Charity Honors Memory of 9/11 Victim by Aiding Others Who Suffer Traumas
Peter C. Alderman was only 25 when he was killed on September 11, 2001, while attending a technology conference on the 106th floor of the World Trade Center’s north tower. He never had a chance to decide how he wanted to leave a mark on the world, his parents say, so they have chosen to do so on…
By Caroline Preston
Contributor
Nike Chair Gives $100-Million for University Athletic Fund
Philip H. Knight, the chairman and a co-founder of the Nike sportswear company, and his wife, Penelope, plan to give the University of Oregon, in Eugene, $100-million to establish a fund to support all of the university’s athletic programs and operations. The couple is still working out details…
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
$60-Million Pledged to Mass. College by Real-Estate Magnate; Other Gifts
Five higher-education institutions have received big gifts: Gordon College, in Wenham, Mass., has received an unrestricted pledge of $60-million from Dale E. Fowler, founder of Fowler Properties, a real-estate development company in Anaheim and Ontario, Calif., and his wife, Sarah Ann, for its…
Hotel Mogul Leaves Billions to Charity
In what could well be one of the most generous bequests of the decade, Leona M. Helmsley has left much of her estate — worth billions of dollars — to a charitable trust. Ms. Helmsley, head of the Helmsley Hotel Chain, died last month of heart failure. Her estate is estimated to be worth between…
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
Comedian Voted Most Effective Charity Star
Americans find the actor Jerry Lewis to be the most effective celebrity spokesman for charity causes, according to a survey by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. Though older Americans came to know Jerry Lewis first as the star of The Disorderly Orderly and the slapstick comic to Dean Martin’s…
By Anne W. Howard
Contributor
Companies and Foundations Give $1-Billion for Katrina Aid
Foundations and companies contributed more than $1-billion in cash and goods for relief efforts after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, a new report has found. The report was prepared by the Foundation Center, a New York organization that conducts research and provides other services to aid grant…
By Caroline Bermudez
Contributor
In a plush, sunny meeting room, Sidney Kimmel, the 79-year-old philanthropist and chairman of the Jones Apparel Group, sits at a long, glossy conference table, with his wife, Caroline, ALSO SEE: BIO: A Philanthropist’s Giving Record by his side, listening intently to a group of Johns Hopkins…
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
Photograph courtesy of the Student Conservation Association
By Anne W. Howard
Contributor
Two Universities Each Win $20-Million; Other Gifts
Two universities have received big gifts: Donald Bren, chairman of the Irvine Company, a real-estate investment firm in Newport Beach, Calif., has pledged $20-million to the University of California at Irvine to support its new law school. The money will help recruit and support a dean and 11 law…
Rockefeller Pledges $70-Million to Combat Effects of Global Warming
The Rockefeller Foundation, in New York, has pledged $70-million to help cities and towns around the world prepare for the potentially damaging effects of climate change. The five-year Initiative on Climate Change Resilience will seek ways to help people in poor neighborhoods develop ways to…
By BRENNEN JENSEN
Contributor
Foundations Urged to Do More to Aid America’s Rural Regions
Missoula, Mont. Foundations could help alleviate many of the nation’s most pressing problems by focusing more on the challenges and opportunities of rural America, said speakers at a conference on rural philanthropy here this month. While such regions receive fewer philanthropic dollars than urban…
By SUZANNE PERRY
Contributor
Looking to Increase Support for Jewish Causes? Just Take a Hike
On a drizzly August morning, Jehuda Reinharz, president of Brandeis University, laces up his hiking shoes for a climb up Aspen Mountain. He’s not on vacation, but rather at an unusual annual meeting between donors and charity executives, where callused feet and high-altitude conditioning can make…
By Ben Gose
Senior Editor
Court Battles Expected Over Brooke Astor’s Charity Bequests
Brooke Astor, the philanthropist and New York socialite who gave away nearly $195-million over her lifetime, died of pneumonia last week. She was 105. Several nonprofit causes will probably benefit from her estate, but which ones will get how much is not yet clear and her bequests are likely to be…
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
Ford Foundation Chooses a Business Consultant as Its New President
In a surprising move, the Ford Foundation last week chose Luis A. Ubiñas, a business consultant with little background in grant making, to take over as its chief executive in 2008. The choice of Mr. Ubiñas — a director at the San Francisco office of McKinsey & Company, the management-consulting…
By PETER PANEPENTO
Contributor
Bank Mergers Spur Rise in Giving, Study Says
Philanthropic giving by banks has increased significantly amid major mergers that took place in the 1990s, but the banks are focusing their donations more on national causes than the local ones previously supported, a new study has found. The report, “Banking on Philanthropy: Impact of Bank Mergers…
By Caroline Bermudez
Contributor
Company Experiments With Tying Employee Pay to Grantees’ Feedback
It was an innovative, even shocking, idea: Use the feedback from grantees to help determine the year-end ALSO SEE:STATISTICAL DATA: Charitable Giving at Major Corporations bonuses earned by employees of a corporation’s grant-making department. But one California company gave it a try for three…
By Darlene M. Siska
Contributor