View on Legislation Was Mischaracterized
To the Editor: Pablo Eisenberg mischaracterized Independent Sector’s position and the reasons why we believe the nonprofit sector should support the Charity Aid, Recovery, and Empowerment (Care) Act of 2002 (“Senate Should Kill Bill to Give Tax Cut to Those Who Don’t Itemize,” Opinion, May 16).…
Good Performance Is Not Measured by Financial Data Alone
I recently interviewed a foundation trustee about her institution’s payout policy. In explaining why her foundation never strayed very far from the legally required minimum disbursement, she made a telling observation. It went something like this: The charitable world has few good measurements of…
By Peter Frumkin
Contributor
‘Living Wage’ Debate Should Focus on Philanthropic Values
To the Editor: The May 2 article “Paying a High Price,” by Michael Anft, discusses the negative impact that living-wage laws are having on the financial stability of some charities. While that may be true, I think Mr. Anft misses a larger and more important point. Living-wage laws are not the…
Welfare Helps to Depress Giving by the Poor
When the outlaw Willie Sutton was asked why he robbed banks, he was said to have replied: “Because that’s where the money is.” In the world of philanthropy research, we have a bit of the same mentality. We focus on the wealthy because we know that a relatively few well-off people are the source of…
By Arthur C. Brooks
Contributor
To the Editor: As a former newspaper reporter now working in the foundation world, I am intrigued by the current debate over the proper role of foundations in journalism. While many foundations would like to fund better news coverage and public awareness of issues that the foundations believe are…
Save on Postage by Mailing Less
To the Editor: Along with being an active community member in Berkeley, I am also the family bookkeeper; I sort our mail and decide (most of the time) to whom we make charitable donations. I have something to say about how charities can save postage costs (“First-Class Struggle for Charities,”…
Senate Should Kill Bill to Give Tax Cut to Those Who Don’t Itemize
A bill in the U.S. Senate that is designed to increase charitable giving, in part by giving tax breaks to people who don’t itemize on their federal tax returns, is penny-wise and pound-foolish. While the measure, called the Charity Aid, Recovery, and Empowerment (Care) Act of 2002, might result in…
By PABLO EISENBERG
Contributor
How Best to Help Israel: a Challenge for Fund Raisers
To the Editor: Yosef I. Abramowitz’s column hit a chord for me (“Middle East Crisis Raises Tricky Fund-Raising Questions,” April 18). As the founder and president of Panim: the Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values, I have had a most anomalous year. Our organization is dedicated to the…
Community Foundations Facing Crossroads
Community foundations are facing a profound identity crisis because of the recent emergence and rapid proliferation of commercial gift funds. Historically, community foundations have seen their role as raising permanent, unrestricted endowments to meet community needs within a specified geography.…
By Emmett D. Carson
Contributor
Charities intensify efforts to recapture lapsed donorsLooking for ways to increase donations from individuals, the Christian Appalachian Project, in ALSO SEE:Why Donors Stop Giving: Results of a Recent Study Lancaster, Ky., last summer decided to redouble its efforts to solicit people who hadn’t…
By nicole lewis
Contributor