Two Publications Question Foundation Benefits
As the assets of American foundations have ballooned in recent years to more than $330-billion, the social value that the funds provide has not kept pace, argue the authors of separate articles in two publications. “Does the good that foundations do justify society’s investment in them?” asks…
By Stephen G. Greene
Contributor
‘Business Week’: on Giving by America’s Most Wealthy
Melinda Gates and her husband, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, are taking a “decidedly different” approach to philanthropy than are another wealthy couple, corporate investor Warren Buffett and his wife, Susan, Business Week magazine says in a pair of stories (October 25). Mrs. Gates and her…
By Thomas J. Billitteri
Contributor
Technology Bits: Survey on On-Line Donations and the ‘Digital Divide Summit’
* In a survey conducted for America Online by Roper Starch, 29 per cent of the 505 participants said they would be interested in making on-line donations to charity. Interest among young people was particularly strong -- 53 per cent of respondents between the ages of 18 and 24 said they were…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Non-Profit, Commercial Sites Match Donors and Charities
Two new Web sites -- one commercial and one non-profit -- ALSO SEE:Correction are using the Internet to match donors and non-profit organizations. GrantMatch.com, a company founded by lawyer Lawrence M. Elkus in Southfield, Mich., allows charities to post appeals for either general operating costs…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Web Site Links Food Banks to Surplus-Food Donors
The Hewlett-Packard Company, based in Palo Alto, Cal., has teamed up with America’s Second Harvest, a network of food banks, to create a new Web site, ResourceLink. The site matches food manufacturers that have surplus products to donate with charities that can distribute the food to the hungry.…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Charity Data Goes On Line — and Then Off
At the end of last month, Philanthropic Research posted more than 190,000 Forms 990, the informational tax returns that charities file with the Internal Revenue Service, on its GuideStar Web site -- but had to take them down after some documents were found to include information about donors. The…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Court Says New York Community Trust Was Wrong to Redirect Earmarked Money
A New York state court has ruled that one of the country’s oldest and largest community foundations overstepped its authority 28 years ago when it redirected money earmarked for a specific charity to other causes. The decision marks a significant step in a long-running case that has been closely…
By Jennifer Moore
Contributor
International Group of Volunteer Doctors Receives 1999 Nobel Peace Prize
The international medical-relief organization Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) has been named the winner of the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize. The organization each year arranges for 2,000 medical professionals from around the world to volunteer to work in more than 80 countries. It…
A Call for College Classmates to Reunite in Behalf of Public Service
If Ralph Nader and other members of the Princeton University Class of 1955 are successful, college reunions will no longer be about rowdy all-night drinking parties and the strong-arming of classmates into making big gifts. ALSO SEE:Class ActionAppleseed Foundation Instead, the focus will be on…
By Anthony Giorgianni
Contributor
The Advertising Council (New York): Appointed Alan Zipkin, controller at Time Warner Cable (New York), to be controller. AIDS Action (Washington): Appointed Jeanne White, founder of the Ryan White Foundation (Indianapolis), which recently ceased operations, to be the national spokesperson for the…
Following are summaries of recent reports by the Council of Better Business Bureaus’ Philanthropic Advisory Service and the National Charities Information Bureau. Those two private organizations report on whether charities meet standards for fund raising, governance, financial management, and…
Harvard Law School alumni join fight for social justice at growing network of volunteer legal centers Seven years ago, the consumer advocate Ralph Nader met for sandwiches and coffee with some of his colleagues from Harvard Law School’s Class of 1958 and pitched ALSO SEE:A Call for College…
By Anthony Giorgianni
Contributor
Write-Offs: Arizona Tax Credits, Mormon Lobbying
* The U.S. Supreme Court has allowed to stand a state-court ruling that permits Arizona residents to claim a tax credit for donations to non-profit scholarship organizations that help poor families pay for private-school tuition. The Arizona Supreme Court ruled earlier this year (The Chronicle,…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
‘Affinity Card’ Revenue Isn’t Taxable, Court Rules
A federal appellate court has dealt a blow to the Internal Revenue Service’s long-standing effort to make non-profit organizations pay income tax on revenue from “affinity” credit-card programs. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, rejected the I.R.S.'s argument that…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
The following awards have been presented for work in philanthropy, fund raising, volunteerism, and non-profit management: Arts. The Business Committee for the Arts (New York) and Forbes magazine have announced the recipients of their 1999 Business in the Arts Awards: -- The Founders Award went to…
New Publications on Mentor Programs, Foundation-Payout Debate
OTHER PUBLICATIONS Contemporary Issues in Mentoring, edited by Jean Baldwin Grossman, is a report from Public/Private Ventures geared to grant makers who need to know how -- and if -- mentor programs work. The report includes evaluations of mentor programs run by Big Brothers Big Sisters and…
By C. Quinn Hanchette
Contributor