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The
Philanthropic Trends Digest
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A publication of Lawson Associates, Inc.
March 1, 2010
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"The saddest summary
of life contains three descriptions:
could have, might have
and should have."
Louise E. Boone |
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.
_____________________________________
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.
___________________________
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
___________________________
Speaking Engagements
None scheduled at this time.
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