Awards, Apr 06, 2000

The following awards have been presented for work in philanthropy, fund raising, volunteerism, and non-profit management:

Arts. The Wexner Center Foundation has presented the contemporary artist Robert Rauschenberg its 2000 Wexner Prize for original and influential artistic work that challenges conventions. Mr. Rauschenberg is known for his “combines,” works mixing several mediums and styles. The prize carries a $50,000 award.

Corporate philanthropy. The 2000 Outstanding Philanthropic Corporation award has been presented to Bank of America by the National Society of Fund Raising Executives. In 1998, Bank of America gave more than $91-million to programs nationwide, and its employees donated more than three million volunteer hours to non-profit organizations, encouraged by their company’s incentives such as giving $250 to an organization where an employee has performed 50 hours of service.

Fund raising. The National Society of Fund Raising Executives has given the Women’s Fund of the Milwaukee Foundation its 2000 Award for Excellence in Fund Raising, which honors new or innovative fund-raising programs or techniques. In 1997, WFMF created the Little Women’s Fund, which lets donors start a charitable fund in the name of a girl, who then receives materials on the importance of philanthropy and community involvement. When the girl turns 18, she may direct where 50 percent of the fund’s annual net earnings will be spent, with the other half going to the general grant-making fund of WFMF.

Religion. Freeman J. Dyson, a physicist and professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, N.J.), has received the 2000 Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion. The award, which includes a prize of about $948,000 this year, recognizes work that advances understanding of God or spirituality. Delineating a moral obligation to use science to improve the welfare of the world’s poor people, Mr. Dyson has written many works on the limits of science and on the relevance of spirituality in determining the course of human activity.