Releases

Find out how grantmakers can help create positive change on the African continent from Making a Difference in Africa: Advice from Experienced Grantmakers. Based on the insights of more than 50 foundation and corporate giving program officers, grantmakers can learn how best to address such issues as democracy and civil society, living standards, health, education and the environment. $20 members; $30 non-members. Order online at www.cof.org. Council on Foundations, 1828 L Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20036.

All Work and No Play? Listening to What KIDS and PARENTS Really Want from Out-of-School Time is a report prepared by Public Agenda. Commissioned by The Wallace Foundation, the study found that most parents want their kids to participate in out-of-school activities that foster interests, values and growth, rather than academic interests. Kids, on the other hand, sought nonacademic activities during the school year, but 56 percent said they would like to engage in more academic activities during the summer months. Free download (PDF): www.wallacefoundation.org; hard copies $10. The Wallace Foundation, Two Park Avenue, 23rd Floor, New York, NY 10016.

According to The Canadian Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector in Comparative Perspective—the first such study—Canada's nonprofit sector is vibrant and larger as a proportion of the economy than its counterpart in the United States. However, in raw numbers, the U.S. nonprofit sector is the largest in the world, while Canada's is the second-largest. The study, from Imagine Canada (formerly the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy) and the Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project, is part of an effort to analyze the nonprofit sector in cross section of countries worldwide. Free download (PDF): www.nonprofitscan.ca/pdf/jhu_report_en.pdf. Imagine Canada, 425 University Avenue, Suite 900, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1T6 Canada.

Although there is no formula for creating effective funding collaboratives, flexible groups supported by a regional association of grantmakers are more likely to succeed, says a report by the Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers (ABAG). Local Donor Collaboration: Lessons From Baltimore and Beyond, written by Alice C. Buhl, summarizes how collaboratives get started, what sustains them and which principles and practices are effective. It also presents case studies of four types of funding collaboratives affiliated with ABAG. Free download (PDF): www.abagmd.org/info-url2446/info-url_show.htm?doc_id=230604. The Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers, 2 East Read Street, 2nd Floor, Baltimore, Maryland 21202.

A report from Grantmakers In Health (GIH), The Business of Giving: Governance and Asset Management in Foundations Formed from Health Care Conversions, examines issues such as board compensation, audits and discretionary grants at 174 conversion foundations. Free download (PDF): www.gih.org/usr_doc/
Conversion_Report
_2005.pdf. Improving Health Access in Communities: Lessons for Effective Grantmaking highlights strategic grantmaking lessons from the Communities in Charge and Community Voices programs, funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, respectively. Both initiatives seek to alleviate the burden of low insurance rates in 24 communities across the country. Free download (PDF): www.gih.org/usr_doc/Improving_Health_Access_2005.pdf. Funding Health Advocacy is an issue brief on the challenges and opportunities involved with funding advocacy and engaging in public policy work. Free download (PDF): www.gih.org/usr_doc/IssueBrief21_Funding_Advocacy.pdf. Grantmakers In Health, 1100 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 1200, Washington, DC 20036.

Giving by the more than 66,000 grantmaking foundations in the United States increased to a new high of $32.4 billion in 2004, according to Foundation Growth and Giving Estimates: 2004 Preview. This estimated 6.9 percent rise reversed two years of modest reductions. The report presents findings on actual 2003 giving and assets as tracked by the Foundation Center for all U.S. independent, corporate, community, and operating foundations. Free download: www.fdncenter.org/research/trends_analysis/pdf/fgge05.pdf; $95 for copies of Foundations Today series. The Foundation Center, 79 Fifth Avenue/16th Street, New York, NY 10003-3076.