An increasing number of charities are building environmentally friendly buildings and adopting more ecologically sound policies for employees, such as cutting back on car usage. Some charities are going farther still, requiring grant seekers to support green practices.
Investment manager Gerhard R. Andlinger has pledged $100 million to Princeton University, much of it directed toward research and education efforts to prevent global climate change. University officials told The Chronicle of Philanthropy that Andlinger plans to pay off his pledge within five years.
Andlinger is a 1952 Princeton graduate and founder of Andlinger & Co., an international investment and management firm.
Privately-held businesses have increased their levels of charitable giving, reflecting “an increasingly competitive and constantly changing business environment,” according to a recent Grant Thornton International Business Report commissioned by the Chicago-based accounting firm. The study of private companies in 34 nations painted a mixed picture of the motives and expectations behind philanthropic activity.
Alex MacBeath, Grant Thornton’s Global leader-privately held business services, said the study’s findings defy popular perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its effect on good business practices. MacBeth writes, “Despite much public focus on large multinationals, it is the changing behavior of the privately held business sector that is likely to make the greatest impact on global corporate social responsibility.”
Among the study’s findings:
Summing up the Grant Thornton study, MacBeath concludes, “The businesses that are responsive, quick and innovative will be the ones who not only survive the change, but emerge as winners.”
Read the Grant Thornton study at www.internationalbusinessreport.com
Inc.com took note of the study, writing that private companies are remarkably generous, but their philanthropy has little to do with the spirit of charitable giving. One executive at the Chicago-based accounting firm told Inc.com, “At many private companies, employees are behind the push for a lot of the charitable giving and community service.”
Read more at inc.com
Online fund raising increased last year, but The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports that though Internet giving is becoming more important for many charities, “the rate of growth has begun to taper off, and the increases haven’t been enough to offset declines in direct mail.” This has made fund raisers “anxious about the current economic downturn’s effect on all giving.”
The Giving USA Foundation has just released the 2008 edition of Giving USA, the most comprehensive annual study of philanthropy in the U.S..
Please visit www.givingusa.org to purchase the study
Faced with mounting evidence of heath care disparities, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation announced a $300 million commitment through 2011 to improve and reduce racial and regional shortfalls in care. The foundation released research conducted by the Dartmouth Atlas Project at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice showing that patients’ race and region they inhabit play large roles in the quality of care they receive.
Advisors Issue Cautionary Report on Governance
A panel of non-profit experts that advises the Internal Revenue Service has urged caution in the tax agency’s push to promote “good governance,” the Chronicle of Philanthropy reports. Such efforts “are fraught with complexity,” says the Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities in a 112-page report.
From profiling the Global Philanthropists Circle (GPC) – “The Most Elite Club in the World”—to showing “How Companies Dig Deep,” the Nov. 26, 2007 edition of BusinessWeek spotlights the people, trends, and images of the nonprofit world.
From small child care centers to large universities, government authorities are questioning who deserves special treatment. An old issue has a new twist as state and local governments come under financial pressure to make up for lower tax revenues.
Nonprofit CEOs give board members low marks in several key areas, including fundraising and monitoring board performance, according to a new study by the Urban Institute cited in Philanthropy Journal. More than one in four nonprofit leaders also gave boards low ratings in their evaluation of CEOs, planning and monitoring programs, dealing with the community, and educating the public.
