Desparate Times..., pt. 2

As a follow-up to my post last week, I wanted to alert folks to an upcoming webinar that I just learned about. The Taprood Foundation is hosting "When Hand-Wringing Isn't Enough: Proactive Approaches Funders Can Use When the Economy is Upside-Down". The webinar will be held on Wednesaday, Nov. 19 at 1-2:30pm EST (10-11:30am PST). And best of all, it's FREE!
Here's the description:

Join us for a web-based roundtable discussion as leaders from the philanthropic community share approaches funders can use to ensure their grantees continue to provide critical services while weathering the impact of the current economic crisis. You will hear the findings of recent research identifying the trends and issues facing nonprofits, as well as how foundations are planning to respond. Speakers include:
Patrick Corvington, Program Officer, Leadership Development, Annie E. Casey Foundation
Kathleen Enright, Executive Director, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations
Jeanne Bell, Executive Director, CompassPoint
Moderated by Matt O'Grady, Vice President, the Taproot Foundation
This seminar will provide valuable and actionable insight into: the critical needs of nonprofits during the economic recession; approaches to funding that stretch the impact of each dollar; the promotion of effective and responsible nonprofit responses to the crisis. Space is limited. Register now to reserve your place at the seminar.

You can register at https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/837605351%20

Desperate times call for creative measures

Every day we're reading and seeing news reports about our country's financial crisis and how it is affecting the average American. What we don't hear about as often is how this crisis is affecting the average non-profit. Lately I've been reading article after article about how the bank closures are affecting the local non-profits that depend on them for large contributions to the annual fundraisers. Non-profits that depend on annual support from corporations and individuals are hearing "we can't do it this year" more often than ever. Scaled back giving of course means scaled back programming, which leads to more people being left out of some very important activities provided by their local charity organization.

In times like this, creative philanthropy is necessary. When I was in Missouri my foundation had an emergency fund for unexpected situations that might lead to an organization having to close its doors. When a tornado demolished a town in southern Missouri, grants were made from the emergency fund to rebuild the health department. When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, we established a fund to assist organizations experiencing an influx of victims transported out of Louisiana.

I just read an article about the Silicon Valley Community Foundation establishing the "Strengthen the Safety Net" fund to assist non profits that provide food and shelter in the San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. These organizations are seeing a dramatic rise in families needing their services due to the economic crisis. As a result the foundation is using this fund to challenge individuals and corporations to donate money; the foundation will match dollar for dollar up to $1 million through the end of this year. Now that's creative philanthropy in a time of crisis.

I certainly understand that some foundations are getting hit by the crisis just like the nonprofits, but there are others whose losses may be minimal and thus can afford to pitch in a little extra. I'd be interested to hear other creative solutions that your foundations (or foundations you've read about) may be instituting to respond to these desperate times.

Green Charities

The Chronicle of Philanthropy had an interesting online discussion about charities going green. The discussion was a follow up to a Chronicle article on the same topic. The discussion summary is below:

Many charities are getting serious about taking steps to become more environmentally friendly in their operations -- to both protect the planet and save money.

Some are taking steps to reduce waste in their operations and cut down on their energy use. Others are taking more aggressive steps by undertaking "green" building projects.

For many groups, such moves dovetail with their social agendas -- and have the added benefit of building good will with grant makers and other donors. What approaches can charities take to become more environmentally friendly? What are the costs of these efforts and how can your charity get access to funding? How should they publicize them to donors and the public? What should they consider before adopting "green" policies?

The Guests

Cynthia L. Bailie is the director of the Foundation Center's Cleveland office and of the organization's special online initiatives. Ms. Bailie has held leadership positions in libraries and nonprofit organizations since 1991 and serves on the boards of directors for Greater Cleveland Community Shares, the greater Cleveland chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and the Village Foundation, a community foundation in Bay Village, Ohio.

Sarah S. Brophy is a consultant who helps museums, historic houses, and other cultural institutions in New England and the Mid-Atlantic become environmentally and financially sustainable through grants and green performance. She is co-author of the book The Green Museum: A Primer on Environmental Practice.

Kimberly Austin is a program associate at the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta. As part of her role, Ms. Austin is involved in Grants to Green, a new program that provides environmentally focused knowledge and financing to nonprofit groups in metro Atlanta. The program is a collaboration between the Community Foundation, Southface, and Enterprise Community Partners.

What are some best practices that you have seen for charities going green? What role should foundations plan to encourage a more environmentally friendly social sector?

Charity is for the Dogs

The New York Times (free subscription required)

By Stephanie Strom

7/2/2008

Sure, the hotelier and real estate magnate Leona Helmsley left $12 million in her will to her dog, Trouble. But that, it turns out, is nothing much compared with what other dogs may receive from the charitable trust of Mrs. Helmsley, who died last August.

Her instructions, specified in a two-page “mission statement,” are that the entire trust, valued at $5 billion to $8 billion and amounting to virtually all her estate, be used for the care and welfare of dogs, according to two people who have seen the document and who described it on condition of anonymity.

It is by no means clear, however, that all the money will go to dogs. Another provision of the mission statement says Mrs. Helmsley’s trustees may use their discretion in distributing the money, and some lawyers say the statement may not mean much anyway, given that its directions were not incorporated into Mrs. Helmsley’s will or the trust documents.

Even if the resulting total is at the low end of the estimate — $5 billion or so — the trust will be worth almost 10 times the combined assets of all 7,381 animal-related nonprofit groups reporting to the Internal Revenue Service in 2005. Read the rest here.

So what responsibility do her foundation trustees have to making sure that the money is spent effectively? What about donor intent? Should all of the money really go to the care of dogs, even if the amount of the gift dwarfs the nonprofit sector's ability to utilize it?

Philanthropy 2.0

I'm blogging live from the philathropy 2.0 event sponsored by the Case Foundation, EPIP, and 3rd Wave. Packed, hot, techie. About to break a sweat hot.

Just a quick observation. In today's session on faith and feminism, the director of the Women's Funding Network, Chris, pushed me to present my small group's discussion points. Although the rest of the group urged her to speak, she clearly indicated that she wanted me to present because I am an emerging voice in the feminist movement.

This is not the only time this has happened. Today, in the session I co-designed, Luz gave way to Charles and Trista to allow them airtime. This level of collegiality and respect for the voices of young people in philanthropy is new to me. Just by creating it as a focus area of the summit and by hearing leadership frame the conference on Sunday, people are already taking action.

We are not just here to learn, existing leadership is not just here to teach. It is an exchange.