Minnesota Council on Foundations Blog – Philanthropy Potluck

Roundup of stories about nonprofits and philanthropy.

Economy:

• Small Grants Lift Charities in Lean Times
  Christian Science Monitor: With money tight, more Americans draw from donor-advised funds built in past years.
• Foundation Assets May Have Dropped 30%
  Chronicle of Philanthropy: And that loss has come as the organizations these foundations support are facing a huge upswing in demand, said Steve Gunderson, president of the Council on Foundations.
• Foundations Tear Up the Rule Book
  Financial Times: The market collapse is prompting institutional investors to rethink the way they build their portfolios.
• Big Players Scale Back Charitable Donations
  Wall Street Journal: The pipeline from corporate America to the nation’s charities is starting to dry up, as losses in the stock market mount and the U.S. recession deepens. With many large organizations depending on corporate largesse, their futures are suddenly uncertain.
• Colleges Are Not Going Hungry, But Are In Need
  New York Times: In a more normal year, the alumni fund-raising plea that turns up in the mail right about now seems perfectly in tune as the day for thanks gives way to a month of giving. But this year is different. It’s about competing demands, the rising need to pay for basic human services in our communities versus the emotional pull from the educational institutions that helped shape us.

Local:

• Guerrilla Philanthropists Using Craigslist to Find Needy Families
  MinnPost: An emerging splinter group of givers is exploiting technology to find a direct link to the receivers. With no worries about the portion of their donation that’s eaten up by administrative costs, these guerrilla philanthropists get to watch as a grateful family drives off with a sack of expensive groceries — a practice that’s drawing notice and cautions from philanthropy experts.
• Love Your City? It Might Love You Back
  Star Tribune: Early results of a three-year Knight Foundation study in the Twin Cities and 25 other communities show there may be a link between local economic growth and how much residents are connected to their town.
• Owners Being Owners
  Marshall Independent: Five small business owners have been meeting monthly as part of the Southwest Minnesota Initiative Foundation’s Step Up Your Business program, which is designed to help small business owners discuss their issues and learn from each other while working on a course and with a facilitator.
• New Program Aims to Train Coaches for Cardiac Arrest
  MinnPost: A $50,000 grant from the Medtronic Foundation will help the Minnesota State High School League offer training on CPR and other emergency procedures to coaches and other supervisors throughout the state.

National:

• Charities Can’t Keep Up with Deepening Poverty
  Los Angeles Times: Charities across the country are facing stress this year as their busiest season approaches. Aid organizations are hobbled by dwindling resources and soaring demands for food, clothing, money and other necessities.
• Bequests, Celebrities, Foundations, and the Economy: a Conference Notebook From National Research Meeting
  Chronicle of Philanthropy: Too many nonprofit scholars are boosters — ignoring the serious problems that mar the nonprofit world, and the organizations that are involved in activities that harm society, says a prominent philanthropy researcher.
• Bill Clinton to Reveal the Names of Donors
  Washington Post: The former president has agreed to make public 200,000 donors to his presidential library and foundation as part of an agreement with President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team designed to allow his wife — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton — to be named secretary of state.
• Foundations Urged to Consider Environmental Issues in Investing Decisions
  Chronicle of Philanthropy: Foundations need to think about environmental concerns as they invest their endowment assets — not just because it’s the right thing to do, but to protect the longterm health of their portfolios, said former vice president Al Gore.
• Mileage Deduction for Volunteers Won’t Change in 2009
  Chronicle of Philanthropy: People who drive their own vehicles as part of their volunteer work for charities will not be getting any extra tax incentives for their efforts in 2009.