Local Programs Need Greater Support
To the Editor: Our experience promoting the work of a handful of outstanding community organizations in New York City confirms Robert L. Woodson, Sr.'s assertion that “The most effective strategies [for alleviating conditions in America’s inner cities] are forged by people in the very neighborhoods…
Confusing the Issue of Accountability
To the Editor: In his August 13 letter to the editor (“The Whole Truth: All Too Uncommon”), Merritt Clifton, editor of Animal People magazine, seems to confuse issues of truth and accountability with the fact that certain agencies’ approaches to solving animal-related problems don’t match his own…
Marketing Deals Shouldn’t Be Child’s Play
Print and television advertisements for the office-supply chain Office Depot now carry the imprimatur of the National P.T.A., which describes itself as “the oldest and largest volunteer association working exclusively on behalf of children and youth.” Meanwhile, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America,…
By IRVING WARNER
Contributor
United Way’s Figures Don’t Tell Full Story of Employee Campaigns
To the Editor: The Chronicle’s August 27 article on the results of the fall 1997 United Way campaign (“United Way Donations Increase 4.7%, to Record Level”) continued a pattern of reporting on workplace giving that falls far short of discussing and analyzing new data and significant trends that…
A Standard of Philanthropy Worth Emulating
The Gilded Age of the late 19th and early 20th centuries was a period much like our own, with amazing new inventions such as the light bulb, the telephone, and the automobile giving birth to vast new industries and fortunes. But there was a profound difference in the way Americans felt about the…
By Ron Chernow
Contributor
Americans Place High Value on Non-Cash Corporate Gifts
Americans are not very impressed by companies that just give money to charities, according to a new survey. They look more favorably upon corporations that donate products and give their employees opportunities to volunteer. The survey of about 1,000 people was commissioned by Hill and Knowlton’s…
By Paul Demko
Contributor
Gifts Should Never Be Taken for Granted
To the Editor: I was flabbergasted at the July 30 letter to the editor from Carl Rush (“Senator Dole’s Mixed Role in His Charity”) and his description of Senator Robert Dole as a “cash cow” who didn’t come through with more gifts as Mr. Rush had expected. Development officers should never take any…
Cause Can Often Outweigh Marketing
To the Editor: “Cashing In on Charity’s Good Name” (July 30) only partially represents the interests of sponsors involved in “cause marketing.” Over the years, we have found that the bedrock motivation of our corporate sponsors is their sincere desire to positively affect the lives of the 12…
To the Editor: Unfortunately, your August 13 article “Defiant Head of National Charity Defends Controversial Gift Plan” painted a (not uncommon) first impression of Dock Houk as an arrogant maverick ready to take on the world -- or at least the I.R.S. -- with something less than a charitable…
Hospital Offers Glad Tithings to South Bend
A five-year grant of more than $1-million to a grassroots organization for general operating support seems almost unbelievable in the current grant-making climate. Yet the South Bend Heritage Foundation, an Indiana charity that works to fight poverty, was recently the recipient of just such a…
By PABLO EISENBERG
Contributor