FN&C Now
Volume 5, Number 17 - April 30, 2004
FN&C Now is published by the Council on Foundations to keep you in the loop by sharing news between bimonthly editions of Foundation News & Commentary magazine (FN&C Now Web archive: http://www.foundationnews.org/now/index.htm ). Please feel free to forward this message to your friends and colleagues who might enjoy it.
IN THIS ISSUE
FROM THE CONFERENCE: Council elects Emmett D. Carson chair, five new board members; Distinguished Grantmaker Charles Benton calls for increased funding for media policy reform; Dorothy S. Ridings addresses "serious challenges to principled philanthropy"
JUST PUBLISHED: Key predictors of grantees' perceptions of foundations; grantmakers not engaging in activities they consider important for effectiveness; new 990-PF resources
ACT NOW: Leaders of large, new foundations to reveal grantmaking strategies; sign up for funders' briefing on the EITC, tax preparation and asset building
ON THE MOVE: Terry Mazany and Donald M. Stewart (Chicago Community); Jaime Alvarado (Mayfair); Diane Olberg (James Irvine); Richard Harrison (Minnesota Council); Tim Legesse and Dollyne Pettingill Sherman (Lumina)
FROM THE CONFERENCE
NEW BOARD CHAIR AND DIRECTORS: During the Council on Foundations 55th Annual Conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Emmett D. Carson, president and CEO of The Minneapolis Foundation, was elected chairperson of the Council's board of directors. The Council re-elected ten current board members and elected five new board members: Victoria P. Garchitorena, president, Ayala Foundation; Stanley S. Litow, president, IBM Foundation; Kathleen Odne, executive director, Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation; Arturo Vargas, trustee, The Edward W. Hazen Foundation; and C. David Campbell, president, McGregor Fund. Read more: http://www.cof.org/Content/PressRelease/Display.cfm?pressReleaseID=1570 .
DISTINGUISHED PLEA: Charles Benton, board chair of the Benton Foundation and Council on Foundations 2004 Distinguished Grantmaker, expressed alarm over the future of media in America and called for greater funder involvement in encouraging open and inclusive media policymaking. While receiving the award for lifetime achievement in philanthropy (his wife, Marjorie, is co-recipient), Benton described the consolidation of media ownership and the political and financial pressures faced by public broadcasters. "I believe the future of media and communications in America is cause for serious concern. At stake is who controls what we see, hear, and read. At stake is our ability to get our message out and make a difference. At stake is nothing less than the health of our democracy," he said. Read the speech: http://www.benton.org/press/2004/pr042704.htm .
RISING TO THE CHALLENGE: Council on Foundations President and CEO Dorothy S. Ridings addressed "serious challenges to principled philanthropy" in "The State of Philanthropy" at the opening plenary. After discussing the Council's governance and stewardship initiative, "Building Strong and Ethical Foundations: Doing it Right," Ridings said, "While making sure we are living up to the ethical and moral standards of governance, we cannot neglect the need to amplify the voice of philanthropy." Read her remarks: http://www.cof.org/Content/General/Display.cfm?contentID=1571 .
To purchase audiotapes or CDs of conference sessions, visit: http://www.softconference.com/240426 .
JUST PUBLISHED
GRANTEE PERCEPTIONS: Listening to Grantees: What Nonprofits Value in their Foundation Funders identifies key predictors of grantee perceptions of foundations. The Center for Effective Philanthropy's analysis of grantee ratings of foundations identifies three key dimensions nonprofits value most in their foundation funders: interactions with foundation staff; clarity of a foundation's goals and strategy; and expertise and external orientation of the foundation. Foundations that performed well on these dimensions were more likely to have grantees give them high marks in terms of overall satisfaction and the foundations' impact on the grantees' fields, communities and organizations. Read more or download the report: http://www.effectivephilanthropy.org/news/pressreleases/
04_04_26_ListeningToGrantees.htm .
REVEALING EFFECTIVENESS STUDY: According to the first comprehensive survey of foundations regarding tenets of effective philanthropy, many foundations don't engage in practices that they assert are important for effectiveness. Attitudes and Practices Concerning Effective Philanthropy, by Urban Institute researcher Francie Ostrower, found that of foundations who believe soliciting outside advice is very important, 26 percent said community input is not important in formulating their grantmaking priorities, 32 percent had not convened people from outside the foundation to inform their activities and 62 percent had not solicited grantee feedback. Among those maintaining it is very important to strengthen particular issue areas, only 28 percent had conducted a needs assessment of a field during the past two years. The David and Lucile Packard Foundation and Grantmakers for Effective Organizations funded the survey. Read more or download the report: http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=900700 .
990-PF RESOURCES: Two new resources offer foundation leaders and tax preparers tips for avoiding common errors and misleading entries on Form 990-PF. The Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers and PricewaterhouseCoopers produced the publications, with John Edie as the primary author. Download the publications (PDF): http://www.givingforum.org/cgi-bin/doc_rep/public/file.pl/2936/signers.pdf http://www.givingforum.org/cgi-bin/doc_rep/public/file.pl/2935/preparers.pdf .
ACT NOW
LEADERS AND STRATEGIES: Leaders from several of the new and biggest foundations reveal their grantmaking approaches and expected roles in the future of philanthropy at the Foundation Incubator's program, "The Big, New Foundations: Their Leaders and Their Strategies" (May 19 in Redwood City, California). Speakers include Sally Osberg, president and CEO, Skoll Foundation; Iqbal Paroo, chief executive officer, Omidyar Foundation; and Lew Coleman, president, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Read more or register: http://www.foundationincubator.org/program/workshop.html#work6 .
EITC BRIEFING: The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) has tremendous potential to help working families move out of poverty, increase financial stability and build assets. At EITC Funders Network's briefing, grantmakers can learn about recent research and developments in the field of EITC, free tax preparation and asset building. Speakers include experts from the Brookings Institution, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, National Community Tax Coalition and National Consumer Law Center. The event, hosted by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and the Fannie Mae Foundation, will be held June 21, 2004, in Chicago. For more information, contact Ami Nagle at aminagle@aol.com.
ON THE MOVE
TERRY MAZANY, chief operating officer of The Chicago Community Trust, will succeed DONALD M. STEWART as chief executive officer on July 1. Stewart will continue serving as president of the trust through December 31.
JAIME ALVARADO is the new executive director of The Mayfair Improvement Initiative.
On May 10, DIANE OLBERG will become The James Irvine Foundation's director of communications. Read more: http://www.irvine.org/irvine_news/press_releases/archive/2004/04-26_diane_olberg.shtml .
RICHARD HARRISON is the new web and technology manager at the Minnesota Council on Foundations. Read more: http://www.mcf.org/MCF/about/mcfnews/rharrison040429.html .
Lumina Foundation for Education appointed TIM LEGESSE director of alternative investments and DOLLYNE PETTINGILL SHERMAN director of communications. Read more: http://www.luminafoundation.org/newsroom/news_releases/041504.html .
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last update: 4.30.04