Private and family foundations increased their charitable giving for the second year in a row during 2021, following the well-documented ramping up in response to the pandemic and racial justice movement. Giving by grantmaking foundations in 2021 rose by 6.1% as compared with 2020, according to a year-over-year analysis of giving by nearly 1,000 foundations with total assets between $1 million and $500 million. Foundation…

It is hard to imagine Apple and Samsung collaborating on anything other than court dates, but an eBay auction by former Apple employee Sam Sung of his Apple business card, employee t-shirt and lanyard raised C$1,152 (roughly US$890) for the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre of Vancouver, which provides safe spaces for women and children in Vancouver, BC. The Apple business card, which lists the former…

Private foundations generated average annual returns of 9.7% during the past 10 years, while community foundations realized returns of 9.2% during the same period. Both rates were boosted by recent strong gains, and marked the highest average annual rates of returns during the past decade, according to data in the 2021 Council on Foundations – Commonfund Study of Investment of Endowments for Private and Community…

Private foundations generated average annual returns of 9.7% during the past 10 years, while community foundations realized returns of 9.2% during the same period. Both rates were boosted by recent strong gains, and marked the highest average annual rates of returns during the past decade, according to data in the 2021 Council on Foundations – Commonfund Study of Investment of Endowments for Private and Community…

The Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) has received $50 million in potential funding from new funders for its Diagnostics Accelerator initiative. The new funding brings the project’s total capital to $100 million, which will be used to develop new tests for early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and related conditions. The Diagnostics Accelerator was launched in 2018. The new funders include Biogen, Eli Lilly & Company, the…

Community foundations — public charities that support specific geographic areas through pooled donations — have pulled back on their anticipated spending policies. Only 13% anticipated making changes to their expenditures, down from 20% during the last two years and well below the 28%, 35% and 33% seen three, four and five years ago. The apparent reluctance to make changes reflects an overall tentative approach: a…

Almost two years after his death, on what would have been his 82nd birthday, Congressman John Lewis’ vision of a foundation to focus on “purposeful living and civic engagement,” is realized. The John and Lillian Miles Lewis Foundation (JLMLF) launched last month on what would have been the late civil rights icon’s 82nd birthday, Feb. 21. The Atlanta-based foundation was conceived by Lewis before he…

National standards for community foundations on inactive accounts, a minimum 5% annual payout of assets held in donor-advised funds (DAF), and expanding charitable giving were among the recommendations issued by a group of community foundation leaders working to address issues around the fastest growing area of philanthropy. The Council on Foundations (CoF) convened the Strengthening Community Philanthropy Ad Hoc Working Group to develop recommendations that…

A new nonprofit newsroom will be coming to the nation’s fourth-largest city by next year, with more than $20 million in seed funding from local philanthropies in Houston. Investments for an initial period of three years will come from philanthropic sources, including: Houston Endowment, $7.5 million Kinder Foundation, $7.5 million Arnold Ventures, $4 million American Journalism Project (AJP), $1.5 million John S. and James L.…

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced the addition of four new board members, with potential future expansion to nine members, in its latest annual letter, the first from the foundation’s new chief executive officer. Clocking at more than 3,000 words, the annual letter touches on a variety of topics, including efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic and expanding efforts to get resources to underserved…

Anti-poverty nonprofit the Stand Together Foundation unveiled a nationwide push to invest more than $7 million to support as many as 500 nonprofit organizations and leaders in its Catalyst Program by 2025. The foundation has since 2016 committed $100 million to fuel innovation to build stronger, safer communities where all people can learn, contribute, and realize their full potential, according to information in the announcement. “We look for community leaders…