A TV Show Exploits a Craze and Aids Charitable Causes
Stephen Root, the character actor, is the first to lose. And he can blame his acting for it. As he squares off against ALSO SEE:Win, Lose, or Draw? Michael Vartan, one of the stars of the television show Alias, Mr. Root tries to bluff his way to a $7,500 payoff, armed only with a handful of…
By Michael Anft
Contributor
Charities bet on the public’s love of poker, raising funds and ethics issuesWhen its rented headquarters in downtown Manchester, N.H., was torched by an arsonist nearly three years ago, On the ALSO SEE:A TV Show Exploits a Craze and Aids Charitable Causes Road to Recovery, a mental-health charity,…
By Michael Anft
Contributor
Court Ruling Appears to End Dispute Over Donor’s Guidance
Philadelphia Pennsylvania’s highest court has issued a ruling that appears to end more than two years of legal wrangling over the fate of the Barnes Foundation, an art-appreciation school and multibillion-dollar art collection in Merion, Pa. The state’s Supreme Court unanimously rejected an art…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
$50-Million Pledged to Stanford U.; Other Gifts
Five institutions have received big gifts: Stanford University, in California, has received a $50-million pledge from Bradford Freeman and Ronald Spogli for a new program at the Institute for International Studies that will focus on global health, poverty, and other social issues. The gift will…
Foundations Urged to End Their Timidity Over Advocacy
Washington Foundations, especially those on the left of the political spectrum, have grown timid in their efforts to change public policy and have adopted an overly technical approach to philanthropy, a panel of nonprofit leaders said here last month. At a meeting organized by the Georgetown…
By Ian Wilhelm
Contributor
Pa. Court Tells Bank It Cannot Raise Fees Charged to Multimillion-Dollar Trust
In a case that many charities and grant makers are following closely, a Pennsylvania court has blocked a bank from increasing the fees it charges to oversee a charitable trust. The 9-0 ruling by the Superior Court of Pennsylvania overturns a lower-court decision and prevents Wachovia Corporation…
By Brad Wolverton
Contributor
Charities working to improve care for dying patients mourn the loss of two major foundationsFor charities that help people cope with terminal illnesses, the past decade has been a golden age. Two grant makers -- the Open Society Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation -- have poured almost…
By SUZANNE PERRY
Contributor
For a foundation, eliminating a charitable program can be equally as difficult -- if not more so -- as ALSO SEE:Urban Experiment’s Next Phase establishing one more. It must wean beneficiaries off its dole, while making sure the strides it has made with the philanthropic effort continue after it has…
By Ian Wilhelm
Contributor
Advertising Council (New York): Appointed Sandy McGill, a partner at Look TV (New York), to be vice president for market development. AIDS Research Alliance (West Hollywood, Calif.): Appointed Carolyn Carlburg, executive director of the Center for Community & Family Services (Pasadena, Calif.), to…