Kathleen Kelly challenges myths about fund raising in her new tome -- and hopes to transform the way the profession is taught In a Thursday afternoon class at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, Professor Kathleen S. Kelly is decrying what she sees as the evils of paid solicitors who pocket…
By Holly Hall
Contributor
Diverse groups unite in quest for ways to deal with lawbreakers As crime has been dropping in many American cities, a growing number of charities and foundations have begun to focus on a new worry: the exploding cost of the nation’s prisons and jails. More than 1.7 million people are now held in…
By Holly Hall
Contributor
With billions in new assets, foundation branches out while staying true to its roots In the 1960s, when David and Lucile Packard held the first board meetings of their charitable foundation, they weren’t sitting in the spacious, redwood-paneled offices that house their Silicon Valley philanthropy…
By Holly Hall
Contributor
Lilly Now No. 1 Among Foundations
Soaring assets bump Ford to second; Packard to be third The Lilly Endowment in Indianapolis, which saw its assets soar to $12.7-billion last year, has surpassed the Ford Foundation to become the nation’s largest private foundation. Ford, which had held the No. 1 ranking for more than 30 years, is…
By Holly Hall
Contributor
As baby boomers begin to retire, charities learn to take advantage of their skills and motivation Jack McConnell, a retired physician in Hilton Head Island, S.C., has a prescription for the nation’s health-care ills. Looking ahead to the retirement in the next two decades of millions of baby…
By Holly Hall
Contributor
Charities revamp fund raising to reach baby boomers, but some groups are slow to make changes Beech Acres in Cincinnati overcame one serious threat to its survival 20 years ago by transforming itself from an orphanage to a charity that helps abused kids. Now it is fighting hard again to insure that…
By Holly Hall
Contributor
Charities angle for donations from new and long-time donors alike; stock-market worries some fund raisers The kindness of strangers is a big help to charities at the end of the year -- the time when most organizations receive the bulk of their contributions. Holiday inspirations -- plus a desire to…
Letter Brings in Additional Planned Gifts
Hampden-Sydney College has increased the number of planned gifts it receives at year’s end by sending an individually tailored letter to donors who have already made such contributions. For the past two years, the college has sent the letter to nearly 200 donors who have set up gift annuities,…
Re-Designed Package and Handmade Gift Lead to Big Jump in Holiday Donations
Hale House, a New York charity that helps ailing babies, increased donations to a year-end appeal by 71 per cent in 1996 -- largely by upgrading the quality of the gift that it includes in solicitations to top donors. The charity sent out hand-crafted dolls to 1,000 people who had donated at least…
Commuter-Route Billboard Gets Year-End Giving Message Across for Maryland United Way
The United Way of Charles County in Waldorf, Md., has always had fund-raising problems because so many residents leave each day for jobs in Washington, D.C., some 20 miles away. Often the residents give through on-the-job campaigns run by the United Way in the District of Columbia and do not…