Invest in Charities, Not Political Campaigns
The 2004 presidential campaign promises to be the costliest in American history. Political experts predict that John Kerry and George W. Bush will spend a total of $500-million on the presidential campaign alone. Add in all of the other campaigns, from school board to U.S. Senate, and we’re talking…
By TRENT STAMP
Contributor
Donor Research Still in Demand
To the Editor: As the director of prospect research and management at a private college and a board member of the Association of Prospect Researchers for Advancement, I am constantly reminded that the field of fund raising is growing and that experienced fund raisers are in demand. I was surprised,…
Stop the Looting of Charitable Assets
The conversion of nonprofit hospitals and insurers to for-profit companies has resulted in the largest redeployment of charitable assets in history, as Mark Dowie noted in his book American Foundations: An Investigative History. Most states have laws requiring that the assets from the sales be used…
By Richard Magat
Contributor
‘Popularizing’ Museums Without Lowering Standards
To the Editor: When the distinguished director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art looks down at museums that “cater to” the visitor in a sort of “misplaced popularization,” we must take issue. Not that many of the points that Philippe de Montebello makes in his essay (“How Museums Risk Losing Public…
Financial Success Comes With a Responsibility
Last year the endowment of the Marguerite Casey Foundation grew by $121-million, thanks to the start of a market rebound. At the same time, the number of American families living in poverty increased by more than 400,000. Sadly, these two statistics are not unrelated. It is nearly impossible to get…
By Luz Vega-Marquis
Contributor
Campaign-Finance Rules Might Be Applied to Charities
The Federal Election Commission is weighing whether to apply new campaign-finance limits to nonprofit groups -- a proposal an FEC spokesman said has drawn more than 30,000 letters from supporters and opponents. Supporters of the idea say new rules are needed to prevent abuses. But many nonprofit…
By Harvy Lipman
Contributor
Campaign Reforms May Hurt Nonprofit Groups
Leslie Lenkowsky Public-interest groups and their foundation supporters have been among the chief forces pushing for limits on contributions to election campaigns as a way to reduce the influence of special-interest money in politics. But their efforts could come back to haunt them by limiting the…
Philanthropy Should Have Glass Pockets
Watchdog journalism is an instrument of democracy, wrote Murrey Marder, former chief diplomatic correspondent of The Washington Post. To anybody who has read the spate of newspaper articles describing in vivid detail a series of abuses by foundation leaders, ranging from using endowment money to…
By VARTAN GREGORIAN
Contributor
A new book by the founder of D.C. Central Kitchen offers blunt criticism of the nonprofit worldIt is midmorning on a Thursday, and Robert Egger can relax a bit. His trainees at D.C. Central Kitchen, the job-skills ALSO SEE:Book’s Advice for Charity LeadersPhrases a Charity Leader
By Michael Anft
Contributor
Small Family Fund Has Big Plans to Improve How Doctors Treat Pain
New York Shirley Steinman Katzenbach harbored a lifelong love of medicine. A onetime emergency-room volunteer and a ALSO SEE:A Family Focus on HealthGiving Patients AlternativesThe Mayday Fund’s Grants: A Sampling of Awards generous donor to health and other causes, Ms. Katzenbach was also a…
By nicole lewis
Contributor