One Laptop Per Child Foundation Cuts Back. Founded by Nicholas Negroponte, the computers had a moment in the spotlight last May as the centerpieces at the mega benefit for the Robin Hood Foundation. [Reuters]
Princes William and Harry supporting schools in Uganda. They are supporting Henry Van Straubenzee Memorial Fund, named for a classmate at the Ludgrove prep school who died in a car accident. [People Magazine]
Fordham B-Ball Team Plays Santa: It may be post-season as far as Christmas is concerned, but that's not stopping Fordham's basketball team from visiting Saint Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx this Friday to distribute the toys collected from fans at the end of 2008. [New York Daily News]
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Nonprofits in the Press: A Roundup
1% Food and Beverage Tax in Anderson, Ind., to benefit local nonprofits: The Economic Development Quality of Life Fund, administered by the Madison County Community Foundation, has an initial $200,000 endowment. Grants will be overseen by a seven-member advisory board, with three members appointed by the Mayor, two by the City Council, one by the Chamber of Commerce, and one by the Visitors and Convention Bureau. “For too long, decisions about which organizations to assist and which go without have been made without any clear guidelines, by the impulse and the need of the moment. The structure the fund will create will help ensure funds have a long range positive impact on the community and are ultimately reinvested in a way that improves the quality of life that ensures future funding,” the mayor of Anderson, Ind., Kris Ockomon said. [Anderson Free Press]
Wine for Good: "My goal is to become the first not-for-profit winery in the world," Mark Proden, a former pilot in the United States Air Force who is now a student at Northwest Viticulture Center, says. "I'm modeling it after Paul Newman's successful 'Newman's Own' product line. If he could do it with salad dressings, I figure I can do it with wine.” Poden’s Bodhichitta Winery produces chenin blanc, pinot gris, and cabernet sauvignon using rhubarb, apple, orange blossom honey, blackberries, marion berries and blueberries, at $25 to $60 a bottle. [Oregon Statesman Journal]
Italian Instruction in the U.S. Takes a Hit: The College Board has cancelled its AP exam in Italian. An effort to save the test raised $650,000 from individuals, but Italy didn’t come through with an expected $300,000. “The losses being incurred for the discontinued courses have exceeded a prudent threshold for a not-for-profit organization,” the board said in a letter. [The New York Times]
Wine for Good: "My goal is to become the first not-for-profit winery in the world," Mark Proden, a former pilot in the United States Air Force who is now a student at Northwest Viticulture Center, says. "I'm modeling it after Paul Newman's successful 'Newman's Own' product line. If he could do it with salad dressings, I figure I can do it with wine.” Poden’s Bodhichitta Winery produces chenin blanc, pinot gris, and cabernet sauvignon using rhubarb, apple, orange blossom honey, blackberries, marion berries and blueberries, at $25 to $60 a bottle. [Oregon Statesman Journal]
Italian Instruction in the U.S. Takes a Hit: The College Board has cancelled its AP exam in Italian. An effort to save the test raised $650,000 from individuals, but Italy didn’t come through with an expected $300,000. “The losses being incurred for the discontinued courses have exceeded a prudent threshold for a not-for-profit organization,” the board said in a letter. [The New York Times]
Nonprofits In the Press: A Roundup
Foundations Responding to Recession: A writer for the Economist reports on a January 4 panel at the 92nd Street Y with Vartan Gregorian, president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Paul Brest, president of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Will foundations be able to honor their giving commitments? “[B]oth foundations expect to stick to their giving plans in 2009—but unless asset prices recover soon, there will be cuts in 2010.” Will they do more charity and less philanthropy? “Neither foundation intends to shift the focus of its giving because of the crisis.” Will the downturn lead to a correction in the nonprofit sector? Though agreeing on the need, because of so much duplication of effort, “when pushed, neither foundation boss seemed confident that this outbreak of efficiency would happen.” Meanwhile, foundations are cutting their costs: “Mr. Gregorian and other top executives have taken a pay freeze, construction plans have been delayed and staff fly economy class, even on 18-hour flights to Africa.” [The Economist]
A Philanthropy Portal for Minnesotans: An online destination for donors to learn about state-wide giving and volunteering opportunities is being prepared for a Summer 2009 launch by the Minnesota foundations and the United Way. “Our primary offensive is to build the 'play-space’ giving portal in the country. Our idea is giving portals that allow you to do full-service philanthropy and manage all charitable giving on one site,” Jennifer Ford Reedy, a former McKinsey & Co. consultant who heads strategy and engagement at the Minnesota and St. Paul foundations. [Minnesota Star Tribune]
Responding to Demographic Shifts: The nonprofit infrastructure aiding immigrants and the working poor needs to be overhauled; it is currently set up in urban areas, while these populations have shifted to the suburbs, a report focused on Washington D.C. finds. [Washington Business Journal]
A Philanthropy Portal for Minnesotans: An online destination for donors to learn about state-wide giving and volunteering opportunities is being prepared for a Summer 2009 launch by the Minnesota foundations and the United Way. “Our primary offensive is to build the 'play-space’ giving portal in the country. Our idea is giving portals that allow you to do full-service philanthropy and manage all charitable giving on one site,” Jennifer Ford Reedy, a former McKinsey & Co. consultant who heads strategy and engagement at the Minnesota and St. Paul foundations. [Minnesota Star Tribune]
Responding to Demographic Shifts: The nonprofit infrastructure aiding immigrants and the working poor needs to be overhauled; it is currently set up in urban areas, while these populations have shifted to the suburbs, a report focused on Washington D.C. finds. [Washington Business Journal]
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Nonprofits in the Press: A Roundup
Motor City on Auction: “General Motors is auctioning the rights to the first 2010 Chevy Camaro, and Ford is selling the rights to the first 2010 Shelby GT500 at the Barrett-Jackson auction Jan. 11-18 in Scottsdale, Ariz.“ Beneficiaries include the American Heart Association and the Junveile Diabetes Research Foundation. Fourteen cars will be auctioned at the event, “the most ever in its history, organizers say.” [Auto Week]
Doing Good on the Slopes: Members of the Yellowstone Club, a private ski and golf club in Big Sky, Montana, donated $100,000 during the week between Christmas and New Year’s, to be distributed to struggling families in the area by way of grants from the Montana Community Foundation. Half of the proceeds were raised in a New Year’s Eve auction. [Montana’s News Station]
Soup’s On: The Hideout, a bar, will be serving free soup on Wednesdays in exchange for contributions to the Greater Chicago Food Depository. A former food editor for the Chicago Reader is rounding up a schedule of guest chefs. [Chicago Tribune]
Catnip: At 57th Annual Charity Cat Show this weekend, “the breeds best represented will be Persian, Maine coon, Tonkinese and Siamese, predicted Dale Wehrley of the Houston Cat Club, an all-volunteer group with about 50 members.” Last year’s $6,000 proceeds went to a variety of animal care programs. [Houston Chronicle]
SNL Alum Kevin Nealon does PSAs: The four radio spots for Boys & Girls Clubs of Lake Tahoe promote a March raffle. The prize: a home the charity says is worth $650,000. [KRNV-TV via MSNBC]
Checking In on Nonprofit Salaries Upstate: The median executive salary at nonprofits in Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties is $45,632. "There are some donors who assume that charity means the leadership needs to take a vow of poverty. It takes all the skills, if not more, of a for-profit executive,” the executive director of the nonprofit watchdog group Charity Navigator, said. [Watertown Daily Times]
Doing Good on the Slopes: Members of the Yellowstone Club, a private ski and golf club in Big Sky, Montana, donated $100,000 during the week between Christmas and New Year’s, to be distributed to struggling families in the area by way of grants from the Montana Community Foundation. Half of the proceeds were raised in a New Year’s Eve auction. [Montana’s News Station]
Soup’s On: The Hideout, a bar, will be serving free soup on Wednesdays in exchange for contributions to the Greater Chicago Food Depository. A former food editor for the Chicago Reader is rounding up a schedule of guest chefs. [Chicago Tribune]
Catnip: At 57th Annual Charity Cat Show this weekend, “the breeds best represented will be Persian, Maine coon, Tonkinese and Siamese, predicted Dale Wehrley of the Houston Cat Club, an all-volunteer group with about 50 members.” Last year’s $6,000 proceeds went to a variety of animal care programs. [Houston Chronicle]
SNL Alum Kevin Nealon does PSAs: The four radio spots for Boys & Girls Clubs of Lake Tahoe promote a March raffle. The prize: a home the charity says is worth $650,000. [KRNV-TV via MSNBC]
Checking In on Nonprofit Salaries Upstate: The median executive salary at nonprofits in Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties is $45,632. "There are some donors who assume that charity means the leadership needs to take a vow of poverty. It takes all the skills, if not more, of a for-profit executive,” the executive director of the nonprofit watchdog group Charity Navigator, said. [Watertown Daily Times]
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Giving in the Recession
The story of charitable giving in the past few weeks is both hopeful and grim. In the hopeful category, The New York Times reported on Christmas Day that donations to its Neediest Cases Fund were up $500,000, and the number of donors was up 53%, from the same time last year, with six weeks of the campaign to go. The Fund, accepting donations from November 9 to February 6, supports seven social service agencies in New York City, and is promoted through daily profiles running in the Metro pages of people who have been helped by aid. Similar campaigns across the country are also reporting good results (and demonstrating at least one timely truth: the power of journalism).
In the grim category the Chronicle of Philanthropy reported this week that arts organizations are cutting programs and staff. In a separate article last month in the Chronicle, a survey of end of year giving showed many organizations taking in less private support. It seems that those who increase their giving won’t be able to make up for those who decrease their giving. Furthermore, increases in individual gifts may not make up for big decreases in other sources of funding such as corporate foundation grants.
The balancing act between self-interest and altruism is of course as old as time. How the balance plays out will have a significant impact on the nonprofit sector and the people at all levels of society who benefit from them.
Giving is a form of spending that brings with it meaningful gratification: It feels good to be needed and it helps to put one’s own situation in perspective. However, with the country going into a saving mode --well illustrated by a Wall Street Journal article yesterday about frugal families in Boise, Idaho--it looks like any spending decision will be carefully considered, and every dollar spent much appreciated.
In the grim category the Chronicle of Philanthropy reported this week that arts organizations are cutting programs and staff. In a separate article last month in the Chronicle, a survey of end of year giving showed many organizations taking in less private support. It seems that those who increase their giving won’t be able to make up for those who decrease their giving. Furthermore, increases in individual gifts may not make up for big decreases in other sources of funding such as corporate foundation grants.
The balancing act between self-interest and altruism is of course as old as time. How the balance plays out will have a significant impact on the nonprofit sector and the people at all levels of society who benefit from them.
Giving is a form of spending that brings with it meaningful gratification: It feels good to be needed and it helps to put one’s own situation in perspective. However, with the country going into a saving mode --well illustrated by a Wall Street Journal article yesterday about frugal families in Boise, Idaho--it looks like any spending decision will be carefully considered, and every dollar spent much appreciated.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Call for News, Stories, and Tips
Whether you work at a nonprofit or donate time or money to one or many, your contributions are essential to The Nonprofit Sun, a daily chronicle of New York City charities getting through 2009. This blog will report on all aspects of nonprofits affected by the recession, with an emphasis on the business of running a nonprofit. Please send in your news, stories, and tips by e-mail (alougord@gmail.com) or phone (917-648-4597).
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