Enid Ablowitz: Anonymity and Giving - Boulder Daily Camera

Enid Ablowitz: Anonymity and Giving - Boulder Daily Camera: What does anonymous mean? Does the anonymous donor know or determine the recipient? Is the recipient a known individual or organization? If the donor is anonymous to the recipient, is the recipient anonymous to the donor? If both are anonymous, who serves as the intermediary? Is the gift then no longer anonymous?

Philosophers have waxed eloquent for eons about charitable intent. The ladder of giving, described by the 12th century rabbi, Maimonides, is informative as a testament to early attempts to characterize some kinds of giving as better than others.

Dartmouth Announces Anonymous $100 Million Donation | Valley News

Dartmouth Announces Anonymous $100 Million Donation | Valley News: Dartmouth Announces Anonymous $100 Million Donation

Why transparent philanthropy is a more valuable contribution than silent giving - Spears

Why transparent philanthropy is a more valuable contribution than silent giving - Spears: When it comes to philanthropy, there's no point hiding your generosity under a bushel. That can actually do more harm

In Bonobos, the Origins of Anonymous Charity? - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly

In Bonobos, the Origins of Anonymous Charity? - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly: In soliciting and accepting donations, charities are naturally reliant on the human impulse to do good and to share, and now, scientists have some new insights as to the roots of that impulse. Duke University evolutionary biologists Jingzhi Tan and Brian Hare have recently published an article in the journal PLOS ONE titled, “Bonobos Share with Strangers.” The authors consider humans’ “propensity to share with non-relatives and even strangers” to be “one of the most puzzling human behaviors from an evolutionary perspective.” In a series of experiments with bonobos, an ape closely related to the chimpanzee, at an animal sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of Congo, however, the researchers believe they may have caught a glimpse of where that behavior comes from.

The researchers’ findings “show that even when there was no immediate social reward, bonobos are still motivated to help a stranger acquire out-of-reach food.” In the experiments, bonobos were given a helping of food and the chance to release a stranger, and the bonobos opted to help the stranger achieve freedom, and then shared their food with that stranger. Next, the bonobo that had been freed would go free another bonobo who was in the same predicament that he or she had just escaped.

The importance of listening to donor research

The importance of listening to donor research: et’s start from the beginning. Common knowledge tells us that regular giving is better than cash donations. We all know it; it’s our shibboleth.

Except of course we don’t, really. We can measure only what we record; and as long as there are anonymous donations we will never know the value of any donor. Unless 100 per cent of income – tins, events, gifts in kind, retail donations and purchases, sponsorship and legacies – can be tracked back to an individual and the complete behaviour of every don

Rockland nonprofit nets $1M anonymous donation | The Morning Sentinel, Waterville, ME

Rockland nonprofit nets $1M anonymous donation | The Morning Sentinel, Waterville, ME: ROCKLAND — A nonprofit organization that offers field research and leadership training opportunities in a remote island setting off Maine's coast has received an anonymous donation of $1 milliion.

The Hurricane Island Foundation announced the gift on Monday.

Anonymous giving in no short supply this holiday season - chicagotribune.com

Anonymous giving in no short supply this holiday season - chicagotribune.com: What compels people to donate anonymously?

Daniel Borochoff, president of CharityWatch — formerly the American Institute of Philanthropy — cited the Jewish scholar Maimonides, who said donating anonymously is a higher form of giving than doing so publicly.

Wealthy guardian angels step up to help charities | The Tennessean | tennessean.com

Wealthy guardian angels step up to help charities | The Tennessean | tennessean.com: On Monday, just as the supply of donated toys for struggling families was growing scarce at the 61st Avenue United Methodist Church’s “Last Minute Toy Store,” the pastor got an unexpected call.

A check for $15,000, courtesy of an anonymous donor, was on its way. It was an off-the-charts contribution for the 15-year-old volunteer charity effort that, until now, had relied on school and church groups to organize toy drives and on individual donations of $100 or less.

The Nonprofit Quarterly | @npquarterly | The Joys of Nonprofit Re-Gifting

The Nonprofit Quarterly | @npquarterly | The Joys of Nonprofit Re-Gifting: As part of an annual urban studies class at the University of Pennsylvania this semester, students not only got the chance to assume the role of philanthropists but they also got $100,000 to back up their choices. According to NewsWorks, this was the first year that an anonymous donor made a gift to the university in support of the program, which, along with many other smaller gifts, included $20,000 for a neighborhood-based nonprofit with an operating budget of $160,000.

Merritt Island High's alumni donation a $3 million surprise | FLORIDA TODAY | floridatoday.com

Merritt Island High's alumni donation a $3 million surprise | FLORIDA TODAY | floridatoday.com: "The 485 students who graduated that year donated at least $3.1 million -- yes that's right, $3.1 million -- to the Brevard Schools Foundation. It was made possible largely thanks to a single donor, who the foundation said insisted on anonymity."

Secret Admirers Give University $100 Million - WSJ.com

Secret Admirers Give University $100 Million - WSJ.com: "In a twist on a higher-education mystery, anonymous donors once again have bestowed riches on Kalamazoo, Mich.

The city's Western Michigan University said Tuesday that it received $100 million from anonymous donors to establish a medical school. WMU ranked it the seventh-largest cash gift ever to a public university."

Anonymous Donor Gives St. Francis $2.5 Million | NBC Connecticut

Anonymous Donor Gives St. Francis $2.5 Million | NBC Connecticut: "A grateful St. Francis Hospital patient has given the hospital $2.5 million and wants his or her identity to remain a secret.

The patient placed no restrictions on the gift."

Judge: UW-Madison's $15M donors can stay anonymous

Judge: UW-Madison's $15M donors can stay anonymous: "Based on that publicly available information, Internet sleuths may be able to guess the identity of the donors who promised $15 million to build a music performance facility at the university. But a judge has decided that their names can stay secret for now, a decision praised by university fundraisers.

'It's very important,' said Andrew 'Sandy' Wilcox, president of the UW Foundation, which raises money for the school. He said being forced to release the names of the donors 'would not only damage this proposal but a lot of others in the future. We would be seen as not being able to keep our word.'"

Donors Give Pluralistic School in Boston $12.25 Mil – Forward.com

Donors Give Pluralistic School in Boston $12.25 Mil – Forward.com: "Defying the recession and concerns about Jewish philanthropy after Bernard Madoff, a group of anonymous donors recently gave $12.25 million to Gann Academy, a 13-year-old pluralistic Jewish high school in suburban Waltham, Mass., enabling the school to retire its building debt."

Anonymous donor pledges $1M to charity | argusleader.com | Argus Leader

Anonymous donor pledges $1M to charity | argusleader.com | Argus Leader: "An anonymous donor has pledged $1 million in matching funds to the Ronald McDonald House Charities of South Dakota."

The End Of Conspicuous Philanthropy? - Forbes.com

The End Of Conspicuous Philanthropy? - Forbes.com: "Anyone who scowled in 2008 when the New York Public Library announced that it would rename its historic Beaux Arts building on Fifth Avenue the Stephen A. Schwarzman building and chisel his name into it five times to mark his $100 million pledge, might have smiled at the news last week: The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported that anonymous giving is soaring. In this re-calibrated world, it seems, some big givers no longer w"

The fun fund: Gifts with glee | Charlottesville Daily Progress

The fun fund: Gifts with glee | Charlottesville Daily Progress: "He/she/they could be simply enjoying the good feeling of gift-giving — and maybe slyly enjoying the spectacle of speculation and sleuthing as well.
This is not the first time colleges or universities have received anonymous donations carrying, as do these recent ones, the explicit instructions not to seek the donor.
In some cases in this year’s gifts, the colleges have had to sign a solemn written promise that they would not try to find out who was donating the money.
Some of the donations have arrived as cashier’s checks, some have come from attorney’s offices or other intermediaries. The checks have ranged from $1 million to perhaps $10 million."

Anonymous donor makes $70M in gifts to women-run colleges and universities

Anonymous donor makes $70M in gifts to women-run colleges and universities: "It's a big-bucks mystery: Who's flooding some of the nation's universities with millions in anonymous gifts?

At least 13 schools have received gifts totaling nearly $70 million from an unknown deep-pockets philanthropist."

Who Is Giving Anonymous Gifts - Executive Articles - Portfolio.com

Who Is Giving Anonymous Gifts - Executive Articles - Portfolio.com: "Everyone—make that everyone in certain circles—knows that Michael Bloomberg donates anonymously to social-service and cultural organizations in New York City. Sumner Redstone is known to be an anonymous giver too. We tapped numerous philanthropy executives, including Melissa Berman, head of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, and Harvey Dale, founding president of the Atlantic Philanthropies, for some clues to who else is behind some big anonymous donations of the past two years. Then we went out on a limb and made a few guesses of our own."

GoErie.com: Nonprofits welcome 'good' stress

GoErie.com: Nonprofits welcome 'good' stress: "Those are the kinds of decisions that nonprofit boards in the Erie area have to face, as they make plans for the money they have received from the Erie Community Foundation, courtesy of the anonymous donor who gave the foundation $100 million to distribute.

We cannot presume to give advice to the 46 agencies, educational institutions, religious groups and other recipients about how to spend this new money. The donor expressed hope that the beneficiaries create endowments for their agencies through the Community Foundation. Endowments can help provide a sense of security that resources will be available as a safety net or to help an agency grow physically or expand its services"