May 6th, 2008
The New York Times reported record levels of giving by foundations, nearly hitting $43 billion, compared with $39 billion in 2006, according to estimates by the Foundation Center. The Center attributed the increase to strong returns on foundation assets and a record $36.6 billion in new gifts to foundations.
Those factors should help propel continued growth in foundation funding despite the current economic downturn, said Sara L. Engelhardt, the center’s president.
Read more at the New York Times
April 23rd, 2008
In “Big Spender,” Karen W. Arenson spotlights Princeton University’s endowment and the resulting tuition issues. “With payments of nearly $200 million to investment managers,” a former aide to Sen. Charles E. Grassley tells her, Princeton is “spending more than two times as much to manage the endowment as to provide tuition assistance to undergraduates.”
Read More at NY Times.com
April 22nd, 2008
The cost and controversy of college was the focus of the Sunday’s New York Times Higher Education supplement. In “Keeping the Lid On,” Michael M. Grynbaum examines the variety of ways colleges are tweaking financial aid models to make college more affordable.
Read More at NY Times.com
April 14th, 2008
The New York Times examines how “quirky gifts” often have unintended consequences for university endowments. An old issue takes on new relevance as the nation’s wealthiest colleges and universities report on their finances to the Senate Finance Committee.
Read more at Nytimes.com
March 26th, 2008
“Will nonprofits be the next casualty in the shaky US economy?” The Boston Globe reports that many nonprofits, particularly those with wealthy benefactors, have been largely insulated from the downturn in the housing sector and the credit crisis. But a drop in modest donations by middle-class contributors could hurt smaller organizations such as food banks even as the need for their services grows.
Nelson C. Lees, a senior consultant at Marts & Lundy, tells the Globe, “People keep on giving, because they believe in the institutions they want to support, and those institutions are increasingly effective in seeking that support.”
Read More at Boston.com
March 19th, 2008
The public sector could see an increase in job applicants as Harvard Law School plans to waive tuition for third-year students who promise to spend five years working either for nonprofit groups or the government. The law school’s program is meant to ease financial pressures for students saddled with debt and to encourage them to enter public service.
Read More at NY Times.com
March 19th, 2008
In the midst of an economic downturn, major charities are not seeing a decline in fund-raising. The finding is based on a survey of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, which found about 64 percent of the organizations reported bringing in more money in 2007 than the prior year. But that trend could change in 2008, the association’s leader cautioned.
Read More at NY Times.com
March 15th, 2008
Students in the Syracuse University Graduate Program in Museum Studies noticed one local museum looking for its fourth executive director in 10 years. National trends also indicate a high attrition rate in the field of nonprofit leadership. In an article by Laura Horian, the Syracuse students examine this trend, asking, “Can we avoid falling into the trap of nonprofit executive turnover?”
Read More at Guidestar.org
March 14th, 2008
From Milwaukee to Indianapolis to Kansas City, large museum expansions are getting a reputation for burning out directors who face financial and operational problems. When the building opens, fatigue and frustration often set in, and the directors walk out.
Read more at New York Times.com
March 12th, 2008
When it comes to charitable giving, Europeans lag far behind Americans, according to Arthur C. Brooks’ recent article in The American. On a per capita basis, Americans gave 3.5 times more than the French, 7 times more than Germans, and 14 times more than Italians. The same gap was found in the amount of time given to causes and charities.
READ MORE in The American
