Women's Philanthropy--Women's Issues

January News: Here's a Sneak Peek into Our Plans for 2011

January News and Updates

Thank You for Your Support in 2010! This year’s End of Year Campaign surpassed our expectations and raised more than last year. Thank you! We are heartened by your generosity and commitment to improving the lives of California’s women and girls. We have much to look forward to in 2011. Here are a few highlights. We will Replicate the Women’s Policy Institute model. We will be providing support and technical assistance to five organizations across the country that are using the Women’s Policy Institute model to address the challenges facing elders; Provide financial support and tecnical assistance to key organizations in the Central Valley so that they can improve their effectiveness and reach; Last year we provided $235,000 in organizational strengthening grants to Central Valley groups. Prepare for our strategic planning process to map out the next five years. Together with our Board, we’re researching and reflecting on how the latest trends in philanthropy will affect our work. Stay tuned for updates on this research on our blog! Your gifts, signatures and tweets count! You can stay up to date on our work by reading our blog, following us on Twitter and friending us on Facebook. Happy New Year!

Blog Highlights To Be of Use By Judy Patrick In the month of November I attended two events that marked the end of chapters: my dear friend Sara Gould’s departure from a 24-year commitment to the Ms. Foundation for Women and my long-time friend Shirley Guenthner’s memorial service in Colorado. Read more

Congratulations Surina!  We are very excited to announce that our Vice President of Programs Surina Khan was appointed to the Women’s Health Policy Council (WHPC) of Los Angeles County. While WHPC works directly with the Office of Women’s Health in Los Angeles to improve health policies, programs and services offered to all women in Los Angeles, WHPC has a particular emphasis on improving the health care available to low-income women. We sat down with Surina to learn more about the significance of this appointment. Read the full scoop on our blog.

Thank You to Our Funders!  The Women’s Foundation raises every dollar it uses for grantmaking, public policy, and the strengthening and linking of women-led organizations throughout the state. Much of this funding comes from larger private foundations and corporations. We see our institutional funders as partners who are key to our success. In the last quarter of 2010, we received $377,000 from several funders to start or continue social justice initiatives. Thank you to The James Irvine Foundation and the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund for grants to strengthen Inland Valley organizations’ ability to engage in civic participation; The Marisla Fund, part of the Orange County Community Foundation, for funds to support environmental justice projects throughout the state; The Groundswell Foundation for funds to support women of color-led reproductive justice organizations across the state; The California Endowment, Fresno Regional Foundation, Rosenberg Foundation, Wells Fargo Bank and Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees for funds to document and share highlights of our Central Valley tour.

Los Angeles Events Join Us for a Chinese New Year Celebration! Thursday, February 3, 2011 A Window Between Words Art Studio Venice, CA 5:30PM – 8:00PM Please join us to learn more about the Women's Foundation of California, our Los Angeles Giving Circle and opportunities to get involved. Lively conversation, wonderful treats and delightful art projects! (No experience needed — all supplies provided — especially fun with friends.) RSVP by January 27 to Kim Kenny at kimk@womensfoundca.org or 323.810.3630

Thank You for Voting for Us! Although we weren't nominated for Moveon.org’s Holiday Giving Campaign, there’s always next year! Thank you for your vote.

Spread the word! Forward this Email to a Friend Your gift makes a difference in the lives of California's women and girls. Donate now. Mailing Address: Women's Foundation of California 340 Pine Street Suite 302 San Francisco, CA 94104 US Contact Name: Michelle Chandra Telephone Number: 415.837.1113

Philanthropy Matters - January 2011

Research     |     Professional Training     |     Academic Programs     |      Support the Center
WHAT MATTERS Patrick M. Rooney, Ph. D. Women catalyze social change In the first few years of the 1970s, students successfully challenged the military dictatorship that had dominated Thailand. By 1973, students were engaged in big political protests that changed the country’s future. Thailand-born Juree Vichit-Vadakan watched the events of her homeland from Berkeley, Calif., in the heart of America’s burgeoning social unrest. After earning her degree, she returned to Thailand to teach. But it wasn’t enough. “There are so many social problems, and the public, private and civil society sectors need catalysts to bring them together to address those issues,” she said. Dr. Vichit-Vadakan became that catalyst. She created the Center for Philanthropy and Civil Society to strengthen these critical elements of life in Thailand. You can hear her speak at “Women World Wide Leading through Philanthropy,” the Center on Philanthropy’s 22nd symposium hosted by the Women’s Philanthropy Institute in Chicago, March 20-21. “Women are the backbone of philanthropy and civic engagement around the world. They are the mainstay of the family, and that carries over into caring for others,” Dr. Vichit-Vadakan said. Register for the symposium | Read more... News Philanthropy in China - A Student's Perspective Lijun He, a first-year doctoral student and alumna of the Master of Arts in Philanthropic Studies program, has leveraged her formal education in Philanthropic Studies and upbringing in China to provide a unique and valuable perspective on philanthropy in the news media. He is a contributor to The Chronicle of Philanthropy, writing several articles while in her native China about the state of philanthropy. Most recently, she wrote an article about Bill Gates and Warren Buffett's visit to China and what that means for the way that individuals in China think about philanthropy. Education at the Center on Philanthropy goes beyond the classroom. Like He, students in the undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs bring international perspectives and visions of making the world a better place. International and U.S. students passionate about the nonprofit sector and the work of non-governmental organizations appreciate the opportunity to gain knowledge and understanding about philanthropy so they can apply these lessons around the globe. The application deadline for the undergraduate and Master of Arts programs is February 15.   Learn more about our academic programs ... A question of education, giving, and quest for faith Jean Case of the Case Foundation recently shared that, "I could give a group a check, but if I sit with a team and helped them with their business plan or refine their fundraising or provided them with technology tools or even access to a PR person, well the value of that is greater than any check we could write." So, how do we understand the philanthropic value of intangible gifts like knowledge or education? On March 24, Indiana University professor and physician Richard Gunderman, M.D., Ph.D., will discuss the surprising benefits of approaching education as a form of philanthropy when he presents the eighth annual Thomas H. Lake Lecture hosted by the Center on Philanthropy’s Lake Institute on Faith & Giving. Gunderman’s remarks, “The Undiminished Flame: Education, Giving and the Quest for Faith,” will explore our views of ourselves and the world and the lives we are called to lead. Gunderman, the author of We Make a Life By What We Give, is an accomplished Indiana University professor whose expertise ranges from radiology and pediatrics to ethics, philanthropy and philosophy. The lecture, reception, and book signing in Indianapolis are free and open to the public. Register online now. Do you know someone who needs funding to explore questions of faith and philanthropy? The Lake Institute is accepting applications until January 31 for its $22,000 Lake Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship award. Past winners’ dissertations are available for free.   Tax-free giving through IRAs Seniors—and nonprofits—now have another reason to celebrate retirement. A new law allows people 70-and-a-half and older to make tax-free charitable gifts directly from their Individual Retirement Accounts. IRA charitable gift rollovers can be made retroactively from January 1, 2010 through January 31, 2011 for 2010 tax purposes. For 2011 tax purposes, an additional $100,000 may be contributed between January 1 and December 31, 2011. Donors should consult their financial advisors and IRA administrator for guidelines and information. If you’d like to know more about giving to the Center on Philanthropy through an IRA rollover, contact Kim Gattle at kgattle@iupui.edu or 317-278-8920. Thinking about starting or strengthening a planned giving program at your nonprofit? Register for Planned Giving: Getting the Proper Start offered by The Fund Raising School.  Register Now... Connect with the Center The Center on Philanthropy The Lake Institute on Faith & Giving Women's Philanthropy Institute The Fund Raising School	Events Jan 15 Ph.D. Program in Philanthropic Studies Application Deadline for Fall Admission Apply Now » Jan 19-21 Managing the Capital Campaign Indianapolis, IN The Fund Raising School Register Now » Feb 14-18 Principles & Techniques of Fundraising Orlando, FL Register Now » Feb 15 Application Deadline for Fall Admission Undergraduate and Masters Programs in Philanthropic Studies Apply Now » Feb 21-25 Principles & Techniques of Fundraising Chicago, IL Register Now » Feb 23-25 Developing Major Gifts Indianapolis, IN Register Now » Mar 7-Apr 29 Principles & Techniques of Fundraising Online Learn more » Mar 10-11 Women World Wide: Leading Through Philanthropy Chicago, IL Center on Philanthropy Annual Symposium Register Now » Mar 14-18 Principles & Techniques of Fundraising Indianapolis, IN Register Now » Jan 24 Richard Gunderman, M.D., Ph.D. Indianapolis, IN Thomas H. Lake Lecture More Information »
Philanthropy Matters is made possible by the generous support of donors to the Center's general fund. Copyright © 2010 The Trustees of Indiana University Forward to a friend   |   Activity Report   |   Give Now   |    Update Profile   |   Unsubscribe   |   Contact Us The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University 550 West North Street, Suite 301 Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA

North Carolina nonprofit news and resources | Philanthropy Journal

North Carolina nonprofit news and resources | Philanthropy Journal.

Arts Together charting new course

The group has named educator Meg Revelle its new executive director and launched its inaugural annual-fund campaign

One Percent Foundation Engaging young adults in philanthropy

One Percent Foundation.

The One Percent Foundation is a non-profit organization committed to engaging young adults in philanthropy. The Foundation is a giving circle - a group of young adults who pool their funds and time to strengthen their communities, while at the same time increasing their understanding of and participation in philanthropy.

A response to Saturday's events from CEO Carla Oleska

by Women's Fund of Western Massachusetts on Monday, January 10, 2011 at 1:47pm

This past Saturday while our Institute cohort was hard at work, a situation was playing out that speaks to the very heart of why WFWM’s Leadership Institute for Political Impact is so critical. Saturday afternoon a congresswoman with goals, a judge with principles, a nine year old girl with dreams, a congressional intern with aspirations, and people with plain old hope and interest, were gunned down senselessly.  On behalf of our inaugural cohort of women, I give you our response to this event.

We could all very easily sit and decide that the world has gotten too out of hand, that the safest thing to do is stay in our own backyard, stay hidden, stay safe.

But we won’t. 

We won’t let vitriol and violence take over our world. 

We won’t let the discussion be taken out of our control. 

We won’t let our voices not be heard. 

We won’t let Congresswoman Giffords down.

We won’t let principles be destroyed.

We won’t let adults turn their backs on children’s dreams.

We will do the hard work to create civility, honor and peace

We will craft discussions that are grounded in respect

We will speak our truth aloud

We will run for and hold public office

We will create just, equitable and safe communities

We will encourage and teach our children to have their dreams.

We will create the world that we know and believe is possible.

Together.

Carla Oleska

C.E.O.

Women's Funding Network Annual Conference 2011

Women's Funding Network Annual Conference 2011.

Philanthropy News Digest - 2010: The Year in Review

===========================================================
  PHILANTHROPY NEWS DIGEST
      a service of the Foundation Center
 ===========================================================

 January 5, 2011
 Volume 17, Issue 1
 
 To subscribe or unsubscribe,  visit: http://www.foundationcenter.org/newsletters/
 
 Follow us (@pndblog) on Twitter:   http://twitter.com/#!/pndblog

 This week's PND poll wants to know: Is your organization seeing an
 increase in year-end gifts compared to 2009?

 To cast your vote, visit: http://www.foundationcenter.org/pnd/

 *
 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
 
 2010: THE YEAR IN REVIEW

 The year opened on a horrific note, with a January earthquake
 in Haiti killing an estimated 250,000 people and leaving millions
 more homeless. While international aid and humanitarian groups
 rushed to provide assistance, the scale of the destruction, lo-
 gistical bottlenecks, and bureaucratic red tape seemed to defeat
 their best efforts. Indeed, by year's end, the situation on the
 ground had improved only marginally, underscoring yet again the
 challenges associated with coordinating and sustaining long-term
 recovery efforts in poor (and poorly governed) countries.

 Just a few months later, bad news from Haiti was crowded out by
 news of a second disaster, this time in the Gulf of Mexico, where
 BP's Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank in April. As under-
 water cameras broadcast live video of the busted well spewing
 crude into the Gulf at the rate of 50,000 barrels a day, BP and
 the federal government scrambled to contain the damage. It wasn't
 until mid-July -- too late for the region's fishing and tourism
 industries -- that they succeeded in capping the well, but even
 as the UK-based oil giant pledged tens of millions to clean up
 the mess and make reparations, the long-term environmental impact
 of the worst marine oil spill in the history of the industry
 remained an open question.

 As if to confirm the old saying that bad things happen in threes,
 heavy monsoon rains in Pakistan in July coupled with large-scale
 deforestation in the Himalayan foothills soon led to unprecedent-
 ed flooding in the world's sixth-most populous country. As the
 floodwaters rose throughout the month of August, eventually
 destroying millions of hectares of crops and upending the lives
 of some twenty million people, the United Nations moved to mount
 a relief effort. But whether because of Pakistan's distance from
 Europe and North America, the problematic security situation in
 the country, or the relatively low number of casualties, donors
 in the developed world for the most part responded with expres-
 sions of sympathy and turned their attention elsewhere.
 
 On a more upbeat note, a campaign by Warren Buffett and Bill and
 Melinda Gates to get billionaires on the Forbes 400 list to pledge
 half their wealth to charity met with surprising success; a White
 House initiative to identify and leverage support for innovative
 social problems was launched and, after a stumble or two, gained
 its footing; and the U.S. economy continued to recover from the
 worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
 
 Before we close the books on 2010, the editors of PND look back
 at some of the important philanthropic stories and personalities
 of the year just passed.
 
 :::::::::::::::::::: TABLE OF CONTENTS ::::::::::::::::::::

 (1) Disasters in Haiti, Pakistan Spur Divergent Aid Response
 (2) Economy Continues to Challenge
 (3) Race to the Top and Education Reform
 (4) Gulf Coast Oil Spill Leads of Environmental Concerns
 (5) 'Giving Pledge' Off to Fast Start
 (6) Microfinance Experiences Growing Pains
 (7) Two Steps Forward, One Back for Social Innovation Fund
 (8) Noteworthy Gifts
 (9) People in the News

 ::: DISASTERS IN HAITI, PAKISTAN SPUR DIVERGENT AID RESPONSE :::

 The year got off to a dreadful start when, barely two weeks in, a
 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck near Haiti's impoverished capital
 of Port-au-Prince, killing an estimated 220,000 people, injuring
 300,000 more, and leaving 1.5 million people homeless in a coun-
 try that was already the poorest in the Western hemisphere.

 The global response to the disaster was swift, as donor govern-
 ments, multinational corporations, and humanitarian organizations
 pledged hundreds of millions of dollars within days of the quake.
 Notable early commitments included $100 million each from the
 United States and World Bank; $10 million from the United Kingdom;
 and $4 million from the Open Society Institute. Individual donors
 also gave generously to disaster relief efforts, taking advantage
 of still-young social media and mobile messaging platforms to con-
 tribute to international aid and humanitarian organizations, which
 raised record sums of money in a short period of time. Within
 three days of the quake, for example, the American Red Cross had
 raised $37 million for relief efforts in Haiti -- $8 million of
 that via a text message campaign.

 Even as commitments of assistance poured in, international aid
 workers struggled to reach survivors with food, shelter, and
 medical care. But as frustration levels among survivors and aid
 workers mounted, aid groups began to criticize donor nations for
 releasing pledged funds too slowly. While more than $5.3 billion
 had been committed by the world's governments by midsummer, in-
 cluding $900 million from the United States, only a third of
 that had been spent by November.

 Indeed, as the international community began to turn its atten-
 tion to long-term rebuilding efforts, major immediate challenges
 remained. By year's end, tens of thousands of survivors were
 still living in tents, medical services remained limited, and
 Port-au-Prince was littered with rubble. Complicating the situ-
 ation, long-held fears of a major disease outbreak became a
 reality in November when cholera claimed the lives of at least
 a thousand people. In response, the William J. Clinton Foundation
 pledged an additional $2 million, much of that to address the
 cholera outbreak, while the U.S. government committed an addi-
 tional $120 million to recovery efforts.

 In stark contrast to the earthquake in Haiti, the Indus River
 flooding that devastated a large swath of Pakistan beginning in
 July generated a relatively tepid response from individual donors
 and the global aid community. Whether because of Pakistan's phy-
 sical distance from Europe and North America, the problematic
 security situation in the country, or the relatively low number
 of casualties, far less money was raised for relief and recovery
 efforts there. The flooding was a major catastrophe, however,
 obliterating villages and infrastructure, destroying millions
 of hectares of crops, killing countless head of livestock, and
 upending the lives of some twenty million people -- more than
 the number of fatalities recorded in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsu-
 nami, the 2005 earthquake in Kashmir, and the 2010 earthquake
 in Haiti -- combined. In August, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-
 moon characterized the crisis as a "slow-motion tsunami" and
 called on donors to respond to "one of the greatest tests of
 global solidarity in our times."

 Nearly a month after the flooding began, however, only half the
 $460 million in emergency funding called for by the UN had been
 raised. And despite a pickup in support from Muslim countries,
 organizations, and individuals toward year's end, the response
 from the global community came nowhere close to matching the
 estimated $43 billion hit suffered by the country's economy.

 RELATED NEWS:

 Aid Agencies, Individuals Mobilize to Help Victims of Haiti
 Earthquake (1/14/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=281200003
 
 Governments, Corporations, Individuals Provide Hundreds of
 Millions of Dollars for Haiti Relief and Recovery Efforts
 (1/15/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=281300036
 
 Social Media, Text Messaging Bring in Record Donations for Haiti
 Relief Efforts (1/16/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=281400038
 
 Support for Relief and Recovery Efforts in Haiti Tops $2.2 Bil-
 lion (3/10/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=287000006
 
 Donor Nations Criticized for Slow Response to Haiti Earthquake
 (7/22/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=302200020
 
 Donations for Pakistan Relief Trickle In as Flooding Continues
 (8/14/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=305200006
 
 Half of UN Appeal for Flood-Ravaged Pakistan Met, Logistical
 Challenges Enormous (8/19/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=305900004
 
 Pakistan Sees Increase in Donations as 'Slow-Motion Tsunami'
 Unfolds (8/23/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=306200041
 
 International Support for Pakistan Tops $815 Million (8/25/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=306500004
 
 Muslims Have Pledged $1 Billion to Pakistan (8/31/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=307100011
 

 ::::::::::::::: ECONOMY CONTINUES TO CHALLENGE :::::::::::::::

 Although it was announced in September that the Great Recession
 officially ended in June 2009, nonprofits and foundations -- not
 to mention millions of Americans -- continued to be challenged
 by an uncertain economy in 2010.

 With the unemployment rate edging close to 10 percent and under-
 employment running at 17 percent, it was no surprise that demand
 for emergency assistance continued to grow during the year. A
 February report from Feeding America found that the number of
 Americans seeking emergency food assistance had increased 46 per-
 cent since 2006, while an April report from the Pew Economic
 Policy Group found that 23 percent of unemployed Americans had
 been jobless for a year or more -- the highest rate since World
 War II. Human service providers were further challenged by wide-
 spread and serious problems with government contracts and grants,
 an October report from the Urban Institute found.

 Indeed, the perfect economic storm of 2009 continued to vex non-
 profits in 2010, causing many to seek mergers and alliances
 while forcing others to lay off staff, make service cuts, and/or
 look for other ways to tighten their belts. "We expect 2010 to
 be another treacherous year for many nonprofits that routinely
 take heroic measures to meet demand for services," said Nonprofit
 Finance Fund president and CEO Clara Miller in March. "While the
 'coping mechanisms' we're seeing are encouraging, we also need
 to make fundamental changes to the way the sector is financed."

 Whether grantmakers were doing enough to help nonprofits and
 the sector in the wake of the downturn was an increasingly con-
 tentious topic as the stock market moved off its 2009 lows and
 endowment values began to recover. A May report from the Philan-
 thropic Collaborative argued that U.S. foundations had been flex-
 ible, targeted, and quick to act in response to the crisis, while
 a June report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy suggested
 that a significant percentage of nonprofits believed that founda-
 tions had provided insufficient communication and little in the
 way of useful help to them in response to the downturn.
 
 Despite the continuing challenges confronting the sector, the
 second half of the year offered signs of hope. A September report
 from the Fiscal Policy Institute found evidence of job growth, if
 not robust economic recovery, in New York State, one of the most
 economically challenged states in the country, while a number of
 media outlets (including Philanthropy News Digest) reported in
 November that, for the first time in two years, nonprofit online
 job boards had seen a jump in the number of postings, signaling
 a possible improvement in the nonprofit job market.

 Meanwhile, a November research advisory from the Foundation Cen-
 ter found that while it may take several years for foundation
 giving to return to levels it hit in the middle of the decade,
 giving should rebound slightly next year after being flat in
 2010. "The foundation community is adapting in our dramatically
 changed environment," said Steven Lawrence, the center's director
 of research and author of the advisory. "Even though the 2010
 economy has been anything but predictable, foundations are work-
 ing with greater efficiency, holding their giving steady, and
 a number are planning for growth."

 RELATED NEWS:
 
 Struggling Nonprofits Increasingly Consider Alliances,
 Collaborations (1/11/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=280700020

 Funding Woes Push Nonprofits to Consider Mergers, Closing
 (2/2/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=283600002
 
 Number of Americans Seeking Emergency Food Assistance Up 46 Per-
 cent Since 2006, Report Finds (2/4/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=284000010
 
 Nonprofits Anticipate Challenging Year, Survey Finds (3/23/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=288700008
 
 Nearly a Quarter of Unemployed Americans Have Been Jobless a Year
 or More, Report Finds (4/9/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=290700020
 
 Foundation Response to Economic Crisis Strong, Swift, and
 Effective, Study Finds (5/10/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=293700008
 
 Charitable Giving Fell 3.6 Percent in 2009, 'Giving USA' Finds
 (6/10/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=296700002
 
 Foundation Response to Downturn Does Little for Nonprofits,
 Report Finds (6/15/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=297200002
 
 New York Sees Modest Job Growth, But No Recovery Yet, Report
 Finds (9/6/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=307500016
 
 Human Service Providers Experiencing Problems With Government
 Payments, Report Finds (10/8/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=309800018
 
 Foundation Giving Likely to Increase in 2011, Survey Finds
 (11/19/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=315200035
 
 Nonprofit Job Market Perks Up (11/14/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=314500015


 :::::::::::: RACE TO THE TOP AND EDUCATION REFORM ::::::::::::
 
 The battle over healthcare reform early in the year and then the
 buildup to the midterm elections overshadowed one of the Obama
 administration's more ambitious goals in 2010: furthering efforts
 to reform America's struggling public education system.
 
 Headed by former Chicago Public Schools chief Arne Duncan, the
 U.S. Department of Education kicked off the year with two major
 announcements: a $250 million public-private expansion of the
 Educate to Innovate program, which aims to boost learning and
 achievement in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math)
 fields; and, a few weeks later, a proposed $1.35 billion expansion
 of its signature Race to the Top program, a comprehensive effort,
 backed by a $4.35 billion investment, "to incentivize excellence,
 spur reform, and promote the adoption and use of effective poli-
 cies and practices" in the nation's public school systems. In
 March, sixteen finalists from a pool of forty-six states and the
 District of Columbia were announced in the first round of the
 competition, followed, a few weeks later, by an announcement of
 the first two states to receive grants: Delaware ($100 million)
 and Tennessee ($500 million).

 Those announcements were followed, in August, by news that grants
 totaling more than $3.2 billion had been awarded to an additional
 nine states -- Florida ($700 million), New York ($700 million),
 Georgia ($400 million), Maryland ($400 million), North Carolina
 ($400 million), Ohio ($400 million), Massachusetts ($250 million),
 Hawaii ($75 million), and Rhode Island ($75 million) -- as well
 as Washington, D.C. ($75 million), leading Duncan to declare the
 first year of the program a success. Meanwhile, an issue brief
 published by the Foundation Center in June as part of the Founda-
 tions for Education Excellence initiative argued that the future
 success of Race to the Top would depend, in no small measure, on
 the federal government's willingness to include private grant-
 makers in the development of education reform policies and on
 grantmakers committing to being engaged, long-term partners in
 the process.

 Indeed, by then a coalition of private foundations had already
 announced its intention to invest up to half a billion dollars
 in education reform efforts, with some of that money designated
 to match funds from the Department of Education's $650 million
 Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund, which provides grants to local
 agencies, nonprofits, and school districts with a demonstrated
 record of improving student achievement, reducing dropout rates,
 increasing high school graduation rates, and/or increasing col-
 lege enrollment and completion rates. The foundations involved in
 the effort -- the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Lumina,
 Casey, Gates, Mott, Ford, MacArthur, and Kellogg foundations --
 also joined forces to create the Foundation Registry i3, an
 Internet portal where education reform groups can apply for
 matching funds from coalition partners in a single step.

 "Much of what Secretary Duncan is currently addressing at the
 department builds on existing foundation investments in educa-
 tion," said Carnegie Corporation president Vartan Gregorian.
 "As such, the twelve foundations realized this is a significant
 moment to seriously advance student learning so that all of our
 young people are prepared to succeed in a global economy and for
 citizenship in a complex world. It was time to maximize our col-
 lective efforts."

 No review of the year in education philanthropy would be complete
 without mention of Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg
 and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, two of America's most
 successful technologists and respected "philanthrocapitalists."
 
 In September, the 26-year-old Zuckerberg, the nation's youngest
 billionaire, announced a $100 million matching gift to establish
 a foundation dedicated to supporting reform efforts in Newark,
 New Jersey's long-troubled public school system, while Gates,
 the country's wealthiest individual, continued, largely through
 the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to be a major supporter of
 education reform at the elementary, secondary, and higher educa-
 tion levels.

 Indeed, as the year came to a close, Gates, in remarks to the
 Council of Chief State School Officers, called on the nation's
 state education superintendents to take the difficult steps
 needed to restructure their public education budgets, which
 have been battered by the economic downturn. "Our best chance
 to change budgets starts now," Gates told those in attendance.
 "Your appropriations committees will see the state school bud-
 gets and ask you to show them an easy way out. I think you can
 tell them -- 'there is a way out, but it's not easy'. You can
 lead this change, but you can't be expected to do it alone.
 You'll need friends in business and philanthropy to stand with
 you. You can count on me....The design of our schools, the way
 we teach, the way we budget -- has kept so much human energy
 locked up inside. Let's unleash it."
 
 RELATED NEWS:
 
 White House Launches $250 Million Public-Private STEM Initiative
 (1/7/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=280200008
 
 Obama Proposes $1.35 Billion Expansion to Race to the Top Fund
 (1/20/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=281700007
 
 Gates Foundation Announces $19.5 Million in Grants for Next-
 Generation Teaching Tools in Math and Literacy (2/19/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=285500031

 Department of Education Announces Sixteen 'Race to the Top'
 Finalists (3/8/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=286700019
 
 Department of Education Announces First Race to the Top Grants
 (3/31/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=289800004
 
 Gates Foundation Commits $110 Million to Transform Remedial
 Education (4/21/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=291500002
 
 Coalition of Foundations to Invest $506 Million in Education
 Innovation (4/30/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=292200002
 
 Race to Top Offers Lessons for Grantmaker-Government
 Collaborations, Brief Finds (6/2/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=296000008
 
 Department of Education Announces Round Two Race to the Top
 Finalists (7/29/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=303200004
 
 Department of Education Chooses Forty-Nine Investing in
 Innovation Fund Finalists (8/6/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=304500004
 
 Department of Education Announces Ten More Race to the Top
 Winners (8/25/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=306500008
 
 Investing in Innovation Winners Have Secured Matching Funds
 (9/22/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=308600004
 
 Facebook Founder Commits $100 Million to Support Newark Public
 Schools (9/24/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=308800002
 
 Newark Mayor Secures $40 Million to Match Zuckerberg Gift
 (9/28/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=309000010
 
 Charter School Group Fund Launches $160 Million Campaign
 (10/01/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=309300006

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 Online Professional.
 
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 than 100,000 grantmakers!
 
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 ::::: GULF COAST OIL SPILL LEADS ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS :::::
 
 Climate change, ocean acidification, species loss -- all took a
 back seat, for a few months at least, to the biggest environmen-
 tal story of the year, the disastrous explosion of BP's Deepwater
 Horizon rig on April 20 and the subsequent discharge of oil into
 the Gulf. Before it was capped in mid-July, the deep-sea gusher
 pumped more than two hundred million gallons of crude into the
 Gulf -- the worst oil spill in U.S. history -- wreaking havoc on
 the region's fishing and tourism industries and threatening long-
 term damage to its fragile ecosystems.
 
 Not that the news on the environmental front was all that bright
 before the Deepwater blowout. In February, a report from the Pew
 Environment Group suggested that rapid melting of Arctic snow and
 sea ice could cost the world a minimum of $2.4 trillion by 2050.
 The urgency of the global warming problem was underscored later
 in the month when the Boston-based Barr Foundation, New England's
 largest private foundation, pledged $50 million over five years
 to help make the metro Boston region a national leader in reduc-
 ing greenhouse gas emissions. And in July, the New York City-
 based Ford Foundation made an even larger climate change commit-
 ment, pledging $85 million over five years to help rural and
 indigenous people play a more active role in the stewardship of
 the natural resources around them and ensure that future global
 climate change initiatives addressed their needs.
 
 Still, the BP spill dominated headlines for the better part of
 the year -- which made the lackluster charitable response that
 followed in its aftermath all the more surprising. Community
 foundations in the region were among the first to respond, with
 the Greater New Orleans Foundation establishing a Gulf Coast Oil
 Spill Fund in early May to support those in the fishing and
 tourism industries affected by the disaster, while the Gulf Coast
 Community Foundation of Venice made an early grant to support a
 Florida marine laboratory monitoring the Gulf's marine life. But
 six weeks after the explosion, only $4 million had been donated
 to relief and recovery efforts (compared with the more than
 $580 million contributed within eight days of Hurricane Katrina's
 landfall).

 A number of corporations eventually did step up with significant
 donations of cash and/or in-kind goods. They included Pepsi,
 which contributed $1.3 million through its Pepsi Refresh Project
 to nonprofits proving support and assistance to people in the
 Gulf Coast region; Chevron, which gave $750,000 to the National
 Audubon Society; and BP, which gave $25 million to three research
 institutions working in the Gulf. In addition, the nonprofit
 X Prize Foundation launched a $1.4 million competition, the
 Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X Challenge, to encourage the develop-
 ment of solutions to cleaning up oil spills.

 If the BP spill overshadowed most other environmental efforts in
 2010, it also served, as William Meadows, president of the Wild-
 erness Society, said in June after his organization received a
 three-year grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, as
 "a tragic reminder of why the transition to renewable energy is
 so essential."

 Meadows was hardly alone in holding that view. In October, David
 and Patricia Atkinson pledged $80 million to Cornell University
 to endow the Center for a Sustainable Future they had created on
 campus in 2007. "The environment, energy, and economic development
 are heavily interrelated; problems of sustainability can only be
 addressed with a multidisciplinary approach," said Atkinson, a
 retired general partner of Philadelphia-based Miller, Anderson,
 & Sherrerd LLP. "As the pressures of rapid population growth
 take hold, to avoid a crisis it's important to address issues of
 sustainability preemptively."
 
 RELATED NEWS:
 
 Arctic Melting Could Cost $2.4 Trillion by 2050, Report Suggests
 (2/9/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=284600013
 
 Barr Foundation Commits $50 Million to Fight Climate Change
 (2/17/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=285200004
 
 Pew Environment Group Calls on Congress to Reform Laws Following
 Gulf Oil Spill (6/16/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=297300003
 
 BP Awards $25 Million to Gulf Research Institutions Studying
 Effects of Oil and Dispersant (6/18/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=297600013
 
 Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Awards $3.1 Million to
 Facilitate 'Wildlife-Friendly' Renewable Energy Development
 (6/30/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=299400012
 
 Ford Foundation Commits $85 Million to Advance Rural Land Rights,
 Reduce Climate Change (7/29/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=303200011
 
 X Prize Foundation Launches $1.4 Million Wendy Schmidt Oil
 Cleanup X Challenge (7/30/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=303400009
 
 Oil Spill Aid Remains Small, But Some Corporate Donations Trickle
 In (8/4/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=304000004
 
 Pepsi Refresh Project Doubles Its Monthly Grant Commitment
 (9/6/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=307500027
 
 Cornell University Center for a Sustainable Future Receives
 $5 Million Gift (10/14/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=310300016
 
 Cornell University Receives $80 Million for Research (10/29/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=312500006
 
 Princeton Receives $11 Million for Carbon Mitigation Initiative
 (11/24/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=315500013
 

 :::::::::: 'GIVING PLEDGE' OFF TO FAST START ::::::::::::::::::

 Although few people had heard of it before June, the Giving
 Pledge campaign launched by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda
 Gates generated enough discussion -- pro, con, and in between --
 over the next five months to make it one of the top philanthropic
 stories of 2010.
 
 Conceived over the course of a year by Buffett and the Gateses,
 the campaign was unveiled to the public in a June Fortune mag-
 azine article in which the billionaire philanthropists laid out
 their plan to encourage the nation's wealthiest individuals to
 give at least half their fortunes to charity, either during their
 lifetimes or at death.
 
 The first phase of the campaign targeted individuals on the
 Forbes 400 -- an annual list compiled by Forbes magazine of the
 four hundred wealthiest Americans. In 2009, individuals on the
 list had a combined net worth of roughly $1.2 trillion. Were
 every member of the list to sign the pledge -- which, as Buffett
 and Gates noted at every opportunity, is a moral rather than a
 legal commitment to give -- it would translate into an extra
 $600 billion for charitable causes. With total U.S. charitable
 giving surpassing $300 billion in each of the previous three
 years, many were quick to label the campaign one of the most
 important developments in philanthropy in decades. Others were
 more skeptical, noting that the short-term impact of the cam-
 paign was likely to be modest -- in part because many of those
 signing the pledge already were well-established philanthropists
 whose giving wasn't likely to increase in a significant way as
 a result of their participation.

 Six weeks after the campaign was unveiled to the public, the
 first cohort of Giving Pledge signatories -- forty in all -- was
 announced. It included Los Angeles businessman and philanthropist
 Eli Broad and his wife, Edythe; Oracle Corporation co-founder
 and CEO Larry Ellison; Hilton Hotels co-chairman Barron Hilton;
 Business Wire founder Lorry I. Lokey; filmmaker George Lucas;
 eBay founder and chairman Pierre Omidyar and his wife, Pam;
 former eBay president Jeff Skoll; media tycoon Ted Turner; and
 New York City mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. In August, Buffett
 publicly stated that he was thrilled by the response and praised
 many who had signed on for committing "to sums far greater than
 the 50 percent minimum level."

 With the campaign well launched, Buffett and the Gateses set
 their sights on other countries, in particular emerging economic
 powerhouses such as China and India whose economies are growing
 rapidly and generating enormous wealth. In October, Buffett and
 Bill Gates traveled to China -- second only to the United States
 in the number of individuals with a net worth of at least a
 billion dollars. Despite press accounts of meeting invitations
 unopened and widespread confusion over the purpose of their trip,
 the two Americans managed to meet with fifty or so Chinese ty-
 coons and pronounced the trip a success.
 
 Meanwhile, back home, another seventeen individuals and families
 had signed on to the pledge by early December. They included
 America Online founder Steve Case and his wife, Jean; Wall Street
 financier Carl Icahn; and Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg --
 at 26 the youngest person, by a significant margin, to sign the
 pledge so far. "People wait until late in their career to give
 back. But why wait when there is so much to be done?" Zuckerberg
 said in announcing his participation in the effort. "With a gene-
 ration of younger folks who have thrived on the success of their
 companies, there is a big opportunity for many of us to give back
 earlier in our lifetime and see the impact of our philanthropic
 efforts."

 RELATED NEWS:
 
 Bill and Melinda Gates, Warren Buffett Ask Nation's Super-Rich to
 Give Half Their Wealth to Charity (6/17/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=297500021
 
 PhilanTopic: The 'Giving Pledge' and Social Change (6/17/10)
 
http://pndblog.typepad.com/pndblog/2010/06/the-giving-pledge-and-social-
change.html
 
 Forty Families, Individuals Sign On to Giving Pledge (8/5/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=304300003
 
 'Giving Pledge' May Not Take Hold Among Indian Billionaires
 (8/14/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=305100014
 
 Gates, Buffett Call China Meeting a Success (10/1/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=309300010
 
 'Giving Pledge' Not Without Critics (11/12/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=314400009
 
 Another Seventeen Families Sign On to Giving Pledge (12/10/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=317200002
 

 :::::::::::: MICROFINANCE EXPERIENCES GROWING PAINS ::::::::::::

 It was a year characterized by change, and controversy, in the
 world of microfinance.
 
 In January, microfinance institutions (MFIs) were put to the test
 when a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, leaving millions of
 people homeless and countless livelihoods shattered. In a country
 where, pre-earthquake, 80 percent of residents lived on less than
 $2 a day, MFIs have always been important as "banks to the poor,"
 and have always faced challenges. After the quake, however, they
 provided an indispensable lifeline to millions of people trying
 to rebuild their lives and businesses, even as the financial
 health of many became as precarious as that of the customers they
 serve.

 Indeed, in the year since the quake, the share of microcredit
 clients in Haiti who have defaulted or are at risk of defaulting
 has more than doubled, to 18 percent (compared with the inter-
 national rate of almost 3 percent), while fully a quarter of the
 $38 million in microcredit loans outstanding could end up in
 default. And with only a third of the $6 billion pledged for
 reconstruction efforts at a United Nations donors conference in
 March having been committed to specific projects, coupled with
 fresh travails like the recent cholera outbreak and post-election
 violence, MFIs in Haiti will continue to be challenged.

 Elsewhere, MFIs experimented with new approaches, often funded by
 foundation and corporate dollars. In January, the Bill & Melinda
 Gates Foundation awarded a total of $38 million to eighteen MFIs
 to make savings accounts available to the rural poor in Africa,
 Asia, and Latin America, while in February the Grameen Foundation
 announced a three-year, $3 million grant from the JPMorgan Chase
 Foundation to expand its program to increase microfinance volun-
 teerism among senior working professionals.
 
 By mid-year, however, many longtime proponents of microfinance
 had begun to lament the growing commercialization of the field,
 as a number of for-profit banks began to take advantage of market
 discontinuities to charge exorbitant interest rates and impose
 steep fees on clients. Grameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus,
 widely credited with developing the microcredit concept, even
 argued that microcredit interest rates should be no more than
 15 percent above the cost of capital -- a "test" that 75 percent
 of MFIs worldwide would fail, according to data from the Micro-
 finance Information Exchange.
 
 The profits-versus-altruism debate heated up over the summer,
 when one of the world's largest microlenders, India-based SKS
 Microfinance, went public, raising $358 million. Eyebrows were
 raised when it was revealed that the company's founder, Vikram
 Akula, and other investors, including a number of prominent
 Silicon Valley venture capitalists, stood to profit handsomely
 from the IPO. Also embroiled in the controversy was Seattle-based
 Unitus, an international nonprofit that works to accelerate the
 growth of microfinance. In July, the organization, whose stake
 in SKS was worth millions after the IPO, shocked the nonprofit
 community when it announced it was laying off its forty-person
 staff and exiting the microfinance field. The announcement led
 many to question the motives of the organization's board members,
 at least four of whom had invested personally in SKS and stood
 to realize sizable profits from its going public.

 By the end of the year, reports started to emerge that Indian
 microfinance institutions were facing many of the same difficul-
 ties as struggling MFIs in Haiti. Indeed, in November it was
 reported that almost all borrowers in Andhra Pradesh, one of
 the country's largest states, had stopped repaying their loans
 -- egged on by local politicians who accused the microcredit in-
 dustry in India of profiting on the backs of the poor. The SKS
 public offering and for-profit MFIs charging sky-high interest
 rates helped fuel public outrage, and by year's end legislators
 had passed a law that restricts how companies can lend and col-
 lect money.

 "We created microcredit to fight the loan sharks; we didn't
 create microcredit to encourage new loan sharks," Yunus told a
 group of financial officials at the United Nations back in the
 spring. "Microcredit should be seen as an opportunity to help
 people get out of poverty in a business way, but not as an oppor-
 tunity to make money out of poor people."
 
 RELATED NEWS:
 
 Gates Foundation Announces $38 Million to Help MFIs Provide
 Savings Accounts (1/14/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=281200020
 
 Grameen Foundation Receives $3 Million From JP Morgan Chase
 Foundation to Expand Volunteer Program (2/5/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=284300005
 
 Grameen Foundation Announces Initiative to Boost Microfinance
 Effectiveness in Africa (2/22/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=285600021
 
 Big Banks Draw Scrutiny for Profiting From Microloans (4/16/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=291200028
 
 Citi Pledges $1 Million to Microfinance Institutions in Haiti
 (5/7/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=293500004
 
 Unitus to Dissolve Microfinance Operations, Lay Off Staff
 (7/8/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=300200002
 
 Controversy Stirred Over SKS Microfinance's Multi-Million Dollar
 Stock Offering (8/2/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=303600020
 
 In Haiti, Microcredit May Be a Fragile Lifeline (11/20/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=315200003
 
 Haiti Rebuilding Efforts Struggle to Gain Traction (11/30/2010)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=315700020
 
 India's Microfinance Industry Suffers as Poor Indians Stop
 Repaying Loans (11/22/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=315300031
 
 
 ::: TWO STEPS FORWARD, ONE BACK FOR SOCIAL INNOVATION FUND :::

 As the year opened, the $50 million Social Innovation Fund, a
 White House initiative designed to support innovation in social
 change work, was viewed as a promising new venture by nonprofit
 leaders hopeful the Obama administration, having passed health-
 care reform and bailed out Wall Street, would turn its attention
 to the nation's struggling nonprofits. At the same time, many
 experts were critical of the White House for not adequately
 funding the effort.

 In May, the Corporation for National and Community Service, which
 houses SIF, announced additional matching commitments totaling
 $50 million from the Open Society Foundations ($10 million),
 Omidyar Network ($10 million), Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation
 ($10 million), Skoll Foundation ($10 million), Doerr Family
 Foundation ($5 million), and a consortium of twenty national and
 regional funders led by Grantmakers for Effective Organizations
 ($5 million). Over the summer, it was announced that additional
 private commitments had been secured, bringing the matching fund
 total to $74 million.

 In July, CNCS announced the eleven winners of the inaugural round
 of SIF grants: Boston-based Jobs for the Future ($7.7 million
 over two years); the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)
 ($4.2 million over one year); the Mayor's Fund to Advance New
 York City ($5.7 million over one year); San Francisco-based REDF
 ($3 million over two years); the Foundation for a Healthy Ken-
 tucky ($2 million over two years); the Missouri Foundation for
 Health ($2 million over two years); the National AIDS Fund
 ($3.6 million over one year); New Profit, Inc. ($5 million over
 one year); the New York City-based Edna McConnell Clark Foundation
 ($10 million over one year); D.C.-based Venture Philanthropy
 Partners ($4 million over two years); and the United Way of
 Greater Cincinnati ($2 million over two years). Under the rules
 of the competition, eight of the SIF grantees were to select sub-
 grantees through a competitive process within six months of
 receiving their SIF funds.

 Although initial concerns about the adequacy of funding for SIF
 may have been addressed by the willingness of private funders to
 participate in the effort, the initiative faced scrutiny of a
 different sort when, following the July grant announcement, the
 nonprofit press raised questions about the award to New Profit,
 Inc., a Massachusetts-based venture philanthropy fund that pre-
 viously had employed SIF's executive director, Paul Carttar, in
 an executive position. As nonprofit bloggers rushed to attack
 or defend the fund and the process used to select its inaugural
 grantees, it was revealed that Carttar had recused himself from
 the process at the outset. Nevertheless, questions about trans-
 parency and conflicts of interest lingered into the fall, when
 the New York Times reported that the inspector general charged
 with oversight of the Corporation for National and Community
 Service would audit the fund's selection process. According to
 the Times, the audit, which CNCS had requested, could lead to
 recommendations for changes in how SIF distributes funds it
 receives from Congress.

 By year's end, it seemed as if the fund's critics and supporters
 had agreed to a temporary truce. And as Billions of Drops in
 Millions of Buckets author Steve Goldberg argued, when all is
 said and done it may come down to the investigation being "yet
 another case where a responsible government agency is trying to
 do the right thing in the way that it manages taxpayer money."

 RELATED NEWS:

 White House Announces Commitments Totaling $50 Million to Social
 Innovation Fund (5/28/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=295800034

 Social Innovation Fund Announces Inaugural Grants (7/23/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=302400002

 Knight Foundation Awards $1.1 Million to National Fund for
 Workforce Solutions (8/27/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=306900014

 Duke Endowment Partners With Edna McConnell Clark Foundation
 (10/4/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=309400036
 
 Social Innovation Fund Grant-Decision Process to Be Audited
 (11/16/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=314700010

 ********************* ANNOUNCEMENT ************************

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 from our expert instructors.

 Register for 2011 courses now!
 http://fconline.fdncenter.org/pnd/30026448/promo.htm
 
 
 :::::::::::::::::::::: NOTEWORTHY GIFTS ::::::::::::::::::::::

 For many Americans, 2010 was characterized by continuing economic
 uncertainty and challenges. Thus, it was no surprise that chari-
 table giving, even among the mega-wealthy, reflected that uncer-
 tainty, with the number of gifts of $100 million or more up only
 slightly over 2009, when seven such gifts were announced, and down
 significantly from 2008, when at least fifteen such gifts were
 announced.
 
 As they often are, educational institutions were the focus of
 many of the largest gifts, both eight- and nine-figure. In
 January, the Lawrenceville School, a four-year co-ed boarding
 school in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, received a $60 million
 bequest from the estate of Henry C. Woods, an alumnus, former
 English teacher, and trustee of the school, and his wife, Janie,
 for scholarships and other programs. Six weeks later, the first
 nine-figure gifts of the year were announced by two mid-South
 institutions of higher education: Oklahoma State University,
 which received a $100 million challenge gift from energy tycoon
 and alumnus T. Boone Pickens, and Baylor University in Waco,
 Texas, which received an anonymous $200 million bequest in
 support of medical research related to aging.

 A number of healthcare institutions also received major gifts in
 the early part of the year. In January, the Burnham Institute for
 Medical Research in La Jolla, California, announced a five-year,
 $50 million endowment gift from South Dakota businessman T. Denny
 Sanford to expand and accelerate the institute's cutting-edge
 medical research. In April, the University of California, San
 Diego Health System received $75 million from the family of Joan
 and Irwin Jacobs for a medical center at the school's La Jolla
 campus. And in June, UCSF Children's Hospital announced a five-
 year, $100 million gift from Salesforce.com founder, chairman,
 and CEO Marc Benioff and his wife, Lynne, to support the
 construction of a new hospital.
 
 No gift received more attention, however, than the $100 million
 pledged by Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg to launch
 a foundation that will work closely with Newark mayor Cory Booker
 to improve the long-troubled public school system in that New
 Jersey city. The gift was especially noteworthy for being the
 largest made to-date by the 26-year-old entrepreneur, whose
 fortune Forbes puts at $6.9 billion, and for being many times
 larger than any gift ever made to the Newark school system.
 
 Other noteworthy gifts announced in the second half of the year
 included a $100 million challenge grant from the Open Society
 Foundations to Human Rights Watch; a $100 million pledge from
 businessman Henry R. Kravis to Columbia Business School; and
 $50 million each from Cogent Systems founder Ming Hsieh and the
 Annenberg Foundation to the University of Southern California's
 Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. In addition,
 Georgetown University received an $87 million bequest from Harry
 J. and Virginia Toulmin to support medical research at the
 school, while Cornell University announced an $80 million gift
 from David and Patricia Atkinson to endow the David R. Atkinson
 Center for a Sustainable Future, which they had established with
 a smaller gift in 2007.
 
 The year came to a close with a bang, as two major arts-focused
 gifts were announced. In November, the Bill & Melinda Gates
 Foundation awarded three grants totaling $50 million to the
 Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., for efforts to reach
 underserved K-12 students, expand research and public programs,
 and support the design and construction of the National Museum
 of African American History and Culture, which is scheduled to
 open on the Mall in 2015. And toward the end of the month, the
 National Gallery of Art announced what was the largest gift of
 the year: a collection of more than two hundred pieces of early
 American furniture assembled by George M. and Linda H. Kaufman
 that is estimated to be worth more than $250 million.


 Indeed, despite the uncertain economic climate, many well-off
 individuals were willing to dig deep into their pockets to sup-
 port nonprofits and the causes they believe in. The Benioffs,
 for example, increased the size of their gift to UCSF Children's
 Hospital from the $20 million they initially planned to give to
 $100 million because of the difficult economy. "I had never
 really thought about doing a $100 million gift. That was signi-
 ficantly more than anything we'd done before," Marc Benioff
 told the Wall Street Journal. "We strongly believe in giving
 back to the San Francisco community that has given so much to us,
 and where the majority of the employees at Salesforce.com live.
 Additionally, given the decline in personal philanthropic giving
 and reduced government funding, we recognize that we need to do
 more."
 
 RELATED NEWS:
 
 Number and Size of Mega-Gifts Fell in 2009 (1/6/09)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=280000008
 
 Lawrenceville School Receives $60 Million Gift From Former
 English Teacher (1/15/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=281400045
 
 T. Denny Sanford Donates $50 Million to Burnham Institute for
 Medical Research (1/29/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=283100014
 
 Oklahoma State University Receives $100 Million Challenge Gift
 (3/2/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=286300002
 
 Baylor University Receives Anonymous $200 Million Bequest
 (3/5/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=286600007
 
 UCSD Health System Receives $75 Million for New Medical Center
 (4/6/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=290400017
 
 UCSF Children's Hospital Receives $100 Million Gift From Marc and
 Lynne Benioff (6/18/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=297700017
 
 Human Rights Watch Receives $100 Million From Open Society
 Foundations (9/8/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=307600002
 
 Georgetown University Receives $87 Million Bequest (9/15/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=308100010
 
 Facebook Founder Commits $100 Million to Support Newark Public
 Schools (9/24/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=308800002
 
 Kravis Pledges $100 Million to Columbia Business School (10/6/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=309600011
 
 University of Southern California Receives $100 Million From
 Alumnus, Annenberg Foundation (10/18/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=310600016
 
 Cornell University Receives $80 Million for Research (10/29/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=312500006
 
 Smithsonian Institution Receives $50 Million From Gates
 Foundation (11/5/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=313400006
 
 National Gallery of Art to Receive Collection Worth $250 Million
 (11/15/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=314500023

 :::::::::::::::::::: PEOPLE IN THE NEWS :::::::::::::::::::::

 The year opened on a sad note, as philanthropy marked the passing
 of two prominent matriarchs: Ruth Lilly and Evelyn Haas. But it
 was also a time to recognize and pay tribute to their great gener-
 osity in supporting a range of causes.
 
 Lilly, the last surviving great-grandchild of pharmaceutical
 magnate Eli Lilly, died in January at the age of 94. Over the
 course of her life, she gave the bulk of an estimated $800 mil-
 lion fortune to a wide variety of causes and organizations, most
 in her home state of Indiana. But it was her unprecedented
 $100 million gift to the Modern Poetry Association, the publisher
 of Poetry magazine, in 2002 that endeared the reclusive Lilly to
 millions and revealed something deeply personal about her: She
 was a poet at heart.
 
 Haas, who died in February at the age of 92, was best known for
 her family's giving in the Bay Area. Through the Evelyn and
 Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, Haas and her husband, the late Walter A.
 Haas, Jr., gave more than $364 million to hundreds of cultural,
 civic, and social-service organizations in the area. Haas had a
 special passion for the arts and served as a longtime trustee of
 the San Francisco Museum of Modern Arts and the San Francisco
 Symphony. She also loved the outdoors and served as board
 director of the World Wildlife Fund in the 1970s and 1980s.
 
 "With her husband, Walter, Evelyn dedicated her life to the least
 among us, and her passion, generosity, and leadership will be
 missed," said outgoing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi,longtime
 representative of California's 8th congressional district, which
 covers most of the City and County of San Francisco. "I will miss
 her as my neighbor and friend. San Francisco has indeed been
 blessed by the generosity of Walter and Evelyn Haas and the entire
 Haas family."
 
 Philanthropy suffered another loss in June, when it was announced
 that J. Paul Getty Trust president and CEO James N. Wood had died
 at the age of 69. An internationally recognized leader in the
 arts, Wood came out of retirement in February 2007 to take the
 top job at the trust -- the wealthiest institution devoted to the
 visual arts in the world -- and was instrumental in providing
 stability and restoring the institution's credibility after a
 period of internal dissension and upheaval.

 In September, John Kluge, who had topped the Forbes 400 list from
 1989 to 1991, died at the age of 95. A media pioneer and passion-
 ate philanthropist, Kluge's notable gifts included historic
 Morven Farm, which was valued at $45 million when he donated it
 to the University of Virginia; more than $100 million to Columbia
 University for minority scholarships and faculty diversity efforts;
 and $60 million to the Library of Congress.
 
 A number of sector leaders announced their retirements in 2010.
 The group included Harriet Zuckerman, senior vice president and
 director of research universities and the humanistic scholarship
 program at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; Howard Dodson, head
 of the New York Public Library's Schomburg Center for Research in
 Black Culture for the last twenty-six years; Colorado Trust pres-
 ident and CEO Irene Ibarra; Association of Fundraising Profes-
 sionals president and CEO Paulette Maehara (effective March 2011);
 New York Philharmonic president Zarin Mehta (after the 2011-12
 season); and Nathan Cummings Foundation president and CEO Lance
 E. Lindblom (effective December 31, 2011).
 
 In addition, several leaders in the sector were appointed to new
 positions in 2010. In February, the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg
 Foundation announced that Rachel Garbow Monroe, former COO of the
 foundation, had been named president, while Seedco, a national
 nonprofit that works to advance economic opportunity for people
 and communities in need, named longtime nonprofit and government
 leader Barbara Dwyer Gunn as its president and CEO. In April,
 Jo Ann Jenkins, previously COO of the Library of Congress, was
 announced as the new president of the AARP Foundation. And in
 October OMB Watch founder Gary Bass announced that he was leaving
 the organization to become CEO of the Bauman Family Foundation.

 As the year came to a close, Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley
 tapped a major foundation leader, Chicago Community Trust
 president and CEO Terry Mazany, to serve as the temporary CEO of
 the Chicago public school system. Mazany, who will continue to
 lead the trust while the city seeks a permanent replacement for
 outgoing CPS chief executive Ron Huberman, has twenty-plus years
 of experience in urban school reform and has guided the trust's
 long-standing efforts to improve the quality of public education
 in the city.
 
 RELATED NEWS:
 
 Philanthropist Ruth Lilly Dies at 94 (1/4/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=279600009
 
 People in the News (1/31/10): Appointments and Promotions
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=283300006
 
 Philanthropist Evelyn Haas Dies at 92 (2/7/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=284500007
 
 People in the News (2/28/10): Appointments and Promotions
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=286100042
 
 People in the News (4/11/10): Appointments and Promotions
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=290700035
 
 People in the News (4/25/10): Appointments and Promotions
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=291800032
 
 People in the News (5/16/10): Appointments and Promotions
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=294600002
 
 Getty Trust President and CEO James N. Wood Dies (6/15/10)
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=297100014
 
 People in the News (8/1/10): Appointments and Promotions
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=303600006
 
 People in the News (9/12/10): Appointments and Promotions
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=307900038
 
 People in the News (9/19/10): Appointments and Promotions
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=308400029
 
 People in the News (10/3/10): Appointments and Promotions
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=309400022
 
 People in the News (10/31/10): Appointments and Promotions
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=312600005
 
 People in the News (11/21/10): Appointments and Promotions
 http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=315300004

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LIVING AND GIVING FROM THE HEART

Wild Goose Studio is a large international Art affiliate. We represent Knitters in Africa          (neck scarves), Mature Seamstresses          (cool collars), Recycle Art       (wood, paint, metal) Paintings, Glassware, Pottery           and more.		Besides giving an income to those who cannot endure a traditional job, the profits go to assist  The local Food Bank,  Feed the children,  Art scholarships, Funding for Art Department We want to help children learn to create, enjoy and share art in all its many forms. We are still working on this site. Please check back often.
501-745-6494 1888 Hwy. 65 N. Clinton, AR 72031

I grew up in the Quarters of New Orleans..and never Robbed..I come to Arkansas...I have been robbed...let's see

Twice in Hot Springs...things stolen from the olde home I saved..

Once in Dennard,AR...broken into a shop I had...and I knew who d...id it...told the Sheriff here...the guy was arrested...things recovered by the Sheriff Dept. and for 10 years I have questioned the Sheriff Himself and wwas told they have my stuff..and now they can't find it

So I asked them who is the Thelf....? The man that stole the stuff or the Sheriff Badley!!!?

Someone threw a Brick into my Children's Van the back window...and put diesel fuel in the gas tank to destroy the engine...stole things from the Van that children painted..

A guy followed me fromTexas while I raised money at a McDonalds Fish Tournemnet and help a gun to my head and robbed me of about $1500.00

Someone hit me over the head with a lead pipe and a 12 year olde girl saved my life..

Now the last one...someone broke into the studio and DESTROYED things I bought...some things some of my friends donated for the Project...that I created...." Children for the Arts".

HURT...yes I am...WHY..."""""The Children"

So yesterday...I spent $200.oo dollors of my own money to BUY Toys..I promised..

I bought FOOD that I gave away

I gave food to a family of six children that had no food!!

I stood on the corner of a city and gave away $ 2000.00 to the homeless

I gave $500.00 of food away..

I gave $100.00 to a lady that did not get her child support check before Christmas Eve..

I gave ALL till I had nothing left...beliving GOD would restore

The Governor of ARK at the Treasurey Dept...gave me a $1028.00 Check...

I gave that away kept the $28.00 dollars

I tell you this...BECAUSE I am NOT A RICH MAN with MONEY...only the HEART as I sit here at my studio...today writing this..

...and forgiving the MAN facce to face that robbed me...just recent...I have him raking leaves...at the studio...after he desroyed so much..The Police knows he is here...now they still are looking for someone named Raymond..

What kind of guy am I...You figure it out!!!!

Last night at 5:30 pm...a 18 year old called me about the store and a Manager I know...at BIG LOT...that wanted tgo help me...he told me John....".Big Lot wantes to give us $2000.00 of food to give away for your foundation..."Childrens for the Arts"...come get it tonight....

......so I drove one hour to the store..and two men their...a Pick up and a man I did not know...a young man with a Van and his wife suporting me...and a guy named Gear that was a pain in the butt because he does not LISTEN...yet two teenagers...one named Bradley and one named...Tobie...a 19 yr olld female teen to help me load and organize the food..

WOW!!!...even with all the stuff and bad things going on...you can't beat...giving...still

LOVE...I tell you this not because of me bragging...I just want you and the World know me...

I have been called a FAG...GAY...Crazy...a CULT Leader

CRAZY isn't it...People here in this small town that the GOD has me in..

I wonder why...Hurt...NO..!!

This is the last place in the World I would be...however let me say this..."The She God has me here...:)))

Many more stories still

Would you like to hear some

Come Join Me..tell others..OK about this Colorful Guy that was Raped as a cHILD...gANG RAPED ALSO...i HAVE STOOD TALL WITH GOD TO BE THE MAN THAT HE IS TODAY..

jon'noah
artist

Website	http://www.alittlecardcompany.net http://www.wildgooseusa.com http://www.childrenforthearts.com

ONE CHILD IS MAKING A DIFFERENCE -- An Inspirational Story

About Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer | Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation

About Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer | Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation. › About Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer

About Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) shares the vision of our founder and creator, Alexandra “Alex” Scott—a cure for all children with cancer.

When Alex, who was diagnosed with childhood cancer just before her first birthday, was four, she told her parents she wanted to set up a front-yard lemonade stand. Her plan: to give the money to doctors to help them find a cure. Her first “Alex’s Lemonade Stand” raised an astonishing $2,000 in one day. While bravely fighting her own cancer, Alex continued to set up lemonade stands every year. As news spread of the remarkable girl so dedicated to helping other sick children, people everywhere were inspired to start their own lemonade stands—donating the proceeds to her cause.

In 2004 when Alex passed away at the age of eight—her stand and inspiration had raised over $1 million towards finding a cure for the disease that took her life. Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation was started by her parents in 2005 to continue the work that Alex began. Our mission is simple: to raise money for and awareness of childhood cancer causes—especially research into new treatments and cures—and to encourage and educate others, especially children, to get involved and make a difference for children with cancer.

Since Alex set up her first lemonade stand in 2000—truly exemplifying the saying “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade”—we have raised more than $35 million, with more than $12 million of those dollars coming from lemonade stands. That money has helped to:

• Fund more than 150 cutting-edge research projects

• Create a travel program to help support families of children receiving treatment

• Develop resources to help people everywhere affected by childhood cancer

Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation is the living embodiment of Alex’s spirit of determination and hope. Like Alex, we believe that every person can make a difference. Together, we can bring about a cure. Please join us in “making lemonade” today!

Our Mission

To raise money and awareness of childhood cancer causes, primarily research into new treatments and cures.
To encourage and empower others, especially children, to raise money for childhood cancer by holding their own Alex's Lemonade Stands.

Empower women and girls worldwide DonateNow

I would like to empower women and girls worldwide with my gift to Women's Funding Network.

Women’s funds tackle our greatest global challenges: economic security, access to healthcare and education, family and community violence, sex trafficking and human rights violations. Your investment helps Women’s Funding Network empower our members to find the most strategic women-led solutions to these challenges.

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