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Archive for October, 2009
Howard Buffett Closes Conservation Chapter in Africa Work
Oct 27th
Second-generation philanthropist Howard G. Buffett is selling his first African charity effort, the Jubatus Cheetah Reserve, in South Africa’s bush country, as he focuses his efforts on agricultural improvements and combating hunger on the continent, The New York Times reports.
Animal conservation was at the center of Mr. Buffett’s initial philanthropic forays, leading him to build the facility in the late 1990s. He had hoped to establish that cheetahs could thrive on small private reserves, but he said the results have been disappointing.
His emphasis has shifted since his father, the investor and philanthropist Warren E. Buffett, gave each of his three children $1-billion worth of stock for charitable work in 2006. The younger Mr. Buffett’s foundation now concentrates on projects to help poor African farm families, such as providing water treatment and developing drought-resistant crops.
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Acorn Affiliate to Remain on Giving Roster for Federal Workers’ Campaign
Oct 27th
An affiliate of the nonprofit Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or Acorn, will remain eligible to receive contributions via the Combined Federal Campaign, reports The Washington Post in its Federal Eye blog.
Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, had sought to remove the Acorn Institute and other Acorn-related entities from the list of groups eligible for donations in the U.S. government’s annual workplace charity drive.
But John Berry, head of the federal Office of Personnel Management, said in a letter to Mr. Grassley that the institute was legally separate from Acorn and unconnected to the parts of the umbrella group that have been linked to alleged voter-registration fraud and to guerrilla videos in which Acorn staff members appeared to encourage tax evasion and prostitution.
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In the Arts: Miami Art Museum Director Resigns
Oct 27th
Terrence Riley announced October 26 that he will step down as director of the Miami Art Museum to return to his prior vocation, architecture, The Miami Herald reports.
Mr. Riley, who took the post in 2006 after serving as architecture and design curator at the Museum of Modern Art, will return to private practice with his New York firm. But he will remain in South Florida as a consultant to the Miami museum’s planned $220-million waterfront building.
In other arts news, stagehands at New York’s biggest downtown dance venue, the nonprofit Joyce Theater, have voted to join the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, the union that also represents Broadway theater employees. The move could increase crew pay and raise expenses for cash-strapped dance companies, according to Bloomberg.
British Charity That Helped Woman Change Will Is Set to Get Her Bequest
Oct 27th
A British charity that provides services to older people and that was named as the chief beneficiary in a will it helped an elderly woman revise shortly before her death will receive the bulk of her $570,000 estate, the Telegraph reports.
A close friend of Bernice Southwell’s who had been the main beneficiary of the childless 91-year-old’s original will withdrew a challenge after a probate hearing, saying she could not afford to pursue the case. Ms. Southwell’s new will was drawn up with the assistance of an adviser from the nonprofit group Help the Aged, to which she had been referred by a social worker.
The original beneficiary claimed Ms. Southwell was mentally incapacitated and unduly influenced by a third party, but an official with the charity’s wills and legacies division denied that “pressure was brought to bear. The decision to amend the will lay solely and only with Mrs. Southwell.”
From The Chronicle: Gateses’ Campaign for Global Health Aid
Oct 27th
Bill and Melinda Gates have started an advocacy campaign to show the success of government foreign-assistance programs, saying that continued support for them could halve the number of child deaths in poor nations by 2025, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.
From The Chronicle: N.Y. Lawyer Sides With Challengers to Helmsley Decisions
Oct 27th
An affidavit was filed today on behalf of three large animal-welfare groups that are challenging the estate of the deceased hotelier, Leona M. Helmsley, who died in 2007. The affidavit claims that the attorney general of New York, Andrew M. Cuomo, failed to “discharge his duties” in the case and failed to uphold donor intent, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.
Government and Politics Watch: Members of Congress Seek Health Tax Credit
Oct 27th
More than 40 members of Congress have signed a letter asking House leaders to ensure that the final health-care-overhaul bill offers relief to small charities that provide health insurance to their employees, reports The Chronicle’s Government and Politics Watch column.
Green Goes Mainstream
Oct 26th
It may be time for you to take a look at the sustainability of your business practices.
N.Y.’s Cuomo Orders Nonprofit Groups to Take Back Campaign Gifts
Oct 26th
Dozens of New York State charities have been ordered by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to take back illegal political contributions or risk losing their tax-exempt status, according to the New York Post.
A spokesman for Mr. Cuomo’s office said an investigation found “widespread” donations by nonprofit groups to candidates and officeholders, including state legislators and New York City Council members, in violation of federal and state law. Many of the groups reportedly received government grants arranged by the politicians they supported.
Jeffry Picower, Philanthropist and Madoff Associate, Found Dead in Pool
Oct 26th
Jeffry Picower, the billionaire philanthropist who had been facing legal action in connection with his longtime association with the disgraced investment adviser Bernard Madoff, was found dead October 25 in the swimming pool at his Palm Beach, Fla., mansion, The New York Times reports. The cause of death remains under investigation, and an autopsy has been ordered.
The 67-year-old Wall Street investor and his wife, Barbara, shut down the Picower Foundation, one of the nation’s 100 largest philanthropies, last December, saying it had been wiped out by Mr. Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. The couple had been major backers of the Massachusetts Institution of Technology, establishing the school’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and numerous other educational, medical, cultural, and human-rights causes.
The Madoff bankruptcy trustee Irving Picard sued Mr. Picower in May to recover more than $6-billion the couple had withdrawn from their Madoff accounts over the years. Mr. Picard alleged in court papers that Mr. Picower “knew or should have known” that the large profits generated from investing with Mr. Madoff could only have been the product of fraud.
While Mr. Picard said the case would continue, Jerry Reisman, a lawyer representing 26 Madoff victims, said Mr. Picower’s death would make it harder for trustees to recoup defrauded investors’ money, reports the Associated Press.
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