6 Reasons I'm Calling A Bottom and A New Bull

OK, so you're one of millions of investors impatiently waiting on the sidelines, sitting with $2.5 trillion cash under your mattress, waiting for the right moment, that signal screaming: "Bottom's in, start buying!" Yes, it'll go down again, but the bottom's in, thanks to a great March, possibly the third best month since 1950, so it's time to jump back in and buy, buy, buy!

Full-text article by Paul B. Farrell is available via MarketWatch.com, 3.30.09.

Consumer Confidence Up from Record Low; Job Worries Persist

Consumer confidence ticked up in March from a record low in February as severe worries about the economy and jobs in coming months slightly eased, according to the monthly Conference Board index reported Tuesday.

Full-text article by Ruth Mantell is available via MarketWatch, 3.31.09.

March Madness Might Bode Well for Stocks

Stocks remain on track to finish the month of March on a very upbeat note, posting their best monthly gains in nearly seven years and one of the top 20 months since 1950, which might bode well for the market a year from now, if history is any guide.

Full-text article by Nick Godt is available via MarketWatch, 3.31.09.

Alliances Between Universities, Community Colleges Ease Student Troubles

Long competitors for students, Michigan's universities and community colleges are finding it's increasingly good for business to team up instead.

Full-text article by Robin Erb is available via The Detroit Free Press, 3.28.09.

Gary and Mary West Foundation Commits $45 Million to Create Wireless Health Institute

Gary and Mary West Foundation today committed $45 million to create the West Wireless Health Institute, one of world's first medical research organizations dedicated to advancing health and well-being through the use of wireless technologies. Scripps Health has signed on as the founding health care affiliate, with Qualcomm as a founding sponsor.

Full-text press release is available via FoxNews, 3.30.09.

New Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin Tower Opens

Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin opened its new patient tower Monday morning, taking the hospital from 236 licensed beds to 294 beds, with room for additional expansion in the future. The project, fully equipped, was financed through a combination of debt, cash, hospital equity and philanthropy.

Full-text article is available via The Business Journal of Milwaukee, 3.30.09.

Colleges' Billion-Dollar Campaigns Feel the Economy's Sting

Institutions in the midst of the biggest fund-raising campaigns are seeing drops in big gifts, a Chronicle analysis shows.

Full-text article by Kathryn Masterson is available via The Chronicle of Higher Education, 4.3.09. [Subscription required.]

State of Fund Raising

Sixty percent of nonprofit groups are expecting gifts to their organizations to either increase or remain about the same in 2009 when compared with 2008, according to a survey conducted by the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

That number suggests the recession, while painful, is not going to be a crippling blow to many organizations, said Paulette Maehara, president of the association, in an interview in New Orleans just before the association’s annual meeting opened there.

The fund-raisers group plans to release detailed findings from the survey in May 2008.

Full-text article by Peter Panepento is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 3.29.09.

Is Facebook Growing Up Too Fast?

Facebook soon expects to add its 200 millionth user. As it manages its growth, it must balance an increasingly disparate audience.

Full-text article by Brad Stone is available via The New York Times, 3.29.09.

Foundation Adapts to Challenging Economy (University of Connecticut)

Faced with dramatic declines in investment markets, the UConn Foundation has taken steps to both stabilize its revenue sources and at the same time provide predictable spending allocations to the Schools and Colleges. One is to enact a gift fee on all new gifts, effective Feb. 1. Another involves changing how the endowment management fee is assessed.

Full-text press release is available via The University of Connecticut website, 3.30.09.

In the Arts: Seattle, Minnesota, and Milwaukee Groups Announce Cuts

One of the country’s most respected nonprofit repertory groups, the Seattle Repertory Theater, is cutting its upcoming budget by one-third and going to a four-day workweek because of declining subscription ticket sales and an endowment it can’t dip into reports the Seattle Times.

Meanwhile, two Minnesota arts groups have announced cuts acccording to the Star Tribune. In Milwaukee, the United Performing Arts Fund, an organization that raises money for local arts groups, has reduced its fund-raising goal to $9-million this year, 15 percent less than last year’s target of $10.6-million, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

CUNY Meets Ambitious Fund-Raising Goal ($1.2B) 3 Years Early

When the City University of New York began an ambitious fund-raising campaign in 2004, the first in the system’s history, some were skeptical. “People were nervous at the time because it was new,” said Matthew Goldstein, the chancellor and himself a City College alumnus.

Full-text article by Lisa W. Foderaro is available via The New York Times, 3.25.09.

Foundation Center's Philanthropy Annual: 2008 Review -- Highlights of News and Issues That Shaped the Year

The Foundation Center has just released "Philanthropy Annual: 2008 Review," the second edition of its yearly compendium highlighting the news, issues, people, organizations, and giving trends shaping the field of philanthropy.

The report is available for free download via The Foundation Center.

Senators Propose Measure to Encourage Foundations to Give More

A new bill pending in the Senate is designed to simplify the tax code for private foundations and encourage them to give more grants to charity. The bill, S 676, would change the way foundations pay excise tax on their net investment income.

Full-text article by Ian Wilhelm and Grant Williams is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 3.25.09.

Rich Friendship Pays Off

A 40-year partnership between colleagues has helped elevate Indiana U. into the elite ranks of fund raising.

Mr. Simic and Mr. Dove have been successful in part because they have become respected leaders among local movers and shakers, says Bruce Flessner, a Minneapolis fund-raising consultant. The two men have hired Mr. Flessner to conduct interviews with wealthy donors to help them set realistic fund-raising goals.

Full-text article by Holly Hall is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 3.26.09.

Tax Change Should Not Affect Charities, Obama Says

Under the plan announced in Obama's budget in February, tax deductions for charitable contributions from people earning $250,000 a year or more would be limited to 28 percent, down from 35 percent.

Charity groups worry that the change will reduce giving at a time when demand for their services is rising because of the recession.

Obama said it would simply bring the tax benefits for the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans in line with everyone else who gives to soup kitchens, medical research groups and other charities.

Full-text article by Andy Sullivan is available via Reuters, 3.24.09.

A Deduction From Charity

President Obama's proposal to limit the tax deductibility of charitable contributions would effectively transfer more than $7 billion a year from the nation's charitable institutions to the federal government. But the high-income taxpayers affected by the rule change are likely to cut their charitable giving by as much as the increase in their tax bills, which would, ironically, leave their remaining income and personal consumption unchanged.

Full-text editorial by Martin Feldstein is available via The Washington Post, 3.25.09.

IRS Counts 1.2 Million Charities and Foundations

The number of charities and private foundations registered with the Internal Revenue Service has increased by more than 5 percent in each of the past two years, according to figures released by the tax agency, and reached a total of nearly 1.2 million last year.

Full-text article by Grant Williams is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 3.24.09.

Joining Forces in the 'Back Office'

Five social-service charities in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area established a separate organization to handle 'back office'operations for all of them, and the benefits have gone beyond cost savings.

Full-text article by Nicole Wallace is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 3.23.09. [Subscription required.]

Don't Discount the Value or Distress of Nonprofits

The economic downturn has prompted congressional action to shore up the financial sector and get credit flowing. What's been missing is a concerted effort to respond to a quiet crisis in America - the plight of the nonprofit sector that cares for those hurting most from the economic recession.

Full-text article by John M. Bridgeland and Bruce Reed is available via The Detroit Free Press, 3.23.09.

Las Vegas Gambles on Performing Arts Venue

The city will soon break ground on the $475-million Smith Center amid deep economic slump. Project officials say the project is aimed at locals, not tourists.

Full-text article by Reed Johnson is available via The Los Angeles Times, 3.23.09

Will Obama Tax Plan Hurt Religious Groups?

President Obama's proposed 2010 federal budget contains a 7% cut in charitable tax deductions for the nation's wealthiest taxpayers. Some religious groups are asking how that will affect their bottom line.

Full-text article by Karin Hamilton is available via The USA Today, 3.22.09.

As Detroit Struggles, Foundations Shift Mission

The long economic decline of Detroit has prompted foundations in the region to change how they operate. Faced with sharply declining resources and exploding need, they are being forced to pick winners and losers, engaging in what Larry M. Gant, a professor of social work at the University of Michigan, calls “triage.”

Full-text article by Stephanie Strom is available via The New York Times, 3.21.09.

Handing Over the Keys

A growing number of older homeowners are arranging for their houses to go to charity, deciding it's the ultimate good deed (with great tax benefits to boot).

Full-text article by Jenna Pelletier is available via The Boston Globe, 3.22.09.

Giving and Taxes

President Obama’s plan to cap itemized deductions for high-income taxpayers at a 28 percent rate flew like a lead balloon in Congress, reportedly sending the White House in search for other sources of revenue.

Full-text editorial available via The New York Times, 3.19.09.

Nonprofit Squeeze: Donations Down, Volunteers Up

One in two nonprofits says its funding has fallen, according to "The Quiet Crisis," a new report by Civic Enterprises, a social-issues think tank. When the economy was this rotten in the early 1970s, charitable giving fell more than 9%, adjusted for inflation. Experts believe something like that will occur in this recession too.

Full-text article by Dan Kadlec is available via Time, 3.19.09.

In Tough Economic Times, Medical Centers Take a Hit

An AAMC survey of chief financial officers (CFOs) found that teaching hospitals had a 25 percent loss in operating margins (a measure of operational efficiency) from the third quarter of 2007 to the third quarter of 2008. An American Hospital Association survey analysis of more than 550 hospitals found that their 2008 third-quarter investments had a combined loss of $832 million, down from a $396 million gain a year earlier. During this quarter, the same hospitals had a 1.6 percent average loss, compared with a mean 6.1 percent profit the year before.

"There is a greater need for philanthropy now," said Miami-based Mount Sinai Medical Center President and CEO Steven Sonenreich, M.B.A. "We are placing more of a focus on the growing number of 80-somethings, people who are not as affected by the economy and are in a position to make a major contribution."

Full-text article by Elissa Fuchs is available via the AAMC Reporter, 3.19.09.

A Collection of Social Network Stats for 2009

Compilation of social networking web statistics by Jeremiah Owyang, an analyst for Forrester. Stats will be updated throughout the year.

Full-text blog post is available via Jeremiah Owyang's blog, Web Strategy by Jeremiah.

Community Colleges and the Economy

Summary report for the winter 2009 League for Innovation/Campus Computing Project survey of 120 community college presidents about the impact of the economic downturn on enrollments, hiring, budgets, and program development.

The report is available via The Campus Computing Project, 3.17.09.

Online Giving vs. Online Fundraising

For many fundraising organizations, the first step to becoming digital is to create a Web site. Think of this Web site as the public lobby to your digital organization. A few questions: Is it tidy? Is it inviting? Is there a friendly receptionist?

Full-text article by Philip King is available via Fundraising Success, 3.18.09.

UBS Preps Philanthropic Foundation Program

UBS is rolling out a private foundation services program, in partnership with Foundation Source, to provide a more simple way for clients to manage their private foundations.

The program, set to launch the week of April 11, tracks grants and gives access to the performance of charities that clients support.

Full-text article is available via Asset Management, 3.19.09. [Subscription required.]

The World's Billionaires

The richest people in the world have gotten poorer, just like the rest of us. This year the world's billionaires have an average net worth of $3 billion, down 23% in 12 months. The world now has 793 billionaires, down from 1,125 a year ago.

Full-text article and complete list is available via Forbes, 3.11.09.

52% of Donors Plan No Decrease in Giving in 2009

Their investment portfolios may be slumping and their jobs less secure, but a majority of Americans who give to charity still plan to donate as much this year as they have in the past, according to a new survey.

Conducted in January by Cygnus Applied Research, the survey polled 17,365 people who had given in the past to charity. The respondents donated an average of $11,490 last year.

Full-text article by Caroline Preston is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 3.13.09.

Obama's Tax Plan Will Hurt Nonprofits

A 28% cap on deductions would reduce giving at a time when charities already are reeling.

Full-text article by Sandy Weill is available via BusinessWeek, 3.12.09.

Care Bears

BEAR Stearns is now widely seen as a place where self-interested wheeler dealers chose to hang their hats. But on the first anniversary of Bear’s unseemly demise, I look back with sadness at what was once a truly giving firm.

Full-text opinion piece by Thomas Flexner is available via The New York Times, 3.14.09.

$125 Million Is Pledged to Big Medical Center

Charles F. Feeney, the iconoclastic philanthropist known as “the billionaire who wasn’t,” is giving $125 million to the University of California San Francisco Medical Center to support development of a complex to provide medical services to children, women and cancer patients on its new downtown campus. The gift is the first of $100 million or more since last fall, according to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.

Full-text article by Stephanie Strom is available via The New York Times, 3.12.09.

Leonore Annenberg Dies at 91; Philanthropist, Widow of Publishing Magnate

The patron of the arts, sciences and education served briefly as President Reagan's protocol chief. Her husband gave away more than $2 billion, and she continued the tradition after he died.

Full-text article by Valerie J. Nelson is available via The Los Angeles Times, 3.13.09.

The Charity Revolt

Among those shocked by President Obama's 2010 budget, the most surprising are the true-blue liberals who run most of America's nonprofits, universities and charities.

Full-text opinion piece is available via The Wall Street Journal, 3.11.09.

Tufts Learns How Far a Big Gift Can Go

In 2005, eBay's founder gave Tufts $100-million to use for microfinance. Here's how that experiment has fared.

Full-text article by Kathryn Masterson is available via The Chronicle of Higher Education, 3.13.09. [Subscription required.]

British Fund Raisers Warn Against Changing Gift Tax Break

British fund-raising experts consulted by Third Sector Online warn against adapting the Obama administration’s plan to curb tax breaks for upper-income donors to the comparable British program, known as Gift Aid.

The British tax-collection authority, HM Revenue & Customs, is conducting research on how much tax breaks motivate giving.

In an editorial, The Wall Street Journal blasts the Obama plan, noting appeals by “the true-blue liberals,” which the paper says dominate the nonprofit world, against trimming the charitable deduction for households earning more than $250,000 a year.

Full-text article by Hannah Jordan is available via The ThirdSector, 3.10.09.

The Wealth of the Baby Boom Cohorts After the Collapse of the Housing Bubble

This report builds upon previous CEPR projections to more accurately describe the current wealth prospects for the baby boom cohorts aged 45 to 54 and 55 to 64. The severity of the housing market meltdown, coupled with the recent collapse of the stock market, has had a severe negative impact on the wealth of these cohorts. Using data from the 2004 Survey of Consumer Finance and the November 2008 Case-Shiller 20 City Price Index, the authors create three possible scenarios for baby boomer wealth and find these households will enter retirement with little wealth beyond Social Security. For each cohort in 2004 and 2009, the paper analyzes net worth, financial assets, equity in real estate, percent of households in each cohort who will need cash to close on their primary residence, net worth of homeowners, net worth of non-homeowners, and the percent of homeowners who would need cash to close on their primary residence.

Full-text report is available via The Center for Economic Policy and Research, 2009.

LIVE: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11: Obama's Charitable-Giving Plan: What It Means for Nonprofit Groups

As President Obama seeks to reduce the value of the charitable deduction for wealthy Americans, fund raisers and other nonprofit experts are divided over whether his idea would cause any substantial change in charitable giving.

What would this proposal really mean for the nonprofit world? How will donors react? How does it mesh with the president's other tax proposals? What should your organization be communicating to its supporters about this plan?

Join The Chronicle for a special live discussion with Bruce Flessner and other experts who can answer these and other questions about this controversial proposal.

Wednesday, March 11, at 11 a.m., U.S. Central Time

For more information visit The Chronicle of Philanthropy's website.

Double Take: Higher Education

As endowments continue to lose value and economic outlooks grow ever bleaker, some of the nation’s wealthiest universities are calling for greater sacrifices than they were just a few months ago. In recent weeks, administrators at Stanford, Harvard and Cornell universities have laid out financial assessments that will require budget reductions, layoffs and increased borrowing. These measures go beyond earlier plans to deal with the economic downturn, suggesting the first steps were deemed insufficient to address a problem that has grown in scale.

Full-text article by Jack Stripling is available via InsideHigherEd, 3.10.09.

Med Schools Multiplying: More Won't Solve Doc Shortage, Some Say

A predicted deficit of more than 6,000 physicians in Michigan by 2020 is spurring a group of universities to establish new medical schools or expand their existing programs.

Full-text article by Ryan Beene is available via Crain's Detroit Business, 3.8.09.

13 Reasons Colleges Are in This Mess

Higher education has been a victim of the recession -- but not a defenseless victim. How did so many colleges end up in such a fix? The Chronicle came up with a baker's dozen reasons, describing how greed, incompetence, and neglect led to bad decisions and financial trouble.

Full-text article is available via The Chronicle of Higher Education, 3.13.09. [Subscription required.]

America's Biggest Foundations Won't Increase Their Giving in 2009, Says a New Report

In the wake of the tumbling stock market and heavy asset losses suffered by virtually all the nation's wealthiest foundations, only two have said they plan to increase their giving this year, according to a new advisory report by the Foundation Center, in New York.

Full-text article by Marty Michaels is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 3.9.09. [Subscription required.]

Economists Try to Calculate the Impact of Tax Changes on Charitable Giving

Virtually everyone agrees that President Obama's proposal to limit the tax breaks wealthy people can get for charitable contributions would dampen giving. The question is, by how much? And would other parts of the president's budget plan act as a counterweight?

Full-text article by Suzanne Perry is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 3.9.09. [Subscription required.]

Colleges Sweat Out Admissions This Year

Facing a new financial landscape, colleges are struggling to figure out how many students to accept, and how many students will accept them.

Full-text article by Kate Zernike is available via The New York Times, 3.8.09.

When the Going Gets Tough, P&G Gets Philanthropic

Procter & Gamble, which has made the “value” argument to consumers in this down economy, is adding another one: Buy our products and some of the money will go to charity.

The company’s expanded embrace of cause marketing comes as P&G and charities alike feel the heat from the recession. P&G’s second quarter total sales fell 3.2 percent to $20.4 billion.

Full-text article by Elaine Wong is available via Brandweek, 3.7.09.

The 2009 Big 12® Development Conference

The 2009 Big 12® Development Conference is rapidly approaching. Bentz Whaley Flessner will be represented by Bruce Flessner and Josh Birkholz.

Bruce Flessner’s“Fundraising in Hard Economic Times” presentation and “A Discussion on Philanthropy" with T. Boone Pickens. Josh Birkholz is presenting "Prospecting Tools and Strategies for Successful Campaigning" as well.

For more information, visit the 2009 Big 12® Development Conference website.

The 2009 Big 12® Development Conference
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
March 10-12, 2009

Obama Tax Plan: Democrats Push Back

One of the most controversial provisions in President Obama's proposed budget might have a short shelf life on Capitol Hill.

To pay for half of his $634 billion health reform fund, Obama has proposed limiting deductions for high-income taxpayers starting in 2011.

Full-text article by Jeanne Sahad is available via CNN, 3.5.09.

Bentz Whaley Flessner Honors AFP Philanthropy Award Recipients

Bentz Whaley Flessner is proud to sponsor the AFP Awards for Philanthropy Banquet, Tuesday, March 31, 2009, which will be held at the New Orleans Marriott to recognize outstanding organizations, volunteers, and professionals for their philanthropic achievements.

Please join us in congratulating the 2009 AFP Philanthropy Awards Honorees:

Chair's Award for Outstanding Service:

Jimmie Alford
Award for Outstanding Philanthropist:

John C. Erickson
Award for Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser:

William E. (Bill) Greehey
Award for Outstanding Fundraising Professional:

Kenneth C. Frisch, ACFRE
Award for Outstanding Foundation:

The Greater New Orleans Foundation
Awards for Outstanding Corporation:

AT&T Corporation
Award for Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy, Ages 18–23:

Jordan Thomas
Award for Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy, Ages 5–17:

Caitlin's Closet

These recipients will be recognized at the AFP International Conference.

Arts Get Whacked by Rich as Companies Face Losses in Endowments

Corporations and wealthy individuals are donating less to nonprofits, with arts groups taking the biggest hit, according to two new studies.

Of 158 companies polled by the economic-research group the Conference Board in February, 45 percent said they have reduced their 2009 philanthropy budget and 16 percent are considering it. The survey said 35 percent of the companies will make fewer grants in 2009 and 22 percent are thinking about it.

Full-text article by Patrick Cole is available via Bloomberg, 3.4.09.

America's Top 10 Donors of 2008

Gifts from seven of the 10 biggest donors in 2008 were made from estates, according to an annual ranking of America’s most-generous donors, released recently by The Chronicle of Philanthropy and the online magazine Slate. It's a sign that even the richest Americans may be putting off large donations due to economic uncertainty.

Full-text article is available via MSNBC.com, 3.3.09.

Foundations Are Feeling the Pinch

Foundations across the country, including more than a half-dozen of the largest grant makers in Massachusetts, say they are giving less this year after suffering a steep drop in investments last year.

Full-text article by Todd Wallack is available via The Boston Globe, 3.3.09.

Harvard Accepts Higher Debt Costs as Bankers Profit

Harvard’s interest costs are set to increase as much as $550 million over three decades because the U.S.’s wealthiest and oldest university took advice from Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley.

Full-text article by Michael Quint and Gillian Wee is available via Bloomberg, 3.3.09.

Well-Regarded Public Colleges Get a Surge of Bargain Hunters

At SUNY New Paltz, as at many other well-regarded public institutions this spring, admissions calculations carefully measured over many years are being set aside as an unraveling economy is making less expensive state colleges more appealing.

The application deadline is not until April 1, but officials here conservatively predict 15,500 students competing for 1,100 spots, a 12 percent jump over last year.

Full-text article by Lisa W. Foderaro is available via The New York Times, 3.1.09.

Charitable-Giving Plan Divides Nonprofit Groups and Worries Donors

As President Obama seeks to reduce the value of the charitable deduction for wealthy Americans, fund raisers and other nonprofit experts are divided over whether his idea would cause any substantial change in charitable giving.

“Every time people want to fool around with the tax code, [charities] say it will be the end of philanthropy,” said Bruce Flessner, a Minneapolis fund-raising consultant. “I don’t think it will kill giving.”

Full-text article by Holly Hall is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 3.2.09.

Obama's Tax Plan Could Cause Giving by the Wealthy to Drop by Several Billion Dollars Annually

President Obama’s tax proposals — including a limit on charitable giving deductions that could be taken by America’s wealthiest people — could cause giving by America’s wealthy to drop by several billion dollars a year, according to estimates released today by the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy.

Full-text article is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 3.2.09.

When Will the Recession Be Over?

The fall in the U.S. gross domestic product suggests that the recession may be deeper than anticipated. Experts weigh in on how long the weakness in the economy will last.

Full-text article availalble via The New York Times, 2.28.09.

Economy Shrinks At Staggering Rate

The prospects for an economic recovery by year's end dimmed yesterday, as government data showed that the economy contracted at the end of 2008 by the fastest pace in a quarter-century.

Full-text article by Annys Shin and Neil Irwin is available via The Washington Post, 2.28.09.