Big gift for local climate efforts

The Barr Foundation, created by the former cable-TV mogul Amos Hostetter Jr., will make grants of $100,000 to $1-million to efforts in the Boston metropolitan area to promote public transportation and reduce greenhouse gases. The philanthropy will phase out grants it now makes to environmental groups whose missions do not fit its new emphasis on climate.

Full text article by Erin Ailworth is available via The Boston Globe, 2/14/10.

Donations for Haiti pour in via text messages

In the first three days after an earthquake rendered a third-world country nearly unreachable, more than $10 million in donation pledges flooded in using a 21st-century method of philanthropy. At one point, 10,000 text message pledges of $5 or $10 were being sent per minute to charities aimed at getting help to Haiti in the wake of an earthquake that's left the country in ruins. This new philanthropic tool was ready thanks to the efforts of a young nonprofit in Bellevue, Washington.

Full text article by Erich Schwartzel is available via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 1/18/10.

Goldman Sachs Considers Charity Requirement

The investment bank Goldman Sachs is considering broadening a requirement for top executives and managers to donate a portion of their earnings to charity. The financial house, which is expected to report record profits for 2009, has spent months exploring philanthropic avenues to damp down likely public criticism as it pays out billions of dollars worth of bonuses. Goldman has already doubled the size of its charitable foundation and announced a $500-million effort to help small businesses.
Full text article by Louise Story is available via The New York Times, 1/10/10.

While the bad economy has taken a toll on the philanthropist Sheldon Adelson’s business investments, he still plans to maintain his giving, which has hovered around $200-million a year, to medical research and Jewish causes. In an interview with the news organization, Mr. Adelson said he will fulfill his philanthropic commitments. However he won’t be making any new commitments during the tough economic times. “We have decided that we will keep more of our powder dry,” he said.
Full text article by Jacob Berkman is available via the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 12/17/09.

Longtime ACLU Donor Confirms $388-Million in Anonymous Gifts

David Gelbaum, a former hedge-fund manager who has made large donations anonymously, confirmed that over the past five years he has given a total of nearly $388-million to three organizations.

Full text article by Maria Di Mento is available via The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 12/9/09.

Philanthropy Thrives, Even With Reduced Resources

The expectation in America is that people who do well give back to society. For the wealthy, it is one way to stave off charges of being greedy. And in the boom times, being seen as philanthropic seemed a social and political obligation. But just as the downturn left the wealthy (and the rest of us) reeling from personal portfolio losses, their foundations also suffered investment losses that have affected their capacity to give. The Foundation Center in New York said this month that philanthropic giving in 2009 could fall as much as 13 percent. This has left many charities, particularly small ones, scraping for funds.

Full text article by Paul Sullivan is available via The New York Times, 11/13/09.

The 25 Best Givers

The eBay billionaires Pierre Omidyar and Jeff Skoll ranked first and second, respectively, among the world’s 25 “best givers,” according to ratings issued this week by Barron’s magazine in consultation with the Global Philanthropy Group. The Omidyar Network — established by the online auction site’s founder, Pierre Omidyar, and his wife, Pam — and the foundation created by the former eBay president Jeff Skoll were cited for practicing high-impact “venture philanthropy.”

Full text article by Suzanne McGee is available via The Wall Street Journal, 11/30/09.

Tech-career jolt of $4.5 million bound for nonprofit

The Washington-area branch of the national technology-training organization Year Up will get $4.5-million from a group of local philanthropic investors to expand its programs to prepare low-income students for tech careers. Year Up hopes to double the size of its Northern Virginia operation by 2013. The group helps 18- to 24-year-olds get college-level information-technology training and internships at area corporations.

Full text article by Susan Kinzie is available via The Washington Post, 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.

Executive of the Year 2009 - T. Boone Pickens

Sharing the wealth keeps T. Boone Pickens grounded as he funds worthy causes numbering billions of dollars through the years. In 2008, Pickens and his personal foundation gave away more than $125 million to charitable causes.

Full-text article by Chad Eric Watt is available via the Dallas Business Journal, 1.2.09. [Subsription.]

The Noblis Center for Health Innovation Forecasts 2009 Trends In Provider Health Care Delivery

With access to capital becoming more restricted accompanied by a significant decline in philanthropic giving, dwindling investment income, increasing bad debt and growing charity care, many hospitals and health systems are extremely vulnerable.

Full-text press release is available via MarketWatch.com, 12.3.08.