‘Black Issues’: MacArthur Geniuses
By CONSTANCE CASEY The magazine Black Issues Book Review (May-June) looks at some of the writers among the 63 African Americans who have been awarded “genius” grants by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. (Over the last 18 years the MacArthur Foundation has awarded $563-million to…
By Constance Casey
Contributor
‘Bloomberg Finance’: Donor Web Sites
By CONSTANCE CASEY In Bloomberg Personal Finance (June), readers can find an article about two Web sites, GuideStar and GrantMatch.com, where they can research charities seeking donations. The two sites provide databases of non-profit organizations. GuideStar (http://www.guidestar.org), which was…
By Constance Casey
Contributor
‘Worth’: Silicon Valley and its United Way
By CONSTANCE CASEY The financial magazine Worth (June) attempts to explain how the United Way of Santa Clara County, based in the middle of California’s Silicon Valley, in San Jose, with its many high-technology millionaires, nearly went broke a year ago. The board of directors, which included…
By Constance Casey
Contributor
Ford Foundation Awards $40-Million to Help 28 Arts Organizations
By CONSTANCE CASEY When he first answered questions on a survey from the Ford Foundation last fall, Vincent Anthony, founder and director of the Center for Puppetry Arts, in Atlanta, ALSO SEE:Organizations Getting Grants from Ford had no idea that he was in line to become one of 28 beneficiaries of…
By Constance Casey
Contributor
Where Small Foundations Can Learn the Ropes
By CONSTANCE CASEYAt age 70, Ike Leighty found he had more money than he could give in his usual way to charities in his hometown of Waterloo, Iowa, or his birthplace of Macomb, Ill. After being laid off by a company he’d been with for 30 years, he started a business that became extraordinarily…
By Constance Casey
Contributor
‘George’: Celebrities and Charity Activism
The magazine George (April) has announced its first Save the World Awards honoring 10 celebrities “who are fighting for their causes -- no matter what.” The article ranks Bono, lead singer of the rock group U2, as the “most persuasive.” He has been working on a campaign called Jubilee 2000, which…
By Constance Casey
Contributor
4 Foundations Announce $100-Million Plan for Africa
Hoping to catch the wave of reform now washing across Africa, four U.S. foundations have announced a joint plan to spend at least $100-million over the next five years to improve universities in six or more African countries. “Now is the right time,” said Gordon Conway, president of the Rockefeller…
By Constance Casey
Contributor
Ford Foundation Announces $40-Million Arts Program
The Ford Foundation will next week give a total of $40-million to 28 arts groups across the United States. The one-time grants of $1-million to $2.5-million are intended to send a signal to individual donors, especially those with new wealth created by the booming U.S. economy, that the arts…
By Constance Casey
Contributor
‘Gourmet’: a Chef with a Social Conscience
Less than a year ago, Michael O’Halloran was working in one of Philadelphia’s most fashionable restaurants, a bistro called Fork. Though he was on his way into the top ranks of the city’s chefs, Mr. O’Halloran, 32, was beginning to get bored, according to Gourmet magazine (March). “I wasn’t really…
By Constance Casey
Contributor
‘Forbes’: Celebrities and their Causes
As part of its annual issue listing the world’s highest-paid entertainers and athletes, Forbes magazine (March 20) selected five of the best and five of the worst celebrity-associated charities. Highest praise went to the Stephen & Tabitha King Foundation, with an outlay of $4.4-million and…
By Constance Casey
Contributor