FN&C Now

Volume 6, Number 23 – June 24, 2005 IN THIS ISSUE NEWS COVERAGE: Panel on the Nonprofit Sector releases final report JUST PUBLISHED: Foundation Yearbook shows record number of foundations, increase in giving; study says online giving surpassed $3 billion in 2004; book challenges grantmakers to work for global change NOW ONLINE: Foundation News & Commentary marks Kellogg's 75th anniversary with a photo essay; toolkit aims to demystify public policy grantmaking AT THE COUNCIL: Inaugural asset allocation survey mailed to selected foundations; database on Stewardship Principles for Family Foundations launched; sign up for Breaking News ACT NOW: Come to the 2005 Fall Conference for Community Foundations; register for webcast seminar on leading boldly; submit nominations for the first ePhilanthropy awards ON THE MOVE: John Zell (The Community Foundation in Jacksonville); Kevin R. Webb (Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation) NEWS COVERAGE PANEL REPORT: The Panel on the Nonprofit Sector released its final report proposing more than 120 actions that could strengthen the sector's transparency, governance and accountability. The report, presented June 22 to Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Ranking Member Max Baucus (D-MT), recommends actions for charities, Congress and the Internal Revenue Service on issues such as donor-advised funds, compensation and administrative expenses. "These recommendations strike a balance between providing the oversight needed to prevent abuses and protecting the independence that is a vital element in the charitable community's innovation and effectiveness," said Paul Brest, a panel co-convener and president of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Read more or download the report (PDF): http://www.nonprofitpanel.org/final . JUST PUBLISHED NUMBERS UP: Overall foundation giving increased 7 percent to an estimated $32.4 billion in 2004, following a 0.4 percent decrease in 2003, according to the Foundation Center's Foundation Yearbook: Facts and Figures on Private and Community Foundations, 2005 Edition. The report also says that in 2003, the number of foundations in the United States increased to a record 66,398 (up 2.4 percent) and assets of all active foundations rose 9.5 percent to $476.7 billion. The Yearbook documents changes in the actual number, giving and assets of U.S. foundations from 1975 through 2003 and provides estimates of foundation giving through 2004. Download the report highlights (PDF): http://fdncenter.org/research/trends_analysis/pdf/fyhiltes05.pdf . ONLINE GIVING: Online donations in the United States exceeded $3 billion in 2004, up from $1.9 billion in 2003, according to the Kintera-Luth Nonprofit Trend Report. The report, based on 3,142 responses from two surveys administered earlier this year, also found that online giving is increasing across the nonprofit sector. According to Roseanne Luth, president and CEO of Luth Research/Luth Research Online, "The fact that online giving has increased by more than 50 percent this past year confirms that those who experience online giving are finding it a preferred alternative to traditional giving of charitable donations." Read more or download the report (PDF, registration required): http://www.kintera.org/site/apps/nl/content.asp?c=beIHKUMGF&b=133476&ct=1019643 . GLOBAL IMPACT: In Foundations: Creating Impact in a Globalised World, author Luc Tayart de Borms, managing director of the King Baudouin Foundation, examines European and U.S. foundations and the evolving dynamics driving philanthropy. He appeals for foundations on both sides of the Atlantic to think beyond their borders and move from a responsive to a proactive approach in grantmaking, using a strategic mix of methodologies. Tayart de Borms encourages foundations to create a platform for informed debate and an agenda for change. Find out more: http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470015055.html . NOW ONLINE FOUNDATION NEWS: The May/June Foundation News & Commentary includes a photo essay demonstrating the accomplishments of W.K. Kellogg Foundation grantees on three continents as the foundation marks its 75th anniversary and a profile of the William J. Clinton Foundation. Other features include Kathleen P. Enright's "Philanthropy's New Clothes," on why honest feedback from grantees is sometimes hard to find, and "Paying for Not Paying for Overhead," by Kennard T. Wing, Mark Hager, Patrick Rooney and Thomas Pollak. Read more: http://www.foundationnews.org . PUBLIC POLICY GRANTMAKING: Northern California Grantmakers' (NCG) Public Policy Grantmaking Toolkit helps funders build their capacity to engage in public policy initiatives. The online toolkit presents the basics, including definitions and strategies of public policy and legal parameters, as well as in-depth information on evaluating public policy grantmaking and case of studies of public policy funding by NCG members. Find out more: http://ncg.org/toolkit/flash_splash.html . AT THE COUNCIL SURVEY LAUNCHED: To meet the informational and benchmarking needs of its private foundation members who are not of sufficient size to belong to the Foundation Financial Officers Group and benefit from that group's survey, the Council on Foundations launched an annual survey of the asset allocation and investment performance of private foundations with assets of $5 million or more. The survey, which was mailed June 13 to 860 foundations (691 members and 169 nonmembers) who meet those criteria, must be returned by July 8. Foundations who use Excel in a Windows Office 2000 or later environment and who are connected to the Internet can complete and submit their investment returns via e-mail. An Excel spreadsheet, which will automatically calculate returns, can be requested. Respondents will receive one complimentary copy of the final printed report and a customized, graphical analysis comparing their organization's investment results to those of others in their asset group. Our partner is Prime, Buchholz & Associates. Questions? Contact Bill McCarron at cofstudy@primebuchholz.com. If you are a family or independent foundation with $5 million or more in assets and did not receive the survey and would like to participate, contact the Council's Director of Research Judith Kroll at krolj@cof.org, or 202/467-0432. STEWARDSHIP DATABASE: The Council's Family Foundation Services department launched a database for the Stewardship Principles for Family Foundations and the Practice Options to Strengthen Performance. The database includes interviews with family foundations on how they've successfully implemented the practice options, sample documents and tools for implementing the options, questions to facilitate discussions with foundation board members and staff and links to other resources enforcing the principles. The database is open to all foundations. Find out more: http://bestpractices.cof.org/family . 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. ACT NOW FALL CONFERENCE: Join your community foundation colleagues in Seattle, September 19-21, for the 2005 Fall Conference for Community Foundations (pre-conference activities begin September 15). The conference theme is Community Knowledge at Work; it will explore how community foundations can become knowledge centers and more proactive and effective community leaders. The conference will embrace the fun-loving spirit of the FISH! customer service philosophy from Seattle's famous Pike Place Fish Market. Speakers include Bill Gates, Sr., co-chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Tom Stewart, editor, Harvard Business Review. Register or read more: http://int2.cof.org/conferences/fall2005/index.htm?orglink=69 . LEADING BOLDLY: Find out how your foundation can become a true leader in creating community-wide change at Stanford Social Innovation Review's (SSIR) webcast seminar, "Leading Boldly: Exercising Adaptive Leadership to Create Social Change," June 29, 2005, from noon to 1:30 p.m., Eastern Time. "Leading Boldly" has been one of SSIR's most popular articles, clarifying the processes by which a foundation can effectively pursue its social agenda. The authors, Ronald A. Heifetz, Mark R. Kramer and John V. Kania, will lead the seminar. Registration is required. Find out more: http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=89917 . Read the article (PDF): http://www.ssireview.com/pdf/2004WI_feature_heifetz.pdf . ePHILANTHROPY AWARDS: The ePhilanthropy Foundation announced a worldwide call for entries for the first International ePhilanthropy Awards. Award categories are: Best ePhilanthropy Research Project; Best Online Donations/Fundraising Campaign; Best Special Event Registration and/or Membership Campaign; and Best Community Building, Volunteerism and/or Activism Campaign. Nominees should show extraordinary talent, creativity and insight in drawing the public's attention to the importance of the Internet for philanthropic purposes and have created services or strategies to support this effort. Each award provides for public recognition of excellence, a cash award of $500 to the charity of each recipient's choice and a glass sculpture. Nominations must be submitted electronically by August 1, 2005. Read more: http://www.geekmedia.org/nominations/info.php?PHPSESSID=cab6ecd5b5c91c87351857cede05182b . ON THE MOVE JOHN ZELL was promoted from senior program officer to vice president of donor services at The Community Foundation in Jacksonville, Florida. The Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation hired KEVIN R. WEBB as program officer. 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: 6.08.05