FN&C Now

Volume 6, Number 36 – October 20, 2005 IN THIS ISSUE NEWS COVERAGE: Amazon.com names Nonprofit Innovation Award winner; Ford Foundation gives $1.4 million for national youth philanthropy model JUST PUBLISHED: Survey shows community foundation assets, gifts and giving on the rise; report demonstrates benefits and challenges of cross-border learning communities; Family Giving News provides tips for ethical wills AT THE COUNCIL: Register for the Institute for New Grantmakers; sign up for Breaking News NOW ONLINE: Duke Endowment responding to site visitors' needs; GuideStar launches free academic service ACT NOW: Register for Tuesdays@TPI forum on community revitalization; Center for Effective Philanthropy offers board assessment tool; submit nominations for 2006 Echoing Green Fellowships; Central and Eastern European scholars wanted for Mellon fellowships ON THE MOVE: Daria Teutonico (Forum of Regional Associations); Andrew Solomon (MacArthur); Laura Vais and Ed Diener (Skoll) NEWS COVERAGE INNOVATION WINNER: DonorsChoose is the first winner of the Amazon.com Nonprofit Innovation Award. The organization bested nine other finalists by generating more than $790,000 in online donations and will receive a matching grant from Amazon.com that brings the organization's total award to more than $1.5 million. Based in New York City, DonorsChoose is a not-for-profit website offering a simple way to give students across the country the resources that are often lacking in public schools. Teachers submit project proposals for educational materials and experiences and are connected with individuals who provide funding. Amazon.com created the award in partnership with the Stanford Graduate School of Business Center for Social Innovation to recognize nonprofits whose innovative approaches most effectively improve their communities or the world at large. Read more: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=766742&highlight . YOUTH MODEL: The Ford Foundation awarded a $1.4 million grant to Common Cents New York to replicate its Penny Harvest program nationwide. Through the Penny Harvest program, the country's largest child philanthropy and direct service program, children between the ages of four and 14 go door-to-door in New York City to collect pennies. The children use the funds to make grants to community groups and also work in the community to meet needs they learned about through the process. Read more: http://www.servenet.org/cont/dsp_cont_item_article.cfm?actionType=view&contentId=5715&&timeStamp=18-Oct-0511:00:10 . JUST PUBLISHED COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONS: The Columbus Foundation Survey of the Community Foundation Field, 2004 Edition, found community foundation assets, gifts and grants all increased from 2003 levels. Conducted annually by the foundation, the survey found that in 2004, the field's net assets increased to $39.4 billion, up 13 percent from 2003; donations to community foundations increased to $4.2 billion, up 9 percent; and grants made by community foundations totaled $3 billion, up 14 percent. For the fourth consecutive year, the seven-year-old Tulsa Community Foundation led the field in gifts, with a reported $272 million received, joining the ranks of community foundations with more than $1 billion in assets. Read more: http://www.columbusfoundation.org/GD/ _gd_templates/pages/gdPageSecondary.aspx?page=38 . CROSS-BORDER EXCHANGE: The Transatlantic Community Foundation Network (TCFN), a project of the Germany-based Bertelsmann Foundation with support from the U.S.-based Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, released a report outlining the benefits and challenges of cross-border learning communities to boost community philanthropy. Building an International Learning Community: Lessons and Insights from the Transatlantic Community Foundation Network describes lessons learned and insights gleaned during TCFN's creation and development. The network was established in 1999 to promote the development of community foundations on both sides of the Atlantic. Written by Robert H. Martin, Diana Haigwood and Alan Pardini, the report describes how international, peer-based learning communities can advance philanthropy around the globe. Download the report (PDF): http://www.tcfn.efc.be/40_whatsnew/Texte/TCFN_lessons_FINAL.pdf . FAMILY GIVING NEWS: The October issue of Family Giving News gives background on ethical wills and offers tips for writing one. As part of its continuing Profiles in Family Philanthropy series, the issue features the Charles D. Jacobus Family Foundation, one of four foundations formed out of the Jacobus Foundation, Inc., so that each branch of the family could fund its own interests. Read the issue or subscribe: http://www.ncfp.org/Email_Alert.html . AT THE COUNCIL NEW GRANTMAKERS: The Council on Foundations and Washington Grantmakers are cosponsoring the Institute for New Grantmakers, January 19–20, 2006, in Washington, DC. The institute is designed to introduce newcomers to the nuts and bolts of grantmaking. Led by experts in philanthropy, attendees will learn the core competencies of grantmaking practice, new trends and best practices, ethical decision-making and foundation stewardship. The institute also offers new grantmakers an excellent opportunity to speak with seasoned grantmakers in a small, collegial setting while networking with other foundation staff. Find out more: http://www.washingtongrantmakers.org/WG/Programs/Calendar/ Calendar_WRAG_Details.asp?id=2072246951 . 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 Duke Endowment redesigned its website to provide easily navigated information about its grants and be more responsive to site visitors' needs. New features include Great Grants case studies and tips for grantseekers on writing good proposals. Find out more: http://www.dukeendowment.org . ACADEMIC SERVICE: GuideStar launched a new service, edu@guidestar, to allow academic researchers, instructors and students to use GuideStar Premium (its highest level of service) free during their courses or research projects. GuideStar's services increasingly are being used for a wide range of activities in academic settings. GuideStar decided to offer complimentary access to those strengthening the nonprofit sector through education as part of its public service as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Find out more: http://www.guidestar.org/using/edu.jsp . ACT NOW REVITALIZATION FORUM: To revitalize Chattanooga, The Lyndhurst Foundation "found ways to put visionary experts together with ordinary citizens to create pictures of the future that people were able to agree about, willing to work for and willing to invest in." In a streaming online forum on Tuesday, October 25 from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time, Foundation President Jack Murrah will join The Philanthropic Initiative's Peter Karoff to discuss how a foundation helped a city regain its identity and its grace. To register to participate or get more information, e-mail your full contact information, including telephone number, to Cindy Zavala Hanshaw at chanshaw@tpi.org or call (617) 338-2590 ext. 232. BOARD EFFECTIVENESS: The Center for Effective Philanthropy is now making its Comparative Board Report (CBR)—a self-assessment tool for improving board effectiveness—broadly available to foundations. The CBR, which was tested earlier this year by more than 50 foundations, presents comparative data on board member perceptions, as well as board structures and practices, based on confidential surveys of foundation trustees and CEOs. The CBR process takes approximately 10 weeks to complete and assists CEOs and trustees with informed and guided conversations about their own performance. Read more: http://www.effectivephilanthropy.com/assessment/assessment_bsa.html . VISIONARIES WANTED: Echoing Green is looking for the world's best emerging social-change entrepreneurs to receive two-year fellowships. Fellowships are awarded to individuals and partnerships comprised of two individuals with innovative ideas for tackling intractable social challenges in education, health, housing, civil rights, economic development, the environment and the arts. Echoing Green Fellowships offer social-change visionaries an opportunity to develop and test their ideas. Fellows will receive up to $90,000 in seed funding, as well as health insurance and technical assistance to help them build organizations addressing root causes of problems. Leaders over the age of 18 from any nation and field are eligible to apply. Application deadline is December 1, 2005. Find out more or make a nomination: http://www.echoinggreen.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageID=41 . VISITING FELLOWS: The Council of American Overseas Research Centers and Institut für die Wissenschafen vom Menschen (Institute for Human Sciences) are now accepting applications for the 2006/2007 Andrew W. Mellon Visiting Fellowships in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Fellows must be scholars from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania or Slovakia. Candidates must be citizens of or permanently reside in one of those countries, have obtained a Ph.D., and hold a senior academic position. Preference will be given to those under 45 years old. The three-month fellowships, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, will enable the scholars to work in Vienna on research projects within the framework of the scholarly community and activities of the Institute for Human Sciences. Application deadline is December 15, 2005. Find out more or make a nomination: http://www.iwm.at/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=59&Itemid=256 . ON THE MOVE On November 3, DARIA TEUTONICO becomes director of the New Ventures in Philanthropy initiative at the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers. ANDREW SOLOMON is now director of public affairs at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The Skoll Foundation appointed LAURA VAIS marketing director and ED DIENER counsel. Read more: http://www.skollfoundation.org/media/press_releases/internal/100505.asp . 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: 10.21.05