Weekly News Recap: December 29, 2017

Calgary's new Central Library. COURTESY OF THE CITY CALGARY / CALGARY HERALD

Predicting rain doesn’t count. Building arks does. — Warren Buffett

Books to read

News

Opinion

Life and career hacks

Trends and shifts

  • New 'Impact Security' Could Revolutionize Philanthropy (Forbes) The idea is to link philanthropists, who will provide the return, with investors, who will provide the capital, with 'impactful' charities. What could possibly go wrong? 12/26/17

  • How social service agencies can help build a collaborative and caring economy (The Philanthropist) Social agencies will save us all. Includes four clear strategies to build on including community land trusts, social finance, cooperative enterprise, and deepening local democracy. Thanks to Andrea McManus for sharing this post. 12/21/17*

  • How to Write Off Donations Under the New Tax Plan: Consider ‘Bunching’ (New York Times) The new tax plan in the U.S. will likely have some unintended consequences for charities. First, and most looming, is the fact that with the standard deduction, the amount taxpayers can subtract from their taxable income without listing, or itemizing on their tax returns, will rise to $12,000 for individuals With this increase, giving may drop as tax filers may see no tax savings to giving. Second, Donor Advised Funds, who can make gifts in future years from contributions made this year, will likely rise even more in prominence. Thanks to Ron Bailey for sharing this post. 12/20/17

  • Universal Basic Income: The Maslow Argument (Basic Income) Survival and security must be in place but what about Self-Actualization? A thoughtful take on the emerging concept of universal basic income. 12/6/17

Large gifts

  • Internet Archive gets $1 million Bitcoin donation from philanthropic Pineapple Fund (Venture Beat) I love this. The folks who brought us the Wayback Machine for the Internet are getting $1 million from the Pineapple Fund. The Pineapple Fund is a philanthropic fund set up by an anonymous Bitcoin millionaire. They plan to give away $86 million in Bitcoin to a range of good causes. 12/27/17

  • DTE Energy helps customers with $10 million donation (American Security News) "The donation, which will be administered by the Salvation Army, The Heat and Warmth Fund (THAW), and the United Way for Southeastern Michigan, will help elderly, unemployed, underemployed and disabled DTE customers with limited resources to pay their energy bills. It will also enroll nearly 3,600 customers per year in DTE's Low-Income, Self-Sufficiency Plan (LSP) payment program for the next four years." 12/25/17

  • Academy Of Natural Sciences Receives Multi-Million Dollar Donation (CBS) "The relatives of a former Academy of Natural Sciences explorer who died in 1945 will make a multi-million dollar donation to the institution as part of his legacy. The endowment will pay for watershed research and a postdoctoral fellowship. Brooke Dolan II explored China and Tibet and some of the specimens he collected are currently on display at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel." 12/22/17

  • With $165 Million Private Donation, The Nature Conservancy Purchases Cojo Jalama Ranches (Santa Barbara Independent) "Escrow on a historic land deal in Santa Barbara County closed [...] as the 24,364-acre Cojo Jalama Ranches (also known as the Bixby Ranch) was purchased for $165 million by The Nature Conservancy, the largest environmental nonprofit in the western hemisphere. [A] private donation from Jack and Laura Dangermond enabled TNC to purchase the land. Jack Dangermond is the president and cofounder of Esri, a pioneering company in mapping and spatial-analysis technology." 12/22/17

  • Halliburton pledges $10M donation to Gathering Place (ABC) "A Gathering Place for Tulsa announced [...] that Halliburton Company has pledged $10 million to sponsor a bridge project in the park." The Gathering Place will be a a world-class park and recreation area imagined and funded primarily by the George Kaiser Family Foundation. 12/21/17

  • YMCA receives a generous donation from the John T. Vucurevich Foundation (ABC) "A $1 million dollar donation was made to help the YMCA to acquire and renovate their portion of the old Black Hills Corporation headquarters." 12/21/17

  • Syracuse football practice turf getting replaced as part of $1 million donation (Syracuse.com) "John Lally, an offensive guard for the Orange from 1979-81, and his wife, Laura, helped fund the renovation after a meeting with football coach Dino Babers [...]." 12/21/17

  • Ariadne Getty Gives $1 Million to Glaad (Town & Country) "While Getty has long been aware of the issues involving acceptance in the LGBTQ community, she felt compelled to get involved when her two children, Natalia and August, came out. 'When you have two gay children, you live in fear,' she says." 12/20/17

Welcome to our recap of the week's news, articles, and information of note. ViTreo Group Inc. provides this information for the benefit of our clients, associates, staff, partners, and stakeholders. The content is collected and curated by ViTreo partner Vincent Duckworth. If you would like to submit a link for consideration, please send an email to info@vitreogroup.ca

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