Weekly News Recap: September 30, 2016
Aquariums attract millions of visitors per year. Directors say that's why it's so important they educate the public as well as entertain. (floridatoursim)
Philanthropic personalities
Meet Robert F. Smith — The Little-Known Black Billionaire Who Made a $20 Million Donation to the African American Smithsonian Museum Mr. Smith is the second largest donor (Oprah is the largest with a $21 million contribution) to the Museum which opened last week. (9/26/16)
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Pledges $3 Billion for Science Research Boom. That's a terrific goal well matched with the financial resources to make it happen. (9/21/16)
Backstory
How Did This Huge Gift Break Three of Art Philanthropy's Most Basic Rules? This article refers to the Albright-Knox gift mentioned later in this recap. It is a fascinating look at a campaign that has raised $103 million in 12 weeks. Jeffrey Gundlach stated: "I tend to do things, not with teaspoons, but to try to make a difference," he said. "Let’s say I gave $42.5 million to the Met—you wouldn’t be able to find it with a microscope." (9/26/16)
Story behind Virginia church's $1 million donation to African American museum Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria Virginia is a founding donor for the Smithsonian's new National Museum of African American History and Culture. The church is committing $1 million in donations to the museum. (9/23/16)
News
Calgary office vacancy rate nears 25%, Re/Max says Looking for space? Might be a good time to negotiate a lease... CALGARY STORY (9/28/16)
Unique program gives homeless youth a roof and a new start Congrats! Great shelter and program for youth in Toronto. ViTrēo was proud to have helped Eva's Phoenix with advice on naming. TORONTO STORY (9/28/16)
NorQuest College scrambling to reassure staff after massive privacy breach kept secret This is a tough one. Balancing the rights of NorQuest's employees against the need to keep it confidential due to an ongoing investigation. Where do you stand? EDMONTON STORY (9/27/16)
Aquariums fight for people to care about warming, over-fished oceans This is a big deal. 71 percent of our world is covered in ocean water. Aquariums are uniquely situated to tell this important story. VANCOUVER STORY (9/26/16)
Groups worry about losing concession fundraising at new Mosaic Stadium This is not a good news story. Volunteer groups, many of them sports groups that can't raise funds in any other way, count on these concessions. I hope the folks at Mosaic change there minds. REGINA STORY (9/26/16)
Embracing Salesforce helped Toronto’s Furniture Bank support nearly 80% more people in only 2 years This is a great story about how an IT company is making a huge difference in the mission of an important charity. Nicely done Salesforce! TORONTO STORY (9/26/16)
Next University president tasked with innovative fundraising Jeepers. It's a tough gig being a university president. The current president of George Washington University, Steven Knapp, has raised $882 million, restructured the development office, and expanded fundraising responsibilities for deans. The next president has to be even more innovative in fundraising. (9/26/16)
Swinburne signs agreement with Harvard on Global Philanthropy Report Good news for Australian fundraisers. Swinburne has signed an agreement with the Ash Center for Democratic Government and Innovation at Harvard University to develop the Australian chapter of the Global Philanthropy Report. Swinburne University of Technology is an Australian public university based in Melbourne, Victoria. (9/26/16)
University of Calgary launches Legacy Society Nice! The UofC is now old enough to have its own planned giving society. Congrats. CALGARY STORY (9/23/16)
University of Maryland launches $75M philanthropy and leadership initiative The University of Maryland, College Park unveiled a $75 million "Do Good" Initiative and Institute, a program promoting student work in philanthropy, nonprofit management, public policy, social change and leadership. (9/22/16)
Reminders
- Donation Incentives: The Canadian Advantage Great reminders to all of us (fundraisers). News to some of us and, mostly unknown to most Canadians. Thanks to Andrea for sharing the link. CANADIAN STORY (9/16/16)
Life and career hacks
9 Ways to Think More Obliquely and Develop Your Ideas Great ideas and techniques on brainstorming. I am especially intrigued by #6. (9/24/16)
9 Ways To Reinvent Your Life This Week I found this refreshing. I am definitely trying #3 and #4 this week. (9/22/16)
Philanthropic controversy
- The Troubling Oil Money Behind Dartmouth’s New Energy Institute It is not often that we get a big controversy around philanthropy in Canada. This one deals with the $80 million contribution from Irving Oil to support Dartmouth College's Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society. Irving Oil and the Irving Family are deeply entrenched with and connected to the problems the institute hopes to solve. CANADIAN STORY (9/23/16)
Trends and shifts
- Are robo-advisors the future of philanthropy? Yep. You are reading this right. Robots advising top donors on their philanthropy. Nerdy right? Wrong word choice? Ok. Scary right? (9/22/16)
Large gifts
MU receives $1.7 million donation; most will go to Memorial Stadium expansion It has been a good month for Missouri University in Kansas City. An anonymous donor has given $1.7 million to the MU athletics department. Earlier this month, we shared a story where Misssouri University received $20 million from the Kansas City Sports Trust. (9/28/16)
Nike ups donation for Freeport field Nike has given the Tri-Town Track & Field Project another $350,000 to help build a synthetic turf field and track at Freeport High School in Maine. This is on top of the $1 million they have already pledged. The field will be named for Joan Benoit Samuelson of Freeport, who became the first Olympic women’s marathon champion in 1984. (9/28/16)
National Arts Centre receives record breaking $5 million donation What a lovely gift from Gail Asper. This gift is part of a $25 million fundraising campaign for the Centre. CANADIAN STORY (9/28/16)
Anonymous $1M donation to NorQuest to fund bursaries, subsidize childcare centre Nice! An anonymous $1 million donation to NorQuest College will be used to help support students through bursaries and subsidize parents using the school's childcare centre. EDMONTON STORY (9/28/16)
WSU celebrates $1.5M donation Wright State University will use this gift from Shirley and John Berry to help continue the consolidation of student services on campus. Wright State University is a public research university near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Fairborn, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton. (9/28/16)
St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor Receives $2M Donation for Cancer Services BY COREY COHOE An anonymous donor has given a $2 million donation to St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor to support cancer care services at the hospital, including research, treatment options, and support services. (9/27/16)
Oregon Shakespeare Festival receives $5 million donation, one of largest ever Roberta and David Elliott have given $5 million to endow the Festival's Artistic Opportunity Fund which allows the festival to pursue significant artistic opportunities. (9/27/16)
IHMC NAMES NEW BUILDING FOR LEVIN AFTER $1M DONATION The Institute for Human and Machine Cognition is an affiliated institute of the University of Florida. Pensacola attorney Fred Levin contributed $1 million towards the $8 million expansion. (9/26/16)
Northwestern Gets $10M Donation to Boost Business School, Startups The Christopher B. Galvin Family Foundation, headed up by former Motorola CEO Chris Galvin and his wife Cynthia Galvin, have announced a $10.25 million donation to the university. $10 million is an unrestricted donation to the Kellogg School of Management, and $250,000 will go toward NUseeds, a fund that makes seed investments in ventures launched by Northwestern students. (9/26/16)
SCE&G announces $1M donation to help needy pay utility bills South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. is providing $1 million to The Salvation Army of the Carolinas. This contribution will be put toward helping poor, elderly and disabled customers pay their utility bills. (9/26/16)
Banker Austin Marxe donates $30 million to CUNY’s Baruch College City University of New York’s Baruch College is getting a $30 million donation toward its school of public and international affairs. (9/25/16)
$66M record donation given to UVM medical school This is an expansion of a previous gift to the University of Vermont's medical school by Bob and Helen Larner. In addition to their previous gift of $19.7 million (which we recapped in April), the Larners have made a provision to donate an additional $46.3 million to the school after they die. (9/23/16)
Albright-Knox receives massive donation, changing name The Albright-Knox Art Gallery has received a record-setting donation of $42.5 million from investment firm founder and prominent art collector Jeffrey Gundlach. The gallery is located in Buffalo, N.Y. Mr. Gundlach is a billionaire investor often hailed as the new "bond king". (9/23/16)
Puff Daddy Pledges $1 Million Donation to Howard University He attended the university for two years but left before he graduated. They awarded him an honourary doctorate in 2014. His gift will be used to support The Sean Combs Scholarship Fund to help shape a new generation of entrepreneurial students. (9/23/16)
William & Mary Hall gets new name after couple’s historic donation Jane and Jim Kaplan’s donation was north of $20 million to support their alma mater, the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg Virginia. Jim Kaplan is the Chairman and CEO of Cornell Dubilier Electronics. (9/23/16)
$2.5 million donation will pay for business school auditorium at Wayne State University The Lear Corporation is making this gift to support the construction of an auditorium in the Mike Ilitch School of Business. (9/22/16)
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