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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June 2009

June 30, 2009

Steering Clear of Hedge Funds, Small Universities' Endowments Are Losing Less

Small universities’ endowments did significantly better in the just-ended fiscal year than their larger, higher-profile peers, which plunged more deeply into alternative investments such as hedge funds, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The five largest single-university endowments — Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Princeton, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — expect to finish the year with 25- to 30-percent losses. The median decline in the first 11 months of fiscal 2009 was 20 percent, and endowments with less than $100-million in assets lost 16 percent, on average.

“A lesson from this crisis is that following what the larger guys have done is not necessarily a road map to success,” said Daniel Jick, head of HighVista Strategies, in Boston, which manages endowment money for small academic institutions.

To learn more about how all types of nonprofit endowments are faring, see the Chronicle’s annual endowment study.

Warren Buffett's Son on Front Lines in War on Hunger

In an article adapted from a new book on world hunger, The Wall Street Journal reports on Howard Buffett’s behind-the-scenes work to combat Africa’s food shortage.

Mr. Buffett, the second of the billionaire philanthropist Warren Buffett’s three children, spends much of his time in Africa, trying to spread agricultural practices with which he’s had success on his own corn and soybean farm in Illinois. His Howard G. Buffett Foundation will disburse about $38-million this year to help African farmers develop drought- and disease-resistant crops and market their wares to United Nations relief programs, among other agricultural projects.

The foundation’s spending has grown eightfold since 2006, when the elder Mr. Buffett began making annual contributions of Berkshire Hathaway stock to his children’s charities.

Read a profile of Howard Buffet from The Chronicle’s archive.

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

The Bad Economy and Founder's Death Roil Texas Housing Charity

The tangled finances of the American Housing Foundation — a national charity whose founder, Steve Sterquell, died in April in an apparent suicide — are explored in a two-part Amarillo Globe-News series.

The foundation, which developed and operated affordable-housing complexes through a network of partnerships with nonprofit and for-profit entities, entered voluntary bankruptcy and embarked on a reorganization following Mr. Sterquell’s death and the subsequent resignation of his son, Steve Sterquell II. The organization, which maintains its headquarters in Amarillo, Tex., faces a barrage of lawsuits involving $38.5-million in disputed funds.

Basketball Star Starts Charity in China

Kobe Bryant, the NBA superstar whose popularity in China rivals that of native-born basketball player Yao Ming, is further raising his profile in the country with the start of a charity there, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The Kobe Bryant China Fund will work with the state-supported Soong Ching Ling Foundation to raise money within the country for education and health programs. Mr. Bryant’s existing U.S. charity, the Kobe Bryant Family Foundation, will also work to strengthen U.S.-China ties by teaching American middle-school students about Chinese language and culture.

In July Mr. Bryant will make his fourth visit in as many months to China as part of a campaign to establish his presence in the world’s most populous country. “I think he can be a one-man State Department, reaching directly to the people,” said Donald Tang, a Chinese financial adviser who will guide the ballplayer’s Chinese charity.

Philanthropist Emerges as a Player on the New York Charity Scene

Lisa Marie Falcone has started to rise in prominence on the city’s cultural and philanthropic scene, reports The New York Times.

Ms. Falcone, the wife of the billionaire investor Philip A. Falcone, surprised many attendees at a gala this month for Friends of the High Line when she took to the stage unannounced to match a $10-million grant from the media mogul Barry Diller and his wife, the designer Diane von Furstenburg. The Falcones had previously made smaller donations and raised funds for the project to turn a downtown elevated railway into a landscaped esplanade.

Ms. Falcone has also chaired several events for the American Museum of Natural History and last month joined the City Ballet board.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

News-Media Organizations Meet to Plan Nonprofit Investigative Network

In a column that appeared on PoynterOnline, a former newspaper executive analyzes the prospects for foundation-supported journalism as more than two-dozen news-media organizations meet this week to discuss forming a national nonprofit investigative network.

“To a degree that has surprised many people, foundations and philanthropy have ramped up in multiple ways to fill fast-emerging information gaps or create entirely new ways of producing news that citizens need,” writes David Westphal, a senior fellow at the Center on Communication Leadership and Policy.

Representatives from National Public Radio, Huffington Post, the Center for Investigative Reporting, and other prominent news-media outlets and nonprofit groups gathered on Tuesday for Watchdogs at Pocantico, a three-day conference at a former Rockefeller estate in upstate New York.

In the Arts: Philadelphia Museum Names New Chief; Philanthropist Named to Board Seeking a Rebound at a Los Angeles Museum

The Philadelphia Museum of Art has wrapped up a 10-month search for a new director, choosing Cleveland Museum of Art chief Timothy Rub, reports The New York Times. He replaces the popular longtime museum head Anne d’Harnoncourt, who died last year.

H.F. Lenfest, chairman of the museum’s board, said 22 applicants were interviewed for the position. “The chief curators already knew and respected Timothy,” Mr. Lenfest said. “He’s a good listener, has good judgment and the right background. He’ll hit the road running.”

In other arts news, the Museum of Contemporary Art, in Los Angeles, raised about $57-million in the first half of 2009, reversing a decade-long decline in donations, according to Bloomberg. The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation pledged $15-million to match gifts that replenish the museum’s endowment and another $15-million to support exhibitions.

Also, the Portland Museum of Art announced that it will raise adult admission from $10 to $12, lay off five full-time employees, and impose furloughs or salary cuts on remaining workers in an effort to close a $500,000 budget shortfall, reports The Oregonian.

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

Government and Politics Watch: White House Puts Spotlight on Innovative Charities

Four nonprofit groups will discuss the way they are tackling social problems at a White House event today that will include remarks by President Obama, reports Government and Politics Watch, a Chronicle online column.

Our senior editor, Suzanne Perry, is at the event and will provide an online update when it wraps up.

Philanthropy This Week: New Edition of Our Podcast Available

Listen to our podcast, Philanthropy This Week, featuring interviews with Chronicle reporters and editors on our new survey about corporate giving at the nation’s biggest companies — and why many nonprofit chief executives are volunteering to take pay cuts.

From The Chronicle: Transcript of Corporate-Giving Discussion

Read a transcript of today’s online discussion with prominent leaders in corporate philanthropy.

June 29, 2009

Supreme Court Puts Off Decision in Case Involving Nonprofit Group's Campaign Documentary

The Supreme Court has failed to decide on whether a documentary a nonprofit group wanted to broadcast about Hillary Rodham Clinton during the 2008 presidential race should have been regulated as if it were a campaign ad, the Associated Press reports.

The court said Monday it will hear arguments in the case again in a special session on September 9.

Citizens United, a conservative not-for-profit group, wanted to air ads for the movie in Democratic primary states and also make the film available to cable subscribers on demand without complying with federal campaign finance law.

Madoff Sentenced to 150 Years in Prison for Swindles That Hurt Charities and Donors

A federal judge sentenced Bernard L. Madoff to 150 years in prison today for operating a huge Ponzi scheme that devastated investors, foundations, charities, and others, calling his crimes “extraordinarily evil,” The New York Times reports.

In pronouncing the sentence — the maximum he could have handed down — Judge Denny Chin turned aside Mr. Madoff’s own assertions of remorse and rejected the suggestion from Mr. Madoff’s lawyers that there was a sense of “mob vengeance” surrounding calls for a long prison term.

“Objectively speaking, the fraud here was staggering,” the judge said. “It spanned more than 20 years.”

In The New York Times’s Dealbook blog, Steve M. Davidoff, a law professor, raises questions about whether charities that received money from donors who invested with Mr. Madoff face legal or moral obligations to return the money.

Read an article from The Chronicle’s archive about the problems facing the charities that depended on foundations with big investments in Mr. Madoff’s firm.

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

Recession Taking Toll on Aid for Scholarships

With the downturn slicing philanthropic support for college aid, scholarship providers are cutting back or even canceling their programs, The New York Times reports.

While the recession is driving more families to seek financial aid, less money is available for students, according to Scholarship America, a nonprofit group that administers programs for about 1,200 providers. ACT, a nonprofit group that manages and designs scholarship programs for foundations and corporations, reports a decline of just under 5 percent in available scholarship dollars.

The situation probably means a greater role for federal aid programs as private providers and state governments cut back, said Terry W. Hartle, senior vice president at the American Council on Education.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

New Texas Law Seeks to Ensure Donor Intent Is Followed on 'Orphan Trusts'

Texas has adopted legislation designed to ensure that trusts continue to comply with their founders’ wishes if they pass into the hands of third parties, reports The New York Times.

The measure, signed this month by Gov. Rick Perry, bars trustees of “orphan trusts,” whose founders have died, from moving organizations out of state without judicial approval and directs courts to determine whether a move would interfere with trustees’ ability to comply with the donor’s intentions.

Charity regulators and nonprofit leaders have raised concern about the latitude banks and lawyers who take over trusts after the founder’s death have in operating the organizations and disbursing grants. In many such cases, local banks originally named as trustees have been acquired by multinational financial institutions.

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House Approves Increase in Federal Spending on the Arts

The House of Representatives on Friday approved fiscal 2010 budgets of $170-million each for the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The House plan increases spending for both agencies by 9.7 percent. The vote sets the stage for a battle in the Senate, where the Appropriations Committee proposes $161.3-million budgets for the cultural agencies.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Arizona, Minnesota Nonprofit Groups Grow Anxious as Incomes Fall and Demand Spikes

A wave of cutbacks and consolidations is under way at nonprofit groups in the Phoenix and Minneapolis-St. Paul areas, report The Arizona Republic and the Star Tribune.

A survey by the Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits found that more than a quarter of charities laid off employees last year or plan to do so in 2009, with up to 5,000 jobs in the industry at risk. In Minnesota, an increasing number of organizations are merging or are simply dissolving and spinning off work to other nonprofit groups.

“Next year will be worse,” said Mike Weber, chief executive of Volunteers of America-Minnesota.

“The stress and strain in the nonprofit sector right now is really profound,” said Robert Ashcraft, head of the Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation at Arizona State University. Organizations need to “re-engineer how they accomplish their mission,” he added.

Boston Foundation Plans to Increase Amount it Gives Away Next Year

The largest community foundation in Massachusetts will increase the amount it gives away in the next fiscal year despite a 19-percent decline in its assets, reports The Boston Globe.

The Boston Foundation will distribute $17.2-million in discretionary grants from July 1, 2009, to June 30, 2010, up from $16.9-million in the past 12 months. Discretionary grants account for about a third of the organization’s overall giving.

“It really wasn’t a big debate” among foundation board members, who approved the increase in recent meetings, according to the foundation’s chief executive, Paul Grogan. “The board has tremendous confidence in this institution, that it is going to recover financially, eventually.”

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Auction Winner to Donate $1.68-Million for Lunch with Warren Buffett

An anonymous bidder offered $1.68-million to the Glide Foundation, in San Francisco, to win the annual charity auction for lunch with the billionaire investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett, Bloomberg reports.

The winner and as many as seven friends will get to break bread with and seek investment advice from the “Oracle of Omaha” for the benefit of Glide, which offers food, clothes, shelter, and health care to the needy.

Last year’s top bidder, Hong Kong hedge-fund manager Zhao Danyang, had his $2.1-million meal with Buffett in New York on Wednesday.

Read an article from the Chronicle’s archive to learn more about how Warren Buffett became a fund raiser for Glide.

New York Salvation Army to Close Housing Program for Teenagers

The Greater New York Division of the Salvation Army is closing its program to provide temporary housing for troubled adolescents, Crain’s New York Business reports.

The agency will close at least six sites in September and lay off 98 full- and part-time employees. The program currently houses about 72 teenagers who can’t find foster families or are awaiting trial. A source close to the Salvation Army said the organization was unlikely to get enough money from New York City to cover rising costs.

Although Salvation Army fund raising has remained steady, demand for its services has skyrocketed, forcing the agency to look for ways to raise more revenue.

Corporate Grant Making: The Chronicle's Annual Survey Predicts Decrease in 2009

Many of the largest U.S. companies plan to decrease their charitable donations in 2009, or at least keep them level with last year’s, according to the latest Chronicle survey of corporate giving. Subscribers to The Chronicle have access to a searchable database with information on giving from many of the nation’s biggest companies.

That is the highlight of the new issue of The Chronicle, which was posted online this morning. You can see everything in the new issue in our table of contents.

From The Chronicle: How Bad Is the Recession for Charities?

Two surveys of charity officials released today show that 80 percent to 90 percent of nonprofit groups are under financial stress, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Prospecting: How Much Do the British Really Give?

A new survey suggests that British people may not be terribly honest about their philanthropy, reports Prospecting, The Chronicle’s column on fund raising.

Plus: Charities can enter their tag lines in a new contest.

Give and Take: Improving Grant Making

Recent recommendations on good grant making by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy have divided foundation leaders, but there are key points the nonprofit world seems to agree on — and can do something about, says the Alliance for Justice, according to Give and Take, the Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

A New York group offers a way for nonprofit groups to save on rent

Can “paraskilling” help nonprofit groups expand their work in developing countries?

Online Discussion Tomorrow: Talk to Prominent Corporate Grant Makers

Join The Chronicle on Tuesday, June 30, for a live online discussion about the state of corporate philanthropy, with leaders from giving programs at Starbucks and Wal-Mart as well as other philanthropy experts.

Our guests will be:

Rodney Hines, executive director of the Starbucks Foundation and director of community investments for the Starbucks Coffee Company’s Global Responsibility division. Previously, he was a community-affairs manager at the Microsoft Corporation.

Jackie Liao, manager of community investments for the Starbucks Coffee Company’s Global Responsibility division. She also oversees the Starbucks Social Entrepreneurs Fund.

Margaret A. McKenna, president of the Wal-Mart Foundation.

Thomas Tighe, chief executive of Direct Relief International, an international medical aid organization, in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Mark Shamley, president of the Association of Corporate Contributions Professionals, in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.

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

June 26, 2009

New York City Seeks to Reduce Payments to Homeless Shelters

In an effort to re-start New York’s stalled effort to slash homelessness, the city is seeking state approval for a program that would reduce payments to nonprofit organizations and shelters that fail to place clients in stable housing within six months, The New York Times reports.

The new policy also includes a strict code of conduct for homeless families living in temporary shelters.

Linda I. Gibbs, deputy mayor for health and human services, said the intent is “to introduce is a greater expectation of accountability, both by the providers and by the clients themselves. We want them to overcome homelessness more quickly. We believe they are in shelter far longer than they need to be.”

Providers said the reduced payments, on top of city budget cuts, would have the opposite result, increasing clients’ shelter stays because nonprofit groups would have fewer staff members and other resources to help them find a permanent place to live.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

In the Arts: Mass. Grant Program Won't Get New Money; Theaters Respond to Fiscal Challenges

The Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund, which last month doled out $12.4-million to 85 cultural organizations for infrastructure and planning projects, is not expected to get any state money in the fiscal 2010 budget, according to The Boston Globe.

“The state has a lot of capital priorities … so we were really pleased that the governor invested in 2009 in this program, because the money is sorely needed,’’ said Greg Liakos, spokesman for the Massachusetts Cultural Council, which co-runs the fund. “But we just don’t have an indication yet whether he is thinking about continuing to invest in this fund.”

In other arts news, the Associated Press reports on the innovative strategies nonprofit theaters in the United States and Canada are adopting to keep up ticket sales amid the economic downturn.

Also, the Boston Symphony Orchestra will lay off 10 employees, about 5 percent of its work force, as part of a budget-cutting effort that has already seen it freeze hiring and cancel a 2010 European tour, says The Boston Globe.

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

Cosmetics Guru Brown Details Approach to Giving

The make-up magnate and philanthropist Bobbi Brown discusses her charitable efforts and approach to giving in an interview with Forbes.

Ms. Brown works closely with Dress for Success, a nonprofit group that offers professional clothing to needy women entering the work force, and Jane Addams High School in the South Bronx. She also supports schools, a museum, and a hospital in her hometown of Montclair, N.J.

“We do it in our town because it’s where we live and we’re able to make the most impact,” she told Forbes. “Sometimes when you go to a charity function in New York, you’re just one on a list of hundreds.”

Ex-Addict Becomes Health-Care Provider in Pakistani Town

Todd Shea, an American and a former cocaine addict who runs the lone hospital in Chikar, a mountain town in Pakistan’s Kashmir region, is the subject of a profile in The New York Times.

A 42-year-old Maryland native, Mr. Shea began volunteering in the aftermath of September 11 and went to Pakistan as a rescue worker following the 2005 earthquake that killed 80,000 people. As humanitarian aid ebbed in the months following the disaster, he established the charity hospital, Comprehensive Disaster Relief Services, which serves about 100,000 people a year.

Although Chikar is located only 85 miles from the capital of Islamabad, government health resources are scarce in the region, which faces a huge influx of refugees uprooted by the Pakistani military’s campaign against the Taliban.

(Free registration is required to read this article.)

After Surviving Tumor, Golf Star Starts Cancer Charity

Nine months after undergoing surgery to remove a malignant brain tumor, Severiano Ballesteros, a prominent Spanish golfer, yesterday announced a new cancer foundation, reports the Associated Press.

Mr. Ballesteros, 52, a former world No. 1 who won five major championships and 50 European Tour titles from the mid-1970s through the mid-‘90s, underwent four surgeries and chemotherapy in Madrid. His eponymous foundation will focus on treatment of brain tumors and will also provide support to young golfers with financial problems.

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

Opinion: Ford Foundation Needs to Tighten Belt and Clarify Its Mission

The financial overreach that led the Ford Foundation to offer buyouts to a third of its staff has also fostered a “confused philanthropic mission” that could render the organization irrelevant, asserts a Wall Street Journal opinion column

Mark Hemingway, a staff writer for National Review Online, says the foundation has become overtly liberal, taking on “a number of causes that seem more political than philanthropic” and focusing on race and class issues.

Luis Ubinas, the foundation’s president, “may be well qualified to deal with Ford’s fiscal problems,” Mr. Hemingway wrote. “What’s not clear is whether he has a well-defined strategy for clarifying its mission and ending its scattershot approach to grant making.”

Read The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s coverage of the Ford Foundation staff cuts.

Give and Take: Michael Jackson's Philanthropy

As people mourn the death of the pop star Michael Jackson, fans, the news media, and others are discussing his charitable work, which some say paved the way for the current surge in celebrity philanthropy, notes Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

From The Chronicle: Executive Pay Cuts

To help their organizations cope with the financial stresses of the recession, many charity executives have volunteered to take pay cuts, as much for the message the action sends as for the savings it achieves, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Online Discussion Tuesday: Talk to Prominent Corporate Grant Makers

Our guests will be:

Rodney Hines, executive director of the Starbucks Foundation and director of community investments for the Starbucks Coffee Company’s Global Responsibility division. Previously, he was a community-affairs manager at the Microsoft Corporation.

Jackie Liao, manager of community investments for the Starbucks Coffee Company’s Global Responsibility division. She also oversees the Starbucks Social Entrepreneurs Fund.

Margaret A. McKenna, president of the Wal-Mart Foundation.

Thomas Tighe, chief executive of Direct Relief International, an international medical aid organization, in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Mark Shamley, president of the Association of Corporate Contributions Professionals, in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.

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

June 25, 2009

Swine-Flu Scare Halts Camps for 'Jerry's Kids'

The Muscular Dystrophy Association canceled its national summer camp program after cases of swine flu were reported among attendees, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Seventeen cases of the H1N1 strain were reported at camps in Minnesota, Utah, and Pennsylvania for young muscular-dystrophy sufferers, known as “Jerry’s Kids” after the association’s celebrity spokesman, comedian Jerry Lewis. Organization officials said the children’s hereditary muscle weakness and compromised immune systems make them particularly vulnerable to the disease.

The decision comes after about 1,800 kids attended 33 of the typically weeklong camps. Another 47 camps involving 2,500 children will be affected by the first cancellation in the summer program since it began in 1955.

British Charities Get Recession Help From Lottery Fund

The British agency that doles out national lottery revenues to nonprofit organizations announced plans to provide an extra $74.2-million in the current financial year to help charities weather the recession, reports Third Sector Online.

As part of a new six-year strategy, the Big Lottery Fund said it will give at least 80 percent of its money to voluntary and community groups this year rather than the customary 60 to 70 percent. The extra money will come from budgets that would otherwise have been used to create new grant programs when existing programs close.

Corporate Coalition Begins AIDS Campaign in Three Cities

New York, Washington, and Oakland, Calif., will be the initial sites for a corporate-backed push to use the power of marketing to fight the spread of HIV and AIDS, reports The Washington Post.

The Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria — which includes Pfizer, Facebook, Nike, Nokia, and the National Basketball Association, among other high-powered entities — announced the program yesterday on Capitol Hill. Working with local officials in the three cities, the partners will bring their expertise to bear on shaping prevention and treatment campaigns.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

L.A. Anti-Gang Activist Charged With Racketeering and Conspiracy

A prominent anti-gang activist was arrested yesterday on federal racketeering charges in response to allegations of his continuing involvement in murder, extortion, drug trafficking, and other crimes, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Alex Sanchez, 37, a former member of the notorious U.S.-El Salvador gang Mara Salvatrucha, renounced his past in the 1990s and won national acclaim and political support as executive director of the nonprofit group Homies Unidos, which publicly works to stem violence and help those trying to escape gang life.

The federal indictment identifies Mr. Sanchez as a “shot caller,” or gang leader, who allegedly conspired with Mara Salvatrucha members in numerous crimes over a 15-year period. Daniel McMullen, a Los Angeles FBI official, said the suspect “used the guise of a reformist” to solicit funds from “well-intentioned donors” while maintaining his criminal life.

The Homies Unidos board issued a statement of support for Mr. Sanchez, saying its members were “confident in Alex’s innocence.”

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Clinic Network a Source of Support for Controversial N.Y. Politician

A chain of Bronx health clinics that New York State Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. founded have helped maintain his political popularity at home, despite controversies in Albany, says The New York Times.

Earlier this month Mr. Espada, a Democrat, crossed party lines to back a Republican takeover of the state Senate, igniting a political firestorm in the capital. He has also come under scrutiny for the $459,739 salary he received in 2007 as president and CEO of the Soundview HealthCare Network, which grew out of a nonprofit organization he founded in the late 1970s, and for allegations that the organization’s resources were used to further his political career.

Mr. Espada said his salary has been reduced by more than half and that the clinics, which provide care to some 25,000 low-income people annually, continue to win praise from doctors and local residents

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Giving Becomes Part of Curriculum at Northeast Colleges

At least 10 New England colleges offer philanthropy courses through which students learn how to give away money by making grants with money that corporate and family foundations donate, according to The Boston Globe.

Professors say the philanthropy courses are in response to growing interest among young people in finding ways they can give back.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

From The Chronicle: Poor Board Oversight Blamed in Madoff Scandal

Of the foundations that have been hardest hit by the Bernard Madoff financial scheme, the majority of them lacked adequate board size or diverse board leadership, factors that contributed to their becoming victims of the investment scandal, says a new report, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

From The Chronicle: Foundation Endowments Fell 26%

Grant makers’ endowments plunged by 26 percent last year as the stock market fell to levels not seen in years, says a new report from the Commonfund Institute, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

From The Chronicle: Tracking the National Conference on Volunteering and Service

Jackie Norris, who just moved from First Lady Michelle Obama’s office to the Corporation for National and Community Service, dove into her new environment by attending this week’s big volunteering conference in San Francisco and discussing her plans with The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

For complete coverage of the meeting, see our conference notebook.

Give and Take: Avoiding 'Useless' Charities

A Canadian blogger and charity expert offers three questions people should ask themselves to avoid creating more “useless” charities, notes a new post in Give and Take, the Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Plus: The number of millionaires worldwide shrank by 15 percent in 2008.

Prospecting: National Youth Charity Turns to Chapters for Fund Raising

B’nai B’rith Youth Organization, a century-old Jewish youth charity, is tweaking its fund-raising approach to survive the recession, relying more heavily on its regional chapters to raise donations, says a new item in Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online column about seeking donations.

Transcript: Capital Campaigns in the Recession

Read a transcript of today’s discussion about how groups that are running capital campaigns are managing during the weak economy.

Join the Discussion: Reviewing 'The Philanthropist'

We had lots of insightful and lively commentary from viewers around the country about last night’s debut of The Philanthropist. Read them in our Give and Take column, and chime in with your own thoughts.

So many of our audience members enjoyed the get-together, we’ll be doing it again next week. See you at 9:45 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, July 1, to view the second episode of the series together.

June 24, 2009

New Questions Emerge About Philanthropist Picower's Role in Madoff Scandal

New questions have come to light about businessman and philanthropist Jeffry M. Picower in connection with the Bernard Madoff investment scandal, ProPublica, an investigative-news organization, reports.

Mr. Picower, with his wife Barbara, created the Picower Foundation — one of the nation’s largest foundations until it collapsed in December as part of the Madoff controversy. The news organization says Mr. Picower is alleged to have wrongfully taken in $5.1 billion from Madoff accounts.

For more on efforts by the trustee in the Madoff case to seek the return of the money, read The Chronicle’s coverage.

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

British Charity Network Calls for Tax Breaks for Helping the Poor

A British association of local charities is recommending that major donors be charged less in taxes if they give to organizations based in disadvantaged regions, reports Third Sector Online.

In a manifesto on local philanthropy, the Community Foundation Network proposes creating “special giving zones” to encourage investment in poorer communities by offering givers favorable tax treatment. Also among the 29 recommendations is a $49-million fund to help smaller charities set up online donation systems.

In the Arts: Museums Aim to Slow Bill Regulating Sale of Art

Several major New York cultural institutions are lobbying the state legislature to put the brakes on a bill to regulate the sale of artwork, reports The New York Times.

The measure, co-drafted by the Museum Association of New York, would prohibit institutions from selling works to pay for operating expenses. Cultural organizations fear the legislation could restrict curatorial judgment.

A June 1 letter signed by more than a dozen organizations urges state lawmakers to defer action on the bill to give institutions and the public “the opportunity to comment more fully.”

In other arts news, the Times reports that the Metropolitan Museum of Art has completed a round of job cuts necessitated by heavy losses in its endowment. Some 200 employees were laid off and roughly 95 more took voluntary retirement packages, reducing the museum’s staff size by 14 percent.

And The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia will sharply curtail its subscription concert season in 2009-10.

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

Study Finds Washington-Area Charities Dangerously Low on Cash

A new report finds that even before the recession struck, more than half of Washington-area nonprofit groups had dangerously low operating reserves, leaving them vulnerable in a period of sharply declining revenue, The Washington Post reports.

According to the study by the Urban Institute, 57 percent of Washington-area charities had less than the industry standard of three months of reserves in the bank in 2006. Nearly half of those agencies had no operating reserves.

“It’s an amazingly high percentage” operating below the three-month margin, said Thomas H. Pollak, the report’s author. “In some cases, they got too accustomed to the economy zooming along and didn’t appreciate the risk they were taking.”

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Next Clinton Summit Will Spotlight Social Entrepreneurship

In a nod to the recession’s lingering impact, this year’s Clinton Global Initiative summit will focus on helping companies find ways to profit from taking on social, environmental, and other problems, reports Reuters.

The annual September gathering, sponsored by former President Bill Clinton’s philanthropy, attracts a high-powered pool of politicians, corporate leaders, celebrities, and humanitarian activists. Since its 2005 inception, the summit has attracted some 1,400 pledges valued at $46-billion.

Tonight: Watch "The Philanthropist" With The Chronicle

Join us online tonight to watch the premiere of The Philanthropist, the new NBC television series.

We’ll be providing running commentary about the show in our Give and Take column, and we hope you’ll join in the discussion to share your thoughts about how the show depicts the world of philanthropy.

You can read more about the philanthropist who inspired the show in this article from the latest issue of The Chronicle of Philanthropy, as well as in a profile in The Boston Globe.

Plus: Read a commentary from two foundation experts who wonder whether philanthropy will take advantage of the opportunity The Philanthropist offers to better tell the story of what foundations do.

And take an early look at how reviewers and people in philanthropy are responding to The Philanthropist.

(A paid subscription or temporary pass is required to view the Chronicle article about the philanthropist who inspired the show. Free registration is required to view the Boston Globe article.)

Government and Politics Watch: IRS Reinforces Governance Role

The new top charity regulator at the Internal Revenue Service has made clear she will continue the tax agency’s efforts to promote good governance by charities, reports Government and Politics Watch, The Chronicle’s online column.

Give and Take: Debating Tour of Poor Areas of Africa

A brochure for an African tour has sparked a debate about a well-known international aid program and how Westerners view the poor, notes a new post in Give and Take, the Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Prospecting: Young Alumni Help College With YouTube Spoof

Gifts to the annual fund at Juniata College, in Huntingdon, Pa., grew this year after two recent graduates produced a YouTube parody of a popular ballad, says a new item in Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online column about seeking donations.

Online Discussion Tomorrow: Capital Campaigns in the Recession

Join us for an online discussion on Thursday, June 25, to learn how groups that are running capital campaigns are managing during the recession.

You can post questions to:

George Overholser, founder and managing director of Nonprofit Finance Fund Capital Partners, a division of the Nonprofit Finance Fund.

Leo Arnoult, a fund-raising consultant in Memphis.

This discussion is the fourth in a series that The Chronicle has run with the Nonprofit Finance Fund. You can read the transcripts from the other discussions at http://philanthropy.com/live and pose questions now for tomorrow’s discussion. This discussion is open to everyone, not just Chronicle subscribers.

From The Chronicle: YMCA Leads List of Top Charity Brands

The YMCA of the USA has the strongest brand among charities, according to a new report by the marketing firms Cone and Intangible Business, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

From The Chronicle: Congressman Urges Nonprofit Watchdog Role

Rep. Xavier Becerra, the California Democrat who has long questioned whether enough philanthropic dollars flow to charities that help minorities and the poor, told nonprofit leaders in a speech Tuesday that there was a pressing need “to look at the issues of waste, abuse, and corruption in the nonprofit world,” The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

June 23, 2009

College's Trustees Question Plan to Sell Course Naming Rights

City College of San Francisco trustees are putting on hold a proposal by the institution’s chancellor to sell naming rights in order to support courses scheduled to be lost to the budget ax, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

Trustees said they did not learn of Chancellor Don Griffin’s idea until it was reported by the San Francisco Chronicle Monday and garnered national news-media attention. The seven-member board will discuss it at its scheduled meeting Thursday.

Facing an $8-million to $12-million cut in state funds, the community college plans to cancel 800 of its approximately 9,800 courses. Mr. Griffin said donors who gave $6,000 to the school’s foundation could save a specified class and have their name attached to it.

“Public education is not for sale, said Milton Marks, the board’s president: “If someone wants to give money, that’s great. But getting publicity or feel-good points shouldn’t be necessary.”

Charity Mergers Gain Currency in Massachusetts

Massachusetts charities are warming to the idea of mergers as a way to save money and maintain operations amid the economic downturn, the Boston Herald reports.

Four mergers or alliances involving nine nonprofit organizations have taken place in recent months, and 300 people attended a symposium on the issue in Boston last week.

“When we first started talking about this in advance of the economic crisis, I think there was a big pushback,” said Paul S. Grogan, chief executive of the Boston Foundation, which found in a June 2008 study that the number of charities in Massachusetts had nearly doubled in recent years despite no growth in population or funding sources.

“There was a lot of unhappiness that we were even raising the issue,” Mr. Grogan said. “I think that’s really changed.”

See a Chronicle special report on mergers and collaboration.

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

Palm Beach Charity Galas Suffer a Fund-Raising Challenge

The recession and the Bernard Madoff investment scandal took a major toll on this year’s Palm Beach charity gala season, The Palm Beach Post reports.

Ten of 12 well-known organizations that hold annual events in the wealthy Florida community did not reach their goals, with many falling several hundred thousand dollars short of their 2008 tallies. The American Heart Association raised less than half of the $2.3-million it had collected at last year’s fund-raising event, and the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County saw a decline from $4-million to $3-million.

Organizers had expected a difficult season, with past sponsors such as AIG and Lehman Brothers out of commission and Palm Beach benefactors suffering significant losses due to Mr. Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.

Focus on the Family Chief Has Praise for Obama

Jim Daly, president of the Christian conservative organization Focus on the Family, praised President Obama in an interview with The Washington Post and said he hoped to find “common ground” on contentious issues.

“I wish this president were a conservative. He’s an incredibly engaging person, and he’s hip,” said Mr. Daly. Mr. Daly became the public face of Focus on the Family after its founder, James Dobson, stepped down this year.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Opinion: Changing Hospitals' Tax Status Could Have Unintended Consequences

The potential impact of a proposal by Sen. Max Baucus and Sen. Charles E. Grassley to reconsider the tax-exempt status of nonprofit hospitals that provide insufficient charity care is the subject of a Slate commentary.

Zachary F. Meisel and Jesse M. Pines, both senior fellows at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, write that government “should demand good behavior in exchange for tax benefits, but it is important to consider what may happen to patients if nonprofits find their tax breaks in jeopardy.”

They warn that the senators’ proposal could place a bigger financial burden on strapped nonprofit hospitals or create an incentive for some to become for-profit institutions, reducing access to care for low-income patients.

Read The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s article on the senators’ proposal.

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

Philanthropy This Week: A New Podcast From The Chronicle

Listen to Philanthropy This Week, a new podcast that includes interviews with Chronicle reporters and editors about the highlights in the news. This week we focus on the state of charitable giving — and how philanthropy is depicted in Hollywood.

From The Chronicle: Grants to Benefit Women and Girls Rise

Giving by grant makers who specifically focus on helping women and girls has grown more rapidly in recent years than giving by all foundations, according to a new study released today, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Transcript: Using Online Social Networks to Benefit Charity

Read a transcript of today’s discussion about how charities can use online social networks to benefit their causes.

Give and Take: Recruiting Professional Expertise

More effort needs to be made to persuade professionals to donate their expertise in accounting, computers, marketing, and other skills to benefit charity, notes a new post in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

June 22, 2009

Big Grant Makers Cut Staff Members

Facing huge losses in their endowments since the onset of the global financial crisis, some of America’s largest foundations are cutting jobs, reports The New York Times.

Last week, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, in Princeton, N.J., offered buyouts to 42 percent of its 250 employees. Last month, the Ford Foundation, in New York, offered a similar deal to 140 of its 550 staff members. In December, The California Endowment, in Los Angeles, cut 44 jobs. This year, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, in Battle Creek, Mich., has closed offices in Brazil, Mississippi, and South Africa, resulting in more than a dozen jobs lost.

The job cuts are coming after grant makers have already cut costs using other methods, says Bradford K. Smith, president of the Foundation Center, a research group in New York.

“I think we’re just at the beginning of this process,” he said, though he added that only a fraction of the nation’s private grant makers — about 4,000 out of more than 90,000 foundations — employed workers other than the founder or family members.

(Free registration is required to view the Times article, and a paid subscription or temporary pass is required to view the Chronicle article on the California Endowment.)

Gates Picks Grantees for New Education Program

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has selected 15 community colleges and five states as the focus of the grant maker’s new program to increase graduation rates for disadvantaged and minority students and to improve remedial instruction for college students, according to The Seattle Times.

The Gates foundation, in Seattle, said today it will spend nearly $16.5-million in the program’s first round of grants. The program is operated in conjunction with MDC, a nonprofit group in Chapel Hill, N.C., and the Lumina Foundation for Education, in Indianapolis, which has committed $1.5-million to the effort.

(See the Chronicle’s article explaining how the foundation has reshaped its education grant making.)

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

Harvard U. Investment Official to Step Down

The head of fixed income at Harvard Management Company, the company that manages Harvard University’s endowment, is planning to step down, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Marc Seidner, who was among the top paid at the endowment with $6.3-million in compensation from the previous fiscal year, has decided to leave at the end of the month, the newspaper said. Michael Llodra, a top fixed-income portfolio manager for the endowment, is also leaving at that time, the Journal reported.

Harvard’s endowment, which reached nearly $37-billion last June but had reportedly lost as much as $8-billion by December, provides a third of the university’s budget, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported in its annual survey of endowments at big nonprofit groups.

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

In the Arts: Layoffs at Conn. Theater, Art Institute of Chicago

Layoffs continue in the arts world, with the Tony award-winning Long Wharf Theatre, in New Haven, Conn., letting go about 10 percent of its full-time workers (between 40 and 50 employees), according to The Hartford Courant.

The theater is also slashing its budget for the 2010 fiscal year by 16 percent following drops in donations and its endowment. Other cost-cutting measures will include salary reductions of 1 to 4.5 percent.

In other arts news:

The Art Institute of Chicago announced that it has let go 22 employees, or 3 percent of its staff, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The Long Beach Museum of Art, in Calif., facing full payment in September on $3-million in bond debt, is under pressure from the city government to settle its debt or face a city takeover and the sale of some of its more prized artworks, according to the Los Angeles Times. Such a sale would go against the code of ethics established by the American Association of Museums. But the city, facing a budget gap of roughly $20-million, is pushing the option. “We’re fighting tooth and nail against a hostile takeover,” said Ron Nelson, the museum’s executive director.

The Utah Festival Opera Company, in Logan, is asking for $655,000 in grants from Cache County coffers or it may need to cancel its 2010 season, according to the Associated Press.

(Free registration is required to view the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times articles.)

Opinion: Congress Should Loosen Restrictions on Legal-Aid Funds

The House of Representatives should be applauded for its efforts last week to secure money for the Legal Services Corporation, a nonprofit group that supports legal aid to low-income people, but Congress needs to further loosen restrictions on how that money can be used, argues The Washington Post in an editorial.

The Legal Services Corporation, created by Congress in 1974, makes grants to legal-aid charities around the country, groups that have seen an influx of clients as the foreclosure crisis and other effects of the recession continue.

The House approved a $440-million budget on June 18 for the corporation, up from the $50-million budgeted for 2009 and allowed legal-aid lawyers who win their cases to recover lawyer’s fees from the losing party. The Post editorial says the Senate should go further and lift federal restrictions on how local legal aid groups use private donations of grants from state or local governments.

See The Chronicle’s article on the money problems facing legal-aid charities.

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

Give and Take: Celebrity Promotions

How can charities make the best use of celebrities to promote their causes? That is the question posed in a new post in Give & Take, the Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Plus, what’s the next step for tying product sales to charity marketing efforts?

Online Discussion Tomorrow: Using Social Networks

Join us Tuesday, June 23, at noon Eastern time for an encore to our recent discussion on the best ways for nonprofit groups to use online social networks. We’ll continue the conversation about how you can ensure that your organization stands out through online networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn and explore how those tools can complement traditional marketing efforts.

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

June 19, 2009

Russia Moves to Loosen Restrictions on Nonprofit Groups

Dmitri A. Medvedev, president of Russia, has proposed legislation to loosen restrictions on civic organizations and charities, The New York Times reports.

Mr. Medvedev said on Wednesday that civic groups in Russia were “burdened by pounds of regulations” and said the new legislation would get rid of some of the bureaucracy involved in registering the organizations. He said it would also limit inspections by government agencies and reduce penalties imposed on the groups for mistakes in paperwork.

Russian human-rights groups have long criticized the country’s government for impeding civic development but were cautiously welcoming of the news.

They warned, however, that the proposed measures would ease restrictions for only about 30 percent of Russia’s nonprofit groups and would not apply to any organization that received money from foreign donors.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

American Heart Association Cuts Jobs at Regional Office

The American Heart Association’s South Central Affiliate has eliminated 26 jobs because of a $6.7-million budget shortfall, reports the Austin American-Statesman.

Seven employees were laid off in the Austin, Tex., office, and the remaining positions were eliminated through layoffs or leaving vacant posts unfilled in the affiliate’s other offices in Arkansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.

The organization told employees that the cuts were the result of an 11-percent drop in donations. All staff members at the affiliate will take a 4.6-percent pay cut.

See The Chronicle’s roundup of layoffs and staff cuts at nonprofit groups across the country.

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

Financing for Global Health Has Quadrupled in Past Two Decades, Study Finds

Giving from private foundations, federal agencies, and corporations has quadrupled the amount spent in the past two decades to improve global health, according to a study by the University of Washington, reports The Seattle Times. Some $22-billion is now poured into such efforts.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in particular — which helped establish a University of Washington institute to measure global health spending with a $105-million grant — has had a profound influence on global health support, said the researchers.

Yet imbalances remain in how and where the money is directed, the researchers said. The countries with the greatest needs aren’t always getting the most aid, and the largest amount of money has gone to HIV/AIDS programs. In 2007, $5.1-billion was devoted to HIV/AIDS, and slightly less than $1-billion was spent to strengthen health systems in developing countries.

In the Performing Arts: Oregon Ballet Theatre to Survive

Oregon Ballet Theatre, in Portland, has raised $853,271, surpassing the $750,000 it needed to raise by June 30 to survive, the Oregonian reports.

The ballet company, which was in danger of shutting down, conducted an emergency fund-raising campaign over the past three weeks that culminated in a gala performance on June 12 with guest dancers from the country’s leading dance companies.

Another dance company, Texas Ballet Theater, has raised $2-million, the amount it needed to shore up its finances and get out of debt, according to the Star-Telegram.

Meanwhile, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra sold $11-million in tickets, a record for the orchestra, for its recently completed season, and many of the tickets sold were to first-time concertgoers, reports the Dallas Business Journal.

Others are not faring as well. The struggling Arizona Opera, in Phoenix and Tucson, has implemented administrative staff layoffs and consolidated several staff positions, says the Phoenix Business Journal. The opera company has also reduced staff salaries and implemented furloughs for some employees.

Opinion: Mergers of Nonprofit Groups Are Not Always the Answer

While the recession may be causing many nonprofit groups to consider merging, it is not the best option for most organizations, writes a foundation president in an opinion piece in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Emmett D. Carson, head of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, notes that mergers are expensive, complicated, and disruptive and do not always result in stronger organization in the end, says Mr. Carson, whose own organization was born of the merging of the Peninsula Community Foundation and the Community Foundation Silicon Valley.

Instead of merging, says Mr. Carson, failing nonprofit groups should be allowed to close of their own accord, leaving stronger groups to expand where it is possible. Private donors and government grants, meanwhile, could provide financial incentives at a lesser cost than it would take to support widespread mergers.

Another foundation president — Jeffrey Solomon, president of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies — also expressed concern about the rush to consider mergers in an opinion piece that appeared in the latest issue of The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

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

Prospecting: How to Avoid Losing Donors

Fund raisers need to take steps to deal with the irritation among donors when direct-mail appeals keep coming and coming, says a new item in Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online column about seeking donations.

Give and Take: Is Social Entrepreneurship Taking an Inclusive Approach?

Social-entrepreneurship efforts need to do more to reach out to minorities and young people, say commentators in a new item cited by Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Plus:

Controversy over Obama’s fly swatting puts an animal-rights group on center stage.

What’s the next step in tying product marketing to charitable giving?

From The Chronicle: Charity Takes Center Stage

Nonprofit groups increasingly use theatrical presentations to help them understand thorny issues, reports The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Online Discussion Next Week: Using Social Networks to Promote Good Causes

You’ll also learn how to teach your organization’s leaders, staff members, and volunteers to speak with a unified voice when they seek contributions and talk to others about your organization’s mission.

Our guests will be:

Danielle Brigida, the social-media outreach coordinator at the National Wildlife Federation, in Washington, where she manages the organization’s voice on online networks such as Facebook, MySpace, Care2, Change.org, Digg, and StumbleUpon.

Wendy Harman, the social-media manager at the American Red Cross, in Washington. Previously she worked for the Future of Music Coalition and was a law clerk at Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts of Massachusetts.

Nancy E. Schwartz, a blogger at http://GettingAttention.org and president of a New York City-based marketing and communications-consulting firm that bears her name.

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

June 18, 2009

George Soros Gives $100-Million to Aid Europe

The financier George Soros told the Financial Times that he plans to give $100-million to help the poor and nonprofit groups in Europe struggling from the global crisis.

Mr. Soros said he’s particularly concerned that economic hardship will add fuel to political unrest. “The political risk is very severe and the rise of the chauvinistic, xenophobic far right is a disturbing development,” he told the newspaper.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Global-Health Elite Gather in Seattle

A mega-gathering of global-health devotees has descended on Seattle this week, with four conferences overlapping, including a meeting of the H8, or Health 8, international leaders in health, reports The Seattle Times.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in Seattle, remains the only private-foundation member of the H8, a fact that has caused some consternation by other foundations. The press and public may have a hard time attending or learning about conversations at these meetings, the paper reports, as access is tight.

Big Gifts: Calif. State U. Fresno and United Nations

A former California State University, Fresno, football player who now works in finance pledged $10-million to the university for athletic programs, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

Alphonso Bigelow’s gift is one of the largest in the university’s history.

Also, actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have given $1-million through their Jolie-Pitt Foundation to a United Nations refugee agency to help people displaced by conflict in Pakistan, reports the Associated Press. Ms. Jolie is a goodwill ambassador for the agency.

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

White House Affirms Dismissal of Government Watchdog

President Obama is standing by his decision to fire the inspector general of the Corporation for National and Community Service, despite claims by the fired watchdog that he was let go because of his critique of two programs that received federal money from AmeriCorps, reports The New York Times.

One of those programs, St. Hope Academy of California, was run in part by Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, an Obama supporter. The FBI is now scrutinizing the charity amid allegations that one of its executives obstructed a federal probe, reports The Sacramento Bee. The investigation led to the charity agreeing to repay more than $400,000 in federal grant money to the government, the Bee reports.

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

In the Arts: Financial, Organizational Challenges Test NYC Opera

An examination of the finances and operations of the New York City Opera, in The New York Times, reveals questions about the organization’s ability to survive in the future.

Since chairwoman Susan L. Baker assumed that title in 2003, the charity has dipped into its endowment to cover operating expenses, and that fund has shrunk to just $16-million, from an earlier $57-million, the paper reports.

Recent years have seen the opera’s donations drop while expenses have risen, and its financial troubles seem to be just one facet of the organization’s internal struggles.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Elders With a Purpose Live Longer

As people approach the waning years of their lives, those who live with some purpose in mind tend to live longer than those who don’t, according a new study by Rush University Medical Center, in Chicago, reports HealthDay News. The study echoes earlier findings by other researchers that retirees who volunteered were half as likely to die during a four-year follow-up period as people who did not volunteer during that time.

Keep up-to-date on the latest news on the growing movement to recruit older Americans to work or volunteer for good causes in the Chronicle’s Regeneration series. (Much of the series content is free.)

Give and Take: Crackdown on Overseas Philanthropy?

Proposed new regulations in the central Asian country of Azerbaijan could greatly hinder charities and international aid groups and could be part of a growing crackdown on foreign philanthropy by authoritarian governments, notes an item in Give and Take, the Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

From The Chronicle: Charities to Help Grandparents Raise Grandchildren

Grandparents who take over care of their grandchildren need a wide array of support services, and the charities set up to help them are stretched thin, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Online Discussion Next Week: Using Social Networks for Good Causes

Our guests will be:

Nancy E. Schwartz, a blogger at http://GettingAttention.org and president of a New York City-based marketing and communications-consulting firm that bears her name.

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

June 17, 2009

Insurance Man's $16-Million Pledge to Florida University in Doubt

The Palm Beach Post reports on questions over whether the insurance magnate Barry Kaye will be able to fulfill a much-publicized 2007 gift to Florida Atlantic University.

The Carole and Barry Kaye Foundation pledged $16-million, the largest gift in the Boca Raton school’s history, leading the university to name its business school after Mr. Kaye. Business faculty members say they were told during an April meeting that an expected payment on the donation had not been made, and the FAU Foundation’s executive committee reportedly discussed in January whether to allow an unnamed donor to reduce a large pledge, the Post reports.

Tax returns from the Kayes’ foundation show $3-million in gifts to the school from 2005 to May 2008. Mr. Kaye’s Wealth Creation Foundation, a for-profit entity that was a major contributor to his and his wife’s philanthropy, closed in September. The Kayes declined to comment for the article.

Couple Give $20-Million for Sustainability Center at Caltech

The southern California philanthropists Stewart and Lynda Resnick have pledged $20-million toward a new California Institute of Technology center to develop sustainable energy technologies, the Los Angeles Business Journal reports.

The Resnick Sustainability Institute will work on “innovative science and engineering developments” that break new ground in renewable energy, according to a university statement.

Jean-Lou Chameau, the university’s president, announced the grant at the institution’s commencement last week. The Gordon and Betty Moore Matching Program contributed another $10-million to the $90-million project.

In the Arts: Guggenheim Museum Cuts Jobs

The Guggenheim Foundation is eliminating 25 jobs at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum despite record attendance at the New York institution, The New York Times reports.

The cuts, which will involve both laying off employees and leaving positions vacant, will be made across all departments, including curators. Along with administrative cost cutting, the layoffs will reduce the museum’s budget by about 9 percent, to $60-million.

In other arts news, North Shore Music Theater, once the biggest nonprofit stage in the Boston area, announced that it will close for good after failing to raise enough money to stay afloat, reports The Boston Globe. The theater canceled the second half of last season and laid off all but a skeleton staff, yet it remained $10-million in debt.

Also, the James Irvine Foundation will announce today its latest round of Arts Innovation Fund grants to help museums and performance arts groups develop new strategies to deliver art to the public, the Los Angeles Times reports. The Hammer Museum, the Oakland Museum of California, and San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater are among the recipients.

(Free registration is required to view these articles.)

Update: Iconic Carousel Wins Boston-Area Preservation Sweepstakes

The 81-year-old Paragon Carousel at Massachusetts’ Nantasket Beach won the $100,000 first prize in an online public vote on preserving Greater Boston landmarks, reports The Boston Globe.

The money will pay to replace doors and windowpanes and upgrade safety features on the handcrafted wooden merry-go-round, one of only 150 left in the country.

Another two dozen cultural and historic treasures will receive gifts ranging from $5,000 to $100,000 in the $1-million contest run by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express. Voting in the Boston-area competition exceeded that of similar grant sweepstakes held in New Orleans, Chicago, and San Francisco.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Obituary: Marcella M. Meyer, Advocate for the Deaf, Dies at 84

Marcella M. Meyer, a leading national activist for the deaf, died last month of an abdominal aortic aneurysm at the age of 84, the Los Angeles Times reports this week.

Ms. Meyer founded the Greater Los Angeles Agency for Deafness in 1969 and ran it for nearly 30 years. Deaf from the age of 6, she played a key role in expanding civil rights and social and other services for the hearing-impaired, including telephone relay service and closed captioning of television programs.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

From The Chronicle: President's National-Service Campaign

President Obama today asked Americans to volunteer during the summer to help the country make progress in areas like clean energy, education, and health care — and referred them to a government Web site that has allied with All for Good, a new online volunteer-recruiting tool designed by technology and nonprofit representatives, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Give and Take: Obstacles to Social Enterprises

For social enterprises to achieve substantial results, they must “overcome some structural challenges,” writes Chip Feiss, a senior fellow at the Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, in Cambridge, Mass., in an item in Give and Take, the Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Prospecting: How Fund Raisers Can Save Money on Travel

Fund raisers at the Johns Hopkins Institutions will travel to meet with more than 850 donors this year — at no small expense — and in these budget-tightening times, the organization has put together some travel tips, notes an item in Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online column about seeking donations.

June 16, 2009

Three Kidnapped Aid Workers Found Dead in Yemen

The bodies of three relief workers kidnapped in Yemen’s Saada province last week were found yesterday in another district known to be an Al Qaeda refuge, reports Bloomberg.

The three women, two German nurses and a South Korean teacher, worked for the World Wide Services Foundation, a Dutch charity that has been active in Saada for 30 years. They and six colleagues were taken June 12 while picnicking in the region.

Yemen’s government said the remaining six hostages were still alive and that security officials were “conducting extensive searches and investigations.”

British Employees Decrease Payroll-Deduction Gifts Only Slightly

The number of British employees signing up for payroll-giving schemes declined by less than 1 percent this year, reports Third Sector Online.

The Association of Payroll Giving Organisations said 60,366 workers signed up to give in the 2008-9 financial year, 576 fewer than in the previous 12 months. The average donation also fell only slightly, from $132.61 to $129.20.

Sophie Pritchard, the association’s chairwoman, said that while charity income has declined up to 30 percent in some areas, payroll giving has proved to be largely recession-proof.

Kentucky Senator's Salary From Foundation Exceeds Grants

Sen. Jim Bunning, Republican from Kentucky, collects an approximately $20,000 annual salary from his namesake foundation, more than the charity’s yearly grants payout, reports The Hill.

The Jim Bunning Foundation charges baseball-memorabilia companies for appearances by the senator, a Hall of Fame pitcher. Under Congressional ethics rules, Mr. Bunning is not allowed to charge for autographs himself, but the restriction does not apply to the charity.

The foundation has paid Senator Bunning, its only employee, $155,000 since 2001, according to financial disclosure forms. Internal Revenue Service documents and Senate filings show it donated $16,350 in 2008 and has never given more than $19,575 in a year.

Gates AIDS Program Leaves Mixed Legacy in India

In the state of Avahan, the $258-million effort to reduce HIV/AIDS in India supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the subject of an examination by Forbes India.

Six years after the project started, Avahan has failed to make significant strides in spreading HIV/AIDS awareness, arresting the spread of the virus, or building its six-state effort into a nationwide program, the article concludes.

In the Arts: Surveys Find Decline in Museum Attendance

Attendance at art museums is in decline, according to separate national surveys of participation in cultural activities, The Washington Post reports.

Data released Monday by the National Endowment for the Arts show 23 percent of adults visited an art museum or visual-arts festival last year, down from 26 percent from 1992 to 2001. The agency also reported double-digit drops in attendance in almost every performing-arts field since 1982, when it began conducting the annual survey.

A separate poll of nearly 4,000 eighth-graders found that 16 percent had gone to an art museum or gallery with their classes in 2008, compared to 22 percent in 1997.

In other arts news, the Orange County Museum of Art has come under fire from other Southern California institutions for quietly selling 18 of its 20 California Impressionist works to a private collector in March, the Los Angeles Times reports.

(Free registration is required to view these articles.)

Calif. Hospital Criticized for Denying Same-Sex Couple Visitation

A nonprofit hospital in central California has come under fire for refusing to allow a lesbian woman to see her partner in the emergency room, reports the Associated Press.

Kristin Orbin said Fresno’s Community Regional Medical Center did not let her girlfriend of four years, Tereza Rowe, visit her when Ms. Orbin was rushed to the hospital after collapsing during a pro-gay-marriage march. “All kinds of other people had visitors,” Ms. Orbin said.

A spokeswoman for Community Medical Centers, the nonprofit system that runs the hospital, said Ms. Orbin received good care and the institution followed proper procedures. Lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Center for Lesbian Rights urged the hospital to change its policies.

From The Chronicle: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Offers Buyouts

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, in Princeton, N.J., is offering buyouts to 40 percent of its employees as the organization grapples with a big decline in its assets, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

From The Chronicle: Antiterror Laws Criticized by Civil-Rights Group

Counterterrorism laws introduced after the September 11 attacks have dampened giving by American Muslims and harmed nonprofit organizations’ ability to carry out their work, according to a new report, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Government and Politics Watch: New GAO Report Examines Donor Tax Claims

The U.S. Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, has released a report on the “misreporting” of cash contributions to charities by individuals, according to Government and Politics Watch, the Chronicle’s online column.

Give and Take: Picking an 'All-Star Federal Philanthropy Team'

President Obama’s creation of a $50-million Social Innovation Fund has one nonprofit blog writer wondering who should pick the grantees supported by the new agency, notes an item in Give and Take, the Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Plus:

$2 out of $3 in health grants benefit disadvantaged people, says new report.

New Yorkers and others seek Kiva loans for some unusual ventures.

Prospecting: How to Raise Money While Canceling a Gala

Sometimes cutting back on special events — as many charities have been forced to do by the recession — brings unexpected benefits, even if the organization ends up raising less money, notes an item in Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online column about seeking donations.

Plus: One fund-raising consultant’s plan to defeat the anxiety that arises when making the big ask.

Transcript: Grooming Nonprofit Leaders

Read a transcript of our online discussion today on how the nonprofit world should be preparing for major leadership changes, as the baby boomers who have founded and led so many of the nation’s charitable organizations reach retirement age.

June 15, 2009

Salvation Army Struggles to Fulfill Terms of a $1.8-Billion Bequest

The Salvation Army’s plans to honor a donor’s $1.8-billion bequest for the organization to build 30 elaborate community centers throughout the country is proving to be nearly impossible, reports The New York Times.

Joan B. Kroc’s donation, which the McDonald’s Corporation heiress left the Salvation Army when she died in 2003, has become yet another victim of the recession. The nonprofit group’s officials say raising additional money to sustain the centers is turning out to be a challenge.

The endowments that made up Ms. Kroc’s bequest fell 30 to 40 percent last year, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported in February.

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

Four Aid Groups Allowed Back in Darfur

The United Nations has announced that Sudan has allowed four international aid organizations that had been expelled from the country in March to return to Darfur, BBC News reports.

Care International, Save the Children, Mercy Corps, and Padco are the four groups and were among 13 such organizations that were thrown out of the country in March.

John Holmes, the United Nation’s humanitarian chief, said Sudan agreed to allow nonprofit groups to go back to Darfur as long as the groups register under slightly changed names and logos.

Dartmouth College Receives $50-Million Gift

Dartmouth College has received a $50-million donation from a family that wants to keep anonymous, the college reports. The gift is the largest in Dartmouth’s history.

The money will be used to build a new visual-arts center and will be designed by the architects Machado and Silvetti Associates of Boston, who have worked on the Getty Villa in Malibu, Calif., the Rockefeller Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, N.Y., and additions to Bowdoin College’s Walker Art Building.

The family has been involved with the college for many years, Dartmouth officials said.

Drug-Treatment Center Leaders’ Compensation Raises Questions

Controversy has arisen around the salaries and additional compensation of executives in charge of the Tarzana Treatment Center, a nonprofit drug-treatment organization in Los Angeles that receives 85 percent of its money from government agencies, reports the Los Angeles Times.

The newspaper says Albert Senella, the center’s chief operating officer, earned $428,057 in 2007, and its chief executive, Scott Taylor, earned $330,732, for 32 hours of work a week. Both men collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in deferred compensation in recent years.

Mr. Taylor is also a lawyer with a contract to provide the center with legal counsel, through which he earned $237,956 in 2007 in addition to his salary. Mr. Taylor, Mr. Senella, and two other board members also partly own six properties that the center leases for its use. In 2007 the four men collected rent of more than $2.27-million, according the newspaper.

Tarzana executives said their compensation is based on a report by an independent consultant who looks at the going rates in the market, but they declined to release the report.

“It’s pretty tough to compare us to anybody,” Mr. Taylor said, explaining that Tarzana offers a range of services beyond basic drug treatment. “I think we are so unique.”

Mr. Senella said the board of directors has “gone through great lengths to make sure that what we are doing is done openly and properly.”

But experts in nonprofit groups told the newspaper that the board itself is problematic, because several of its members get income from the organization.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Mass. Attorney General Is Asked to Review School's Board

A group of parents whose children attend the Bartlett School, in Waltham, Mass., which recently closed because of financial problems, has asked the state attorney general to investigate the school’s board of trustees in connection with its financial decisions, reports the Boston Globe.

The parents allege that the board took “drastic action” in closing the elementary school and “failed to uphold its fiduciary obligations.’’

Michael Knight, president of the trustees, declined, through the board’s lawyer, to comment on the parents’ letter, but trustee Paul Casey said, “It is my understanding that we’ve lived up to, and more, our fiduciary responsibility.”

The attorney general’s office confirmed it received the parents’ letter and said it was reviewing the issue.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

How a Philanthropist Got His Inspiration

John Gardner, the nonprofit and government leader who was behind the founding of organizations like Common Cause and Independent Sector and the development of the Great Society programs of the 1960s, also inspired one of the country’s biggest philanthropists, Jeff Skoll, reports the Financial Times.

In an interview with the newspaper, Mr. Skoll, the first president of eBay, says his views on philanthropy were shaped after he met and briefly worked with Mr. Gardner.

“He said something that really stuck with me. I said, ‘Look, I’m trying to figure out my own philanthropy, I have set up a foundation [the eBay Foundation] and I’m doing different things.’ I asked him, ‘What do you think is the most effective way for philanthropy to make a difference in the future?’ And he said: ‘Bet on good people doing good things.’

“He felt that there were people in society who would be doing things of their own accord, who saw something that they wanted to fix and who needed support. And that really dovetailed with the kind of people that I’d been funding and that had been so interesting.”

Mr. Skoll ranked No. 13 on The Chronicle’s most recent Philanthropy 50, a list of the country’s most generous donors, for pouring $144.1-million into his charitable foundation in 2008.

Prospecting: Fund Raisers Urged to Focus on Demographics

Charities need to worry more about changing demographics than the recession, says a veteran fund raiser cited in Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online column about seeking donations.

Plus:

A new iPhone application could “revolutionize” fund raising, experts say.

Why charities that work overseas should approach women.

How to seek big gifts online.

What one grant maker looks for in terms of a charity’s succession plans.

Government and Politics Watch: National Service Inspector General Defends His Work

Gerald Walpin, who was fired from his post as inspector general of the Corporation for National and Community Service, defended himself as controversy swirled around his departure, reports Government and Politics Watch, the Chronicle’s online column.

Online Discussion Tomorrow: Grooming Nonprofit Leaders

Join us Tuesday, June 16, at noon Eastern time for a live, online discussion on how the nonprofit world should be preparing for major leadership changes, as the baby boomers who have founded and led so many of the nation’s charitable organizations reach retirement age.

We will explore ways in which today’s nonprofit leaders can inspire the next generation and respond to the concerns of younger workers.

Our guests include:

Naomi Christine Leapheart, a financial-literacy instructor at Operation Hope, a Los Angeles organization that aids minorities.

Eric Stevens, a senior consultant at the Collins Group, a Seattle consulting company that serves nonprofit groups. Mr. Stevens also served as executive director of St. David’s Child Development and Family Services, in Minnetonka, Minn.

Robert Egger, founder of DC Central Kitchen, a food bank and culinary-training center for unemployed people, and director the V3 Campaign, a program aimed at giving the nonprofit world a more visible role in public policy.

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

New Issue of The Chronicle Is Now Online

The new issue of The Chronicle was posted online this morning. You can see everything in the new issue in our table of contents.

Among the highlights: The results of interviews with dozens of fund raisers about what organizations are doing to survive the downturn.

June 12, 2009

Former Governor Pledges $100-Million to Medical Center

Bill Clements, a former Texas governor, has pledged $100-million to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and has placed no restrictions on the gift, reports The Dallas Morning News.

Mr. Clements, who is 92, said in a written statement that he hopes the university can use his donation to attract other donors.

Bill Solomon, chairman of the Southwestern Medical Foundation, said the gift comes at just the right time since donations to the foundation have fallen off both because of the recession and because many donors gave during the institution’s $773-million fund-raising campaign, which ended in 2007.

Mr. Clements’s $100-million pledge — the second such pledge announced in the last four weeks — will be paid out over four years, said Mr. Solomon.

It follows a $100-million pledge to Habitat for Humanity International from J. Ronald Terwilliger, chairman of Trammell Crow Residential, a Dallas real-estate company. (See the Chronicle’s searchable database of information about big gifts.)

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

Tribune Company Creditors Suspicious of Foundations’ Stock Sales

Suspicious creditors are questioning why two foundations associated with the beleaguered Tribune Company sold billions of dollars’ worth of Tribune stock about one year before the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The McCormick Tribune Foundation (whose endowment was valued at nearly $1-billion last year) sold $1.5-billion worth of company stock in the company’s 2007 leveraged buyout for a $963-million profit. Around the same time, the Cantigny Foundation, also associated with the company, sold almost $184-million worth of Tribune stock.

The leveraged buyout left the Tribune Company with billions in debt. Documents filed in court on Wednesday do not reveal why creditors are examining the deals, but parts of the bankruptcy code suggest that such stock sales could be problematic when the sellers make a profit on a company that is so close to collapse.

A McCormick Foundation lawyer declined to answer questions from creditors and did not respond to the newspaper’s inquiries.

Obama Is Asked to Explain Firing of AmeriCorps Inspector General

The investigation of Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson appears to be a key reason that President Obama fired the inspector general, who oversees the Corporation for National and Community Service, reports the Associated Press.

Mr. Obama told Congress he had lost confidence in the inspector general, Gerald Walpin. Sen. Charles Grassley, Republican of Iowa, who praised Mr. Walpin for finding money that had been wasted, had asked the president to explain the firing.

Mayor Johnson, an Obama supporter, was under investigation over charges that he misused federal grants at a nonprofit education group he headed. The group received hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal money from the Corporation for National Community Service, which runs the AmeriCorps program.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Sacramento declined to prosecute Mr. Johnson after the investigator general submitted the results of his examination. The office said it was concerned that the inspector general had overstated his conclusions about possible wrongdoing and that his report on the Johnson case had not accurately reflected all the information gathered in the investigation.

Museums Reassess Security After Shooting of Washington Guard

In the wake of the shooting of a guard at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on Wednesday, most museums in Washington have beefed up the visibility of their security forces and have started discussing whether current security procedures are adequate, The Washington Post reports.

Museums in the nation’s capitol are well protected, especially since the 2001 terrorist attacks when security procedures were improved. But in the aftermath of the shooting of the guard, allegedly by white supremacist James Wenneker von Brunn, museum officials started reassessing their security.

One of the questions museums are confronting after Wednesday’s shooting concerns whether there are enough security guards in crowded areas.

Read an article from the Chronicle’s archive on ways charities of all kinds can protect their workers from violence.

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

In the Arts: Giving Away Free Tickets Helps a Theater's Bottom Line, Plus Some Hopeful News for Music Groups

A San Francisco theater study has found that giving tickets away is a successful way to attract new theatergoers who will eventually pay, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Meanwhile, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s newly negotiated contract restores some of the cuts in pay and work hours that the orchestra’s musicians accepted in 2001, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The new contract also increases the number of weeks of work to 43 from 42.

Other troubled performing-arts groups got some badly needed good news this week. The New York City Opera and it musicians have signed a new two-year contract agreement, reports MusicalAmerica.com.

And Oregon Ballet Theatre, which may disband by the end of June if it doesn’t raise $750,000, is hopeful that a gala performance tonight will save the dance company. Famous dancers from many of the country’s most illustrious ballet companies have agreed to perform at the gala for free, reports The Oregonian. About 33 percent of the tickets had been sold by last week.

Humanitarian-Aid Groups Blame West for Looming Money Crisis

International-aid groups working in Pakistan’s Swat Valley say that a lack of badly needed cash donations will hurtle the region into the biggest humanitarian financing crisis in 10 years, and they are blaming the shortfall on Western governments, reports the Guardian.

Nine international-aid organizations including ActionAid, Islamic Relief, and Oxfam said more than 1 million survivors of fighting in the region are in danger because the organizations face a cash shortfall of more than $42.8-million.

Officials at the organizations say Western governments are to blame for the looming crisis because they have not provided the groups with enough money. A United Nations appeal for $543-million has raised only $138-million, and of the 52 groups that are requesting money, 30 have received nothing.

Since May, when the number of displaced people in the region soared from 500,000 to 2.5 million, wealthy countries have contributed only $50-million to the United Nations appeal.

Two Planned Parenthood Affiliates Merge

Planned Parenthood affiliates, in Connecticut and Rhode Island, are merging to form Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, reports the Hartford Business Journal.

The combined organization will continue to run 18 health centers in Connecticut and one in Providence once the merger is final, which could happen as soon as July, said Judy Tabar, chief executive of Planned Parenthood of Connecticut.

As resources have dwindled, other Planned Parenthood branches nationwide have merged, causing the organization’s ranks to shrink to 95 from 120 in the past five years, said Ms. Tabar.

Read more about mergers and collaboration in a Chronicle of Philanthropy special report.

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

New Chief Executives Named at Two Big Organizations

The Seattle Foundation on Thursday named former Seattle Mayor Norman B. Rice as its new chief executive, reports the Associated Press.

Mr. Rice replaces Phyllis Campbell, who left in March to become chairman of JPMorgan Chase’s Pacific Northwest business.

And American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities, the fund-raising organization for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, announced yesterday that Richard C. Shadyac Jr., a lawyer, has been named its new chief executive, reports Bizjournals.com

Mr. Shadyac’s father, Richard C. Shadyac Sr., served in the CEO position at the fund-raising group from 1992 to 2005.

Mr. Shadyac Jr. succeeds John P. Moses, who stepped down citing health concerns in August 2008.

From The Chronicle: A 'Craigslist' for Volunteers

A “Craigslist” for volunteers will soon debut, designed by a coalition of nonprofit groups and others inspired by President Obama’s call to service. But critics say the site, now managed by Google, reinvents the wheel, reports The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Prospecting: Changing Fund-Raising Approach at a Big Charity

To survive the recession, the Birthright Israel Foundation is making several changes to its fund raising, reports Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online column about seeking donations.

Online Discussion Next Week: Grooming Future Nonprofit Leaders

Join us Tuesday, June 16, at noon Eastern time, for a live, online discussion on how the nonprofit world should be preparing for major leadership changes, as the baby boomers who have founded and led so many of the nation’s charitable organizations reach retirement age.

We will explore ways in which today’s nonprofit leaders can inspire the next generation and respond to the concerns of younger workers.

Our guests include:

Naomi Christine Leapheart, a financial-literacy instructor at Operation Hope, a Los Angeles organization that aids minorities.

Eric Stevens, a senior consultant at the Collins Group, a Seattle consulting company that serves nonprofit groups. Mr. Stevens also served as executive director of St. David’s Child Development and Family Services, in Minnetonka, Minn.

Robert Egger, founder of DC Central Kitchen, a food bank and culinary-training center for unemployed people, and director the V3 Campaign, a program aimed at giving the nonprofit world a more visible role in public policy.

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

June 11, 2009

In the Arts: House Panel OK's NEA, NEH Budget Boosts

A Congressional subcommittee has approved legislation giving the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities fiscal-year 2010 budgets of $170-million each, The New York Times reports.

The measure provides each agency with $15-million more than it got in fiscal 2009 and $9-million more than President Barack Obama proposed for 2010. It now goes to a Senate subcommittee.

In other arts news, a Wall Street Journal opinion column assesses the president’s selections of Jim Leach and Rocco Landesman, respectively, to head the humanities and arts endowments. David A. Smith, a Baylor University lecturer and author of a book on politics and the arts, calls the choices “quite good” and says they signal that Mr. Obama does not think the agencies need great change.

Also, the Los Angeles Times reports that the philanthropist Eli Broad is promising “an amazing turnaround” for the Museum of Contemporary Art, in Los Angeles.

And Cecilia Fajardo-Hill has been appointed chief curator of the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, Calif., reports the Los Angeles Times.

(Free registration is required to view the New York Times and Los Angeles Times articles.)

Questions Raised Over N.Y. Funds for Charities Tied to Councilman

The New York Times reports on questions over municipal money for nonprofit groups affiliated with the City Councilman Larry B. Seabrook.

The African-American Bronx Unity Day Parade, incorporated as a charity by Mr. Seabrook and two associates about a decade ago, has netted more than $100,000 by leasing space from landlords and subletting it at much higher rates to other nonprofit groups affiliated with the councilman, according to the Times. Those groups’ rents were later reimbursed by the city.

The parade organization never received IRS approval to operate as a nonprofit organization and has not filed tax returns. The three groups that leased space from it have received more than $2.3 million in municipal funds since Mr. Seabrook joined the city council in 2002. They have typically received satisfactory ratings from the city for providing training and other services.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Two Charged With Embezzling From Bronx Nonprofit Group

Two former officers of a New York nonprofit group were charged yesterday with stealing $200,000 from the organization, reports The New York Times.

SBCC Management Corporation’s president, Richard Izquierdo Arroyo, and the group’s director, Margarita Villegas, allegedly used the organization’s money to purchase clothes, shoes, meals, and travel and make political contributions to two unnamed elected officials. The charity receives New York City and federal money to manage low-income buildings in the Bronx.

A lawyer for Mr. Izquierdo Arroyo said her client was innocent; a lawyer for Ms. Villegas did not return the newspaper’s call seeking comment.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

9/11 Museum Seeks Memories, Mementos From Victims' Families

Audiovisual tributes and stories from the lives of those killed in the 9/11 attacks will form the core of the planned National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the former World Trade Center site, the Associated Press reports.

Families of the more than 3,000 victims are being asked to share materials for the exhibit and “leave us recordings and images or remembrances of those they lost via a new telephone initiative,” said Joseph C. Daniels, chief executive of the memorial.

More than $800-million has been pledged from public and private sources for the museum.

Obituary: Luke Cole, 46, Environmental Lawyer and Activist

Luke Cole, a lawyer and pioneer in environmental justice cases involving poor and minority areas, died Saturday in a car crash in Uganda, the Los Angeles Times reports. He was 46.

Mr. Cole was executive director of San Francisco’s Center on Race, Poverty, and Environment, which he founded in 1989 to respond to “environmental racism,” targeting pollution threats and heavy industry effects on low-income and minority neighborhoods.

He was nearing the end of a four-month sabbatical in Antarctica, Madagascar, South America, and Africa when his vehicle was hit head-on by a truck on a rural road in western Uganda.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Obituary: Robert Sprague, 92, Education and Arts Benefactor

Robert R. Sprague, a leader in the savings and loan industry and a supporter of education and culture in Southern California, died earlier this month of cancer at age 92, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Mr. Sprague built housing tracts throughout the Los Angeles area before founding the Pioneer Savings and Loan Association in 1943. A former president of the United States Savings and Loan League, he was a major benefactor of the University of California at Irvine, focusing on the school’s health-care programs.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

From The Chronicle: Ford Foundation Offers Buyouts to Employees

The Ford Foundation is offering buyouts to one-third of its 550 employees to reduce expenses and avoid cutting its grant making, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Government and Politics Watch: Obama Removes Inspector General for National Service

President Obama plans to remove Gerald Walpin, the inspector general of the Corporation for National and Community Service, reports Government and Politics Watch, the Chronicle’s online column.

Plus: A committee of nonprofit experts asks the IRS to improve tax rules for international grant making.

Give and Take: Parsing Giving USA's Numbers

Writing on the Tactical Philanthropy blog, Sean Stannard-Stockton examines Giving USA’s findings, saying there are two “factually accurate headlines” that could have run with the data’s release, notes an item in Give and Take, the Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Prospecting: Philanthropist's Fund-Raising Challenge

Robert W. Wilson, a retired investor and philanthropist, has created what appears to be an unprecedented fund-raising challenge to help a relatively small environmental charity, according to a new post in Prospecting, the Chronicle’s online fund-raising column.

Transcript: Foundations' Changing Role

Read a transcript of our online discussion today on how foundations can manage themselves through the current crisis while also keeping an eye on their long-term health.

Online Discussion Next Week: Grooming Philanthropy's Next Leaders

We will explore ways in which today’s nonprofit leaders can inspire the next generation and respond to the concerns of younger workers.

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

June 10, 2009

Bloomberg Names Chief for New York Volunteer Effort

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg yesterday named Diahann Billings-Burford as the city’s first chief service officer, The New York Sun reports.

Ms. Billings-Burford will lead NYC Service, an effort announced by the mayor in April that aims to promote volunteerism in the city and focus it on key strategic areas such as health, education, and the environment. A 2002 graduate of the Columbia University School of Law, she previously served as deputy executive for external affairs of City Year New York, which recruits volunteers to work in public schools.

Gunman Injures Security Guard at Holocaust Museum

A man armed with a rifle opened fire at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, in Washington, on Wednesday, injuring a security guard before being shot himself, WTOP radio and the Associated Press report. Both were transported to a local hospital.

In the Arts: Trust Will Be Steward of Dance Legend Cunningham's Legacy

Merce Cunningham will shutter his eponymous dance company and transfer its assets to a nonprofit trust under a “living legacy” plan unveiled yesterday by the groundbreaking choreographer’s foundation, the Associated Press reports.

Both the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and the Cunningham Dance Foundation will close at an unspecified date following a two-year international tour. The Merce Cunningham Trust will take over licensing of the 90-year-old master’s choreography and all other assets of his troupe, including costumes, props, and audio and video recordings.

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation have already contributed $1-million each toward an $8-million capital campaign to support the legacy plan.

In other arts news, the Los Angeles Times details eight planned major exhibitions local art lovers will not see in the coming season as a result of budget cuts at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Getty Center, and the Museum of Contemporary Art.

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

Down Economy Will Have Long-Term Impact on Charities

A rebound in the global economy will not undo the lasting impact of last year’s massive drop in charities’ wealth, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Speakers at a conference Tuesday at the Boston College Center on Wealth and Philanthropy outlined changes in the giving scene wrought by the economic downturn.

“This is a long-term problem and we need to address it with a long-term outlook,” Hans Dekker, president of the Community Foundation of New Jersey, told attendees. Even if the economy recovers, Mr. Dekker said, “our endowment dropped almost 30 percent and we’re not likely to get that $60-million back.”

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

Networks of Philanthropic Advisers Blossom

Philanthropic advisers networks, or PANs, are taking root across the country as a tool for financial advisers to connect with peers and givers in their area, Investment News reports.

The first such network was founded in Seattle in 2007. A similar organization has since begun in Denver, a New York-area network is slated to debut this month, and advisers in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago are working to start groups.

Opinion: Growth Presents Challenges for Mercy Corps

An Oregonian column explores the challenges facing Portland’s Mercy Corps as it grows into a major player in global humanitarian efforts.

Mercy Corps, which began as a “small and scrappy relief effort,” has expanded into a $244-million aid organization with some 120,000 donors, columnist Susan Nielsen writes. The charity, which “once boasted spending only 5 percent a year” on fund raising and overhead, spent 13 percent on such costs last year and recently moved into “sleek new headquarters” in central Portland, she said.

Such changes are “both exciting and unnerving” for donors as they consider which charities to support in tough economic times, Ms. Nielsen writes.

Yesterday Mercy Corps announced a $10-million gift from Qatar Charity to provide economic assistance to families in the Gaza Strip.

From The Chronicle: Giving USA Reports Steepest Decline in Giving Yet

Donations to nearly every type of charity faltered in 2008, as contributions declined by 5.7 percent last year after adjustment for inflation, according to the new edition of Giving USA, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports. It was the steepest decline in the history of the survey, which has been conducted since 1956.

Give and Take: Canada's Giving and Volunteering Update

As fund raisers and others digest the recent Giving USA report, which provides data on American philanthropy, a similar report was released this week about America’s neighbor to the north, notes an item in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Prospecting: Fidelity Donors' Views on Giving

A survey by Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund of people whose donations it manages found that the majority (55 percent) said they planned to give out the same amount to charities through their funds this year, according to a new post in Prospecting, the Chronicle’s online fund-raising column.

Plus: American entrepreneurs can now get help from a popular international charity.

Transcript: Dissecting Giving USA's 2008 Results

Read a transcript of our online discussion today with the author of Giving USA’s latest report and two fund-raising consultants who have played key roles in gathering the data.

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 June 18 issue.

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

June 09, 2009

Facing Spending Cut, Shriners May Close Six Hospitals

The Shriners hospital system is considering a plan to close six of its 22 hospitals around the country that care for children regardless of parents’ ability to pay, reports CNN.

The nonprofit hospital system’s endowment lost more than $3-billion in the past year, which prompted consideration of the closure plan. The organization needs to cut spending by 30 percent, CNN reports. Hospitals that may close are in South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Washington, Massachusetts, and Texas.

Calif. Company Chooses Volunteerism Over Layoffs

A California steel company has found a creative way to avoid laying off idle employees while helping local charities, according to the Redlands Daily Facts.

For the past month and a half, workers at California Steel Industries, in Fontana, a company that has seen its business slow, have been asked to spend some of their working days volunteering at local nonprofit groups. The employees are paid for their time, and the company is planning to write off the expense as a charitable deduction.

The volunteers have been a boon for at least one local charity. “They’ve done everything around here. We’re almost caught up with all our projects. It’s really great,” said Carmen Hall, executive director of Pacific Lifeline, which provides transitional housing for women and children.

Detroit Charity Works to Reforest a City Short of Green

As cities and states cut services due to tightened budgets, nonprofit groups such as the conservation charity Greening of Detroit are seeking to fill the gap, according to the Associated Press.

The organization is working on urban reforestation — planting trees and creating neighborhood gardens — while the city’s resource-strapped forestry department focuses on removing dead or dying trees.

“The need is expanding, so we’re trying to keep pace,” said Rebecca Salminen Witt, the organization’s president.

Such efforts are vital as municipalities struggle to pay for basic services such as public safety, says Pepper Provenzano, executive director of TreeLink, in Salt Lake City. “Cities across the country do not recognize and calculate the urban forest as a capital asset,” said Mr. Provenzano “Consequently, the canopy of our urbanized areas is too often relegated to the bottom … of municipal budgets.”

Read The Chronicle‘s profile of Greening of Detroit and its leader.

Salaries Rise at Charities in New York

A study of nonprofit pay in three New York counties has found that the number of nonprofit wage earners being paid at least $100,000 more than doubled from 2003 to 2007, reports the Times Herald-Record, in Middletown, N.Y.

Compare pay levels the paper reports with The Chronicle’s most recent study on executive pay at charities and foundations.

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

Universities Receive Big Gifts

Charles Koch, chair of the Case Western Reserve University board, and his wife, Katie, have pledged $5-million to the university for a capital project, reports The Cleveland Plain Dealer. The pledge may support a new student-life building, but other options are also being considered.

And, in West Virginia, a Charleston couple gave $1-million toward the construction of an art museum at West Virginia University, reports The Charleston Gazette. John and Ruth McGee’s financial gift was combined with a gift of their Zimbabwean sculpture collection, valued at $1-million, the newspaper reports. The $10-million museum is expected to be finished in 2012.

New Chair Named at Lincoln Center

A top executive of the real-estate company Tishman Speyer and leader of Lincoln Center’s redevelopment project has been named as the arts institution’s new chairwoman, according to The New York Times.

Katherine G. Farley, will serve for a year alongside Frank A. Bennack Jr., Lincoln Center’s current chairman, who will step down next June. Ms. Farley, who has served on the organization’s board since 2003, oversees Lincoln Center’s $1.2-billion redevelopment project, an assignment she will continue in her new role.

(Free registration is required to view this article.)

Coming Tomorrow: Giving USA's 2008 Results

At midnight tonight, Giving USA — the benchmark of American philanthropy — will release the results of its study of how much Americans contributed in 2008.

We’ll post an article tomorrow, which you’ll find on http://philanthropy.com, summarizing the key results and hold a live, online discussion at noon Eastern time with the author of the report and two fund-raising consultants who have played a key role in gathering the data. They will discuss what the findings mean for your organizations — and how to plan your fund raising for the rest of 2009 and beyond.

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

Give and Take: Donating to the Gates Foundation

Who donated money to the Gates Foundation in past few years? The answer to that question and why more donors’ names aren’t disclosed by the fund are among the items debated in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Learning About Mergers: Join the Chronicle's Webinar Tomorrow

Join the The Chronicle tomorrow for a chance to learn from experts about what mergers mean and to ask them tough questions about what those alliances entail, in a special one-hour Webinar hosted by Nicole Wallace, a veteran Chronicle reporter.

If you are a Chronicle subscriber, you get an extra benefit: 40-percent off your registration fee. Sign up today.

From The Chronicle: How to Manage Summer Interns

Summer interns can be a godsend, especially in these belt-tightening times, but it takes a lot of work to make the best use of their energy and enthusiasm. In a Chronicle of Philanthropy article, charity managers offer tips to help make the process go well.

June 08, 2009

Lobbyists Give to Lawmakers' Pet Charities

Lobbyists and advocacy groups, seeking to gain the favor of Congressional lawmakers often give to charities associated with legislators or their relatives, reports USA Today.

Since the passage of ethics rules in 2007, lobbyists have been required to report payments to events or groups associated with legislators or top federal officials.

Lobbyists gave $35.8-million in such payments — or roughly the amount the government spends to maintain Yellowstone National Park — in 2008, the newspaper found, with the lion’s share, $28-million, going to nonprofit organizations.

For example, last year telecommunications companies gave more than $72,000 to nonprofit groups in honor of Sen. Jay Rockeller, Democrat of West Virginia, including a $40,000 gift from AT&T to Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute, an Alzheimer’s research group the senator founded and named for his late mother. Senator Rockefeller successfully advocated in Congress for legal immunity for phone companies that complied with the government’s electronic eavesdropping program.

Such donations do not benefit “run-of-the-mill charities,” says Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a watchdog group. “These gifts are another way to gain influence with lawmakers.”

San Francisco Accuses Catholic Diocese of Tax Dodge

San Francisco’s tax assessor has accused the city’s Roman Catholic archdiocese of dodging taxes on the transfer of more than 200 of its properties to a new nonprofit organization, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Phil Ting, the city’s assessor-recorder, says the Archdiocese of San Francisco has refused to pay taxes for shifting the ownership 232 of its properties to a new charitable group. The church, which could be assessed $15-million in levies, has appealed the tax bill.

The dispute, which will be aired at an appeals hearing next week, could have implications for hundreds of other nonprofit groups. Charities are subject to taxes on the sale or transfer of property. The church contends that the assets were moved as part of an internal reorganization and did not, as the city says, involve the transfer of property to a separate entity.

Mr. Ting says he plans to argue at the hearing that the church moved the properties to a new organization to prevent their loss or sale to help pay millions in settlements stemming from dozens of lawsuits brought by sexual-abuse victims.

Maurice Healy, a spokesman for the archdiocese, rejects that notion, saying the argument is “beneath” Mr. Ting and “shames the city of San Francisco.”

AmeriCorps Program Under Fire

The Teaching Fellows project, an AmeriCorps program at the City University of New York, has come under fire in a pair of new audits by the Corporation for National and Community Service’s inspector general, according to Youth Today.

The reports found that the program, which recruits teachers for the public-school system, doesn’t fit the AmeriCorps criterion for filling an “unmet” need and recommended that the federal government should cease the program and recoup up to $75-million spent on it over the past six years.

But the university disputes the findings of Gerald Walpin, the corporation’s inspector general, as does the Corporation for National and Community Services, which says it will not ask for its money back.

Among Mr. Walpin’s criticisms of the program are that it duplicates other efforts to recruit teachers and that it was difficult to determine whether money intended to pay for program participants’ further education was going to the fellows or to the City University of New York.

Fund Manager Pleads Guilty to $80-Million Fraud

A Pennsylvania investment manager whose clients included a family foundation pleaded guilty last week to running an $80-million Ponzi scheme, according to the Associated Press.

Joseph S. Forte, of Broomall, Pa., says he promised investors returns of 18 to 38 percent and that they would never lose money.

Among the more than 70 clients he admitting defrauding was the Thornton D. and Elizabeth S. Hooper Foundation, which was created in 1980 and supported churches, schools, and other charitable organizations. Mr. Forte himself donated more than $1-million to charity over the years, notably to Malvern Preparatory School, in Philadelphia, serving on the school’s board.

Mr. Forte, who pleaded guilty to three fraud counts and one count of money laundering, is required to pay more than $20-million in restitution, according to court documents.

He will be sentenced in October and faces 11 to 14 years in prison. He did not comment to the Associated Press about his case.

Mass. Man Pleads Guilty to Fund-Raising Scheme

A telemarketer in Quincy, Mass., has pleaded guilty to duping donors into supporting charities and then using the money raised on himself, according to the Boston Business Journal.

George Borden, who claimed to be raising money for groups that benefit disabled veterans and retired police officers, pleaded guilty in Middlesex Superior Court to larceny, fraud, and other charges.

Mr. Borden was sentenced to 30 months in jail, followed by five years of probation.

He was also forbidden by the judge to raise money for charities and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service.

Prosecutors say a firm with which Mr. Borden was associated, CMR Marketing, misappropriated more than $100,000 raised from August 2006 to January 2008. The cases of four other co-defendants in the case are still pending.

Jane Goodall's Conservation Charity Hit by Recession

Despite increasing interest in global conservation issues, the nonprofit group founded by Jane Goodall, the noted primatologist, has been hit hard by the worldwide financial crisis, according to Reuters.

The Jane Goodall Institute, which works to conserve primate habitats, has seen donations drop by roughly 10 percent since the fall, says Ms. Goodall.

“The private donors and some of the foundations pulled back,” she says.

The group, which runs on an annual budget of under $11-million, has dipped into its endowment to maintain programs. It has also trimmed some projects and laid off staff members.

Prospecting: How to Woo the Most Valuable Donors

Loyal donors who give to the same cause for several years and those who recruit others to donate are the most-valuable supporters any charity can have. A new post in Prospecting — the Chronicle’s online fund-raising column — discusses a study showing how to identify and encourage such donors.

Give and Take: Debating Mergers

The debate over whether charities should do more to consolidate continues on Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Online Discussion Wednesday: Learn What Giving USA's New Findings Mean for Your Charity

Join us on the day Giving USA’s latest findings are released — Wednesday, June 10, at noon Eastern time — for a live, online discussion on the results and what they mean for your organization.

Among the questions the report’s authors and other top fund raisers will explore: What happened to different types of charitable causes in 2008 — and what does that mean for 2009 and beyond? What are some organizations doing to respond to the current economic challenges?

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: Kellogg Foundations Makes Cutbacks

Due to a sharp drop in assets, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation announced this week it is closing two overseas offices and has already shuttered a domestic one, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Coming on Wednesday: Learning About Mergers

The bad economy has forced many organizations to think about merging their operations with like-minded groups. But mergers are fraught with complications for nonprofit executives, board members, and others.

On Wednesday, The Chronicle offers you a chance to learn from experts about what mergers mean and to ask them tough questions about what those alliances entail, in a special one-hour Webinar hosted by Nicole Wallace, a veteran Chronicle reporter.

Our Webinars give you easy access to experts without the expense of paying for consultants or the hassle of leaving your office during your busy day. What’s more, you can invite as many of your staff colleagues or board members as you like — and all can watch the Webinar with you for one low price.

If you are a Chronicle subscriber, you get an extra benefit: 40-percent off your registration fee. Sign up today.

June 05, 2009

Colleges Ask Donors to Give Twice

As endowments shrink and students’ financial needs grow, more college fund raisers are asking their most generous donors to restructure pledges, give cash to supplement endowed funds, and consider second donations to the annual fund, reports The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Gaining from such an approach, one college raised more than $30,000 in four days after fund raisers there made a repeat appeal to supporters who had already donated. Another institution added $250,000 for immediate operating needs by restructuring pledges.

Yet some fund raisers worry that such frequent appeals could strain long-term relationships with alumni, the newspaper says.

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

Former N.Y. Museum Employee Accused of Fraud

A former payroll manager for the Brooklyn Museum, in N.Y., has been charged with stealing more than $620,000 from the institution, says the Associated Press.

Dwight Newton was in charge of the museum’s payroll in 2002. According to court documents, Mr. Newton programmed the payroll computer system in 2005 to make direct deposits into his bank account.

Mr. Newton was scheduled to appear in court to face fraud charges yesterday. If he is convicted of the crime, Mr. Newton could face up to 20 years in prison, the New York Daily News reports.

Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Mr. Newton at his new job, managing the accounts at Action Against Hunger, a New York nonprofit organization.

International Aid Groups Struggle as Needs Soar

Charities and other aid organizations face a shortage of money to help displaced and needy people in the Horn of Africa, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, as political complexities in those areas and the world’s financial troubles cause government grants and private donations to plummet, Reuters reports.

Agencies in Sri Lanka struggling to meet the basic needs of almost 300,000 people displaced in the country’s civil war say they have only enough money to keep their relief operations going for about three more months.

Money donated to the United Nation’s $155-million appeal for Sri Lanka stood at $61-million, as of yesterday, and an additional $27-million has been pledged.

Detroit Symphony Receives $1-Million Grant

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra has received $1-million from the Ford Foundation for fund raising and marketing programs, according to the Detroit Free Press.

One reason the foundation had confidence in the institution was the success of the orchestra’s new music director and conductor, Leonard Slatkin, said the orchestra’s president, Anne Parsons.

“They see us going in the right direction, and they think that the Slatkin appointment was pivotal to the ongoing success of the orchestra,” she said.

Museum Officials in Russia Face Trial for Displaying Controversial Artworks

A former Russian museum director and a curator have been charged with inciting hatred and offending human dignity, and if found guilty, the two men could face up to five years in prison, reports National Public Radio.

Two years ago Yuri Samodurov, who was then the director of the Sakharov Museum, in Moscow, and Andrei Yerofeev, a curator there, organized a show called “Forbidden Art,” which included pieces by contemporary artists whose works had been considered too scandalous for display by other museums or galleries.

Some of the artworks showed Christians worshiping Mickey Mouse instead of Jesus, sexually explicit scenes painted on a crucifix, and an image of a general raping a soldier.

During the trial, human-rights activists have been supportive of the defendants, and international human rights groups say the trial is attempting to quash Russian freedom of expression.

From The Chronicle: Obama Pledges to Spur Muslim Giving in U.S.

During a speech yesterday in Cairo, President Obama said Muslim nations and America must work to preserve freedom of religion, citing religious philanthropy as an example, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

Prospecting: Gates Foundation as Fund Raiser?

While the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is set up to give money to charity, it also seems to be pretty good at raising money. Last year it raised $10.4-million — without even asking for it, according to Prospecting, the Chronicle’s fund-raising column.

Give and Take: Controversial Charity Donation

Not many charities wanted to take a charitable donation from the wife of former Ill. governor Rod R. Blagojevich, reports Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Plus:

The increasing scrutiny of nonprofit salaries causes a flap for New York’s public radio station.

Questions donors should ask when reviewing bequest plans

Why journalists might be unhappy working for foundation-owned newspapers

Online Discussion Next Week: The Recession's Toll on Charitable Giving

Join us on the day Giving USA’s latest findings are released — Wednesday, June 10, at noon Eastern time — for a live, online discussion on the results and what they mean for your organization.

Published annually since 1956 by the Giving USA Foundation and written and researched at Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy, Giving USA offers one of the most authoritative benchmarks of American 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.

Coming Next Week: Learn About Mergers

On June 10, The Chronicle offers you a chance to learn from experts about what mergers mean and to ask them tough questions about what those alliances entail, in a special one-hour Webinar hosted by Nicole Wallace, a veteran Chronicle reporter.

If you are a Chronicle subscriber, you get an extra benefit: 40-percent off your registration fee. Sign up today.

June 04, 2009

Philanthropist Accuses Presidential Foundation of Misusing Donations

A New York man has filed a lawsuit against the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, which he says misused $200,000 of his donations, the Ventura County Star reports.

The donor, Richard Sills, said he gave the foundation money for the specific purpose of establishing and supporting educational programming at the foundation’s Presidential Learning Center.

He claims the foundation instead used his donations for “general purposes.” He is now seeking a court-ordered accounting of his donations, compensation for unspecified damages, and $100,000 in legal fees.

Officials at the foundation declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Southern California United Way Dips Into Emergency Fund

Facing increasingly desperate times, the Orange County United Way, in California, has decided to take $200,000 from its emergency fund and use it to raise money for charities providing basic needs like housing, food assistance, and medical care, reports the Orange County Register.

The organization has used its emergency fund only for natural disasters, but as local charities struggle to keep up with skyrocketing need, the agency’s board of directors decided to use the money to start a $1-million fund-raising campaign for area charities.

The local United Way raised $12.2-million last fiscal year, but this year, with less than a month left in the fiscal year, donations are down 28 percent, say United Way officials.

Boston Charity Leader Fasts to Raise Awareness of Plight of City’s Poor

The 83-year-old founder of many of Boston’s charities that serve poor people started fasting this week to bring attention to the uptick in people who need help meeting basic needs, The Boston Globe reports.

Kip Tiernan started Rosie’s Place — the first women’s shelter in the country — in 1974, and the Greater Boston Food Bank, according to the paper. Ms. Tiernan co-founded the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, Health Care for the Homeless, the Boston Women’s Fund (which gives grants to groups that help women and families), and the Poor People’s United Fund, which she and two colleagues run out of a Boston church.

Ms. Tiernan says she’s upset that the city has not done more to help its poor people, so she is fasting to draw attention to the issue.

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Troubled L.A. Museum Lays Off the Head of Its Art Collection

While preparing a huge fall exhibition of its collection in hopes of recovering from recent financial and institutional storms, the Museum of Contemporary Art, in Los Angeles, has let go the head of the very department responsible for the collection, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Robert Hollister, director of collections and registration, has been laid off, and museum officials say they will not fill his position. Instead, the museum will have three full-time registrars, a museum spokeswoman said.

The museum recently announced its second round of layoffs this year and has been struggling to balance its budget after many years of deficits and a shrinking endowment.

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Foundations Rethink Their Grant Making in Response to the Economy

Foundations facing increasing demand for aid at a time when their assets have sharply declined are beginning to rethink the size and the amount of grants they distribute to nonprofit groups and are giving more rather than less, reports The New York Times.

Some foundations are increasing the amount they give out, even though larger grants could mean a higher excise tax for the grant-making organizations, and others are supporting nonprofit groups’ operating costs, when previously they had only supported program expenses.

Officials at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, in New York, for example, have decided to give more grant money than usual to arts organizations to help them survive a devastating downturn in donations and income from ticket sales.

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Opinion: Lean Times Seen for Philadelphia Philanthropy

A Philadelphia Inquirer columnist comments on the dwindling pool of major benefactors in the Philadelphia region, saying the area needs new donors to step up.

Columnist Karen Heller notes the departure of the Annenberg Foundation to Los Angeles, the growing national and international focus of the Pew Charitable Trusts, and the withdrawal from the philanthropic scene of H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest after donating $800-million in the past decade.

Many families of fortune “seem more interested in horses and houses, alma maters and vanity projects, rather than giving back to the community that fueled [their] wealth,” Ms. Heller writes. “We need better rich people.”

From The Chronicle: Gates CEO Outlines Plans

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation needs to communicate better with its thousands of grant recipients and is making efforts to be more responsive to them, said Jeff Raikes, the organization’s chief executive, in an interview with The Chronicle about the foundation’s recently released annual report.

Government and Politics Watch: New Head of NEH Proposed

President Obama plans to nominate Jim Leach, a former Republican congressman with nonprofit ties, as chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, reports Government and Politics Watch, The Chronicle’s online column.

Plus:

Nonprofit hospitals object to ‘charity care’ idea floated in Senate.

Aid groups press Congress on funds for Pakistan.

Give and Take: Getting the Most From Social-Media Networks

Writing on the Social Citizens blog, Kristen Ives explores whether “social-media tools have been hijacked by the professional world,” reports a new item in Give and Take, the Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Plus: Marketing and media experts offer more than a dozen resources that can help nonprofit groups take advantage of online social-media networks.

Social Good: Philanthropy in Virtual Worlds

In the latest installment of Social Good, our monthly podcast on the ways charities use online tools, Connie Yowell, director of education at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and Barry Joseph, director of the online leadership program for GlobalKids, discuss how nonprofit groups are working in virtual spaces like Second Life.

Allison Fine, the host of Social Good, also offers ideas on how virtual worlds can help organizations raise money and promote their causes.

Coming Next Week: Learn About Mergers

On June 10, The Chronicle offers you a chance to learn from experts about what mergers mean and to ask tough them questions about what those alliances entail, in a special one-hour Webinar hosted by Nicole Wallace, a veteran Chronicle reporter.

If you are a Chronicle subscriber, you get an extra benefit: 40-percent off your registration fee. Sign up today for access to this event.

And, if you missed our Webinar yesterday about the ways nonprofit groups can collaborate to save money on back-office needs, fund raising, and programs, you can still gain access to the event through our archive.

June 03, 2009

FBI Probes Pennsylvania Nonprofit Group With Murtha Ties

CBS News reports that the FBI is investigating the tax-exempt status of a nonprofit research institute with ties to U.S. Rep. John Murtha, whose links to defense contractors have come under increasing scrutiny.

The Commonwealth Research Institute, which is located in Murtha’s hometown of Johnstown and has touted its ties to the Democratic congressman in documents, has received about $45-million in Pentagon contracts. The IRS raised questions about the organization’s request for nonprofit status in 2000 but ultimately granted the tax exemption.

A Commonwealth spokesman told CBS News that the group has “a track record of providing significant value” to the military and that “all” of its work is “classified.”

In the Arts: NYC Opera Posts Biggest Loss in a Decade

The New York City Opera lost $11.3-million in the 2007-8 fiscal year, leaving the 66-year-old company in its deepest financial hole since 1999, reports Bloomberg.

Tax returns show that the opera’s revenue from tickets, donations, and investments declined 23 percent — to $32.9-million — for the year ending June 30, 2008, while expenses rose 11 percent, to $44.2-million. The company went to court twice last fall for permission to borrow from its endowment.

In other arts news, Variety reports the Tony Randall Theatrical Fund is suspending its usual policy of subsidizing a single classical production per year and will instead divvy up its annual $100,000 grant among 10 off-Broadway troupes for general operational support.

Financial Disaster Looms for National D-Day Memorial

As the 65th anniversary of the Normandy landing approaches, the foundation that operates the National D-Day Memorial in rural Virginia is on the edge of financial ruin, the Associated Press reports.

Opened eight years ago in Bedford, Va., the outdoor museum struggles to attract visitors and is losing donors in the down economy. The small town about 200 miles south of Washington was chosen as the site because it suffered one of the nation’s highest per-capita losses in the key World War II battle.

With a $400,000 endowment and about $300,000 in operating funds against an annual $2.2-million budget, the foundation faces the prospect of layoffs and reduced hours. Its president, William McIntosh, is pinning hopes on the National Park Service or a college or university taking over the memorial.

Downturn Drives Up Traffic at Free Clinics

Power company Dominion Resources yesterday pledged $1-million to help free clinics nationwide deal with a sharp increase in patient visits, reports The Washington Post.

About three dozen of the 100 clinics receiving the aid are located in Dominion’s home state of Virginia. The money will help the largely volunteer-run health facilities cope with an anticipated 30 percent increase in the number of uninsured Americans.

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McCune Foundation Mulls Return to Grant Making

A year after essentially freezing donations, Pittsburgh’s financially battered McCune Foundation is considering a return to giving grants, reports the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

The McCune board will decide at a June 15 meeting whether to resume taking grant requests. The foundation, one of the Pittsburgh area’s largest, has seen its assets decline from $650-million to $350-million in the past year and a half, largely due to the stock market plunge.

The foundation, which gave away $27.3-million last year, expects to pay out about $20-million this year, its executive director, Henry Beukema, said. “We’re just waiting for the market to help us and everybody else,” he said.

British Commission Says Adoption Charity Must Serve Gay Parents

A Catholic charity in England has lost its appeal to regulators to allow its adoption service to refuse prospective parents who are gay, Third Sector Online reports.

Catholic Care had sought permission to discriminate under a 2007 British gay-rights law, which permits exemptions for charities under some circumstances. The U.K. Charity Commission denied the exemption, and the ruling was upheld by a three-member tribunal.

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Government and Politics Watch: Minn. Adopts Property-Tax Law

Minnesota nonprofit leaders have won the final leg of their campaign to clarify state law governing charitable property-tax exemptions in the wake of what they considered a damaging Minnesota Supreme Court decision, reports Government and Politics Watch, The Chronicle’s online column.

Give and Take: Listening to the Under-30 Contingent

Robert Egger, founder of the nonprofit DC Central Kitchen, sat down earlier this week for an hour-and-a-half conversation with 15 of his employees who haven’t yet turned 30 to get a better read on their motivations and frustrations, reports a new item in Give and Take, the Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

June 02, 2009

AIG Seeks Control of Charitable Endowment

The embattled insurance firm AIG is seeking control of a $490-million charity endowment in order to pay bonuses to its managers, according to the New York Post.

The endowment of the Starr International Foundation is operated by Hank Greenberg, AIG’s former chairman. It supports New York charities that include the September 11 Memorial and Museum.

The endowment was seeded with AIG shares from the Starr International Company, an offshore entity created in the 1970s by Mr. Greenberg and several AIG co-founders from which to compensate employees. The shares were transferred to the endowment in 2005, when Mr. Greenberg was pushed out of AIG’s board.

AIG argues that it has a right to all the stock going back to 2005, when it was worth about $20-billion; at the close of Friday’s stock market, the endowment’s holdings were valued at $490-million. The company is gearing up for a trial in federal court June 15; its lawyers say it is also seeking $27-million in grants given from the endowment over the last three years.

Neither Mr. Greenberg nor AIG representatives commented to the Post on the case.

U.S. Nonprofit Group Calls on Iran to Release Employee

An American nonprofit organization on Monday urged Iranian authorities to release a staff member who has been jailed since January on espionage charges, reports Reuters.

Silva Harotonian was working for the International Research and Exchanges Board on a U.S. and Iran exchange program for maternal- and child-health professionals when she was imprisoned on charges of taking part in a plot to overthrow Islamic rule in Iran.

Robert Pearson, the organization’s president and a former U.S. ambassador, called on Tehran to review Ms. Harotonian’s case with “the same sense of fairness” shown to Roxana Saberi, the Iranian-American journalist released last month after an Iranian court convicted her of spying.

Ad Campaign Aims to Put Mandela Day on Volunteer Calendar

A public-relations campaign is under way to promote a national day of volunteering in honor of Nelson Mandela, reports The New York Times.

Mandela Day, created by the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the advocacy group 46664, aims to encourage people to perform 67 minutes of community service on July 18, Mr. Mandela’s birthday, in recognition of the 67 years the former president of South Africa has so far spent working for racial and social justice.

Amid other collaborations between charities and the White House to brand existing holidays and occasions as opportunities for volunteerism, Mandela Day’s organizers are using TV ads, Web video, and other public-relations tools to introduce and promote the new holiday.

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Diller, Von Furstenberg Pledge $10-Million to New York Rail-Trail Project

Barry Diller, the media mogul, and his wife, Diane Von Furstenberg, the fashion designer, have made a $10-million challenge grant for the High Line, a project to turn a former New York elevated railway line into a landscaped walkway, The New York Times reports. The gift was immediately matched by another couple, Philip and Lisa Maria Falcone.

The contributions rank among the biggest given by individuals to the city’s parks, said Adrian Benepe, parks commissioner. The pledge by Mr. Diller and Ms. Von Furstenberg will be allotted over five years to Friends of the High Line, the nonprofit group managing the project, which will be required to match each installment.

The gifts bring fund-raising to $34-million in a $50-million capital campaign.

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Opinion: Social Innovation Fund Offers Big Potential Pay-Off

The New York Times editorializes in support of the Social Innovation Fund, a White House effort to expand effective nonprofit programs to solve social problems.

The plan, to which President Obama’s 2010 budget allots $50-million, “could reap benefits many times over” by using government dollars as a catalyst to raise sustainable private financing for high-impact programs, The Times writes.

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Start-Up Firm Pioneers Ticket-Scalping for a Cause

A new organization in Boston is aiming to divert some of the big dollars generated by the lucrative ticket-scalping industry to charitable causes, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Charity Partners, a for-profit firm run by a co-founder of the discount travel Web site Priceline.com, has raised more than $3-million for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Habitat for Humanity International, and other nonprofit organizations during a low-key two-year pilot period. The company is now raising its profile, with admissions for acts like Coldplay, Santana, and Diana Krall on their summer tours.

The firm resells marked-up tickets at its site, Tickets-for-Charity.com, donates the extra revenue to causes chosen by the performer or the ticket buyer, and makes its money from a service fee on the transaction.

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

In the Arts: Shubert Raises Giving, Atlanta Fund Starts Support Effort

New York’s Shubert Foundation bolstered its giving to arts and cultural institutions by 4 percent in its just-ended fiscal year, reports Bloomberg.

The foundation, which owns 17 Broadway houses via the for-profit Shubert Organization, donated a record $17.6-million in the 12 months ending May 31, up from $16.9-million the previous fiscal year. Grants ranged from $5,000 to the experimental stage outfit Clubbed Thumb to $275,000 each to New York’s Lincoln Center Theater, Chicago’s Goodman Theater, and Southern California’s South Coast Repertory.

In other arts news, the Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Fund has started a two-year effort to help small and midsize arts groups in the region through the downturn, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reports. The fund has raised $1.8-million toward its $2.5-million goal, with most of the money so far coming from the Robert Woodruff Foundation.

Also, National Public Radio reports on scaled-back preparations for this year’s Opera Ball, the annual Washington National Opera fund raiser and a highlight of the national capital’s social calendar.

Big Spike in British EBay Giving

The rate of giving by British sellers on the online auction Web site eBay has tripled in the past year, reports Third Sector Online.

Monthly donations by sellers soared from about $65,000 a month to nearly $196,000 in the 12 months ending last April, according to MissionFish, a partner of eBay’s that seeks to increase fund raising through the site.

Over all, British giving on eBay in the first four months of 2009 totaled nearly $3.7-million, up from $2.2-million in the same period last year. Those figures include donations from buyers as well as sellers, and proceeds from sales by charities.

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Government and Politics Watch: White House Revises Lobbying Rules

The White House has made several changes to its rules governing contacts between registered lobbyists and federal officials about economic-stimulus projects, which had been protested by some nonprofit groups, reports Government and Politics Watch, The Chronicle’s online column.

Plus: An organization affiliated with Liberty University has urged the Internal Revenue Service to investigate Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a civil-liberties watchdog group.

Prospecting: The Future of Direct Mail

Predictions that direct-mail returns will drop by up to 40 percent over the next five years have prompted a spirited debate on Frogloop, a blog about nonprofit online marketing, notes Prospecting, the Chronicle’s online fund-raising column.

Plus: New North Texas giving site raises $4-million

From The Chronicle: Fund-Raising Jobs Overseas

Ever thought about testing your fund-raising skills by taking a job overseas? Many American and Canadian fund raisers have done so — but with very mixed results, according to a new article.

Transcript: Using Online Networks to Promote Social Causes

Read a transcript of our online discussion today on how groups can ensure their work stands out through online networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn and how those tools can complement traditional marketing efforts.

Surviving the Recession: Sign Up for Tomorrow's Educational Event

The turbulent economy is creating new incentives for organizations to work together to combine “back office” functions like accounting, human resources, and technology.

But figuring out how to collaborate with other organizations — including how to unite fund-raising and mission-related programs — is a challenge.

To help Chronicle readers learn how to approach such efforts, we invite you to a one-hour Webinar on Wednesday, June 3.

If you are a Chronicle subscriber, you get an extra benefit: 40 percent off your registration fee.

Learn more about how the Chronicle’s educational events can help your organization thrive in these tough times by visiting our Web site.

June 01, 2009

Hospitals Lobby Congress to Protest Charity-Care Requirement

Hospitals are mobilizing their supporters to lobby against a plan to tie hospitals’ charity status to whether they provide a minimum annual level of charitable care, reports The New York Times.

The American Hospital Association asked hospital leaders nationwide to tell lawmakers to oppose the proposal, saying it would be a standard that would “hamstring” hospitals’ work, and would “penalize” hospitals that cater to children or are teaching or research organizations, the Times reports. Under current law, hospitals can qualify for tax-exempt status by showing they provide a range of benefits to the community, not just free care.

The bipartisan proposal was offered by Sens. Max Baucus, of Montana, and Charles E. Grassley, of Iowa, a Democrat and Republican, respectively.

Sen. Grassley warned: “If, as a result of health-care reform, everyone has health insurance, presumably hospitals should see a steep decline or the elimination of uncompensated care.”

See the Chronicle’s article on the idea the senators have floated.

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Former Employees Plead Guilty to Theft From Child-Abuse Charity

A former chief financial officer and two other employees of the National Children’s Alliance, in Washington, are facing charges connected to the alleged theft of more than $50,000 in a scheme they ran to increase their paychecks, reports the Associated Press.

One of the accused, Michael Young, a former staff accountant who may have taken almost $10,000, told the judge that he already has another job for another nonprofit organization. He pleaded guilty last week in federal court.

Sharon Martin, the organization’s former finance director, also pleaded guilty last month to charges she stole more than $15,000. Marvin Perry, the former chief financial office, who officials say stole more than $27,000, is expected to plead guilty on June 11, the news agency reports.

The charity discovered the thefts after a new director hired auditors in 2008.

California Sues Telemarketers and Charities

California’s attorney general is suing 17 telemarketers and 12 other entities in the state, alleging they stole millions of dollars in donations intended to help members of the police force, firefighters, and veterans, reports the Los Angeles Times.

The lawsuits say that the organizations passed on either negligible donations or none at all to charities or to charitable programs.

The Times reports that the lawsuits are part of a larger national effort to combat such practices.

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Government Tells Judge It Won't Release Charity Wiretap Documents

President Obama’s administration has told a federal judge in San Francisco that it does not have to release top-secret documents connected to a wiretapping case in which a branch of an Islamic charity in Oregon is suing the government, reports the Associated Press.

The judge told the government in May he would punish it if it did not devise a plan for how the suit could go forward without the release of the documents, the news agency reports. However, the prosecution already had possession of the documents for a short time, when the Treasury Department inadvertently released them. The government has since taken them back.

The al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, whose Oregon chapter is now closed, was designated as an organization that supports terrorism by the federal government in 2004. The documents are a phone log documenting wiretapping of members of the charity, the news agency reports. It says the government did not obtain permission from a judge to place the wiretaps.

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Foundation Commits $22-Million to Fight Nursing Shortage

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is devoting $22-million over the next five years to increase the nursing-faculty ranks throughout New Jersey, with the majority of money going to pay for nurses to earn master’s or doctoral degrees in nursing education, reports The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Colleges around the country say the lack of nursing educators is a key reason why nearly 50,000 qualified nursing-program applicants were denied entry to programs last year, the newspaper reports.

See the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s special report on the nursing shortage.

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Charity Converts Office Into Living Space for the Homeless

A suburban Washington advocacy group is testing a new approach to creating low-cost housing, converting the upper floors of an office building into mixed-use living space for the homeless, The Washington Post reports.

The Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless, in Bethesda, Md., purchased the building last month with a low-cost government loan. The ground floor will be rented to retailers, with the four higher floors serving as single-room residences rented out for 30 percent of the occupants’ income.

County officials said the project provides an opportunity to try out the increasingly popular “housing first” concept, which encourages governments and nonprofit groups to address homelessness through permanent housing rather than using most of their funds for temporary shelters.

The federal stimulus law includes money to help nonprofit homelessness groups approach their jobs in new ways. Read the Chronicle’s article about the federal aid, part of a special report on charities and the stimulus law.

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

From The Chronicle: Endowments at the Nation's Biggest Charities and Foundations

Endowments of the nation’s biggest charities and foundations have lost more than $46-billion since 2007, according to a new Chronicle study. The worst of the investment losses may be over if the first-quarter results achieved by nonprofit groups are any sign — but organizations are still making big changes to dump risky investments.

The study appears in the new issue of The Chronicle, which was posted online this morning. You can see everything in the new issue in our table of contents.

Give and Take: Advice to Donors

Much of the advice donors are given about how to check out a charity focus on the wrong issues, argues a new item in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.

Plus: Are charity leaders ignoring a spike in nonprofit fraud?

Government and Politics Watch: Governance Matters and the Form 990

The Internal Revenue Service has released new tips on filling out governance questions on the new informational tax return, reports Government and Politics Watch, The Chronicle’s online column.