How to Make the Most of a Grant Maker’s Visit
In the latest video in a series on foundation giving, staff members share insights into successful visits to grantees.
By Eden Stiffman
Senior Editor
Gifts Roundup: D.C. Financier Donates $20 Million to the Holocaust Museum
Other notable gifts include $25 million to Harvard University to establish new scholarship programs in the arts and humanities.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
Koret Foundation Gives $50 Million to 12 California Colleges
The money will support scholarships, research, and campus security, among other programs, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
How to Find Major Donors Among Midlevel Supporters
Catching signs of greater giving potential takes sleuthing, creativity, patience, and listening skills.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
U. of Houston and Donor’s Heirs Reach Pact on Arena Renaming
The agreement with the family of the late judge and Houston mayor Roy Hofheinz, for whom the campus basketball arena is named, will allow the university to offer naming rights for a planned new sports venue, reports the Houston Chronicle.
Donations Grow 4% to $373 Billion, Says ‘Giving USA’
International and education organizations fared particularly well, according to the annual report on philanthropy in America. But are there signs of slowing growth ahead?
By Timothy Sandoval
Contributor
Gifts Roundup: Old Dominion U. Gets $35 Million for New Art Museum
Plus, Oprah Winfrey donates $1 million to a Washington charity for homeless women and Craigslist founder Craig Newmark gives $1 million to support Wikipedia.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
Oprah Stuns D.C. Charity With Impromptu $1 Million Gift
The media mogul made the donation to N Street Village, which serves homeless and low-income women in Washington, while speaking at a benefit luncheon for the group Thursday, The Washington Post writes.
MacArthur’s $100 Million Contest a New Twist on ‘Big Bets’
NPR looks at the growing trend of big philanthropies putting their weight behind large-scale projects, focusing on the MacArthur Foundation’s just-launched $100 million competition seeking a solution to a major global problem.
Pittsburgh Developer Hands Over Prime Real Estate for Huge Park
Charles Betters is turning over 660 acres that was once slated to host a racetrack and casino to Pittsburgh officials, who aim to create the city’s largest swath of green space, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
How an Advocacy Group Takes an All-Hands-on-Deck Approach to Big Donors
More than 60 staff members, trustees, and volunteers at Jewish Voice for Peace manage about 600 major-donor relationships in addition to other roles they play at the organization.
By Eden Stiffman
Senior Editor
MacArthur’s $100 Million Competition Won’t Be a One-Off
The foundation plans to restage the 100&Change contest — an open-ended call for proposals to solve a critical global problem — every three years, according to a Fast Company article that looks inside the grant maker’s plan.
Old Dominion University Gets $35 Million Gift for Art Museum
The museum at the Norfolk, Va., campus will house works from the collection of the donors, retired media executive Richard Barry and his wife, Carolyn, reports The Virginian-Pilot.
Gifts Roundup: $10 Million for University of La Verne, $9 Million for Rose-Hulman Institute
Other notable donations included $5 million to Temple University and a $2.9-million bequest to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
Scandal Wracks Fla. Private School Funded by Koch Brother
Mining and energy magnate William Koch has fired the top official at the Florida academy he launched in 2011 amid allegations of sexual harassment, kickbacks, excessive spending, and grade-changing, The New York Times writes.
MacArthur to Give $100 Million to 1 Group to Solve 1 Big Problem
The foundation will award the grant to a nonprofit or business that offers the best idea for tackling a big problem “affecting people, places, or the planet.”
By Rebecca Koenig
Contributor