Social Entrepreneur blog for the world changers
Andy Markowitz
This user hasn't shared any biographical information
Homepage: http://philanthropy.com/news/
Posts by Andy Markowitz
Intel Pledges $200-Million to White House Science and Math Effort
Jan 6th
President Obama on Wednesday announced a $250-million effort paid for in large part by the technology giant Intel to improve science and math instruction nationwide, The Washington Post reports.
The Santa Clara, Calif., computer-chip maker and its foundation are committing $200-million in cash and in-kind support over 10 years to expand teacher-training and other programs for instruction in science, technology, engineering, and math, or STEM. The new project effectively doubles the size of the philanthropic campaign for STEM education the president began in November.
(Free registration is required to view the Post article.)
Ariz. Legislature Takes Parks Bequest to Cut State Deficit
Jan 6th
A 2003 bequest to the Arizona State Parks Board will instead go into the state’s operating fund to help close a ballooning budget deficit, reports The Arizona Republic.
The nearly $250,000 gift from Alta Forest, a Danish immigrant who moved to Arizona in 1990, was at the time the largest ever to the Arizona parks system. The money went into the system’s donations fund, which is subject to reappropriation by the state legislators, who took control of half the fund last month as part of a $140-million package of budget cuts.
Grameen Seeks U.S. Foothold for Microfinance
Jan 6th
The microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus expects Grameen America, the U.S. arm of his lending foundation, to turn a profit within a few years, Time magazine reports in an article assessing the prospects for microlending in the United States.
Grameen anticipates greater success than in its first U.S. foray in the 1980s because it is now making loans through its own staff members rather than training American banks to do so. The organization has signed up 1,700 borrowers since 2008 in it first branch, in New York. It opened another branch in Omaha, Neb., last June and is considering San Francisco, Boston, and Charlotte for additional offices.
In the Arts: S.F. Theater Sets Up Endowment, New Stage Prize Named
Jan 6th
San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater has set up its first endowment, using most of the fruits of a five-year, $31-million fund-raising campaign that closed at the end of last year, writes the Los Angeles Times.
The 44-year-old company, which cut spending by $1.5-million and eliminated three jobs last year, had previously drawn income solely from ticket sales, contributions, and tuition for its acting courses. The endowment, announced Monday, “gives us the ability to take artistic risks,” said Tim Whalen, the theater’s director of external affairs. “We don’t have to be a slave to the box office.”
In other arts news, the Greg and Mari Marchbanks Family Foundation, in Austin, Tex., will pay for a new playwriting prize to be named for the late Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Horton Foote, The New York Times reports. The $30,000 annual award will be given for the first time this fall, with 65 resident theaters nationwide invited to submit original works.
And the actor Kevin Bacon will be honored for his philanthropic work by the Broadcast Film Critics Association at its awards ceremony later this month, according to the Associated Press. Mr. Bacon’s charity Web site, SixDegrees.org., which is named for the popular trivia game about his career, has raised more than $3-million since its inception three years ago.
(Free registration is required to view the Los Angeles Times and New York Times articles and to view the AP article on the Washington Post site.)
Resettled Nepalese Vets Could Strain U.K. Military Charities
Jan 6th
British military charities fear being inundated with appeals for help from Gurkhas, Nepalese veterans of British army units, who recently won the right to settle in Britain, the Times reports.
Up to 12,000 Gurkhas and their families are expected to apply for residency over the next three years, taking up a government offer issued after a highly publicized campaign to support former soldiers led by the actress Joanna Lumley. About a half-dozen such families have landed in Britain daily since Christmas, when the invitation took effect.
Conservation Group’s Boat Is Wrecked in Clash With Whaler
Jan 6th
Six crewmembers on a Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessel were safely rescued after their boat collided with a Japanese whaling ship in frigid Antarctic waters Wednesday, the Associated Press reports.
The nonprofit group has for several years sent high-speed boats into far southern waters to harass Japanese whalers, using stink bombs, ropes intended to tangle rudders and propellers, and other methods. The confrontations have produced occasional collisions, of which Wednesday’s — in which the bow of the society’s boat, the Ady Gil, was sheared off — was the most serious.
Salvation Army Spent $4-Million for Homes for Top Mass. Officials
Jan 5th
The Salvation Army has spent about $4-million in the past decade on homes for its leading officers in Massachusetts, often in affluent neighborhoods where housing prices were higher than the median price for homes, according to a review by New England Cable News and the New England Center for Investigative Reporting.
Since 1999 the charity has sold 12 homes for a total of $3-million and bought 10 newer houses for $4-million, including a $799,000 home in the Boston suburb of Needham for the state Salvation Army head, Maj. William Bode.
Major Bode said the real-estate deals are approved by the organization’s regional headquarters and paid for with unrestricted gifts and bequests rather than the Salvation Army’s trademark kettle donations and holiday appeals. He said he hoped critics of the home purchases “would understand the service the Salvation Army does provide for people, the work we do, and the long hours we put in.”
Charity’s Real-Estate Business Raises Questions Over Nonprofit Status
Jan 5th
Nehemiah Corporation of America, one of the country’s largest nonprofit housing organizations, is staking much of its financial future on real-estate development through a for-profit arm, says The Sacramento Bee.
Both the subsidiary and the charity, which has focused on low-cost housing and mortgage assistance, are headed by Scott Syphax. The organization has invested $16.9-million in its largest property project to date, a planned housing development on a 65-acre tract in an industrial area north of downtown Sacramento.
Mr. Syphax said he sees no conflict between Nehemiah’s community mission and the business operations he said are necessary to pay for it. Nevertheless, an internal audit performed for Nehemiah last year concluded that “it is reasonable to expect that the IRS will attempt to revoke [the organization’s] tax-exempt status.”
The Internal Revenue Service did not comment on whether the organization was under scrutiny today, but in 2006 it raised questions about the approach Nehemiah had taken previously.
Southwest Ohio Hospital Systems Reduce or Freeze CEO Pay
Jan 5th
Nonprofit hospital systems in southwest Ohio froze or cut pay for their top executives in 2009 after many of them offered significant raises the year before, according to the Dayton Daily News.
All nine hospital networks in the Miami Valley area were cautious about the salaries of their chief executives as the recession hit. The largest entity, Premier Health Partners, froze base pay in 2009 but did give top executives bonuses, while raising general staff salaries by 2.5 percent.
Some Ohio health-policy and activist groups are critical of the way the state’s nonprofit hospitals hire and set pay for their leaders, saying they emphasize corporate over health-care experience and reward improving institutions’ bottom lines rather than providing care, the Daily News reports.
Student Volunteering Can Be Blessing and Curse for Nonprofit Groups
Jan 5th
College courses that incorporate volunteerism are now part of the curriculum at most colleges and universities, writes The New York Times.
The article cites the positive and negative experiences of several community groups in college towns. Well-coordinated programs can provide needed aid for nonprofit organizations, but supervising the volunteers can be a financial and administrative burden for smaller charities.
Such volunteer efforts are likely to continue to grow. The Obama administration has made community service a key component of its higher-education agenda. Some 1.2 million students and 22,000 community organizations are involved in programs with grants from the federal Corporation for National and Community Service.
(Free registration is required to view this article.)
Recent Comments