Filmmaking Finds a Bigger Niche
As outlets for documentaries increase, charities and foundations help artists Television and movie documentaries are exploding in popularity -- in no small part because of money and creative work provided by charities and foundations. ALSO SEE:A Screen Test for CharitiesFilmmakers Say the Search…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
The Heinz Endowments, in Pittsburgh, have appointed Maxwell King, former editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer, to serve as executive director. The Heinz Endowments comprise two foundations: the Howard Heinz Endowment, created in 1941, and the Vira I. Heinz Endowment, created in 1986. Together, they…
Michigan Sees Foundation Growth
The state of Michigan now has 1,468 foundations -- 257 more than it did two years ago, according to the new edition of The Michigan Foundation Directory. The state’s foundations awarded more than $1.1-billion in grants during their most recent reporting year, up from $860-million in 1997, when the…
Disney: $6-Million for Education
The Walt Disney Company, in Burbank, Cal., has started a $6-million grant program to help elementary schools use creative teaching strategies to focus on the “basics” in reading, writing, and mathematics. The “Creative Learning Communities” program will select 35 elementary schools or groups of…
Report Urges Donors to Give Billions More
Americans could “comfortably” give $240-billion more to charity in 1999 than they probably will, according to estimates released by a San Francisco group that is trying to encourage wealthy people to give more. The financial calculations were released by the Newtithing Group, an organization formed…
Former Pizza Tycoon Donates $50-Million to Create Law School; Other Gifts
Thomas S. Monaghan, the billionaire founder and former chairman of Domino’s Pizza, has donated $50-million to create a Catholic law school. Mr. Monaghan, who had transformed a small pizza store in Ypsilanti, Mich., into the world’s largest pizza-delivery chain, sold his empire last year for about…
Grants Focus on Religion, Public Policy
The Pew Charitable Trusts, in Philadelphia, has committed $10-million for a new program intended to encourage religious congregations to get more involved in shaping public policy. The grants program, called “Religious Communities and the Public Square,” has been authorized for three years and the…
Parishioners Contributed $25-Billion to Churches in 1997, Report Says
American church members contributed $25-billion to 58 Protestant denominations in 1997, ALSO SEE:Contributions to U.S. Protestant Churches, 1997Contributions to Canadian Protestant Churches, 1997 according to a new report by the National Council of Churches. The report estimated that giving had…
By Harvy Lipman
Contributor
Foundation Support of AIDS Organizations Appears to be Waning, Survey Finds
Grant making to AIDS-related projects appears to be on the decline, according to results of a new survey commissioned by Funders Concerned About AIDS, a grant makers’ coalition. Among the 276 grant makers that responded to the survey, only 128 planned to make AIDS grants this year, compared to 162…
By Meg Sommerfeld
Contributor
Foundation Giving Rose 22% in a Year, Report Says
Giving by the nation’s grant makers grew by 22 per cent from 1997 to 1998, according to a new study by the Foundation Center. In 1998, grant makers gave an estimated $19.46-billion to non-profit organizations, up from nearly $15.98-billion the previous year, according to the center, which is…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Big Fund Hits a Nerve in Vermont
Freeman Foundation’s school grants seen by critics as slap at state law Vermont’s wealthiest foundation has committed more than $15-million in the past few months for education programs at dozens of public schools around the state -- but many residents, far from being grateful, are incensed.…
By Stephen G. Greene
Contributor
Photograph by Barry Williams It’s early on a chilly morning, and a group of sleepy-eyed people follow a dew-moistened trail in Grand Teton National Park. The group stops before a barely visible net strung between some shrubs, and watches as Doug Wachob (shown at left) holds a small yellow warbler…
New Financial Data on Grant Makers and Rankings of Foundations
The Foundation Center has issued the 1999 edition of The Foundation Directory, ALSO SEE:Financial Data by Type of Foundation and by Region100 Largest Foundations by Assets which provides information on 10,445 foundations. In most cases, data are for fiscal years ending in 1997. Sixty-nine of the…
White House Gives Awards to 7 Volunteers
Following are the people and organizations that have most recently been named to receive President Clinton’s Daily Points of Light Award. The awards, which are given to those who have done exemplary volunteer work, take their name from President Bush’s description of people who do community service…