FN&C Now

Volume 7, Number 13 – March 16, 2006 IN THIS ISSUE AT THE COUNCIL: Council outlines tax reconciliation concerns in letter to Joint Committee on Taxation; March 24 marks deadline for early annual conference registration; seeking nominations for Committee on Corporate Grantmaking by March 31; sign up for Breaking News NEWS COVERAGE: Cisco, Grand Circle Corporation and KaBoom! win philanthropy awards; Eli Lilly records highest annual giving total in its history; Greater Kansas City Community Foundation surpasses $1 billion in assets; American Association of Fundraising Counsel marks anniversaries with new name JUST PUBLISHED: Report indicates foundation giving rebounded in 2004; study shows value of volunteer hour up; Family Giving News explores mission-related investing NOW ONLINE: Guide to helping low-income families released; W.K. Kellogg Foundation's new website offers stories ON THE MOVE: Deborah Marrow (J. Paul Getty Trust); Robin Talbert (AARP Foundation); Bernadette Christiansen (McKnight); Nadia Brigham (Kellogg); Nancy Burd (Philadelphia); Jack Van Sambeek, Miya Iwataki and Arturo Vargas, et al. (Community Technology Foundation) EDITOR'S NOTE: Issue 12 of FN&C Now was the last in a series of special issues sponsored by MicroEdge, the organization featured therein. We apologize for inadvertently omitting the sponsorship information when the issue was sent on March 9. AT THE COUNCIL CONCERNS OUTLINED: In a February 21 letter to the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), the nonpartisan committee responsible for drafting legislation, the Council on Foundations detailed a number of concerns with provisions for donor-advised funds and supporting organizations in H.R. 4297, the tax reconciliation bill (formerly S. 2020). The Council also called on staff of the JCT and Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees to address these concerns during the tax reconciliation conference. The conference may begin next week, but final action is unlikely to be taken before the St. Patrick's Day recess (March 20–24). Read the letter (PDF): http://www.cof.org/files/Documents/Government/Charitable%20Reform%20Resource%20Center/06_JCT_Letter_0221.pdf . Read more about the provisions: http://www.cof.org/Content/General/Display.cfm?contentID=2983#Provision . EARLY REGISTRATION: Sign up by March 24 to receive discounted registration for the Council on Foundations 57th Annual Conference, to be held in Pittsburgh May 7–9, 2006. The conference theme is Philanthropy: Investing in the Vision of Progress. Speakers will include Teresa Heinz, chair, the Howard Heinz Endowment and the Heinz Family Philanthropies; George Soros, founder and chairman, Open Society Institute and the Soros foundations network; Senator Max Baucus, ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee; Newt Gingrich, former speaker, U.S. House of Representatives; Richard Florida, economist, professor and author, The Rise of the Creative Class and The Flight of the Creative Class; and Wangari Muta Maathai, 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and founder, the Green Belt Movement. Register or find out more: http://int2.cof.org/conferences/ac2006/registration.htm . Take a philanthropic video tour of Pittsburgh: http://real2.rd.net/rdnet/cof/pittsburgh.wmv . CORPORATE COMMITTEE: The Council is seeking nominations for individuals to serve three-year terms on the Committee on Corporate Grantmaking. The committee is a group of corporate grantmaking executives who work with the Corporate Services staff to examine trends in corporate giving and develop new products and services. Nominees must be employed by a Council corporate member; have three years of experience in corporate philanthropy and an understanding of the field's key issues; have or have had an active role in the management of a company's philanthropy; and have the ability to devote the necessary time and resources to the committee's work. Nominations are due by Friday, March 31, 2006. Find out more (PDF): http://www.cof.org/files/Documents/Corporate_Grantmaking/Corporate%20Committee%20Summaries/2006_Call_for_Nominations.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, as well as members and staff of our colleague organizations. Subscribe by e-mailing your name, title and foundation name to media@cof.org. NEWS COVERAGE CORPORATE WINNERS: The Committee to Encourage Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) presented its 2005 Excellence in Corporate Philanthropy Awards to three organizations. Cisco Systems was honored for programs that inspired employees to donate more than 200,000 hours of community service in seven months; Grand Circle Corporation was honored for funding nearly 100 schools and youth programs around the world; and KaBoom! was honored for building and restoring play spaces via a nonprofit and corporate partnership. The awards were presented in Washington, DC, on February 27, National Corporate Philanthropy Day. CECP was co-founded by actor Paul Newman and former ChevronTexaco CEO Ken Derr. Read more: http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20060227005179&newsLang=en . GIVING RECORD: Eli Lilly and Company distributed more than $511 million in cash and in-kind gifts globally in 2005—the highest yearly giving total in its 130-year history. The company contributed more than $453 million in product donations for international humanitarian causes. In addition, the company and the Lilly Foundation awarded nearly $58 million in cash donations to a number of special causes, including matches of employee gifts for disaster-relief efforts in the wake of the tsunami in Southeast Asia, Hurricane Katrina in the United States and earthquakes near the Pakistan-India border. "In a year of urgent needs, Lilly and its employees stepped forward with extraordinary efforts," said Chairman and CEO Sidney Taurel. Read more: http://newsroom.lilly.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=188110 . $1 BILLION MARK: The Greater Kansas City Community Foundation (GKCCF) passed $1 billion in total assets, making it sixth out of 635 community foundations nationwide in total assets held. According to the 2005 Columbus Foundation Survey of Community Foundations, GKCCF ranks behind the New York Community Trust, the Cleveland Foundation, the Chicago Community Trust, the Tulsa Community Foundation and the Marin County (California) Foundation. Read more from the Kansas City Business Journal: http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2006/02/27/daily18.html . MARKING CHANGE: The American Association of Fundraising Counsel (AAFRC) will celebrate its 70th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of its signature publication, Giving USA, with a forum on global philanthropy and a gala in Atlanta on March 31. The gala will also formally launch the group's new name, The Giving Institute. George C. Ruotolo, AAFRC acting chair, said that although "the AAFRC name has served us well as an organization for 70 years," a new name was needed "because our member firms work internationally and do so much more for our clients than fundraising consulting." Read a Chicago Tribune article about the changes: http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-0603010398mar02,1,4603296.story . JUST PUBLISHED GIVING REBOUNDS: Following a two-year decline, foundation support for most major program areas rebounded in 2004, with health and science experiencing the fastest growth in funding, according to Foundation Giving Trends: An Update on Funding Priorities, from the Foundation Center. Grant dollars awarded by the largest private and community foundations increased 8 percent between 2003 and 2004, while the number of grants increased 5 percent, according to the report. Contributing to the rise in health funding was a $750 million, ten-year grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the Vaccine Fund to support the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization. Read more: http://www.fdncenter.org/media/news/pr_0602a.html . Download the report's highlights (PDF): http://fdncenter.org/research/trends_analysis/pdf/fgt06highlights.pdf . VOLUNTEER HOUR: Independent Sector (IS) estimates that the value of a volunteer hour in 2005 was $18.04 (up from $17.55 in 2004). The total value of 2005 volunteer hours equals approximately $280 billion in services, assuming volunteers gave the same amount of time as in previous years. IS provides the estimate to give charities a tool to help quantify contributions volunteers make. Read more: http://www.independentsector.org/media/20060306_volunteer_time.html . FAMILY GIVING NEWS: The March Family Giving News focuses on program or mission-related investing and how breaking down barriers between a philanthropy's financial processes and charitable goals can help a family achieve the most through its funding. As part of its continuing "Profiles in Family Philanthropy" series, the issue looks at the F. B. Heron Foundation's commitment to bringing together its mission and its investment policies. Read the issue or subscribe: http://www.ncfp.org/Email_Alert.html . NOW ONLINE STABLE FAMILIES: Families that are physically and financially secure are critical to a community's well-being. Safe & Stable Families, a succinct guide by The Community Giving Resource (CGR), explores a range of challenges facing low-income communities and how individual donors and small family foundations can help low-income families become stronger and more self-sufficient. The guide also explains how donors can measure their funding's impact. A project of the Neighborhood Funders Group, in cooperation with the Aspen Institute Nonprofit Sector and Philanthropy Program, CGR's mission is to help small family foundations and individual donors give effectively in low-income communities. Go to the guide: http://www.communitygivingresource.org/families/families.htm . STORIED WEBSITE: The W.K. Kellogg Foundation relaunched its website to help the foundation tell its story and that of its grantees in the United States, Latin America, the Caribbean and southern Africa. The site uses videos, photo essays, journalistic stories and interviews to bring new depth to the stories. "Storytelling is personal, and puts a human face on the large and complex issues that face us all. Through stories, people can make connections, and mobilize social change," said Karen Lake, the foundation's director of communication. The site also includes features from the old website, including an online grant application process, knowledgebase and detailed pages on program areas. Find out more (PDF): http://www.wkkf.org/DesktopModules/WKF_DmaItem/ViewDoc.aspx?CID=6&ListID=28&ItemID=5000004&fld=PDFFile . ON THE MOVE DEBORAH MARROW is interim president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust. Read more: http://www.getty.edu/news/press/center/deborah_marrow_ceo_release06.html . ROBIN TALBERT is now executive director of the AARP Foundation. Read more: http://www.aarp.org/research/press-center/presscurrentnews/robin_talbert.html . The McKnight Foundation hired BERNADETTE CHRISTIANSEN as vice president of human resources and administration. Read more: http://www.mcknight.org/newsandviews/news_detail.aspx?itemID=3463&catID=2440&typeID=2 . NADIA BRIGHAM joined the W.K. Kellogg Foundation as program assistant, youth and education. Read more (PDF): http://www.wkkf.org/DesktopModules/WKF_DmaItem/ViewDoc.aspx?LanguageID=0&CID=6&ListID=28&ItemID=5000023&fld=PDFFile . NANCY BURD was hired as vice president for grantmaking services at the Philadelphia Foundation. The Community Technology Foundation of California elected JACK VAN SAMBEEK chair, MIYA IWATAKI vice chair, ARTURO VARGAS treasurer and CHARLIE TOLEDO secretary. New board members are RAYMOND COLMENAR, PHILIP TUONG DUY NGUYEN and HELEN IRIS. 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: 3.27.06