Dear
Friend,
Along with life and liberty, the founders of this nation - in the Declaration
of Independence - noted that one of our fundamental rights was the pursuit
of happiness. But how should we, as Americans, pursue it?
Arthur Brooks, in an exciting new book, Gross National Happiness, concludes
that the one reliable way to buy happiness is by giving ourselves and our
money to charity. In my book, Give to Live (1989), I came to the same
conclusion. The more people give, the happier they get.
Brooks' words are worth noting: "Everybody can give, and give more,
today. Each and every one of us can afford to dig a little deeper - whether
into our wallets or into our free time. So give - write a check, volunteer,
donate the things you no longer need (or even better, things you still do
need). And remember: I'm not trying to lecture you on how to be
a better person - just a happier one" (p. 192).
Sincerely,
Douglas M. Lawson, Ph.D.
Arthur C. Brooks, Gross National Happiness, Basic Books, New York, 2008
See also: Tal Ben-Shahar, Happieri: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy
and Lasting Fulfillment, McGraw Hill, New York, 2006
_____________________________________
Did you know?
CHARITIES FACE NEW GOVERNMENT CHALLENGES
Local tax assessors in Minnesota
and other parts of the country are making charities (such as the Under
the Rainbow Child Care Center,
in Red Wing, Minnesota) aware that their tax exempt status is in jeopardy. It
is estimated that charities cost the governments around the country anywhere
from $8 to $13 billion each year. In addition, Congress is threatening
wealthy universities as well as non-profit hospitals to make minimum
payouts from their endowments; who some in Congress label no different
from for-profit hospitals. This is a debate we will closely watch
as it is a true threat to the philanthropic sector in America.
New York Times, May 30, 2008, p. 1
TESTING DONOR INTENT
Across the country, families of original
donors to non-profits are going to court to challenge non-profits as
they change direction from the original donor's intent. Examples
are: the closing of Sophie Newcomb College at Tulane University,
which was set up in the late 19th Century with a $3 million gift to Tulane. Another
is the changing of Randolph-Macon Women's College from an all women's
to a co-educational institution renamed 'Randolph College'. The
court challenge on Randolph College expects a ruling in June. All
of this controversy has caused 12 major new donors to pause as they contemplate
their gifts. This is not good for philanthropy and non-profits must
understand the damage these actions are having on fundraising in general.
USA Today, May 28, 2008, p. 10A
NON-PROFIT CONSUMERS UNION TO RATE HOSPITALS
A new hospital
ratings service is being initiated by the non-profit group, Consumers
Union. Consumers
Union already rates health insurance plans, drugs and some medical treatments. The
new service will include around 3,000 hospitals. We welcome this
new service and hope that it will help hospitals improve their services.
Wall Street
Journal, May 29, 2008, p. D6
NEW IRS RULES WILL ASSIST DONORS
The IRS is about to give
donors some new help as they review non-profits to which they are considering
the possibility of making contributions. These new IRS rules are
forcing charities to reveal more information on their annual 990-ARs. The
new 990 forms require, among other things, a summary page listing comparative
financial information on revenues and expenses over a two year period. In
addition, each charity must outline details on what the charity has accomplished,
details on fundraising, and the compensation paid to each top executive. These
new 990-ARs should help donors make informed decisions about their philanthropic
contributions.
Wall Street Journal, May 29, 2008, p. D1
A NEW REVOLUTIONARY WAR AT VALLEY FORGE
The new $250 million
American Revolution Center at Valley Forge, 15 miles northwest of Philadelphia,
has just been approved by the Planning Commission of Lower Provident
Township. The Center, located on 78 acres within the Valley Forge
National Historical Park, is a 142,000 square-foot museum commemorating
the American Way of Independence. Opponents of the Center
contend that it is being built on private land within the Park and will
create a "dangerous precedent" of building on "in holdings" of
private lands within our 55 national parks. Currently, there are
1.8 million acres of private land within our national parks that are
potentially subject to private development. A court challenge by
the opponents is already underway and we will watch how this new "war" plays
out.
New York Times, May 30, 2008, p. A13
ROBIN HOOD FOUNDATION'S GALA FALLS SHORT IN 2008
In 2007,
the Robin Hood Foundation Gala, in New York, raised $71 million. This
year, primarily because of numerous Wall Street woes, the Gala only raised
$56.6 million, 21 percent below last year. 65,000 to 85,000 jobs
have already been cut on Wall Street and more heavy layoffs are expected
later in the year. All of this put a damper on this year's Gala,
which means that many worthy charities in New York will not receive the
funds they need.
New York Times, May 29, 2008, p. C1
DIVERSITY THREAT TO CALIFORNIA CHARITIES
The California
Assembly has passed the foundation Diversity and Transparency Act, which
requires California foundations with assets of $250 million or more "to
report the composition by ethnicity and gender orientation of their boards
and staffs, the boards and staffs of charities they support, and the
degree to which they are run by or support certain minorities". The
bill must now be passed by the Senate if it is to become law. This
step toward politically determining how private charities manage and
deploy their resources must be watched.
Wall Street Journal,
May 30, 2008, p. A13
THE MARK TWAIN HOUSE AND MUSEUM IN TROUBLE
Built by Mark
Twain, in 1874 in Connecticut, the Mark Twain House and Museum finds
itself in financial trouble now that may force its closing. The
non-profit has been having financial problems since it opened a $19 million
visitor's center in 2003 which cost almost twice the initial projections. Unless
the Connecticut legislature makes on appropriation and unless more foundations,
corporations and individuals give to makeup the $370,000 shortfall by
January 31, 2009, the House and Museum will be forced to close. We
truly hope this will not happen.
New York Times, June 3,
2008, p. A23
A DO-GOODERS STOCK EXCHANGE IN BRAZIL
Celso Grecco, the
Brazilian billionaire, has funded a good-works trading space where charitable
groups in need of cash can connect with concerned investors. Now
called the Social and Environmental Stock Exchange, it is being copied
in England and Germany. Many creative projects are already on this "donors'
course" in Brazil and many more are planned. It already works
quite well and we hope it will be copied in many other countries.
Newsweek, June 9, 2008, p. 56
$100 MILLION PLEDGED TO HELP GIRLS IN POOR COUNTRIES
In
2006 Warren Buffett pledged $1 billion to the NoVo Foundation in New
York, which is run by Peter Buffett and Jennifer Buffett. Utilizing
$45 million of those funds, the NoVo Foundation is partnering with
the Nike Foundation in Beaverton, Oregon, which has pledged $55 million
to this worthy project. The Nike Foundation will administer the
grant which will run through 2011. There are 600 million young women
and girls living in the developing world. This philanthropic project
will help many of them.
The Chronicle of Philanthropy,
May 29, 2008, p. 9
AMERICAN GENEROSITY
In a political environment, in which
America is portrayed in the press as unfavorable to the rest of the world,
it is encouraging to note that in 2006 (the latest year for which data
is available) Americans voluntarily contributed $34.8 billion to individuals
and organizations in developing countries. This exceeded U.S. government
aid to the same countries by $11.3 billion or 48 percent. This philanthropic
outpouring casts us in a very positive light to many poor people around
the world, contrary to what is said in the press. To back this up,
you might want to read the Index of Global Philanthropy, which is produced
each year by the Center for Global Prosperity at the Hudson Institute
in Washington, D.C.
The Dallas Morning News, June 7, 2008,
p. 17A
OTHER MEDICAL SCHOOLS LOWER TUITION
Following the lead
of the Cleveland Clinic, other medical schools are offering free or reduced
tuition fees. The University of Central Florida is offering to pay
all tuition and living expenses. The medical school at Howard is
cutting tuition and fees by $12,500 annually; and the Mayo Clinic is
offering $25,000 scholarships against the $29,000 tuition cost. All
of this will help many students who are facing debts of between $120,000
and $160,000 after they finish medical school.
U.S. News & World
Report, June 9, 2008, p. 70
SMALL FOUNDATIONS ARE GROWING
Since 1995, small foundations
(assets of less then $1 million) have grown by 67 percent. One of
the biggest reasons for this growth is the 1998 tax law that enables
a person to donate stock to a private foundation at the fair market value,
rather than at cost. As of 2005, there are 76,849 private foundations
in the U.S., most of them small.
New York Times, June 7,
2008, p. B1
VOLUNTEERISMFALLS SLIGHTLY
From 2003 through 2005, the
volunteer rate in the U.S. held steady at 28.8 percent. Since then,
it has fallen slightly to 26.2 percent. Why? Phyllis Korkki
of the New York Times offers these observations: "Maybe Americans
are becoming more selfish. Or maybe the economy is pushing more
people into the position of needing help rather than being able to offer
it". While we do not agree with Ms. Korkki, we do wonder why.
New York Times, June 8, 2008, p. 2 (Business)
ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD FACES BUSINESS REALITY
Faced with
operational chaos, the founder Nicolas Negroponte and the Chief Financial
Officer, Bender Kane, have moved One Laptop Per Child to a more businesslike
position. One Laptop Per Child is now forging alliances with local
tech companies in developing countries where they are supplying laptops
to school children and working with more non-governmental organizations
in the deployment of the computers. This coupled with their new
alliance with Microsoft may finally get this organization, with a great
idea, going in poor countries.
Business Week, June 16,
2008, p. 48
MELINDA GATES AND THE GATES FOUNDATION
In a recent article
in the Wall Street Journal, Melinda French Gates, co-chair of the Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation (the world's largest charitable foundation)
answered some excellent questions. Among them was 'how you deal
with people who want to know how to spend the foundation's money'. Her
answer: "Our foundation stands for all lives have equal value. All
lives. Once we said these are what we think the world's biggest
problems are, then it was actually easier. Among those problems
are the need to buy life-saving vaccines to save the lives of kids that
need them in the developing world". We wish Bill and Melinda
the best as they begin this fall to give more of their time to the Gates
Foundation.
Wall Street Journal, June 9, 2008, p. R4
___________________
Speaking From Experience
New Hands and Hearts Respond to Fellow Country Men in Need
The traditions of giving ones time and wealth to those in need found
in America and other countries are by no means common in our world. In
fact, it is discouraged by the traditions and governments in some countries.
One such country is China which has restricted such responses by its
citizens. The devastation and suffering caused by the earthquake
of May 11, however, have moved a growing number of Chinese to defy their
government and respond to their fellow countrymen in dire need.
A May 20, 2008 New York Times article by Jim Yardley and David Barboza
from Luchi, China, page 1A, notes that "Thousands of Chinese have
streamed into the quake region or donated record sums of money in a striking
and unscripted public response." They quote a 36 year old psychologist
and first time volunteer, Hao Lin - who without telling his wife - left
home to fly, bike and walk into one of the hardest hit regions, as saying "Ordinary
people now understand how to take action".
Yardley and Barboza note, "The public outpouring is so over whelming
that analysts are debating whether it will create political aftershocks
and place pressure on China's authoritarian state to allow more space
for civil society."
I believe it will do that and much, much more.
It has been a special privilege in my thirty-three and going years in
fundraising to be with people who have been inspired to go above and
beyond themselves in committing their time and resources on behalf of
others. As a direct result, many great things have happened
including; lives saved, families sheltered, hospitals built, and new
opportunities created. But perhaps the greatest thing I have noted
is the way it has enriched their own lives and prompted them to do more. As
one highly successful business owner and first time quarter of a million
dollar donor and volunteer said to me, "My business is only about
making money. This is really doing something with my life. I
plan to do much more."
I think Mr. Hao and many thousands of other Chinese will be doing the
same.
Audley (Buddy) Wolfe, Jr.
Senior Associate
Lawson Associates, Inc.
___________________
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___________________
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