Double Play: Minor-League Team’s Nonprofit Owner Instills Confidence in Urban Kids Through Baseball
A sun-scorched day slowly gives way to a warm evening, the air close and still. In other words, a perfect night for baseball. As crowds stream into downtown’s AutoZone Park this particular Friday, the hometown Redbirds, a Triple-A, minor-league affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, are scheduled to…
By BRENNEN JENSEN
Contributor
New Autism Charity Hopes to Carve Out Its Niche, Despite Tough Times
Few nonprofit leaders would consider 2009 an ideal time to start up a charity. But Alison Tepper Singer isn’t letting the recession deter her. What she believes is an important gap in autism research can’t wait for the economy to rebound, she says. Ms. Singer created the Autism Science Foundation,…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founder of Special Olympics
Age at death: 88 Major philanthropic role: Eunice Kennedy Shriver sought to fight the stigma surrounding mental retardation by creating Special Olympics in 1961. Started as a summer camp at her suburban Maryland home, the charity — which helps people with disabilities realize their potential…
By Holly Hall
Contributor
George Weissman, corporate patron of the arts
Age at death: 90 How he was tied to philanthropy: As chief executive of Philip Morris, he started the company’s arts-sponsorship program in the 1960s. How he made his mark: At a time when it was rare for a corporation to support adventurous cultural endeavors, Mr. Weissman encouraged Philip Morris…
By Caroline Bermudez
Contributor
IRS Releases Papers on Governance Matters
The Internal Revenue Service has publicly released educational materials on governance matters that it has been using recently to train its agents and employees. The IRS says its “areas of interest” include boards that are “active and engaged,” “appropriately sized,” and “composed of primarily…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
Nearly Half of Charities Have Cut Jobs, Says Study
Nearly half of nonprofit organizations (47.5 percent) have laid off staff members to cut costs as donations dwindle, according to a survey by Campbell & Company, a group that consults with charities. Fifty percent of groups in the survey of 45 charities have frozen salaries, 15.8 percent have…
By Caroline Preston
Contributor
Association Experiments With Virtual Conferences
The Nonprofit Technology Network, which organizes an in-person annual meeting, is trying something a little different. Next month it will hold a two-day Online Nonprofit Technology Conference. “We’ve been told that it can cost too much to fly across the country and stay in a hotel,” Holly Ross, the…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Campaigns Seek to Improve Health Care for Immigrants
A project known as New Routes to Community Health seeks to improve the well-being of immigrants through multimedia campaigns created by immigrant-led groups. A joint effort of the Robert Wood Johnson and Benton Foundations, New Routes to Community Health has awarded three-year grants of $225,000…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Logistics Software Helps Food Banks Cut Costs
Feeding America, a network of more than 200 food banks, is using logistics and distribution software to help local groups transport food more efficiently. Grocery stores have become an increasingly important source of food donations, especially as food manufacturers improve their operations and as…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Disaster-Relief Groups Are Leery as Hurricane Season Approaches
The tight fund-raising climate could make it more difficult for charities to help people affected by this year’s hurricane season and by other disasters in the United States and abroad, nonprofit officials say. While the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently revised its storm…
By Caroline Preston
Contributor
The following awards have been presented for work in advocacy, fund raising, nonprofit leadership, philanthropy, and other areas: Aging. The National Alliance for Caregiving (Bethesda, Md.) and the MetLife Foundation (New York) have announced the winners of the 2009 National Family Caregiving…
Charities shift from building to renovating foreclosed propertiesLike thousands of people in Northern California in years past, Tracie VanHook faced some familiar obstacles to her goal of owning a home: $600,000 price tags and banks that wouldn’t lend to people who make a modest salary — as Ms.…
By Michael Anft
Contributor
Study Finds Volunteerism Remains Steady Among Recession-Strapped Americans
The number of Americans who volunteer held steady last year, defying expectations that the rising unemployment and foreclosure rates could reduce the number of people who get involved in community affairs, according to a new report. The report released last month by the Corporation for National and…
By Caroline Preston
Contributor
Lawmakers Asked to Weigh Overhaul’s Impact on Charities
For nonprofit employees, the Washington debate about health care could mean changes in how they receive and pay for medical services. While there are competing proposals in Congress, the two bills that have made headway in the Senate and the House of Representatives have some common ideas. They…
By Ian Wilhelm
Contributor
American Red Cross (Washington): Appointed Peggy Dyer, senior vice president of marketing at the Allstate Insurance Company (Northbrook, Ill.), to be chief marketing officer. Boyer Children’s Clinic (Seattle): Appointed Michael K. Stewart, acting executive director and former assistant director, to…
The Internal Revenue Service has released the fourth in a series of tip sheets to help nonprofit organizations prepare their Form 990 informational tax return. The new tips focus on information the IRS seeks about arrangements a charity has with related organizations. The tips are available at…
By Grant Williams
Contributor