'Ramirez Provision' is banned

Major League Baseball and the union representing its players have agreed to restrict contracts that demand that players donate to teams' charities. The pact settles a grievance filed by the union last year after Frank McCourt, of the Los Angeles Dodgers, said he would implement such a provision in all future contracts with players. The club's deal with the slugging outfielder Manny Ramirez, signed in March, included a mandated $1-million donation to the Dodgers' charitable foundation. The settlement limits charity demands to negotiations related to free agency, in which players have an option to sign with another team.

Full text article by Alison Damast is available via the Los Angeles Times, 2/4/10.

With less money to dole out, foundations become more targeted in their giving

With less money to spend amid the economic downturn, many philanthropic foundations are shifting to a more strategic giving strategy, focusing on fewer goals with larger grants. More than three-quarters of respondents to a Foundation Center survey said they expect philanthropy to become more strategic as overall giving declines, with grant makers outlining a set of clear goals and supporting mainly larger organizations with administrations capable of tracking and reporting results.

Full text article by Monica Ginsburg is available via Crain's Chicago Business, 1/25/10.

Bill and Melinda Gates Pledge $10-Billion for Vaccine Efforts

Calling for a new “decade of vaccines,” Bill and Melinda Gates announced that their foundation will spend $10-billion over the next 10 years for the development and delivery of vaccines to impoverished people—the largest pledge ever by a grant maker to a specific cause.

Full text article by Ian Wilhelm is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 1/29/10.

Is It Public, or Is It Private?

Traditionally, when it comes to philanthropy, there has been private philanthropy, and there has been government philanthropy, and rarely did the two meet. But that division is now changing, as a growing number of philanthropists are looking at new opportunities in so-called public-private partnerships.

Full text article by Shelly Banjo is available via the Wall Street Journal, 11/9/09.

Trustee Seeks Billions for Madoff Investors

The billionaire financier and philanthropist Jeffry M. Picower’s will instructs that the bulk of his estate be used to establish a new charitable foundation to replace the one he and his wife shut down last year due to losses in the Bernard L. Madoff investment fraud. The new foundation's direction? Primarily to benefit medical research. He also left $1-million each to the New York Public Library, the Harlem Children’s Zone, and the Nurse-Family Partnership.

Full text article by Diana B. Henriques is available via The New York Times, 11/9/09.