December 11, 1997 | Read Time: 8 minutes
50-50 at 50 … Going Just Beyond
By Robert E. Graham
The author of this memoir recounts the soul searching that spurred him to devote half of his time to philanthropy at the age of 50.
In 1984, Mr. Graham, an accountant and a partner in the San Tomo Group, a food-processing company, founded Katalysis North/South Development Partnership, a group that provides microenterprise loans to poor women in Central America. In 1989 he set up a family fund, the Namaste Foundation, in Carmel, Cal.
He recalls the formative experiences and spiritual epiphanies that steered him from a life of acquisition toward one of service. He writes of the day in 1983 when he decided to split his time between business and charity, and of the visions that he says he received through dreams and meditation that influenced his desire to help others.
He also writes of the inspiration he found in his travels to Central America, India, and Nepal, including a meeting with the Dalai Lama.
Intermittent dialogues between the author and a business-minded alter ego — “Busy Bob” — explore a dichotomy that Mr. Graham says he is still trying to reconcile. Nonetheless, he writes, those who view their later years as a sedentary time should realize that true self-fulfillment comes from embracing one’s charitable impulses.
Publisher: Pacific Rim Publishers, P.O. Box 1776, Carmel, Cal. 93921; (888) 361-4667; fax (408) 625-9447; 304 pages; $27 plus $4 postage and handling; California residents add 7.25-per-cent sales tax; I.S.B.N. 0-9660347-0-8.
The Foundation Grants Index 1998, 26th Edition
This annual compilation lists more than 78,000 grants of $10,000 or more that were awarded by 1,010 of the largest private, corporate, and community foundations in late 1995 and in 1996. Despite representing only 2.5 per cent of active grant-making foundations in the United States, those grant makers accounted for more than half of all grant dollars allocated in 1996.
The extensive introduction interprets giving trends for 1996 and provides several related tables. Among the findings: The share of giving for international activities has more than doubled since the early 1980s, to roughly 11 per cent of grant dollars, and 74 grants of $5-million or more were recorded, including the two largest grants ever included in the Grants Index — $203-million from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation to the Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center Fund and $141-million from the Moody Foundation to Moody Gardens.
Grants are organized by 28 broad subject areas — including arts and culture, education, health, higher education, and social services — and, within each subject area, by state and grant maker. Information is indexed in several ways, including by type of recipient and type of support provided, and the directory provides contact information and giving limitations for all grant makers listed. (See related story and tables on Page 16.)
Publisher: The Foundation Center, 79 Fifth Avenue, New York 10003-3076; (212) 807-3690 in New York State or (800) 424-9836 elsewhere; fax (212) 807-3677; World-Wide Web http://www.fncenter.org; 2,130 pages; $165 plus $4.50 postage and handling; I.S.B.N. 0-87954-724-3.
The International Guide to Nonprofit Law
By Lester M. Salamon
This book analyzes the laws that govern non-profit organizations in 22 countries.
Mr. Salamon, director of the Institute for Policy Studies at the Johns Hopkins University, aims to provide synopses of the legal status of non-profit organizations within their countries, not necessarily an overview of international laws that apply to all non-profit organizations.
He defines 10 broad issues that are central to the formation and organization of non-profit groups: legal context, eligibility (including registration procedures), governance, taxes, personal-benefit restrictions, obligations to the public, business activity, limitations on fund raising, political activity, and impending legal developments.
He then explores how those issues shape non-profit groups in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The chapters elaborate on information contributed by legal experts in each country for use in the Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project. All contributors are listed.
Appendixes include an international statement of principles culled from the annual conferences of the Johns Hopkins International Fellows in Philanthropy Program and excerpts from a May 1997 discussion paper from the World Bank entitled “Handbook on Good Practices for Laws Relating to Non-Governmental Organizations.”
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 605 Third Avenue, New York 10158-0012; (800) 879-4539; fax (212) 850-6135; 400 pages; $125; I.S.B.N. 0-471-05518-2.
Sensible Justice: Alternatives to Prison
By David C. Anderson
Alternative sentencing for non-violent criminals has proven to be a possible remedy for the bloated and expensive U.S. prison system, writes Mr. Anderson.
He examines several rehabilitative programs that have been set up by state and county governments — some in partnership with non-profit organizations.
Between 1980 and 1995, the number of prisoners in state and federal penitentiaries swelled from 300,000 to 1,000,000, while spending on state prisons rose from $3.4-billion to $15.7-billion, writes Mr. Anderson, a journalist.
“The politics of fear seems to have obscured a central principle: reserve the most serious confinement and punishment for the most serious criminals,” he says.
He offers examples of alternative programs that he says show promise in helping people, primarily those convicted of non-violent crimes. Among them: a “day reporting” center in the Hampden County jailhouse in Massachusetts, where convicts can serve the remaining months of their sentences on probation if they visit the center for daily counseling. That program started under the auspices of the Crime and Justice Foundation in Boston.
Other chapters examine programs that work to rehabilitate convicts through community service, house arrest and supervision, drug treatment, boot camps, and, for sex offenders and violent criminals, therapy combined with jail time.
The book is the result of a year-long study financed by the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation in New York.
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 500 Fifth Avenue, New York 10110; (212) 354-5500 or (800) 233-4830; fax (212) 869-0856 or (800) 458-6515; 182 pages; $25; I.S.B.N. 1-56584-389-4.
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Beyond Collaboration: Strategic Restructuring of Nonprofit Organizations, by David La Piana, examines the conditions that lead to overlapping and redundant services among different non-profit organizations and tells grant makers how they can help groups that intend to merge or to begin joint ventures. The study was commissioned by the James Irvine Foundation in San Francisco and published by the National Center for Nonprofit Boards in Washington. Free copies are available from the James Irvine Foundation, One Market Plaza, Spear Tower, Suite 1715, San Francisco 94105; (415) 777-2244.
Creating and Using Investment Policies: A Guide for Nonprofit Boards, by Robert P. Fry, Jr., advises board members of non-profit organizations on the best ways to manage investment portfolios. Mr. Fry explains the laws that govern investments made in the name of charitable groups, covers how to hire and supervise financial advisers, and provides sample investment policies. He is senior vice-president and director of V&H Charitable Services and is author of The Charitable Investor newsletter. Publisher: National Center for Nonprofit Boards, 2000 L Street, N.W., Suite 510, Washington 20036-4907; (202) 452-6262 or (800) 883-6262; fax (202) 452-6299; 24 pages; $12 for N.C.N.B. members, $16 for non-members; I.S.B.N. 0-925299-72-3.
A Funder’s Guide to Successful Media Investments for Social Change, by Douglas Gould, exhorts grant makers to invest more in publicity campaigns undertaken by non-profit organizations. The guide asserts that news-media coverage of progressive non-profit groups is crucial to the public interest, and it offers advice on how to judge proposals from groups that want funds for public-education campaigns. The guide also explains the strengths inherent in television, radio, newspapers, magazines, books, and films, and it gives examples of groups that have benefited from increased exposure. Publisher: Douglas Gould & Company, 172 East Boston Post Road, Mamaroneck, N.Y. 10543; (914) 381-4196; fax (914) 381-4199; World-Wide Web http://www.douglas-gould.com; 24 pages; free.
Screening Volunteers to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse: A Community Guide for Youth Organizations is a publication from the Washington-based organization National Collaboration for Youth that is intended to help youth groups better spot potential child abusers and sex offenders before a tragedy occurs. The guide explains procedures that organizations can put in place to decrease the risk of sexual abuse and how they can conduct background checks on potential volunteers who raise suspicion. Three appendixes summarize federal laws that mandate the reporting of sex crimes and sex offenders, and another lists groups that provide information on sexual-abuse prevention. Publisher: National Assembly of National Voluntary Health and Social Welfare Organizations, 1319 F Street, N.W., Suite 601, Washington 20004; (202) 347-2080; fax (202) 393-4517; World-Wide Web http://www.nassembly.org; 32 pages; $14.95.
To Be or Not To Be? or, Is It Nobler To Care Than To Be a Part of Managed Care?, by Robert D. Herman, David O. Renz, Don Wise, and LeAnn Smith, is a case study of Associated Youth Services, a group in Kansas City, Kan., that provides services to at-risk youths and their families. That organization was forced to deal with massive cuts in government funds, and this working paper examines the aftermath of the charity’s decision not to seek contracts from the state when Kansas converted health services to a “managed-care” approach in 1994. Publisher: Program on Non-Profit Organizations, Institution for Social and Policy Studies, Yale University, 88 Trumbull Street, P.O. Box 208253, New Haven, Conn. 06520-8253; (203) 432-2121; fax (203) 432-7798; 21 pages; $4.50; ask for PONPO Cases in Non-Profit Governance Paper No. 21.
