Leap Day News Round-Up Extravaganza [News, 2/29]

HEALTH
[D.C.] Mayor Fenty names new director of Health Department - Pierre Vigiliance, former director of Baltimore County’s health dept… A Child Health Action Plan will be announced today–new public-private partnership to target worst problems facing D.C. youth. (WaPo, 2/29)
- The Horizon Foundation (WG member) gives $3.5 million to Howard County General Hospital for its ongoing expansion. (WaPo, 2/28)

PHILANTHROPY
- The state of corporate philanthropy: A McKinsey Global Survey - “only about a fifth of all respondents say that philanthropic programs at their companies are meeting social goals and stakeholder expectations.” (Feb. ‘08 - free registration required)
- “Foundations shift investing strategy to weather bad economy” (BBJ, 2/29)

WORKFORCE
- A new online tool to help Washington-area women start small businesses was funded by a grant from the Washington Area Women’s Foundation (WG member). (WaPo, 2/28 - scroll down)
- National Jobs Initiative Awards Grants to Eight Projects–”second round of grants under “Jobs to Careers,” a four-year, $15.8 million national initiative of RWJF, in collaboration with [WG member] Hitachi Foundation and the U.S. Department of Labor.” (wire, 2/29)

FORECLOSURES
- Foundations Weigh How to Allay Foreclosures (WSJ, 2/28)
- [Va.] Gov. Kaine announces proposal to stem foreclosures (WaPo, 2/27)

REDUCING POVERTY
A promising approach? ”…straight talk between unemployed residents and employers.” (WaPo, 2/27)

OPRAH! - Will philanthropy experience “the Oprah effect”? The “Big Give” debuts Sunday, March 2. (Denver Post, 2/29)

AND FINALLY… Happy leap day to one and all. If this “extra” day has you twiddling your thumbs, Chuck has some suggestions. (Or, you can read up on leap seconds–fascinating.) In other news, starting on Monday, our daily news round-up will be up online when you get to your desk each morning. So grab your coffee and see what’s new. Have a great weekend! -Nick

A fantasy map of the region’s public transit

from the Greater Greater Washington blog:

Grantmakers, join us for a screening of the PBS documentary…

Mathews

A message from Patricia Mathews:

On Thursday, March 13, at 5:00 p.m. at the Kaiser Family Foundation building, Washington Grantmakers members have the opportunity to participate in a special networking reception and premiere screening of the opening episode of Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?, a critically important documentary series on the root causes of poor health, illness, and disparities that will be broadcast on PBS stations across the country – including in our region – later in the month.  As Chair of WG’s Health Working Group, I invite you to join us – especially if you don’t consider yourself a “health funder.”  (Click for registration information.)

This series looks beyond physical causes of death and shows in very human terms how our income, education, residential location, race and ethnicity affect how healthy we are and how long we live.  The series will undoubtedly generate a lot of discussion throughout our region. It will remind us that we must work “upstream” to create the conditions that create healthy communities and promote health equity while, at the same time, working “downstream” in the here and now to provide access to high quality, affordable, coordinated patient-centered community-based health care. 

Addressing the complexities involved in creating healthy communities challenges us to integrate our work more effectively, expand our partnerships and be consciously more interdisciplinary.  We expect this PBS series to help inform all of our work—regardless of our funding focus. WG members can look for more detailed information about the series and related activities in future issues of the WG Update newsletter

Patricia Mathews is the Executive Director of the Northern Virginia Health Foundation.

PNC wins an Excellence in Corporate Philanthropy Award

WG member PNC Financial Services Group is a winner of the 8th annual Excellence in Corporate Philanthropy Awards for its “Grow Up Great” program”–a ten-year, $100 million investment in preparing young children, from birth to age five, for school and life. (Economist, Forbes - 2/26)

“The Tiger Woods Foundation will build an East Coast learning center — to complement its West Coast center — in Southeast D.C.’s Fort Dupont neighborhood” (WBJ, 2/22) (background)

PHILANTHROPY
Giving circles mix fun, fundraising (USAToday, 2/27)

New Jargon Alert! “Embedded Foundations” - “foundations that concentrate their resources in one limited geographic area and become deeply involved in those communities.” (SNS, 2/26)

PBS: “A Guide to Giving”

PBS is in the midst of airing a three-part series on philanthropy, “A Guide to Giving.” Tonight’s episode: ”Determining if nonprofits are spending your money wisely.” (h/t Rosetta)

Pursuit of the Dream: Cars and Jobs in America [News, 2/25]

“Pursuit of the Dream: Cars & Jobs in America,” a new, 22-min. documentary from the Annie E. Casey Foundation [WG member], “examines the role that access to affordable, reliable transportation plays in building the economic success of low-income families and their communities.” ( see clip | free copy) (wire, 2/25)

The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation [WG member] invests $500,000 in The Center for Association Leadership’s social responsibility initiative (wire, 2/22)

NONPROFITS IN THE MEDIA
Nonprofit claims that faulty media coverage cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations. In her response, the Post ombudsman notes: “[N]onprofit organizations deserve more coverage. They play a huge role in this country and the region…” (WaPo, 2/24) It’s true!

HEALTH
New Bailout Proposed for Pr. George’s Hospital System (WaPo, 2/23)

ENVIRONMENT
On greening your office building and LEED standards… (WaPo, 2/25)

MISSION-RELATED INVESTING
Cambridge Associates forms Mission Investing Group, partnering with the Annie E. Casey Foundation and others (wire, 2/25)

Hudson Institute Event: “The Challenges of Foundation Management”

“There are prices to pay, people to hurt, and causes to forsake.” Ouch. A panel discussion with Joel Orosz will use his new book, Effective Foundation Management, as a jumping off point. Thurs., Feb. 28, noon to 2 pm - click to register. 

Cafritz Foundation to build 1,000 below-market-rate apartments in Northeast, DC [News, 2/22]

HOUSING/HOMELESSNESS
WG member Cafritz Foundation “plans to build close to 1,000 below-market-rate apartments to replace an existing apartment complex near South Dakota Avenue and Riggs Road NE.” Safeway has signed a letter of intent to put a new store in a development. (WBJ, 2/15 - via the Roundtable)

Central Union Mission in Talks For New Site in Downtown D.C. (WaPo, 2/22)

PHILANTHROPY/NONPROFITS
Regional budgets are tightening, but nonprofits shouldn’t panic—yet (WGDaily, 2/22)

National United Way Partners with Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University on research and new training courses (wire, 2/21)

CHILD WELFARE
In aftermath of Banita Jacks case, the DC’s child welfare agency faces spike in reports of abuse… “caseloads…more than double the level considered acceptable” (Examiner, 2/22 and WaPo, 2/17).

EDUCATION
Read today’s dead-tree Post for an op-ed on Chancellor Rhee and the Washington Teachers’ Union. It’s not online, not sure why.

“Anonymity, Secrecy, and Transparency: Dilemmas for Philanthropy”

…at the Foundation Center next Friday. Looks quite interesting, and there was still space as of this morning.

Regional budgets are tightening, but nonprofits shouldn’t panic—yet

The media might be sounding the alarm on the economy, but Stephen Fuller says that the nonprofit community shouldn’t panic—not yet, anyway.  Fuller, director of the Center for Regional Analysis, recently discussed the region’s economic forecast with a group of Washington Grantmakers and Nonprofit Roundtable members.

Fuller

The central concern for the nonprofit community is that a failing national economy will tighten government budgets, which will in turn restrict the funding of nonprofits, and consequently increase the demand on funders. While this is a logical projection, Fuller noted that government budgets lag about a year behind current economic conditions. As a result, nonprofits should not be affected in 2008.

Since 2009 budgets are being proposed right now, the real impact of a stumbling economy might not be felt until the 2010 budget cycles. The delay between real time economic behavior and government budget decisions gives nonprofits time to prepare for a shift in funding.

Following Fuller’s regional overview, Neil Bergsman (Maryland Budget & Tax Policy Institute), Ed Lazere (DC Fiscal Policy Institute), and Michael Cassidy (The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis) discussed the budget processes in each of their respective jurisdictions. But even armed this knowledge, nonprofits and funders should be cautious of funding promises from local governments. “You have to question the numbers,” warned Cassidy. “The politics are there to bury the bad news and whistle past the graveyard.”

A few important notes:

• In Maryland, funding for Medicaid, K-12 education, and public higher education will all increase in the 2009 budget.

• The District’s 2009 budget, though as-yet-unannounced, will be tight. This leaves room for concern about schools funding to cover the Chancellor’s new initiatives, which were not previously anticipated.

• Assuming Virginia maintains its current service level, the state’s existing revenue stream will not be sufficient. The result will be an estimated $1.2 billion deficit projected for the 2008-2010 biennium budget.