Social-Network Hours Benefit Youths, Report Says
The time that teenagers spend socializing online is actually helping them develop important skills they will need as adults, according to a new report published by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, in Chicago. “There are myths about kids spending time online — that it is dangerous…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Head Start Preschoolers Get Computer Workstations
Computer learning can be an energetic process at the Edward C. Mazique Parent Child Center, in Washington. A little girl in the center’s Early Head Start program stands at a computer workstation to play a game that lets her put different shapes together to build her own robot. Several classmates…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Timely Evaluations Still Rare in the Nonprofit World
Information on whether nonprofit programs produce results is hard to come by, making it difficult for charities to improve their performance and for donors to make informed giving decisions, says a new report. “The nonprofit marketplace lacks the robust flow of timely, accurate information that is…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Interactive map tracks foundation response to economic crisis
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Voting for Innovative Cell-Phone Ideas
Nonprofit group helps government find innovative ideas
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Web Site Encourages Donors to Pool Their Contributions
When FINCA International sets up a village bank in a developing country, neighbors come together to borrow money to start and expand small businesses. Because very few residents have collateral, the borrowers guarantee one another’s loans — making the success of the whole village as important as…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
New York Philanthropy Paved Path for ‘Mission Investing’
When foundation officials talk about using investments to advance their grant-making goals, they almost always mention the example set by the F.B. Heron Foundation. A little more than a decade ago, the New York philanthropy began to look for ways to harness its investment portfolio to further…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Couple’s Commitment to Mission Investing Pays Off for Their Foundation
When Charly Kleissner, a Silicon Valley technology executive, and his wife, Lisa, an architect, set up their foundation, they knew they wanted to focus on rural development, social entrepreneurship, and social investing — and they wanted the philanthropy’s endowment investments to support those…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Foundations Make Investments to Spur Economic Growth In Regions Where They Make Grants
As foundations seek to bolster economic growth in the regions where they make their grants, some of them are channeling money from their investment portfolios into projects that strive to improve the quality of life for local residents. In 2004, the Northwest Area Foundation took $10-million,…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Like many grant makers, the F.B. Heron Foundation’s assets have taken a big hit from the global financial crisis. By the end of October, the value of its endowment had dropped roughly 20 percent for the year. But the New York philanthropy has an unexpected bright spot in its portfolio — the…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor