New Index Aims to Chart Climate for Giving
Measuring the climate for charitable giving has never been easy, but the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy thinks it has found a way. The center has developed a biannual survey called the “Philanthropic Giving Index” that asks fund raisers to assess current and future giving and to rate the…
By Thomas J. Billitteri
Contributor
Under Oregon fund raiser’s watch, gifts to hospital rise by 500 per cent Portland, Ore. When John Stuart May announced in June that he planned to step down from his position as the chief fund raiser here at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, the board moved quickly to get him to stay on -- as a board…
By Holly Hall
Contributor
Accounting Firm Creates Fund to Back Studies of Government
PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accounting and consulting firm, has formed an endowment to stimulate research and discussion on improving government performance. The endowment will award grants for research and conferences and provide for sabbaticals for government executives to study ways to improve…
By Thomas J. Billitteri
Contributor
White House Names 11 New ‘Points of Light’
Following are the people and organizations most recently named to receive President Clinton’s Daily Points of Light Award. The awards, which are given to those who have done exemplary volunteer work, take their name from President Bush’s description of people who do community service as “points of…
Iowa Businessman Bequeaths $25-Million to Health Foundation; Other Donations
The Iowa Health Foundation, in Des Moines, will receive a bequest estimated at $25-million from John Stoddard, a Des Moines real-estate developer and investor. Mr. Stoddard, who died in June, designated roughly $20-million to the Iowa Methodist Medical Center’s Stoddard Cancer Center, which he…
Foundation Assets Rose 18% in a Year
For the second year in a row, the growth rate for foundation assets hit double digits, according to the Foundation Center’s latest yearbook on grant making. The 18-per-cent increase reported for 1996 -- which brought foundation assets to a total $267.6-billion -- followed a 16-per-cent gain the…
By Jennifer Moore
Contributor
Kellogg Pledges $55-Million for Health Care Among Poor
The W. K. Kellogg Foundation has pledged $55-million over the next five years to improve the quality and availability of health care in low-income neighborhoods. The program, called “Community Voices: Healthcare for the Underserved,” is the largest commitment ever by the Battle Creek, Mich.,…
By Paul Demko
Contributor
Charities May Get Windfall in Settlement of Will
A proposal to settle a dispute over the will of a wealthy Omaha woman has cleared the way for about $500-million in bequests to non-profit groups in Nebraska and New York. Mildred Topp Othmer, who died in April, pledged almost her entire estate to charity in a 1988 will. But the will was contested…
By Paul Demko
Contributor
Charitable deductions increased 11 per cent nationwide in 1996 As Americans are moving west, so is their philanthropy, a Chronicle analysis of new Internal Revenue Service data finds. From 1992 to 1996, the total amount of charitable deductions claimed by taxpayers in 13 Western states climbed by…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
The words “former gang member” tend to scare off employers. That is why the Rev. Gregory Boyle, a Roman Catholic priest, created Homeboy Industries. By providing jobs to young men in Los Angeles who grew up amid street violence, Father Boyle hopes to give them the experience they need to find…