Companies’ Plans to Donate AIDS Drugs to Africa Draw Mixed Response
By DEBRA E. BLUMThree major pharmaceutical companies this month became the latest drug makers to pledge to donate millions of dollars worth of medicine, health services, and other support to countries in Africa and other regions hard hit by the AIDS pandemic. The pledges -- made separately by…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Company Giving Feels Effects of Mergers
By DEBRA E. BLUMMergers and acquisitions among large companies can have a profound impact on the companies’ philanthropy, according to a new report. Published by the Conference Board, a New York research group financed by 3,000 ALSO SEE:Charitable Giving at 97 Major CorporationsCorporate Giving…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
But double-digit growth barely keeps pace with pre-tax profitsCorporate contributions jumped by 12 percent last year and are expected to continue growing apace this year, a new Chronicle survey of the nation’s top businesses has found. Company giving budgets, which began to grow again in the…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Looking to Get Out of the Pool
As planned-giving option loses favor, many charities reorganize costly funds Twenty years ago, charities were touting a planned-giving option known as a pooled-income fund as an appealing way for donors to support a cause and, at the same time, earn substantial income. Today, many of those same…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Disgraced United Way Chief Entitled to $2-Million Pension
For the second time in a little more than a year, a federal judge has ruled that the United Way of America owes several million dollars in pension benefits to its former president, William Aramony, who is serving time for defrauding the charity. U.S. District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin in New York…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Paid Solicitors Pocket Major Portion of Proceeds Raised for Charity
Charities received only a fraction of the money raised last year in their behalf by professional solicitors, according to four new state reports. In Massachusetts and New York, professional solicitors -- telemarketers and other types of fund-raising companies -- kept about two out of every three…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
High-School Senior and Peers Are a Growing Force for Philanthropy
At 18 years old, Amy Lien Cross can already be called an activist and a grant maker. Amy, who lives in Chicago, is president of her school’s chapter of Amnesty International, ALSO SEE:A SPECIAL REPORT on philanthropy at the millennium: looking ahead and looking back. a member of the Chicago Youth…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
New Charity Trust-Fund Law Expected to Benefit Ohio Groups
Ohio charities are expected to benefit from a new state law that widens the investment options for assets held in trust for non-profit groups. The statute, which may be one of the first of its kind in the country, frees third-party trustees -- such as banks -- from limiting to interest and…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
New Organization to Help Community Foundations
A group of community-foundation leaders has formed a new organization that they say is intended to meet the unique needs of their funds. The move comes after years of complaints among members of the Council on Foundations -- a Washington association that serves a variety of grant makers -- that the…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Share of Company Profits Given to Charity Drops From 2.4% to 1.1% in 11 Years
After seesawing for the past five decades, corporate contributions as a share of earnings have been on a downward trend, according to a new report. The Conference Board, a New York research ALSO SEE:Growth in Corporate Contributions group financed by businesses, examined corporate philanthropy…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor