FN&C Now

Volume 7, Number 15 – March 29, 2006 IN THIS ISSUE AT THE COUNCIL: Recipients of 2006 Distinguished Grantmaker, Scrivner and Ylvisaker awards announced; sign up for Breaking News NEWS COVERAGE: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provides funds for Nonprofit Congress; winners of Pew-funded effort to register young voters named; Sam and Adele Golden Foundation for the Arts honors five artists JUST PUBLISHED: Report stresses value of relationships between philanthropy and state regulators; report underscores needs and opportunities in Baja California Sur ACT NOW: Sign up for a program on engaging the next generation in philanthropy; nominate an emerging Canadian leader or an organization in Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia working on civil society ON THE MOVE: Phoebe Eng (Ms. Foundation); Carlos J. Reyes, Linda L. Gill and Raymond Leightman, et al. (Broward); Richard Tofel (Rockefeller); Stephanie Trapp (Knight); Cindy Rizzo and Angel Bermudez (Boston); Jacqueline F. Woods, Rev. Otis Moss Jr. and James A. Ratner, et al. (Cleveland); Alva Jean Crawford, David Ellis III and Linda Fath, et al. (Greater Cincinnati); Kathy A. Agard (Johnson Center) AT THE COUNCIL AWARD WINNERS: The Council on Foundations named the winners of its 2006 Distinguished Grantmaker Award, Robert W. Scrivner Award for Creative Grantmaking and Paul Ylvisaker Award for Public Policy Engagement. Barry Gaberman, senior vice president at the Ford Foundation, will receive the Distinguished Grantmaker Award. Mary Thomas, vice president for programs at the Spartanburg County Foundation, will receive the Robert W. Scrivner Award for Creative Grantmaking. The Blandin Foundation will receive the Paul Ylvisaker Award for Public Policy Engagement. The awards will be presented at the Council's annual conference in Pittsburgh, May 7–9, 2006. Read the press release announcing the winners: http://www.cof.org/Content/PressRelease/Display.cfm?pressReleaseID=3531 . Feature stories about the winners appear in the March/April Foundation News & Commentary: http://www.foundationnews.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, 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 NONPROFIT CONGRESS: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded the National Council of Nonprofit Associations (NCNA) a $75,000 grant in support of the Nonprofit Congress, an initiative to organize and empower all nonprofits, particularly the small and midsize groups that make up almost 80 percent of the sector. The grant, which matches a grant from the Nonprofits' Insurance Alliance of California and the Alliance of Nonprofits for Insurance, Risk Retention Group, will support dozens of NCNA-sponsored town hall meetings with nonprofit leaders across the country. The feedback from those meetings will inform the development of a public-policy platform for the sector. Read more: http://www.nonprofitcongress.org/sites/nonprofitcongress.org /files/theme_editor/npcongress/gates.swf . YOUNG VOTERS: Building on the historic young voter turnout in the 2004 elections, the George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management announced winners of the first national competition for innovative nonpartisan strategies to register voters aged 18 to 29. The $3 million project was funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts and coordinated by Young Voter Strategies. The winners are Allegheny College Center for Political Participation; American Association of State Colleges and Universities; Building Blocks, Building Votes; Center for Civic Participation; Close Up Foundation; League of Young Voters; Mobile Voter/Music for America; National Coalition on Black Civic Participation (Black Youth Vote); National Council of La Raza; Redeem the Vote; State Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs); and Women's Voices, Women Vote. The competition's winners will seek to register 350,000 young voters nationwide in 2006 through innovative technologies and grassroots strategies. After the elections, Young Voter Strategies and a team of university researchers will analyze winners' work to create a Young Voter Toolkit of best practices for mobilizing young voters. Read more: https://youngvoterstrategies.electionmall.name/e-contentstrategy/news.asp . ARTIST AWARDS: The Sam and Adele Golden Foundation for the Arts presented its 2005 individual artists awards to five artists working in paint. James Barsness, Theresa Chong, Joey Fauerso, Juri Morioka and Danielle Tegeder will each receive one-year grants of up to $3,500 to help advance their careers. The foundation is one of the few in the United States focusing exclusively on individual professional artists working in paint. Read more: http://www.goldenfoundation.org . JUST PUBLISHED STATES AND PHILANTHROPY: The Council on Foundations, in partnership with the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers, published The Value of Relationships between State Regulators and Philanthropy. This report seeks to enhance the accountability and effectiveness of foundations and their oversight by state charity regulators by highlighting the value of ongoing, productive relationships between regulators and the philanthropic sector and demonstrating how such relationships can be successfully achieved. It includes an overview of state regulation of charities and foundations, a snapshot of the regulatory environment in 16 states, case studies of the various types of collaborative relationships in four states and recommendations on how to develop such relationships. Link to the full report (PDF): http://www.cof.org/files/Documents/Building Strong Ethical Foundations/06AGreportfull.pdf . Link to the highlights (PDF): http://www.cof.org/files/Documents/Building Strong Ethical Foundations/06AGreporthighlights.pdf . The separate sections can also be downloaded from the forum's website: http://www.givingforum.org/policy/regulators.html . BORDER GIVING: With growing numbers of baby boomers making Baja California Sur in Mexico a place to retire or purchase a second home, the International Community Foundation (ICF) released Baja California Sur's Community-Based Opportunities and Needs to expand charitable giving in the border state. The publication includes a synthesis of community needs and opportunities for giving and volunteering; chapters on areas such as education, health, community and economic development; public-sector funding gaps; and nonprofits that have completed ICF's due diligence process. The foundation works to increase charitable giving and volunteerism across U.S. borders to benefit communities and local nonprofits, with an emphasis on Baja California. Read the full report: http://www.icfdn.org/publications/na2006 . ACT NOW NEXT GENERATION: Social Venture Partners Boston invites donors to discuss extending philanthropic legacy into the next generation with four leaders in the field. The program will be held April 5, 2006, from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. ET at the Boston Foundation. Panelists are Ellen Remmer, vice president, the Philanthropic Initiative; Jamie Schweser, donor education coordinator, Resource Generation; and Paul Shoemaker, executive director, Social Venture Partners. Steve Johnson, vice president, the Philanthropic Initiative, will moderate. Register or find out more: http://www.tpi.org/promoting/calendar.htm . YOUNG LEADERS: The Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation announced its inaugural Global Youth Fellowships targeted to emerging, young Canadian leaders who demonstrate potential to enhance Canada's role on the world stage. Applicants must be Canadian citizens or landed immigrants and 24 to 35 years of age with previous international work experience (paid or volunteer). Candidates also need to demonstrate sustained commitment to international issues through studies, career choices and volunteer activities. Successful candidates will receive a cash award of $20,000 each and other types of support. Nomination deadline is May 15, 2006. Find out more: http://www.gordonfn.ca/GC_fellowships.cfm . CIVIL SOCIETY: The Trust for Civil Society in Central & Eastern Europe opened a call for proposals for projects that will build civil society in Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia. It invites nonprofits, expert groups and other institutions in those countries to submit proposals, particularly for projects that cover policy analysis, cross-sector cooperation, active campaigns and advocacy. Proposals must be submitted by e-mail by April 7, 2006. The trust will issue another call for proposals this fall. Find out more: http://www.ceetrust.org/index.php?ar=469 . ON THE MOVE The Ms. Foundation elected PHOEBE ENG to its board. Read more: http://www.ms.foundation.org/wmspage.cfm?parm1=348 . The Community Foundation of Broward elected CARLOS J. REYES board chair. New board members are LINDA L. GILL, RAYMOND LEIGHTMAN, ALBERT MINIACI and MYRTLE POTTER. Read more: http://www.cfbroward.org/new/pr/new_board.html . RICHARD TOFEL is now vice president and general counsel of the Rockefeller Foundation. Read more (PDF): http://www.rockfound.org/Library/Tofel_press_release.pdf . STEPHANIE TRAPP joined the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation as program director for Biloxi and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Read more: http://www.knightfdn.org/default.asp?story=news_at_knight/releases/2006/2006_03_15_trapp.html . The Boston Foundation named CINDY RIZZO director of grantmaking and ANGEL BERMUDEZ senior director of grantmaking and special projects. On April 1, 2006, JACQUELINE F. WOODS will become chair and REV. OTIS MOSS JR. vice chair of the Cleveland Foundation. In addition, the foundation appointed JAMES A. RATNER and REV. HILTON O. SMITH board members. The foundation also named RICHARD STUEBI as BP fellow for energy and environmental advancement, a new position. ALVA JEAN CRAWFORD, DAVID ELLIS III, LINDA FATH and PETER S. STRANGE joined the board of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation. The Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy & Nonprofit Leadership at Grand Valley State University named KATHY A. AGARD executive director. 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