FN&C Now

Volume 6, Number 16 – May 9, 2005 IN THIS ISSUE AT THE COUNCIL: COF supports bill on charitable interest in life insurance; financial leadership seminars coming up; sign up for Breaking News NEWS COVERAGE: Boston Foundation will increase grants payout to 6 percent; 2005 Heinz Awards and Chairman's Medal announced NOW ONLINE: Health foundation to put data in public's hands; Foundation Center marks Health Funding Month with study on funding for children's health ACT NOW: Register for teleconference on board compensation ON THE MOVE: Dr. Maroulla Gleaton, Kevin P. Gildart and Warren Kessler, et al. (Maine Health Access Foundation); M. Christine DeVita, Susan Lajoie Eagan and Ralph R. Smith, et al. (Foundation Center); Luis Maldonado and Evelyn Gibson (Council on Foundations) AT THE COUNCIL LIFE INSURANCE BILL: On Friday, the Council on Foundations announced its support of a bill proposed by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) that would end arrangements in which private investors join with a charity to purchase life insurance on the lives of the charity's donors. The private investors have no relationship to the insured individuals except by reason of the arrangement. Read the press release: http://www.cof.org/Content/PressRelease/Display.cfm?pressReleaseID=2596 . FINANCIAL SEMINARS: Executives and board members of foundations that are Council members can participate in a series of finance and investment management leadership conference call seminars. Topics and dates are "Investment Leadership: Taking Back Control," May 24; "Conducting an Audit: Self-Assessment," June 14; "Troublesome Investments," October 11; and "The Search for Administration Costs Benchmarks," November 8. All seminars will be held from 2:00 to 3:30, Eastern Time. Seminar leaders are Tom Raffa, managing partner and founder of Raffa and Associates, and Andrew Schulz, deputy general counsel, Council on Foundations. The seminars, which are supported by the Council's Building Strong and Ethical Foundations: Doing it Right Initiative, are free. Read more or register: http://www.cof.org/index.cfm?containerid=258&menuContainerName=&navID=0&orglink=52 . 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. NEWS COVERAGE INCREASED PAYOUT: The Boston Foundation will increase its discretionary grants to Boston-area nonprofits by 20 percent, or roughly $2 million, in 2006. Boston Foundation President and CEO Paul S. Grogan attributes the increase from 5 percent to 6 percent payout—though no particular payout amount is required of community foundations—to the rapid growth of foundation assets during the past 20 years and anticipation that similar growth will continue during the next 20 years. The foundation believes it is the first community foundation in the country to factor in future gifts to its endowment when calculating available grant funds. Foundation donor-advised funds also will increase payout from 5 percent to 6 percent, and designated funds will increase payout to 5.4 percent. Read more: http://www.tbf.org/About/about-L2.asp?id=3074 . HEINZ AWARDS: The Heinz Family Foundation announced recipients of the 11th annual Heinz Awards, one of the largest prizes in the world for individual achievement in a range of human endeavors. This year's five honorees—who each receive $250,000—and their categories are: Mark di Suvero, sculptor and founder of the Socrates Sculpture Park in New York City (Arts and Humanities); Jerry Franklin, forest ecologist and "father of new forestry" in Seattle (Environment); Joseph Rogers, mental health advocate and founder of Project SHARE in Philadelphia (Human Condition); Sidney Drell, theoretical physicist, educator and arms control adviser in Stanford, California (Public Policy); and Mildred Dresselhaus, scientist, researcher, educator and trailblazer for women in the sciences in Cambridge, Massachusetts (Technology, the Economy and Employment). The awards, which were established in 1994 to honor the legacy of the late U.S. Senator John Heinz, will be presented in a private ceremony in Washington, DC, on May 24. In addition, the Chairman's Medal will be presented to Richard Goldman, president of the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund and the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Foundation, in recognition of his exceptional lifetime achievement in philanthropy. Read more: http://www.heinzawards.net/articleDetail.asp?articleID=181 . NOW ONLINE HEALTH POLL: The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati found that respondents to its first Ohio Health Issues Poll favor tax increases to support Medicaid. Eighty-one percent of respondents supported alcohol tax increases; 76 percent supported tobacco tax increases; and 60 percent supported state sales tax increases. Poll data is now available on the Online Analysis and Statistical Information System (http://www.oasis.uc.edu), which allows public access to health data and sophisticated analysis software. "The Health Foundation has always encouraged and supported data-driven healthcare decisions at a local level," said Don Hoffman, president and CEO. The poll, which was conducted in conjunction with the Ohio Poll, a survey by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati, will be conducted annually on a variety of health topics. Find out more: http://www.healthfoundation.org/ohip . HEALTH FUNDING: May marks Funding for Health Month at The Foundation Center, which just released Foundation Funding for Children's Health, its first study on the size and scope of foundation giving in this area. Visitors to the center's website will also find links to health-related resources and information about events and courses on health funding at its libraries around the country. Shipping is free for all health-related publications purchased in May. Read more or download the children's health funding study (PDF): http://www.fdncenter.org/focus/health/;jsessionid= VZYYHQ00QEKAKP5QALTCGXD5AAAACI2F . ACT NOW COMPENSATION CALL: "Board Compensation: Reasonable and Necessary?" The National Center for Family Philanthropy will discuss that question at a teleconference on May 25, 2005, from noon to 1:30 p.m., Eastern Time. The teleconference will cover arguments for and against trustee compensation, suggestions for initiating conversations on compensation among board members and tips for developing written compensation policies. Alice Buhl, senior associate and director of philanthropic services, Lansberg, Gersick & Associates, will lead the program. Register or read more: http://www.ncfp.org/program-teleconferences.htm . ON THE MOVE The Maine Health Access Foundation elected DR. MAROULLA GLEATON chair, KEVIN P. GILDART vice chair, WARREN KESSLER treasurer and WESLEY R. DAVIDSON secretary. New trustees are NEIL ROLDE, CHERYL LEE RUST and LEE WEBB. The Foundation Center named M. CHRISTINE DEVITA board chair and SUSAN LAJOIE EAGAN vice chair. RALPH R. SMITH and BARRON "BUZZ" TENNY were named trustees. Read more: http://www.fdncenter.org/media/news/pr_0505.html . LUIS MALDONADO joined the Council on Foundations as director, government relations and public policy. Read more: http://www.cof.org/Content/PressRelease/Display.cfm?pressReleaseID=2587 . Manager of Constituent Awards Programs EVELYN GIBSON was promoted to director, awards programs. 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: 5.11.05