Goodwill and Universities Team Up to Aid Farmers With Disabilities
David Glamm had been raising corn and cows on his southwest Minnesota farm for most of his 47 years when a silo-unloader accident in 2004 claimed his left foot and ankle. A below-the-knee prosthesis allowed him to walk again, but the constant, strenuous labor required to tend his crops and dairy…
By Michelle Gienow
Contributor
Overwhelmed Credit-Counseling Charities Battle Their Own Debt
At Tabor Community Services here, so many people with big credit-card debts are seeking advice that first-time clients may wait as long as a month before they can meet with a counselor. “What we are seeing now are people with medical issues or unemployment that turn to their credit cards to get…
By BRENNEN JENSEN
Contributor
After Canceling a Donation, a Big Donor Decides to Give
Herbert A. Wertheim, who in 2006 rescinded a $20-million pledge he had made two years earlier to Florida International University, in Miami, has decided to give the money to the university after all, Florida International officials have announced. Dr. Wertheim, an optometrist and chairman of Brain…
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
Foundation Sponsors Contests to Further Its Mission
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, in Miami, has developed four competitions to promote journalism, foster arts and culture, and support neighborhood development. While each of the contest-like programs operates somewhat differently, they all solicit ideas from the public or others on how…
With newspapers across America hemorrhaging revenue and readers, Alberto Ibargüen has been billed as a kind of savior. As president of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, one of the largest grant makers to support journalism, senators sought his advice in May for a panel about the future of…
By Ian Wilhelm
Contributor
Texas Hospital Fund Gets $100-Million Pledge
William P. Clements Jr., a former Texas governor, has pledged $100-million to Southwestern Medical Foundation, in Dallas. The gift will benefit the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. The donation came just weeks after another $100-million was pledged to a nonprofit…
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
The financial crisis has dealt a staggering blow to the federal program that is the largest source of financing for low-cost rental housing, stalling hundreds of projects across the country and causing major cash-flow problems for scores of nonprofit groups. The credits are expected to produce…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Capital One Offers Its Expertise as Well as Its Wallet to Charities
Officials at Goodwill of Greater Washington realized they needed to tackle some serious technology problems. The charity, located in the nation’s capital, had nine retail stores, two training centers, and mix-and-match computer systems that didn’t allow all those locations to communicate…
By Eric Frazier
Contributor
Companies That Have Increased Giving to Hard-Hit Charities Due to the Recession
How change affected overall giving Bank of America (Charlotte, N.C.) Reduced giving for large capital projects; increased amount it gives to charities to cover general operating costs. Bank of New York Mellon Corporation Declined to specify details about how its increase to help such charities may…
As Funds Shift Support to Emergency Needs, Long-Term Risks Loom
As the economic recession deepens, at least 33 of the nation’s biggest corporations have decided to do more to support food banks and other social services, according to The Chronicle’s annual survey of the 300 largest companies on the Fortune 500 list. While some people applaud the move, others…
By Ian Wilhelm
Contributor
How The Chronicle’s Latest Survey of Corporate Philanthropy Was Conducted
The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual survey of corporate giving is based on data collected from the American companies that earn the most, according to the Fortune 500 rankings. The newspaper asked the 300 largest companies on that list to complete a questionnaire about their charitable giving in…
By Noelle Barton
Contributor
Companies That Are Thriving in the Recession Throw Their Support to Good Causes
Lego, the Danish toymaker that produces colorful plastic bricks, created a new foundation in the United States two years ago that developed an enviable problem: Last year, it had more money than qualified grant applicants. The Lego Children’s Fund, in Enfield, Conn., supports innovation and…
By BARBARA STEWART
Contributor
As the economic recession continues, many of America’s largest corporations plan to decrease their giving or keep it flat in 2009, with many deciding to stop supporting charitable causes that are not related to their businesses, according to a new Chronicle survey. Of the 71 companies that provided…
By Ian Wilhelm
Contributor
(Photograph by Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) Monday through Thursday, Joni Taylor works as an accountant. But on Friday, she caters to a very different kind of client, as executive director of Friends Involved in Dog Outreach, or FIDO, in Oregon City, Oregon. The nonprofit group’s dog-food bank…
By Candie Jones
Contributor
Partnerships between charities and community colleges help steer low-skilled workers toward better careers Melissa Edmanson, 21, wanted to go to college after she graduated from her Centreville, Va., high school in 2005. But as the chief breadwinner for her parents, who are both disabled, and two…
By EMAN QUOTAH
Contributor