Government Should Spread the Money for Volunteer Efforts
To the Editor: CityCares is gratified that The Chronicle of Philanthropy continues to highlight the nation’s and this administration’s increased interest in service and volunteerism. However, we want to provide an alternative recommendation to one that was highlighted in “Turning Goodwill Into…
Big Funds Need a ‘Skunk Works’ to Stir Ideas
This is a humble request to each of the chief executive officers of the nation’s 100 largest private foundations: Please start a skunk works -- a small, loosely run group that promotes creativity and innovation among your organization’s brightest minds. The original “Skonk Works” was a liquor still…
By Joel J. Orosz
Contributor
New funds and efforts help ex-inmates return to societyNearly three in four prisoners are addicted to drugs or alcohol. One-quarter of all Americans ALSO SEE:Offbeat Program’s Success With Ex-Inmates Draws NoticeHelping Prisoners Make the Transition Back to Society: Recent Grants infected with HIV…
By Michael Anft
Contributor
Letter From Soros Lays Out New Plans for Open Society Organizations
Following is the text of a letter the financier George Soros sent in May to grant recipients and ALSO SEE:Soros, in Major Shift, Will Focus Giving on Advocacy and GlobalizationLetter from Vice President of Open Society Institute Explains Impact of Changes on U.S. Programs others that have worked…
A Different View on Community Funds
To the Editor: Over the past three years, the Foundation Strategy Group has consulted to community foundations across the country and interviewed dozens more to develop an understanding of best practices in the field. On the basis of our research, I must disagree with the way Emmett Carson framed…
Charities Must Listen to Donors Who Decide to Quit Giving
To the Editor: Charities need to pay closer attention to donors who stop giving, not simply because it makes good financial sense to do so but because it leads to greater organizational health. My professional experience and research in this area lead me to expand upon two important points made in…
Lessons for Effective Grant Making
As I prepare to retire from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation after a dozen years, I have distilled my experience into several lessons. My hope is that the lessons will stimulate others to take up the challenge of helping philanthropy achieve its full potential: Execution trumps strategy.…
By Steven A. Schroeder
Contributor
Professor Challenges ‘Parsonage Exemption’
A law professor has filed a court motion challenging a longstanding tax law that allows ministers and other religious leaders to receive an income-tax deduction on money they receive from their employers to pay for housing. Erwin Chemerinsky, a law professor at the University of Southern…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Maine’s Plan Offers Model for Nation
To the Editor: Several weeks ago, the State of Maine enacted legislation that grants authority to its attorney general and courts to regulate the conversion of nonprofit organizations to for-profit corporations. This enlightened decision stands in stark contrast to the actions of New York’s…
Spend More to Train Charity Fund Raisers
To the Editor: I was struck by the totally opposite perspective expressed between two articles I read in succession: “Revolving-Door Dilemma,” by Elizabeth Schwinn and Meg Sommerfeld (April 18), and “Container Store’s Workers Huddle Up to Help You Out,” which appeared in USA Today on April 29. The…