The Philanthropic Trends Digest

Dear Friend,

In 2004, Gillaine Warne, an Australian-born horticulturalist started Zanmi Agrikol, which means "Partners in Agriculture," in Creole.  The agricultural program, located about 25 miles north of Port-au-Prince, has helped many Haitians out of poverty and hunger. Today, Zanmi Agrikol is racing to feed thousands who have fled Port-au-Prince into the countryside after the massive earthquake.

Zanmi Agrikol has supplied 240 families with seeds, farming equipment and food, including mango, citrus and banana trees. The families are taught how to plant, compost and terrace sloped ground. The result is that most of these families are cultivating tiny pieces of land at home which allows them to grow their own food and sell a small surplus.

The earthquake has reversed the centuries old trend of migration to urban areas and thrust hundreds of thousands of Haitians into rural areas where Zanmi Agrikol is located. This program is not the answer to all of Haiti's problems, but it is one answer to how to feed the people. It is not just by supplying emergency food, it is by teaching the people how to grow their own food. As the old Chinese proverb goes, "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime."

Zanmi Agrikol is one program that is helping to solve not only Haiti's immediate problems, but its long-term ones. It is my hope that all of us in the philanthropic world will help fund other programs like this one which is currently receiving its funds from several sources including Partners in Health, an Episcopal Church in South Carolina, and Rotary International.

Sincerely,
Douglas M. Lawson, Ph.D.

The Wall Street Journal, February 23, 2010, p. A15.

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Did you know?


KIPP: A PUBLIC PRIVATE PHILANTHROPIC PARTNERSHIP
The charter school, KIPP, is a partnership between the public sector and private philanthropic foundations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation. Don and Dorris Fisher, the founders of the Gap clothing chain have also contributed $64 million of KIPP's 130 million given from the private sector to date. KIPP working with low-income students throughout the nation has an 85% college matriculation rate, compared with 40% nationally for low-income students. Started in Houston in 1994 as an experiment with 50 5th graders, it has now become the biggest charter school operator in America.
Bloomberg Businessweek, February 15, 2010, p. 56.
 
DRUG COMPANY CEO IS ALLY FOR THE POOR
Andrew Witty, the CEO of Glaxo Smith Kline has become one of the world's biggest allies for the poor, especially in Africa. He is seeking to make a big difference in third world health especially through innovation and cooperation. Last year, among other things at Glaxo, he has promised to keep the prices of all Glaxo drugs in poor countries to no more than 25% of what is charged in rich countries. Further, he has pledged to donate one-fifth of all profits made in poor countries to building better health systems in these countries. The world needs more CEO's like this true philanthropist.
The New York Times, February 9, 2010, p. D1.
 
A BANKER BECOMES A PHILANTHROPIST
Charles "Chuck" Harris, a retired investment banker at Goldman Sachs, spent his career raising billions of dollars for corporations. He now raises mere millions, but this time for charity. Specifically, he spends his time raising money for low-income children. He does this through a group, Sea Change Capital Partners, that he founded four years ago with another Goldman Sachs partner, Robert Steel. He and Steel apply their Goldman method of large gifts (we call this major gift fundraising) to the task of raising funds. "His idea is that nonprofits are held back by the time and effort it takes to raise funds in dribs and drabs for one project or another." And, based on our forty years of experience in doing the same thing, he is right.
Bloomberg Businessweek, February 22, 2010, p. 76.
 
CAN OUR RELIEF EFFORTS HURT MORE THAN HELP?
The Haiti earthquake relief efforts have grown to epic proportions both in terms of money and volunteer efforts. This is good. But can this outpouring of philanthropic effort hurt as well as help? The painful answer is yes. Some volunteered gifts of goods are just not usable. A year after the earthquake in Pakistan so much unusable clothing had arrived that people burned it to stay warm. Many volunteers have shown up in Haiti only not to be used because the system has been overwhelmed. The best thing learned to date is for all of us to give our money to the organizations that know how to use it directly and immediately.
Time, February 22, 2010, p. 134.
 
PICKENS AND UNIVERSITY SUE INSURANCE COMPANY
T. Boone Pickens and Oklahoma State University are suing the Lincoln National Life Insurance Company over a fundraising program that took out policies on alumni with the goal of raising hundreds of millions of dollars for Oklahoma State. They contend that Lincoln understated the costs of the program and overstated the possible financial benefits, while at the same time, charging the University inflated premiums. Under the 2007 program, called Gift of a Lifetime, 27 alumni gave the right to insure their lives for $10 million each. Premiums in 2007 and 2008 alone totaled $33.3 million. Mr. Pickens guaranteed a credit line to cover these costs. To date, he has had to put $10 million up to keep this credit line going. Insurance programs such as this one have been questioned by fundraisers including Lawson Associates for years. In 2006, Congress passed a law requiring nonprofits to report such transactions. We hope this is all worked out for Mr. Pickens and Oklahoma State, but, for the rest of us, we suggest not doing it. 
The New York Times, February 13, 2010, p. A12.
 
FUNDRAISERS BY CHILDREN START TO ADD UP
On his seventh birthday, Devin Greene had a party that raised $1,025 for Mercy Corps which supports charity work in Haiti. When asked before the party how much money he thought he might raise, he said $200. Devin lives in Portland, OR. Dina Yazdani, a junior at Lincoln High School in Portland pitched $1 contributions at a school assembly and in one week raised $1,115. Thousands of other tiny fundraisers across America are also raising money in small pots, but it is all adding up. Adults in bars, schools, stores and corporations are following the leads of these children as the many small fundraising efforts are all creating sums that are becoming larger every day. Nancy Lindborg, president of Mercy Corps, sums up well why these small efforts by children and adults alike are beneficial: "You don't want to discourage these kinds of things because they can be the beginning of a much deeper relationship that leads people to more significant action and involvement."
The New York Times, February 11, 2010, p. A10.
 
ROTHSCHILD FOUNDATION RESUMES GRANTS
At long last, the Judith Rothschild Foundation in New York has begun to pay at least some of the grant money it had promised to 17 arts groups last year.  Harvey S. Shipley Miller, the Foundation's only trustee has apologized for the delay. He says that he had been unable to pay the grants because he had been in a serious accident. The Foundation was formed 15 years ago under the terms of the will of Judith Rothschild, an abstract painter who died in 1993. Some of the small grants went to the Philip Pavia Trust and the Sam Glankoff Collection.
The New York Times, February 10, 2010, p. C2.
 
THE MOTHER WHO GIVES FOSTER CARE KIDS A HOME
A 42-year-old, stay-at-home mom, Christy Obie-Barrett, of Eugene, OR, has a passion for giving foster care kids a permanent home. After raising three biological and nine adopted children she set up a nonprofit, A Family for Every Child (AFFEC). The agency matches families who want to adopt with adoptable children in Oregon and Washington. She knows that 75% of families who want to adopt do not do so because of the system states have for the procedure.  Christy's main goal is to get children out of foster care quickly, and this she is doing. Thank you, Christy! - - The Reader's Digest, March 2010, p. 41.

"WE ARE THE WORLD" TWENTY-FIVE YEARS LATER
Twenty-five years after "We Are The World" raised $63 million for African famine relief, a new generation of singers have recorded the song again, this time for relief for the victims of Haiti's earthquake. Since the eighties, there have been numerous recordings for charity relief, but "We Are The World" tops them all. Whether this will be a philanthropic success this time is yet to be seen, but for all of us in the world of philanthropy we wish the recording this time the best of success.
Time, March 1, 2010, p. 16.

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New Webinar Series

The Center for Nonprofit Success has just released its first webinar on how to build a successful and effective board of directors. Audley (Buddy) Wolfe Jr., Senior Associate of Lawson Associates, is one of three professionals conducting the webinar.  
 
The webinar consists of two components: 
1. An online video that you can download at any time.
2. A follow-up live teleconference with the speakers for registered webinar viewers in which questions emerging from the video will be answered by the speakers. 
 
You can watch a preview and order the webinar by going to: http://www.cfnps.org/national09.aspx

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Speaking Engagements
 
None scheduled at this time.