AFP Blog: Recent News of Note

This blog contains assorted news and commentary on the fundraising profession and philanthropy gathered by the AFP Fundraising Resource Center. Other Sites of Interest Section Disclaimer: AFP provides the following listing of hyperlinks to other Internet pages as a privilege to the user. AFP does not necessarily endorse, support or attest to the accuracy of information posted on those Internet pages. Some links may require registration to view and/or may only be available for a limited time.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Columbia Missourian - Lay’s legacy up in the air

Columbia Missourian - Lay’s legacy up in the air:
snip snip>>>

"In 1999, Lay donated $1.1 million to MU to establish the Kenneth Lay Chair in Economics, which remains vacant.

Twice Lay asked MU to return his gift, which is now worth about $1.8 million — first, in October to contribute to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts and again in February to help fund his legal expenses. MU denied both requests, stating in an October letter to Lay that “though the University recognizes the importance of hurricane relief, it also believes that the chair established in (Lay’s) name will promote the University’s mission of providing outstanding education, research and service.”

In a statement released Wednesday morning, UM System President Elson Floyd expressed his condolences to the Lay family and said, “Mr. Lay was a strong supporter of the University of Missouri and the University remains appreciative of that effort.”"

Spirit of Giving Is Alive and Welcome Here in the County

Spirit of Giving Is Alive and Welcome Here in the County: "Spirit of Giving Is Alive and Welcome Here in the County

By Sally Rudney
Thursday, July 6, 2006; Page GZ04

The Montgomery County Community Foundation started a decade ago as a vehicle for charitable giving, and through various funds set up by families and businesses it has donated more than $15 million.

At a time when philanthropy is front-page news, with Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, the world's two richest men, making big plans for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the county foundation also has far-reaching goals."

Buffett doesn't intend to let philanthropy go on forever | Chicago Tribune

Buffett doesn't intend to let philanthropy go on forever | Chicago Tribune: "Buffett doesn't intend to let philanthropy go on forever

By Charles Storch
Tribune staff reporter
Published July 6, 2006

'We're probably a little oversized for Decatur,' said Howard Buffett.

Buffett, 51, wasn't referring to his 840-acre farm in this central Illinois city but to his foundation there -- which is growing far faster than his corn and soybeans. Its cash crop: Berkshire Hathaway Inc. stock.

His $130 million Howard G. Buffett Foundation is receiving more than $1 billion in stock from his late mother, Susan. It also will receive over the next two decades stock currently valued at about $1.1 billion from his father, Warren, Berkshire's chairman and the world's second-richest man.
"

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

newsarticle - Philanthropy Journal-Your online source for news about nonprofits, social issues, and policy change

newsarticle - Philanthropy Journal-Your online source for news about nonprofits, social issues, and policy change: "Plans to create think-tank at Foundation Center scrapped.

07.05.2006 -

By Ret Boney and Todd Cohen

Plans have been dropped to create a new institute at The Foundation Center in New York City that would have merged and expanded philanthropic and nonprofit research previously conducted there and at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Lester Salamon, who directs Hopkins' Center for Civil Society Studies and was to have headed the new Alexis Institute for Civil Society and Philanthropy at The Foundation Center, has decided to stay at the university.

'We reached the conclusion that our respective expectations and operating procedures were too disparate to come together,' he says.

Sara L. Engelhardt, president of The Foundation Center, says the merger failed because of differences over the process for 'setting of strategic priorities.'"

Posting Chronology

Just a quick note to say that we although we continue to post to the blogs for the First two weeks of July;Due to the holdiday and vacations our posting will be less frequent and less chronological.
Thanks.

SocietyGuardian.co.uk | Voluntary sector | Government turns charities into multimillion-pound businesses

SocietyGuardian.co.uk | Voluntary sector | Government turns charities into multimillion-pound businesses: "Government turns charities into multimillion-pound businesses

· Voluntary sector 'becomes arm of big business'
· Contracting out leaves training groups booming

David Hencke, Westminster correspondent
Monday July 3, 2006
The Guardian

The government is creating a new generation of multimillionaires and turning charities into multimillion-pound businesses by contracting out services provided by the state, a report commissioned by the Whitehall trade union the Public and Commercial Services union, reveals today.

The report, by Steve Davies, senior research fellow at Cardiff University school of social sciences, shows a swath of companies set up to provide training for disabled people, the unemployed on New Deal programmes, and young offenders are now multimillion-pound enterprises."

BCNG Portals Page

BCNG Portals Page: "Local elder lends handiwork to little foreign noggins

By Bill Mickelson
Jul 05 2006

POULSBO — At age 94, Ida Puzon spends a large amount of time in her rocking chair as her legs tend to disagree with the idea of walking. Her hands, however, are completely inline with her ambition of philanthropy.

Since April, Puzon’s knitting needles have been busy at work, stitching all different sizes of youth stocking caps for the kids at Dickey’s Orphanage in Lhasa, Tibet, in the People’s Republic of China.

“I didn’t know who would be getting them, I make them for whoever,” Puzon said. “To me someone can use them, so I will make them.”

Over the years, Puzon has offered the products of her pastime for premature babies at Harrison Hospital in addition to the heads of her 23 great-grandchildren. But the idea of sending a box full of warmth to the Dickey Orphanage came from a group of her friends who visited Tibet in March.

“It was very poor,” Nita Johnson, one of the idea purveyors, said of the orphanage’s condition. “The rooms were probably no more than 10 feet by 10 feet, if that big. There were really no toys, no windows and no heat.”"

The Seattle Times: Editorials & Opinion: Redefining philanthropy for Seattle schools

The Seattle Times: Editorials & Opinion: Redefining philanthropy for Seattle schools: "Editorial
Redefining philanthropy for Seattle schools

THE approaching retirement of Robin Pasquarella, founding president and CEO of the nonprofit Alliance for Education, should force a rethinking of the role of philanthropy in the Seattle Public Schools.

The role of nongovernmental money in the public system is more vital than ever. Our city school system regularly tilts between solvency and financial ruin. A key understanding of the role the Alliance plays in the complexity of the district's $490 million budget is key to taking philanthropy in a new direction."

Philanthropy Heads In New Direction, Gates Foundation Marks The Dawn Of A New Era Of Philanthropy - CBS News

Philanthropy Heads In New Direction, Gates Foundation Marks The Dawn Of A New Era Of Philanthropy - CBS News: "Philanthropy Heads In New Direction
Gates Foundation Marks The Dawn Of A New Era Of Philanthropy

(Christian Science Monitor) This article was written by Mark Trumbull.

In 2001, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched an ambitious program to remake high school education, and help more kids go to college, in their home state of Washington.

After pouring $134 million into the effort, the foundation has achieved results but also learned hard lessons. Twelve test-bed high schools have redesigned themselves into 'small learning communities.' About 2,500 low-income students are in college on foundatio"

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Church-goers lead way when it comes to charity - National - theage.com.au

Church-goers lead way when it comes to charity - National - theage.com.au: "Church-goers lead way when it comes to charity

Barney Zwartz
July 3, 2006

CHURCH-GOERS give about twice as much to charity as non-believers, with people aged 25 to 44 the most generous, according to research on donations in Australia.

But they are more likely to support specific programs such as aid projects than simply to put money in a collection, which is why many individual churches are struggling financially, according to researcher Philip Hughes of the Christian Research Association. The association has just published its findings about giving money, based on a government report into philanthropy published in October, the National Church Life Survey, and other research. Donations by individual Australians nearly doubled between 1997 and 2004."

The Tide Online-Sourcing funds for cultural activities

If you find this story interesting you may want to take a look at the AFP International News Blog.

The Tide Online: "Sourcing funds for cultural activities
• Sunday, Jul 2, 2006

Not even the best informed and most enlightened cultural policy can be implemented unless there are sufficient funds to do so. But the lack thereof is a challenge everywhere as national cultural budgets stagnate and even decline. The situation is especially serious in the former socialist countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and in developing countries coping with the rigours of structural and economic adjustment. Scarce resources for culture have led everywhere to greater rigour in evaluating the benefits of cultural expenditures and greater emphasis on setting stricter priorities. The situation has bolstered arguments for the tighter management of cultural institutions,"

Philanthropy Made Easy

Philanthropy Made Easy: "MY POINT OF VIEW
Philanthropy Made Easy
You don't have to have billions, like Warren Buffett or Bill Gates, to improve the world through philanthropy. Millions of Americans do it on a smaller scale each year, and a lot of them are creating their own mini foundations with no legal hassle.
By Knight Kiplinger
July 2006

=Like most Americans, I get great joy from charitable giving -- sharing my material blessings with organizations that make this a better world. But a few years ago, as my list of charities grew longer

St. Paul Pioneer Press | 07/02/2006 | Even Buffett gift shows investment savvy

St. Paul Pioneer Press | 07/02/2006 | Even Buffett gift shows investment savvy: "Even Buffett gift shows investment savvy

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett's pledge to give most of his money to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has experts predicting it could energize the nonprofit sector and possibly spawn a new wave of philanthropy.

'It might draw in new philanthropists, new people who are wealthy who haven't given their money yet,' said Diana Aviv, president and CEO of Independent Sector, a nonprofit coalition of about 550 charities, foundations and corporate giving programs. The Gates Foundation is a member of the group, which is based in Washington, D.C."

STLtoday - News - NewsWatch-Buffett donation puts spotlight on philanthropy

STLtoday - News - NewsWatch: "Buffett donation puts spotlight on philanthropy
By Bill Smith
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
07/02/2006

Fred Saigh was no Warren Buffett. When the former owner of the baseball Cardinals died seven years ago at the age of 94, the natty little St. Louisan with the heart of gold left $70 million to charity, mere pocket change compared to the estimated $31 billion that Buffett said last week he will donate to Bill and Melinda Gates' already flush Seattle foundation.

While Buffett hopes his fortune may one day change the world - eradicating hunger or discovering a vaccine for AIDS - Saigh's dreams were simpler, says JoAnn Hejna, his longtime assistant and friend who now manages the Clayton-based foundation that bears his name.

'He wanted to help the children of St. Louis,' she said.

'And that is exactly what he's doing.' "

Saturday, July 01, 2006

Why Buffett needed Gates for giveaways - Yahoo! News

Why Buffett needed Gates for giveaways - Yahoo! News: "They're a fascinating study in contrasts.
Bill Gates and
Warren Buffett received well-deserved ink and air time this week. Their plan to use their multibillions together to try to rid the world of many fatal diseases is heartwarming.
ADVERTISEMENT

One of them got rich fairly quickly and easily. The other more slowly, the hard way. Comparisons:

• Gates, now 50, broke the bank as a relative kid. He founded Microsoft at age 19 and rode the high-tech boom to riches.

• Buffett, 75, formed Berkshire-Hathaway nearly 50 years ago. His fortune came steadily, but not so fast. His old-fashioned investments range from Coca-Cola and Dairy Queen to big insurance companies."

The Joplin Globe - Online Edition-Kimmel Center Marks 1st Operating Surplus

The Joplin Globe - Online Edition: "Kimmel Center Marks 1st Operating Surplus

By JOANN LOVIGLIO
Associated Press Writer

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts announced Friday that it has ended the fiscal year with an operating surplus, a first for the facility since its opening five years ago.

The center, home of The Philadelphia Orchestra, said that it ended the 2006 fiscal year Friday with an operating surplus of $1.2 million. It had ended the 2005 fiscal year with an operating deficit of $2.4 million."

RedOrbit - Technology - EDITORIAL: A Model of Giving: Billionaire Warren Buffett's Inspiring Example of Philanthropy

RedOrbit - Technology - EDITORIAL: A Model of Giving: Billionaire Warren Buffett's Inspiring Example of Philanthropy: "EDITORIAL: A Model of Giving: Billionaire Warren Buffett's Inspiring Example of Philanthropy

By The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio

Jun. 30--Warren Buffett's $31 billion donation this week to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the gift to dwarf all gifts. Announcing that he was handing over the bulk of his estimated $44 billion wealth to the philantropic foundation, Buffett applied a guiding principle of his business life. Fifty years ago, he said, seven people gave him $105,000 to manage because they believed he could do a better job of amassing wealth for them than they could for themselves. 'And 50 years after that, I sat down and thought about who could do a better job dispersing wealth than myself.' The Gateses and their foundation fit the bill for the billionaire founder of Berkshire Hathaway, the insurance and investment company. The choice couldn't be more inspiring."

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Red Cross criticizes itself over Katrina - Yahoo! News

Red Cross criticizes itself over Katrina - Yahoo! News: "NEW YORK - Overwhelmed volunteers, inflexible attitudes and inadequate anti-fraud measures are among the many shortcomings acknowledged by the
American Red Cross in a candid and comprehensive new report assessing its response to Hurricane Katrina.

The in-house report stresses that the organization is intent on correcting the problems. Several steps have been taken for the start of the 2006 hurricane season; other reviews, addressing financial policies and how the Red Cross governs itself, are in progress."

A new era for supercharged philanthropy | csmonitor.com

A new era for supercharged philanthropy | csmonitor.com: "A new era for supercharged philanthropy
By Mark Trumbull | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
In 2001, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched an ambitious program to remake high school education, and help more kids go to college, in their home state of Washington.

After pouring $134 million into the effort, the foundation has achieved results but also learned hard lessons. Twelve test-bed high schools have redesigned themselves into 'small learning communities.' About 2,500 low-income students are in college on foundation-provided scholarships."

Pitt Chronicle: June 26, 2006: Trustees Double Pitt Capital Campaign Goal to $2 Billion

Pitt Chronicle: June 26, 2006: Trustees Double Pitt Capital Campaign Goal to $2 Billion: "Trustees Double Pitt Capital Campaign Goal to $2 Billion
Board authorizes University to extend campaign as
it approaches its $1 billion goal with a year to spare
June 26, 2006 Issue
By John Harvith
D
With the University’s Discover a World of Possibilities fundraising campaign now at more than $960 million—fast approaching its $1 billion goal about a year before its June 30, 2007, scheduled conclusion—Pitt’s Board of Trustees passed a resolution at its annual meeting June 23 authorizing the University to extend the campaign, doubling its goal to $2 billion."

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We are now tagging a variety of our material. If you are particularly interested in a specific topic you can click on the tag and it will bring you to the relevant stories. The tag categories are fairly general and certainly subjective.For example

In land of philanthropy, $2bn is just start | Business | The Australian

In land of philanthropy, $2bn is just start | Business | The Australian: " *

The Australian — Business
In land of philanthropy, $2bn is just start
Warren Buffet's pledge to charity is a mark of US economic character, Gerard Baker writes
June 28, 2006
HIS many aficionados in the investing world have long admired Warren Buffett's lapidary writing style. The newsletters he sends to investors are in their own right literary gems, full of deadpan humour, folksy observations on current events and studied understatement.

It was this last device that was most noticeable in the letter he sent this week to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In it, he pledges an initial 'material' contribution of shares in his investment company worth about $US1.5 billion ($2 billion) and then adds that, over the next few y"

$9.3 Million to Strengthen 800 U.S. Nonprofits :: PNNOnline ::

$9.3 Million to Strengthen 800 U.S. Nonprofits :: PNNOnline ::: "$9.3 Million to Strengthen 800 U.S. Nonprofits
Posted by: laurakujawski on Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Topic General Fundraising

Fieldstone Alliance of St. Paul, Minnesota, and the New York-based Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF) announced a new partnership, funded by a $9.3 million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, to improve the performance, effectiveness, and financial sustainability of more than 800 U.S.-based grantee organizations supported by the Foundation.

Participating W.K. Kellogg Foundation grantees will have access to a broad array of resources, including expert consultation, training, benchmarking, management tools, access to capital, publications, subscriptions, and professional associations and conferences. The more than 800 current Kellogg grantees will be expected to improve their organizational capacity and financial structure. This will help the nonprofits better achieve their missions, increasing their community-level impact and improving their prospects for long-term survival.

"

Salt Lake Tribune - Huntsman Sr. says he won't follow Buffett's lead

Salt Lake Tribune - Huntsman Sr. says he won't follow Buffett's lead: "Huntsman Sr. says he won't follow Buffett's lead
Tribune Staff and Wire Services

Jon Huntsman Sr. will funnel his net worth into charity within the next three years, as Warren Buffett is doing now, but his money won't go to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation or, for that matter, any foundation but his own.
On Monday, Huntsman applauded Buffett's generous gift of $31 billion to the Gates Foundation but said he was surprised Buffett did not choose to have the bulk of his wealth controlled by family foundations. "

Online NewsHour: Analysis | Buffett Pledges Charity Billions | June 26, 2006 | PBS

We provide a sampling of coverage of Buffets' donations here on this blog.

Online NewsHour: Analysis | Buffett Pledges Charity Billions | June 26, 2006 | PBS: "Warren Buffett Pledges around $30 Billion to Gates Foundation

Warren Buffett, the world's second richest person, has donated nearly 85 percent of his fortune to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to help fight disease and poverty and improve education.
Warren Buffett

JIM LEHRER: Warren Buffett gives away most of his fortune. NewsHour correspondent Kwame Holman begins with a report on today's announcement.

KWAME HOLMAN: ... announcements, Warren Buffett himself broke the news in yesterday's edition of Fortune magazine. Buffett, who is 75, said he'd give away 85 percent of his total wealth, most of which will be donated gradually to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation."

Acronym: Field Report: Marketing & Membership Conference

Acronym: Field Report: Marketing & Membership Conference: "One of the speakers, Lori Gusdorf, CAE of the Association of Fundraising Professionals told us about AFP's new collegiate chapters that they're leveraging to increase student interest in a fundraising career, and ultimately, their membership. After the brief presentations, a few minutes were allotted for questions about it, and then it was on to the next topic. During this 90 minute session, we covered a diversity of topics that would have taken several hours to cover in a conventional conference format."

Let the charity competition commence - Analysis - Times Online

Let the charity competition commence - Analysis - Times Online: "dmirable as its motivation might be at the individual level, was really a sign of a corrupt society. The economy had to operate unjustly for there to be so many destitute people who had to depend on charity in the first place.

Were he alive today, Blake would stand with those who blame the state of much of Africa on the way the global economy works and shout for reform rather than aid. He might dismiss Tony Blair’s Commission for Africa as official hand-wringing. But he would surely still see goodness in the vast sums that Microsoft’s Bill Gates, who is reckoned the world’s richest private citizen, is giving away there."

AP Wire | 06/26/2006 | Ellison settles suit with $100M gift but leaves Harvard hanging

AP Wire | 06/26/2006 | Ellison settles suit with $100M gift but leaves Harvard hanging: "Ellison settles suit with $100M gift but leaves Harvard hanging
PAUL ELIAS
Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO - Oracle Corp. co-founder Larry Ellison has settled an insider-trading lawsuit by making the first payment of a $100 million donation, said lawyers representing aggrieved shareholders who sued the billionaire two years ago.

The new funding for the Ellison Medical Foundation, which he launched, comes amid a suddenly energized philanthropic movement led by the world's two richest men, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. On Sunday, Buffett announced he would leave most of his roughly $42 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which came on the heels of Gates' own bombshell that he would give up day-to-day oversight of Microsoft Corp. in 2008 to concentrate on philanthropy full time.

Ellison's donation is the result of an unusual legal settlement of a civil complaint that revolves around a $900 million gain that he generated by selling so"

Philanthropy makes strides through gifts of all sizes | IndyStar.com

Philanthropy makes strides through gifts of all sizes | IndyStar.com: "Philanthropy makes strides through gifts of all sizes

Warren Buffett's gift of $37 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is an astounding four times greater than the Lilly Endowment's size.
Remember, the endowment is no small fry. It's the nation's fifth-largest charitable organization, with $8.4 billion in assets. It wasn't long ago the endowment soared to the nation's largest, thanks to the appreciation of Eli Lilly and Co. stock, which makes up the vast majority of its assets.
That won't happen again, though, and not because Lilly shares won't appreciate. Put Buffett's mega-donation with the Gates Foundation, and you have a charity with more than $50 billion in assets."

Belleville News-Democrat | 06/27/2006 | Bosses to share secrets

Belleville News-Democrat | 06/27/2006 | Bosses to share secrets: "Corporate leaders from across the St. Louis region will meet for a CEO Summit at 7:30 a.m. at the Anheuser-Busch Auditorium at the St. Louis University-Cook School of Business. A second session will be at 1 p.m. at the Holiday Inn at 1000 Eastport Plaza Drive in Collinsville. Each session is expected to last about 5 1/2 hours.

'This event was organized as a chance for the corporate and nonprofit organization leaders to get together,' said Jim Maher, resident director for Merrill Lynch in the metro-east and creator of the summit. 'It is designed to help people achieve better results in their business through better decision making.'"