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News Briefing
Highlights Inside
a guide to key developments
TOP SENATOR ASKS FOR IRS REVIEW
OF POLITICAL ADVOCACY
The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee—
Sen. Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat—last week
asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate
the use of tax-exempt groups for political advocacy.
Mr. Baucus said he wants to know if nonprofit organizations are being improperly used as “conduits for
major donors advancing their own private interests
regarding legislation or political campaigns” or are
in other ways breaking the law. Mr. Baucus’s request,
which stems from his concern over recent news reports, asks the IRS to focus on a review of advocacy
groups, business leagues, and other nonprofit organizations classified under Sections 501(c)( 4), (c)( 5), and
(c)( 6) of the federal tax code.
MOST FOUNDATION LEADERS DO NOT
USE SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and other social-media tools
are starting to catch on with foundation leaders, but
they are hardly an indispensable part of most foundation executives’ routines, according to a survey by the
Foundation Center. Only 6 pecent of foundation leaders surveyed use Twitter regularly, and about 33 percent are active on Facebook. Still, 73 percent of those
surveyed said they are fairly optimistic about the potential of social media to advance philanthropy.
PARTNERS IN HEAl TH
DONATIONS TO HOSPITALS PLUNGE 11%
Hospital gifts fell by $944-million in 2009 from $7.6-
billion in 2008, a drop of 11 percent, according to the
Association for Healthcare Philanthropy. It was the
first fund-raising dip for hospitals since 2002, when
giving dropped by 31 percent due to a recession. The
association said more than 80 percent of donors to
hospitals were individuals.
WEALTHY BLACKS GIVE TO DIFFERENT CAUSES
THAN WHITES, STUDY FINDS
Wealthy black Americans are more likely to donate
to educational institutions, religious groups, and
human-services organziations than other affluent
people, according to a new study. Black donors who
make at least $250,000 or who have $1-million
or more in assets tend to give anonymously and to
nonprofits they know well, says Marguerite Griffin,
national director of philanthropic services at Northern Trust Corp., in Chicago, which conducted the
survey.
THE NEXT BATTLE
Now that charities are making progress in
fighting diseases like AIDS in the developing
world, they are turning to ailments like cancer
that are not spread by infection. Page 17
GENDER GAP IN PAY
Female executives continue to trail men in
salary, a new study finds. Page 14
PENN STATE, OXFORD RECEIVE BIG GIFTS
LONG-TERM FINANCIAL COMMITMENTS
TO STRENGTHEN NONPROFITS PAY OFF
A CONFERENCE GUIDE
As the bad economy makes it more important
than ever for charity workers to get the most
from professional meetings, nonprofit veterans
offer their tips. Page 21
Now Online
TIM BISHOP
ANDy COl WEll
DEALING WITH BOARDS
When a board fires an executive director, what should its
members tell supporters and
others? Rick Moyers, a Meyer
Foundation official, offers
advice on that and more in a
new blog, Against the Grain.
Two universities are the recipients of big donations.
Len Blavatnik (above, left), a Russian-American investor, has given $117-million to Oxford University,
in England, to establish a graduate school that will
prepare students from all over the world for careers
in government. Meanwhile, officials at Penn State
have announced an $88-million gift from an alumnus, Terrence M. Pegula (above, right), and his wife,
Kim, to build a sports arena and develop men’s and
women’s hockey teams that can compete with other
large universities.
FEDERAL AGENCY RELEASES NAMES
OF SOCIAL INNOVATION FUND REVIEWERS
The federal government took steps to reveal more
about how it awarded $50-million in Social Innovation Fund grants by posting online the names of
the people who reviewed the grant applications
and the organizations that did not win the money.
The Corporation for National and Community
Service, which operates the fund, has come under
fire for failing to disclose more about the process
when it released the names of the first grant
winners in July. The agency said it would follow
a more open selection process when awarding the
2011 grants.
KEEP UP WITH CONFERENCES
Get regular updates from major philanthropy
conferences, including this month’s Social Capital Markets Conference and meetings of the
Partnership for Philanthropic Planning and the
Philanthropy Roundtable.
Opinion
MORE CANADIANS THAN AMERICANS
MAKE DONATIONS ONLINE
Canadians are more likely than Americans to make
donations online, according to a new survey of 7,950
American and 7,050 Canadian donors. Sixty-three
percent of the American donors surveyed said they
had already given online or planned to do so this
year, while 72 percent of Canadians did. The survey
by Cygnus Applied Research, a Chicago research and
consulting company, found that 75 percent of the Canadian donors said they would make at least one online transaction in 2010.
CONVERSATIONS WITH DONORS
Some of the nation’s most interesting donors
take your questions each month as part of the
online discussion series we host with the non-profit group Bolder Giving.
Strategic philanthropy draws such bitter
divisions in the nonprofit world that it’s time
for a frank discussion about what works, writes
Susan Berresford, former president of the Ford
Foundation. Page 33
INSIDE
Directory of Services .............................................. Page 24
Nonprofits have a big stake in the “net neutrality” debate, writes Vince Stehle, a Chronicle
columnist. Page 33
Philanthropy Careers .............................................. Page 36
Newly announced grants ....................................... Page 29
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
Watch nonprofit leaders discuss lessons from
their work in this Chronicle video series.
For these items, go to http://philanthropy.com
Donors should ask five questions of every
charity they want to support, writes Sean
Stannard-Stockton, a Chronicle columnist.
Deadlines for grants and awards .......................... Page 25
People ................................................................... Page 22
Technology............................................................... Page 19
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