Planned Giving’s Real Problems
To the Editor: My article elicited reaction and it should have (“Why Planned Giving Is in Big Trouble,” March 20). Unfortunately, it appears to be something other than my ideas or words to which the reaction is directed. Tom Cullinan says I am “naive” to think that “NCPG is culpable for ethical…
Grant Makers Should Compare Feedback
To the Editor: Thomas Layton and Sara Olsen (“Foundations Need Grant Recipients’ Feedback,” April 17) are right that foundations need candid feedback from grant recipients in order to accurately understand their performance. Such understanding is a necessary precursor to improvement. Research we…
Getting Megagifts to the Neediest Causes
Megagifts -- donations of $10-million or more -- are a critical component of American philanthropy. Such donations accounted for more than $29-billion of the donations that charities received from 1995 to 2000, according to “Mega-Gifts in American Philanthropy,” a new report by the Institute for…
By Gary Tobin
Contributor
Appalling Remark About Certification
To the Editor: I’ve just finished reading “Seeking a Seal of Approval” (March 20). I write because I find Jennifer Covington’s remark “Laziness is the only good excuse for not getting a CFRE” appalling and insensitive. Ms. Covington seems to have the benefit of working for larger organizations. She…
Opinion Article on Planned Giving Was ‘Erroneous’
To the Editor: In his opinion piece, “Why Planned Giving Is in Big Trouble” (March 20), Doug White takes the membership of the National Committee on Planned Giving to task on several counts. As the organization’s elected president, it is incumbent upon me, on behalf of NCPG’s Board of Directors, to…
Foundations Need Grant Recipients’ Feedback
A growing number of businesses have begun to practice “corporate social accounting": measuring their results not just by looking at the bottom line, but also by figuring out what they have done to help or harm employees, the residents of the surrounding neighborhoods, and the natural environment.…
By Sara Olsen
Contributor
Advocacy Group’s Online Savvy Nets More Than Donations
When MoveOn.org, an online advocacy group, sent a short e-mail message to its supporters last month urging them ALSO SEE:Challenges in Aiding IraqSome Antiwar Groups Plan Long-Term Fund RaisingThe War in Iraq: A Sampling of Charities Providing Relief Aid to make an online contribution to the…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
What Grant Makers Should Do Today
To the Editor: As you rightly point out in “No More Wiggle Room” (March 6), the reaction by most foundations to the decline in their assets is to cut back on grant making. This is counter to the principles of philanthropy and charity. As president of a foundation for more than 50 years, I have…
Opinion articlewas ‘ridiculous’
To the Editor: The most ridiculous thing about this case (Ryan v. Telemarketing Associates), other than Sheldon Elliot Steinbach’s opinion (“Charities Should Urge Court to Protect Donors,” March 6), is that hundreds of millions of direct-mail pieces are sent each year by charities trying to acquire…
Now Is the Time for Foundations to Give More, Not Less
In the face of a weak economy and declining assets, most of the major foundations and many small ones are either reducing or freezing their grant making. Instead they should be giving more to nonprofit organizations that have already been hit hard by severe cutbacks in federal and state social…
By PABLO EISENBERG
Contributor