FN&C Now

Volume 6, Number 14 – April 22, 2005 IN THIS ISSUE NEWS COVERAGE: Alternative to Treasury's voluntary anti-terrorism guidelines developed; Canadian community foundations received record-high gifts in 2004 FROM THE CONFERENCE: Plenaries by Dorothy S. Ridings, Rien van Gendt and Mark Everson available JUST PUBLISHED: New edition of Handbook on Private Foundations released; report finds individual giving and volunteering increased in Oregon during 2002 AWARDS ROUNDUP: Rasmuson Foundation announces inaugural sabbaticals; Daniels Scholars named; philanthropist to create sciences award AT THE COUNCIL: CF Source reports on fall conference speaker Bill Gates, Sr., and a free financial resource; sign up for Breaking News ON THE MOVE: Katherine J. Peck (Gill); Ignatius Bau (California Endowment); Jane Ferguson Otis and Chuck Peterson (Minnesota Council on Foundations); Lauren Kotkin (Council on Foundations) NEWS COVERAGE ALTERNATIVE PRINCIPLES: When the United States Treasury Department released its "Anti-Terrorist Financing Guidelines: Voluntary Best Practices for U.S.-Based Charities" in November 2002, the Council on Foundations and many foundations and nonprofit organizations found the guidelines impractical given the realities of international charitable work. As an alternative to Treasury's guidelines, the Council-led Treasury Guidelines Working Group of Charitable Sector Organizations and Advisors developed eight fundamental "Principles of International Charity." The Treasury Department has said it intends to revise its guidelines to incorporate the working group's principles. Download the principles (PDF): http://www.cof.org/files/Documents/ International_Programs/2005Publications/Principles_Final.pdf . CANADIAN RECORD: Donors gave a record $210 million in 2004 to Canadian community foundations, surpassing records set during the recent high-tech boom years, according to Community Foundations of Canada (CFC). "The tech boom led to our largest and highest-profile gifts," said Monica Patten, CFC president and CEO, "but last year was our best ever, thanks to the generosity of an extremely wide range of Canadians." With assets of $2 billion, the community foundation field is now one of the largest grantmakers in Canada. Read more: http://www.community-fdn.ca/whats_new_view.cfm?id=573 . FROM THE CONFERENCE RIDINGS PLENARY: "We do philanthropy no service by ceding to government the major responsibility for our behavior, and that of our colleagues," said Council on Foundations president and CEO Dorothy S. Ridings in her opening plenary, "The State of Philanthropy," April 10, 2005, at the 56th Annual Conference in San Diego. Ridings reflected on current challenges and the themes of generosity and integrity. Read the speech: http://www.cof.org/Content/General/Display.cfm?contentID=2545 . DISTINGUISHED GRANTMAKER: Accepting the 2005 Distinguished Grantmaker Award, Rien van Gendt, executive director of the Van Leer Group Foundation, described his passionate beliefs about philanthropy, including that "one has to take a global perspective, since many problems that are perceived as domestic, in fact connect our local communities with the world at large." To be a good international grantmaker, Van Gendt said, one must have respect for diversity and for local strength. Read the speech: http://www.cof.org/Content/General/Display.cfm?contentID=2546 . IRS COMMISSIONER: Mark Everson, commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), spoke about tax reform and enforcement during the conference. He stressed that one current priority for the IRS is "to deter abuse within tax-exempt and governmental entities and misuse of such entities by third parties for tax avoidance or other unintended purposes." Read the speech: http://www.cof.org/Content/General/Display.cfm?contentID=2551 . Purchase a multimedia CD-ROM of the 56th Annual Conference, which includes audio recordings, PowerPoint presentations, handouts and more. Attendees also receive a free MP3/CD player. Order or find out more: http://int2.cof.org/conferences/AC2005/cdroms.htm . JUST PUBLISHED PRIVATE FOUNDATIONS: The Handbook on Private Foundations, by David F. Freeman, John A. Edie and Jane C. Nober, and its comprehensive bibliography have been updated to serve all foundation managers, from newcomers to veterans. The volume begins with a brief history of foundations in the United States, then guides the reader through every aspect of managing a private foundation, including legal issues, public relations, investment management, grantmaking basics and more. Read more or purchase a copy at: http://www.cof.org/Publications/Detail.cfm?ProductID=3028 . OREGON GIVING: Despite a recession, Oregonians increased their giving as a percentage of income from 2.3 percent in 2001 to 2.41 in 2002, according to Giving in Oregon: Report on Philanthropy, from The Oregon Community Foundation. However, state nonprofits reported a 2.2 percent ($21 million) drop in donations during the same period. The report, which included the first study on workplace volunteering, found that of 175 government and nonprofit organizations, 70 percent reported an increase in employee volunteerism during the past five years. The number of foundations reached a new high of 1,135 by the end of fiscal year 2003, although assets declined from 2001 to 2003. Read the report: http://www.ocf1.org/news_events/news_fr.htm . AWARDS ROUNDUP FIRST SABBATICALS: The Rasmuson Foundation announced six Alaskan nonprofit leaders as recipients of its inaugural Sabbatical Program awards, designed to give leaders of health and human services agencies two to six months off for professional growth and personal renewal. The awardees, who receive grants of up to $30,000 each, are: Chris Devlin, executive director, Eastern Aleutian Tribes; Michelle DeWitt, executive director, Tundra Women's Center; Virginia Espenshade, executive director, Kenai Peninsula Youth Court; Jim Maley, president and CEO, Alaska Children's Services; Ron Perkins, executive director, Alaska Injury Prevention Center; and Drenda Tigner, executive director, Presbyterian Hospitality House. Read more: http://www.rasmuson.org/PressRelease/index.php?switch=view_pressrelease&iReleaseID=59 . NEW SCHOLARS: The Daniels Fund announced its largest-ever class of Daniels Scholars today-220 students hailing from Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Created through the generosity of the late cable entrepreneur Bill Daniels, the Daniels College Prep and Scholarship Program provides full, four-year scholarships to students, allowing them to attend any college or university in the United States. Daniels Scholars are selected based on financial need, academic promise, maturity and leadership potential, as well as potential to contribute to their communities. Read more and view the list of scholars at: http://www.danielsfund.org/news/newsdetail.asp?nID=69 . NEW PRIZES: The Kavli Foundation will establish prizes in astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience, modeled after the Nobel Prizes, according to the New York Times. The Kavli Prizes will be awarded by the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and other international academies every other year starting in 2008, with recipients receiving $1 million each. Founder Fred Kavli, a Norwegian immigrant to the United States, said his goal is to "create visibility for science." Kavli also is endowing 10 scientific research institutes at colleges around the world. Read the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/19/science/19prof.html . AT THE COUNCIL CF SOURCE: The April 2005 CF Source reports that Bill Gates, Sr., co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will speak at the 2005 Fall Conference for Community Foundations in Seattle, September 19–21, 2005. The issue also calls for nominations for new members of the Community Foundations Leadership Team (deadline is April 29), provides a wrap-up of recent legal and legislative resources to help community foundations communicate with their senators, provides information on joining a National Marketing Action Team Peer Learning Group and announces the free Financial Institutions Portfolio. Read the issue: http://www.cof.org/Content/Newsletter/Display.cfm?newsletterID=2541 . FREE NEWS SERVICE: Breaking News is a free, daily e-mail newsletter summarizing the top articles—mostly from national and regional newspapers—about philanthropy. Breaking News is available to Council members only. Subscribe by e-mailing your name, title and foundation name to media@cof.org. ON THE MOVE KATHERINE J. PECK joined the Gill Foundation as national director of the Movement Building Center. Read more: http://www.gillfoundation.org/news/news_show.htm?doc_id=270646 . The California Endowment promoted Program Officer IGNATIUS BAU to director of culturally competent health systems. Read more: http://www.calendow.org/news/press_releases/2005/04/042105.stm . The Minnesota Council on Foundations appointed JANE FERGUSON OTIS vice president of communications and information services and CHUCK PETERSON rejoined as vice president of member services and operations. Read more: http://www.mcf.org/MCF/about/mcfnews/mcfstaff.html . LAUREN KOTKIN is now the conference education coordinator in Family Foundation Services at the Council on Foundations. SUBSCRIBE 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. To subscribe (it's free) to FN&C Now, send an e-mail to fncnow@cof.org . Questions or comments about FN&C Now? Contact Paula J. Kelly at 202/467-0261. To contribute a news item for consideration, please e-mail fncnow@cof.org . To unsubscribe, send a blank e-mail to leave-fncnow-4832R@int1.cof.org . To subscribe to Foundation News & Commentary, an award-winning magazine, please send an e-mail to fncsubs@cof.org , or visit our website at http://www.icnfull.com/cgi-bin/cobolscript.exe?cof/cofmain.cbl . Council on Foundations 1828 L Street, NW Washington, DC 20036 202/466-6512 webmaster@cof.org last update: 4.26.05