Education

A philanthropic watchdog group is hoping to light a fire under charitable foundations that support education by releasing a report Wednesday that points out how few of them focus enough attention on helping the most needy students.

The study by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy said that only 11 percent of American foundations devoted at least half their grants to programs that benefit vulnerable students. It looked at 672 foundations that gave at least $1 million to educational causes from 2006 to 2008.

Seven California school districts on Monday said they are teaming up to push ahead with education reforms that previously failed to gain widespread traction with districts and unions throughout the state. The seven superintendents, which represent some of the state's largest school systems and more than 1 million students, announced the creation of a nonprofit organization called California Office of Education Reform.

The group will be launched with $3 million in donations from philanthropic foundations, including California Education Partners.

State money earmarked for public universities and colleges is buying students greater access to "real world" learning and creating partnerships between the institutions and nonprofit organizations. The state passes capital-improvement money through a given school to a nonprofit, requiring in return that the partners forge an agreement that benefits the college.

The Direct Marketing Educational Foundation (DMEF) today announced the election of new officers and 11 new members to its Board of Trustees for 2010-2011. The terms commenced earlier today at DMEF’s Annual Meeting, which was held at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, California.

The DMEF Board of Trustees elected Richard Hochhauser, former president and chief executive officer, Harte-Hanks, Inc., as chairman. A marketing veteran, Hochhauser retired from Harte-Hanks in 2008, after 33 years of service.

Two designated charities are already benefiting from the publicity generated by the mock rallies announced by Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert on their shows in recent weeks. The comedians have told supporters to donate money to help restore the park where the rallies will be held and to buy school supplies for classrooms in their community. So far, they’ve raised a total of $364,000.

On the eve of the first-ever White House Summit on Community Colleges, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Monday will announce a $34.8 million, five-year commitment to raise stagnant completion rates in the nation's two-year public institutions.

Wealthy black Americans are more likely to donate to educational institutions, religious organizations, and human-services groups than other affluent people, according to a new study.

Black donors who make at least $250,000 or who have $1-million in assets also tend to give anonymously and to nonprofits they know well, says Marguerite Griffin, national director of philanthropic services at Northern Trust Corporation, a financial-services firm in Chicago, which conducted the survey.

A billionaire philanthropist is backing Europe's first major school of government, which opens at Oxford University later today. Len Blavatnik, a Russian-American industrialist, has ploughed £75m into the venture so far and says he is prepared to offer more. The school, which will be launched with a message of support from the former US president Bill Clinton, aims to train outstanding graduates from around the world in the skills and responsibilities of government.

Penn State President Graham Spanier announced to the Board of Trustees (Sept. 17) the largest private gift in the University's history -- $88 million from Terrence M. and Kim Pegula to fund a state-of-the-art, multi-purpose arena and help to establish an NCAA Division I men's hockey program.

The gift paves the way for the creation of a Division I women's ice hockey program and enhanced figure skating opportunities.

The Warwick Foundation of Bucks County has made a gift of $29.8 million to Delaware Valley College as part of a $37 million final round of gift giving.

The gift includes a 398-acre property in Warwick, Pa., worth about $14.8 million that will become a second campus for the Doylestown, Pa.-based college; a $10 million endowment to maintain the new campus and fund its academic programs and initiatives; and $5 million in unrestricted funds.