Making a Place for Arab-Americans
Detroit advocate faces challenges in raising funds and securing future for social-services groupDearborn, Mich. Ismael Ahmed admits that his Arabic is awful. Yet the Brooklyn-born 54-year-old ALSO SEE:A Changing PaletteTapping Ethnic Wealth has become an Arab-American leader through a charity he…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Leaders of minority-run groups argue that foundations fall short in their support of ethnic charitiesDuring a National Philanthropy Day luncheon at a San Francisco hotel recently, demonstrators ALSO SEE:A Changing PaletteTapping Ethnic WealthMinority Homeowners Give More to Charity Than Whites,…
By Debra E. Blum and Michael Anft
‘Christianity Today’: Relief-Charity Appeals
Do Christian relief organizations manipulate donors with guilt-inducing pleas for money, or are the groups making honest and direct appeals? That question is explored in an article in Christianity Today (December 3), written by Ken Waters, a journalism professor at Pepperdine University, and a…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Evaluation of Company Giving Hands Top Honors to IBM
A new report on 14 multinational companies that run charitable-giving or community programs worldwide gives top honors to International Business Machines, in Armonk, N.Y. The report, which rates companies according to seven criteria, such as how well the businesses measure the impact of their work,…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Museums Given New Guidelines for the Art of Dealing With Business
The country’s largest museum group, admonishing its members to draw strict boundaries around the deals they strike with corporate donors, has called for museums to maintain control over their exhibitions and to disclose to the public the arrangements they make with contributors. The advice from the…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Fla. Ruling Favors Fund-Raising Consultants
A federal court has sided with a coalition of national charities and fund-raising consultants in a closely watched lawsuit against a county fund-raising law. The case, in Pinellas County, Fla., is one in a series of recent court challenges to state and local solicitation rules around the country.…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
After the Attacks: Consumers Choose Products Based on Corporate Philanthropy, Studies Find
The events of September 11 had a major impact on consumers’ attitudes toward corporate citizenship, ALSO SEE:How Corporate Giving Shapes Consumer Choice according to a new study. More and more Americans are demanding that companies actively support charitable causes, the study found, and they are…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Arts Groups Raised $1.5-Billion From Corporations Last Year
American companies donated a total of $1.56-billion to arts organizations last year, according to a new survey, a one-third increase over the total of gifts in 1997 before adjusting for inflation. But the growth in contributions may be slowing this year, according to the survey, which was conducted…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
New Telemarketing Law Called Too Restrictive by Some Fund Raisers
A law that gives the Federal Trade Commission new power to regulate appeals made by telemarketers on behalf of charities is drawing mixed reactions from fund raisers. When the federal agency issued sales-call rules in 1995, it exempted calls made by or for nonprofit groups. Now, charity appeals are…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Charities Seek Ways to Offset Financial-Investment Losses
Charities, including many on this year’s Philanthropy 400 list, have lost billions ALSO SEE:Donations to Big Groups Rose 13% in 2000Philanthropy 400 Survey ResultsThe 400 at a GlanceBracing for Tough TimesNational Public RadioNational Audubon SocietyLife Outreach InternationalChildren’s Hospital…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor