‘Worth’: Keeping Charities Financially Stable

PRESS CLIPPINGS

Many philanthropists worry “that their favorite charities are overly dependent on one source of funding — them,” says Worth magazine (February). That realization has prompted many donors to take steps to strengthen the organizations. Among the approaches:

• Eddie Phillips, who helped a New York pediatrician, Jane Aronson, establish the Worldwide Orphans Foundation, agreed to provide her with management advice in running the organization, help soliciting funds, and other aid in addition to money. But when he noticed signs she was burning out because she was handling too many duties, he helped her develop a plan that would restructure the organization.
• Bobby Shriver, who helped found DATA (Debt AIDS Trade Africa) with the rock star Bono, created a retail campaign dubbed (Red) that raised $10-million in its first five months to support the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The (Red) project enlisted companies that are popular with consumers to design red products specifically for the campaign, and channel some of the profits from sales of the items to the disease-fighting group.
• John Whitehead, a former co-chairman of Goldman Sachs, helped to set up a $10-million fund at the International Rescue Committee, in New York. The money pays for the charity’s efforts to respond immediately when disasters or other humanitarian crises strike — so the organization is no longer forced to wait for a foundation or government to approve a grant. The charity must meet one condition, however: Any time it draws money from the emergency fund, it must replenish the fund with dollars solicited from other donors.