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San Diego Grantmakers
Update | |
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"Vision
without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a
nightmare." - Japanese
proverb |
March 2009 | |
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| Report from Foundations on the
Hill
SDG Executive Director Nancy
Jamison and Public Policy Chair Sid
Voorakkara (The California Endowment) were
joined by Linda Lloyd (Alliance
Healthcare Foundation) and Tracey
Bryan (Jacobs Center for Neighborhood
Innovation) at this year's Foundations on
the Hill event, which took place in Washington, DC
on March 24-25. SDG participated in the event
as part of our ongoing efforts to develop relationships
with policymakers and to raise the profile of San Diego
philanthropy.
The San Diego delegation met with
Congressmembers Duncan Hunter, Bob Filner, and
Susan Davis and with a representative from
Brian Bilbray's office. The
full California delegation (including SDG, Northern
California Grantmakers, and Southern California
Grantmakers members) met with
staff of Senators Dianne
Feinstein and Barbara Boxer as
well as Representative Henry
Waxman. We discussed the philanthropy
caucus, charitable deduction rates (check out the SDG Philanthropy
and Economy webpage for headlines on this issue),
IRA charitable rollover, and private foundation excise
taxes, along with other topics of concern to
grantmakers.
Foundations on the Hill is a great way to educate
legislators about philanthropy and advocate on issues
affecting our sector. Click here
for a Chronicle article highlighting the
event. | |
Member
& Community Partner News
YOUR ORGANIZATION COULD BE FEATURED
HERE! Don't forget to let SDG know what's new
with you, from grantmaking to awards, events, and more.
We want to share the good news about all of our members.
To submit an item for the newsletter, email nancy@sdgrantmakers.org.
Welcome new SDG member Rockefeller
Philanthropy Advisors and new SDG guest member
Oro Y Plata Foundation!
SDG is pleased to welcome our new intern,
Scott Blitgen. Scott is a
graduate of the University of Virginia and is also a
volunteer with the San Diego River Park
Foundation.
Several SDG members made it onto Fortune
magazine's annual " World's Most
Admired Companies" list: congratulations
to Qualcomm Incorporated, Sempra
Energy, Northern Trust, Hitachi, Jack in the Box,
and Sony Electronics.
Alliance
Healthcare Foundation has announced that fellow
SDG member San Diego Human
Dignity Foundation (SDHDF) has been selected to be
the next convener of the San Diego HIV Funding
Collaborative. In addition, Alliance Healthcare
Foundation will be awarding SDHDF a three-year grant to
support implementation of the new program.
The Gary and Mary West Foundation
has given $45 million to establish the West Wireless
Medicine Institute: see this front-page Union-Tribune
article for more info. Holland America
Line and the Port of San Diego are debuting
Ship to Shelter, an innovative community charitable
program designed to donate valuable and reusable goods
from the line's cruise ships to local people in
need. The goods will be distributed by Alpha
Project. Earlier this month, the program was profiled on
CNN.
Qualcomm
Incorporated is sponsoring "The Qualcomm Extreme
Technology Makeover Program 2009," which will provide 4
non-profit organizations in San Diego County with
complete and customized information technology
updates. Organizations can apply here.
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NCRP Report
Sparks Debate
The National Committee for Responsive
Philanthropy recently released Criteria for Philanthropy at Its Best: Benchmarks
to Assess and Enhance Grantmaker Impact, calling the report the "first
ever set of measurable guidelines foundations and
other grantmaking institutions can use to maximize their
contributions to society and make a positive difference
in the world today." The report has made major
headlines: Click here for a
Chronicle article about the report and here for a PND News
piece. In addition, media outlets and philanthropic
organizations have responded with opinions and
commentary:
- This Wall Street Journal
opinion piece says the report's "real aim is to push
philanthropic organizations into ignoring donor intent
and instead giving grants based on political
consideration." Click here for NCRP's
published response.
- This Forbes commentary is
critical of the report: click here for NCRP's
response.
- COF complains that NCRP is
advocating a one-size-fits-all
approach: click here for Steve
Gunderson's statement.
- Philanthropy Roundtable issued a
statement (pdf)
calling the report's standards "too narrow and
arbitrary."
- Paul Brest at his Huffington Post blog
responded to the report by noting that while he shares
many of NCRP's stated goals, he finds their
prescriptions "breathtakingly arrogant." He
discusses the report further here and here.
- The California Wellness Foundation
has canceled its NCRP membership and rescinded a
$10,000 grant to the organization, reports the Chronicle.
- NCRP has responded to what it
calls "recurring pieces of misinformation and
mischaracterization" about the report.
- This Wall Street Journal article covers the foundation response to the
report.
On a related note, prominent foundation
watchdog Pablo Eisenberg has also written two columns
advising changes in how foundations operate:
check them out here and here. |
| Did You Miss Forces for
Good?
On March 9, the Survive and Thrive initiative (a
partnership of The United Way of San Diego County and
The San Diego Foundation) presented a workshop for
funders called "Forces for Good: What Makes Great
Nonprofits Great?" The discussion featured Heather
McLeod Grant, co-author of the book Forces for
Good. If you missed it, you can check out the book's
website, or read an executive
summary article at SSIR.
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Philanthropic Headlines
"The measure would change the way foundations are
taxed on their investment income, replacing the current
two-tiered system with a single tax rate. Foundations
complain that the current system effectively penalizes
them when they give away more money than usual."
Also, click here
for the Chronicle article on the measure.
"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."
Tactical Philanthropy (and
Chronicle): "It's
Time to Share More Information About Worthy
Charities"
The "lack
of information about what works and what does not is a
major obstacle to the most-effective nonprofit
organizations of all types receiving the money they
need."
Stanford Social Innovation Review:
"Interview
[with] Collaboration Prize Co-Winners"
"On March 5th, the winners of The Collaboration
Prize-the national competition with a cash award of
$250,000 for the best nonprofit collaboration in the
U.S.-were at long last announced by the Lodestar
Foundation and AIM (the Arizona-Indiana-Michigan)
Alliance. Appropriately, it was a tie! The blue ribbon
panel of judges selected the YMCA & JCC of Greater
Toledo and Dallas Museum of Nature and Science to share
first place." This article is an interview with
leaders from the YMCA & JCC
collaboration.
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Resources
A Brief Guide to the Law of Mission
Investing for U.S. Foundations
This FSG Social
Impact Advisors report provides practical guidance
on the legal constraints of mission-related investing -
the extent to which foundations can choose investments
for their social impact rather than financial
performance while meeting their fiduciary
responsibility.
The Communications
Network
The
Communications Network is an association of
grantmakers dedicated to helping advance, promote, and
encourage the adoption of effective communications
practices in philanthropy. Check out their website
for tools and resources, including tips for writing news
releases and a foundation "jargon finder."
Limited Life Foundations:
Motivations, Experiences, and
Strategies
This Urban Institute
publication compares characteristics of perpetual
foundations and limited life foundations, set to be
terminated at a specified time. It explores both
personal and strategic reasons for "sunsetting" and
positive and negative effects of limited life on the
foundation.
Advancing Good Governance: How Grantmakers
Invest in the Governance of Nonprofit
Organizations
When grantmakers help
nonprofits build stronger boards of directors, both the
organizations and the communities that depend on their
programs and services benefit, according to a new report
by BoardSource and FSG Social Impact Advisors.
Philanthropy Annual: 2008
ReviewThe Foundation Center has released this
compendium (free download) of highlights from 2008,
including interviews, commentary, notable publications,
and key statistics.
The Robertson v. Princeton Case: Too
Important to Be Left to the Lawyers
This Hudson
Institute publication offers comments from eleven
contributors on the Robertson family's donor rights suit
against Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and
International Affairs for violation of donor intent.
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Upcoming SDG
Programs
Association of Small Foundations Spring
Seminars
April 19-22, 2009
Embassy Suites San
Diego Bay - Downtown, 601 Pacific Hwy, San Diego, CA
92101
Seminar choices:
April 19: Next Generation Retreat
April 20: Foundations 101 -OR- Trustee Leadership
Seminar
April 21: Legal Essentials -OR- Funding
Public Education
April 22: Planning for Impact -OR- Climate
Change
Distinguished Speaker James A. Phills,
Jr.
May 8, 2009,
8:30-10:30 amPrice
Charities, 4305 University Avenue, Suite 630, San Diego,
CA 92105
Click here for a
complete list of SDG programs. To RSVP, please call
(619) 744-2180 or email programs@sdgrantmakers.org (include your full name and organizational
affiliation with your response, please).
Reminder: SDG programs
are open only to member grantmakers and nonmember
grantmakers as invited. |
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| This online
SDGrantmakers Update is published by San Diego Grantmakers to help
SDG members meet the challenges of philanthropy today.
Our mission is to connect, educate, develop, and inspire
a diverse group of foundations and corporations to
stimulate effective philanthropy in the San Diego
region. Copies of past editions are archived here.
Contact Nancy Jamison, 619/744.2180 or nancy@sdgrantmakers.org
to suggest article ideas or submit news
items. | | |
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