Pr. George’s schools chief Deasy to become deputy director of the Gates Foundation [News, 9/30]

- Pr. George’s schools chief Deasy to become deputy director of the Gates Foundation (WaPo, 9/30) – “His effort seemed to make a difference. The county’s results on this year’s Maryland School Assessment… improved at every grade level.”

ECONOMY
- Economy Expected to Take a Toll on Charitable Giving (NYTimes, 9/29)
- Shelters, food banks see rise in numbers served (Examiner, 9/30) – At Manna Food Center in Montgomery Co., a “25 percent increase in clientele from 2007 to 2008.” … “Arlington Food Assistance Program provided food to 918 families last week, compared with 542 in the same week two years ago…”

PHILANTHROPY
Social circles with a square deal for charity (FT, 9/30) – “Giving circles are like a book club meets an investment club,” says Nicole Cozier, philanthropy education officer at the Washington Area Women’s Foundation.

ENVIRONMENT
- Smartbike off to a good start in DC (Examiner, 9/30)
- The country’s first cap-and-trade auction for greenhouse gas reduction raised nearly $40 million for Northeastern states to spend on renewable energy technologies. Maryland, a member of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, participated in the auction.

DC SCHOOLS
- Cash incentive program begins at 15 D.C. middle schools (WaPo, 9/30) – They’re calling it “Capital Gains.”

HEALTH
- Howard Health Initiative Ready to Enroll Uninsured (WaPo, 9/30) – “This is access, not insurance.” WG member Horizon Foundation has contributed $500,000 to the program. CEO Richard Krieg: “It’s one of the most innovative program set up to date in the country to pool resources from a variety of different organizations…”
- Immigrant Groups Receive $1.8 Million to Create Media About Community Health (wire, 9/30)

“Where are the bailouts for low-income families?”

asks Gwen Rubinstein, program officer at The Women’s Foundation. As the Foundation’s Lisa Kays notes, many people are having trouble reconciling the response to this financial crisis with the lack of concern for other ongoing crises faced by millions of Americans.

Today is the last day to register…

for “Top Ten Ways Family Foundations Get Into Trouble,”  on Thursday, Oct. 2, 8am to 10:30am. Co-sponsored by the Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers, the Council on Foundations, and The Aspen Institute.

“In the News” – Monday Round-up [9/29]

ECONOMY
- What the Financial Sector Meltdown Really Means for Nonprofits and Philanthropy (Rick Cohen, 9/23) – This is one week (and a few bank failures) old, but an informative piece nevertheless.
- Freddie Mac troubles affect Northern Virginia nonprofits (Gazette, 9/26)
- Charities face loss of WaMu giving; $48.6M donated last year (SeattleTimes, 9/27)
- Less Wealthy, Less Charitable (Forbes, 9/26)

PEOPLE
- Paul Newman’s “legacy is extraordinary philanthropy”… “contributed up to $250 million to various good causes in his lifetime” (LondonFreePress, 9/27). Newman “wanted to be remembered for the “Hole in the Wall” camps he helped to start across the world for children with life-threatening illnesses” (AP, 9/28)
- Profile: Benjamin Jealous, 35 year old CEO and president of the NAACP (BalSun, 9/28)
- Smithsonian Institution opens Sant Ocean Hall (WBJ, 9/26) – “Roger and Vicki Sant, D.C. philanthropists and Smithsonian supporters… donated $15 million…”
- Philanthropist shares his passion for open space – Open Spaces, Sacred Places documents the work of Tom Stoner’s TKF Foundation (WG member) (HometownAnnapolis, 9/26)

DC SCHOOLS
- Rhee on teacher vacancies: “We expect the majority of the 42 open teaching positions to be filled within the next two weeks as we move teachers from underenrolled schools to schools that exceeded enrollment expectations.” (WaPo, 9/29)
- Teachers have questions for Rhee and union (WaPo, 9/28)
- For Kids’ Sake, Power to Fire Teachers Crucial (WaPo, 9/29)

A tool to help venture philanthropists measure social impact [News, 9/26]

PHILANTHROPY
- A New Tool for Venture Philanthropists to help measure social impact. (NYTimes, 9/25) – “enables foundations to track financial metrics; operational metrics… and social metrics, such as the number of children impacted by a non-profit’s work. It uses a standard set of benchmarks…developed by the Aspen Institute’s Network of Development Entrepreneurs. Organizations can also add their own metrics to the program.” … “Acumen’s tool will allow foundations to see data from other grantmakers.” Learn more.

- Wall Street’s woes worry charities, arts groups (AP, 9/26) – “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had been major philanthropic powers in the Washington, D.C. area. Freddie Mac’s foundation, for example, had given $348 million since 1991…” “A Freddie Mac spokeswoman said that review [of charitable activities] is not yet complete.”

-Billanthropy squared (Economist, 9/25)

EDUCATION
New Effort Aims to Test Theories of Education (NYTimes, 9/24) – Backed by the Broad Foundation, founded by the billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad, and other private groups, the research is intended to infuse education with the data-driven approach that is common in science and business…”

BUDGETS
Md. – Gov. O’Malley Warns Of Budget Cuts (WaPo, 9/26) – “a wide variety of state services are on the table, including health care…”

ENVIRONMENT
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors releases the College Sustainability Report Card 2009. (9/24) How’d your alma mater do?

PEOPLE
England Family Foundation’s Richard England was named Volunteer of the Year by Investment News and the Invest in Others Charitable Foundation. (InvestmentNews, 9/26 – via)

HOMELESSNESS
As Shelter’s Closing Nears, a Traffic-Halting March (WaPo, 9/26) – A lawyer for Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless says: “Right now, [Mayor Fenty] is not technically breaking the law, but he’s violating the intent of the council.”

GRANTS
Coca-Cola gives grant to support community trails in D.C. (WBJ, 9/25)

Oct. 8: 2008 Alexandria Nonprofit Excellence Forum

Alexandria Community Trust (ACT) presents the fourth annual Nonprofit Excellence Forum on Wednesday, October 8th, 8:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Ted Leonsis, renowned “filmanthropist,” will deliver the keynote address on connecting social change and making an impact on social causes through media and film. ACT will host professional development breakout sessions on marketing and branding, financial accountability, strategic planning, fundraising in challenging times, and technology. ACT will also announce 2009 grant opportunities – organizations interested in applying for capacity building grants must attend the event. The Forum is sponsored by WG member Capital One.

For more details, please visit www.actforalexandria.org to download the registration form.

Fenty responds to criticism, announces HIV/AIDS ad campaign [News, 9/25]

HIV/AIDS
Fenty Responds to Criticism, Announces Ad Campaign (WaPo, 9/25) – That was quick.

ECONOMY/BUDGETS
- Md., Va., D.C. Face Budget Upheaval – “Next Step Is Tax Hikes, Service Cuts” (WaPo, 9/24)
- Va. economists: Shortfall could explode to $2.9 billion (Examiner, 9/25)
- Facing $131 Million Shortfall in ‘09, D.C. Might Eliminate Vacant Jobs (WaPo, 9/25)

ONLINE GIVING
- Capital One launches ‘No Hassle Giving’ website for cardholders (wire, 9/24)
- Celebs Join MySpace and PayPal for ‘Net Philanthropy Effort (MarketingVOX, 9/24)

PHILANTHROPY
A Community Foundations 101 from Motley Fool (9/24)

DC Appleseed releases fourth HIV/AIDS report card [News, 9/24]

Report Faults District’s HIV/AIDS Awareness (WaPo, 9/24) – The fourth report card (.pdf) from DC Appleseed “portrays a government that is just beginning to grapple with the scope of the crisis.” Report: “We of course welcome Mayor Fenty’s call for HIV/AIDS to be his top health priority, but sustained, highly visible government efforts to broadly raise awareness of the severity of the epidemic have been absent and reflect a lack of urgency.”  The series funded by the Washington AIDS Partnership, a project of Washington Grantmakers.

PHILANTHROPY
- Women and Philanthropy: 4 Ways to Get Started (USNews, 9/23) – “Women gave more money than men in 2005… $21.7 billion, compared with male donors’ $16.8 billion.”
- Giving while Wall Street burns (Economist, 9/23) – “[T]his is the moment when we will find out if all the talk of doing good in recent years by big business and the rich is more than mere talk.”

******************
@WG:
Today: Public Education Working Group Monthly Meeting
Tomorrow: Sustainable Communities Working Group Quarterly Meeting
******************

DC SCHOOLS
Teachers’ Union Chief Cites Mistrust (WaPo, 9/24) – Rhee’s proposal for a two-tiered salary plan “still faces hurdles.”

MAKING A DIFFERENCE
- “A gardening class for prison inmates” (Cumberland Times-News, 9/23) – The prison began its program using a grant from [WG member] TKF Foundation.

Announced: “The Foreclosure Crisis” (funder breakfast)

Oct. 7, 8:30am to 11:00am. Washington Grantmakers members are invited to an update on the regional foreclosure crisis and the impact of the new federal Housing Relief Bill on our area. Co-sponsored with COG. Register here.

“In the News” – Tuesday Round-up [9/23]

SOCIAL PROFIT COMMUNITY
- MacArthur Foundation hands out ‘08 “genius grants” (Bloomberg, 9/23) – Meet the winners. This thing sure gets a lot of press.
- On Eve of Philanthropy Forum, Clinton Worries About Economy (WaPo, 9/23)
- Financial mayhem hurts non-profits, foundations (USAToday, 9/22)

HEALTH
“Critical Condition” to Premier on PBS September 30th (wire, 9/23) – “Critical Condition lays out the human consequences of an increasingly expensive and inaccessible system.” Funders include WG members Annie E. Casey Foundation and Public Welfare Foundation.

GROWTH
Green City-Style Tysons Plan Wins Fairfax’s Approval (WaPo, 9/23) – A unanimous approval… “task force recommended creating eight distinct neighborhoods within Virginia’s largest jobs center” … “Getting people out of their cars…is a key goal” … “four planned Metro stations” … “[population] to jump from 17,000 today to as many as 100,000.”

TRANSPORTATION
Metro system needs billions worth of upgrades (Examiner, 9/23)