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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April 2009

April 30, 2009

In the Arts: Jazz at Lincoln Center Seeks Settlement With Defaulting Donor

Jazz at Lincoln Center is in settlement talks with a Pennsylvania insurance executive it says did not follow through on a five-year, $500,000 donation commitment, according to Bloomberg.

The organization sued AV International chief executive Andre V. Duggin earlier this month, claiming he still owes $327,500 on his 2005 promise, made in writing two weeks after he joined the renowned New York venue’s board, and subsequent additional pledges.

In other arts news, the Financial Times reports that budget cuts at British museums have not affected attendance. More than a third of 312 museums and galleries surveyed by the nonprofit Art Fund saw gains in visitors between September 2008 and last March, and 38 percent experienced no change.

Also, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra musicians have agreed to forgo promised wage and pension hikes, making what amounts to a $1-million donation to the organization, The Washington Post reports.

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

Aid Groups Begin Campaigns for Sri Lankan Refugee Relief

Major international humanitarian agencies are running appeals seeking millions of dollars to aid Sri Lankans fleeing the fighting as the country’s army seeks to crush the Tamil Tiger rebels, reports Reuters.

Camps and hospitals are reportedly bursting at the seams as civilians, many of them badly injured, stream out of the war zone. Critical needs include shelter, food, water, sanitation, clothing, bedding, mosquito nets, and psychological support.

CARE is appealing for $9-million for Sri Lankan aid, and Save the Children is running a $3.65-million campaign. All told, the United Nations, the federal government, and some 40 aid agencies are seeking $155-million but so far have received less than a third of that.

Study Recommends San Francisco Help Charities Merge or Close

A joint paper by the San Francisco Foundation and the city attorney’s office recommends major changes among the Bay area’s nonprofit groups as a gaping municipal deficit crimps charities’ budgets, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

The study suggests ways the city can reduce the nearly $500-million a year it spends on some 800 social-service providers as it seeks to close an unprecedented $438-million budget gap. It recommends that the city help some of San Francisco’s 7,000 nonprofit organizations cut costs, merge, or close.

“There are going to be changes in the nonprofit landscape — not all are going to survive,” the foundation’s executive director, Sandra Hernandez, said.

L.A. Charter-School Effort Gets $3-Million Gift

Los Angeles education philanthropists Bruce and Martha Karsh have pledged $3-million toward a plan to open new charter schools in the area, reports the Los Angeles Times.

The donation is the second major recent gift to help charter-school operator KIPP LA reach a goal of expanding in the next five years to 14 elementary and middle schools in the area from the current three. The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation gave $12-million last year.

The nationwide KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) network runs 66 schools in 19 states and the District of Columbia, many of which have achieved significant academic gains with largely poor and minority student bodies, the newspaper reports.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Boston's Health Center for the Blind Closes

The Greater Boston Guild for the Blind, the city’s only adult day health-care center for the visually impaired, will stop serving clients tomorrow, a victim of rising costs and declining donations, The Boston Globe reports.

The facility in the West Roxbury area will officially wind up operations in June. Its 15 employees will be laid off, and clients are being referred to other adult day centers across the region.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Opinion: Business Giving Critical to Meeting Crisis Needs

In a Wall Street Journal opinion column, the leaders of two of the nation’s largest minority organizations write that business philanthropy can play a “make or break” role in meeting public needs during the economic crisis.

National Urban League head Marc Morial and Janet Murguia, chief executive of the National Council of La Raza, recall the surge in giving by individuals and companies during the Great Depression and cite recent campaigns by Avon, Comcast, and UPS in urging businesses to help fill the gap left by squeezed government budgets and nonprofit groups facing fiscal struggles.

Obituary: Australian Billionaire and Philanthropist Richard Pratt Dies at 74

Richard Pratt, a Polish emigre who became one of Australia’s richest men and a leading international patron for Jewish causes, died of cancer Tuesday at age 74, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports.

Mr. Pratt, who immigrated to Australia with his parents on the eve of World War II, made his estimated $3.8-billion fortune as the head of Visy Industries, a global packaging and recycling business. The Pratt Foundation, which he founded in 1978 with his wife, Jeanne, has given some $140-million to charities in Australia, Israel, and the United States.

Government and Politics Watch: States Fall Behind in Paying Charities

Nonprofit social-services groups in 19 states said in a recent survey their payments from state or local governments have been received later than they were due, in some cases forcing charities to cut jobs or services, notes Government and Politics Watch, The Chronicle’s online column.

From The Chronicle: Interest in Anonymous Giving Grows

At a time when many charities are desperately looking for new donors, an increasing number of philanthropists seem to be trying just as hard not to be found, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports. The number of anonymous gifts is on the rise, based on analysis of the Chronicle’s database of major gifts and on anecdotal reports from fund raisers and advisers to donors.

From The Chronicle: Most Family Foundations Plan to Operate Forever

Few family foundations have plans to shut down after a certain period of time, preferring instead to exist in perpetuity, according to a survey just released by the Foundation Center, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Give and Take: Learning From Career Mistakes

Alanna Shaikh, a global-health expert, tries to save readers of her blog from some regrettable on-the-job missteps by describing five mistakes she made in pursuit of her dream job, according to a new item in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Plus:

Questioning the value of beneficiaries’ stories in charity evaluation.

Google.org helps track the swine flu.

Prospecting: Nature Conservancy Movie Promotion Raises $2.7-Million

The Nature Conservancy’s “Plant a Billion” campaign to plant trees in Brazil’s rain forest has just received $2.7-million from an arrangement with Disney Studios to donate a portion of the ticket price for every moviegoer who saw its new nature documentary “Earth” in its first week, says Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online column on fund raising.

Online Discussion Next Week: Promoting Good Causes

Join us on Tuesday, May 5, at noon, U.S. Eastern time for a discussion on nonprofit marketing.

Next week’s discussion is designed to help newly hired marketing experts move quickly to elevate the public profile of their organizations. But it will also provide advice for other nonprofit leaders who want to learn how to make smart decisions to help their organizations win attention.

Taking your questions will be Kivi Leroux Miller, author of The First 100 Days in Your New Nonprofit Marketing Job.

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 information will be available soon at http://philanthropy.com/live.

April 29, 2009

21 Washington-Area Nonprofit Groups Drop United Way Membership

Twenty-one Washington-area charities are cutting ties with the local United Way and aligning themselves with a fledgling competitor in the workplace-giving arena, The Washington Post reports.

The new alliance, Community 1st, will be run by the America’s Charities federation and includes several high-profile organizations, including the Make-a-Wish Foundation of the Mid-Atlantic, public television station WETA, and the Whitman-Walker Clinic.

Group members cited frustration with a steady decline in workplace giving and lingering distrust of the United Way of the National Capital Area, which was rocked by a financial scandal earlier in the decade. They said America’s Charities promised lower overhead costs and fewer restrictions on where donors’ money goes, among other benefits.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Giving by Richest Britons Up 8% in 2008

Britain’s top 100 philanthropists gave the equivalent of a combined $315.5-million last year, an 8 percent increase from 2007, Third Sector Online reports, citing the Sunday Times’ annual Giving List.

Alastair McCall, editor of the list, said giving patterns among the country’s wealthiest philanthropists indicated international aid charities, particularly those focused on Africa, and college funds for low-income students are well-placed to ride out the recession.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

National Trust Announces 2009 List of Endangered U.S. Historic Sites

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has released its latest list of a dozen endangered places, reports USA Today. Among them are the Utah hangar that housed the Enola Gay Hiroshima bomber; the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Unity Temple outside Chicago; and a New Mexico mountain sacred to 30 Native American tribes but threatened by uranium mining.

The 2009 roster was announced yesterday by the National Trust’s president, Richard Moe, and the actress Diane Keaton at the Los Angeles Century Plaza Hotel, which also made the list. According to The New York Times, the choice represents the trust’s effort this year to highlight the threat to modernist structures.

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

Update: Somali Gunmen Free Humanitarian Workers

Two European aid workers held hostage in Somalia for nine days were released without ransom yesterday, according to Reuters.

The two Doctors Without Borders staff members, a Belgian doctor and a Dutch nurse, had been abducted by Somali gunmen April 19 from the central region of Bokol, where they were conducting a nutrition study.

The kidnappers had demanded as much as $4-million, but a leader of the al Shabaab rebel group that controls the area — which had pledged to free the hostages by force if negotiations failed — said the aid workers were freed without conditions.

'Visionary' New Director Takes Over Smithsonian's Hirshhorn

The Washington Post profiles Richard Koshalek, the newly installed director of Washington’s Hirshhorn Museum.

The article examines the ways in which the longtime head of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art earned a reputation as a visionary and a change agent, and how he plans to apply his skills to the Smithsonian’s respected and successful home for modern and contemporary art.

“Everything this institution does — everything from the press releases we write, to the brochures we do, to what we put out to the public, to what kind of education program we do — all have to be on a very high level of seriousness,” Mr. Koshalek told the newspaper.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Merger Windfall Could Spell Gains in Philadelphia Philanthropy

Giving by Philadelphia’s Haas charitable trusts could expand greatly with the recent purchase of its corporate parent, Rohm & Haas Company, by Dow Chemical, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer profile of the philanthropy.

The $2.7-billion trusts, one of Philadelphia’s largest philanthropic institutions, distributed more than $40-million to nonprofit groups in 2007. Money from the Dow deal, finalized April 1, could raise giving to $67-million if the trusts maintain that year’s spending rate.

However, there is no guarantee the windfall will mean greater giving. The trusts do not specify actual spending levels for charity and, because of their age — they were founded by the Haas family in the 1950s and early ’60s — there are no federal requirements on them.

Downturn Has Bay Area Charities Eying Consolidation

More San Francisco Bay-area nonprofit groups are exploring mergers or ways to share responsibilities in the face of skyrocketing demand for services and plummeting financial resources, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

“Nonprofit executives are starting to be courageous and open up the conversation about whether they should be running a program or giving it to another agency,” said Sandra Hernandez, chief executive of the San Francisco Foundation, which this month set aside $1-million in emergency money to help charities restructure.

From The Chronicle: Ford Foundation Closes Two Overseas Offices

Having lost almost one-third of its assets during the last year, the Ford Foundation has announced it will close its offices in Russia and Vietnam, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Government and Politics Watch: Report Tracks Stimulus Money

A report by Giving USA and the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University gives nonprofit leaders crucial information on how their organizations can apply for money in the new federal economic-stimulus law, notes Government and Politics Watch, The Chronicle’s online column.

Plus:

The IRS announces plans to continue stepped-up oversight of charities.

New House bill would overhaul foreign aid.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation is asking citizens to comment on Obama’s first 100 days in office.

Give and Take: Jewish Donors Urged to Aid Small Groups

Two grant makers make a special appeal for Jewish donors to support small, innovative charities that have been established in recent years, notes a new item in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Prospecting: Keep Dire Talk Out of Fund-Raising Letters

Two prominent direct-mail experts urge charity fund raisers not to give in to increased pressure to refer to their economic hardships in their written appeals to donors, notes Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online column on fund raising.

Conference Notebook: Advising Groups on How to Track Online Mentions

Monitoring what people are saying online about an organization is critical, Carie Lewis, Internet Marketing Manager at the Humane Society of the United States, in Washington, told participants at a session of the Nonprofit Technology Conference.

Read all of the Chronicle’s updates from the San Francisco meeting at http://philanthropy.com/news/conference/.

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 May 7 issue.

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

April 28, 2009

Getty Trust to Slice Budget and Eliminate 205 Jobs

The J. Paul Getty Trust will cut 205 jobs, slashing its work force by 14 percent, under a newly adopted budget for the fiscal year starting July 1, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The plan reduces spending for regular operations by 22.5 percent, to $220-million. One of the nation’s wealthiest arts institutions, the Getty has seen its endowment — earnings from which provide most of its budget— decline by nearly a third, to $4.2-billion, since 2007.

Trust officials said they expect to lay off 97 employees and eliminate more positions through unfilled vacancies or normal turnover. Admission to the Getty Museum and Getty Villa will remain free, but the new budget increases parking fees at those tourist attractions from $10 to $15, the second parking increase since September.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Government Spending Cuts Leave Local 4-H Clubs Struggling

4-H clubs in several states face possible closure as state and local governments reduce or eliminate spending on the nonprofit groups’ agriculture, education, and recreation programs for youths, reports the Associated Press.

Voters in central Ohio’s Morrow County will decide next month on a proposed levy to keep 4-H and other agricultural services operating. Legislators in suburban Washington County, Minn., voted to eliminate the jurisdiction’s annual $130,000 expenditure on 4-H.

In some regions, parents are mobilizing to lobby or raise funds to save 4-H programs, which serve about 6 million children nationwide. The nonprofit programs are supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, along with state and local governments.

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

Recession Darkens Prospects for Teenage-Pregnancy Prevention Centers

Teenage-pregnancy prevention centers face greater economic pressure as government and private money shrinks, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Reduced state funds and diminishing private donations are depleting the organizations’ coffers at a time when births by adolescent mothers are rising again after a 14-year decline.

Federal aid could soon help the organizations. President Obama has suggested that he plans to end the Bush administration policy of allocating federal funds only for programs that advocate abstinence to prevent teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

“I’ve never seen such a juxtaposition of opportunity and pain,” said Marcia Egbert, of the George Gund Foundation, in Cleveland, who chairs a public-private coalition that operates a sex-education program in the city’s schools.

Charity Official to Lead Obama's Global AIDS Effort

Eric Goosby, chief executive and chief medical officer at the nonprofit Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation, has been tapped by President Obama to coordinate American efforts to fight the disease worldwide, Reuters reports.

If confirmed, Dr. Goosby will direct the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, charged with disbursing billions of dollars allocated by Congress for overseas AIDS efforts.

A professor of medicine at the University of California-San Francisco, he was a leading AIDS-policy official during the Clinton administration and has helped China, Rwanda, and South Africa develop treatment plans.

Hunters' Groups Ask Limbaugh to Cease Humane Society Support

Twenty-eight organizations that represent gun owners and hunters have asked the broadcaster Rush Limbaugh to cease his public support of the Humane Society of the United States, according to The Washington Times.

Mr. Limbaugh, a conservative radio commentator, is featured in public-service announcements on behalf of the Humane Society that began airing earlier this month; the spots endorse the charity’s efforts to prevent animal cruelty.

Ducks Unlimited and the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance were among the groups signing a letter to Mr. Limbaugh, asking him to stop helping the Humane Society “to mainstream their image in the minds of reasonable people.”

“Despite a few programs designed to attract support from the general public, HSUS is in fact an organization that opposes hunting, fishing, and trapping,” the letter said. Mr. Limbaugh did not answer the Times request for comment on the dispute.

Britain's New Charity 'Ambassador' Says Wealthy Don't Give Enough

Dame Stephanie Shirley, who last week was appointed Britain’s philanthropy “ambassador,” told The Sunday Times that she is approaching financial advisers about pressuring wealthy people to give more.

“We have to take the concept of philanthropy far, far wider,” said Ms. Shirley, an information-technology magnate who to date has donated $80.4-million, much of it to autism-related causes in honor of her late son. She said philanthropy should become part of school curricula and scolded “high-net-worth people” who give “trivial amounts” or nothing at all.

Ms. Shirley, who was named to the post last week by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, plans to assemble a team of charity “emissaries” to target British regions and business fields.

Calif. Diocese Launches Plan to Keep Struggling Schools Open

Six Orange County, Calif., Catholic schools that faced closure due to dwindling enrollment and rising deficits will re-open next school year under an ambitious plan that, if successful, could be deployed throughout the 36-school system, says the Los Angeles Times.

A new tuition plan, vigorous marketing, and an associate superintendent charged with supervising finances and development will be deployed in a bid devised by a task force of educators and businesspeople. The six schools, which face a combined $1.5-million shortfall, educate more than 1,000 students, many from low-income immigrant families, in one of the country’s fastest-growing dioceses.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Daily Chores Yield Charity Dividends for Suburban New York Kids

Elementary- and middle-school students in affluent Westchester County, N.Y., are raising thousands of dollars for peers in Africa through a program that pays them for doing regular household jobs, The New York Times reports.

As part of the Chores Mean More campaign, parents pay kids about 25 cents to $1 for taking out the trash, washing dishes, babysitting, and other tasks. The money supports LitWorld, a program started last year by the author and literacy consultant Pam Allyn that promotes reading and writing at impoverished schools in Kenya and Liberia.

The Westchester County students have also exchanged e-mail messages and illustrated stories with students at a participating school in Nairobi.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Give and Take: Uniting to Fight Poverty

Why don’t domestic charities fighting poverty do more to collaborate with international charities that also seek to help the poor? That is the question posted in a new item in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Plus: Should small charities seek money available under the new federal economic-stimulus plan?

Conference Notebook: Online Fund Raising in Hard Times

An Internet fund-raising expert discussed how nonprofit groups are raising money online in the recession, part of The Chronicle’s continuing coverage of the Nonprofit Technology Conference.

From The Chronicle: Grass-Roots Charities Honored for Effective Problem-Solving

The MacArthur Foundation today announced prizes to eight small charities it says have done a good job in tackling social problems, reports The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

From The Chronicle: Online Networks and Charities

Many charities are using social networks to get the word out about their causes — but their efforts have yet to produce much money, notes a new study whose results appear in a Chronicle of Philanthropy article.

Transcript: Creating Effective Direct-Mail Appeals

Read a transcript of today’s live online discussion about the smartest ways to craft a direct-mail appeal.

April 27, 2009

Churches That Defied Politicking Ban Await IRS Action

The Internal Revenue Service has yet to take action against 33 churches that defied a prohibition on houses of worship endorsing political candidates during last year’s presidential election, the Associated Press reports.

“Pulpit Freedom Sunday,” which was held on September 28, was designed to start a court fight in hopes of overturning the ban. Under IRS rules, places of worship can issue voter guides, hold forums, and engage in other nonpartisan political activity but cannot endorse candidates, at the risk of losing their tax-exempt status.

The Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative legal group that organized the event, said the IRS has yet to notify the churches of any investigation. An IRS spokesman declined to comment.

See an article from The Chronicle’s archive about the alliance’s protest.

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

Conservationists Craft Wish Lists for Proposed Increase in Federal Aid

A proposal pending in Congress would increase the amount available for the federal government to buy land for national parks, forests, and wildlife refuges — so conservation groups have begun to draw up wish lists for expanded green spaces, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Environmentalists are arguing that an economic downturn is the time to step up preservation efforts. “Property values are not today what they were a year ago. So every dollar invested … buys a little bit more habitat, a little bit more recreational trail, a little bit more scenic vista,” said Alan Front, a senior vice president of the Trust for Public Land.

President Obama’s budget proposes to spend $420-million next year on such purchases, more than double what Congress approved for 2009, and he has called for an increase in the annual amount spent to $900-million within five years.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Charity's Mortgage Program Helps Those Who Lost Jobs

The Rainy Day Foundation, a previously obscure financial-counseling charity, is doing a booming business in its program to provide job-loss insurance to mortgage holders, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Offered through about 100 builders and lenders nationwide, the Rainy Day Foundation’s coverage can provide people who buy homes up to six months of mortgage payments if they lose their job within two years after they buy a house.

Rick Del Sontro, the foundation’s chief executive, estimated that because of layoffs nationwide, the organization will pay out $8-million to homeowners in 2009, up from $4-million last year.

Olympian's Charity Helps Older People Achieve Out-of-Reach Dreams

Jeremy Bloom, an Olympic freestyle skier and former National Football League player, has started a charity to grant wishes to low-income older people, The New York Times reports.

Since last fall Mr. Bloom’s Wish of a Lifetime charity, in Denver, has granted six requests and will announce 10 more at a fund-raising event on Wednesday. The wishes have included a wheelchair car lift so an elderly brain-injury victim could travel again and a 75-year-old woman’s date with a “hot young man” – in this case the 27-year-old Mr. Bloom.

The charity works with organizations that aid the elderly to find worthy recipients.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Longtime Head of Philadelphia Horticultural Society Stepping Down

Jane G. Pepper, who built the Philadelphia Horticultural Society into a national model for “greening” urban neighborhoods, will retire next year as the group’s president, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.

In 25 years at the organization, Ms. Pepper helped the society double its membership to 15,000, increase its budget several times over, and forge partnerships with local government, corporations, and foundations.

Along with staging the Philadelphia Flower Show, which draws about 250,000 visitors a year, the organization is a national leader in the urban-gardening movement, transforming about 5,000 vacant lots in its home city and advising other communities on similar efforts.

From The Chronicle: Young Workers Discuss Their Future in the Nonprofit World

The economic crisis is shaking up the nonprofit world in ways that are making it more difficult for young workers to find jobs but could also present them with new and unusual opportunities to advance, said speakers and participants at a conference in Washington that wrapped up on Saturday, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Online Discussion Tomorrow: Direct-Mail Workshop

Join us tomorrow at noon Eastern time for an online discussion on how to get the most out of a direct-mail appeal. What are the best ways to design and write an effective letter? How do you establish a tone that matches your organization?

Our guests will be Brenda Helget, program manager of annual giving and communications at the Methodist Hospital Foundation, in Omaha, Neb., and Mal Warwick, a consultant on direct marketing.

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

Conference Notebook: Technology Conference

The Nonprofit Technology Conference, sponsored by the Nonprofit Technology Network, kicked off on Sunday in San Francisco. We’ll be offering regular updates, and among the highlights are:

A new guide reviews fund-raising software for charities

A charity that offers mentor services makes it software available to other groups that need aid linking adults and young people.

Conference Notebook: Global Philanthropy Forum

While foundations want to help African nations, they must avoid “philanthropic colonialism,” in which projects last for only a few years and ignore local needs, Peter Buffett, co-chair of the NoVo Foundation, said at a session held on the final day of the Global Philanthropy Forum’s meeting in Washington.

April 24, 2009

Times Foundation Suspends Grant and Gift Programs

The New York Times Company Foundation has suspended making grants and offering matching donations to employees who support charitable causes, The New York Times reports.

The newspaper foundation awarded roughly $7-million in grants last year to programs that focus on journalism, education, culture, the environment, and public service. The suspension also affects the Boston Globe Foundation, a grant maker subsidized by the Times.

The announcement Thursday came two days after the company reported first-quarter losses of $74.5-million. The downturn and changes in the news-media industry “are causing everyone to rigorously manage costs, and, unfortunately, this is a difficult but necessary step,” said Michael Golden, vice chairman of the Times Company.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Kellogg Company Increases Cereal Donations as Food-Bank Demand Spikes

The Kellogg cereal company will donate $10-million worth of its products to food banks struggling with a 30 percent jump in demand, reports Bloomberg.

The 3.5 million pounds of Rice Krispies, Frosted Mini-Wheats, and other Kellogg items supplement the 25 million pounds of food the firm gives annually to Feeding America, a charity that supplies products to food banks nationwide.

Kellogg also announced plans to give away $1-million worth of coupons to consumers in exchange for donations to Feeding America.

National Public Radio Takes New Cost-Cutting Steps

National Public Radio will lay off 13 employees, order furloughs for all staff members, and suspend contributions to employee retirement accounts in its latest round of spending cuts to close a projected $8-million budget gap, The Washington Post reports.

The nonprofit organization, which laid off 64 staff members and eliminated two daily shows in December, said the new cuts are in its information technology, communications, and legal services units and will not affect its programs.

Also: The public-broadcasting station in Philadelphia, WHYY, is eliminating 17 jobs, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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

Big Corporate Sponsors Missing From This Year's New Orleans Jazz Festival

The nonprofit New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, which unfolds over this weekend and next in the Crescent City, is operating without some of its largest corporate donors this year, according to The Times-Picayune.

The troubled insurance company American International Group, which for three years sponsored the festival’s popular Gospel Tent, pulled its support in the wake of its acceptance of billions in loans from federal taxpayers.

Two other sponsors — Borders Books and the liquor manufacturer Southern Comfort — also bowed out of this year’s festival. Eleven businesses, including the oil company Shell, which became the event’s main sponsor following 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, returned. However, a Shell executive, citing the recent drop in oil prices, told The Times-Picayune that it’s too early to tell if the company will renew its commitment to the festival next year.

Corporate sponsorships are the festival’s second biggest source of revenue after ticket sales, says Louis Edwards, the event’s associate producer. The festival costs about $17-million to run each year. American companies spent more than $1-billion sponsoring music events in 2008, according to a study by IEG, a consulting firm in Chicago.

Prominent Washington Lawyers Raise Money for Legal Clinic

A low-key but intense fund-raising campaign led by partners at several high-powered Washington law firms kept a city nonprofit that provides legal services for the homeless afloat, The Washington Post reports.

In six weeks, the lawyers raised nearly $200,000 from some 330 lawyers to help the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless close a 40-percent deficit.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

In the Arts: L.A. Culture Patron Dies; New Theater Grants

Hannah Locke Carter, a former U.S. national team skier and a leading Los Angeles-area arts patron for more than 40 years, died this week, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Ms. Carter was a longtime trustee of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, to which she donated a dozen 17th- and 18th-century Dutch masterpieces in 2003. She and her late husband, Edward D. Carter, were also major backers of the Los Angeles Music Center, San Francisco Opera, UCLA Arts Council, and Hollywood Bowl.

In other arts news, 37 nonprofit professional theaters across the United States will receive $25,000 Shakespeare for a New Generation grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, according to the Los Angeles Times. The money will support performances and education activities in middle and high schools.

Also, the film critic Roger Ebert and his wife, Chaz, have donated $1-million toward establishing a cinema-studies program at Mr. Ebert’s alma mater, the University of Illinois, reports the Chicago Tribune.

(Free registration is required to view all of these articles.)

Charity-Focused Web Site Grants 'Wishes' to One Donor at a Time

A charity Web site called Wish Upon a Hero, which is designed to connect people who need help with those who can offer aid, has granted more than 30,000 requests since it got started two years ago, reports USA Today.

Among the wishes it has granted: sending an 89-year-old Pearl Harbor veteran to Hawaii. The group’s founder, Dave Girgenti, said that since the recession hit, the wishes people list have increasingly been for basic needs, such as food or gas money.

Some of the site’s 96,000 active and largely anonymous users term it the “eBay of philanthropy.”

Opinion: AmeriCorps Expansion Is Bad News for Social Entrepreneurship

Nonprofit groups and philanthropists have reason to be concerned about legislation signed by President Obama this week to greatly expand the federal AmeriCorps program, according to a Wall Street Journal column.

Howard Husock, who heads a social-entrepreneurship initiative at the Manhattan Institute, a right-leaning think tank, writes that the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act could thwart independent, creative new nonprofit groups by tempting them to “lurch after federal dollars and bend toward government directives.”

See an archive of Chronicle articles about national service.

From The Chronicle: Charitable Deduction Proposal Still Under Consideration

Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said today that President Obama’s proposal to curb tax breaks for charitable deductions remains under consideration as one way to pay for changes to the health-care system, but will it compete with other ideas for raising money, reports Government and Politics Watch, The Chronicle’s online column.

Conference Notebook: New $20-Million Prize to Promote Energy Savings

Thomas Siebel, a technology entrepreneur, announced plans to start a $20-million prize to encourage the creation of affordable energy-efficient homes, reports The Chronicle of Philanthropy. He made the announcement Thursday at the Global Philanthropy Forum.

To read more news from the forum, including a look at successful public-private partnerships, see our conference notebook.

Online Discussion Next Week: Direct-Mail Workshop

Join us on Tuesday, April 28, at noon Eastern time for an online discussion on how to get the most out of a direct-mail appeal. What are the best ways to design and write an effective letter? How do you establish a tone that matches your organization?

Our guests will be Brenda Helget, program manager of annual giving and communications at the Methodist Hospital Foundation, in Omaha, Neb., and Mal Warwick, founder of Mal Warwick Associates, a San Francisco and Washington fund-raising agency that specializes in direct-response fund raising and marketing for nonprofit groups.

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

April 23, 2009

British Charities Mixed on Government's Budget Plan

British nonprofit groups hailed the inclusion of a $29.2-million grant fund for recession-hit charities in Chancellor Alistair Darling’s proposed 2009 budget, but they expressed frustration that the plan slows development of a much-discussed “social investment bank,” Third Sector Online reports.

The grant fund supplements a $62-million action plan for nonprofit groups that the government announced in February. Charity leaders also cheered a program to help create 150,000 jobs for young unemployed people, which they said would draw young people into nonprofit work.

But the budget was criticized for mandating only consultation on creating a social investment bank rather making a firm commitment to put money into it.

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Strapped Colleges on Collision Course With Donors Over Restricted Gifts

Facing their most perilous economic times in decades, universities risk provoking big benefactors’ wrath by selling off assets or tapping restricted endowments to pay for basic needs, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Colleges’ plans to auction off artwork, close campus radio stations, and divert dedicated gifts to other purposes have sparked court fights and verbal battles at Brandeis University, near Boston; Nashville’s Fisk University; St. Olaf College, in Minnesota; and Trinity College, in Connecticut. Experts say more such cases are likely as universities look for ways to offset the impact of declining donations and endowments.

Study Shows Downturn in Volunteering by Teenagers

An analysis of federal data shows volunteering by youths dipping in recent years, reversing an upward trend that began after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, reports the Associated Press.

While teenagers are “still volunteering at higher rates than their parents did,” there’s been “a loss of momentum,” said Peter Levine, director of the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement at Tufts University, which conducted the study.

Research by the online volunteering site VolunteerMatch found a similar decline, according to the article.

Nonprofit Groups Innovate to Maneuver Through Tough Times

The Wall Street Journal reports on new strategies developed by five nonprofit organizations to stay afloat amid investment losses, declining donations, and cuts in government aid.

The article looks at creative steps taken to tackle costs and raise income by the Special Olympics, the Joffrey Ballet, the homeless-services charity Covenant House, the community-development organization Forge, and Bonnie CLAC, which helps low-income buyers get car loans.

Wikipedia's Foundation Makes First Content Deal With For-Profit Partner

The nonprofit operator of the online reference site Wikipedia has struck its first large content partnership with a major for-profit company, The Wall Street Journal reports on its technology blog Digits.

The Wikimedia Foundation yesterday announced a deal with European telecom Orange to develop co-branded Wiki channels on the firm’s mobile and Web portals and build new services and features around Wikipedia content.

Orange will share some revenue from the projects with Wikimedia, which currently raises most of its income — $6.2-million last year — from users’ donations but will need more income as its traffic grows.

Update: Animal Charity Settles $1-Million Contest Dispute

A Missouri animal-rescue group has settled its fight with a popular pets Web site over a contest prize promising the charity a $1-million makeover, the Associated Press reports.

Stray Rescue, of St. Louis, will use the undisclosed sum to build a new shelter, founder Randy Grim said yesterday.

The charity won the prize offered last year by Zootoo.com, a social network for animal lovers founded by former pet-food magnate Richard Thompson. But Mr. Grim complained that instead of providing cash, Mr. Thompson pressed him to solicit donated goods and services for the makeover, which were counted toward the $1-million prize.

Conference Notebook: Jordan's Apple-Jam Project and Other Global Philanthropy

During a speech at the Global Philanthropy Forum, in Washington, Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan produced a small jar of apple jam and told the audience that it was a sign, albeit a small one, that efforts to improve primary education in her country were making strides, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

For all of the Chronicle’s reports from the conference, go to http://philanthropy.com/news/conference/.

Government and Politics Watch: Insights Into White House Social Innovation Fund

While the plans for the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation are still being worked out by the Obama administration, its newly appointed head, Sonal Shah, gave some details about them during the Global Philanthropy Forum, a meeting of donors that started Wednesday in Washington, notes Government and Politics Watch, The Chronicle’s online column.

Give and Take: Rethinking Darfur

Michael Kleinman, on his Change.org blog about humanitarian relief, asks what happens if Sudan’s government allows aid groups back into Darfur on the condition that they accept new restrictions on their work, notes Give and Take, The Chronicle’s guide to the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

From The Chronicle: Charity-Run Businesses in a Recession

As revenues drop at many charity-run companies, nonprofit leaders seek new ways to compete and ride out the recession, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

April 22, 2009

Donor Funds Gain Popularity as Alternatives to Family Foundations

Looking to reduce expenses and bureaucratic hassles, philanthropists are increasingly transferring assets into donor-advised funds, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The article assesses the pros and cons of such funds, which award grants from individual accounts based largely on donor recommendations. Though they entail giving up final say over donations, the funds cost less to maintain than foundations, confer bigger tax deductions, and minimize the paperwork for giving.

The Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund and the Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program report big increases in foundation conversions, and the Schwab Charitable Fund plans to introduce a program shepherding clients through the process.

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Facebook's 'Causes' Has Yet to Provide Big Fund-Raising Gains

The popularity of Facebook’s fund-raising Causes application among the social network’s users has not translated into a windfall for charities, The Washington Post reports.

More than 25 million of Facebook’s 200 million worldwide users have signed on to support a cause since the application’s 2007 debut, but less than 1 percent have used it to give, and average donations are smaller than those garnered from direct mail and other traditional methods. Only a tiny fraction of the 179,000 nonprofit groups using Causes have brought in as much as $1,000 through Facebook.

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Update: Mystery College-Donor's Recipients All Run by Women

Binghamton University, in New York State, became the latest institution to reveal a multimillion-dollar gift from the mystery donor who has now contributed more than $60-million to a dozen schools in recent weeks, reports the Associated Press.

The one private and 11 public colleges, ranging widely in size and geographic location, appear so far to have only one thing in common: All are led by women. Internet discussion groups are rife with speculation on the donations, which are handled through intermediaries and come with the stipulation that recipients not investigate the source of the funds.

Mia Farrow to Start Hunger Strike Over Darfur

Mia Farrow, a U.N. goodwill ambassador and longtime campaigner for children in conflict zones, said she will begin a hunger strike next week to show solidarity with the people of Sudan’s Darfur region, Reuters reports.

The actress said she will begin a water fast on April 27 “as a personal expression of outrage at a world that is somehow able to stand by and watch” as starvation and disease claim victims among refuges in the region riven with ethnic and political violence. She called on world leaders to pressure Khartoum to readmit humanitarian agencies expelled from the country following the International Criminal Court’s issuing of an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omas Hassan al-Bashir.

In the Arts: Ford Foundation Supports Native American Arts

The Ford Foundation has donated $10-million to establish an organization devoted to the art of indigenous American peoples, reports The New York Times.

The Native Arts and Culture Foundation will support the work of American Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native artists and cultural organizations, providing direct grants or teaming with other groups to increase financial support for indigenous arts. The California-based Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians also made a $1.5-million grant and promised another $1.5-million if other tribal nations match the gift.

In other arts news, a proposed 2009-10 budget for Los Angeles County cuts funds for arts agencies but would maintain subsidies for the county’s three biggest government-supported institutions, says the Los Angeles Times.

The $22.8-billion spending plan sets aside $60-million for the Music Center and the Los Angeles County museums of art and natural history, funds for which are pegged to inflation-adjusted formulas. The county Arts Commission and Los Angeles City Cultural Affairs Department, which serve a largely grassroots constituency, face budget cuts of 7.2 percent and 8.3 percent, respectively.

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Downturn Builds Business for San Francisco 'Reuse' Nonprofit Group

The San Francisco Chronicle reports on booming work for SCRAP (Scroungers’ Center for Reusable Art Parts), a San Francisco nonprofit group that sells commercial and industrial detritus for reuse by teachers, artists, and others.

The recession, bringing with it a rash of company closures, mergers, and downsizing, has greatly increased donations to the organization’s San Francisco warehouse.

“We are the recipients of this downturn,” said Kenan Shapiro, the organization’s director. He said that last year SCRAP collected 200 tons of material that otherwise probably would have been dumped in landfills, up from 150 tons in 2007.

From The Chronicle: President Obama Signs Service Bill Into Law

President Obama Tuesday signed a landmark bill to greatly expand government national-service and volunteer programs and asked Americans to “stand up and play your part,” The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

From The Chronicle: First Round of Helmsley Grants Awarded

The trustees of the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust announced Tuesday that they are awarding a total of $136-million in the foundation’s first round of grants, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Government and Politics Watch: Insights on the National-Service Law

Audio of the Chronicle interview with Alan Khazei, a leader of ServiceNation, a coalition of nonprofit groups that promotes community service, is available on Government and Politics Watch, The Chronicle’s online column. In the interview, Mr. Khazei talks about the significance of the national-service legislation.

Prospecting: A Fund-Raising Idea From New Zealand Farm Country

Charities serving rural areas often have a hard time raising money, but some of those groups could take a lesson from IHC, a New Zealand charity that helps people with mental disabilities, many of whom live in farming areas, notes Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online column on fund raising.

Transcript: Building a Career in the Charity World

Read a transcript of today’s online discussion offering advice on how to build a nonprofit career.

April 21, 2009

Nearing 50, Peace Corps Limited by Budget and Bureaucratic Strains

Approaching the half-century mark, the Peace Corps is struggling with budgetary and bureaucratic problems even as it remains a symbol of American idealism to much of the world, The Boston Globe reports.

The agency, founded by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, peaked at 15,000 volunteers five years later and now has barely half that number. Budget constraints are forcing it to cut another 400 volunteers, and the Peace Corps can’t afford to start new programs in all of the estimated 20 countries ready to accept its workers.

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Tainted Campaign Money Becomes New Source of Charity Donations

Campaign contributions from fallen corporate giants and disgraced financiers are increasingly ending up in charities’ hands as the recipients seek to dispose of political hot potatoes, The Wall Street Journal reports.

President Obama, the White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers, and several members of Congress have donated money initially given to them by the financiers Bernard Madoff and R. Allen Stanford, as well as the American Insurance Group and other tainted contributors.

And while charities previously might have thought twice about accepting money carrying any whiff of scandal, many nonprofit groups are now accepting and at times even seeking such donations.

“It’s very challenging times right now,” said Ellen Roman, executive director of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southeastern Connecticut, which took $4,000 that Sen. Christopher Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, had received from the mortgage giant Countrywide. “Not that that changes our standards, but I do have to look at what kind of resources I have.”

Nonprofit Groups Push Exemption to Obama Administration's Lobbyist Ban

A coalition of nonprofit groups is campaigning to exempt advocates for charities and social welfare organizations from the Obama administration’s ban on hiring lobbyists, The New York Times reports.

Critics say the ban, a product of Mr. Obama’s campaign-trail promises to change the nature of Washington politics, should distinguish between advocates for causes and lobbyists for moneyed interests. According to the Times, some senior administration officials privately agree, saying the rule effectively bars people who have lobbied for human rights, environmental, and other causes the president espouses.

But the White House has dismissed calls to ease the restriction. “You can’t have carve-outs for lobbyists you like and exclude those that you don’t,” said David Axelrod, a senior presidential adviser.

See The Chronicle’s article on the lobbying ban and how it affects charities.

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New York City's Mayor Announces Plan to Increase Volunteerism

Accompanied by an MTV News reporter, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg presided over a boisterous pep rally on Monday to start a sweeping new service program, The New York Times reports.

Mr. Bloomberg outlined a program designed to mobilize city volunteers to take on urgent social challenges and aid recession-rocked families. One element of the plan is creation of a NYC Civic Corps to shepherd volunteers into government agencies and nonprofit groups.

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Foundations Back $225-Million Effort to Fight Malaria

Roll Back Malara, a coalition that includes the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the William J. Clinton Foundation, last week unveiled a $225-million fund to provide low-cost antimalaria treatment, the Associated Press reports.

The program, which also includes backing from UNICEF, the World Bank and the governments of Great Britain, Norway, and the Netherlands, will start its operations in 10 African countries and Cambodia, with an eye toward expanding worldwide.

Read the Chronicle’s coverage of global antimalaria efforts and an interview with former president Bill Clinton on his philanthropic work.

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In the Arts: Nonprofit Publisher Wins Second Pulitzer, Orlando Opera to Close

With Monday’s announcement of the 2009 Pulitzer Prizes, a small northwestern publisher is now home to two winners of one of literature’s most prestigious honors, reports the Associated Press.

W.S. Merwin was awarded the poetry Pulitzer for his collection The Shadow of Sirius, published by Copper Canyon Press in Port Townsend, Wash. The nonprofit organization also published the 2005 poetry winner Delights & Shadows by Ted Kooser.

In other arts news, the 51-year-old Orlando Opera Company announced plans to close at the end of April, the Orlando Sentinel reports. The company has run a sizable deficit in recent years, even after zeroing out its endowment.

Also, the Brooklyn Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra has canceled its remaining concert of this season and its entire 2009-10 program due to dwindling donations, Bloomberg reports.

And The Dallas Morning News profiles the troubled Texas Ballet Theater, which faces potential collapse a year after announcing an ambitious plan to perform in China.

Colleges Seek Fund-Raising Help From Obama's Digital Gurus

The consulting firm that made its name building President Obama’s formidable online campaign operation is being courted by colleges seeking new ways to boost alumni giving, reports The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The University of Florida and New York University’s School of Law are working with Blue State Digital, a Washington company. Other institutions, such as the California Institute of Technology, are considering hiring the company.

But some skeptics question whether what works in the digital war room of a political campaign can translate into the academic arena, the newspaper notes.

From The Chronicle: Obama Set to Sign Landmark National-Service Measure

The President plans to travel to a Washington charter school today to sign a measure that will triple the size of AmeriCorps and provide other aid to help charities expand their services. The Chronicle will provide updates as the measure is signed. For background about the measure, see this guide to articles from The Chronicle’s archive.

From The Chronicle: New National-Service Leader Announced

President Obama today announced he will nominate Maria Eitel, president of the Nike Foundation, to be chief executive of the Corporation for National and Community Service, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

From The Chronicle: Lawmaker Urges Banks to Keep Giving

Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, is urging banks that have received federal bailout money to continue to support charities and to lend to moderate- and low-income neighborhoods, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Government and Politics Watch: New Leader Named to IRS Nonprofit Division

Plus: The Internal Revenue Service has announced that Sarah Hall Ingram will replace Steven T. Miller as head of the division that oversees nonprofit groups.

Give and Take: Dealing With Damaging Information

How can charities handle misleading rumors and other bad information spread about them through the Internet? Some advice is offered in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s guide to the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Plus:

A new approach to helping charities deal with the financial crisis

Should donors focus on big problems — or on easy-to-achieve solutions?

From The Chronicle: Volunteer Time's Value

The value of the time contributed by volunteers is worth more than $20 an hour, according to a new study whose results are reported in The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

April 20, 2009

Somali Gunmen Seek $1-Million for Kidnapped Aid Workers

Three Doctors Without Borders workers were kidnapped in Somalia over the weekend by gunmen who are demanding a $1-million ransom, reports Reuters.

The humanitarian organization confirmed on Monday that doctors from Belgium and Holland and a local worker were taken in an attack near the town of Rabdhure.

Attacks on relief organizations have forced many to scale back operations in Somalia, which has been mired in civil strife since 1991. More than 3 million Somalians depend on food aid, the news service said.

Six Activists Honored With 'Environmental Nobel'

Six environmental advocates have been awarded the 2009 Goldman Prizes, which honor such efforts worldwide, Reuters reports.

The awards, often referred to as the Nobel Prizes of environmental advocacy, were established in 1990 by the California philanthropists Richard and Rhoda Goldman.

Among this year’s winners are Maria Gunnoe for fighting mountaintop coal mining in Appalachia; Marc Ona Essangui, an African who campaigned against a Chinese firm’s plan to mine iron ore in the Gabon rainforest; and Olga Speranskaya, of the Moscow group Eco-Accord, which works to rid the former Soviet Union of toxic industrial and agricultural waste.

Philadelphia Charities in Battle With Bank Over Trust

Two Philadelphia organizations largely backed by charitable trust are locked in a court battle with the bank that holds the trust, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Bank of New York Mellon Corporation says it has been underpaid under a deal struck with Elizabeth R. England in 1963, 10 years before her death, and is owed higher annual fees as well as more than $1-million in back payments.

Ms. England’s beneficiaries, Philadelphia’s Episcopal Cathedral and a summer camp for poor city children, dispute that contention. They say they are particularly concerned about the bank’s demands because they are facing budget cuts due in part to the $14-million trust’s declining value. Each side says its position is backed by the 1963 trust agreement.

King Heirs Paid by the Charity Building National Mall Memorial

The family of the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. has received more than $800,000 in fees for the use of the civil rights icon’s words and image from the nonprofit group building a Washington monument, the Associated Press reports.

Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation tax filings show the family was paid a $71,700 management fee in 2003 and another $761,160 four years later through a company it runs, Intellectual Properties Management. The family has not charged for the use of King’s likeness in the monument itself.

The firm said the payments grew out of concern that fund raising for the memorial would undercut donations to the King Center in Atlanta, but David Garrow, a Pulitzer Prize-winning King scholar, denounced the family’s actions as “profiteering.”

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New York City Opera Taps Endowment for Cash Injection

The New York City Opera has tapped more than two-thirds of its endowment to pay off debts and deal with its troubled finances, reports The New York Times.

After taking $17.5-million from the fund last fall, the company last week received regulators’ approval to withdraw another $6.6-million from the endowment to meet payroll and other needs. The opera, which recently announced a stripped-down 2009-10 season of five productions, now has $10.4-million in its endowment.

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Concert Raises $3-Million for Filmmaker's Charity

A New York fund-raising concert featuring Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr this month took in $3-million for the filmmaker David Lynch’s charity, which promotes Transcendental Meditation for children and teenagers, Bloomberg reports.

The Oscar-nominated director of Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive, a Transcendental Meditation devotee since 1973, has spent the last three years raising money for the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace, which sends instructors into schools around the world to teach meditation techniques based on the precepts of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

Mr. Lynch said receipts from the concert, which also featured the musicians Moby, Sheryl Crow, and Eddie Vedder, will be used to expand meditation instruction in the United States, Latin America, and the Middle East.

Read an article from The Chronicle’s archive about Mr. Lynch’s organization.

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From The Chronicle: The Nonprofit World's Leadership Gap

Even though waves of business executives are flocking to charities for senior jobs, nonprofit groups are still struggling to recruit talented top managers. A study released today finds that at least 24,000 positions are likely to come open in 2009 — and that the widely anticipated leadership deficit is widening faster than first predicted.

From The Chronicle: Foundation Outlook

Most large grant makers expect to reduce the number or size of the grants they award, and some anticipate doing both, says a report released today by the Foundation Center.

Conference Notebooks: Global Philanthropy and Nonprofit Businesses

At a meeting of prominent donors, government officials, and nonprofit leaders, participants were urged to rethink how global philanthropy operates, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Plus: The tumultuous economy will test the leaders of charity-run businesses in a way they have never been tested before, said speakers wrapping up last week’s meeting of the Social Enterprise Alliance, The Chronicle reports.

New Issue of The Chronicle Available Online

The Chronicle this morning posted its new issue online. You can see a summary of all the articles, opinion pieces, and features in the April 23 issue.

Online Discussion Tomorrow: Building a Nonprofit Career

Join us tomorrow, April 21, at noon Eastern time for an online discussion on how new college graduates can start a nonprofit career.

Our guest will be Shelly Cryer, a career consultant and the author of The Nonprofit Career Guide: How to Land a Job That Makes a Difference.

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

April 17, 2009

Colleges Receive Multimillion-Dollar Mystery Gifts

Nine universities have received a collective $45-million in recent weeks from an anonymous donor or donors who stipulated that the recipients not investigate the source of the funds, the Associated Press reports.

Dealing with the colleges though lawyers or other middlemen, the mystery donor has since March 1 bestowed gifts ranging from the largest, $8-million to Purdue University, to $1.5-million to the University of North Carolina at Asheville, which contacted the Department of Homeland Security and the Internal Revenue Service to ensure the money did not come from illegal sources.

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Clinton Foundation, Unitaid Broker Deal to Cut AIDS Drug Prices

Dozens of AIDS medications will get cheaper for patients in poor countries under a bulk-purchase deal with generic-drug makers brokered by the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative and the Unitaid consortium, reports Reuters.

New agreements were reached for 41 adult and pediatric treatment regimens, with an average price cut of 16 percent compared with 2008.

Hebrew Union College Mulls Campus Closures

The nation’s oldest Jewish institute of higher education is considering closing two of its three U.S. campuses due to what the college’s president termed “the most challenging financial position” in its history, says the Los Angeles Times.

The Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute’s board will meet in June to discuss whether it can maintain more than one of its campuses while facing a $3-million deficit, Rabbi David Ellenson wrote in a letter to the college community.

Founded in 1875 in Cincinnati, the college also has sites in New York and Los Angeles and has become a major training ground for Reform rabbis and lay leaders. It also has a campus in Jerusalem, which faces budget cuts but does not appear to be in danger of closing.

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In the Arts: Boston Symphony Nixes European Tour, American Ballet Gets $5-Million Gift

The Boston Symphony Orchestra has canceled a planned winter 2010 European tour due to the economic downturn, The Boston Globe reports. In a statement, the orchestra said it is suspending international travel “until a recovery is well under way.”

In other arts news, the American Ballet Theater announced a $5-million gift from the investor Martin Sosnoff and his wife, Toni, according to The New York Times. The donation, the largest in the company’s history, will create a fund to showcase new works.

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Corporate Merger Imperils Pennsylvania Habitat Chapter

A merger involving a key corporate donor might exacerbate the impact of the downturn on a Philadelphia-area chapter of Habitat for Humanity, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The Montgomery County, Pa., Habitat branch has received extensive support from pharmaceutical firm Wyeth, which Pfizer has acquired. Marianne Lynch, the chapter’s fund-raising chief, says the unit has already “lost a key individual donor and some foundation support,” so it has laid off two employees and faces additional budget cuts.

A Wyeth spokesman said the company remains supportive of Habitat, but given the acquisition, the status of its future giving “is to be determined.”

New Greenpeace Chief to Tap Grass Roots in Climate-Bill Push

Phil Radford, the newly named executive director of Greenpeace USA, said the environmental organization will focus on organizing Congressional districts and neighborhoods to press for passage of climate-change legislation rather than spending time directly on Capitol Hill, Greenwire reports.

Mr. Radford, who served as Greenpeace’s grass-roots director before his promotion this week, said the group’s Washington lobbying will grow, but its main goal is to “take it back home to the districts and mobilize people … so that Congress is hearing from more people than just the coal companies” on a climate bill.

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'Slumdog' Makers Back Charity for Mumbai Street Kids

The makers of the “Slumdog Millionaire” movie have donated $747,500 to Plan, an international charity that works with street children in the Mumbai slums where the Oscar-winning film is set, the Associated Press reports.

The producers also announced the appointment of trustees to manage a fund for two of the movie’s child stars who grew up poor in Mumbai.

The filmmakers have been criticized for failing to share the bounty from the movie, which has grossed more than $300-million worldwide, with the Indian city’s millions of slum dwellers.

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From The Chronicle: Nonprofit Financial Officers Expect Crunch Though Year's End

Nine out of 10 chief financial officers at nonprofit groups believe the U.S. economy will remain in a recession through the end of the year, according to a new survey, and three-quarters of the officials expect their organization’s financial prospects to remain the same or worsen over the next six months, reports The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Government and Politics Watch: New White House Social Innovation Leader

President Obama has appointed Sonal Shah, a Google.org official, to head the White House Office of Social Innovation, reports Government and Politics Watch, The Chronicle’s online column.

Transcript: Global Philanthropy

Read a transcript of our discussion with Jane Wales, founder of the Global Philanthropy Forum, which will attract hundreds of donors to a meeting in Washington next week.

Conference Notebook: New Opportunities for Socially Oriented Investments

The financial crisis offers new opportunities to promote socially oriented investments, said a speaker at the annual meeting of the Social Enterprise Alliance, now under way in New Orleans.

Among the other items from our conference notebook:

Lessons on how to pitch nonprofit-run business ideas to politicians

A successful business seeks to spread nationally.

Give and Take: What Nonprofit Conferences Are Essential?

As money grows tighter, nonprofit leaders need to make sure any conferences they attend are well worth the time and expense, so now is a good moment to start a list of the most worthwhile, says a consultant who offers her picks in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Prospecting: Donors and Relationships

A new lighthearted video shows how donors and charities have relationships that are often like a rocky romance, notes Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online column on fund raising.

Online Discussion Next Week: Starting and Building a Nonprofit Career

Join us on Tuesday, April 21, at noon Eastern time for an online discussion on how new college graduates can start a nonprofit career.

Our guest will be Shelly Cryer, a career consultant and the author of The Nonprofit Career Guide: How to Land a Job That Makes a Difference.

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

April 16, 2009

Stimulus Money Gives a Boost to Nonprofit Lenders

Community Development Financial Institutions, a group that includes nonprofit organizations as well as local thrifts and banks that serve low-income neighborhoods, are in line to receive $400-million in federal stimulus and budget funds, an eight-fold increase from last year, USA Today reports.

Unlike major banks that have held on to much of their federal bailout money, neighborhood lenders like the nonprofit Community First Fund, of Lancaster, Pa., are eager to spend stimulus money because they see their primary role as stabilizing local economies rather than generating big profits.

Greenpeace, Conservation Law Foundation Name New Leaders

Two top U.S. environmental groups this week appointed top executives.

Greenwire reports that Greenpeace USA has named the veteran organizer Phil Radford to be its executive director. Mr. Radford has been with Greenpeace since 2003 and is credited with overseeing efforts that nearly doubled the organization’s annual budget and mobilized users of prominent online social networks.

The Boston Globe says that John B. Kassel will be the next president of the Conservation Law Foundation, an influential New England group. Mr. Kassel is a former head of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources and a lawyer who advised nonprofit groups and businesses on developing renewable-energy projects.

(Free registration is required to view the Greenwire article on the New York Times Web site and to see the Globe article.)

Colleges Cite Rising Aid Demand in Donor Appeals

Colleges and universities are increasingly using the recession-fueled spike in demand for student aid in making their pitches for donations, The New York Times reports.

The article cites several institutions that are explicitly linking contributions to incoming students’ financial needs, a departure from recent trends toward emphasizing new buildings, research, and faculty recruitment.

Using financial-aid as a development tool “totally makes sense in this environment,” said Richard J. Krasney, a wealth manager and philanthropy adviser. “More than ever, people want to know that their money is being used to address current needs.”

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James Brown's Former Publicist Sues for Control of Late Singer's Trust

A former publicist for the late soul star James Brown is suing his estate for control of a charitable trust that holds much of Mr. Brown’s wealth, reports the Associated Press.

Jacque Hollander claims she should control the trust because she helped set it up and is its only surviving partner. Mr. Brown, who died in 2006, left most of his primary assets to the trust, including music rights and a South Carolina property.

The singer’s adult children contend the will is not legitimate and are seeking a settlement on dividing his estate.

From The Chronicle: Obamas Report $172,050 in 2008 Giving

President Obama and his wife, Michelle, last year donated 6.5 percent of their income to charity, according to figures the White House released Wednesday, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Government and Politics Watch: IRS Releases 'Dirty Dozen' List

The Internal Revenue Service’s annual list of the “dirty dozen” tax schemes that Americans must avoid includes the abuse of the charitable-tax deduction and of charities themselves, notes Government and Politics, The Chronicle’s online column.

Give and Take: Jewish Donors Urged to Focus Their Giving

As Jewish charities face a financial crisis brought on by the economic downturn and the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme, donors to Jewish causes need to prioritize their giving, says an editorial in The Jerusalem Post, notes Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Prospecting: Annoyance With NPR's Fund-Raising Practices

Henry Krinkle is a self-described addict of National Public Radio, but he has some pet peeves about his “bad habit” — including how it raises money, as noted in Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online fund-raising column.

Conference Notebook: States Recognize Socially Oriented Businesses

Five states and one Indian nation have passed legislation recognizing a new type of business that puts its social goals ahead of making money, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports as part of its coverage of the Social Enterprise Summit this week in New Orleans.

Plus: A new survey finds nearly half of charities operate businesses.

For all of the Chronicle’s reports from the conference, go to http://philanthropy.com/news/conference/.

April 15, 2009

Foundation Offers $10-Million for Plan to Improve Health

The nonprofit X Prize Foundation, which has held competitions to develop ideas for space travel, DNA research, and fuel-efficient cars, is turning to health care for its latest contest, offering $10-million for a plan to improve the health of the residents of small U.S. cities and towns, Reuters reports.

The organization is soliciting written ideas for the Healthcare X Prize and will choose five for a three-year trial. The winner will be chosen based on an index of measures, such as reduced emergency-room visits and health costs, indicating a 50 percent improvement in overall local health.

In the Arts: N.J. Museum Latest to Put Works on the Block

New Jersey’s Montclair Art Museum has announced a “financial security plan” that includes the sale of 50 works from its permanent collection, including a Jackson Pollock drawing and several Hudson River School and American Impressionist works, The Wall Street Journal reports.

According to the newspaper, the sale takes advantage of a loophole in the Association of Art Museum Directors’ guidelines on “deaccessioning” to raise money to effectively pay back debt the Montclair Museum took on in a 2001 expansion.

In other arts news, members of the Orange County Performing Arts Center’s board have pledged a dollar-for-dollar match of funds raised in a new campaign, reports the Los Angeles Times. The aim of the drive is to attract modest gifts from first-time donors, to reach an overall goal of $2-million, including the matching gifts.

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Former eBay Chief Skoll Starts Fund Aimed at 'Urgent Threats'

Billionaire philanthropist and ex-eBay president Jeff Skoll has donated $100-million to develop a new foundation to respond to pressing, complex world problems such as water shortages, pandemics, and the Middle East conflict, The New York Times reports.

The Skoll Urgent Threats Fund will be led by Dr. Larry Brilliant, former head of Google.org, Google’s philanthropic wing.

Mr. Skoll has started both nonprofit and for-profit enterprises to deal with major social problems such as sustainability and health care and education in the developing world. “But in the last five years or so, certain issues have emerged very clearly that, if we don’t get ahead of them soon, all of the other things we’re trying to do won’t really matter,” he said.

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Weak Art Market Means Tax Boon for Donating Pieces

A sharp decline in art prices has made it an attractive time to consider donating works to charity to reduce estate size or gift taxes, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

With art prices down as much as 30 percent, estimates of works’ values by qualified appraisers — figures the Internal Revenue Service uses to calculate estate and gift taxes — are also dropping, wealth-management columnist Shelly Banjo writes.

In addition, some gift strategies may allow art owners to shift assets out of their estates at very low transfer-tax rates. Transfer taxes are closely linked to interest rates, which are at a historic low.

Former Staff Members of Seattle Daily Start Nonprofit Web Paper

A group of former Seattle Post-Intelligencer writers and photographers has begun a new online daily, the Seattle PostGlobe, the Associated Press reports.

The nonprofit site went live Tuesday afternoon, about a month after the 146-year-old Post-Intelligencer abandoned its print operation and switched to an online-only format, eliminating more than 130 jobs.

The PostGlobe has a partnership with the alternative Seattle Weekly and public television station KCTS to provide advertising and other services. The venture is not yet paying contributors and is seeking donations at its site.

From The Chronicle: Direct-Response Appeals in the Recession

Gifts to 75 of the nation’s largest charities dropped last year, a result of the recession and a three-year decline in the number of people who give in response to direct-mail solicitations, online appeals, and telemarketing, according to a new survey, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

From The Chronicle: Demand for Free Consulting Help Runs High

Nonprofit organizations could use more pro-bono support during this deep recession, but neither charities nor corporations are taking the right steps to encourage more volunteer consulting, a new study has found, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Government and Politics Watch: Few Charities Pay Business Tax

Only 40 percent of the nearly 13,200 charities that reported receiving business income not related to their missions wound up paying tax on those earnings for the 2005 tax year, according to new statistics released by the Internal Revenue Service, notes Government and Politics, The Chronicle’s online column.

Give and Take: Google Philanthropy Leader Changes Jobs

Larry Brilliant, the “chief philanthropic evangelist” for Google.org, has announced he is leaving the technology company to lead a new organization formed by philanthropist Jeff Skoll, notes Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Online Discussion Tomorrow: Global Giving

Join us on Thursday, April 16, at 2 p.m. Eastern time for an online discussion on international philanthropy.

Among the issues to be discussed: Has the recession prompted foundations and other donors to divert money from international causes to domestic concerns? How is the recession, coupled with the strains of working in war-torn regions, affecting international aid groups?

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

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 April 23 issue.

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

April 14, 2009

Ford Foundation Chief Outlines Grant Maker's Overhaul

The Ford Foundation will streamline its sprawling operations and seek to more effectively demonstrate its influence under a two-year overhaul started by its new leader, Luis A. Ubiñas, The New York Times says.

Ford, which has $11-billion in assets and is the second wealthiest foundation in the United States, according to the Chronicle’s most-recent survey, has settled on eight issues, including access to education, natural resources, and sustainable development.

“The upshot is that we will be beginning this next generation of work with a very clear sense of what we’re trying to accomplish,” said Mr. Ubiñas, who took office in January 2008.

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

In the Arts: Stimulus Applications Flood Federal Arts Agency

The National Endowment for the Arts has received more than 2,000 applications from groups seeking a slice of the $50-million in federal stimulus funds earmarked for the arts, The New York Times reports.

About 40 percent of the money was awarded last week to state and regional arts organizations for redistribution to local cultural groups. The endowment will allocate the remaining $29.5-million to nonprofit arts and cultural organizations; the endowment said proposals that are designed to preserve jobs will get top priority.

In other arts news, the Los Angeles Times reports that the philanthropist Eli Broad — who just pledged $425,000 to save the Juilliard School’s program for poor and minority students — said he would support similar efforts in Los Angeles if the city school system better manages its arts programs.

Also, The New York Times says that Dance Theater of Harlem has appointed Virginia Johnson, a founding member of the company and former editor of the ballet magazine Pointe, as its new artistic director.

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Volunteers Recruited for 2010 Vancouver Olympics

Organizers of next year’s Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver are seeking nearly 30,000 volunteers to help mount the event, reports The Seattle Times.

Allen Vansen, who is managing staff operations for the Vancouver Organizing Committee, said the group has received some 60,000 applications online and will begin offering positions this month. Canadians will get first crack at the volunteer duties, such as providing medical services, taking tickets, picking up trash, and escorting athletes.

Mr. Vansen said volunteers must be motivated by a desire to take part in the epic sporting event, not by getting free access to events.

“No one will get to sit there and watch a whole competition,” he said. “They’re going to be running around and pretty busy in their own right.”

Nonprofit Hostel Group Turns Tour Guide in Boston

Seeking to attract penny-pinching travelers amid the recession, the Boston outpost of nonprofit lodging provider Hostelling International is pitching itself as a gateway to the city’s culture, offering guests free museum tours, event tickets, and other services, says The Boston Globe.

The effort reflects a larger endeavor by Hostelling International USA, which runs 4,000 such facilities worldwide. Traditionally viewed as a provider of cheap beds for students and backpackers, the organization is increasingly seeking to make the arts part of guests’ travel experience.

“We focus on engaging people into local communities, to really experience that local community’s arts and culture, be it music, the visual arts, or the spoken word,” said Mark Vidalin, Hostelling International’s national marketing director.

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Charity Takes Charge of Accused Breeder's Ex-Racehorses

A charity for retired racehorses is raising money to care for 177 neglected animals seized last week from a prominent breeder, the Associated Press reports.

The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, which cares for some 1,200 horses on farms nationwide, is working with breeders and racing institutions to rehabilitate and seek new homes for horses taken from the breeder Ernie Paragallo’s farm near Albany.

Mr. Paragallo was charged with 22 counts of animal cruelty after a raid by police and the local humane society turned up horses that were malnourished and suffering from untreated cuts, infections, and parasites.

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Kabbalah Program in Public Schools Raises Ire in Los Angeles

A program associated with Kabbalah Centre International and offered in several Los Angeles elementary schools has drawn fire from some parents and school officials, who say it blurs the line between church and state, reports the Los Angeles Times.

“Spirituality for Kids,” created by Karen Berg, co-founder of the Kabbalah Centre, is promoted as a nondenominational effort to teach kids to make wise choices. It is run by the Spirituality for Kids Foundation, a nonprofit group that receives support from Madonna and other celebrity devotees of kabbalah, a form of Jewish mysticism.

Critics contend that Spirituality for Kids seeks to bring kabbalah into schools under the veil of ethics training. But Karen Timko, who coordinates elementary counselors for the Los Angeles Unified School District, said the program is about “tools for navigating your life,” not religion.

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Government and Politics Watch: A View From Abroad

A Scottish expert on building socially oriented businesses offers ideas about how government can best help charities and other organizations promote the common good, in an interview featured in Government and Politics, The Chronicle’s online column.

From The Chronicle: Grant Seeking in Tough Economic Times

Read the transcript of today’s live discussion about the best ways to seek foundation grants as the competition grows more fierce.

April 13, 2009

Community Organizing Gains Cachet Among Young People

Interest in careers in community organizing is surging among college students and recent graduates, The New York Times reports.

Educators and organizers say that while such jobs were once viewed as a low-paying destination for political radicals, they have now gained cachet as a vehicle to do good works, develop leadership skills, and emulate President Obama, who has written and spoken extensively about his community work.

Last fall, 200 people, applied for a single community-organizing job at the San Diego affiliate of PICO, a nationwide organization that advocates for the poor. In the past, such a post would attract 25 to 30 applicants, the newspaper said.

And last summer, 1,200 people applied for 65 internships from the Center for Community Change, in Washington. Two years ago, just 250 people applied, the Times reports.

“Community organizing has become cool,” said Marshall Ganz, a veteran organizer and Harvard lecturer who developed a widely used community-work curriculum.

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Caution Becomes Charities' Financial Watchword

Charities in Britain and elsewhere are cutting costs and will probably explore new ways to do business in anticipation of declining revenue from all major sources this year and next, reports the Financial Times.

“I suspect you will see mergers of charities with similar aims becoming more frequent, and I would expect most charities to institute a fundamental review of their resource base,” said Jamie Korner, director of charities at Newton Investment Management.

Not all the fiscal news is dire, said Steven Lawrence, senior director of research at the Foundation Center, noting that U.S. foundations’ income declined less than that of the wider market and that giving has been “remarkably stable,” given the crisis.

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In the Arts: Foundation Steps In to Support Juilliard Program

The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation pledged $425,000 over four years to help sustain the Juilliard School’s Music Advancement Program for poor and minority students, The Los Angeles Times reports.

The donation kicks off a $1.5-million campaign for the program, which the school had planned to suspend as part of a series of budget cuts.

Also, New York’s Asia Society is eliminating 18 of its 160 staff positions as part of a budget-cutting plan it undertook after its endowment dropped by 30 percent in value, reports The New York Times.

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Bay Area Microfinance Site Links Donors to Needy Chinese Entrepreneurs

A Web site started five months ago by two 25-year-olds has tapped into the San Francisco Bay Area’s population of young Asian professionals to make small loans to Chinese entrepreneurs, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Casey Wilson and Courtney McColgan started Wokai.org after meeting in a postgraduate Chinese-language program in Beijing. Wokai, modeled on popular microfinance site Kiva.org, has funneled $25,000 in small loans to 60 rural Chinese borrowers.

Read a Chronicle column on Kiva.org and other pioneers in online social entrepreneurship.

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Oprah Winfrey Defends South Africa Girls' School

Oprah Winfrey, speaking to a newspaper reporter, defended the elite school for girls she opened outside Johannesburg two years ago, from which seven students were suspended or expelled last month, the Associated Press reports.

In an interview with South Africa’s Weekend Argus, Ms. Winfrey did not detail the misconduct at the Leadership Academy for Girls but said most of the students “are thriving, really fulfilling the dream and vision I had.”

The entertainment mogul and philanthropist has spent $40-million on the school, which opened in January 2007 as part of a pledge she had made to Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa, to increase educational opportunities for poor girls in the country.

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Obituary: A Journalist-Turned-Philanthropist Dies at Age 98

Michael Stern, a swashbuckling correspondent-turned-philanthropist who helped found New York’s Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, died last week in Palm Beach, Fla., at age 98, reports The New York Times.

Mr. Stern filed some of the first dispatches from Rome as Allied forces entered the city in 1944 and continued to live in and write about the city for 50 years. He and the late builder and philanthropist Zachary Fisher started the Intrepid Museum Foundation in 1978 to save the historic aircraft carrier and later co-founded charities supporting Alzheimer’s research and military families.

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Give and Take: Deadly Year for Aid Workers

Last year was the deadliest on record for aid workers, reports a post in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Plus: What makes philanthropy effective?

Government and Politics: Obama's Lobbying Rules Under Protest

Nonprofit groups are urging the White House to take a new look at rules designed to make sure lobbyists don’t have undue influence by getting administration jobs, reports Government and Politics Watch, The Chronicle’s online column.

Plus: The Education Department has named a new appointee to head its efforts to help religious groups get government aid.

Two Online Discussions This Week: Grant Seeking, Plus International Philanthropy

Join us on Tuesday, April 14, at noon for an online discussion on how to seek grants in the bad economy.

You can pose your questions to a program officer at one of the nation’s biggest grant makers, as well as other experts on writing grant proposals.

Plus, on Thursday, April 16, at noon, we’ll have a special extra discussion focused on international philanthropy.

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: Environmental Grants

Several large foundations, despite the beating their assets have taken, have pledged many millions of dollars on efforts to slow climate change, reports The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

April 10, 2009

Shriners to Vote on Closing Six Charity Hospitals

The Shriners fraternal organization will vote this summer on a proposal to close six of its 22 North American charity hospitals, reports the Associated Press.

Facilities in Shreveport, La.; Erie, Pa.; Spokane, Wash.; Springfield, Mass.; Greenville, S.C.; and Galveston, Texas, which like all Shriners hospitals provide free care, are on the chopping block. Ralph Semb, chief executive of Shriners Hospitals for Children, said the organization, which has seen its endowment shrink from $8-billion to $5-billion in the past year, will be “out of the hospital business” within seven years if it does not take action now.

The parent fraternal order will vote on the closure plan at its annual meeting this July in San Antonio.

See this article from The Chronicle of Philanthropy about how endowments like the Shriners have fared.

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Colleges Trim Fund-Raising Staffs as Donations Drop

Several major colleges are reducing the size of their fund-raising staffs and operations as the financial crunch takes a toll on gifts and investment income, reports The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Oklahoma State, the University of Connecticut, and the University of Washington are among the institutions laying off fund raisers, and other schools have slowed hiring, reversing the trend of recent years, which saw major growth in colleges’ fund-raising operations.

Thirteen percent of the 48 institutions that responded to a survey by the consulting company Eduventures said the recession would force them to trim their staffs.

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

Update: Settlement Reached in Sacramento Nonprofit Dispute

Kevin Johnson, the mayor of Sacramento, and the nonprofit group he founded will repay nearly $425,000 in federal aid to lift sanctions that threatened the flow of stimulus money to the California’s capital, The New York Times reports.

St. Hope, a community-development group Mr. Johnson headed until shortly before his election last fall, had been suspended from receiving any federal money after a Corporation for National and Community Service inquiry found financial improprieties.

Some Sacramento officials feared the sanction could interfere with city efforts to collect stimulus funds, leading to the settlement talks.

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In the Arts: Michigan Museum Delays Groundbreaking; Cultural Groups Make Cuts

Budget disputes have delayed groundbreaking for the billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad’s planned art museum at his alma mater, Michigan State University, The Los Angeles Times reports.

Originally set to begin last year, construction on the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum is now scheduled to start in March 2010 and take about two years. According to published reports, the university has had difficulty fitting the London architect Zaha Hadid’s ambitious design into the projected $40-million budget, nearly half of which has been donated by the Broads.

In other arts news, the Corcoran Gallery of Art and its associated art and design college are eliminating 18 positions but still expect to end the fiscal year with a $3.5-million deficit on its $24-million budget, reports The Washington Post.

Also, The Salt Lake Tribune reports that musicians with the Utah Symphony/Utah Opera have agreed to return salary and benefits to help the organization stave off bankruptcy.

And The Washington Post profiles two elderly Philadelphia women who maintain a museum dedicated to Marian Anderson, who gave her famous Lincoln Memorial concert 70 years ago on Easter.

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Troubled Financial Firms Honoring Pledges for 9/11 Memorial

Collections for the National September 11 Memorial and Museum are on track despite the fact that many of the biggest pledges came from corporations that have become synonymous with the financial meltdown, reports The New York Times.

Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, the American International Group, and the Starr Foundation, a major AIG shareholder, had collectively pledged $55-million of the promised $350-million for the memorial. Those companies or their new owners have all pledged to fulfill their commitments.

Joseph C. Daniels, chief executive of the memorial, said it has collected $220-million to date, and 45 of the 81 $1-million-plus contributors have fulfilled at least half their pledges.

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180 Receive 2009 Guggenheim Fellowships

The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation this week awarded fellowships to 180 artists, scientists, and scholars in its 85th annual competition.

The recipients, chosen from some 3,000 applications, represent 68 academic institutions and 62 disciplines. Among the projects: the production of a feature film in the country of Georgia and the study of sustainable cultivation in Thailand, according to a foundation statement.

'Harry Potter" Author Cuts Ties With Disease Charity, Citing Internal Disputes

J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, has resigned as patron of the MS Society Scotland, saying the charity has been riven by disputes with its London-based parent, The Scotsman reports.

Ms. Rowling, whose mother died of multiple sclerosis, said she could not “continue to be the public face of a charity that is changing beyond recognition” due to the management dispute. She said she would continue to make donations to support research into the treatment and causes of the disease.

Prospecting: Obstacles for Online Donors

A new study shows how charities have turned off people who wanted to make a gift, notes Prospecting, an online fund-raising column from The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Extra Online Discussion Next Week: International Philanthropy

The recession has prompted challenges for charities that serve people overseas, especially as Americans come under increasing pressure to help their needy neighbors and foundations expand aid to social-service groups in the United States.

To discuss the potential challenges and opportunities for giving overseas and charities that work abroad, join us for a live online discussion on Thursday, April 16 with Jane Wales, founder of the Global Philanthropy Forum, The discussion will start at 12 noon Eastern time.

Ms. Wales will take your questions and offer a preview of the forum’s annual meeting in Washington, where scores of donors will gather April 22 to 24.

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

Seeking Grants in a Tough Economy: Online Discussion Next Tuesday

Join us on Tuesday, April 14, for an online discussion on how to seek grants in the bad economy.

You can pose your questions to a program officer at one of the nation’s biggest grant makers, as well as other experts on writing grant proposals.

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: A College Administrator Starts a Charity That Aids Children in India

At his daughter’s instigation, Ray Umashankar, an immigrant to the United States with a full-time academic career, took on the added work of starting a charity to help the children of sex workers in India. In an essay for The Chronicle’s Regeneration section, he tells his story.

April 09, 2009

Umbrella Jewish Group Moves to Cut Jobs and Spending

Under pressure from its member federations to trim spending, the United Jewish Communities took steps this week to reduce its 2009-10 budget by 18 percent, with the elimination of 31 jobs providing most of the savings, JTA reports.

The organization’s budget committee approved the plan to cut its budget from $37-million to $30.3 million in a meeting Monday, setting the stage for an April 22 vote by its executive committee, after which the layoffs are expected to begin.

Local Jewish federations, which are making spending cuts of their own in the face of steep declines in fund raising, had been urging the national umbrella group to follow suit.

Mayor's Charity Stint Imperils U.S. Aid to Sacramento

Kevin Johnson, the mayor of Sacramento, is facing questions about his previous job as leader of a nonprofit organization — since the organization is now under federal sanctions that could become a hurdle to the city receiving stimulus money, reports The New York Times.

St. Hope, the community-redevelopment group Mr. Johnson founded before taking office last fall, is on the Corporation for National and Community Service’s “excluded parties list,” barring him from receiving federal funds.

An investigation by the corporation’s inspector general found that St. Hope, which received more than $800,000 in AmeriCorps grants from 2004 to 2007, improperly used AmeriCorps funds and personnel during the former pro-basketball star’s tenure.

Mr. Johnson was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing, but a Sacramento city attorney has asked for a review of the sanction for fear that it will hold up potential stimulus grants for the city.

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Deficit Forces Contraction at Boys and Girls Clubs in Washington

The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington will close four clubs and sell at least four others as part of a major restructuring aimed at closing a $7-million budget gap, The Washington Post reports.

Branches in D.C.‘s Georgetown and Capitol Hill and in suburban Hyattsville, Md., and Alexandria, Va., which have struggled to attract members, will be shut down as part of a plan that also includes layoffs, staff furloughs, and pay cuts for senior executives.

Boys and Girls Clubs have been hit hard by the recession, which has cut contributions and government funds, as well as declining membership, as students abandon civic organizations in favor of other activities.

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Milwaukee Group Drops Plans for Black Cultural Center

A Milwaukee community group has dropped a plan, which was 13 years in the making, to build an African-American cultural center in the city’s arts district, reports The Business Journal of Milwaukee.

The African American World Cultural Center announced it will dissolve April 15 and distribute its funds among black arts groups.

The center has been in the works since 1996, but “the current economic times have forced us to realize the only option we have is to terminate” the plan, said Tyrone Dumas, the organization’s chairman.

Nonprofit Cleveland Hospitals Spent 2 Percent on Charity Care in 2007

The Cleveland metropolitan area’s major tax-exempt hospitals spent $157.9-million on free patient care in 2007, 2.2 percent of their $7.2-billion operating revenue, The Plain Dealer reports.

When other services to the community are counted, the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, and the Sisters of Charity Health System spent an average of 8.4 percent of their total revenue on research, community outreach, and free care. A two-year IRS study of some 500 nonprofit hospitals found spending on such community benefits averaged 9 percent.

The Cleveland Clinic is one of 10 American nonprofit hospitals under scrutiny by Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa in past years as part of his campaign for such institutions to boost community spending to justify their tax breaks.

Read The Chronicle’s article on the IRS study.

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Animal Charity Cries Foul Over $1-Million Makeover Contest

A Missouri animal-rescue charity that last year won a former pet-food magnate’s contest for a $1-million shelter makeover said it has not received any of the prize, reports the Associated Press.

Stray Rescue of St. Louis beat 1,000 entrants in a nationally publicized contest sponsored by Zootoo.com, a pet lovers’ social network founded by Richard Thompson, former chief executive of Meow Mix.

The charity’s founder, Randy Grim, said he has yet to receive any money and that instead Mr. Thompson has pressed him to beg suppliers and contractors to donate goods and services for the project, which were then counted toward the $1-million.

Thompson disputed Mr. Grim’s account, saying Zootoo.com has provided $400,000 and citing the contest rules, which pledge “up to $1-million in value,” encompassing cash, goods, and services.

Zootoo.com is currently wrapping up another shelter makeover contest, with 10 finalists in the running.

Obituary: Former Bryn Mawr Fund Raiser Dies at 83

Martha Stokes Price, who spearheaded a major capital campaign for Bryn Mawr College in the 1970s, died last month at the age of 83, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports today.

The daughter of J. Stogdell Stokes, onetime president of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Ms. Pierce inherited her father’s talent for fund raising, bringing $21-million to Bryn Mawr as the university’s director of resources from 1969 to 1978. She subsequently served on boards at Bryn Mawr and Haverford College and supported numerous Philadelphia-area nonprofit groups.

Give and Take: Solving Global Problems at Low Cost

Is there a way to steer donors toward supporting low-cost solutions to global problems? A blog writer offers an idea for doing just that, notes Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Plus:

Is a return to humble philanthropy wise?

What happens if predictions of the worsening humanitarian crisis in Darfur turn out to be wrong?

Online Discussion Next Week: Seeking Grants in a Tough Economy

Join us on Tuesday, April 14, for an online discussion on how to seek grants in the bad economy.

You can pose your questions to a program officer at one of the nation’s biggest grant makers, as well as other experts on writing grant proposals.

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: Number of Charities Likely to Shrink

Many charities have already cut their budgets to compensate for reduced support, but most experts think more nonprofit groups will have to fold, as foundation grants continue to decline, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

April 08, 2009

NPR Belt-Tightening Builds Tension at Member Stations

Budget woes at National Public Radio are heightening tensions between the nonprofit broadcaster and its member stations, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Affiliates fear the cost-cutting will affect the quality of marquee NPR shows “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered” and foster fund-raising competition between the national entity and local stations. Concerns spiked after The Washington Post reported last month on suggestions for NPR to mount a national on-air fund drive.

NPR President Vivian Schiller sent a note to local stations assuring them the network has “no plans whatsoever to launch a national giving campaign on behalf of NPR.”

See a Chronicle profile of Ms. Schiller.

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

Yale Receives $50-Million Donation for Global Affairs

Yale University, in New Haven, Conn., has received $50-million from John W. Jackson, a 1967 alumnus, and his wife, Susan, to establish an institute for global affairs, the university has announced.

Pa. Seeks to Dissolve Charity Tied to Convicted Politician

Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett began proceedings yesterday aimed to dissolve a nonprofit organization that was at the center of a highly publicized fraud case against a former state senator, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Mr. Corbett filed suit to revoke the corporate franchise of Citizens’ Alliance for Better Neighborhoods, which was supported by funds raised by ex-state senator Vincent Fumo. He and the charity’s former head, Ruth Arnao, were convicted last month on fraud charges in a trial that spotlighted allegations that Citizens’ Alliance spent its money on real estate, bad investments, consumer goods, and political services for Mr. Fumo.

Wellcome's Investment Head Says Trust Is in Good Shape to Ride Out Recession

The giant medical-research charity Wellcome Trust is well positioned to weather the economic downturn, chief investment officer Danny Truell tells the Financial News in an interview reprinted in The Wall Street Journal.

The $19-billion trust, which ranks second worldwide (behind the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) in financing health research, has “been quite good at recessions,” Mr. Truell said, noting that Wellcome began selling off risk assets three years ago in anticipation of a looming credit crunch.

In the Arts: Juilliard Slashes Music Program for Minorities

Budget cuts and fund-raising woes have prompted the Juilliard School to curtail a prototype music-training program for poor minority students, The New York Times reports.

About 50 students will return in the fall to complete the two-year course, but the New York conservatory has canceled auditions for a new class. Juilliard President Joseph W. Polisi said the likelihood of raising enough money to maintain the program was “exceedingly low,” but he hopes to resuscitate it in two years.

In other arts news, the Associated Press reports that U.S. museums are seeing rising attendance despite recessionary cutbacks in staff and programs. “It’s not the worst of times for museums, curiously enough,” said Michael Conforti, president of the Association of Art Museum Directors.

Also, musicians of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra have agreed to pay cuts of 5 percent and 12 percent, respectively, according to reports in The New York Times and Minneapolis’ Star Tribune.

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Humane Society Sets Up Fund to Aid Recession's Animal Victims

The Humane Society of the United States has established a “foreclosure pets fund” as the recession forces owners faced with losing their homes to give up their pets, reports National Public Radio.

Since setting up the fund last year, the society has doled out more than $100,000 to animal shelters and rescue clinics for pet-food banks, temporary boarding, and aid to owners unable to pay for emergency medical care.

Arts and Education Patron Dorothy Cullman Dies at 91

Dorothy Cullman, a leading donor to New York City arts, science, and educational institutions, died Monday at her Manhattan home, reports The New York Times.

In more than four decades of philanthropy, Ms. Cullman and her husband, investor Lewis B. Cullman, gave more than $250-million to beneficiaries ranging from the New York Public Library and the Museum of Modern Art to major medical schools and Human Rights Watch. The couple met in the early 1960s raising funds for an international mental-health charity.

For more on the Cullmans’ giving, read the Chronicle’s profile and update.

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From The Chronicle: IRS Warns of Potential Charity Abuses

The Internal Revenue Service says it is watching to be sure that charities and donors don’t fall prey to scams or other problems during the economic downturn, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Plus: A program that enlists older volunteers documents its ability to improve the health and welfare of participants.

Government and Politics Watch: IRS Seeks Advice

The Internal Revenue Service is urging charities to provide suggestions on the new informational tax return, the tax agency’s Web section for charities, and on a new program that seeks to educate college students about tax-exempt matters, notes Government and Politics Watch, The Chronicle’s online column.

Plus: President Obama has named new advisers on matters involving religious charities.

Give and Take: Debating Government Aid

Increased financing from government will prompt many debates at nonprofit groups in coming years, predicts the head of a major charity watchdog group in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s summary of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Plus: What nonprofit issues have been studied far too much — and what topics merit more attention?

Prospecting: Getting Donors to Pay Pledges Now

Some colleges are encouraging donors to pay pledges right away — and at a reduced rate from the amount they originally committed, notes Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online column.

April 07, 2009

Women and Girls to Be Focus of Buffett Son's Fund

Organizations serving women and girls will be the main beneficiaries of roughly $1-billion pledged by Warren Buffett to his son Peter’s NoVo Foundation, the Associated Press reports.

NoVo, in New York, has begun granting millions to charities that focus on female clients, promoting their educational and economic development and fighting domestic violence.

“It just was logical for us after we really thought about it,” said Jennifer Buffett, Peter Buffett’s wife. “If you empower adolescent girls who are the mother of every child yet to be born … they have so much more to offer their sons, their daughters in that next generation.”

Smithsonian Sees Silver Linings in Tough Economic Times

A steady flow of donations and increased federal funding have helped the Smithsonian Institution offset the impact of a 30-percent decline in its endowment since late 2007, reports The Washington Post.

Attendance was up in the first quarter of 2009, public fund-raising is on track with $48-million collected since October, and the institution got $25-million from the economic-stimulus package, along with a 7-percent boost in its regular federal funding.

Following yesterday’s meeting of the institution’s Board of Regents, Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough announced plans to extend spring and summer opening hours for its popular Air and Space, Natural History, and American History museums to boost revenue from food and merchandise sales, the Associated Press reports.

The meeting was the first full gathering of the regents led by new Chairwoman Patricia Stonesifer, The Washington Post reports in a profile of the former Microsoft and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation executive.

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Ex-Citigroup Chief Gives Advance on Cornell Medical-School Bequest

Sanford I. Weill, the former chairman of Citigroup, has donated another $170-million to Cornell University’s medical school, offering most of a planned posthumous gift ahead of time to help the institution through financial straits, The New York Times reports.

Mr. Weill, 76, had already given more than $200-million to the school, which bears his name, and pledged to provide another $250-million upon his death. The university, which has lost more than a third of its endowment and faces an 8-percent deficit on its $2.9-billion budget, asked for some of the bequest immediately to proceed with plans for a new medical-research building.

“The value of the cash right now is much greater to us,” said Antonio M. Gotto Jr., dean of the Cornell medical school.

Read this Chronicle profile of Mr. Weill and his wife, Joan H. Weill.

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N.Y. to Help Charities Cut Costs, Find Funds

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveiled plans yesterday for the city to help its 40,000 charitable organizations cut costs, find new donors, and secure loans, reports the news service Bloomberg.

The effort will focus on job-training and health-services organizations and groups that promote New York’s arts and culture. Under the program, the city will expand a loan program for nonprofit groups from $8-million to $20-million, streamline contracting rules for charities, and offer energy audits and other services to help nonprofit organizations reduce expenses.

The mayor owns Bloomberg LP, parent company of the namesake news service.

Sloan Foundation Shuttering Online-Education Program

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is closing its grant program for online education, a move some college officials fear will leave the fast-growing field without a major funding source, The Chronicle of Higher Education reports.

Since introducing the program in the early 1990s, the New York foundation has directed about $80-million into online education ventures nationwide. More than 3.9 million students took at least one Web-based course in the fall 2007 semester, a 12-percent increase year-on-year, according to the Sloan Consortium, a spinoff of the foundation that promotes online education.

Paul L. Joskow, president of the Sloan foundation, told The Chronicle that the grant program “has largely achieved its goals and grown to a point where the foundation’s support will soon no longer be necessary.” But Robert Kaleta, head of the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee’s Learning Technology Center, said that with the program’s demise, “there’s concern that the momentum may slow down.”

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In the Arts: Debt Burdens Dance Groups, Philadelphia's Curtis Raises $65-Million

New York City dance groups that invested in homes of their own in recent years now find themselves constrained by mounting debt, according to The New York Times.

Organizations such as Dance Theater Workshop and performance space Dixon Place have found new state-of-the-art buildings to be financial millstones in an arts field that nonprofit experts say was as overbuilt as the housing market.

In other arts news, Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music has raised $65-million to rebuild its downtown site, The Philadelphia Inquirer says. The fund drive was spearheaded by the conservatory’s board chairman, the cable mogul and philanthropist H.F. Lenfest, who pledged $30-million if the school raised the same amount.

Also, The Boston Globe reports that the public broadcaster WGBH is asking staff to accept pay cuts and furloughs to help close a $3-million budget shortfall.

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From The Chronicle: Recruiting and Keeping Talented Volunteers

As more charities face layoffs and cutbacks, volunteers play a bigger role than ever in helping organizations serve the public. Read the transcript from our recent online discussion on how charities can recruit and keep talented volunteers.

Jennifer Bennett, who manages the volunteer program at VolunteerMatch, and Robert T. Grimm, Jr., director of research and policy development at the Corporation for National and Community Service, answered questions submitted by Chronicle readers for this discussion.

April 06, 2009

IRS Official Says Government Will Scrutinize Nonprofit Executive Pay

An official from the Internal Revenue Service today said that nonprofit organizations need to take care when they set compensation for officials amid recent controversy over bonuses paid by financial firms that have received federal aid, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Lois G. Lerner, who oversees the division that monitors charities and foundations, said that nonprofit groups need to be sure they can justify their pay to executives.

“If you’re not looking, we’re looking,” Ms. Lerner told a legal conference in Washington.

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New York Attorney General Sues Over Losses in Madoff Scandal

New York’s attorney general has sued J. Ezra Merkin, a financier whose clients lost at least $2-billion in the Ponzi scandal led by Bernard Madoff, reports The New York Times.

Among Mr. Merkin’s clients were Yeshiva University, which lost $110-million of the money it invested with him, according to the newspaper. Mr. Merkin was a trustee at the institution and served on the board there. Another institution on whose board he served, Bard College, lost $3-million of its $11-million investment.

Mr. Merkin’s lawyer was not available for comment on the charges filed Monday morning by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, but he has said in the past that he plans to cooperate with authorities investigating the matter.

Read an article from the new issue of The Chronicle about the impact of the Madoff scandal on many nonprofit groups.

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Two More Aid Workers Kidnapped in Darfur

Two members of French humanitarian agency Aide Medicale Internationale were kidnapped in Sudan’s Darfur province over the weekend, Bloomberg reports.

The government-affiliated Sudanese Media Centers said the kidnappers have demanded a $200-million ransom for the hostages. Aide Medicale Internationale, which helps bring health care to rural people, has been active in the war-torn Darfur region since 2004.

About a dozen international aid groups were expelled from Darfur last month in the wake of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for Omar Hassan al-Bashir, president of Sudan. A week later three Doctors Without Border workers were kidnapped in Darfur, then released unharmed.

Read The Chronicle’s coverage of the Sudan humanitarian crisis.

Pa. Nonprofit Leader Charged With Stealing at Least $400,000

The head of a Philadelphia children’s charity has been charged with diverting more than $400,000 the organization received from the state for personal use, reports the Associated Press.

Tom Corbett, Pennsylvania’s attorney general, said Tyson B. Ali used his Logan Child Care Resources Center “to commit massive theft of taxpayer dollars.”

The state Education Department has been paying the Logan Center since 2004 to make reimbursements to local care centers that provide federally subsidized meals for children and the elderly. A grand jury heard testimony that Mr. Ali used the money for Caribbean travel, high-end restaurants and clothing stores, and parking fines.

The article did not include Mr. Ali’s response to the charges.

Travelers to Get Option to Donate When Booking Flights Online

A fund-raising idea devised by a French travel agency could raise hundreds of millions of dollars to improve health care in the developing world by allowing airline passengers to make a small donation when booking their flights, reports the Financial Times.

Customers will be able to donate $2 per flight by checking a box that will appear alongside the option for travel insurance on most online ticketing systems. Donations will initially go to Unitaid, which pays for medicine in poor countries under the auspices of the World Health Organization and is financed by an airline tax imposed by participating countries.

Jean-François Rial, head of French firm Voyageurs du Monde, said he has won agreements to offer the option from the airline-ticket clearinghouses Travelport, Amadeus, and Sabre, which collectively handle four-fifths of the world’s online ticket sales.

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U.K. Mulls Compensation for Charities Hit by Iceland Bank Failures

Alistair Darling, Britain’s chancellor, said Sunday that the government will explore ways to help charities that lost money invested in Icelandic banks that collapsed last fall, Reuters reports.

Mr. Darling’s comments came a day after the release of a parliamentary committee report calling on the government to offer a one-off reimbursement package to British charities that, by one watchdog group’s reckoning, lost some $178-million in the failure of several Icelandic banks.

In the Arts: Theaters Gird for Tough Season, Museums Bet on Tech Draws

New York’s nonprofit stages are paring budgets and scaling back fund-raising targets ahead of a 2009-10 season that theater officials expect to be the toughest they’ve yet faced financially, The New York Times reports.

Despite numerous critical and commercial successes, declining donations and subscriber renewals have companies large and small implementing layoffs, wage freezes, and other austerity measures.

“We certainly have been through downturns before … but this is the first time that all quarters of the economy that affect theater are taking a hit at the same time,” said Barry Grove, executive producer of Manhattan Theater Club.

In other arts news, the Associated Press reports on art museums nationwide turning to high-tech tools such as iPod audio tours and 3D video to engage Web-savvy audiences.

Also, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts has laid off 33 staff members, mostly in its recession-hit retail and fund-raising units, as part of a $6-million cost-cutting plan, according to The Boston Globe.

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From The Chronicle: Foundation Giving

Stock-market volatility has led to a sharp decline in the assets of big foundations, and many grant makers expect to decrease their giving this year, a new Chronicle study of 107 of the nation’s biggest foundations has found.

The full survey results are available online to Chronicle subscribers, along with articles from the new issue. You can read what’s in the latest issue in our table of contents.

Government and Politics Watch: Screening Charity Workers

The U.S. Agency for International Development has again postponed a controversial regulation that would lead to screening of workers, board members, and others associated with charities that receive government money to work overseas, The Chronicle’s Government and Politics Watch column reports.

Plus: Congress passed a resolution on charitable deductions just before leaving for a spring break.

Online Discussion Tomorrow: Recruiting Volunteers

As the economy has worsened, charities around the country have seen a sharp increase in the number of people looking for volunteer opportunities.

The financial situation has also prompted nonprofit groups to rely more heavily on volunteers to help them deliver services under tight budgets.

But recruiting and managing volunteers is far from easy. Join us for a live discussion tomorrow that will explore the many ways in which charities can build a strong volunteer corps.

Answering your questions will be:

Jennifer Bennett, who manages the volunteer program at VolunteerMatch, a San Francisco organization that helps connect potential volunteers with nonprofit organizations through the Internet.

Robert T. Grimm Jr., who leads major service programs such as AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and Learn and Serve America as the director of research and policy development at the Corporation for National and Community Service, in Washington.

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

April 03, 2009

Museum May Close After Biggest Donor Is Accused of Investment Fraud

Investment-fraud allegations against a businessman whose foundation pledged $10-million to the fledgling Children’s Museum of Los Angeles has placed the museum dangerously close to filing for bankruptcy and closing down, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Bruce F. Friedman pledged $10-million to the museum last year though his Friedman Charitable Foundation, making the foundation the museum’s biggest donor. So far museum officials say they’ve received less than half the pledged amount.

The article did not include any comments from Mr. Friedman.

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Recession Causes New Challenges for Nation’s Libraries

The recession, and the job losses and lack of social services that it has entailed, is turning usually peaceful libraries into emotional and stressful public spaces, The New York Times reports.

As the economic crisis has deepened, libraries are becoming a haven for more people, especially job seekers and those who have fallen on hard times. Libraries across the country are seeing double-digit increases in patronage, from 10 percent to 30 percent over previous years.

As a result, many librarians say they are not equipped to deal with depressed and anxious patrons who have nowhere else to go but their local library.

Read The Chronicle’s article about how the recession is causing problems for charities that provide social services.

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Jewish Philanthropists Scale Back Giving

It was a sign of these troubled times when the philanthropist Harold Grinspoon and his wife, Diane Troderman, announced recently at the annual conference of Jewish Funders that they intend to slow down their giving, a move other big philanthropists are likely to follow, reports the JTA news service.

Mr. Grinspoon and Ms. Troderman have given tens of millions of dollars to charity over the past 20 years, but now they say most of their money will be given as bequests after they die.

Foundations have lost on average 30 percent of their money during the recession and, according to the Jewish Funders Network, family foundations could end up cutting their grants by up to 60 percent.

See an article from The Chronicle archives about Mr. Grinspoon’s annual retreat for Jewish philanthropists.

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Nonprofit Group Buys Defaulted Home Loans to Fight Blight

A New Jersey nonprofit group has purchased 47 defaulted home-mortgage loans from J.P. Morgan Chase & Company with the intention of fighting off blight in poor neighborhoods, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The Orange, N.J., charity, Housing & Neighborhood Development Services, paid about $2.3-million for the defaulted loans and, through foreclosure or negotiations with the current owners, plans to work with other New Jersey charities to renovate and sell the homes to low- and middle-income families.

Polio Outbreaks in Nigeria Pose Problems for Charities Operating Vaccination Programs

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported this week that polio has spread from Nigeria to neighboring countries, hampering the eradication efforts of groups like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Rotary International, both of which run global vaccination programs, reports Reuters news service.

Wild polio has been wiped out everywhere but in Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan.

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Russian Human Rights Leader Attacked in Moscow

A prominent human-rights activist and the head of the Russian nonprofit group For Human Rights was beaten outside his home this week, The Washington Post reports.

Lev Ponomaryov, a former member of the Russian parliament who has criticized the government’s prosecution of the jailed oil tycoon and philanthropist Mikhail Khodorkovsky, said he had just stepped out of his car when strangers approached him. He said he was knocked to the ground and kicked and beaten by two or three men.

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Social Good: Using Online Tools to Reach Out to Volunteers

How can nonprofit groups and other organizations use online tools to more effectively communicate with and manage their volunteers?

You can learn about what is available to charities by listening to Social Good, The Chronicle’s monthly podcast about using social-networking tool.

Our host, Allison Fine, talks with Beka Economopoulos, of Fission Strategy, and Ben Rigby, of the Extraordinaries, to find out what cutting-edge charities are doing now.

From The Chronicle: Congressional Estate-Tax Proposals

The House and Senate have passed budget outlines that differ significantly in how they would apply the estate tax — which nonprofit officials view as an incentive for charitable giving, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Prospecting: Board Members Grow Reluctant to Seek Money

The economy is making charity board members and other volunteer fund raisers increasingly reluctant to ask friends and colleagues for donations, says a new post in Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online fund-raising column.

Online Discussion Next Week: Recruiting and Keeping Top-Notch Volunteers

As the economy has worsened, charities around the country have seen a sharp increase in the number of people looking for volunteer opportunities.

The financial situation has also prompted nonprofit groups to rely more heavily on volunteers to help them deliver services under tight budgets.

But recruiting and managing volunteers is far from easy. Join us for a live discussion on Tuesday, April 7, that will explore the many ways in which charities can build a strong volunteer corps.

Answering your questions will be Jennifer Bennett, who manages the volunteer program at VolunteerMatch, a San Francisco organization that helps connect potential volunteers with nonprofit organizations through the Internet.

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

April 02, 2009

Older Americans Flock to International Volunteer Service

Peace Corps applications from people age 50 and up have jumped 40 percent in the past year, mirroring a trend seen by other international volunteer organizations, reports The New York Times.

Groups such as the Financial Services Volunteer Corps, a nonprofit organization that recruits financial experts for consulting projects in the developing world, and the International Senior Lawyers Project, which does pro bono work overseas, also report a spike in interest from midlife professionals facing job loss or lagging business, or who hope to take up youthful ambitions to serve that were put off by careers.

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Founder's Bequests Will Put Davidson Foundation Among Michigan's Biggest

The William Davidson Foundation is poised to become one of Michigan’s biggest grant-making institutions with the bequests of its namesake benefactor, who died last month at the age of 86, Crain’s Detroit Business reports.

Mr. Davidson, chairman of glassmaker Guardian Industries Corporation and the owner of the National Basketball Association’s Detroit Pistons, started the foundation with $100,000 in 2005. During his lifetime Mr. Davidson and his wife, Karen, donated more than $200-million, supporting Israel and Jewish charities along with Detroit-area education, health, and arts causes.

Jonathan Aaron, Mr. Davidson’s son-in-law, declined to given an estimate of the charitable bequests. But Robert Aronson, president of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and Mr. Davidson’s philanthropic adviser, said the fund “will have among the most significant impacts of any foundation in the state.”

Gates Foundation Makes Deal With Viacom for TV 'Message Placement'

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is set to expand its involvement in efforts to embed messages reflecting the philanthropy’s causes into popular television shows, reports The New York Times.

The foundation, which has already worked behind the scenes to shape scripts on HIV prevention, surgical safety, and other issues for shows such as “Law and Order: SVU” and “ER,” made a pact with TV giant Viacom to weave education themes into programming on Viacom-owned networks such as MTV and Nickelodeon.

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In the Arts: Ex-N.J. Governor Mulls Suit Over Arts Cuts

Former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean said he is considering suing the current governor over a plan to slash state arts spending and eliminate a tax that supports cultural programs, reports The Star-Ledger, of Newark.

Mr. Kean said he is “outraged” by current Gov. Jon Corzine’s proposed budget, which would cut arts funds by 25 percent, to $14.4-million. Under state law an arts budget below $16-million triggers elimination of a hotel-motel tax that supports the arts for which Mr. Kean campaigned in 2003.

In other arts news, a Baltimore public radio station is offering free airtime to promote local arts and cultural institutions, The Baltimore Sun reports. National Public Radio affiliate WYPR will produce and air spots twice daily for the Baltimore Symphony, the Walters Art Museum, and 10 other institutions over the next six months.

Also, The New York Times reports on controversy at the Film Society of Lincoln Center under new executive director Mara Manus, who has cut staff while overseeing a major expansion project.

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Google and Environmental Charities Unite for Mapping Project

Using funds from Google’s philanthropic arm, the National Audubon Society and the Natural Resources Defense Council have developed a mapping tool designed to balance the interests of conservation and clean energy, The San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Path to Green Energy, a Google Earth tool, shows wind- and solar-power developers where they can and can’t build, taking into account protected lands, endangered-species habitats, and other factors. So far the project covers about 860 million acres in 13 western states.

Asbestos in Smithsonian Poses No Threat, Secretary Tells Congress

Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough told a Congressional committee yesterday that there was no indication any of the institution’s museums posed a public asbestos risk, The Washington Post reports.

“We have never had any indication of unacceptable levels” of the substance, Mr. Clough said at the hearing, which was called after the newspaper reported last month on a National Air and Space Museum employee who had been diagnosed with an asbestos-related lung disease. Mr. Clough said all current and former Smithsonian employees and volunteers will be offered free health screenings.

Asbestos was also discovered at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History during renovations in 2006 and 2007, the Post reports.

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Obituary: Conservationist Andrea Mead Lawrence Dies at Age 76

Andrea Mead Lawrence, an Olympic gold-medal-winning skier who became a leading champion of the environment, died of cancer Monday at her home in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., the Los Angeles Times reports.

A 19-year-old skiing sensation, Ms. Lawrence won the slalom and giant slalom at the 1952 winter games in Oslo, becoming the first and to date only American alpine skier to win two golds in a single Olympics. She also competed in the 1948 and 1956 games.

Ms. Lawrence became an environmental activist after moving to California’s Eastern Sierra in the late 1960s, fighting development in the region and helping found the Sierra Nevada Alliance and the Andrea Lawrence Institute for Mountains and Rivers, among other groups.

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Government and Politics Watch: Senate Restores International-Aid Money

The Senate approved Wednesday an amendment that would provide all the money to foreign aid that President Obama requested, reports Government and Politics Watch, The Chronicle’s online column.

Give and Take: ONE Campaign Debates Critic

The ONE Campaign, an antipoverty advocacy group, is debating a leading critic of international aid, says a new post in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

From The Chronicle: Foundations and Minority Grant Making

A Florida activist has joined forces with the Greenlining Institute to press foundations in his state to do more for poor minority families, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Online Discussion Next Week: Recruiting and Keeping Talented Volunteers

Join us on Tuesday, April 7, at noon U.S. Eastern time for an online discussion to explore the many ways in which charities can build a strong volunteer corps.

Among the topics: How can charities compete for the most committed volunteers and get them to stick with the job? How is technology changing the way charities can recruit volunteers? And what can charities do to satisfy the needs of those who are giving time to help their causes?

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

April 01, 2009

Last Call From New Orleans: News and Tips From Fund Raisers' Meeting

Good evening!

This special extra edition of Philanthropy Today comes to you tonight with highlights from the last day of sessions at the annual meeting of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, held in New Orleans.

We hope you’ll turn to our special conference notebook for information from the meeting you may have missed.

We’ll be back in your mailbox tomorrow afternoon with our wrap-up of all the other news of the day.

— The Editors of The Chronicle of Philanthropy

Raising Money in Tough Times

Charities need to think hard about what their image conveys — and train their board members to be able to make a 60-second pitch about all the good their organizations do, said a fund-raising consultant who talked at a session today about the ways charities can find opportunities even in the gloomy economy.

Planned Gifts: What Fund Raisers Should Know

In contrast to individual, foundation, and corporate giving, which tend to drop or remain flat during tough economic times, giving through charitable bequests usually grows during a recession, according to fund raisers.

Three new studies presented at the Association of Fundraising Professionals conference seek to help nonprofit groups take advantage of the current opportunity to expand their efforts to solicit planned gifts by offering insights into which donors are most likely to remember charities in their wills — and why.

Fund Raising Around the World

A strong international presence could be felt at the annual meeting of the Association of Fundraisng Professionals, and that is in part because the organization has taken numerous steps to extend its global reach.

Gates Foundation Teams Up With Chinese Government for TB Effort

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the government of China today announced a $33-million project to fight new, drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis, the Associated Press reports.

The announcement came as Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization, warned that the emerging TB strains are set to spiral out of control and urged countries to take stronger action against the disease.

Colleges Turn to Gift Fees to Cover Fund-Raising Costs

More colleges are mulling gift fees to help pay for development operations as the floundering economy bites into donations, The Chronicle of Higher Education reports.

Administrators and consultants say schools are increasingly likely to deduct the fees, typically 3 to 5 percent of the gift, as the economy worsens and state support and endowments slide.

The levies can be unpopular with donors, deans, and faculty members, who want gifts to go entirely for the intended purpose. But university foundation officials say they are preferable to cutting back on development staff, which could hurt fund-raising more in the long run.

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Lawyer Claims Mismanagement at Charity Fund for Yankee Stadium

A lawyer hired by the New York Yankees to oversee distribution of grants to Bronx charities has sued the nonprofit organization established to divide up the money, alleging its chairman mismanaged funds, reports The New York Times.

Michael Drezin claims Serafin U. Muriel, who heads the New Yankee Stadium Community Benefits Fund, shortchanged the charity by depositing $800,000 provided by the baseball team into a non-interest-bearing and largely uninsured account at a bank Mr. Muriel co-founded. Neither Mr. Muriel nor his lawyer provided comment for the article.

The charity fund was created in 2006 as part of an agreement between the Yankees and city officials in connection with the new ballpark, which opens Friday with a Yankees-Cubs exhibition game.

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Broker Charged in Alleged Charity Fraud Scheme

A federal grand jury has indicated a Tacoma, Wash., investment broker accused of stealing some $6.4-million from investors and charitable contributors, reports the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said John Min’s investment scheme targeted area church members and elderly residents, claiming to raise money for aid groups in the developing world but instead using donations to pay for a lavish lifestyle and high-risk investments.

Texas Environmental Groups Cut Back

Land and water conservation groups in Texas are scaling back staffs and programs as donations dry up, reports The Austin American-Statesman.

The Nature Conservancy cut 20 jobs, about one-sixth of its Texas workforce, in the face of a 15 percent drop in private gifts. The state Audubon Society is mulling layoffs, and a project to protect and restore 13,000 acres of coastal wildlife habitat is in jeopardy.

Environmental groups “are particularly exposed” in a downturn because they get little revenue from government contracts or grants, relying instead on private donors, foundation grants, and membership dues, said Peter Frumkin, director of the University of Texas RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service.

Nonprofit Kaiser Looks to Grow With Obama Health Plans

Kaiser Permanente, the nation’s largest nonprofit health-care organization, is poised to capitalize on the Obama administration’s plans for sweeping changes in the medical field, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The organization, one of California’s biggest employers, opened a $600-million hospital in Hollywood on Tuesday and is viewed by many health-care advocates as a model. While scores of hospitals have closed statewide in recent years, Kaiser is engaged in a $10-billion campaign to increase bed capacity and earthquake-proof aging facilities.

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Two Boston-Area Latino Charities Join Forces

Two nonprofit groups serving the Hispanic and immigrant communities north of Boston are merging to jointly provide education, health, and job-training programs, The Boston Globe reports.

Centro Latino de Chelsea and Concilio Hispano have formed partnerships in the past but began talking last year about a permanent union, said Juan Vega, chief executive of the new Centro Latino. “We’ve got the economy, we’ve got this huge growth of Latinos and immigrants in general. It only gets you so far, being a smaller organization,” Mr. Vega said.

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From The Chronicle: New Research on Bequest Fund Raising

Three new studies shed light on what fund raisers should know about seeking bequests, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Government and Politics Watch: House Approves National-Service Bill

The House of Representatives on Tuesday adopted the Senate version of a bill to expand the country’s national-service programs, the final legislative action needed before the legislation goes to President Obama, reports Government and Politics Watch, The Chronicle’s online column.

Plus: International charities lobby Congress to reject cuts in foreign aid.

Give and Take: Pay Cuts at Gay-Rights Groups

The Washington Blade, a newspaper in the nation’s capital that writes about gay issues, recently reported that the leaders of several charities that advocate for gay, lesbian, and transgender rights are taking pay cuts because of the recession, says a new post in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

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 April 9 issue.

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