FN&C Now
Volume 5, Number 26 – July 2, 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
NEWS COVERAGE: Foundation investment returns strong in 2003; nonprofits unprepared for advocacy roles; Carnegie's Vartan Gregorian receives Presidential Medal of Freedom
NOW ONLINE: Foundation News & Commentary's Philanthropy Marketplace; resource clearinghouse for youth development organizations
JUST PUBLISHED: Stanford Social Innovation Review on criticism of foundations; GrantCraft guides on gender and international grantmaking; Foundation Yearbook 2004
ACT NOW: Register for 2004 Summer Institutes or Grantmakers in Education conference
ON THE MOVE: Raymond A. Jacobson (Golden Leaf Foundation); Michael Januzik (The California Endowment)
NEWS COVERAGE
STRONG RETURNS: According to the Commonfund Benchmarks StudyŽ - Foundations 2004, U.S. independent/private, community and public foundations performed well during fiscal year 2003. Respondents reported an average total annual return of 17 percent net of fees, up from an average annual total return of -8.7 percent in 2003. The largest foundations (those with assets over $1 billion) performed best, with an average return of 20.5 percent, up from -7.7 percent. Small foundations (those with assets of $50 to 100 million) reported an average return of 15.5 percent, up from -10.3 percent. Independent foundations had an average return of 17.8 percent, community foundations 17 percent and public foundations 11.7 percent. The difference in returns was due in large part to greater diversification and use of alternative strategies among the largest funds. Find out more: http://www.commonfund.org/Commonfund/Archive/CF+Institute/
06_21_2004_press_release .
UNPREPARED FOR ADVOCACY: A new report from Indiana University's Center on Philanthropy found that many Indiana nonprofits are ill-prepared to advocate for their positions. The report found that of nonprofits involved in advocacy, fewer than 50 percent have a website; 30 percent lack Internet access or cannot communicate via e-mail with their constituents or policymakers; and 20 percent do not devote any staff or financial resources to advocacy. Download the report (PDF): http://www.indiana.edu/~nonprof/results/npsurvey/inscom2.pdf .
PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL: Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York, is one of the thirteen 2004 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civil award. Established in 1945 by President Harry Truman, the annual award is given to distinguished leaders for service in a range of disciplines. In the White House's announcement, Gregorian was recognized for his work in revitalizing the New York Public Library and for his years as an educator and philanthropist. Read more: http://www.carnegie.org/sub/news/medalfreedom.html .
NOW ONLINE
PHILANTHROPY MARKETPLACE: Explore the newest, most comprehensive resource on companies providing products and services to the philanthropic field at Foundation News & Commentary's Philanthropy Marketplace. The Marketplace gives users a pressure-free venue for researching and finding vendors that support their work and is searchable by specialty, location and company name. It also mines the magazine's archives to provide users with relevant articles, peer insights and unbiased information in their investigation of vendors. Find out more: http://www.foundationnews.org/BuyersGuide .
YOUTH DEVELOPMENT TOOLS: The Planning and Evaluation Resource Center is an online clearinghouse offering tools and training to help youth development organizations improve their programs and strengthen communications. The clearinghouse was created by the Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development, the Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development at Tufts University and Social Policy Research Associates. Find out more: http://ase.tufts.edu/adsi/perc .
JUST PUBLISHED
SOCIAL INNOVATION: Stanford Social Innovation Review's summer issue features a roundtable on issues facing foundations, including payout and compensation, with panelists John Healy, Paul Brest, Robert Joss and Michael Klausner providing "straight answers." The issue also reports on a new survey on nonprofit performance measurement and a study showing that many big social changes in the United States were created not by well-organized, professional organizations, but by a hodgepodge of social activists. Read more: http://www.ssireview.com .
GRANTCRAFT: The Ford Foundation's GrantCraft project published two new guides for grantmakers: Grantmaking with a Gender Lens, which explains how a gender lens can improve the effectiveness of programs and organizations for women and girls and for men and boys, and International Grantmaking: Funding with a Global View, which covers federal regulations, working with consultants and intermediaries and other topics relevant to international funders. Read more or download the guides (PDF): http://www.grantcraft.org .
FOUNDATION YEARBOOK: The Foundation Yearbook: Facts and Figures on Private and Community Foundations, 2004 Edition, is a detailed report on the growth and development of the nearly 65,000 foundations active in 2002. Published by the Foundation Center, the yearbook documents changes in the number, giving and assets of active U.S. foundations from 1975 through 2002. The report also provides an overview of foundation giving in the current year and beyond; comparisons of foundation activities by organization size; breakdowns of foundation resources by geographic location and grantmaker type; and a brief history of foundation development since the early 1900s. Find out more: http://fdncenter.org/marketplace/catalog/product_monograph.jhtml?id=prod40004 .
ACT NOW
SUMMER INSTITUTES: The 2004 Summer Institutes, held July 18–21 in San Francisco, offer new foundation staff and board members—and those interested in establishing a new foundation—workshops on philanthropy basics with respected leaders in the field. Can't make the Summer Institutes? Come to Washington, DC, this December 6–9 for the East Coast Winter Institutes. For more information, contact education@cof.org or the Council on Foundations executive education staff at 202/467-0423.
EDUCATION CONFERENCE: Join fellow education grantmakers to network and learn what's at stake for the country in providing a high quality education for all children at Grantmakers for Education's 2004 conference, October 18–20, in Atlanta. The conference's theme is "Keeping Democracy's Promise: Class, Race, Gender and National Origin in Education." Civil rights leader Andrew Young will discuss the challenges remaining 50 years after the Brown decision. Read more or register: http://www.edfunders.org/programs/conference/index.asp .
ON THE MOVE
RAYMOND A. JACOBSON was named vice president of investments and finance at the Golden Leaf Foundation.
The California Endowment appointed MICHAEL JANUZIK chief financial officer and a member of the executive management team. Read more: http://www.calendow.org/news/press_releases/2004/06/062904MichaelJanuzik.stm .
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last update: 7.07.04