Technology Bits: Federal Grants, Arts Resources, Ways for Charities to Win Prizes and Earn Money
* The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Technology Opportunities Program is accepting applications for $12.5-million in grants through March 16. The program, formerly known as the Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program, awards grants to non-profit organizations and state…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Web Site Links Researchers and Non-Profit Groups
A new Web site plays matchmaker between non-profit organizations with research needs and students and academics looking for projects. Link -- also the name of the new Stanford, Cal., non-profit group that runs the site -- allows charities to post research projects that they would like to have…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
‘Digital Divide’ Draws Grant Makers’ Attention
The “digital divide” has become a hot topic in philanthropy. * A new documentary series entitled Digital Divide, airing this month on PBS, examines how income levels, race, and gender affect children’s access to technology both inside and outside the classroom. With a $300,000 grant from the Bill &…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Paper Examines How Welfare Shift Shook Up California
Reflections on the Impact of Devolution on California, by Jean Ross, executive director of the California Budget Project, explores how the state has been coping with new responsibilities stemming from welfare restructuring. Ms. Ross writes that reductions in federal benefits to legal immigrants…
By C. Quinn Hanchette
Contributor
Report Documents Rough Start for Urban Babies
The Right Start: Conditions of Babies and Their Families in America’s Largest Cities reports that many children born in cities suffer disadvantages not shared by suburban or rural babies. The Annie E. Casey Foundation, in Baltimore, analyzed the 1997 births in 55 U.S. cities according to certain…
By C. Quinn Hanchette
Contributor
Grantmaking Basics: a Field Guide for Funders
By C. Quinn Hanchette
Contributor
Supreme Court Will Review Ruling in Boy Scout Case
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether the Boy Scouts of America may continue its policy of excluding homosexuals. The justices this month said they will review a ruling by the Supreme Court of New Jersey that held that the charity violated the state’s antidiscrimination law when it…
By DOMENICA MARCHETTI
Contributor
1 in 10 Foundations Offers Domestic-Partner Benefits, Survey Finds
One in 10 foundations offers medical or other benefits to its employees’ unmarried domestic partners, ALSO SEE:Grant Makers: Benefits Provided to Staff MembersEmployment Policies at FoundationsPercentage of Foundations That Offer Different Types of Leave to Workers according to a new survey by the…
By Thomas J. Billitteri
Contributor
New IRS Rules Tell Foundations How to Comply With Public-Disclosure Law
The Internal Revenue Service has issued rules governing how private foundations are to comply with a law designed to give the public greater access to their annual informational tax returns, ALSO SEE:The full text of the new rules called Forms 990-PF. The regulations take effect March 13. Congress…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
Former Salvation Army officer charges that charity’s policy on pay for married couples violates her civil rights For four years, Wendy Spearin served as a lieutenant in the Salvation Army. But she never drew a paycheck. Instead, in keeping with a longstanding policy at the giant social-service…
By DOMENICA MARCHETTI
Contributor
Access Living (Chicago): Appointed Karen Tamley, housing-policy coordinator, to be director of programs. American Leprosy Missions (Greenville, S.C.): Appointed Bill Ellenberger, chief executive officer of Cornerstone Portable Computers (Lake San Marcos, Cal.), to be Western-area director, based in…
Top Officials to Discuss IRS Reorganization
The Commissioner of Internal Revenue, the Treasury Secretary, and other federal officials will discuss the recent revamping of the I.R.S. at a conference in Washington this week. To learn more about the January 13-14 event, “The New I.R.S. Stands Up: What the Modernized Agency Means for You,” call…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
Charities Urged to Consider Lobbying Choice
The Alliance for Justice, a national association of advocacy groups, and 15 grant makers are asking foundations to encourage their grant recipients to consider a little-used way to have their lobbying work measured by the government. Federal law has long allowed charities to lobby -- provided that…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
The following awards have been presented for work in philanthropy, fund raising, volunteerism, and non-profit management: Associations. The Technology Section of the American Society of Association Executives (Washington) has given its 1999 Award of Excellence: Technology Innovation Award to…
Paper Urges Oversight of Data Bases on Charities
State Nonprofit Databases: Current Conditions and Future Directions, by Russy D. Sumariwalla, assesses the progress of efforts to build computer data bases of non-profit organizations, and calls for establishing a committee to steer the development of such compilations state-by-state. This paper,…
By C. Quinn Hanchette
Contributor
Booklet Offers Tips for Annual-Fund Success
Profitable Annual Gift Strategies is a guide to running a yearly fund-raising campaign, published by the editors of Successful Fund Raising and The Volunteer Management Report. Sections cover persuading employees to give, expanding an organization’s pool of donors, using direct mail, coordinating…
By C. Quinn Hanchette
Contributor