Critique of Annenberg School Plan Was Hasty, Misinformed
To the Editor: Patrick J. Reilly’s flawed exposition (“Why Annenberg’s School Plan Failed,” My View, April 9) bears little relationship to the facts. Mr. Reilly states that the Annenberg Challenge is nearing its end. In fact, the first of the 18 matching grants awarded through the challenge is just…
Charities Shouldn’t Treat Donors Like Customers
What’s good for General Motors may not be good for philanthropy. Nonetheless, a growing number of non-profit leaders have become enamored with the idea of charities’ becoming more like businesses. The non-profit world certainly needs to be concerned with the prudent and economical use of its…
By Lon M. Burns
Contributor
Women’s funds try unconventional fund-raising methods in bid to join philanthropy’s big leagues Women’s funds -- which raise money to benefit charities that help women and girls -- are starting to use new and, in some cases, unconventional fund-raising methods in an attempt to sharply increase…
By Holly Hall
Contributor
D.C. Grant Makers Court Visiting Colleagues With Neighborhood Tour
Every day, tour buses by the score descend upon the nation’s capital, snaking their way in a tight circuit from the Smithsonian Institution to the White House and on to Arlington Cemetery. Rarely do they stray from that course. But last week busloads of visitors saw another side of the District of…
By Vince Stehle
Contributor
Foundation Reporter 1999: Comprehensive Profiles Edited by Laura A. Wisner-Broyles This guide for grant seekers profiles nearly 1,000 private foundations with estimated combined assets of more than $183.5-billion. To qualify for inclusion, foundations either must hold at least $10-million in assets…
By C. Quinn Hanchette
Contributor
On Soaring Hearts and True Philanthropy
To the Editor: Irving Warner’s commentary (“Recognizing the Best of the Worst in Fund Raising and Philanthropy,” Opinion, March 26) made my heart soar. Too often, true philanthropy lies buried beneath premiums and profits. Yes, we want our organizations to be successful in fund raising. But let us…
Progressive Vision Needs to Be Re-Examined
To the Editor: In a recent article I wrote for The Nation, I argued that progressive foundations should learn from their conservative counterparts and increasingly support groups that work on multiple issues and break new intellectual ground, through multi-year grants for general support. In his…
Minnesota Radio Stories Were a Disservice
To the Editor: Why did The Chronicle (“Sale of Catalogue Business Nets Profits for Minn. Public Radio -- and Top Officials,” April 9) print the defamatory opinion of Matthew Landy, an official at the National Charities Information Bureau, that there may have been an inappropriate transfer of the…
‘Sunshine’ Laws Also Produce Some Shadows
Ever since Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis declared “sunlight” to be the “best disinfectant,” greater openness has been a favorite device for people who want organizations that serve the public to behave better. Government agencies and large corporations have long had to operate within a web…
By LESLIE LENKOWSKY
Contributor
Click Goodbye to Old-Fashioned, Foot-Dragging Accountability
The California Community Foundation has done what no major foundation has done before: posted its Form 990 informational returns on the Internet. That was one small step in cyberspace for a big foundation, but a giant leap for the rest of philanthropy -- which, whether its leaders want to or not,…
By David Cay Johnston
Contributor