News about grants, gifts

With a $50 million gift from venture capitalist John Doerr and his wife, Ann, through their private family foundation, Rice University is planning an unconventional approach to developing students into leaders. Retired Brig. Gen. Tom Kolditz, who has headed leadership training at Yale and West Point, will direct the Doerr Institute for New Leaders to maximize the leadership capabilities of all students at Rice.

In an effort to give kids the knowledge and confidence to avoid abduction, KidSmartz held The “Safety Dance” Video Contest. From January through March, elementary schools were asked to submit videos of their students dancing to the new KidSmartz “Safety Dance,” a reimagining of a popular 1980’s song with new lyrics. The four elementary schools won $10,000 in grand-prize money: P.S. 253 – The Magnet School of Multicultural Humanities in Brooklyn, New York,  Liberty Oaks Elementary School in Kansas City, Missouri, Travis Ranch School in Yorba Linda, California, and Holy Cross Lutheran School in North Miami, Florida.

In response to the tragic events in Nepal on April 25 and May 12, 2015, The Travel Corporation and The TreadRight Foundation have come together with the global travel and tourism community to assist in recovery efforts. The Travel Corporation and TreadRight have donated USD $20,000 to the collaborative efforts between the Nepal tourism industry, the Tourism Cares community and Travel Weekly.

Philanthropic leaders reaffirmed the sector’s long-term commitment to ensuring that America’s military service members, veterans and their families receive the support they deserve. Sector leaders gathered in Washington, D.C. on May 12th to announce that more than $276,000,000 in cash and in-kind contributions through the Philanthropy-Joining Forces Impact Pledge. Six new Pledge members were recognized for joining the effort, including the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, The Jewish Women’s Foundation of New Jersey, Lockheed Martin Corporation, New York State Health Foundation, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation, and the WebMD Health Foundation.

New York Life recently celebrated its 170th anniversary on April 12.  In honor of this special milestone, more than 5,300 employees and agents across the country voted for their top ten favorite charities out of a list of 35. Each organization will receive a $17,000 grant from the New York Life Foundation, for a total of $170,000.

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) will make a $30,000 award to the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation to support its Chollas Creek Gateways project. The grant will allow the Jacobs Center to work with artists and design teams to develop design concepts for artistic gateways as a complement to the Chollas Creek Restoration Project.

Hundreds of charities in Silicon Valley benefited from the generosity of more than 17,000 unique donors during Silicon Valley Gives, the region’s day of giving to support local nonprofits hosted by the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. The online fundraising effort began at midnight on Tuesday, May 5, and ended at 11:59 p.m. that night. Based on preliminary results, donors contributed just over $7.8 million to support the causes they care about in San Mateo, Santa Clara and San Benito counties. About 80 charities based in San Francisco that serve residents of Silicon Valley also participated.

Northrop Grumman has committed $750,000 to support a scholarship program at Virginia Tech and a faculty fellowship aimed at creating leaders who are poised to solve the national security challenges of the 21st century. “This partnership with Northrop Grumman will help to advance the Hume Center’s mission to develop the next generation of leaders in national security technologies,” Hume Center Director and Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Charles Clancy said, “It is through the sustained support of our industry partners that we can continue to attract and retain the top-notch faculty that will allow our programs to grow.” See the rest of the story here.

The Detroit Journalism Cooperative will extend its exploration of Detroit’s financial issues and engage citizens in finding solutions to challenges facing the city with an additional $500,000 in support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation for five nonprofit news partners.

Columbia Sportswear has partnered with GRAMMY® Award-winning recording artist Zac Brown Band for a one-day e-commerce charity promotion to support Zac Brown’s Camp Southern Ground – a unique camp opening in June 2015 to provide outdoor experiences to help children overcome academic, social and emotional difficulties. On Monday, May 11, 2015 Columbia is donating 10% of all online sales (up to $75,000 USD) and a minimum guarantee of $40,000 USD to help build a transformative experience for all the young people who attend Camp Southern Ground.

Verizon, INDYCAR and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway today announced joint participation in a HopeLine drive throughout May to raise critical funds and awareness of domestic violence prevention. The drive invites racing fans to bring their no-longer-used wireless phones and accessories from any wireless carrier to donation sites throughout Indiana. A $50,000 HopeLine grant was presented to the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence (ICADV) due to a statewide shortfall in its Emergency Housing and Transportation Survivor Fund. The Indiana drive is also part of a national goal from HopeLine to collect 1 million phone donations in 2015.

The Western Union Foundation today announced it has surpassed a major milestone, donating more than US$100 million in support to more than 2,700 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to provide support to thousands of families and individuals in more than 135 countries and territories. Most recently, the Foundation committed US$200,000 to support earthquake relief efforts in Nepal through discretionary and matching grants in partnership with WU employees, Agents, and business customers.  Other major projects include Ebola relief efforts in Africa, a teacher exchange program between the US and Mexico, more than $12M in grants to support education globally, and a partnership with the UEFA Europa soccer league to grant funds to education based on passes made during league games.

The 22 high school seniors graduating from the Higher Education Mentoring Program won’t just be celebrating completion of the 18-month educational and cultural mentoring program for Hispanic, low-income, first generation Santa Ana college-bound students, they will be getting scholarships ranging from $1000-$1500 each plus a “college starter kit” with all dorm room supplies, bedding, backpack, and more valued at $570, at the Orange County Bar Foundation Higher Education Mentoring Program Graduation.

The St. Baldrick’s Foundation, the largest non-government funder of childhood cancer research grants, is proud to announce that it has awarded a $5,000 Summer Fellow grant to Daniel Kingsley, aspiring pediatric oncologist and former childhood cancer survivor.

The Pershing Square Foundation has announced a $3.1 million grant in support of Measures for Justice, the very first non-profit organization to collect and analyze ‘big data’ on the entire criminal justice system from beginning to end. This revolutionary system will cull data from multiple areas of the judicial system – police, victims, defendants, public defenders, prosecutors, judges, and convicted offenders.

The almost 80-year old Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando raised $131,420 last Thursday during its Humane Heroes Luncheon at The Alfond Inn in Winter Park, Florida. Over 300 supporters gathered to celebrate the human-animal bond and a commitment to rescuing pets for the donor luncheon. WFTV news anchors Vanessa Welch and Greg Warmoth hosted the program which featured a $10,000 leadership challenge from Stanley Steemer’s Connie Gellner and a $25,000 major gift announcement from Reed Nissan’s general manager Aaron Hill.

Class Acts Arts receives a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grant totalling $25,000 to support Project Youth ArtReach. Class Acts Arts Executive Director James Modrick said, “Since 2000 Project Youth ArtReach and its core of gifted teaching artists has risen to the challenge of this work.  We are pleased that the NEA shares our commitment to the program.  This announcement is particularly timely, as it comes just one week before the opening of Project Youth ArtReach 15th Anniversary Exhibition at Washington ArtWorks (May 15th-June 1st).”

The results of East Bay Community Foundation’s Give Local America event called East Bay Gives are in, and organizers are overjoyed with the response. During the one-day event, over $600,000 was raised for local nonprofits. The May 5th event was a 24-hour crowd-funding giving day to empower people in the East Bay to invest in their communities and give to the organizations that they care about. More than 100 community foundations throughout America participated, making it one of the biggest giving days in history.

The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, one of the largest private foundations in the United States, announced $400,000 in emergency grants to 10 Baltimore nonprofits – current Weinberg grantees – following recent unrest and violence in Baltimore City. The $400,000 in emergency funding is in addition to $960,000 recently approved by the Weinberg Foundation to support summer youth programs in Baltimore City.

CytoSport, Inc., one of the largest sports nutrition companies in the United States and maker of the Muscle Milk® brand, announced today the 19 high school athletic programs that will receive grants this year as part of the 2014 Muscle Milk® Recovery Grant Program.  In its third consecutive year, the program accepted applications from August through November and received more than 450 submissions from high schools in need across the country.  The maker of the Muscle Milk® brand will provide a total of $250,000 in grants this year to help rebuild and revitalize high school athletic programs.

News about people, groups

KCETLink Media Group, a leading national independent non-profit public broadcast and digital network, has joined forces with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and its 96 Elephants campaign and the Los Angeles Zoo to raise awareness around the illegal poaching and wildlife trafficking crisis. The partnership centers around a special installment of American television’s longest running environmental investigative series, EARTH FOCUS titled “Illicit Ivory,” which uncovers the devastating effects of the illegal ivory trade, its impact on the dwindling African elephant population, and the link to insurgency groups and organized crime.

For years, the George Family Foundation has been a leader in the integrative health movement, including co-founding in 2003 the nation’s largest integrative medicine program within a health care organization, the Penny George Institute for Health and Healing, Allina Health System. Now, the Foundation is launching the Catalyst Initiative, which provides seed grants, trainings and convenings to expand the use of health practices that connect mind, body and spirit.

The Tiger Woods Foundation was once again awarded the coveted four-star rating from Charity Navigator, the leading independent charity evaluator. The foundation first earned the high ranking for its efforts in 2012 and was recognized again for its sound fiscal management and commitment to accountability and transparency in 2013 and 2014.

Cass Community Social Services (Cass) was recognized by the Detroit Medical Center and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality for creating employment opportunities and recycling work (respectively) through their Green Industries programs. On May 5^th at Forbes’ Reinventing America: The Workforce Summit in Detroit, Cass Executive Director Rev. Faith Fowler accepted the Forbes Impact Award.  Cass Director of Operations Ed Hingleberg accepted a DEQ Excellence in Recycling Award at the Governor’s Recycling Summit in Kalamazoo the same day.

Heroes for Children, headquartered in Dallas with an office in Houston and a presence in Austin, has partnered with Dallas-based TrizCom Public Relations as its agency of record. TrizCom PR supports Heroes for Children in a number of ways – donating dollars, time and talent to the organization. Heroes for Children provides financial and social assistance to families battling childhood cancer from across the state of Texas.

Fidelity Charitable®, an independent public charity with a donor-advised fund program, is expanding support for its West Coast donors and the advisors who work with them. Today, the organization announced three appointments to new roles and also announced that it had surpassed $1 billion in grants to charities for the year.

The League of American Orchestras has appointed Celeste Wroblewski to the post of vice president, Strategic Communications and Karen Yair as vice president, Knowledge Center, League President and CEO Jesse Rosen announced today. Additionally, Mi Ryung Song has been appointed director of Strategic Initiatives, a newly created senior position, and Jennifer Kessler is the League’s new director of programs.

Marcy Syms, President of the Sy Syms Foundation and founding trustee since 1985 was honored at the 21 Leaders for the 21st Century 2015 award dinner at the JW Marriott Essex House in New York City on May 5, 2015. Syms and 20 other leaders were chosen for their local, national, and global impact on the lives of women and girls.

Humanitarian staff and volunteers from the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) have treated over 500 people in Nepal since Saturday with medical care and also have provided thousands of pounds of food and emergency supplies to hundreds of families.

The Woods Fund Chicago‘s battle against economic and racial injustice will get reinforcements with two distinguished Chicago leaders – Goldman Sachs Vice President Michael Brown and University of Illinois at Chicago Gender and Women’s Studies Director Barbara Ransby – joining the foundation’s board of directors.

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, (RPA), one of the world’s leading nonprofit philanthropic consulting services, has been selected to incubate the new My Brother’s Keeper Alliance (MBK Alliance), a nonprofit aiming to eliminate the gaps in opportunity and achievement for boys and young men of color. MBK Alliance, a sponsored project of RPA, is partnering with community, private, public, and social enterprises to holistically tackle opportunity and achievement gaps from cradle to career.

Anhvinh Wright announced the launch of Kraftlove, a charity dedicated to helping hospitalized children cope with illness through the joy of creativity.  The organization, based in the National Capital Area, delivers boxed creative crafting kits to hospitals for distribution to pediatric patients. “We believe in the power of creativity and self-expression to help transform a child’s hospital experience to one of joy and healing. Kraftlove’s mission is to use art to promote a healing environment in the hospital for children struggling with illness by providing interactive art projects that inspire creativity and encourage self-expression,” said Wright, Kraftlove’s Founder and President.

Mathematica welcomes Thomas Grannemann and Sarah Hughes as senior fellows. Grannemann, an expert in health care economics, policy, and program evaluation and a former Mathematica employee, is based in the Health Research Division. Hughes is an experienced international project director and survey expert based in the International Research Division. She provides leadership on best practices in high quality, cost-effective data collection using innovative, cutting-edge approaches in developing countries, in addition to focusing on business development and directing large projects. Read the release.

Practical Project Management for Agile Nonprofits: Approaches and Templates to Help You Manage with Limited Resources by Karen R.J. White has won the bronze award in the eighth annual Axiom Business Book Awards in the Philanthropy/Nonprofits category. The book provides approaches and templates to help nonprofit professionals succeed in a world where transparency, efficiency, and sound business practices are required to respond quickly and efficiently to their ever changing needs.

The Northwest Area Foundation is pleased to announce the hiring of John Fetzer and Jennifer Racho as program officers to help expand the Foundation’s impact within its region of eight states and 75 Native nations. Fetzer will join the Foundation on June 8, with Racho beginning one week later on June 15.

Voya Financial, Inc. held its second annual National Day of Service on May 14th, 2015. This enterprise-wide, volunteer initiative engages thousands of Voya Financial employees in a single day, maximizing the company’s impact in the communities where its employees and customers live and work. More than 100 events took place at or near Voya’s nine major offices across the U.S. Employees volunteer their time and energy supporting philanthropic activities that align with Voya’s corporate responsibility focus, including financial literacy, children’s education and the environment.

In celebration of its tenth anniversary on May 13, 2015, Bank of Georgetown is launching ‘Give Back: Tenfold,’ an employee-led, company-wide service initiative. The program aims to support the causes Bank of Georgetown employees are passionate about, while giving back to the community. ‘Give Back: Tenfold’ will support the following organizations: Alternative House; Community Residences; Cornerstone Montgomery; DC Public Schools; First Book; Fisher House; Georgetown Ministry Center; Kids in Need Distributors (KIND); Martha’s Table; and New York Avenue Men’s Emergency Shelter.

The Joint Development Foundation (JDF), an organization that enables standards and source code development collaborations to start operations quickly and efficiently, has launched its first public project, the 3MF Consortium. Announced April 30, the 3MF Consortium released the first version of a new, open file format for 3D printing.

Grand Valley State University’s Dean George Grant Jr. announced the appointment of Kyle Caldwell to serve as the new executive director of the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy beginning August 1. Caldwell comes to the Center with over 22 years of experience and will provide overall leadership and vision for sustainable growth and strategic objectives of one of the nation’s largest academic centers for philanthropy.

As part of the St. Louis Rams monthly “Staff Days of Service” initiative, the Rams will join with team partner Perficient to present the Junior Achievement curriculum to more than 440 local students.  The “JA in a Day” program will allow Rams and Perficient employees to share their real-life experiences while presenting the JA curriculum, which focuses on entrepreneurship, work readiness and financial literacy.

In response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria, which has forced approximately 3 million refugees to seek asylum in neighboring countries, Global Impact launched the Syrian Refugee Fund. The fund illuminates the needs of Syrian refugees and provides an opportunity for donor engagement and contributions.

News about opportunities, initiatives

Attendees from 29 US states and 6 countries will meet to learn from data experts from government, nonprofit, business, and academia. Data on Purpose: Creating Social Change with Data, a conference taking place in Stanford, CA on June 2nd and 3rd, will explore the internal and external forces, possibilities, and barriers to using data in a jargon-free environment.

The Chester County Fund for Women and Girls is currently accepting applications for its Girls Advisory Board (GAB) program. Applications are available online and will be accepted until Monday, June 1st. The Fund is looking for high school girls entering their sophomore or junior year in the fall of 2015. Girls must live in Chester County to be admitted into the program and can participate for up to two years in the GAB program.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s two-week spring engagement at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater kicks off on Wednesday, June 10^th with The Ailey Spirit Gala, a one-night-only benefit performance and party honoring the Ford Foundation. Read more.

Allowance for Good, a Chicgo-based nonprofit which develops the rising generations of philanthropic leaders, expanded its fourth annual Global Philanthropy Summit in 2015 to include two new programs: GPS Inspiring Global Engagement and GPS: Empowering Social Innovators. These two new programs are expected to reach and educate more than 60 students in the Chicagoland area on philanthropy and entrepreneurship.

Seventh Generation, a leading household and baby care company, is sponsoring the creation and installment of four pumping and nursing pods for mothers, manufactured by Mamava, in key New York Metropolitan airports. One pod will be in JetBlue’s Terminal 5 at JFK Airport, two pods at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) and one at LaGuardia (LGA). In celebration of Mother’s Day, these pods meet the growing interest of mothers to have the choice of a clean, quiet and private space to pump breastmilk in busy public locales such as airport terminals.

St. Louis Rams Head Coach, Jeff Fisher, will host his annual “Coach Fisher & Friends” Celebrity Softball Game on Sunday, June 7, 2015 at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O’Fallon, Missouri. The event, which is presented by Edward Jones, will feature a celebrity home run derby, softball game and post-game fireworks show. Proceeds from the event will benefit five charities: The BackStopppers, The Jack and J.T. Snow Scientific Research Foundation, Mercy Ministries, Wounded Warrior Project and Catch-A-Dream Foundation.

The Screen Actors Guild Foundation, celebrating 30 years of giving back, is hosting its 6th Annual Los Angeles Golf Classic. Celebrity golfers and executives from the entertainment industry will tee off to raise money for the nonprofit’s Catastrophic Health Fund and Emergency Assistance programs, which benefit SAG-AFTRA professionals in times of urgent need. Over the last 30 years, the SAG Foundation has granted over $17 million in financial and medical assistance to SAG-AFTRA members and their families.

imagine1day has announced the 1 Day’s Pay campaign. The money you make in a day at work has the power to change a life. With imagine1day’s latest digital campaign, 1 Day’s Pay, you can use a specialized calculator to determine how much you make in one day at work and how you can use it for good. Donors will have the opportunity to give their #1DaysPay or a portion of the amount to imagine1day and also have an understanding of the value of their donation by viewing various school items that correspond with your daily income. Items will range from teacher training sessions to sports equipment to science kits. No matter your salary, every dollar makes a difference. 100% of donations will directly fund education projects and programs on the ground in Ethiopia.

Following the immense success of last year’s LEAP program, the Community Foundation of Northwest Connecticut is once again offering Danosky & Associates, LLC.’s Leadership Enrichment for Advancing Professionals program. Consisting of 7 three-hour sessions and 1 six-hour session, the eight-week program is designed to build a foundation of skills and awareness for nonprofit professionals. Learn more here.

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