I started my fundraising career almost 25 years ago. Like most people during those days, I learned on the job. It was something that I “chose” to be or to do. It was a necessity to keep the organization operating. Back in those days, one did not have access to such detailed and informative training. In fact, we didn’t even have databases; we still used index cards...
Legendary investor William H. "Bill" Miller III has committed a record $75 million to the Johns Hopkins University Department of Philosophy to broaden and intensify faculty research, graduate student support and undergraduate study of philosophical thought. The gift is believed to be by far the largest ever to a university philosophy program. It is also…
A philanthropy started by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan has awarded a $5.5 million grant to the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Center for Data Science to create a free tool that would make millions of published scientific and medical findings easily accessible to researchers worldwide. The project, called Computable Knowledge, would…
Jeffrey P. Bezos, founder of Amazon and owner of The Washington Post, announced that he is donating $33 million to a scholarship fund for young “dreamers,” immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children. The donation from the world’s wealthiest person comes amid fresh pressure from business leaders as talks on Capitol Hill over how…
Each year, many young professionals contact me through a variety of ways. In late 2017, several contacted me through coffee sessions, job interviews, visits at special events, AFP lunches, CFRE interactions, contacts as a favor from a colleague, etc. These individuals are either in the nonprofit field or deciding whether to pursue a nonprofit career...
On Christmas Eve 2017, I was driving on Interstate 64 near Charleston, West Va., when I passed the Dunbar exit. At that moment, I mentioned to my wife the impact of my former professor and how that individual affected me academically like no other in my life. She knew every time I would pass that exit, I would say the same thing. I told her I had recently sent a Christmas card like I always do to Dr. Jack Yeager. Dr. Yeager’s influence on me was profound...
The University of Delaware is embarking on an ambitious $750 million capital campaign, university officials announced Thursday. The fundraising effort will go toward a variety of projects, including the recently created Biden Institute, additions to the STAR Campus and long-awaited upgrades to Delaware Stadium. "This campaign is about a comprehensive and bold vision for the…
The Craig H. Neilsen Foundation will donate $47.5 million for a new, state-of-the-art rehabilitation hospital as part of the redevelopment and modernization of the University of Utah’s health sciences campus. The 75-bed hospital, to be named the Craig H. Neilsen Rehabilitation Hospital, will be one of the most advanced rehabilitation facilities in the nation and…
“You ought to leave the world better than you found it,” engineer Allen Davis was known to say. And he did: Davis, who passed away at age 91 in 2015, left more than $60 million from his estate to Caltech. Aiming to advance science and education for the benefit of humankind, Davis directed his bequest to…
A flood of money is pouring into the state’s top schools as the University of Chicago and University of Illinois have landed some of their largest-ever single donations within a week of each other. Ken Griffin, the richest man in Illinois, committed $125 million to U. of C.’s economics department, university leaders will announce Wednesday. It…
