Businessman Donates Mansion and Cash to Upstate N.Y. College
How much: $85-million Who got it: Marist College, in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Who gave it: Raymond A. Rich, a businessman who led oil companies and publishing and banking firms. Mr. Rich died in June at 97. What he gave: The bequest consists of a $10-million cash gift and a 60-acre estate, valued at…
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
Gates Plans $400-Million for Program Investments
In part because of the bad economy, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is exploring alternatives to traditional grant making and has set aside $400-million for loans, investments, and other financial vehicles to further its charitable efforts. While the fund has long been interested in using such…
By Ian Wilhelm
Contributor
An Organization That Aids Grant Seekers Tries to Modernize
Bradford K. Smith went to graduate school just a few blocks from where he works today, in the Foundation Center’s unassuming headquarters building near Manhattan’s Union Square. But in the intervening 26 years, he has worked for the Inter-American Foundation on projects in Latin America and for the…
By Caroline Preston
Contributor
Grants for Emergency Needs: a Sampling
BLUE SHIELD OF CALIFORNIA FOUNDATION To provide health coverage for children whose families have incomes below the poverty line but do not qualify for existing government programs: $600,000 to CaliforniaKids Healthcare Foundation (North Hollywood, Calif.) COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR THE NATIONAL…
Lynsey Addario, 35, photojournalist, in Istanbul. She is creating a powerful visual record of the most pressing conflicts and humanitarian crises of the 21st century. Maneesh Agrawala, 37, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science, University of California at Berkeley. He…
Billionaire Philanthropist Makes Giving a Family Tradition
Ronald O. Perelman, the billionaire founder of MacAndrews & Forbes, a holding company in New York, and the chairman of Revlon, says his philanthropy, which included $63.5-million in gifts and pledges last year, is part of a family tradition. Its roots go back to Mr. Perelman’s parents, Raymond G.…
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
How a Generous Donor Decides Where His Money Should Go
When it comes to multimillion-dollar gifts, Ronald O. Perelman, the head of the New York holding company MacAndrews & Forbes, and the chairman of Revlon, says he rarely seeks out charities to which he might like to give. Instead, he waits until a group approaches him with an idea, a need, or a…
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
Preserving the Ways of the Watermen
(Photograph by Jed Kirschbaum/The Baltimore Sun) Like his father and grandfathers before him, Michael Vlahovich spent part of his teenage years catching salmon aboard a commercial fishing ship. Afternoons, he napped on coiled rope on the upper deck; evenings, he helped steer the boat through the…
By Caroline Preston
Contributor
Nearly 30% of Nonprofit Leaders Took a Pay Cut This Year; Pay in 2008 Grew Quickly
Nearly three in 10 of the leaders of the nation’s biggest charities and foundations have taken pay cuts in the past year as the recession causes donations to drop and batters endowments, a Chronicle of Philanthropy survey has found. The pay cuts come after the earnings of nonprofit leaders changed…
By Ben Gose
Senior Editor
Slogans Teach Public-Radio Listeners About Grant Makers’ Missions
This month National Public Radio listeners may wake up to a new message from the Ford Foundation. The New York organization, says an announcer with a crisp, clean voice, is “working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide.” The shout-out, of course, is simply a thank-you note…
By Ian Wilhelm
Contributor
More Nonprofit Groups Tap Into TV to Help Promote Their Priorities
Last year, Sarah and Freddie, a married couple, visited Seattle Grace Hospital to get a pregnancy test. The test came back positive, but they were distraught — and Sarah asked to schedule an abortion. Sarah told her doctor she had HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and did not want to pass it on to…
By SUZANNE PERRY
Contributor
Two Big Gifts Seek to Combat Autism
How much: $29-million Who got it: Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston. Who gave it: Nancy Lurie Marks, whose fortune comes from controlling stakes she and her family once had in Harcourt General, and Neiman Marcus. Purpose: The gift will establish an autism center that provides clinical care,…
The idea: As a program analyst at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Howard Bornstein wondered how to respond to a friend who came to him seeking advice on an education charity to support. Sitting down the hall from Mr. Bornstein were dozens of people with vast knowledge of the question, yet…
By Caroline Preston
Contributor
Noncash Giving Rose 14%, Says IRS
Americans reported making donations of $46.8-billion in noncash gifts in 2006, a 14-percent increase over the previous year, according to a new report from the Internal Revenue Service. The figure covers gifts from taxpayers who said they made more than $500 worth of noncash gifts in the year. The…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
Nurturing Natural Wonders in a Time of Scarcity
(Photograph by Bob Daemmrich/Lady Bird Johnson WIldflower Center) Green isn’t just a plant color at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, in Austin, Tex. It’s part of the institution’s mission. The botanical garden helps local companies and government agencies develop landscapes of plants native…
By Sue Hoye
Contributor