$30-Million Gift Goes to Community Fund; Other Donations
Four institutions have received big gifts. The Community Foundation Silicon Valley, in San Jose, Cal., has received $30-million from an anonymous donor. The benefactor will work with the foundation, which makes grants in Santa Clara County, Cal., to decide which organizations will receive support…
Buyout of N.J. Corporation Reaps $10-Million in Gifts
When Beneficial Corporation was acquired in April by Household International, Finn M. W. Caspersen, 56, Beneficial’s chief executive, decided it was a good time to leave and start a new career: pursuing his investments and philanthropy. But two charitable gifts made after his departure have become…
By MARINA DUNDJERSKI
Contributor
Researchers Spar on Question of How Much Americans Give to Charity
The elusive answer to the question of how much money Americans give to charity is at the core of a flap involving teams of researchers who study that problem. Two scholars at Boston College have concluded that the average U.S. household gave more than $1,000 to charity in 1995 -- the latest year…
By Stephen G. Greene
Contributor
Disability Groups Mourn Death of Dole Foundation
In May, disability-rights supporters gathered in a U.S. Senate office building to mourn the death of Paul G. Hearne, the tenacious president of the Dole Foundation for Employment of People with Disabilities. Now, just two months later, many of those same people are facing a second loss: the death…
By Jennifer Moore
Contributor
How Survey of Charitable Giving by Major U.S. Companies Was Conducted
The Chronicle’s corporate-giving survey is based on financial information provided by many of the nation’s top companies as ranked according to their annual revenue by Fortune magazine. A total of 150 companies were asked to provide figures on their charitable giving for 1996, 1997, and 1998. In…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Company Web Sites Offer a Plethora of Information About Grant Making
A growing number of companies are using the Internet to distribute information about their giving programs. Of the 111 big companies that provided data for the Chronicle‘s survey of corporate giving, 46 have put on their World-Wide Web sites detailed information about the kinds of grants the…
By Katharine LaBruna
Contributor
Companies Divided Over Philanthropy’s Impact on Profits
Corporate-giving officers are sharply divided over whether it makes any difference to a business’s bottom line if a company gives to charity. In a Chronicle survey of the largest U.S. companies -- based on revenue rankings by Fortune magazine -- corporate officials were asked to rate their…
By Debra E. Blum and Susan Gray
In September 1990, the Rev. John Walmsley set out with a small band of his parishioners from St. Laurence’s Church in London to deliver four truckloads of food, clothing, medical supplies, and other aid to Romania, which was just emerging from decades of Communist rule. What they found appalled…
Big Business Means Big Philanthropy
Large companies forecast 11% rise in gifts, but mergers worry charities Many of America’s largest companies expect to give significantly more to charity this year than in 1997, a Chronicle survey has found. Among 66 big companies that reported their giving plans for 1998, cash donations are…
By Debra E. Blum and Susan Gray
Companies Make a Big Push to Get Employees to Donate and Volunteer
The nation’s top companies are making a concerted effort to encourage workers to give time and money to charity, according to a survey conducted by the Consulting Network, a management-consulting company in Vienna, Va. The survey, which was commissioned by Charities@Work, a coalition of federations…
By Marilyn Dickey
Senior Editor, Copy
16 More ‘Points of Light’ Named
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…
MacArthur Foundation Names 29 New Recipients of Its ‘Genius’ Fellowships
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has announced 29 new MacArthur Fellows. Recipients of the fellowships, often called “genius awards,” are free to use the money as they wish. The foundation does not require them to produce any products or reports. No one can apply for a MacArthur…
Top 10 Public Charities Gave $677-Million
Fidelity Investments’ Charitable Gift Fund, the American Cancer Society, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute lead a new list of U.S. charities and community foundations ranked by the amount of money they disburse in grants to other non-profit organizations. The list is included in the second…
By Thomas J. Billitteri
Contributor
2 Businessmen Pledge $100-Million to Send Poor Children to Private Schools
The Wall Street financier Theodore J. Forstmann and John T. Walton, heir to the Wal-Mart Stores empire, announced last week that they will contribute $50-million each to a new fund to help children from low-income families attend private schools. The Children’s Scholarship Fund will distribute the…
By Holly Hall
Contributor
U. of Southern California Gets $17-Million Gift; Other Recent Donations
The University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, has received $17-million from Katherine B. Loker, an alumna whose father founded Starkist Foods, for the Hydrocarbon Research Institute and for a new track-and-field stadium. Mrs. Loker designated $15-million for research at the institute,…