May 30, 2008
NONPROFITS
- ‘Do-Gooders’ Are Brands Too (AdAge, 5/29) - “Nonprofits, NGOs are spending big bucks to get message out in face of corporate cause competition.”
- New IRS Rules Help Donors Vet Charities (WSJ, 5/29) On the impact of the new 990 form. And… “The IRS isn’t finished. Mr. Miller wants to broaden the agency’s powers to more robustly monitor nonprofits.”
DC SCHOOLS
Budget leaves out some language programs (Examiner, 5/30)
ENVIRONMENT
- D.C.’s carbon footprint ranked twelfth-biggest (WAMU, 5/30)
- Home energy use contributes more to D.C. area’s carbon footprint than traffic (WBJ, 5/29)
HEALTH
DC Hospital Has a New Name and Outlook (WaPo, 5/30)
PEOPLE - Sidney Harman, 89, to Retire After Five Decades At Stereo Firm Helm (WaPo, 5/30) - The Harman Family Foundation is a WG member.
No Comments » | 
WG's "In the News" | 
Permalink
Posted by nick geisinger
May 29, 2008
DC government budgeting $500,000 for DC Vote - and the group’s pitch can be more overtly political (”Take action. Call senator so-and-so”) now that Congress has lifted the ban on such spending (WaPo, 5/29). DC Vote’s supporters include several WG members.
DEVELOPMENT
Plan to Remake Tysons Increases Its Density (WaPo, 5/29) - “Developers aren’t the only advocates for unleashing a building boom in Tysons. Environmentalists and smart-growth advocates agree that urban density, “green” building requirements and deep limits on parking are proven ways to reduce traffic, storm water pollution and energy consumption, improve air quality and protect streambeds.”
DC United wants $225M for a Poplar Point stadium. The city hadn’t even fully commited to $150M. Marc Fisher warns that “a stadium that gets used maybe 30 times a year isn’t going to spark development” or create jobs. (WaPo, 5/29)
GREEN COMMUTING
Arlington to wheel out bike-sharing program (Examiner, 5/29)
HOUSING
Montgomery’s Economic Divide Growing (WaPo, 5/29) - “east-west split in income levels and housing costs”
IMMIGRATION
Advocates of Citizenship Propose $15 Million for ‘Support Centers’ (WaPo, 5/29) - “primarily developed by the advocacy groups CASA de Maryland and Tenants and Workers United of Virginia”
No Comments » | WG's "In the News" | Permalink
Posted by nick geisinger
May 28, 2008
Discussion: “Engaging Millennials for Social Causes” (Chronicle, 5/27) - with Allison Fine, author of the Case Foundation’s new “Social Citizens” report.
INTERNATIONAL
- UN Notes Modest Improvements in Myanmar Relief Effort (PND, 5/27), but still, “only 500,000 of the 2.4 million survivors of the cyclone have received any aid.”
- Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Establishes Fund for Chinese Earthquake Survivors (PND, 5/26)
EDUCATION
Cash prizes for achievement at DC high schools? (Examiner, 5/28) - Sounds like a bad idea. Students showing improvement would be eligible for $1000, but “officials still have to determine the criteria for choosing” them. And I can’t think of a single good reason to give $3000 to valedictorians. One student says: “I deserve a reward for my hard work.” Ugh.
HEALTH
Childhood Obesity Rates Stop Rising (WaPo, 5/28)
______________________________________
@ WG:
- Health Working Group Meeting - June 2
- Funders’ Roundtable of Montgomery County - June 5
- Northern Virginia Funders Networking Lunch - June 10|
- Children, Youth, and Families Working Group: Quarterly Meeting - June 11
- GreenSPACE Funders Briefing - June 16
- Funders Forum on Workforce Development - June 17, 2008
- Family Philanthropy Symposium: The Value of Family in Philanthropy - June 17
- Health Working Group: Integrating Mental and Physical Healthcare - June 18
No Comments » | WG's "In the News" | Permalink
Posted by nick geisinger
May 27, 2008
Skyrocketing rents, gas pinch area’s nonprofits (WBJ, 5/23 - Subscription only–sorry). Article includes the point that ”foundations must consider funding nonprofits’ operating costs if they want them to persevere when the economy isn’t good.” Terri Lee Freeman: ”If everyone said [nonprofits] can get operating costs] from somebody else, we’d have no nonprofits.”
U.S. Medical Research Gets $600 Million From Institute (WaPo, 5/27) - Howard Hughes Medical Institute (WG member) funds “research that many grantmakers would consider too risky but that could produce the greatest breakthroughs.” … A local grantee notes that these funds come with fewer strings attached than an NIH grant: “You have much more freedom” (Examiner, 5/27)
DC SCHOOLS
Fenty campaign to raise $75M for schools from private sector met with sticker shock (WaPo, 5/25) - Dinegar: “The business community does not want the request coming in dribs and drabs. Let’s see a four-year plan, a three-year plan, even a one-year plan. Give it to us.” Rhee says she has such a plan and ”intends to provide more details in discussions with the national foundations during the next two to three months.”
- Rhee Says Budget Formula Change Will Bring Art, Music to Schools (WaPo, 5/26)
- WaPo on DC reform effort (5/27): “reason for cautious optimism”
ALUMNI GIVING
Enjoy the Reunion. Skip the Check. (NYTimes, 5/25) - Harvard grad asks alma mater: Why do you need my $1000? (Or, to put it more provocatively, “Harvard is really a $40 billion tax-free hedge fund with a very large marketing and PR arm called Harvard University that has the job of raising the investment capital and protecting the fund’s preferential tax treatment.”)
HUNGER/NUTRITION
- With Prices Rising, DC Central Kitchen Goes Local - Its “Farm Cooperative” buys seconds from regional farmers, cutting costs and stimulating economy (WaPo, 5/24)
- Rising Prices Hit Home For Food Stamp Recipients (WaPo, 5/27)
NONPROFITS
Tax Exemptions of Charities Face New Challenges (NYTimes, 5/26)
Many charities have not felt the economic crunch - yet (Phil. Inquirer, 5/26)
WG MEMBERS
Curtis & Edith Cummings Munson Foundation honors athlete scholar (CBS, 5/24)
And finally, D.C. residents gain the right to vote! (…for a commemorative quarter design. Baby steps.)
No Comments » | WG's "In the News" | Permalink
Posted by nick geisinger
May 23, 2008
Preschool for Needy Opens Its Arms Wider (WaPo, 5/23) - $550,000 will allow D.C.’s Bright Beginnings Child Development Center to expand evening child care. Ralph Boyd: “It’s active, attentive care for children…what they’re doing is enormously transformative for these children and their families.”
The Community Foundation honors four Washington area residents with 2008 Linowes Leadership Awards (WaPo, 5/23)
Bradford K. Smith Named President of the Foundation Center (wire, 5/21)
HEALTH
Countdown begins to save Prince George’s Co. hospitals (Examiner, 5/23) - “still time for politicians to muck up the process”
DC SCHOOLS
Teachers union members press to replace group’s president (Examiner, 5/23) - “We feel misrepresented”
ENVIRONMENT
- Report: Fairfax County is awesome at recycling (Examiner, 5/23)
- Report: Rising Seas Called Threat To Shore and Bay by 2100 (WaPo, 5/23)
CHARITABLE GIVING
In U.S., a Multitude of Forces Drains the Spirit of Giving (WaPo, 5/23)
We’ll be back Tuesday–have a great weekend!
No Comments » | WG's "In the News" | Permalink
Posted by nick geisinger
May 22, 2008
What a discussion! Nearly 20 corporate funders participated in last Thursday’s “Nosh, Network and Knowledge” luncheon entitled “When the Giving Gets Tough: Corporate Giving in Today’s Economy.” A follow-up email just went out to corporate grantmakers recapping some of the key concerns that were raised and the action agenda designed by the group to address them.
If you haven’t heard, yet… On the third Thursday of every other month, Washington Grantmakers provides an opportunity for our corporate members to share ideas, build partnerships, and learn from each other through the “Nosh, Network and Knowledge” luncheon series. To find out more, register for an event or add a colleague to the mailing list, contact me at moore@washingtongrantmakers.org.
Corporate members: Don’t miss the next event on July 17th at Deloitte. Click here to RSVP now!
- Katy Moore
No Comments » | corporate | Permalink
Posted by Katy
May 21, 2008
Giving away more than just money (5/20) - NPR’s Marketplace’s story on giving circles quotes Daria Teutonico of the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers.
YOUTH
Tough summer employment season ahead for local teens (Examiner, 5/21) - teens “facing the toughest summer employment season in the post-World War II era.” Expert guy: “Kids that work during high school are less likely to drop out and more likely to go to college.”
EDUCATION
D.C. - Teacher Contract Would End Seniority (WaPo, 5/21) - Rhee: This contract will “revolutionize education as we know it.” Union: Huh?
HEALTH
Google Offers Personal Health Records on the Web (NYTimes, 5/20) - Those of you who have funded/worked with electronic medical records may be interested to know that Google’s in the game now. It sounds like users will be able to directly import info from Walgreens, CVS, the American Heart Association, Quest Diagnostics, and others. If you have a Google account, all that remains is to login. They claim that privacy concerns were not a barrier to use in the pilot. I, for one, welcome our new data-minded overlords.
______________________________________
@ WG:
June 17: Funders Forum on Workforce Development
June 17: Family Philanthropy Symposium: The Value of Family in Philanthropy
No Comments » | WG's "In the News" | Permalink
Posted by nick geisinger
May 20, 2008
I read Seth’s blog regularly [in a feed reader!]. Many of his posts affect me like a jolt of caffeine–scratch that–like a good nap, after which I feel refreshed and ready to have good ideas. He just finished up an online chat with the Chronicle:
Question from Alison, large education nonprofit:
Hi - Any suggestions for an Annual Report as a piece of the marketing picture? What’s a must-do? What mistakes to be avoided?
Seth Godin:
I would make your annual report boring and cheap and post it online. Then I’d create a storytelling document that is aimed at the vernacular of the people you need to read it [emph added]. Turn it into a pdf and a piece that’s easy to share. Test it and make it spread. No need to conflate the two.
…
Question from Ashley, Large social-service nonprofit:
Is there anything no one asked, that you’re shocked we didn’t ask? Or that should have been a top question?
Seth Godin:
I’m not surprised but disappointed that a lot of the questions were “my boss won’t let me” type questions.
The work you’re doing is so important, so vital and so urgent that to let politics get into the way of spreading your message is just a shame.
My best guess is that this is partly the boss’s fault and partly the culture. In other words, if you go do stuff, small stuff, cheap stuff, storytelling stuff and testing stuff, you not only won’t get in trouble, you’ll get rewarded. hurry!
No Comments » | communications, web | Permalink
Posted by nick geisinger
