A Guide to Essential Fund-Raising Principles
The Five Strategies for Fundraising Success: A Mission-Based Guide to Achieving Your Goals By Mal Warwick Mr. Warwick, a consultant, writes that fund raisers should not scatter their resources trying to achieve several goals at once. He stresses that fund-raising strategies must be mastered one at…
By C. Quinn Hanchette
Contributor
Some Shocking Advice on Keeping Costs Down
To the Editor: While I agree with Putnam Barber that donors should do research and learn about non-profit organizations both on line and from friends (“How Donors Can Keep a Lid on Charity Costs,” Opinion, October 21), I disagree with several of Mr. Barber’s suggestions for keeping down…
Report on Payout Shouldn’t Be Dismissed
To the Editor: Professor Perry Mehrling’s new study (“Playing the Percentages,” October 21) is an exciting addition to the long-running debate over foundation payout. He has quantified with economic measurements what many of us in philanthropy have already accepted: that in spite of the enormous…
Higher Pay and Other Benefits of Easy Access to Charity Data
Now that the informational tax returns of more than 200,000 non-profit groups have been made available on line through the collaborative efforts of the Internal Revenue Service and the GuideStar Web site, it’s not hard to predict how the data -- at least initially -- will be used. With the hassles…
By David Cay Johnston
Contributor
Fund Raising’s Quantum Leap Into Cyberspace
From auctions to so-called fun runs to on-line “charity malls,” virtual tools are being invented almost daily to offer cyberspace versions of traditional fund-raising devices. Although the process is relatively new, serious money has already been donated through the Internet to a wide variety of…
By PUTNAM BARBER
Contributor
A Laughable Attempt to Find the Bad in American Philanthropy
To the Editor: Barbara Dudley’s commentary (“It’s Time to Rein In the Power of the Biggest Donors,” My View, October 21) begins with the premise that “the growth of philanthropy is contributing to the demise of democracy.” Repeating the baseless assessments of others who seem to have a genetic…
Beyond the Payout Debate: a New Use for Endowments
Judging from the heated debate and the flood of new reports on the topic, the current “hot-button issue” in philanthropy is the percentage of their assets that foundations are required to give to charities each year. Some watchdog organizations are trying to pressure grant makers to increase their…
By Richard Linzer
Contributor
Protecting Japan’s Children — and Insuring That They Are Heard
When Yuji Hirano was in junior high school in Fukuoka City, on the Japanese island of Kyushu, he was frequently kicked or beaten by his teachers over what he says were minor infractions of school rules. ALSO SEE:Activists on the Move in JapanFew Japanese Foundations Offer Much Support to Grassroots…
By Stephen G. Greene
Contributor
Photograph by Peter Hutson At Exploris, a new educational center in Raleigh, N.C., youngsters are taught that the world is in their hands. Through exhibits on the environment, global trade, and cultures around the world, people are encouraged to learn about major issues -- and to take steps to make…
Public Funds Shouldn’t Support Offensive ‘Art’
To the Editor: Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s reaction to the offensive matter displayed at the Brooklyn Museum of Art is a completely appropriate response (“Drawing the Line in Brooklyn,” October 21). The courts have forced religious universities to open their campuses to organizations advocating…