Investment Returns: Time to Lower Expectations
The bull market of the past six years may have grant makers counting on 8 or 9 percent gains; longer-term trends suggest those expectations are unrealistic.
By Ben Gose
Senior Editor
How The Chronicle Compiled Its 2015 Report on Nonprofit Endowments
Find information on 298 nonprofit organizations, including how 233 of those endowments are invested across eight asset classes.
By Peter Olsen-Phillips
Contributor
Large endowments that are never spent shouldn’t be allowed to accumulate, tax-free.
By Michael Ryan Fricke
Contributor
Silicon Valley Flexes Its Muscles — Again
The announcement by Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, that they will dedicate nearly all of their Facebook stock to doing good marks another milestone in the rise of technology titans as major forces in philanthropy.
Gates Is Spearheading Multibillion-Dollar Clean-Energy Effort
As landmark U.N. climate talks get under way in Paris on Monday, Bill Gates is set to announce a global fund backed by governments and philanthropy to research and develop new clean-energy technologies, Greenwire and The New York Times report.
Lilly Fund Gives $100 Million to Indiana Arts Groups
The Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment made grants of $5 million to $10 million aimed at boosting the long-term financial stability of 14 cultural organizations in its home state, reports The Indianapolis Star.
Colo. Shooting Further Roils Planned Parenthood Debate
The killing of three people Friday by a gunman at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colo., could escalate the political battles in Congress and on the presidential campaign trail over the women’s health nonprofit, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal write.
Senate Panel Scrutinizing Private Art Museums’ Tax Breaks
The Senate Finance Committee is seeking financial and operational information from several galleries and museums opened by wealthy art collectors to determine whether the centers provide enough public benefit to justify their tax exemptions, writes The New York Times.
Planned Parenthood Goes to Court in Tex. Over Medicaid Funds
Texas is the latest in a series of Republican-led states the nonprofit has sued this year for seeking to block federal reimbursements to its clinics for non-abortion health services, reports The New York Times.
Box-Office Slide Tightens Belts at Philadelphia Orchestra
The orchestra saw attendance and ticket sales decline in the 2014-15 season and has cut spending to balance its budget for the current year, writes The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Okla. Man Guilty of Defrauding Alzheimer’s Charity
A friend of former University of Arkansas football coach Frank Broyles was convicted Monday for fraud over a print job for Mr. Broyles’ Alzheimer’s-focused charity, reports the Tulsa World.
Buffett Grandson’s Investment Firm to Focus on Social Good
Howard Warren Buffett, the grandson of billionaire financier and philanthropist Warren E. Buffett, has launched an operating company that will capitalize firms aiming to tackle social problems, The New York Times reports.
Post-‘Grand Bargain,’ Detroit Museum Tackles New Challenges
The Detroit Free Press looks at the state of the Detroit Institute of Arts and its effort to raise endowment funds a year after the city emerged from bankruptcy via an agreement in which the museum was a linchpin.
Ore. Donor Must Pay Taxes on Nonprofit’s Political Spending
A federal court has found a major Oregon political contributor liable for excise levies on money his charitable foundation spent on election ads, reports Willamette Week.
Court in India Stays Government Order Against Greenpeace
Greenpeace India said the court ruling blocked a government move to cancel the environmental group’s right to operate in the country, pending a final verdict on authorities’ allegations of financial impropriety, reports the Associated Press.
Ga. Investigating Claim That Children’s Home Deceived Donors
State charity regulators have launched an inquiry into an Atlanta-area home for foster children that solicted hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations after ostensibly shutting down, according to Atlanta television station WSB.