Ensuring a Long Run for the Arts
Charity teaches management, financial ropes to cultural groupsBaltimore Center Stage Theater’s endowment will soon be worth more than $20-million -- topping the value of endowments at all but a handful of non-profit theaters nationwide. ALSO SEE:National Arts Stabilization The theater here, which…
By Meg Sommerfeld
Contributor
New Study of Charity Alliances
Collaborations among charities are most often prompted by three forces, a new University of Chicago study has found. In a study of 192 charities that have merged or made formal alliances with other groups, researchers found that the main motivations were: A sudden change in the status quo, such as…
By Meg Sommerfeld
Contributor
Income Grows at Non-Profit Theaters, but So Do Expenses, New Study Finds
The strong economy continued to buoy non-profit theaters last year as their average income rose 7.1 percent, a new survey reports. But the rate of income growth tapered off compared with the previous year, when it rose 11.6 percent (The Chronicle, July 15, 1999). And while non-profit theaters’…
By Meg Sommerfeld
Contributor
Planned-Giving Officers Earn Average of $65,204
By MEG SOMMERFELD The average annual salary for a fund raiser who specializes in planned giving is $65,204, up from $62,640 in 1998, according to a new survey. According to the newsletter Planned Giving Today, which conducted the survey, the median salary also increased, rising to $62,500, from…
By Meg Sommerfeld
Contributor
A Royal Call to Action for Foundations
Jordan’s queen tells grant makers to increase giving, shun paternalism “What does philanthropy have to do with the 21st-century era of the cybermillionaire and the venture capitalist?” That question was offered by Queen Noor, the widow of King Hussein of Jordan, at the opening session of the…
By Meg Sommerfeld
Contributor
Critics question the effectiveness of Annenberg grants for education When Walter H. Annenberg decided to make a major gift to improve America’s public schools, ALSO SEE:Where Annenberg’s $500-Million Education Gift Is GoingLarge Education Gifts and Grants: a SamplingChanging Schools in the Bay Area…
By Meg Sommerfeld
Contributor
Departures of Key Staff Members Raise Questions at Markle Foundation
Departures of several top-ranking staff members at the John and Mary R. Markle Foundation are raising questions about its ability to meet its goal of giving $100-million to Internet and other technology-related projects by July 2004. Two of the three top officials who oversaw Markle’s grant…
By Meg Sommerfeld
Contributor
Charities are struggling to compete for qualified computer employees Since last fall, Peggy Connolly has been trying to hire someone to oversee Oxfam America’s World Wide Web site, ALSO SEE: Average Salaries of Technology Workers but so far her search hasn’t yielded any hits. The international aid…
By Meg Sommerfeld
Contributor
Annenberg’s $500-Million Failed to Change Schools, Report Charges
The $500-million school-reform effort financed by the philanthropist Walter Annenberg has done little to improve education, contends a report released last week. The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, in Washington, issued a report analyzing the Annenberg program, which was begun in 1993 to help urban…
By Meg Sommerfeld
Contributor
Art Museum and N.Y. Mayor Agree to Drop Lawsuits
The Brooklyn Museum of Art and New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani last week agreed to drop lawsuits against each other that were sparked by the museum’s controversial “Sensation” exhibit last fall. The museum sued the city in October, seeking to restore the $7.2-million in city funds it receives…
By Meg Sommerfeld
Contributor