Ford Foundation Offers Buyouts to One-Third of Its 550 Workers
The Ford Foundation is offering buyouts to one-third of its 550 employees to reduce expenses and avoid cutting its grant making. The move is the latest in a series of efforts by the foundation, the second largest in America, to trim its costs following an almost 30-percent drop in assets last year.…
By Ian Wilhelm
Contributor
An Obama-Inspired Volunteer-Recruitment Web Site Will Soon Debut
When Barack Obama was campaigning for the presidency, he pledged to create a “Craigslist for service” — a comprehensive Web presence that would help people across the country find volunteer opportunities. Now, after months of quiet work, a coalition of nonprofit groups, technology developers, and…
By SUZANNE PERRY
Contributor
AIG Seeks to Gain Control of Endowment in Order to Pay Bonuses
American International Group, the beleaguered insurance company, is suing to gain control of roughly $4-billion that is owned by a charitable organization, the Starr International Foundation, so that some or all of the money can be used to pay bonuses to AIG employees. The company argues that it…
By Ben Gose
Senior Editor
Africare (Washington): Announced the retirement of Julius E. Coles, president, effective December 31. American Jewish World Service (New York): Appointed Aaron Dorfman, director of education, to be vice president for programs. Boyer Children’s Clinic (Seattle): Announced the death of Judith A.…
A committee of nonprofit experts that advises the Internal Revenue Service is recommending that the agency improve the tax rules governing international grant making. “While the longstanding framework for cross-border philanthropy functions well, it can and should be updated to simplify compliance…
By Grant Williams
Contributor
Making the move to a microfinance organization
What you need to pinpoint is not so much your general market value as your value to the organization in which you work.
Tips for tailoring a résumé for a grant-making job
Q. I’m about to retire after 30 years spent working in information technology for state government. I’d like to spend the next few years applying my professional expertise to the work of a charity, but I’m daunted by the specific skills required in the job descriptions I see. How do I start my…
By EMAN QUOTAH
Contributor
Lessons Learned: Teaching Kids the Costs of Urban Violence
After surviving a difficult childhood that included the death of his father, the loss of siblings to AIDS and suicide, and a drug habit he kicked as a young adult, Scott P. Charles began reaching out to troubled children in his hometown of Sacramento. He was recruited, in 1988, by a small nonprofit…
By Mary E. Medland
Contributor
Latest Market Values of Big Endowments at 112 Nonprofit Groups
Most recent market-value estimate Date of estimate Percentage change from 2008 2008 market value Percentage change from 2007 Fiscal year ends Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Seattle) $26,100,000,000 2/28/2009 - 12.1% $29,700,000,000 - 23.3% December 31 William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (Menlo…
Returns on Endowment Investments at a Sampling of Nonprofit Groups
Investment returns 2008 Date returns cover Most-recent returns Date returns cover Recent market-value estimate David and Lucile Packard Foundation (Los Altos, Calif.) - 25.3% January-December 2008 - 4.5% January-March 2009 $4,200,000,000 University of Minnesota and Foundation (Minneapolis) - 1.9%…
Rodger McFarlane, Gay-Rights Leader and AIDS Activist
Age at death: 54 Major philanthropy jobs: Mr. McFarlane was the first paid executive director of Gay Men’s Health Crisis, in New York. He also led Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, a group that provides grants and raises money for AIDS services, and was a founder of Bailey House, which offers…
By Caroline Bermudez
Contributor
The following awards have been presented for work in advocacy, fund raising, nonprofit leadership, philanthropy, and other areas: Arts. The McKnight Foundation (Minneapolis) has presented its 2009 Distinguished Artist Award to Bain Boehlke, an actor, director, and founding artistic director of the…
Senators Consider Changes to Hospitals’ Tax Status
The two top members of the Senate Finance Committee have made public ideas lawmakers may want to consider to revamp the nation’s health-care system, including a change in how the tax-exempt status of nonprofit hospitals would be handled under federal law. Under the proposal, many nonprofit…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
iPhone Application Extends Public Radio’s Reach
Public radio’s bet that the iPhone would be an important platform for reaching out to listeners appears to be paying off. Several major public-radio organizations — including National Public Radio, American Public Media, and Public Radio International — joined forces to develop the Public Radio…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Multiple Departments Oversee Online Activities
Employees responsible for a charity’s online activities are likely to be spread throughout the organization, rather than concentrated in a single department, according to a new report. An online survey of 60 nonprofit groups found that only 12 organizations, or 20 percent, had organized all of…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
How Foundations Can Help Charities Weather Hard Times
NEW BOOKS Smarter Grantmaking in Challenging Economic Times: Insights for Foundation Leaders, is a background paper issued by Grantmakers for Effective Organizations on how best to help charities weather the recession. Based on conversations with hundreds of philanthropies, the report recommends…
By Caroline Bermudez
Contributor