Online forums about charity offer advice and discuss controversies Albert Ruesga is not being flip when he invokes images of torture to describe his blog, White Courtesy Telephone. He’s dead serious. Mr. Ruesga, who started White Courtesy Telephone in March as an online forum about philanthropy, is…
By PETER PANEPENTO
Contributor
Opinion: Look Beyond Elite Universities
A government lawyer believes that donations to elite universities, such as Harvard and Stanford, do not benefit society or advance equality within higher education, he writes in an opinion piece for The Los Angeles Times. Martin Kimmel says that “endowment races,” in which major universities seek…
Opinion: Donations to Rich Universities Better Spent Elsewhere
Donors should rethink giving money to universities and colleges that already have massive endowments, says an opinion article in the Los Angeles Times. Martin Kimel, a government lawyer in the District of Columbia, questions whether universities represent the best social return on donations,…
Group falls behind after official’s death
To the Editor: The National Council of Churches was recently cited on your Watchdog Watch list (September 28) because we had not responded to the Wise Giving Alliance’s survey. We apologize for not filling out the form. Our much-beloved and ever-vigilant associate general secretary for…
How the IRS could do a better job
To the Editor: A recent article in The Chronicle of Philanthropy (“IRS Takes a Tougher Stance,” October 12) highlights the important role played by the Internal Revenue Service in ongoing efforts to establish greater accountability and transparency in foundations and nonprofits. The fact that these…
Donors Learn How to Be Effective by Seeing a Charity’s Real Challenges
What makes an effective donor? Recently, my consulting firm was asked to “reverse engineer” effective philanthropy by interviewing two dozen wealthy donors who were perceived to be highly effective by their peers. Our goal was to learn how they became that way. We discovered that effective donors…
By Mark R. Kramer
Contributor
Red Cross Needs to Make More-Extensive Changes
To the Editor: Your article on changes at the Red Cross (“Pulling Back the Reins,” November 9) makes clear the relative narrowness of the changes proposed in the operation of the American Red Cross. Restructuring the American Red Cross board is long overdue but this does not begin to address the…
Foundations Should Start Hiring Storytellers
It is often said that foundations contribute two assets to social change — money and knowledge. But too many foundations fail to capture and share a critical part of what they know: the stories that explain what they do, why they do it, what they learn, and what difference it all makes. Every…
By JOANNE EDGAR
Contributor
Fund Spends $50-Million to Study Technology
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, in Chicago, wants to know how video games, the Internet, instant messaging, cellphones, and other tools of the digital age are changing the way young people learn and relate to one another. And it is spending $50-million over the next five years to…
By PETER PANEPENTO
Contributor
As Democrats take control, charities expect gains and lossesThe shift in control of Congress has changed the political landscape for charities: They are far less likely to face new regulations that govern their operations — and they will also have a tougher time persuading Congress to pass any new…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor