FN&C Now

Volume 7, Number 28 – July 10, 2006 IN THIS ISSUE NEWS COVERAGE: MacArthur foundation creates award for small, creative and effective nonprofits; McKnight Foundation names 2005 Distinguished Artist; More Than Money ceases operations, transfers assets JUST PUBLISHED: Giving by Western foundations exceeds giving by Southern foundations for the first time, report says NOW ONLINE: Stanford Social Innovation Review focuses on leadership for the nonprofit sector; GuideStar launches library service ACT NOW: Sign up for learning forum on reconstructing the Gulf Coast; register for teleconference on legacy grantmaking; submit a proposal to become a Foundation Center cooperating collection ON THE MOVE: Pamela G. Alexander, Marshall J. Besikof, et al. (Minneapolis) Carol G. Simonetti (Alaska); Elise Bernhardt (Jewish Culture); Robert Smulian and Lauren Norton (Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta); Diane Norcio (California Endowment); Linda Fitzgerald, Linda Higueras and Kate Seely (Hispanics in Philanthropy); Richard Conroy, Gratia Schroeder, et al. (Gulf Coast Community); Barbara McCuen (Council on Foundations) NEWS COVERAGE NEW AWARDS: The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation—known for its MacArthur Fellows Program, which celebrates individual creativity—launched an annual award for small nonprofits around the world showing unusual effectiveness and creativity. "It is often small or emerging organizations that generate provocative ideas, reframe the debate or provide new ways of looking at persistent problems," said foundation president Jonathan Fanton. The foundation won't seek nominations for the award, which will provide up to $500,000 to each winning nonprofit, and will give the award in addition to other grants MacArthur may provide to those groups. This year's nine winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in Chicago in October. The foundation also will organize a series of seminars on the winners' work for nonprofits, providing an opportunity for mutual learning. Read more: http://www.macfound.org/site/c.lkLXJ8MQKrH/b.1053853/apps/nl/content2.asp?content_id={32AC7D28-34FF-410C-879A-8DFC58165389}¬oc=1 . DISTINGUISHED ARTIST: The McKnight Foundation announced that Lou Bellamy, artistic director of the Penumbra Theatre Company in St. Paul, Minnesota, is winner of the 2006 McKnight Distinguished Artist Award. Each year, the foundation presents the $40,000 award to a working artist in Minnesota who has helped lay the foundation for the state's rich cultural life, despite having opportunities to work elsewhere. Bellamy is being recognized for artistic excellence spanning 30 years as a producer and director at the nation's preeminent African-American theater. Read more: http://www.mcknight.org/newsandviews/news_detail.aspx?itemID=3942&catID=2440&typeID=2 . MOVING ON: More Than Money, a nonprofit that helped individuals align their wealth and values, has decided to cease operations, but will support other organizations in their work on similar issues. Most of More Than Money's assets will be transferred to establish a Money and Values program at the Marpa Center for Business and Economics at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. The Project on Civic Reflection and the Center for Courage and Renewal will also be involved in continuing More Than Money's work. Read more: http://www.morethanmoney.org . JUST PUBLISHED FACTS AND FIGURES: For the first time, giving by Western foundations exceeded giving by Southern foundations, according to Foundation Yearbook: Facts and Figures on Private and Community Foundations, 2006 Edition, from the Foundation Center. Overall foundation giving rose 5.5 percent in 2005 to an estimated $33.6 billion and assets of all active U.S. foundations were up 7.1 percent to $510.5 billion in 2004. Giving by community foundations was also found to have increased by 15 percent in 2004, far exceeding the 3.4 percent increase in giving by independent foundations. The yearbook provides a detailed report on the nearly 68,000 foundations active in 2004, documents changes in the actual number, giving and assets of all active U.S. foundations from 1975 through 2004 and provides estimates of foundation giving through 2005 and more. Download highlights (PDF) or purchase the yearbook: http://www.fdncenter.org/gainknowledge/research/nationaltrends.html; jsessionid=HJOTVRJ14HKKFTQRSI4CGW15AAAACI2F . NOW ONLINE SOCIAL INNOVATION: The summer 2006 Stanford Social Innovation Review highlights leadership in the nonprofit sector. Les Silverman and Lynn Taliento explain the roles of business leaders in the sector in "What Business Execs Don't know—but Should—About Nonprofits." In "The Leadership Deficit," Thomas J. Tierney offers creative ways for nonprofits to find and recruit new leaders, including from business, the military and the growing pool of retirees. Read more or subscribe: http://www.ssireview.org . LIBRARY SERVICE: GuideStar launched LibraryServices@GuideStar, which provides library patrons with onsite and remote access to nonprofit information. Library patrons have access to GuideStar Premium, GuideStar's highest level of service. The service allows users to: search more than 1.5 million nonprofits using 12 search fields; view financial data, including revenue tables, expense tables, and balance sheets; access all available IRS Forms 990; sort extensive search results by income, category, IRS subsection and availability of IRS Forms 990; and print full reports. Find out more: http://www.guidestar.org/about/press/060622_library.jsp . ACT NOW LEARNING FORUM: Although some areas along the Gulf Coast are rebuilding, a disproportionate number of low-income urban and rural residents face innumerable hurdles in reconstructing their lives. The New York Regional Association of Grantmakers (NYRAG) Gulf Coast Recovery Task Force will hold a series of learning forums to discuss effective long-term reinvestment strategies for the Gulf Coast. The first learning forum, Voices of the Gulf Coast: Strategies for Hope & Change, will be held Wednesday, July 12, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., in New York City. Ambassador James A. Joseph, chair of the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation, is keynote speaker. Other speakers include leaders in housing, community organizing, civic participation and community development. Corporations, foundations, individuals, elected officials and the media are invited to attend. Funding for the program is provided by the Ford Foundation. Register or find out more: http://www.nyrag.org/calendar_info2332/calendar_info_show.htm?doc_id=366505 . LEGACY GRANTS: The National Center for Family Philanthropy will hold a teleconference titled "Legacy Grantmaking: What Granddad Would Have Wanted," July 13, from noon to 1:30 p.m., ET. Legacy grants are grants to organizations, program areas or regions of the country that were of special importance to the donor or the family. The family continues to make these grants, often for generations, not only for their value to the community but out of a sense of history or legacy and in honor of the founder. National Center President Virginia Esposito will examine how families approach these grants and the special grantor-grantee relationships that come with them, as well as how families address future needs while remaining true to the foundation's values and history. Register or find out more: http://www.ncfp.org/program-teleconferences.htm#d071305 . COOPERATING COLLECTIONS: The Foundation Center is seeking partners to establish new funding information centers across the country. The center's approximately 250 Cooperating Collections (CCs) provide grantseekers with free access to the center's database and to a core collection of its directories and publications. CCs also provide a wide selection of supplementary materials and services useful to grantseekers, including hosting free classes on grantseeking basics, dialogues with local donors and the center's fee-based, full-day grantseeking courses. Institutions that may be considered to become a cooperating collection include, public, academic or special libraries, nonprofit resource centers, community or other foundations, state associations and United Ways. Proposals for CC designation are reviewed on a regular basis, with designations made each month. Find out more: http://foundationcenter.org/collections/rfp_cc.html . ON THE MOVE PAMELA G. ALEXANDER, MARSHALL J. BESIKOF, SIMA GRIFFITH and HUSSEIN SAMATAR are new trustees at the Minneapolis Foundation. Read more: http://www.mplsfoundation.org/pr/2006newtrustees.htm . The National Foundation for Jewish Culture appointed ELISE BERNHARDT executive director. Read more: http://www2.jewishculture.org/about/staff/ed-pr . DIANE NORCIO joined the California Endowment as program officer in its Sacramento/North State Regional Office. Read more: http://www.calendow.org/news/press_releases/2006/06/062806.stm . Hispanics in Philanthropy named LINDA FITZGERALD director of transnational programs, LINDA HIGUERAS program director West and KATE SEELY executive assistant to the president. Read more: http://www.hiponline.org/home/Resources/News/June+2006+-+HIP+Hires+Three+New+Staff+Members.htm . CAROL G. SIMONETTI was named CEO of the Alaska Community Foundation, a new position created as part of the foundation's five-year capacity-building plan. The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta hired ROBERT SMULIAN as vice president of philanthropic services and LAUREN NORTON as vice president of marketing and communications. On July 1, RICHARD CONROY became chair and GRATIA SCHROEDER vice chair of the Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice. The foundation also elected JERRY ROBERTSON, MICHAEL ROLPH and STEPHEN WILBERDING as board members. BARBARA MCCUEN joined the Council on Foundations as web developer with the Technology and Information Services team. SPECIAL OFFER The Council on Foundations has a special offer made possible through the Building Strong and Ethical Foundations program. New foundations can receive a half-priced non-member registration rate at any Council conference. In addition, they can also join the Council and receive half-priced membership dues. Your foundation may qualify—even if you've been grantmaking for several years. For specific eligibility information and more details, please contact the COF Membership Department at 202/467-0291. 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: 9.20.06