How a Mother’s Cause Became a Multimillion-Dollar Charity
No. 134 By Debra E. Blum White Plains, N.Y.
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Assets of Community Foundations Rose in 2003 After Two Years of Losses
The combined assets at community foundations around the country rebounded along with the stock market last year, ALSO SEE:Community Foundations’ Assets, Gifts, and Grants in 2003 following two years of overall losses at the organizations, according to two new reports. An annual survey by the…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Animal-Rights Lobbyist Is Selected to Be Top Dog at Humane Society
When Wayne P. Pacelle was a young boy, he would urge his parents to drive carefully so they wouldn’t accidentally hit the animals that sometimes strayed onto the roads near their home in New Haven, Conn. Mr. Pacelle, 38, has since built a career around trying to keep animals out of harm’s way. This…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Low-Carb Craze Takes a Bite Out of Food Fund-Raising Sales
Girl Scout Troop 2077 in New Rochelle, N.Y., didn’t sell enough cookies this year to pay for its annual ALSO SEE:The Atkins Way of Giving overnight outing. The reason, says the troop’s leader, Judy Lederman: Too many potential customers are trying to lose weight by shunning carbohydrates. “Low-carb…
By Debra E. Blum and Cassie J. Moore
Diet guru’s widow oversees new research fund worth millionsVeronica Atkins used to bristle each time the unconventional theories about weight loss and nutrition ALSO SEE:Low-Carb Craze Takes a Bite Out of Food Fund-Raising Sales advanced by her husband, the diet guru Robert C. Atkins, came under…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Pew Trusts to Combine Groups That Focus on Policy Research
In its first major change since converting from a foundation to a charity, the Pew Charitable Trusts has announced that it is combining the seven policy-research groups it supports in Washington into a single organization, called the Pew Research Center. The center, which will open in July and…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
‘Middle Rich’ Give Away Smaller Share of Income Than Others, Study Finds
Wealthy Americans -- those who earn $200,000 to $10-million a year -- give less generously to charity than both people who are richer and those who are poorer than they are, according to a new report. And, the report says, if those wealthy Americans had donated to charity the same share of their…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Grant Seekers Say They Value Foundation Expertise
Charity officials give the highest marks to foundations that have approachable and responsive staff members, clearly articulated goals, and demonstrated expertise in the causes they support, according to a new report. Less important to nonprofit leaders in gauging their satisfaction with grant…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
A Veteran Direct-Marketing Fund Raiser’s Bright View of the Future
When Max Hart began work at the Disabled American Veterans in 1969, the organization was best known for the gifts it included in its mailed fund-raising appeals -- miniature license plates for motorists’ key rings that were personalized to match the tags on each recipient’s car. The I-dento Tags,…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Harvard offers novel investment option to donorsHarvard University has broken the mold for investing charitable-gift assets.The university is using a novel ruling it received from the Internal Revenue Service in October to allow donors to invest their contributions along with the institution’s…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor