FN&C Now

Volume 6, Number 40 – November 22, 2005 IN THIS ISSUE NEWS COVERAGE: Foundations announce web portal to connect developing countries with universities worldwide; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation explores nursing's impact AT THE COUNCIL: Seeking board nominations from members; sign up for Breaking News JUST PUBLISHED: Report says Maryland foundations' assets and giving have increased; study calls for corporations to see retirees as strategic part of volunteer programs NOW ONLINE: Web welcome from Council on Foundations President and CEO Steve Gunderson ON THE MOVE: Phil S. Jacobs (CDC Foundation); Nadya K. Shmavonian and David Grant (Surdna); Ron D. Wright, Minda Thompson and Megan E. Elicker (Greater Cincinnati) NEWS COVERAGE NEW PORTAL: The Development Gateway Foundation and The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation launched a Web initiative to connect people in developing countries with free, high-quality course materials from universities around the world. The Open Educational Resources portal, which was announced last week at the World Summit on the Information Society, will provide free course materials and other information from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Chinese Open Resources for Education and other institutions. Although the portal's content will be geared to educators, students and independent learners in developing countries, anyone with an Internet connection will have access to the materials. The Hewlett foundation also announced a $900,000 grant to the African Virtual University to support the Teacher Education in sub-Saharan Africa initiative, an open content resource bank of materials to train teachers in basic curriculum areas. Read more: http://www.hewlett.org/Programs/Education/Technology/tunisia.htm . View a webcast announcing the web portal: http://www.itu.int/wsis/tunis/scripts/archive.asp?lang=en&c_type=5|16 . NURSING INITIATIVE: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation announced the Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative, a five-year, $10 million program to generate, disseminate and translate research to improve the quality of hospital care. "One of the exciting aspects of this program is that it will bring together researchers from nursing and other disciplines—economics, sociology, engineering, political science—to advance understanding of nursing's contribution to the quality of patient care," said Lori Melichar, an economist at the foundation. In July, two-year grants of up to $300,000 will be awarded to up to seven interdisciplinary research teams. Brief proposals are due by January 13, 2006. Read more: http://www.rwjf.org/newsroom/newsreleasesdetail.jsp?id=10378 . AT THE COUNCIL CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: The Governance Committee is seeking nominations for the Council on Foundations' Board of Directors. Board members will be elected by the Council on Foundations membership at the 2006 Annual Business Meeting in Pittsburgh. The Governance Committee has decided to add at least three new board members for the Class of 2009, but also to leave room for broadening the Council's representation of the field. Friday, December 2, 2005, marks the deadline for nominations. For nominating materials, Council members may visit http://www.cof.org/Content/General/Display.cfm?CONTENTID=1013 . Questions? Please contact the Office of the President at 202/467-0458 or thoms@cof.org. 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. JUST PUBLISHED MARYLAND GROWTH: Maryland foundations increased their giving in 2003 to $640 million, up 3 percent from 2002, and also increased their assets to approximately $10.4 billion, up 15 percent from 2002, according to a new report from the Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers. According to The State of Foundation Giving in Maryland–2005, private foundations are poised for future growth in giving. The report also found that the asset and giving increases were greater for Maryland foundations than for foundations in the United States overall. Read more or download the report (PDF): http://www.abagmd.org/info-url2446/info-url_show.htm?doc_id=317973 . RETAINING RETIREES: The Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College and Volunteers of America released Expanding the Boundaries of Corporate Volunteerism: Retirees as a Valuable Resource. The report indicates that businesses have an important role to play in helping employees and retirees navigate transitions in and between work and civic engagement. Employee volunteer programs are likely to expand as companies integrate them with their corporate citizenship strategies, particularly since such programs have proven benefits to companies, employees, nonprofits and local communities. The report was published with support from The Atlantic Philanthropies. Download the report (PDF): ftp://publicftp.voa.org/VOA_Report_ExpandingTheBoundariesOfCorporateVolunteerism.pdf . NOW ONLINE WEB WELCOME: "Today, philanthropy is so much more than the traditional foundation," says new Council on Foundations President and CEO Steve Gunderson, in an online video welcoming visitors to the Council's website. After providing a brief history of the Council, Gunderson lists four elements today's differing types of philanthropy need to improve society—information, inspiration, innovation and impact—and offers the Council's services to help meet the field's needs. View the video at http://real2.rd.net/rdnet/cof/stevegunderson.wmv . ON THE MOVE PHIL S. JACOBS was named chair of the CDC Foundation. The board of the Surdna Foundation elected two new directors, NADYA K. SHMAVONIAN and DAVID GRANT, at its September board meeting. This marks the first time that non-family members will serve as directors. The Greater Cincinnati Foundation elected RON D. WRIGHT to its board. The foundation also hired MINDA THOMPSON as director of professional advisor relations and promoted Giving Strategies Assistant MEGAN E. ELICKER to regional giving strategies officer. Read more: http://www.greatercincinnatifdn.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