A Bay Area foundation teaches new charities to make their casesOne afternoon last summer, Joshua Boshnack and Allyson Wyenn headed to a cafe for lunch after delivering food to San Francisco homeless families for the pair’s all-volunteer organization, Fill Up America. As they walked, they discussed…
By EMAN QUOTAH
Contributor
Report Urges Charity-Watchdog Groups to Improve Rating Methods
Charity watchdogs and other groups that evaluate nonprofit organizations are confusing donors by using conflicting standards and relying on “overly simplistic” criteria, according to a new report. The report -- by the National Council of Nonprofit Associations and the National Human Services…
By Ian Wilhelm
Contributor
New Report Examines Health-Care Conversion Funds
More than $18-billion is now held by grant-making organizations created after nonprofit health-care groups ALSO SEE: Health-Care ‘Conversion’ Philanthropies converted to for-profit status, a nearly $2-billion increase over 2003, a new report says. The report by Grantmakers in Health, a Washington…
By Caroline Preston
Contributor
Business School Receives $30-Million; Other New Gifts
Two institutions have received big gifts: The University of California at Irvine has received $30-million from Paul Merage to endow professorships, increase scholarships and financial aid, and support faculty research at its Graduate School of Management. Mr. Merage, of Newport Beach, Calif., who…
$100-Million Pledged for New University in Israel
An Israeli businessman who has produced dozens of Hollywood movies has pledged $100-million to establish a new university in northern Israel. The film mogul, Arnon Milchan, 60, whose production company, Regency Enterprises, backed such box-office hits as Free Willy, JFK, L.A. Confidential, and the…
By M.J. Prest and Haim Watzman
Rise in Foundation Giving Expected to Be Small This Year, Report Says
Foundation giving rebounded last year, hitting a record high of $32.4-billion and is expected to rise ALSO SEE: Foundation Giving Trends, 2003 modestly this year, according to a new report issued by the Foundation Center, in New York. The 66,000 grant-making foundations in the United States…
By BRENNEN JENSEN
Contributor
Close Monitoring of Charitable Trusts Adds Up to Big Sums for One Group
In the past few years, hundreds of charities have won millions of dollars in legal settlements from banks accused of ALSO SEE:Loss of TrustBank Sues Philadelphia Trust in Quest for Additional Compensation misdeeds. Convinced that banks are mismanaging charitable trusts and other philanthropic…
By Brad Wolverton
Contributor
Bank Sues Philadelphia Trust in Quest for Additional Compensation
Many beneficiaries of charitable trusts have been taking banks to court in recent years to argue that the ALSO SEE:Loss of TrustClose Monitoring of Charitable Trusts Adds Up to Big Sums for One Group financial institutions have improperly handled trust money. But sometimes banks sue nonprofit…
By Brad Wolverton
Contributor
Donors, foundations say banks mishandle charitable accountsMany charities and foundations believe they are losing millions of dollars a year to the very institutions they ALSO SEE: Bank Sues Philadelphia Trust in Quest for Additional Compensation Close Monitoring of Charitable Trusts Adds Up to Big…
By Brad Wolverton
Contributor
Photograph by Mercy Ships International Hundreds of Liberians gathered in their capital city, Monrovia, one day last month to greet a 522-foot ocean liner staffed by doctors and nurses from the charity Mercy Ships. Before the liner departs in June, its crew members will perform more than 300…
By Caroline Preston
Contributor
Florida Case Sparks New Interest in End-of-Life Nonprofit Groups
The massive publicity surrounding the legal battle over the fate of Terri Schiavo -- a brain-damaged woman in Florida kept alive for 15 years by a feeding tube -- has prompted thousands of Americans to contact charities that promote changes in the care and legal options available to dying people.…
By SUZANNE PERRY
Contributor
Veterinary School Receives $21-Million; Other Gifts
Four institutions have received big gifts: Oregon State University, in Corvallis, has received a $21-million bequest from Lois Bates Acheson for its College of Veterinary Medicine. The majority of the gift will support the college’s endowment, and $1.5-million will establish a professorship. Ms.…
Research Charities Weigh Benefits, Risks of Embryonic Stem-Cell Grants
By Brennen Jensen One of the thorniest decisions charities like the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research ALSO SEE:Acting With Intent have had to make over the past few years is whether to support human embryonic stem-cell research. The New York charity has spent $8-million on the…
By BRENNEN JENSEN
Contributor