Council on Foundations: FN&C Now – Volume 6, Number 27

	FN&C Now
	Volume 6, Number 27 – July 21, 2005 IN THIS ISSUE NEWS COVERAGE: Governors, Gates foundation announce grants for high school reform; Amazon.com Nonprofit Innovation Award finalists named JUST PUBLISHED: Report finds foundation expenses tied to operating styles AT THE COUNCIL: July 31 marks new deadline for asset allocation survey; senior advisor program launched; sign up for Breaking News NOW ONLINE: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation offers improved website, e-mail options; barometer on Northeast Ohio residents' economic perceptions ACT NOW: Sign up for meeting on EITC policy and outreach campaigns; submit an application for Rasmuson sabbatical program ON THE MOVE: Andrea Bazan-Manson (Triangle Community); Richard D. McFarland, Peggy J. Birk and Rip Rapson (McKnight); Eugene A. Miller, Allan D. Gilmour and Alfred R. Glancy, III, et al. (Southeastern Michigan); Stephen H. Marcus, Frederick P. Stratton, Jr., and Judy Jorgensen, et al. (Greater Milwaukee); Marcelle Hinand Cady (Irvine); Cecilia Echeverría and Sid Voorakkara (The California Endowment); Cornelia Butler Flora, Louis Fors Hill and Ted Strong (Northwest Area); Joe Lumarda, Mark Williams and Steven M. Hilton, et al. (Southern California Grantmakers) NEWS COVERAGE EDUCATION REFORM: The National Governors Association selected ten states in the first phase of its Honor States Grant Program, an effort supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to dramatically increase high school graduation rates across the country. Arkansas, Delaware, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Rhode Island and Virginia will each receive up to $2 million in two-year grants from the foundation. The funding will be used for new policies and tools to help students graduate and prepare for college or the work world. "We have a moral imperative, as Americans, to make sure that all of our students graduate from high school with a range of options and opportunities open to them," said Tom Vander Ark, Gates foundation executive director of education. The program is administered by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices. Read more: http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.6c9a8a9ebc6ae07eee28aca9501010a0/?vgnextoid=6d30d7bf6b515010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD . INNOVATION FINALISTS: The Stanford Graduate School of Business Center for Social Innovation and Amazon.com announced ten finalists for the Amazon.com Nonprofit Innovation Award. Finalists are Appalachian Sustainable Development, Community Voice Mail, DonorsChoose, EARN, First Book, KaBOOM!, KickStart, Pact's WORTH Program, PATH and Teach For America. Profiles of each organization are available at Amazon.com, where visitors can make online contributions directly to their favorite nonprofits through September 30, 2005. The organization with the highest total dollar amount donated will win the 2005 Amazon.com Nonprofit Innovation Award, along with a matching grant of up to $1 million from Amazon.com. Vote or read more: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/13786331/ref%3Dnia%5Fsu%5F/102-1993680-760410 . JUST PUBLISHED FOUNDATION EXPENSES: In a new study on the expense and compensation patterns of 10,000 of the largest U.S. grantmaking foundations, 28 percent reported no administrative expenses for charitable activities and 66 percent paid no compensation for those tasks. Foundation Expenses and Compensation: Interim Report 2005, released by the Urban Institute, The Foundation Center and GuideStar, shows that foundations' operating styles greatly affect their expenses. Having paid staff had the greatest effect on operation costs, international giving was more expensive than local or national giving, and direct charitable activities cost more than grantmaking alone. The findings suggest that a foundation's mission and program goals are important factors to consider when analyzing its charitable expenditures, along with its type and size. A final report, to be released later this year, will analyze additional operating characteristics, such as staff size and the number and size of grants. It will also examine factors that influence expenses at corporate and community foundations. Read more: http://www.fdncenter.org/media/news/pr_0507a.html;jsessionid= ZIPFRRA2BFZYWP5QALTCGW15AAAACI2F . Download the report (PDF): http://www.fdncenter.org/research/trends_analysis/pdf/foundation_5p.pdf;jsessionid= ZIPFRRA2BFZYWP5QALTCGW15AAAACI2F . AT THE COUNCIL DEADLINE EXTENDED: To meet the informational and benchmarking needs of its private foundation members that 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 new deadline for the survey, which was mailed June 13 to 860 foundations (691 members and 169 nonmembers) who meet those criteria, is now July 31, 2005. Foundations that use Excel in a Windows Office 2000 or later environment and 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. SENIOR ADVISORS: Need some sage advice? The Council on Foundations now offers a free Senior Advisors program to provide foundation executives with practical, confidential guidance from seasoned peers on critical governance and leadership issues. The program, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates and GE foundations, is part of the Council's Building Strong and Ethical Foundations: Doing it Right initiative, which encourages adherence to high ethical standards in grantmaking. Senior advisors are Philip B. Hallen, Reatha Clark King, Handy L. Lindsey, Jr., Skip Rhodes, Robin S. Tryloff, Colburn S. Wilbur and Eugene R. Wilson. Advisors can assist with issues such as reorganizing boards, orienting a new chief executive, incorporating a sizable gift into investment and grantmaking plans, or managing a new foundation. Find out more: http://www.cof.org/Content/PressRelease/Display.cfm?pressReleaseID=2815 . 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. NOW ONLINE WEB REDESIGN: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation redesigned its website for a sleeker look and better organization of in-depth information about its work, team strategies and lessons learned. The site also offers new e-mail options, including weekly health policy news digests in several interest areas, plus content and funding alerts. Beginning this fall, a new monthly Advances e-Newsletter will offer news and features in a timelier, more succinct format. Find out more: http://www.rwjf.org/index.jsp . PUBLIC BAROMETER: The Fund For Our Economic Future, with support from The Cleveland Foundation, launched an interactive website with data from the Northeast Ohio Barometer of Economic Attitudes. The barometer, an annual survey of Northeast Ohio residents, measures their perceptions of the region's economy and their opinions on regional and economic development initiatives. Visitors to the site can filter survey responses by demographics and download comparative views of responses by local geography. The fund was launched in February 2004 as the philanthropic sector's response to the many pressing long-term economic challenges facing Northeast Ohio. Find out more: http://www.neobarometer.org . ACT NOW EITC MEETING: The EITC Funders Network will hold a half-day funders meeting on Evaluating EITC Policy and Outreach Campaigns, September 21, 2005, in Chicago, from noon to 5:00 p.m. Grantmakers will learn about national and local efforts to evaluate the impact of Earned Income Tax Credit policies and outreach efforts. There will also be opportunities to talk with colleagues and experts about how these evaluations were structured and funded and their emerging lessons. The meeting will be held in conjunction with the National Community Tax Coalition's (NCTC) annual conference September 19–21, 2005, on Building Prosperity for Working Families. Funders attending the EITC meeting are also invited to attend the NCTC conference. To find out more, contact Ami Nagle at aminagle@aol.com or 520/740-1095. NONPROFIT SABBATICALS: The Rasmuson Foundation is accepting applications for its 2006 Nonprofit Leader Sabbatical Program. The program offers executive directors and chief executive officers of health and human services agencies in Alaska time away from the office for professional growth and personal renewal. The foundation will award grants of up to $30,000 to cover the executive's salary and expenses during the sabbatical, which may run from two to six months. Applications for 2006 sabbaticals must be postmarked by October 1, 2005. Submit an application or find out more: http://www.rasmuson.org/ PressRelease/index.php?switch=view_pressrelease&iReleaseID=67 . ON THE MOVE ANDREA BAZAN-MANSON will become president of Triangle Community Foundation in late September. Read more: http://www.trianglecf.org/content/view_article.xpl?article_id=115 . RICHARD D. MCFARLAND joined the board of The McKnight Foundation. PEGGY J. BIRK will step down from the board in August to serve as the foundation's interim president, until outgoing President RIP RAPSON's successor is chosen. Read more: http://www.mcknight.org/newsandviews/news_detail.aspx?itemID=3064&catID=2440&typeID=2 . The Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan elected EUGENE A. MILLER, chair; ALLAN D. GILMOUR, vice chair; ALFRED R. GLANCY, III, vice chair; ALAN E. SCHWARTZ, vice chair; THE HON. ANNA DIGGS TAYLOR, secretary; and MICHAEL T. MONAHAN, treasurer. New board members are THE HON. DENNIS W. ARCHER, ALBERT M. BERRIZ, ANDREW L. CAMDEN, JOHN D. LEWIS; FLORINE MARK, JAMES B. NICHOLSON and KEN WHIPPLE. Read more (PDF): http://www.cfsem.org/press_room/PDFs/new_tte_june_2005_web.pdf . LEW REEVES joined as officer of philanthropic services, the Community Foundation for Livingston County. Read more (PDF): http://www.cfsem.org/press_room/PDFs/reeves_release_7-05_web.pdf . The Greater Milwaukee Foundation elected STEPHEN H. MARCUS as board chair and FREDERICK P. STRATTON, JR. as vice chair. Read more: http://www.greatermkefdn.org/content/view_article.xpl?article_id=122 . JUDY JORGENSEN and THOMAS SPERO were elected board members. On September 6, 2005, MARCELLE HINAND CADY joins The James Irvine Foundation as program director for the arts. Read more: http://www.irvine.org/irvine_news/press_releases/current/07-20_arts.shtml . The California Endowment promoted Program Associate CECILIA ECHEVERRÍA to program officer. Read more: http://www.calendow.org/news/press_releases/2005/07/071405.stm . SID VOORAKKARA will become program officer for San Diego, Orange and Imperial counties August 15. Read more: http://www.calendow.org/news/press_releases/2005/07/071905.stm . The Northwest Area Foundation elected CORNELIA BUTLER FLORA board chair. LOUIS FORS HILL and TED STRONG were appointed board members. Southern California Grantmakers elected JOE LUMARDA, chair; MARK WILLIAMS, vice chair; STEVEN M. HILTON, treasurer; and F. PATRICK ESCOBAR, secretary. FRED ALI, JUDY BELK, JANICE POBER and SIDNEY YEAMAN are new board members. 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: 10.14.05