Mountain Megas: America’s Newest Metropolitan Places and a Federal Partnership to Help Them Prosper

States in the southern Intermountain West—Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah—are experiencing some of the fastest population growth and economic and demographic transition anywhere in the country.

Executive summary of the Brookings Institution Report is available here.

UNC System Sharpens Fundraising Focus

The University of North Carolina system is expanding its support for the fundraising operations at its 17 campuses, which in 2007 received private contributions totaling $512 million, and will focus in particular on its 10 smaller and specialty campuses.

Full-text article by Todd Cohen is available via the Philanthropy Journal, 7.21.08.

Business's Social Contract:Capturing the Corporate Philanthropy Opportunity

Eighty-four percent of 700 top executives questioned said they recognize consumers' increased expectations of social responsibility on the part of business, says a report by the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP), using research by McKinsey & Co.

Full-text report is available via CECP's Web site, 7.30.08

U of Texas System to Sell Some Oil Fields for $1 Billion

The University of Texas System board of regents has unanimously approved a plan to sell some of the oil and natural gas reserves beneath the system's vast West Texas lands for about $1 billion.

Full-text AP article is available via the Houston Chronicle, 7.25.08.

26 Percent of Americans Volunteer, New Study Finds

A report by the Corporation for National and Community Service, says that more than one out of every three people who had volunteered in 2006 had not done so again in 2007.

The report is available via Volunteering in America/ the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Full-text article by Debra Blum is available via the Chronicle of Philanthropy, 7.27.08. [Subscription required.]

Web Triggers Direct Mail Response

Across virtually every demographic -- age, gender, race, income, education and household size -- more people are heading for the Internet before they make a charitable donation.

Full-text article by Mark Hrywna is available via the NonProfit Times, 7.15.08.

MillerCoors Won't Put Charitable Commitments in Cold Storage

MillerCoors has decided to make Chicago the base of its newly merged beer operations but not to give up its corporate citizenship and philanthropy in cities around the country where its brands are brewed.

Full-text article by Charles Storch (Chicago Tribune) is available via iStockAnalyst, 7.24.08.

Study: Economy Depressing Fundraising Attitudes

Executives at nonprofits are somewhat less optimistic about present and future fundraising climates than they were six months and one year ago, according to the Philanthropic Giving Index (PGI) by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University in Indianapolis.

Full-text article is available via the NonProfit Times, 7.24.08.

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Expands to Norristown

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is delighted to announce a generous $15 million gift that will enable the opening of a new pediatric care center in
Norristown, Pennsylvania. This gift, made possible by Athena and Nicholas
Karabots of Fort Washington, Pa, is one of the largest in the history of
Children's Hospital and will give Norristown families and families in the
nearby communities convenient access to world-class pediatric healthcare.

Full-text press release is available via the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 7.23.08.

Clemson U. Balances Growth With Focus

Colleges are fond of issuing proclamations filled with ambitious goals. So Clemson University was hardly charting new territory in 2001 when its Board of Trustees endorsed 27 goals to make it a top-20 public research university.

Full-text article by Paul Fain is available via the Chronicle of Higher Education, 7.25.08. [Subscription required.]

Online Donation Systems Growing Part of Fundraising at ALSAC and Le Bonheur

Nonprofit health care providers like Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital depend on financial gifts from the public to sustain their operations. Therefore, it is crucial for them to streamline the process of giving and to reach the widest audience possible. For both, recent experiments with online giving may change the game of fundraising at little additional cost.

Full-text by Michael M. Hill is available via the Memphis Business Journal, 7.18.08.

Children's Healthcare Plans $2.5B Expansion

Children's Healthcare of Atlanta plans to invest about $2.5 billion. The ambitious plan, dubbed Vision 2018, would include a 100-bed hospital in Forsyth County and boost the health system's workforce by more than 70 percent, to about 12,000.

Full-text article by Urvaksh Karkaria via Atlanta Business Journal, 7.18.08.

Program Brings Top Minds in Biotech to Georgia

The Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholars. All told, 60 researchers -- 37 in biotechnology -- are now probing the frontiers of science at Georgia's research universities, thanks to the GRA's program, which recruits leading researchers in their field to the Peach State.

Full-text article by Tom Barry is available via the Atlanta Business Chronicle, 7.18.08.

Health of the Nation

The chief executive of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, discusses her organization’s work advocating for health-care changes, fighting childhood obesity, and pushing for social change.

Full-text article by Sharmila Devi is available via Financial Times, 7.19.08.

Worsening Economy Could Cause Trouble for Smaller Colleges

Moody's reports worsening economic conditions could lead to trouble, particularly for small private colleges that draw locally, local community colleges, and regional or less-selective public institutions.

Full-text article by Scott Carlson is available via the Chronicle of Higher Education, 7.18.08.

The report, "U.S. Higher Education Outlook: Six-Month Update," is available online for Moody's subscribers.

Academic Health Centers Call for New Way to Plan Work Force

The nation's decentralized approach toward planning its health-care work force could leave millions of Americans without adequate care at a time when aging baby boomers will need it most.

Full-text article by Katherine Mangan is available via the Chronicle of Higher Education, 7.18.08.

Complete report available via the Association of Academic Health Centers.

New Loma Linda Hospital?

Faced with growing health-care demands in the region, Loma Linda University officials want to build a $1 billion children's hospital in the city.

Full-text article by Stephen Wall is available via RedOrbit, 7.17.08.

Norton Healthcare Posts $80 Million Surplus in 2007

Leaders of Norton Healthcare Inc. have a special interest in the recent turmoil in the stock market.

Louisville’s fourth-largest employer, with a work force of about 9,000, finished last year with a surplus after expenses of nearly $80 million. And nearly 72 percent of that surplus came from the health care giant’s investment income.

The company benefits from charitable giving as well. Last year, it received a record $22.2 million in private philanthropic support through the Children’s Hospital Foundation, Norton Healthcare Foundation Inc. and the Kosair Charities Committee Inc.

Full-text article by Kevin Eigelbach is available via Business First of Louisville, 7.17.08.

Entrusting Money to Duke Means Taking Ride to Bigger Returns

Duke University alumna Elizabeth Whitaker set up a trust that grew 5.5 percent in last year's first half. It rose 6.7 percent in the next six months after being tied to gains in the school's $5.9 billion endowment.

Under a new arrangement her trust's performance now matches returns posted by the endowment, which has outpaced mutual funds each year for a decade.

Full-text article by John Taddei via BloombergNews.com, 7.22.08.

States Avoid Slashing Higher Ed Money

Tuition at the University of Kentucky will increase 9 percent this fall, University of Maine students will pay about 10 percent more and University of Michigan-Ann Arbor tuition will rise 5.6 percent.

Full-text article (with graphics) by Pauline Vu is available via Stateline.org, 7.17.08.

Johnson Center Launching National Philanthropy Journal

Backers of a new national journal for foundations and philanthropists aim to create greater transparency and sharing of best practices.

The Foundation Review, published quarterly in print and online beginning in December, will offer case studies on philanthropy projects undertaken by foundations nationwide that submit peer-reviewed papers.

Full-text article by Mark Sanchez is available via mlive.com, 7.17.08.

Ups and Downs of Insurance Gifts

John Keith, assistant vice president of gift planning at the Indiana University Foundation, highlights the pros and cons of using life insurance as a planned-giving tool.

Full-text article by John Keith is available via the Philanthropy Journal, 7.7.08.

Colleges Step Up to Aid Michigan Economy

In what could be a key boost to Michigan's economy, the state's 15 public universities plan to announce today a new effort to create 200 start-up companies over the next decade.

The Michigan Initiative for Innovation & Entrepreneurship aims to award $75 million in entrepreneurship grants over the next seven years. The money will help speed the development of new ventures created at the schools as well as support entrepreneurial education and internship programs.

Full-text article by Katherine Yung is available via Freep.com, 7.16.08.

When Generations Collide

As members of Generations X and Y face a workplace dominated by boomers, they are all starting to chafe. Some colleges are having trouble attracting, managing, and sometimes retaining people younger than 35. Members of the younger generations grew up watching their parents sacrifice for their careers, and they want something different: balance and freedom and autonomy. And they won't hesitate to switch jobs or leave academe if it means more-palatable working conditions. Many baby boomers, meanwhile, don't understand why someone would leave the office at 5 p.m. when there is always more to do.

Full-text article by Piper Fogg is available via the Chronicle of Higher Education, 7.18.08. [Subscription required.]

Economic Outlook: Not So Cloudy for Fund Raisers

Philanthropy insiders seemed to hold an optimistic outlook for the year ahead, based on current growth and having survived past economic downturns.

Full-text article by Kathryn Masterson is available via the Chronicle of Higher Education, 7.17.08. [Subscription required.]

The Impact of the Housing Crash on Family Wealth

“The Impact of the Housing Crash on Family Wealth,” analyzes the wealth holdings of families in all age cohorts in 2004 and projected the wealth of these families in 2009. The findings are presented by income quintile under three scenarios- real house prices remain at current levels, real house prices fall by an additional 10 percent, or real house prices fall by an additional 20 percent. In all three scenarios, the vast majority of these families will have little or no housing wealth in 2009.

Full-text study is available by the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

As Economy Slumps, Donations to Colleges Expected to Slow

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education's fund-raising index estimates that philanthropic support for colleges and independent schools will grow 5.3 percent this academic year, down from the 7-percent average annual rate of growth for the last 20 years.

Full-text article by Kathryn Masterson is available via the Chronicle of Higher Education, 7.15.08.

The Hardest Sell in Fund Raising: Attracting Talent

As ambitions grow while government support wanes, colleges rapidly expand their development staffs.

Some of the most explosive growth has happened at large, public doctoral institutions, where big ambitions for top-level research and state-of-the-art facilities exist alongside declining state support and endowment-per-student amounts that are one-tenth the size of their private counterparts'.


Full-text article by Kathryn Masterson and Brad Wolverton is available via the Chronicle of Higher Education, 7.18.2008. [Subscription required.]

Charities Step Up Efforts to Use Online Networks to Raise Money

More charities are establishing Web sites that make it easy for people to distribute information about charitable causes to their friends and urge them to donate online.

Full-text article by Paul B. Carroll is available via the Wall Street Journal, 7.14.08.

California Gears Up To Boost Capacity at UC Medical Schools

The University of California is laying the groundwork to open two new medical schools and add slots for additional students at existing medical schools.

Full-text article by Tanya Schevitz is available via the San Francisco Chronicle, 7.14.08.

The Competitive Advantage of Corporate Philanthropy

Most companies give to charity. Few get what they expected in return. Caught between critics demanding “corporate social responsibility” and investors demanding short-term profits, many companies seek to make their giving more strategic.

Full-text article by Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer is available via Portfolio.com, 7.10.08.

Oil Mogul Pledges $100-Million to New York Theater

David H. Koch, a billionaire who made his fortune in the oil and gas business, has pledged $100-million toward the renovation of the New York State Theater at Lincoln Center.

Full-text article by Robin Pogrebin is available via the New York Times, 7.10.08.

Challenges of a Capital Campaign's Final Phase

After bringing in the top-tier gifts of a capital campaign, one higher-education fund raiser confesses confusion about how best to approach donors of relatively modest means.

Full-text blog posting via the Chronicle's Prospecting Blog, 7.9.08.

It's No Bull: S & P 500 in Bear Turf

The broad market gauge plunges 2.3% and, like the Dow and Nasdaq, is down more than 20% from its recent high.

Full-text article by Tom Petruno is available via the Los Angeles Times, 7.10.08.

For-Profit Fund Raisers Kept 54 Cents of Every Dollar Raised, Calif. Study Shows

For-profit fund-raising businesses kept nearly 54 cents of every dollar raised, according to an analysis of more than 5,800 campaigns on behalf of charities that were registered with the state attorney general from 1997 to 2006.

Full-text article by Charles Piller and Doug Smith is available via the Los Angeles Times, 7.6.08.

Eugene R. Tempel New Head of IU Foundation

Eugene R. Tempel was chosen today to head the Indiana University Foundation.

The newly named head of the Bloomington-based foundation has spent 11 years heading the widely regarded IU-based Center on Philanthropy, an organization created to study and aid the nonprofit sector.


Full-text article by Tom Spalding is available via IndyStar.com, 7.2.08.

In Pictures: The Year's Biggest Charitable Gift

The number of million-dollar-plus gifts from individuals actually rose in early
2008. Here are the biggest gifts of the year so far.

*The list of donations was gathered by the Chronicle of Philanthropy. It is limited to gifts given in the U.S. All gifts are announced gifts.

Full-text article by Rachel S. Cohen via Forbes.com, 7.2.08.

Philanthropy - "Doing Good"

Giving money to charity does not necessarily make the world a better place. Nevertheless, most donors believe that donating qualifies as “doing good”. In fact, the gift of money is only the first step in a chain of events that might achieve the elusive goal of creating social impact.

Full-text article by Sean Stannard-Stockton is available via Financial Times, 6.28.08

Donations Pour Into Oklahoma Universities in Rush to Beat Matching-Funds Deadline

Oklahoma’s state colleges and universities have been engaged in a fierce scramble to finalize donations for endowed chairs by June 30, the deadline to qualify for matching funds from the state.


Full-text article by Kathryn Masterson is available via the Chronicle of Higher Education, 6.30.08. [Subscription required.]

Arizona Corporate Executives' Pay Dips for 2nd Straight Year

Pressures exerted by a slow economy and soft stock market increasingly are being felt in corner offices, underscored by a drop in pay for top executives at Arizona public firms for a second straight year.

Chief executive officers and chairmen at 54 firms reported a median compensation package of $868,000 for 2007, down from $1.09 million in 2006 and $1.11 million in 2005, according to an annual pay survey by The Arizona Republic.

Full-text article by Russ Wiles is available via AZCentral.com, 6.29.08.

Commuter College Go Residential, Gain Enrollment

Former night schools across the country are transforming into more traditional, residential college campuses to boost enrollment and gain prestige.

Full-text article by Dorie Turner is available via Boston Globe.com, 6.30.08.