Study Says Chicago’s Nonprofit Arts and Culture Scene Strengthens Economy
NEW BOOKS Arts & Economic Prosperity III: The Economic Impact of Nonprofit Arts and Culture Organizations and Their Audiences in the City of Chicago, Ill., was sponsored by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Collecting budget and attendance data from 115 nonprofit arts and culture…
By Anne W. Howard
Contributor
Study Compares Americans and Europeans in Terms of Civic Engagement
NEW BOOKS American Civic Engagement in Comparative Perspective: Key Comparative Findings From the U.S. “Citizenship, Involvement, Democracy” Survey, stacks Americans up against Europeans on several measures. The study looks at trust, volunteerism, political involvement, religiosity, immigrants and…
By Anne W. Howard
Contributor
The following awards have been presented for work in advocacy, fund raising, nonprofit leadership, philanthropy, and other areas: Fund raising. The Indiana U. Center on Philanthropy (Indianapolis) has presented the 2007 Henry A. Rosso Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Ethical Fund Raising to…
Aid Groups Denounce French Charity’s Airlift
International relief groups are trying to smooth relations with Africans and African government officials after a scandal involving a French charity raised suspicions about their charitable operations and goodwill. Last month, six employees of L’Arche de Zoé (Zoe’s Ark), a charity based in Paris,…
By Ian Wilhelm
Contributor
Evangelists Face Inquiry Into Spending and Pay
The senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, Charles E. Grassley, has asked six prominent television evangelists to submit financial data detailing their ministry’s expenditures, compensation practices, and board structures. The action comes in response to news coverage and complaints…
By BRENNEN JENSEN
Contributor
Bill Would Extend Tax Breaks for Gifts of Food
Congress is considering legislation that would make permanent a tax deduction for businesses that donate their surplus food to charity. The deduction, which expires at the end of the year, allows businesses to write off the cost of donated food, plus one-half the profit they would have made had the…
By PETER PANEPENTO
Contributor
Senator Threatens Hospitals With Tougher Rules
Sen. Charles E. Grassley is using tough talk to try to persuade nonprofit hospitals to scale back their opposition to proposed changes in the Form 990 informational tax form. Mr. Grassley, the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, held a meeting last month to discuss possible new…
By PETER PANEPENTO
Contributor
Lifelong Passion for Music Drives Leader of Arts Charity
I was born in Boston in 1939. My father was a naval architect and my mother was a concert pianist,
Red Cross Wins Partial Court Victory
By Suzanne PerryA federal judge has dismissed one of the eight legal charges that the pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson filed against the American Red Cross in a trademark dispute, but agreed to allow the others to go forward. The Red Cross said the judge, who issued an order last week, had…
By SUZANNE PERRY
Contributor
Foundations Slow to Adopt Technology
By Sam KeanGrant makers continue to lag behind other groups in adopting and using information technology, according to a recent survey. The Technology Affinity Group and the Council on Foundations co-sponsored the survey, which gathered results from 334 foundations. It was the third such survey…
By Sam Kean
Contributor
Company Says Hackers Stole Charity Data
By Sam KeanNinety-two nonprofit groups that use Convio, a company that helps charities raise money and send advocacy appeals online, had their accounts broken into in late October, the company has announced. All the attacks involved charities that use GetActive, a software company Convio acquired…
By Sam Kean
Contributor
When the American Jewish World Service used to talk about using video to illustrate its overseas aid projects, it usually meant gathering enough footage ALSO SEE: Click on the images below to see examples of online videos discussed in this story. VIDEO: VFW: Our Heroes Next Door VIDEO: Kanye West…
By PETER PANEPENTO
Contributor
Human-rights group creates online hub to document abusesWitness, a human-rights organization in New York, has long worked with grass-roots groups ALSO SEE:Click on the images below to see examples of videos from the Witness Web site. VIDEO: Dual Injustice (requires Quicktime) VIDEO: Duty to Protect…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (New York): Appointed Catherine Camera, president of Philanthropy Plus (Old Brookville, N.Y.), to be managing director and chief operating officer. Amherst College (Mass.): Appointed Megan Morey, director of leadership giving at Williams College (Williamstown,…
Trustees Don’t Do Enough to Help Charities Raise Money, Study Finds
Trustees fall down on fund-raising duties, report says
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
The following awards have been presented for work in advocacy, fund raising, nonprofit leadership, philanthropy, and other areas: American Indians. Ecotrust (Portland, Ore.) has presented its 2007 Buffett Award for Indigenous Leadership to Roberta Conner, director of the Tamastslikt Cultural…