May 21, 1998 | Read Time: 4 minutes
Nonprofit Investment Policies: Practical Steps for Growing Charitable Funds
By Robert P. Fry, Jr.
Rarely have the legal and financial environments been better suited to those who invest in behalf of charities, writes the author. He offers this book to help managers of non-profit groups manage their organizations’ assets wisely.
“There is no longer any reason for a charitable organization of any size to fail to participate in the securities markets in a measured and disciplined way,” writes Mr. Fry, a consultant based in Los Angeles.
He begins with a look at the laws that affect investing — and, specifically, how they relate to charitable assets — and provides a breakdown of the risks and rewards to be found in today’s markets. He explains how a non-profit group should conduct a thorough financial self-assessment before it implements an investment policy.
He then covers the hiring of money managers from outside the organization, interpreting the performance of an investment portfolio, using investments as a fund-raising tool, and dealing with issues of particular interest to non-profit groups — such as making socially responsible investments and avoiding conflicts of interest.
Mr. Fry’s approach to creating an investment policy is decidedly patient, guarding against the enthusiasm over the recent bull market and stressing that a good policy is one that brings fiscal health over the long term. He includes dialogues from the meetings of a hypothetical charity’s bumbling board of directors to illustrate investment methods to be avoided.
Appendixes include a glossary of terms, such sample documents as quarterly reports and endowment resolutions, and summaries of relevant laws, including the 1994 Uniform Prudent Investor Act.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 605 Third Avenue, New York 10158-0012; (800) 879-4539; fax (212) 850-6135; World-Wide Web http://www.wiley.com; 302 pages; $55; I.S.B.N. 0-471-17887-x.
Private Action and the Public Good
Edited by Walter W. Powell and Elisabeth S. Clemens
This book represents the culmination of a five-year program sponsored by the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy that brought together four dozen graduate students and faculty members from across the country to study the governance of non-profit organizations.
“We recognized that the idea of the public good is indeed vexed and contested and that researchers need to ask questions like ‘Which public?’ and ‘For whose good?’ ” write the editors, who organized the final meeting of the researchers, from which these 20 essays are drawn.
The essays fall under five sections.
Part One explores philosophical issues surrounding philanthropy, including discussions of what constitutes altruism and how religious activism contributes to selfless behavior. Part Two examines how the internal structures of non-profit organizations shape their effectiveness.
Part Three analyzes the relationship between non-profit groups and governments in this country and those abroad, focusing on what the authors say is a growing interdependence. Part Four covers sponsorship and patronage of non-profit groups and discusses the power, both indirect and overt, that is wielded by donors.
The book’s final section elaborates on some of the challenges faced by non-profit groups, such as the changing demographics of volunteers and the inherent tension between emotional involvement in one’s cause and the dispassionate demeanor required to provide services effectively.
Among the contributors are Burton A. Weisbrod, a professor of economics at Northwestern University, who applies empirical formulas to examine the respective operations of non-profit, government-run, and church-sponsored programs that serve disabled people; he concludes that churches provide the most-effective services. In another essay, Jane Mansbridge, a professor at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, applies the contributions of great thinkers to the debate over what constitutes the “public good.” She concludes that the lack of a precise definition does not justify scrapping the term altogether, as some 20th-century political scientists have proposed.
Mr. Powell is a professor of sociology at the University of Arizona, and Ms. Clemens is an associate professor of sociology at the same institution. The publication of this volume was supported by the Lilly Endowment.
Publisher: Yale University Press, P.O. Box 209040, New Haven, Conn. 06520-9040; (203) 432-0960; fax (203) 432-0948; World-Wide Web http://www.yale.edu/yup/; 313 pages; $40; I.S.B.N. 0-300-06449-7.
