Citizen Academy programs teach volunteers to strengthen their skills and increase their activism Michelle Nunn and her colleagues spent a decade building a grass-roots organization that matched busy people with volunteer opportunities at charities in cities across the country. The organization…
By Lauren Kafka
Contributor
Jewish Federations Try New Ways to Reach Out to Younger Donors
Leaders of North America’s Jewish federations are experimenting with an array of approaches to attract a new generation ALSO SEE:Jewish Giving’s New EraAn Idea Developed by Two Philanthropists Helps Young Jews Learn About IsraelU.S. Jewish Groups Ponder How Much Money to Send to Israel of donors,…
By Lauren Kafka
Contributor
Persistence Pays Off for CARE Fund Raiser
No. 60 By Lauren Kafka In 1986, when Marshall Burke applied for his first job at CARE, he received ALSO SEE:DATABASE: Search The Chronicle’s Philanthropy 400 database of U.S. charities that raised the most in donations from individuals, foundations, and corporationsHow The Chronicle Compiled Its…
By Lauren Kafka
Contributor
Health-Care Costs Rise Quickly for Many Charities, Study Finds
The cost of providing health benefits to employees has been rising fast for many nonprofit groups, according to a new report by the Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Civil Society Studies. More than 60 percent of the 250 organizations in the study said their health-benefit costs had increased…
By Lauren Kafka
Contributor
Giving to Health-Care Institutions Rose by 6.5% Last Year
American hospitals and other health-care institutions raised an estimated $5.9-billion in the 2003 fiscal year, up 6.5 percent from 2002, according to a new report by the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy. For Canadian hospitals, the increase was even bigger, 10.2 percent, for a total of…
By Lauren Kafka
Contributor
Hurricane-Relief Donations Fall Short of Needs So Far
Charities have received more than $38-million to help the victims of Hurricane Charley, but nonprofit groups ALSO SEE:Working in Charley’s WakeProviding Aid to Those Who Were Ignored by Relief Efforts say far more will be needed to help those affected by one of the biggest storms in history. The…
By Lauren Kafka
Contributor
‘Metropolis’: Helping the Schools
A year ago, Ken Smith, a landscape architect, and 120 volunteers planted a “learning garden” at a public school in Queens, N.Y., through a program financed by the Robin Hood Foundation, a New York philanthropy. When he came back a year later to check on the garden, he found that the plantings “were…
By Lauren Kafka
Contributor
‘The New Yorker’: Portrait of a Donor
Zell Kravinsky, who donated most of his $45-million fortune to charity and then gave a kidney to someone he didn’t know, has such philanthropic zeal that his views and behavior can be shocking and perplexing to those around him, according to a profile in The New Yorker (August 2). As he wrestles…
By Lauren Kafka
Contributor
‘Economist’: Good Times for Giving
Philanthropy may be on the brink of a golden age on both sides of the Atlantic, according to a special report in The Economist (July 31-August 6). “Years of accumulated wealth -- in America and in Europe -- are about to change hands, as the post-war generation dies off.” “For the first time in…
By Lauren Kafka
Contributor
Charities Say Congressional Plans Could Put the Brakes on Car Donations
Washington Nonprofit groups that benefit from car-donation programs are scrambling to preserve what has become a small but steady source of income while responding to Congressional concern that donors are claiming inflated deductions and that charities are getting too little financial benefit.…
By Lauren Kafka
Contributor