Social Entrepreneur blog for the world changers
Archive for August, 2009
In the Arts: Ruling Leaves Fate of Holocaust-Looted Art Uncertain
Aug 20th
A 2002 California statute giving owners of art pieces looted by the Nazis until the end of 2010 to sue for their return has been ruled unconstitutional by a federal appeals court in San Francisco, according to the Los Angeles Times.
However, the 2-1 ruling by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals failed to settle the specific case before the three-judge panel: whether the Norton Simon Museum, in Pasadena, Calif., owns Lucas Cranach the Elder’s painting of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, or whether it must hand it over to the heir of a Jewish art dealer who abandoned the work while fleeing a German invasion in 1940. The circa 1530 work was appraised in 2006 at $24-million.
In other arts news:
- The Metropolitan Classical Ballet, in Arlington, Tex., said it will cut three scheduled repertory shows from its forthcoming season, according to The Star-Telegram, in Fort Worth. The recession contributed to the ballet’s decision, said Frank Hill, the organization’s board president.
- Marilynn Sheldon, managing director of the 5th Avenue Theatre, in Seattle, announced she will step down next year after more than 20 years running the organization, according to The Seattle Times. Ms. Sheldon was recently named president-elect of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre.
- The singer and songwriter James Taylor is not only waiving his fee for performing with the Boston Symphony Orchestra during a weeklong festival this month but is also donating $500,000 to the organization, which has faced budget squeezes in recent years, according to The Boston Globe.
(Free registration is required to view the Los Angeles Times and Boston Globe articles.)
Give and Take: A One-Cent E-Mail Stamp for Charity
Aug 20th
In our daily digest of postings in Give and Take, the Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world, we note:
- An effort by Yahoo to persuade people to voluntarily put a one-cent stamp on outgoing e-mail messages, with proceeds going to charity.
- Questions about the long-term impact of efforts by Muhammad Yunus, the microfinance pioneer, and Hernando de Soto, a leading advocate of property rights for the impoverished.
- Five steps for an effective social-media strategy.
- More on the debate over how much charities should have to prove their effectiveness to donors.
Online Discussion Next Week: Changing Careers to Change the World
Aug 20th
Join us Tuesday, August 25, at noon U.S. Eastern time for a live online discussion on how people who work outside of the nonprofit world can pursue long-held dreams of starting a charity to attempt to solve many of the world’s most intractable problems. How do you set up a charity? What are the toughest obstacles? And how are these new charities and the people who establish them changing the philanthropic landscape?
The guests will be:
- Connie Duckworth, founder of Arzu, a nonprofit organization in Chicago that helps Afghan women out of poverty by providing a way for them to earn income selling the hand-woven rugs they make. Previously, Ms. Duckworth worked for Goldman Sachs, where she was the first female sales and trading partner, and rose to lead the investment firm’s Chicago office.
- Lisa Endlich, author of several books, including Be The Change, which tells the stories of 11 people who seek to alleviate social ills through the charities they’ve established. Ms. Endlich also wrote Goldman Sachs: The Culture of Success, and Lucent and the Crash of Telecom. Previously, she worked as a management consultant, a political fund raiser, and a trader and vice president at Goldman Sachs, in New York.
The Chronicle’s online discussions are free and open to everyone. People who ask questions in advance have a better chance of getting answers.
Unigo: Retooling the College Guidebook
Aug 19th
This young entrepreneur is giving students the power to rate and review their schools.
The Fight to Launch Viridian Spirits
Aug 19th
After a long legal battle, Jared Gurfein finally packages absinthe and bottles the green fairy.
Fla. Business College Removes Donor’s Name
Aug 19th
A business college at Florida Atlantic University will no longer bear the name of a local businessman after he opted to reduce his donation to the institution, reports the South Florida Business Journal.
Barry Kaye, head of a Boca Raton, Fla., company that helps people convert their life-insurance policies to cash and then manage their wealth, has reduced his 2007 pledge to the state university from $16-million to $3.9-million. As a result, the university decided to remove his name from the Barry Kaye College of Business.
UNC Charlotte Gets $9.3-Million Pledge for Community-Service Scholarship
Aug 19th
A new $9.3-million pledge to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte is earmarked for a scholarship designed to develop community-service leaders, reports The Charlotte Observer.
The gift comes from the foundation created by Leon and Sandra Levine; Mr. Levine is the founder of Family Dollar Stores. The pledge will be paid out over 10 years and is the largest individual gift for academic purposes given in the institution’s history, according to university officials.
Las Vegas Forms Nonprofit Umbrella Group to Champion Green Energy
Aug 19th
Lawmakers and business leaders in Las Vegas have created Green Chips, a nonprofit group intended to draw investment into “green” energy while promoting the region as environmentally sound, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The new group will coordinate other renewable-energy, conservation, and efficiency programs, said Las Vegas mayor, Oscar Goodman, who is also the chairman of Green Chips. In addition to the city of Las Vegas, other founding members include the casino companies Harrah’s Entertainment and MGM Mirage, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, and the Southern Nevada Water Authority.
In the Arts: New Arkansas Museum Picks Its First Director
Aug 19th
The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, currently being built by the Wal-Mart heiress Alice L. Walton, has hired Don Bacigalupi, director of the Toledo Museum of Art, as its new leader, according to The New York Times.
The new museum, which will be in Bentonville, Ark., will include work by American artists such as Asher B. Durand, Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer, Marsden Hartley, Norman Rockwell, and John Singer Sargent.
Meanwhile, the president of the Rhode Island School of Design, in Providence, is weathering tough times in his second year on the job, according to the Associated Press.
John Maeda is dealing with the institution’s financial problems, heavy turnover among its administrators, and the abrupt departure of Hope Alswang, director of the acclaimed RISD Museum. Ms. Alswang’s unexplained resignation has upset some of the museum’s major donors and supporters.
The school’s endowment has also taken a big hit: In May, it revealed its fund had dropped from $374-million in December 2007 to about $250-million. The institution also cut about 20 jobs, increased tuition, and closed its museum this month.
(Free registration is required to view the Times article.)
Miami-Area Social-Service Charity Files for Bankruptcy
Aug 19th
One of South Florida’s oldest social-services charities, the James E. Scott Community Association, has filed for bankruptcy protection amid increasing debts and a long history of management woes, according to The Miami Herald.
The 84-year-old organization’s Chapter 11 filing lists nearly $3.4-million in liabilities and only $1.7-million in assets. The charity, which administers programs for infants, teenagers, and elderly people in Miami’s poorest neighborhoods, has occasionally bounced checks and delayed paychecks to its workers in recent years. It has also lost government contracts over fears about its financial management. This month its headquarter was slated to be sold in a foreclosure auction.
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