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Archive for July, 2009
In the Arts: Choreographer’s Death Complicates Legacy Plan
Jul 28th
With the dance legend Merce Cunningham’s death July 26, his foundation will have to simultaneously raise funds for a recently announced plan to safeguard his artistic legacy and to implement it, says the Los Angeles Times.
The Cunningham Dance Foundation said yesterday it had raised about $2.5-million for the Living Legacy Plan, an $8-million program Mr. Cunningham unveiled last month to provide for the smooth transition of his dance company’s assets when he is no longer able to lead it.
In other arts news, The New York Times reports on the upheaval in the lives of 11 dancers laid off this year by the New York City Ballet.
Also, the Orange County Register reports on the financial struggles of classical-music organizations in the Southern California county.
(Free registration is required to view the New York Times and Los Angeles Times articles.)
Growth in Mobile Giving Inspires New Fund Campaigns
Jul 28th
Mobile phones are gaining ground as a medium for charity, particularly in reaching out to young supporters, according to The Seattle Times.
Major organizations, such as the American Red Cross and the Humane Society, are raising money via text message through systems set up by the Mobile Giving Foundation, a Bellevue, Wash., nonprofit group established by Jim Manis, a former wireless-industry executive.
Third Sector Online reports that the industry association for British mobile providers has agreed to stop deducting the VAT, or value-added tax, from text-message donations, effectively increasing the value of such gifts by 15 percent.
(Free registration is required to view the Third Sector article.)
Atlanta Groups Protest Loss of Millions in Federal Aid
Jul 28th
Community-development organizations in Atlanta are up in arms over plans to return some $30-million in federal funds unspent by an urban-renewal program set to expire at the end of the year, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
The Atlanta Renewal Community, established six years ago to pump federal money into ailing local neighborhoods, has spent just $7.3-million on services, most of it going to city agencies. Officials with the program’s coordinating agency say that due to the slowness of federal purchasing rules, they will be unable to spend the remaining money by the December 31 deadline.
In Jacksonville, charities have banded together to support a proposed city budget that would raise taxes to limit cuts in social spending, reports The Florida Times-Union.
Harvard Professor’s Foundation Revises Tax Return Over Error
Jul 28th
A charity headed by Henry Louis Gates Jr., the noted Harvard University professor, is filing amended 2007 tax papers to correct a grant-reporting error, ProPublica reports.
Mr. Gates’s Inkwell Foundation mistakenly reported $11,000 in compensation to members of his and the charity’s staff members as grants. The error came to light amid the avalanche of news-media coverage of the prominent professor’s mistaken arrest July 16 at his home in Cambridge, Mass.
Mr. Gates is also a member of the board of directors of ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative-news Web site.
From The Chronicle: Volunteerism Rate Remains Steady
Jul 28th
The number of Americans who volunteer held steady last year, defying expectations that the rising unemployment and foreclosure rates could cut into civic participation, according to a new report, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.
Prospecting: Reclaiming ‘Fund Raiser’ as a Job Title
Jul 28th
A consultant to charities who works in London wonders why there seems to be a “rash of obscure job titles” in the fund-raising world, notes Prospecting, The Chronicle’s online column.
Plus:
- Casual Fridays for a cause.
- Crafting winning appeals: A Minnesota charity seeks your input.
N.J. Suspects Accused of Using Charities to Launder Cash
Jul 27th
Federal authorities say suspects charged last week in a massive New Jersey corruption probe used Jewish charities to launder millions of dollars, the Asbury Park Press reports.
Forty-four people — including three New Jersey mayors, two state legislators, and five rabbis — were arrested Thursday and charged with participating in the international scheme. Lawyers for the rabbis, who were leaders in the Syrian Jewish communities in Deal, N.J., and Brooklyn, N.Y., said the men were innocent.
Kauffman Foundation Suspends Kansas City School Grants
Jul 27th
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation has decided to stop issuing new education grants in its home region of Kansas City while it reassesses its mission in local schools, reports The Kansas City Star.
The foundation has handed out $78-million to Kansas City schools since 2004, focusing largely on math and science education and services for low-income students. But with the economic slump, it is retrenching to assess the results of its efforts. The philanthropy is also drawing up plans to open its own charter school in the city.
Major Security Firm Trains Religious Groups on Crime Prevention
Jul 27th
The world’s biggest security-management company has started a new division focused on helping religious service organizations prevent and respond to violent crimes, Religion News Service reports.
ASIS International started its House of Worship Security Working Group in January in response to a rise in crime against faith groups. According to the Christian Security Group, churches sustained $6.3-million in losses due to crime in the first half of 2009 and were the sites of six homicides.
ASIS will release a resource guide on church security next month and will hold a seminar on threats to religious groups at its annual conference in September.
Katrina Recovery at Midpoint, Relief Leaders Say
Jul 27th
With the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaching, leaders of a New Orleans relief consortium say the city’s recovery is at about the halfway point, The Times-Picayune reports.
The Greater New Orleans Disaster Recovery Partnership has distributed about $25-million in money, materials, and work to about 1,000 area families since the devastating August 2005 storm. With private donations tapering off, the group is positioning itself to continue its efforts largely with state and federal grants.
The partnership represents an unprecedented disaster-relief effort in which religious and secular organizations have pooled resources and distributed funds from a common coffer. The approximately 80 member agencies have also doled out tens of millions of dollars in aid on their own.
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