 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Sign up to receive PND e-newsletters. |
|
| |
|
 |
|
Every week Connections presents fresh links to the best the Web has to offer on issues related to the changing world of philanthropy. Subscribe to our biweekly Connections newsletter and receive two weeks' worth of links delivered to you by e-mail. If you have an item you'd like to share, drop us a line at connections@foundationcenter.org.
July 3, 2009
Environment
America's Most Endangered Rivers
American Rivers has issued the 2009 edition of America's Most Endangered Rivers (4 pages, PDF), its annual report on the ten most endangered rivers in the country. Topping this year's list is the Sacramento-San Joaquin River System in California, which the report found is on the verge of collapse due to the outdated water and flood management systems in place. Indeed, water infrastructures — dams, levees, wastewater, and storm water systems — were found to be major issues for many of the rivers on the list, including the Flint River in Georgia (number two) and the Saluda River in South Carolina (number six). This year's report was funded by outdoor activities retailer Orvis.
July 1, 2009
Health
Global Status Report on Road Safety
Just in time for the Fourth of July weekend — one of the busiest on American roads — the World Health Organization has issued a report that examines the state of road safety in 178 countries around the world. Funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the report, Global Status Report on Road Safety (301 pages, PDF), found that of the estimated 1.27 million people who die in road traffic crashes every year, nearly half are pedestrians, motorcyclists, and cyclists. The report also found that only 57 percent of the world's countries — and 38 percent of low-income countries — have laws that require all car occupants to wear seatbelts, while fewer than a third meet basic criteria for reducing speed in urban areas. As a result of these and other factors, more than 90 percent of the world's road deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, despite their accounting for less than half the world's vehicles.
June 29, 2009
Civil and Human Rights
A Time to Build Up: An Analysis of the No on Proposition 8 Campaign and its Implications for Future Pro-LGBTQQIA Religious Organizing
A new report from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's National Religious Leadership Roundtable summarizes findings from an early 2009 gathering at which nearly three dozen religious community representatives discussed the passage of Proposition 8 in California. Funded by the Arcus Foundation, the report, A Time to Build Up: An Analysis of the No on Proposition 8 Campaign and Its Implications for Future Pro-LGBTQQIA Religious Organizing (25 pages, PDF), found that collaboration between secular and religious communities is of utmost importance in advancing the rights of the LGBTQQIA community. To that end, attendees recommended encouraging alliances between LGBTQQIA activists and pro-LGBTQQIA religious leaders and developing advocacy efforts that reflect the beliefs and values of both religious and secular LGBTQQIA advocates.
June 27, 2009
Education
What Does a College Degree Cost?: Comparing Approaches to Measuring Cost per Degree
The Delta Cost Project has issued a report that examines several methods for determining the costs of providing a bachelor's degree. Funded by the Lumina Foundation for Education's Making Opportunity Affordable initiative, the report, What Does a College Degree Cost?: Comparing Approaches to Measuring Cost per Degree (42 pages, PDF), found that, depending on method used, the direct and indirect costs of providing a bachelor's degree at a public college or university is between $25,000 and $40,000 — compared to the $35,000 to $70,000 that students pay, on average, for a degree. The report also found that degree costs varied widely according to a number of factors, including the student's major and the size of the institution.
June 25, 2009
Arts and Culture
Foundation Grants for Preservation in Libraries, Archives, and Museums
The Foundation Center and the Library of Congress have issued the second edition of a fundraising guide designed to help the nation's preservation community save at-risk historical and cultural artifacts for future generations. Published in consultation with Heritage Preservation, the latest edition of Foundation Grants for Preservation in Libraries, Archives, and Museums (125 pages, PDF) includes information on nearly 2,000 grants awarded by 488 foundations between 2004 and 2009 for projects related to preservation and conservation. The guide also offers links to additional information on funders via the Foundation Center's Foundation Finder tool.
June 23, 2009
Public Affairs
The Economic Future Just Happened
According to a report from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, more than half the companies on the 2009 Fortune 500 list — and nearly half those on the 2008 Inc. list of the nation's fastest-growing companies — were launched during a recession or bear market. The report, The Economic Future Just Happened (21 pages, PDF), found that although recessions often create widespread economic damage, the high unemployment rates typical of downturns frequently benefit entrepreneurs by allowing them to tap into a larger pool of potential employees. As a result, job creation by startup companies was found to be less volatile and sensitive to economic downturns than in other sectors of the economy.
June 21, 2009
Hispanics/Latinos
Latino Children: A Majority Are U.S.-Born Offspring of Immigrants
According to a recent report from the Pew Hispanic Center, Hispanics now comprise 22 percent of all children under the age of 18 in the United States — up from 9 percent in 1980. The report, Latino Children: A Majority Are U.S.-Born Offspring of Immigrants (17 pages, PDF), found that the number of second-generation Hispanic children — i.e., the U.S.-born sons or daughters of at least one foreign-born parent — has increased from about 30 percent in 1980 to 52 percent today, while the number of third-generation or higher Hispanic children has fallen from 60 percent to 37 percent. Based on an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data, the report also found that first- and second-generation Hispanic children were less likely than third- or higher-generation children to be fluent in English and more likely to live in poverty.
June 19, 2009
Philanthropy and Voluntarism
Pride Choice Awards 2009
In time for Gay and Lesbian Pride Month, GreatNonprofits, an organization that helps individuals find effective, well-run nonprofit groups, has launched a contest designed to highlight some of the best LGBTQ organizations in the country. For the Pride Choice Awards, the GreatNonprofits Web site will accept reviews of LGBTQ organizations until June 30, at which point the winners (i.e., the organizations that have received the highest ratings from readers) in eight geographic and budgetary categories will be announced. The reviews also will be featured on GuideStar.
June 17, 2009
Education
Building a Solid Foundation: How States and School Districts Can Use Federal Stimulus Funds to Support Proficiency by Third Grade
States have begun to receive the initial installments of the billions in economic stimulus funding that will be made available for education. To help ensure that the funds aren't wasted, the Education Policy Program at the New America Foundation has published an issue brief explaining how states and school districts can best utilize stimulus funds to institute lasting reforms in their public education systems. The brief, Building a Solid Foundation: How States and School Districts Can Use Federal Stimulus Funds to Support Proficiency by Third Grade, argues that states and school districts should prioritize the allocation of stimulus funds to reforms targeting students in pre-K through the third grade, with a focus on building a solid foundation in math, literacy, and social/emotional skills.
June 15, 2009
Health
Trends in Underinsurance and the Affordability of Employer Coverage, 2004-2007
According to a report published in the latest issue of Health Affairs, employer-sponsored health insurance has become less affordable for individuals at all income levels. Funded by the Commonwealth Fund, the report, Trends in Underinsurance and the Affordability of Employer Coverage, 2004-2007, found that the out-of-pocket (OOP) expenses of employer-sponsored health insurance enrollees increased by 34 percent during that period, affecting approximately 161 million Americans in all types of plans; that OOP spending rose 42 percent for the 1 percent of adults with the greatest medical expenses; and that 57 percent of the increase in OOP payments was the result of higher cost-sharing for medical services, while 43 percent was attributed to higher premium contributions.
June 13, 2009
Arts and Culture
Illinois Cultural Data Project
The Pew Charitable Trusts recently launched the Illinois Cultural Data Project, a data collection tool that enables arts and cultural organizations in the state to benchmark themselves against other groups and track financial performance trends. The project also will help researchers and policy makers better understand the cultural sector's assets, economic contributions, and needs. Funded by the Joyce Foundation, the project will collect data profiles from participating organizations at the end of each fiscal year and make the data available via customizable reports. Cultural data projects also have been implemented in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and California and could soon expand to a number of other states around the country.
June 11, 2009
Environment
Adaptation and Mitigation: Waking Up to the Reality of Climate Change
The Open Society Institute recently held an event featuring independent journalist and Open Society Fellow Mark Hertsgaard, who described his fellowship project on the need to adapt to the consequences of global warming while striving to minimize those consequences. You can find a podcast of the event, Adaptation and Mitigation: Waking Up to the Reality of Climate Change, on the OSI Web site.
June 9, 2009
Civil and Human Rights
Growing the Movement for Human Rights: An Evaluation of Libra Foundation's Grantmaking
The Chicago-based Libra Foundation, which works to advance human rights in the United States and around the globe, has issued a report that examines findings from a grantmaking evaluation the foundation undertook last year. The report, Growing the Movement for Human Rights: An Evaluation of Libra Foundation's Grantmaking (8 pages, PDF), found that although Libra's grantees largely supported the foundation's focus on human rights, roughly 16 percent of them expressed concern that the foundation had pushed them to use a human rights framework in ways that were inconsistent with their organizational goals. Other grantees also expressed a desire to have the focus on human rights combined with racial and/or gender justice frameworks.
June 7, 2009
International Affairs/Development
The 2009 Arab Public Opinion Poll: A View From the Middle East
Last month, the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution held an event to present the findings from a recent University of Maryland/Zogby International public opinion poll (59 pages, PDF) on perceptions of the United States and President Obama in the Middle East. Brookings has released video and audio of the event, at which Shibley Telhami, Saban Center non-resident senior fellow and principal investigator of the poll, discussed the results with James Zogby, founder and president of the Arab American Institute, and Marc Lynch, associate professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. While the results of the poll offer some hope that the United States can improve its relations with other countries in this critical part of the world, experts warn that a misstep on the part of the new U.S. administration could have negative repercussions throughout the region.
June 5, 2009
Public Affairs
Different Age Groups, Different Recessions
The economic downturn has affected different age groups in different ways, a new report from the Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends project finds. Based on a recent survey of nearly three thousand American adults, the report, Different Age Groups, Different Recessions (24 pages, PDF), found that older adults (age 65 and older) were less likely than younger (18 to 49) and middle-aged (50 to 64) adults to say that in the past year they have cut back on spending, suffered losses in their retirement accounts, or experienced trouble paying for housing or medical care. In contrast, about three-quarters of middle-aged adults and two-thirds of younger adults said that the current economic problems will make it more difficult for them to retire.
June 3, 2009
Education
Stimulating Excellence: Unleashing the Power of Innovation in Education
While Americans have become all too familiar with the global financial crisis, not enough of them are paying attention to the crisis that has been building in the nation's classrooms for decades. To defuse that crisis and reverse declining graduation rates, Stimulating Excellence: Unleashing the Power of Innovation in Education (44 pages, PDF), a new report from the American Enterprise Institute, Center for American Progress, New Profit, Public Impact, and the Annie E. Casey and Eli and Edythe Broad foundations recommends opening the K-12 public school system to a more diverse set of education providers, using public policy to encourage financing for entrepreneurial ventures, and developing and utilizing better metrics to help create a "performance culture" within the public education system.
June 1, 2009
Public Affairs
Job Training That Works: Findings From the Sectoral Employment Impact Study
Well-implemented sector-focused job-training programs can result in significant gains in employment and earnings for disadvantaged low-income workers, a new report from Public/Private Ventures argues. Funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the report, Job Training That Works: Findings From the Sectoral Employment Impact Study (12 pages, PDF), examined the impact of three programs — the Jewish Vocational Service, Per Scholas, and the Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership — on participants' total earnings, likelihood of employment, hours worked, hourly wages, and access to benefits and found that by working closely with specific industries and employers as well as providing integrated skills development and individualized services, the programs were able to achieve substantial gains. The reports' authors also recommend investing in flexible, sectoral job training; streamlining funding; and measuring and rewarding longer-term program outcomes.
May 30, 2009
Civil and Human Rights
Torture on Trial
A documentary produced by Link TV describes how the interrogation methods used by the U.S. military and CIA in the "war on terror" were authorized at the highest levels of the Bush administration. The documentary, Torture on Trial, features interviews with investigative journalists Jane Mayer and Mark Danner, who leaked a confidential International Committee of the Red Cross report characterizing the abuses as torture, as well as with military personnel who oppose the use of such methods. The documentary also highlights calls from Elisa Massimino, executive director of Human Rights First, and George Hunsinger, founder of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, for a full accounting of the Bush administration's role in authorizing the harsh treatment of key detainees. Funded by the Open Society Institute, the 30-minute vide can be viewed on the Link TV Web site.
May 28, 2009
Philanthropy and Voluntarism
Foundation Diversity Policies and Practices Toolkit
The California Endowment has published a Foundation Diversity Policies and Practices Toolkit (48 pages, PDF), the product of an effort to assess how diversity is being incorporated into the grantmaking and organizational practices of foundations across the country. While the toolkit does not detail best practices, it does offer a sampling of statements, forms, and templates developed by foundations to help other tax-exempt organizations in their inclusion efforts. Organized into five sections — policy statement, governance and workforce, grantmaking, contracting with vendors and consultants, and investments — the resource contains materials from a range of organizations, including the Foundation Center, the Minnesota Council on Foundations, and the Packard, MacArthur, Ford, Kellogg, and Rockefeller foundations.
May 26, 2009
Children and Youth
Federal Expenditures on Infants and Toddlers in 2007
The Urban Institute and Brookings Institution have issued a report that examines federal programs targeting infants and toddlers and calculates the amount spent under several of the programs. Funded by the Irving Harris Foundation and the Buffett Early Childhood Fund, the report, Federal Expenditures on Infants and Toddlers in 2007 (34 pages, PDF), found that despite extensive child-development research underscoring the importance of quality early-care and education programs for infants and toddlers, especially those living in poverty, only 7 percent of federal funding for children between birth and age 2 went toward such efforts in 2007.
|
|
|
|
print
e-mail
