Archive for the ‘Health’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Imagining A New Food Supply

Monday, February 14th, 2011

vegetable-garden-thomas-euler.jpg

(photo by Thomas Euler)

Did you see this? NYTimes foodman Mark Bittman is the kind of guy you want thinking about the food supply.

Says Mark:

“For decades, Americans believed that we had the world’s healthiest and safest diet. We worried little about this diet’s effect on the environment or on the lives of the animals (or even the workers) it relies upon. Nor did we worry about its ability to endure — that is, its sustainability.

That didn’t mean all was well. And we’ve come to recognize that our diet is unhealthful and unsafe. Many food production workers labor in difficult, even deplorable, conditions, and animals are produced as if they were widgets. It would be hard to devise a more wasteful, damaging, unsustainable system.”

Everyone needs food, so it’s funny (and okay, scary) that we have so little control over how our food gets to our plates. And like everything, food production has an economic story behind it.

Read Mark’s suggestions for shaking up the system, reclaiming our diets, and ensuring clean, nutritious food that’s good for us and the planet.

Donors Funding Again, But Younger Donors Fund Different Causes

Friday, February 11th, 2011

old-couple.jpg
credit: keithusc

Under 50? Then you’re not likely to be donating to your alma mater in 2011.

  • The recession hit everyone hard – including nonprofits and foundations. A study by The Chronicle of Philanthropy shows that big donations were way down in 2010, due mostly to fears about a “double-dip” recession and confusion about tax laws.
  • But so far in 2011, the economy is looking more stable and the tax code has finally been clarified. This may be the long-awaited make-up year for nonprofits that rely on funding from philanthropists.
  • Importantly, the study also revealed generational changes in giving styles. None of the big donors who made the list under 50 years of age donated to colleges or universities. Instead, they preferred to fund education, medical, human rights, and social entrepreneurial ventures.

Facts & Figures

  • Of Forbes magazine’s top 400 wealthiest Americans, only 17 appeared in the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s list of the most generous 54 donors
  • 9 people on the list donated more that $100 million in 2010, compared with 18 donors in 2006
  • The top two donors on the list were 80-year-old hedge-fund manager George Soros ($332 million) and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg ($279.2 million)
  • Mark Zuckerberg, the youngest donor to ever appear on the list, came in 10th place ($100 million)

Best Quote

“I can think of no less needy charity than Harvard. I have to struggle to think of anyone in my age group who has given big money to a traditional charity.” – Philanthropist Whitney Tilson on the new generation of philanthropy

What do you think?

Do you support the same causes as your parents? Do you give to the same organizations as your friends?


Strategies for Change, Part 1: Activism

Friday, January 28th, 2011

Welcome to our new series, showing you how the changes you want to see in the world actually happen.

Check out our other SfC shorts:

Strategies for Change: Introduction
Strategies for Change, Part 2: Advocacy
Strategies for Change, Part 3: Direct Service
Strategies for Change, Part 4: Education

Diana Ayton-Shenker: Fast Forward to a Better World

Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010

Diana Ayton-Shenker is uniquely* passionate about investing in social change… that is, literally investing in social change. She runs an organization that is all about hooking up young investors with worthwhile social venture projects. It’s one of those win-win-win endeavors.

We’ll let her tell you about it, in less than a minute:

* Fun fact: When Diana was 18, she saved up for a vacation in the sunny Soviet Union, where she spent her time meeting with human rights activists and Jewish Refuseniks.

How To Mess Up Your Holiday Giving

Monday, December 20th, 2010

It’s holiday giving time! People who – oops – forgot to donate to charity all throughout 2010 are now scrambling to give away enough money to score some sweet tax breaks before the end of the year. But according to some lady at the Wall Street Journal, there are a lot of stupid things you can do when you engage in last-minute philanthropy.

gift-house-by-howard-dickins.jpg
credit: howard dickens

Let us count the things you should not do, according to Ms. Shelly Banjo:

1. Give impulsively. Newsflash: Charities are falling over themselves trying to get your attention. Good for them, but don’t be a philanthropic sucker. Think about what’s really most important to you, decide how much you want to donate, and engage in some thoughtful charity.

2. Donate stock you’ve held for less than a year. Did you know you can donate stock to some organizations? Did you also know that you can only get a tax deduction for doing it if you’ve owned the stock for more than a year? Now you know.

3. Donate stock that’s lost a lot of value. You can actually claim the money you lost on that stock as a tax deduction, which might lower the taxes you have to pay on the investments that did make you money. If you hold onto the stock and donate cash instead, you get double the deductions!

4. Think you can claim the cost of a fundraiser ticket as a charitable donation. Okay, actually you can do this. But you can only claim the cost above what the ticket is actually worth. (So if you bought $1,000 Knicks tickets to benefit a charity, but the tickets are actually worth $200, you only get to claim the $800 as a donation.)

5. Donate stuff (instead of money) to an organization that won’t use it. This is something only your accountant understands. Basically, the amount you can write off on stuff donations depends on the mission of the organization you’re donating it to.

6. Donate something called a “gift annuity” when interest rates are really low (i.e. right now). Gift annuities are basically donations to charities that earn you a little money on the side. The charity keeps the money you’ve given them, but they pay you interest every year on the amount you donated. So low interest rates mean your payments will also be low.

7. Obsessively stick to charity ratings. Rating sites like CharityNavigator.org and GuideStar.org are helpful when it comes to sorting through the jillions of charities out there. But they can basically only give you numbers. (And numbers liiiiie!) It’s up to you to get the full picture before you shell out for a particular organization.

8. Give to a charity that rents or sells your personal information. (duh)

9. Donate to the wrong donor-advised fund. Donor-advised funds are a complicated way of pooling your money with other investors so that you all save big on taxes while your money or investments go to organizations you all believe in. You don’t have much control over where the money goes after you put it in the fund, so make sure you’re a believer before you join a specific donor-advised fund.

10. Don’t get insurance if you’re on the board of an organization. Congratulations! You’re on the board of an organization. Now you’re partially responsible if that organization does something stupid. Directors and officers insurance exist for a reason.

Now that you’re paying attention, here’s a picture of two Christmas cats hugging to get you in the philanthropic mood:

christmas-hugs-by-tuija2005.jpg
credit: tuija2005

Aww.

Facebook Founders Pledge To Give Away Most Of Their Assets

Thursday, December 9th, 2010

Why wait until you’re dead to make your mark on the world?

  • Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz are the latest billionaires to sign on to “The Giving Pledge.” They’re part of a growing number of wealthy individuals choosing to get involved in philanthropy while they’re still young.
  • The Giving Pledge was thought up by Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, who are on a joint mission to get other billionaires to donate the majority of their wealth to charity before they die.
  • Internet and technology billionaires like Gates and Zuckerberg have a special motivation to give – they’ve already built their wealth by trying to change the world.

Facts & Figures

  • More than 50 billionaires have signed onto the pledge so far
  • In 2008, donations in the U.S. totaled $315 billion; in 2009, that number fell to $303.75 billion
  • Zuckerberg recently pledged $100 million in donations to Newark public schools

Best Quote

“Wealth is an advantage, but it also is frankly a responsibility.” – Nicolas Berggruen, Investor, recently signed on to The Giving Pledge

Jumo Picks Up Where Facebook’s “Causes” Left Off

Monday, December 6th, 2010

Jumo.com wants to “do what Yelp did for restaurants.” But do people want to connect with nonprofits as badly as they want to eat tasty food?

  • Chris Hughes, one of Facebook’s founding fathers (and if you watch the movie, they’re alllll fathers), has started a new kind of social networking site all about connecting people to the issues they care about.
  • Jumo indexes charities, projects, and causes to help users learn about them. It also gives charities big and small easier access to potential supporters.
  • Users sign up with their Facebook account, so sharing donation announcements and favorite causes/ organizations with friends is easy. The site also has some familiar Facebooky features – users can share and comment on pages, and see which organizations their friends like.

Facts & Figures

  • Hughes was the Chief Digital Organizer for Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008
  • Only 9% of the $300 billion in donations in 2009 were submitted online
  • Jumo launched with over 3,000 issues and organizations on the site

Best Quote

“It’s still not clear whether or not followers translate to volunteers and donors. But people that are more engaged with nonprofits are most likely to become a donor or support them in another way.” – Steve MacLaughlin, Director of Internet Solutions at BlackBaud, a tech consultancy serving nonprofits

Budget Cuts Kill Hope For Arizona Transplant Patients

Friday, December 3rd, 2010

To help balance budgets, most states are trimming Medicaid benefits, but so far none have opted for denying people lifesaving transplants. That is, until now.

  • In October, Arizona stopped funding organ transplants for low-income patients relying on Medicaid (the state-funded healthcare program).
  • Transplants cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, but they’re the only hope of survival for many people. Doctors say these cuts are basically a death sentence for these patients, many of whom are already on a waiting list to receive an organ.
  • Some politicians are trying to reverse the situation, but the governor of Arizona, Republican Jan Brewer, blamed “Obamacare” (referring to the newly passed health care bill) for the cuts. Actually, Arizona voted to approve the measure before the national health care bill was signed into law.

Facts & Figures

  • The cuts affect roughly 100 people currently waiting for a transplant
  • Lung transplants, certain liver transplants, and some bone marrow and pancreas transplants will be discontinued, saving the state about $4.5 million
  • Private donors are now stepping in to help patients fund their operations

Best Quote

“I know times are tight and cuts are needed, but you can’t cut human lives. You just can’t do that.” –  Flor Felix, wife of denied liver transplant patient Francisco Felix

They Wanted The World To Change, So They Did It Themselves

Wednesday, October 20th, 2010

Ever been frustrated by how slow things are to change, when people are suffering right now? If you’re anything like the latest crop of social entrepreneurs, you may be able to turn your frustration into something much more meaningful.

  • Today’s social entrepreneurs are taking on the world’s problems a bit at a time. Their successes show that it’s not necessarily the biggest, wealthiest organizations who make the small incremental changes that matter.
  • These individuals tend to identify specific problems and then do whatever they can to meet the need. One invented microfinance. Another is focused on making menstrual supplies available where a woman’s period causes her to miss school and work. And another pressures U.S. companies to stop buying from African warlords, effectively funding terrorism and horrific violence directed at women in Congo.
  • They’re often naive at the beginning, expecting too much and consulting with local people too little. And success is never assured. But the rewards are real – both for entrepreneurs and the relatively small number of people whose lives they are changing.

Facts & Figures

  • DoSomething.org provided $100,000 to help 23-year-old Maggie Doyne build a school in Nepal.
  • Lisa Shannon carried 45,000 pennies to Intel’s headquarters, offering to pay the extra penny it would cost Intel to source their materials outside of Congo and avoid 45,000 more violent deaths at the hands of warlords.
  • $300 sends a Nepalese child to Maggie Doyne’s school, with health and dental care included.

Best Quote

“If your own children were born orphans in Nepal, you wouldn’t wait for the U.N. or the government to do something about it while they were hungry and cold and breaking rocks by the side of a riverbed.” – Maggie Doyne

Forget Traditional Fundraising. Let’s Grow Weed!

Wednesday, October 13th, 2010

Everyone had a theory about what would happen when California legalized marijuana for medical use, but growing it to fund an art foundation probably wasn’t on the list.

  • Using a small plot of land in Sonoma County, Kirsha Kaechele is experimenting with a way to fund arts programs in perpetuity by legally growing marijuana.
  • Some growers are already donating some of their profit to charities and creative causes, but Life is Art is hoping to use the marijuana farm as a consistent source of funding for a lifetime of homegrown art projects.
  • In November, California voters will consider a proposal to make marijuana legal for recreational purposes. Marijuana supporters who oppose the measure worry that expanding use will allow corporations to step in, put small growers out of business, and eliminate the potential for charitable growing.

Facts & Figures

  • Selling marijuana is still technically a crime under federal law.
  • An ounce of medical-grade marijuana sells for about $200 in the San Francisco Bay Area.
  • Art is Life plans to generate $1 million next year to pay for art projects based on the farm and in New Orleans.

Best Quote

“The whole game of finding support just started to seem so childish. So I decided to grow up and became a marijuana farmer.” – Kirsha Kaechele, Director of Art is Life Foundation

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »