Foundations
December 31, 2015 at 10:51 am
Bruce Fenton, executive director at the Bitcoin Foundation, opened the company's Dec. 15 board meeting with a sense of urgency: “We need additional funds if we wish to retain employees.” The numbers didn’t look good. In two years, the foundation had seen at least $7 million evaporate. As of Nov. 30, its total assets stood at $12,553.06. To…
December 23, 2015 at 9:27 am
Charity Navigator, one of the nation's two largest watchdog groups for charities, has removed the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation from its "watch list," lifting a cloud from the global philanthropy. The organization had placed the foundation on its watch list in April. The foundation contested the ranking at the time, and Charity Navigator…
December 22, 2015 at 9:57 am
Sue Desmond-Hellmann has worn many hats over the course of her career. She's the rare executive who's spent time in private practice, worked for two major U.S. pharmaceutical corporations, served as chancellor of a top university and now, helmed the world's largest private foundation. As CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation since last…
December 9, 2015 at 10:42 am
The Pittsburgh Foundation raised more than $1 million to fight homelessness Tuesday in record time—four hours. This week marks the foundation's third Critical Needs Alert fundraising campaign. The focus is on solutions to addressing homelessness and housing insecurity. The online donation portal PittsburghGives.org opened at 8 a.m. By noon, more than 1,200 individual donors had…
December 7, 2015 at 10:08 am
If you’ve been on Wikipedia at any point last week, you probably noticed a dramatic, black-and-yellow banner plastered atop your screen: “DEAR WIKIPEDIA READERS,” it begins in all caps—before launching into a desperate, paragraph-long pitch for money. The banner heralds the start of the Wikimedia Foundation’s December fundraising drive, an annual Internet tradition as reliable…
December 4, 2015 at 11:02 am
Two days after announcing plans to donate $45 billion over time to his family foundation, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg responded to criticism about his philanthropic ambitions. In a Facebook post on Thursday, he pushed back against accusations that he had structured his foundation, not so much as a charity, but as a vehicle for evading…
December 2, 2015 at 10:41 am
Mark Zuckerberg will put 99 percent of his Facebook Inc. shares, currently worth about $45 billion, into a new philanthropy project focusing on human potential and equality, he and his wife said Tuesday in a letter to their newborn daughter. The plan, which was posted on the Facebook founder and CEO's page, attracted more than…
November 25, 2015 at 9:25 am
The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation has partnered with GoDaddy Inc. to offer one of the largest matching campaigns in the history of veteran nonprofits. The Scottsdale, Arizona-based Parsons nonprofit, led by GoDaddy founder, entrepreneur and philanthropist Bob Parsons and his wife, will match up to $10 million to the Semper Fi Fund this holiday…
November 18, 2015 at 9:32 am
Flint, Mich., faces a $12 million cost to replace its lead-contaminated water system, and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation will pay a third of the price. “When we saw blood levels in children exceeded safety standards, we just said we have to come to the table,” said Ridgway White, president of the foundation, which has…
November 17, 2015 at 10:14 am
The Clinton Foundation filed its 2014 tax return, and amended its filings for 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. In a highly structured statement, foundation president Donna Shalala explained that this was all voluntary. Besides, she noted, it all came about because of an error in 2010 to 2013 filings. The updated returns can be found…
