee agency, said it was the first time its supplies had been seized in such a way.

Also: On Thursday, the Israeli Navy seized and diverted a freighter trying to enter Gaza carrying medicine, food, toys, and blood plasma from Lebanese and Arab charities, reports Reuters.

The navy questioned the passengers on board the freighter. An Israeli military official said humanitarian aid found on the ship would be transferred to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

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N.Y. Museum Receives 150 Works From Company's Art Collection

The Whitney Museum of Art, in New York, has benefited as the Altria Group faces changes, The New York Times reports.

The company donated 150 works to the museum. The move comes after the company stopped giving money to arts causes and after it moved its headquarters from New York to Virginia.

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State Budget Woes Cause Trouble for N.Y. Charity That Aids the Elderly

The Guardianship Project, a New York group that protects elderly and disabled people who have no one else to act as their legal guardians, will close in April because of the state’s budget shortfall, reports The New York Times.

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Government and Politics Watch: Hospital 'Charity Care' Gets Attention in Stimulus Bill

Two senators are seeking to add provisions to the economic-recovery bill to put new attention on the charity care provided by hospitals, reports Government and Politics Watch, The Chronicle’s online column.

Plus: How the President’s efforts to aid religious charities differ from the Bush administration.

Give and Take: A Collaborative Approach to Weathering the Economy

An environmental leader has created a Wikipedia-style approach to sharing information among nonprofit groups as they seek to cope with the recession, notes a new blog post in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Plus:

A nonprofit activist urges charities to avoid looking greedy by asking for too much federal aid or paying their chief executives high salaries.

Figuring out what nonprofit groups lost money by investing with Bernard Madoff.

Prospecting: Did Bill Gates Help His Favorite Cause?

Bill Gates released mosquitoes into a crowd this week to call attention to his philanthropy’s efforts to fight malaria, and now people are wondering whether that was a wise way to gain other supporters for the cause, notes Prospecting, The Chronicle’s fund-raising column.

Plus: A fight over donor poaching has broken out among animal charities in the United Kingdom.

From The Chronicle: Why Obama's Views on Compensation of Financial Executives Matter to Charities

President Obama’s announcement this week that he plans to limit executive pay and perks at financial companies seeking federal bailout aid should send a message to nonprofit groups’ leaders and their board members, write two legal experts in an opinion article from The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

From The Chronicle: Americans' Views Don't Match Actions on Social Issues, Study Finds

Americans hold strong convictions about issues of great importance to the nonprofit world, a new survey finds — but few act on their beliefs, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Online Discussion Next Week: Finding Top Job Applicants

Join us on Tuesday, February 10, at noon Eastern time for an online discussion about the ways nonprofit leaders can find the best candidates in a growing pool of applicants.

As the economy worsens and more people are in the job market, what message should charities send to those who are approaching them for positions? What can job seekers do to stand out?

The Chronicle’s online discussions are free and open to everyone. People who ask questions in advance have a better chance of getting answers. More details will be posted soon at http://philanthropy.com.

February 05, 2009

Senators Look to Cut $200-Billion From Stimulus Bill

A bipartisan group of senators is looking to peel $200-billion from the now more than $900-billion economic-stimulus bill, with some of those cuts coming from money aimed at nonprofit groups, according to The New York Times.

Two centrist senators — Ben Nelson, a Democrat from Nebraska, and Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine — are looking to trim measures that may include $50-million for the National Endowment for the Arts, $1-billion for the National Science Foundation, $400-million for the research and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, and $400-million for climate-change research. A final Senate vote on the bill is expected late tomorrow.

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Madoff Client List Released, More Foundations Report Losses

Two Seattle-area foundations whose assets were managed by Bernard Madoff’s firm have suffered significant losses in Mr. Madoff’s alleged investment scam, according to The Seattle Times.

The Patrice and Kevin Auld Foundation, in Seattle, reported holding $1.7-million of its nearly $1.8-million asset total in Madoff investments during the 2007 fiscal year. The Kaleidoscope Foundation, in Bellevue, Wash., reported holding almost $3.2-million of its $12.6-million in Madoff investments at the end of 2007. Both support conservation and educational causes.

Meanwhile, a filing in U.S Bankruptcy Court, in New York, released today and published by The Wall Street Journal, includes a list of thousands of Mr. Madoff’s clients, including charities and foundations.

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Community Organizers Plan for Obama's First 100 Days

With one of their ilk in the White House, grass-roots community organizers are primed to take advantage of their time in the spotlight, according to The Washington Post.

President Obama’s background as an organizer in a South Side Chicago neighborhood in the 1980s has given new attention to the role of those who work on behalf of low-income and minority Americans. An effort by the Center for Community Change, an umbrella group for organizers, looks to make the most of that connection — and the momentum of the new president’s first 100 days in office — by bringing 10 organizers from 10 groups across the country to plead their cases to Capitol Hill lawmakers during each of the Obama administration’s first 14 weeks.

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Stony Brook U. Surpasses Capital-Campaign Goal

A seven-year, $300-million capital campaign by Stony Brook University has already surpassed its goal, even though the drive isn’t slated to end until June 30, according to Newsday.

Stony Brook officials say the campaign included a recent $17-million gift from Jim and Marilyn Simons, who run the Simons Foundation. Mr. Simons is a financier and former chairman of Stony Brook’s math department. The couple also gave $60-million to the university a year ago.

Man Who Froze to Death Leaves Estate to Hospital

A World War II veteran who froze to death last month in his Michigan home has left his entire estate — believed to be worth at least $500,000 — to a local hospital, according to CNN.

Martin Schur, 93, of Bay City, died after a local utility company shut off his power because he owed it about $1,000. Mr. Schur, a widower known in his family for his frugality, told relatives two years ago that he had saved up more than $500,000 over the years, though his lawyer would not disclose the exact amount of the estate or how much would be going to Bay Regional Medical Center.

Hospitals Make Cuts in Staff

Hospitals around the country are either making staff cuts or considering the measure as the economy continues its slide, according to news reports.

Swedish Medical Center, the largest health-care provider in Seattle, has announced it is laying off 200 workers, including more than two dozen senior executives, according to The Seattle Times.

Meanwhile, a survey of 63 hospitals in Georgia has found that 60 percent of those organizations have either cut staff positions or considered doing so, and more than one-third have either trimmed services or considered such a move, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The report, by the Georgia Hospital Association, found that more than half of respondents had seen a decline in charitable gifts.

Mob Museum Takes Hits From Critics

A planned museum that will explore the history of organized crime in America has come under fire by both television comedians and Capitol Hill lawmakers, causing its organizers to tread carefully as they seek support for the project, according to the Las Vegas Sun.

The Las Vegas Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, slated to open in 2010 at a price tag of $50-million, is being created by the city and by 300 Stewart Avenue Corporation, a nonprofit group. “We want it to be serious and we want it to be balanced, but we need it to have appeal,” said Dale Erquiaga, a museum board member. About $15-million has been raised so far for the museum, which will be housed in a former federal courthouse.

Opinion: The Case Against Nonprofit Newspapers

Despite high-profile arguments for nonprofit ownership of The New York Times and other financially troubled daily newspapers, such a move would not necessarily be in the best interest of either newspapers or readers, according to Jack Shafer’s commentary in the online publication Slate.

Responding to a recent Times opinion article by David Swensen, the chief investment officer at Yale, and his colleague Michael Schmidt, Mr. Shafer rebuts the notion that “the best eraser for red ink is … charity.”

Among the downsides to such an arrangement that Mr. Shafer cites: The danger of freezing newspaper staffs at sizes that do not reflect current coverage needs; the financial pressures grant makers themselves now face; and the question of whether a newspaper would ultimately be accountable to its philanthropic benefactor or its readers.

From The Chronicle: President Obama's 'Faith-Based' Antipoverty Effort

President Barack Obama today created a federal effort to help religious groups and grass-root charities fight social ills, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Government and Politics Watch: IRS Exemption Decision

The Internal Revenue Service has ruled that a charity that conducts scientific research is doing nothing improper by performing studies for a for-profit company and will keep its tax exemption, according to Government and Politics Watch, The Chronicle’s online column.

Give and Take: Gov. Palin vs. Wildlife Groups

Defenders of Wildlife is receiving a lot of attention for a new online video it produced about threats to Alaska’s environment, thanks to publicity from the sparring between the ad’s spokeswoman, the actress Ashley Judd, and its target, Gov. Sarah Palin, according to Give and Take, a roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Plus:

Using LinkedIn to find a job

Are education charities and donors doing enough to improve schools?

Getting Asian-Americans to give more to charity

Prospecting: Online Fund-Raising Strategy That Works

A California fund-raising consultant says the approach of buying links on search engines for terms related to a charity’s work continues to be an effective strategy, according to Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online column on seeking money.

Social Good: Using Text Messaging to Raise Money

Nonprofit groups have started to come up with creative strategies for raising money through text messaging, says Allison Fine, host of The Chronicle’s new podcast series, Social Good.

In the latest installment, now available free online, Ms. Fine interviews Katrin Verclas, co-founder of MobileActive.org, and Chuck Scofield, chief development officer of Share Our Strength, to learn how charities are using this technique.

February 04, 2009

L.A. Museum Board Members Resign

The troubled Museum of Contemporary Art, in Los Angeles, has seen nine of its 35 board members leave since last fall, reports the Los Angeles Times.

The institution announced last week that it has eliminated 20 percent of its employees as a way to rein in costs.

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Global Health Requires More U.S. Money, Say Experts

Global health leaders are looking to the Obama administration to make up for a deepening shortfall in financing for efforts to combat malaria, AIDS, and tuberculosis, reports The Christian Science Monitor.

More countries, especially in Africa, are seeing success in expanding and improving disease treatment, say health experts, but this success is feeding demand for services. The United States has yet to approve its 2009 contribution to the Global Fund, the international partnership that since 2001 has become the primary source of funds to fight those three diseases in the developing world. And it is already $1-billion behind in honoring pledges made under the Bush administration.

Heirs Permit Disputed Picasso Paintings to Remain at Museums

New York’s Museum of Modern Art and the foundation that runs the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum can keep two Picasso paintings, after heirs of the paintings’ former owner settled a suit to repossess them, reports Bloomberg News.

Both paintings were once owned by Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, a German Jewish banker, who died in 1935. The plaintiffs claimed in the suit that the paintings were sold under duress, because Mr. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy feared losing them to the Nazis. They argued the artwork should be returned to the family. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Nonprofit Founders Connected to Daschle Face Scrutiny

The founders of two nonprofit groups involved in former Sen. Tom Daschle’s failed Cabinet nomination have ties to many Washington leaders, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Catherine and Wayne Reynolds, founders of education lender EduCap and a related group, the Academy of Achievement, have given more than $400,000 in campaign contributions since 1998, according to federal records.

The Internal Revenue Service has been investigating EduCap since 2004. Among other issues, the agency is looking into whether the nonprofit group’s private jet was used for trips not related to the business of the charity. Mr. Daschle took two trips on the jet, one to the Bahamas and another to the Middle East, which were questioned by the Senate Finance Committee as potentially taxable income in the context of the panel’s broader review of Mr. Daschle’s finances. A lawyer who represents EduCap declined to comment on the IRS investigation, reports the newspaper.

Bailed-Out Banks Gave to Charities Tied to Congress

In the last six months of 2008, eight companies that would benefit from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (commonly known as TARP) spent roughly $366,000 on events and charities connected to members of Congress, according to a review of Congressional lobbying records, reports The Hill, a newspaper that covers Congressional activities.

Some members of Congress object to this use of funds: Sens. Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, and Olympia Snowe, Republican of Maine, have introduced legislation that would restrict banks’ political influence. If passed, their bill would ban TARP funds from being used for lobbying expenses.

Charitable Gift-Annuity Rates Decrease

The rates paid out to charitable gift-annuity beneficiaries will decrease this month by 0.4 percent, to 0.7 percent, a result of deep declines in both long- and short-term interest rates, reports The Wall Street Journal.

When creating a charitable gift annuity, a donor makes a gift of cash, securities, or other assets to a nonprofit group. In return, the group pays the donor a fixed amount during his or her lifetime. The remainder goes to the charity.

Opinion: Why the Arts Matter

In the nonprofit hierarchy, the arts are often seen as less important than health and human-service needs and are therefore more likely to suffer during an economic downturn, writes James E. Canales, president of the James Irvine Foundation, in a column for the San Francisco Chronicle.

And yet the arts, particularly in California’s Bay Area, provide jobs, state and local tax revenues, and educational opportunities, he writes. “But the importance of the arts extends well beyond economics and education. The arts expand our horizons, unleash creativity, and build social bonds.”

Mr. Canales urges readers not only to support individual arts groups “but also talk to your friends and neighbors about the transformative power of the arts and encourage them to support and advocate for the arts.”

Prospecting: A Drop in Fund-Raising Costs

A California consulting firm says broadcasters have been lowering the cost of advertising and other programming on their stations in response to the poor economy, according to Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online column on seeking money.

Plus: A suggestion that fund raisers offer low-cost options to special-event sponsors.

From The Chronicle: $100-Million AIDS Gift

A software entrepreneur and his wife have pledged $100-million through their new family foundation to create an institute dedicated initially to the discovery of an AIDS vaccine, reports The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

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 February 12 issue.

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

February 03, 2009

New Support Offered to Arts Organizations Facing Budget Woes

The Kennedy Center, in Washington, started a program today to help other arts organizations survive the recession, reports The Washington Post.

The effort grew out of what has turned into months of inquiries from other arts organizations seeking guidance from the Kennedy Center and its director Michael Kaiser, who is considered an expert on turning around organizations in crisis, the newspaper reports. Those who need assistance can find it through the program’s new Web site.

Many other newspapers are covering the problems facing arts groups. Among the highlights:

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is considering how to trim its budget after announcing a $3.8-million deficit for the fiscal year that ended in August, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer.

A new survey by a Philadelphia cultural group finds that ticket sales and memberships have held steady at local arts organizations, even as donations and corporate sponsorships have declined, says The Philadelphia Inquirer. Also, the Philadelphia Orchestra is considering a reduction in pay increases for lead musicians, and a reduced performance program for the forthcoming season to trim costs, the newspaper reports.

In Denver, most arts organizations have been able to avoid layoffs or major reductions in programs, says The Denver Post.

Some arts groups in Chicago have sought creative ways to keep people attending performances, such as allowing ticket subscriptions to be paid in installments. This and other arts updates from Chicago are reported in the Chicago Tribune.

Dancers in the Orlando Ballet will help save the charity $35,000 to $40,000 in production costs by performing a slightly different program than originally planned, according to The Orlando Sentinel.

Plus: See the Chronicle’s update on arts groups and the economy.

(Free registration is required to view the Washington Post and Chicago Tribune articles.)

Calif. Public Broadcasting Network Lays Off Workers and Cuts Spending

As corporate donations drop because of the recession, Northern California Public Broadcasting is planning to cut 13 percent of its budget and lay off 30 employees, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

The nonprofit organization has seen a 24-percent decline in corporate underwriting since October, along with a 15-percent decline in major gifts and a 5-percent drop in membership in the same time period, the newspaper reports. It hopes to save $8-million from the cuts.

The organization is one of many public-broadcasting organizations that has made or is considering budget cuts. Advocates for public broadcasting are expected to ask the federal government for aid, the newspaper reports.

Charities Under Fire for Executive Pay Levels

Nonprofit chief executive pay is the focus of two reports today on charities’ financial health during the economic recession.

New York cultural institutions that have received significant government support continue to pay their executives at high levels, despite budget cuts and layoffs at some organizations, reports The New York Post.

The American Museum of Natural History, which received more than $16-million from the city of New York in the current fiscal year, paid its top executive more than $1-million in salary and benefits in 2007, the paper reports. The charity let 50 employees go last week.

Meanwhile, critics are assailing the pay levels of executives at the Boy Scouts of America, in Irving, Tex., reports Hearst Newspapers.

Deron Smith, a Boy Scout spokesman, says the organization pays what it does to attract top talent at all leadership levels.

For more on executive pay, see The Chronicle’s most recent annual survey on compensation.

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

Report Highlights Challenges Facing Atlanta Nonprofit Groups

Nonprofit organizations in and around Atlanta face decline in resources just as the need for their work is growing, reports The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a special report on the state of charities in that city.

A poll taken by the local United Way affiliate found that 80 percent of charities faced “unprecedented” requests for help, but only one quarter could meet that demand, the newspaper reports. It said that the drop in assets at foundations and universities is adding to the problems because those organizations don’t have the cushion they had in the past.

Brandeis Decision May Threaten Future Donations

The decision by Brandeis University to close its Rose Art Museum and sell the museum’s art collection to raise money for the university’s endowment may have far-reaching effects on past and future donors, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Some previous donors — of cash and of artwork — have said they will not give to Brandeis again. Others, because of Internal Revenue Service regulations, may not be able to realize the full tax deduction they expected when they donated art to the museum, now that the museum’s intentions for their gifts have changed, the paper reports.

Meanwhile, the museum’s director, Michael Rush, had stern words about the university’s decision, which he called shortsighted, reports The Boston Globe. As has been reported, Mr. Rush and the museum’s staff learned of the decision only one hour before it was announced to the public.

“Seeking a solution to dire financial difficulties by selling precious art that was given (or bought) in the deepest trust between donors and the university (via the museum) is an aberration,’’ Mr. Rush said in a statement. “Brandeis is putting its intellectual capital and very credibility as an institution of higher learning on the auction block.”

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

Transcript: Raising Money Through Special Events

See a transcript of our live discussion today on the best ways to raise money through special events — even as the downturn threatens returns.

Government and Politics Watch: Charities Seek to Influence Senate Spending Plan

The Senate’s plan to stimulate spending is attracting attention from nonprofit leaders seeking to preserve or improve the benefits to charities included in the House-passed measure, according to Government and Politics Watch, The Chronicle’s online column.

Give and Take: Fighting Global Poverty

Did the gathering of world leaders in Davos, Switzerland, last week do much to promote philanthropy and aid charities that help the poor? That is the topic of the latest item added to Give and Take, a roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

From The Chronicle: Founder of Habitat for Humanity Dies

Millard Fuller, the founder of Habitat for Humanity, died this morning, reports The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

From The Chronicle: Court Rules Against IRS in Church Audit

The Internal Revenue Service has suffered another setback in its effort to pursue an audit of a church in Minnesota in a case that has ramifications for the tax agency and churches nationwide, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Correction: Los Angeles Museum

An article about cuts at the Museum of Contemporary Art, in Los Angeles, should have noted that the organization is seeking to cut $4.4-million in spending.

February 02, 2009

Potential Cabinet Secretary Faces Questions About Charity Travel

Former Sen. Tom Daschle, whom President Obama has nominated to become secretary of health and human services, will probably have to respond to inquiries from the Senate Finance Committee today over whether he inappropriately accepted gifts from charities he was involved with, reports The Wall Street Journal.

A Finance Committee memo distributed to members on Friday said, “Committee staff still is reviewing whether travel and entertainment services provided to the Daschles by EduCap Inc., Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation, Academy Achievement, and Loan to Learn should be reported as income,” the newspaper said.

According to those familiar with the case, the travel in question involves two flights that Mr. Daschle took aboard a corporate jet belonging to EduCap to vacation destinations to meet with members of the board of directors of the Academy of Achievement, a related charity. Federal tax law forbids individuals involved with a charity to accept anything of personal value from the charity that isn’t related to the organization’s main mission.

A spokesman for Mr. Daschle said he did not violate any tax rules in connection with the trips.

The newspaper said the real issue appears to be the tax-exempt status of EduCap, a student-loan lender. The newspaper did not receive a comment from the organizers of the charity on that concern.

Charities That Serve the World's Needy Anticipate Economic Challenges

As the global economic downturn deepens, charities that serve the world’s needy are redoubling their fund-raising efforts, lowering their 2009 revenue forecasts, and seeking business savvy to inform their operations, reports the Associated Press.

Although unclear about to what extent their donations will suffer, many charities fear the worst is yet to come. World leaders including U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and former President Bill Clinton made appeals at this week’s World Economic Forum not to neglect the world’s needy in economically difficult times.

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

Los Angeles Museum Cuts Its Staff by 20 Percent

The Museum of Contemporary Art has reduced its staff by 20 percent and cut operating costs in an effort to trim its annual expenses by $4.4-million, the museum announced Friday, reports the Los Angeles Times.

The cutbacks, which affect all departments, eliminated 32 jobs — 16 full-time, 16 part-time — out of a staff of about 160. No curators or senior staff members were let go. Employees who have been laid off were notified Friday.

Charles E. Young, chief executive of the museum, declined to identify the positions that were eliminated but said in an interview Friday that the largest number of jobs were eliminated in the curatorial support, educational, and development departments. “I don’t want to get into specific programs,” said Mr. Young. “We may be doing fewer things, but what we do we’re going to be doing to the same high level of quality.”

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FBI Investigating Philadelphia Charity With Ties to Former Mayor

Philadelphia Safe and Sound, a social-service charity with connections to former Mayor John F. Street and his wife, is under investigation by the FBI, according to several people familiar with the issue, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The charity split up in June after Philadelphia’s current mayor, Michael Nutter, expressed concern about its expenditures and programs. Sources said federal investigators were looking into whether the group had improperly distributed tens of millions of city dollars it had received throughout the Street administration intended to oversee after-school programs, antitruancy efforts, and curfew centers and to conduct violence-prevention research, the newspaper said.

Mr. Street’s wife, Naomi, was director of the nonprofit organization from its founding in 1998 until 2002. According to sources, the federal inquiry appears to be centered on the work of specific providers, including Lucinda Post, Ms. Street’s sister, who for at least the past five years managed Safe and Sound-supported programs that received millions of dollars.

Neither Mr. Street nor his wife responded to the newspaper’s calls for comment. Ms. Post denied any wrongdoing.

Religious Groups Push New President for Change

As progressive religious activists apply pressure on the new Obama administration to take action on issues concerning poverty, the environment, and social justice, President Obama faces potential conflicts over priorities, reports The Washington Post.

Progressive religious activists are optimistic that President Obama will back the causes they support, but satisfying the expectations of the activists that he has reached out to may prove challenging as his administration attempts to balance competing interests with other areas of his agenda, such as the economy, the newspaper says.

“We’re trying to help him fulfill his commitment and hold his administration accountable at the same time,” said Jim Wallis, who heads Sojourners, a liberal evangelical group, in Washington, that is organizing a march in April that will call on the president to cut the poverty rate in half within 10 years.

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Foundation Avoids New Grants to Recover From Madoff Scandal

Eighty Boston charities received a letter Friday from the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family Foundation informing them that the organization will make no new grants in 2009 as it recovers from the Bernard L. Madoff investment scandal, which claimed about $145-million, nearly half of its assets, reports The Boston Globe.

The foundation, which has given about $100-million to local charities over the last decade, will still give about $9-million to honor its existing financial pledges.

“We are apprising you of this situation as early as possible to allow you to either seek alternate sources of funding or to adjust your plans for this year,” says the letter, written by the foundation’s executive director, Jean Whitney. The decision, the letter goes on to say, is meant to “ensure the long-term health and stability of the foundation.”

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Prospecting: Ask Donors to Do More Than Give

Asking potential donors to perform a small task can improve fund-raising results, according to Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online column on seeking money.

Plus:

Should donors know you need them?

The new fund-raising math of social networks

How charities can borrow Obama’s techniques

Government and Politics Watch: Congressman Steps Up Philanthropy Role

Rep. John Lewis is the new co-chair of a House caucus that will focus on aiding philanthropy, reports Government and Politics Watch, the Chronicle’s online column.

Online Discussion Tomorrow: Special Fund-Raising Events

Join us on tomorrow at noon Eastern time for a live online discussion about the best ways to make walkathons, silent auctions, and other special events more lucrative.

This discussion comes as many people in the nonprofit world fear that the recession will make it more difficult for organizations to attract participants and sponsors and to generate donations.

How can you make your event seem worthwhile in the current economy? What steps can you take to promote your event? What can you do during and after the event to convert some of your participants into active donors and volunteers?

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: Promoting Social Innovation

Paul Light, a scholar at New York University, offers suggestions on how the White House can best promote social innovation in an opinion article in The Chronicle of Philanthropy.