Longtime Microsoft Executive Is Chosen to Lead Gates Foundation
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has tapped Jeffrey S. Raikes, a Microsoft executive, to lead the world’s ALSO SEE: BIO: About Jeffrey S. Raikes, chief executive of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation largest foundation as it embarks on a period of rapid growth and grapples with criticism of its…
By Ben Gose
Senior Editor
A Billionaire Oilman Makes $100-Million Pledge
The billionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens has announced his foundation will award $100-million to Oklahoma State University, his alma mater, to endow professorships at the institution. The gift comes after a controversial $165-million donation that Mr. Pickens made in 2006 for athletics. Mr.Pickens…
By Kathryn Masterson
Contributor
For Retired Investor, Catholic-Schools Gift Was a ‘Bargain’ He Couldn’t Refuse
Robert W. Wilson, one of America’s most-generous philanthropists, retired from hands-on investing in 1986, ALSO SEE:ARTICLE: Having His Say but his experiences in the stock market still influence his giving. With any large gift, he typically makes a matching grant. He believes that if a charity…
By Ben Gose
Senior Editor
New York Robert W. Wilson was a daring professional investor and made huge profits speculating on small companies, ALSO SEE: ARTICLE: For Retired Investor, Catholic-Schools Gift Was a ‘Bargain’ He Couldn’t Refuse LIST: Robert W. Wilson’s Gifts: A Sampling of Donations while simultaneously betting…
By Ben Gose
Senior Editor
Photograph by Ralph Barrera/Austin American-Statesman/WPN
By Audrey Hill
Contributor
Montana Court Ousts Board of Museum
The Montana Supreme Court last month ousted the board of the Charles M. Bair Family Museum, in Martinsdale, after finding it had violated its fiduciary duties by not spending enough money to give the museum a chance to succeed. The court found that the Board of Advisers had disregarded the language…
By Ben Gose
Senior Editor
David Rockefeller Pledges $100-Million to Harvard for Study-Abroad Programs
David Rockefeller has pledged $100-million to Harvard University, his alma mater. The pledge is the third gift of that size he has made in recent years. He announced in 2005 that he planned to give $100-million apiece to the Museum of Modern Art and to Rockefeller University, both in New York. As…
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
Foundations Predict Giving Will Increase in 2008
Fifty-four percent of foundations expect giving to increase in 2008, while 28 percent project a decrease this year, according to a study released by the Foundation Center. The report said the economic turmoil that has caused trouble for some foundation investments does not appear to have had any…
By Noelle Barton
Contributor
Giving by Grant Makers Reflects Economic Malaise
Almost one third of foundations say they have stepped up their giving this year to help families, ALSO SEE:ARTICLE: The Challenges of Giving provide human services, or support economic development — and 37 percent said they planned to increase such grant making next year, according to a study…
By SUZANNE PERRY
Contributor
Grant makers debate how to deal with government, poverty, and demands for diversityThe worsening economy and the potential for increased government regulation of foundations were among ALSO SEE:ARTICLE: Giving by Grant Makers Reflects Economic Malaise topics of discussion at a conference the…
When Steve Gunderson took the reins of the Council on Foundations, he discovered an organization that everyone loved to hate. “It had become almost the main game in town, to complain about the council,” he says. “There was such negativity. I think the staff felt besieged, I think the board felt…
By SUZANNE PERRY
Contributor
Charity Works to Transform Lives by Transforming Youth-Correctional Facilities
The scene resembles a dormitory lounge: Half a dozen teenagers hover around a large television screen in this ALSO SEE:ARTICLE: Leaving Hard Time BehindARTICLE: Legal Clinic Is National Leader in Juvenile-Justice Matters brick residential building, playing the video game Madden NFL. Three boys sit…
By Caroline Preston
Contributor
Legal Clinic Is National Leader in Juvenile-Justice Matters
More than 30 years ago the Juvenile Law Center started as a free, walk-in legal clinic that served mostly ALSO SEE:ARTICLE: Leaving Hard Time BehindARTICLE: Charity Works to Transform Lives by Transforming Youth-Correctional Facilities runaways, truants, and delinquent kids in this city. It has…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Foundations lead effort to change juvenile-justice systemsWhen Emily Tow Jackson first started talking to leaders of local youth organizations in the late 1990s ALSO SEE:ARTICLE: Legal Clinic Is National Leader in Juvenile-Justice MattersARTICLE: Charity Works to Transform Lives by Transforming…
By Caroline Preston
Contributor
Photograph by the Greatest Generations Foundation
By BRENNEN JENSEN
Contributor
Home Depot Founder Makes a Second $100-Million Gift
Kenneth G. Langone, co-founder of the Home Depot retail chain, and his wife, Elaine, have pledged $100-million to New York University Medical Center. Mr. Langone has served as chairman of the medical center’s Board of Trustees since 1999. The university will name the medical center for the…
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor