FN&C Now

Volume 6, Number 37 – October 27, 2005 IN THIS ISSUE NEWS COVERAGE: Three visionaries win The California Wellness Foundation Peace Prize; historic partnership for affordable housing launched in New York City; Colorado Trust starts effort to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities JUST PUBLISHED: New guide highlights top Minnesota foundations; report says givers wary of slick marketing, unaware of foundations; survey shows Hoosiers more generous than their peers NOW ONLINE: KatrinaHealth.org created to help evacuees with prescription records AT THE COUNCIL: International Committee nominations sought; sign up for Breaking News ACT NOW: Register for the 2006 Family Foundation Conference ON THE MOVE: Andrew A. Chirls (Philadelphia); Robert L. King and Stephen D. Mittenthal (Arizona Community); Michael L. Royce and Ted Berger (New York Foundation for the Arts); Evan Hochberg (Deloitte & Touche); Stephen Brick and Whitney Smith (Joyce) NEWS COVERAGE REWARDING VISIONARIES: The California Wellness Foundation (TCWF) presented its 2005 California Peace Prize to three visionary leaders who made significant contributions to preventing violence in the state. Recipients are Otilio "O.T." Quintero, assistant director of Santa Cruz Barrios Unidos; Maria Velasquez, violence prevention trainer and outreach worker for Second Step: A Violence Prevention Curriculum; and Sayre Weaver, legal director of The Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence. TCWF presented the awards at its 13th annual California Peace Prize banquet October 19. Honorees each received $25,000 cash awards acknowledging their commitment to preventing violence and promoting peace. Read more: http://www.tcwf.org/leadership_awards/ca_peace_prize/2005/index.htm . HOUSING PARTNERSHIP: Along with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur, Rockefeller, Starr and Ford foundations and the Open Society Institute, New York City's Department of Housing, Preservation and Development and leading financial institutions announced the New York Acquisition Fund, a $200 million fund to acquire and preserve 30,000 units of affordable housing. The fund will provide local, nonprofit developers with the financial means to acquire private property to construct and preserve affordable housing. The Enterprise Foundation is serving as the fund's managing general partner and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation is serving as general partner. Rockefeller Foundation President Judith Rodin said, "What is innovative is that it brings together in one facility, for the first time, some of the best and most creative financing strategies that have been used by Wall Street, by philanthropy and by government and community development entities." Read more: http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/html/2005b/pr390-05.html . HEALTH DISPARITY: The Colorado Trust began a seven-year, $13 million initiative to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities in Colorado. The Equality in Health Initiative will provide funding for grantees working to provide equal access to medical care, improve environmental conditions and promote healthy behaviors among racial and ethnic minorities. Fourteen grantees from across the state were selected to receive grants averaging $60,000 annually for five years. An additional group of grantees will be selected midway through the initiative. The Colorado Foundation for Families and Children is coordinating the effort. Read more: http://www.coloradotrust.org/index.cfm?fuseAction=InitiativesGrantees.details&initiativeId=305 . JUST PUBLISHED TOP 100: The Minnesota Council on Foundations released the first Guide to Top 100 Minnesota Grantmakers, a detailed list of the grantmakers who represent 85 percent of foundation and corporative giving in the state. The guide provides grantmaker profiles, key staff and preferred contact information, tips and grantmakers' guidelines for grantseekers. It will be printed biennially, in between editions of the comprehensive Guide to Minnesota Grantmakers, which includes information on more than 1,300 grantmakers. Find out more or order the guide: http://www.mcf.org/MCF/resource/top100.htm . CHARITABLE VIEWS: Americans are passionate and positive about the nonprofits they support, especially when it comes to smaller local charities and human service organizations, according to a report from Public Agenda. The Charitable Impulse provides an in-depth qualitative exploration of gaps between the views of committed donors (those who contributed at least $300, volunteered or were members of organizations) and those of philanthropic sector leaders. Donors are concerned when these organizations market themselves in ways that mimic big business, such as using glossy brochures, telephone solicitations and high-pressure appeals. Givers generally felt that nonprofit sector workers should not expect the same level of reward as those in the for-profit sector, while nonprofit leaders saw that view as misguided. Givers were generally unaware of foundations, but those who were rarely questioned their tax-exempt privileges and gave foundations surprisingly wide latitude as to how they used their money. Givers also expressed doubt about the value of more government regulation, while leaders worried about it being burdensome. The report is based on six focus groups convened around the country with donors and volunteers and separate interviews with nonprofit and charitable leaders. The research was conducted in collaboration with the Kettering Foundation and Independent Sector. Read more or download the report (PDF): http://www.publicagenda.org/research/research_reports_details.cfm?list=94 . HOOSIER GIVING: Indiana Gives 2004, a study by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, found that just over 79 percent of Hoosiers gave to charity in 2003 (the latest year for which figures are available), versus 67 percent nationally. The report is the most comprehensive study of Indiana giving ever undertaken and is believed to be the first study of giving in the Indianapolis metro area. Seventy-two percent of Hoosier Gen X households (versus 57 percent nationally) contributed an average of $1,964 each, significantly more than the $1,180 estimated for Gen X-ers in the United States overall. Eighty-seven percent of Indiana's Baby Boomer households contributed an average of $2,753, while nationally 72 percent of boomer households contributed an average of $2,292. The survey includes a detailed analysis of results from 734 households throughout the state, as well as information on giving by Indiana corporations and foundations. Read more or download the report (PDF): http://www.philanthropy.iupui.edu/IndGives_2004.html . NOW ONLINE EVACUEE HEALTH: A partnership of foundations, nonprofits, private businesses and government agencies launched a free, secure online service to connect Katrina evacuees, doctors and pharmacists with information about the prescription drugs evacuees were taking before fleeing their homes. The partnership that launched KatrinaHealth.org includes the Markle and Robert Wood Johnson foundations. The site allows licensed doctors and pharmacists to find out which drugs a patient has been prescribed, his or her dosages, whether refills are available and which doctor prescribed them. Find out more: http://www.katrinahealth.org . AT THE COUNCIL INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE: The Council on Foundations is seeking nominations to fill upcoming vacancies on its International Committee. The committee seeks members who are committed to its goals of assisting the Council in building and extending the field of international philanthropy and increasing its awareness. Selections are made with a view toward ensuring the committee broadly represents the Council's membership. Nominations deadline is December 31, 2005. Questions? E-mail Isabelle Mack at macki@cof.org. Download a nomination form (PDF): http://www.cof.org/files/ Documents/International_Programs/2005Publications/Nomination_Form_(2006).pdf . 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 FAMILY FOUNDATIONS: Register for the Council on Foundations' 2006 Family Foundation Conference in Honolulu, January 29-31, 2006 (pre-conference workshops begin January 28). The conference theme, From Principle to Practice: Navigating Your Course, focuses on improving the field's performance and raising its level of excellence by applying the new Stewardship Principles for Family Foundations. Speakers include Steve Case, cofounder of America Online, Inc., and chair of the Case Foundation and Nainoa Thompson, president of the Polynesian Voyaging Society. Post-conference trips will offer grantmakers hands-on experiences with Hawaiian philanthropy and grantmaking models in environmental conservation, innovative education, culture preservation and more. Find out more or register: http://int2.cof.org/conferences/family2006/index.htm . In the September/October Foundation News & Commentary, Alfred L. Castle describes Hawaii's tradition of giving in "Philanthropy in Paradise." Castle is chair of the 2006 Family Foundation Conference and executive director and trustee of the Samuel N. and Mary Castle Foundation. Read the article: http://www.foundationnews.org/CME/article.cfm?ID=3409 . ON THE MOVE The Philadelphia Foundation appointed ANDREW A. CHIRLS to its board of managers. On February 1, 2006, ROBERT L. KING will become CEO of the Arizona Community Foundation. He will succeed STEPHEN D. MITTENTHAL, who is retiring after 22 years as president and CEO. MICHAEL L. ROYCE will join the New York Foundation for the Arts as executive director in January 2006. He will succeed TED BERGER, who has led the foundation for 25 years. Read more: http://www.nyfa.org/level4.asp?id=329&fid=5&sid=29&tid=60 . Deloitte & Touche USA LLP appointed EVAN HOCHBERG as national director of community involvement. Read more: http://www.csrwire.com/article.cgi/4584.html . The Joyce Foundation hired STEPHEN BRICK as environment program manager and WHITNEY SMITH as employment program manager. Read more: http://www.joycefdn.org . 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: 11.22.05