--Meg Sommerfeld
Philanthropy at Independent Schools examines the roles of several key fund-raisers, from the development officer to trustees to the head of the school. It uses a fictional school, the Reynolds School, to create a portrait of the issues most schools face and the decisions they need to make.
The 105-page book identifies seven fund-raising trends. It suggests, among other developments, that private schools will increasingly rely on private gifts; that fund-raising will become more personalized, conducted face to face; and that school heads and trustees will have to devote more time to raising money.
Copies of the book are available for $18 each for NAIS members and $22 for nonmembers from the NAIS publication office at (202) 973-9749.
When most people think of foundations, they think of organizations that give grants, gifts that don’t need to be repaid.
But in an effort to “recycle” capital to more organizations, some funders also award low- or no-interest loans through a little-known device called “program-related investments.”
A new report from the New York City-based Foundation Center, “Program-Related Investments: A Guide to Funders and Trends,” explains how these revolving loans work and includes a directory of the 74 foundations that use them.
The Ford Foundation, also based in New York, pioneered the approach in the 1960s, making low-interest loans to groups for major projects like acquiring land or a building. These “soft loans” have paid for ventures from low-income-housing projects to minority-owned businesses, helping them generate additional capital.
For example, a $400,000 loan to Appalshop helped the Whitesburg, Ky., arts cooperative establish an investment fund for income-generating projects such as films, records, and performances. Actors from Appalshop’s Roadside Theater visit schools and other groups, presenting productions based on the oral histories of Appalachian residents.
About 20 percent of the organizations that receive such loans are education groups.
Copies of the guide are available for $45 each by calling the Foundation Center at (800) 424-9836. A videotape and a report on Ford’s two decades of providing such loans, “Investing for Social Gain,” are available free from the foundation by calling its publication office at (212) 573-5169.
