The Daily Tell

Non-profits suffering from the economic downturn received some good news today when two technology giants announced plans to increase software donations.

Adobe Systems and Inuit have announced intentions to give more technology assistance to qualified U.S.-based non-profits over the course of the year.

Both companies offer software donations via TechSoup Global, a company that collects requests for software from non-profits, screens the organizations, and facilitates the implementation of the product.

Acquiring technology solutions through this system may save non-profits thousands of dollars in IT costs, according to the companies’ joint statement.

Recognizing the critical role non-profits play in the economy, Adobe Systems felt it was an important time to expand its donations.

Michelle Mann, director of corporate social responsibility at Adobe says, "We know the non-profit community is dealing with a lot of challenges, especially in today’s economy. Through TechSoup, we can partner with non-profits to address these challenges."

In 2008, Adobe’s software donations totaled $27.9 million based on fair market value. The company has increased its donation by 50 percent.

Adobe’s software tools offer non-profits a way to promote its services and recruit donors and volunteers.

Intuit’s software donations are typically geared to organizations offering financial literacy training and small business development.

The company’s core software offerings help small businesses manage payroll, prepare and file taxes, and offers individuals personal finance tools.

Witnessing a significant increase in demand for its products, Intuit decided to boost giving by 250 percent this year.

"The more we can help non-profits in this downturn, the more we also are helping small businesses and entrepreneurs that often benefit from training and support offered by non-profits," according to Samantha Leach, Intuit’s program manager for strategic philanthropy.

With the global economy continuing to sag, companies are cutting back on a number of things that had become staples of industry – from selling corporate jets to cancelling parties and other events. But some industry experts say corporate social responsibility is one area businesses shouldn’t cut back on.

However, in order for some companies to continue to act responsibly, Geoffrey Heal, a Columbia Business School professor, says they must see it as helping to meet the company’s bottom line.

"Since the concept of CSR became popular, there’s never been a recession like the one we’re going into right now," Heal told The Big Money. "Profits are going to be very hard to come by for many corporations. If they see CSR as contributing to their bottom line, they’ll continue to act responsibly. If they see CSR as a kind of a PR campaign, they’ll probably cut back on it."

The website also spoke with a number of fund managers who said that companies who act responsibly see their funds perform more positively over time. In fact, over a three to five-year period, companies with more positive practices geared towards society and the environment have lower risk, said some experts.

"This isn’t just a small group of tree-huggers on the left," Joe Keefe, the president and chief executive of Pax World Funds told the website "We think these types of investments are smart investments."

The continuation of corporate responsibility would seem to fall in line with the efforts of consumers across the country. The 2009 Cone Consumer Environmental Survey found that 35 percent of Americans have a greater interest in the environment today than they did a year ago.

Those interests are also translating into consumers’ opinions of corporations with 70 percent of respondents saying they are paying attention to what companies are doing in regard to the environment now, even if they do not intend on buying their products until sometime in the future.

Tyler Perry, the actor and director best known for his role as Madea, not only had the top movie at the box office this weekend, but he gave back to his Atlanta, Georgia community as well.

Last week Covenant House Georgia announced Perry donated $110,000 to the Atlanta-based homeless shelter along with a new 15-passenger van.

Maxine Shoulders Brandon, Covenant House Georgia CEO, says Perry’s donation will have a far-reaching effect for the shelter.

“A donation of this caliber from Mr Perry is the beginning of exponential growth for services at Covenant House Georgia,” says Shoulders Brandon. “When we are able to reach more homeless youth on the streets and provide more services to the kids in our care, there will be fewer homeless that sleep under the bridge and on the streets. At Covenant House we give our youth the tools of self-sufficiency, not a handout.”

Perry is familiar with the work Covenant House Georgia does as he experienced homelessness first hand before finding success.

According to Forbes magazine, Perry earned $125 million last year. Even prior to this weekend’s gross of more than $40 million, Perry’s movies have earned in excess of $250 million, according to the magazine.

Yvonne P. Forbes, director of development for the shelter said Perry’s philanthropic effort comes at a time when it is the most needed. Forbes told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the 15-bed facility has regularly seen up to 18 children a night in need of a place to sleep.

“[The donation] didn’t exactly fall out of the sky,” Hudson told the paper. “It was just a matter of letting Mr. Perry know we were here. Once he heard about our work not very far from his studio, his contributions arrived. But the timing could not have been better.”

A website for tweens, pre-adolescents between the ages of eight and 12, is teaching young people the importance of caring, compassion and giving to those less fortunate.

Known as Generaton Cures (www.kids.generationcures.org), the website was developed by Children’s Hospital Boston as a way to provide safe, educational and fun online content for tween-agers. The website encourages kids and their families to raise funds for research to help children with debilitating diseases.

“Our goals are ambitious: to provide kids with an educational and inspiring online destination that teaches them about giving in fun ways and empowers them to make a big difference for other kids,” said Jan Cady, chief philanthropy officer at Children’s Hospital Boston.

The free website incorporates original videos, interactive games and animated cartoons, in what has been recognized by several family and web organizations as an innovative approach to e-philanthropy and health care. Recently, Generation Cures was recognized with eight awards, including the 2009 Mom’s Choice Gold award for the best web resource for children and best philanthropic product or service.

In an increasingly web-driven world, where even young children spend much of their free time on the internet, the website aims to teach kids important life lessons about helping others and what it means to be a member of a community, Cady said.

Companies, families and individuals inspired by the true stories featured in the online videos at the site are encouraged to make donations to fund pediatric research. Although children make up 20 percent of the U.S. population, only a fraction of the nation’s funding for medical research is directed toward pediatric illnesses, according to Children’s Hospital Boston.

A newly mounted solar energy tracking system at a Napa Valley vineyard is set to make an impact both at the winemaker and on the sustainable energy practices at vineyards statewide.

J. Lohr Vineyards & Wine made public yesterday its three acre state-of-the-art solar tracking array this is said to be the largest in the wine industry.

According to the vintner, the new system is designed to compensate for 75 percent of the energy usage at its Paso Robles, California site.

“With numerous sunny days, Paso Robles isn’t just ideal for producing rich and flavorful Bordeaux and Rhone-style wines,” said Steve Lohr, senior vice president of planning and development with the winery, “it is also perfect for producing clean, renewable energy.”

The new solar array system was designed and installed by Conenergy, a key industry figure in worldwide solar projects.

The energy produced by the new array will help cut CO2 emissions by tens of thousands of tons over the next 25 years. To paint a more vivid picture, it is the equivalent of planting 512 acres of trees, says the winemaker.

“Owning our own solar tracking array is another important step in our commitment to environmentally-conscious practices. In our own way, we are working to protect the very climate that nurtures our grapes, while contributing to efforts that reduce the need for drilling off our spectacular coast,” Lohr says.

In addition to the new solar tracking system, J. Lohr Vineyards & Wine limits its use of chemicals, practices erosion control and water conservation, and uses organic soil amendments.

The California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance has commended the winery for its track record on “environment responsibility” and by inspiring the larger winemaking community with its most recent efforts to harness solar power.

Celebrities and couture grab headlines during Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, but world renowned fashion designer Giorgio Armani made an even bigger splash at his new store opening.

Welcoming guests to his new Fifth Avenue store, the evening took a unique twist when the fashion icon announced a grand philanthropic gesture to help arts programs at New York City public schools.

According to the New York Times, the Italian designer announced a donation of $1 million to the Fund for Public Schools.

Caroline Kennedy, a vice chairwoman of the foundation, and New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg were on hand to applaud the announcement.

Kennedy called the donation, which will fund the Armani Arts Institution, the largest single donation by any retailer, reports the newspaper.

With an already burgeoning fashion house, Armani hopes his new investment will create ample opportunity for young creative minds.

“What excites me most is that we are not just providing the wood for the dance floors and the oil paints for our future artists. More importantly, we are giving young kids a chance to dream,” Fashion & Runway quotes the designer as saying.

The Fund for Public Schools has worked to raise over $230 million in private business, individual, and foundation donations that will support public education reform citywide, according to the non-profit’s website.

Bloomberg praised the new donation as a key step forward for school reform in Manhattan.

“Giorgio Armani’s grant will go a long way towards expanding our efforts to bring quality arts education to all New York City public school students, and it exemplifies the importance and power of The Fund for Public Schools,” Fashion & Runway quotes the mayor as saying.

It’s always exciting for a group of kids when a professional athlete stops by to talk to them, but when he brings along a donation of laptops it’s even better.

Yesterday, Tom Brady, quarterback of the NFL’s New England Patriots, visited the West End Boys & Girls Club outside Boston, Massachusetts and announced he would be donating 1,000 laptops to be distributed in six New England states and 31 countries.

The donation is part of Brady’s participation with Nicholas Negroponte’s One Laptop Per Child campaign which strives to get the low cost XO laptop into the hands of underprivileged children throughout the world.

Brady has firsthand experience seeing the computers being used by underprivileged children in Uganda, where his sister Nancy is working with children.

“I have a sister who’s been in Africa for the past five months,” Brady said yesterday. “She’s in a classroom in Uganda and the children there have just received their laptops. It’s exciting for me to be here to show some support and create some awareness for what Nicholas [Negroponte] has done.”

The XO Laptop costs about $100 and has a color screen and wireless router which allows children in remote parts of the world access the internet. According to the foundation, the laptop uses such little electricity that it can be powered by hand, making it ideal for areas of the world without electricity.

“Our constituency is the over 1.2 billion children in primary school around the world, half of which do not have electricity, either at home or at school,” said Negroponte. “That’s where we work, primarily.”

Negroponte, who joined Brady at the Boys & Girls Club yesterday, said the foundation has been focusing most of its efforts outside of the U.S. – a big difference from the way most new products would be marketed.

An industry leader in the fruit and frozen goods sector has teamed up with a non-profit organization committed to collecting and redistributing surplus medical supplies to help out those in need throughout Latin America.

Dole Ocean Cargo Express, the shipping arm of the well known food company and MedShare announced their partnership today, but made their inaugural shipment to Honduras in December 2008.

MedShare collected surplus medical equipment and supplies from manufacturers and hospitals while Dole executed the shipment of these products to a health clinic in rural Honduras that reaches 40,000 needy patients.

“The clinic in Honduras lacks the necessary medical supplies needed for proper patient care – supplies that are in abundance here in America,” according to MedShare Western Region executive director Chuck Haupt.

Included in the shipment transported by the produce giant was 13,000 pounds of supplies including latex gloves, surgical kits, syringes, and even hospital beds.

The clinic on the receiving end of the shipment was originally set up by the ENLACE Foundation in Indiana.

In addition to treating area residents, the facility will also be used to train Honduran physicians and medical student from Indiana University.

MedShare’s mission of collecting unused supplies and delivering them to economically developing countries is twofold.

According to the charity organization, since 1998, it has “shipped over $50 million worth of surplus medical supplies and equipment to hospitals and clinics around the world while saving over a million cubic feet of landfill space.”

In January of this year, MedShare has delivered supplies to Korea, Vietnam, and Nigeria, according to its company newsletter.

Dole, in addition to serving as MedShare’s partner in this Latin America outreach, maintains an active portfolio of socially responsible initiatives including environmental and nutrition programs.

The rise of social media technologies could be a boon for charitable giving, as websites like Facebook and ammado.com connect users to the causes of their choice.

Ammado, founded in 2005 to connect corporate social responsibility efforts to non-profit organizations, expanded its offerings in December to provide a platform for companies to connect their employees and customers with philanthropic endeavors.

A company can also set up giving programs for employees, clients and customers through a program called the ammado Giving Circle, which allows participants to give micro donations to non-profits in 33 different currencies. Cofounder Dr. Anna Kupka said the feature engages employees to choose their own causes.

“Traditionally corporate giving means that management decides how corporate funds are distributed,” Kupka said. “We wanted to bring it back to the individual level of the employee or customer and let them decide which causes they want to support.”

Similar to social networking websites like Facebook and MySpace, ammado users have access to their own unique profile page, which they can use to connect to other individuals, causes, or companies.

The Giving Circle is represented on users’ profiles by a multi-colored wheel where each color represents a charity category, such as disabilities, the environment, or human rights. Visitors can see what percentage of a user’s donations go to which category and the names of charities a user has donated to, along with links that allow visitors to donate to that cause.

Not to be outdone, Facebook has also added a causes application that allows its 175 million users to connect to their favorite charities, make donations online and invite friends to join their cause. More than 22 million Facebook users have already registered with the causes application, according to the website.

A law intended to promote economic recovery might have ended up hurting non-profit hospitals that provide free care for indigent patients, had a provision in the stimulus bill not been changed at the last hour.

The Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP), alarmed by the implications of the little-known provision, notified lawmakers that it would have seriously damaged philanthropic fundraising efforts by nonprofit hospitals, the association said.

Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), non-profit hospitals and their foundations are allowed to seek donations from individuals who have been patients in their hospitals. For reasons unclear to the AHP, language in the stimulus bill would have reneged that authority.

William C. McGinly, AHP president and chief executive officer, warned in a letter to lawmakers that fewer philanthropic dollars would come into non-profit hospitals, straining operating budgets and financial resources. The ultimate result would have been cuts in free services to the poor such as clinics, mammography screenings, hearing tests, and child immunizations, he added.

“With the nation in a recession and America’s health care needs increasing, now is not the time to impose obstacles to philanthropic fundraising that do nothing to enhance patient privacy and will ultimately diminish and discourage philanthropy,” McGinley said.

The final version of the bill included new language that will strengthen the opt-out requirements regarding written communications to patients and their families. In a separate section of the legislation, the committee also included language that increases the penalties for HIPAA violators.

Americans donated $8.35 billion last year to non-profit hospitals and health systems, according to AHP’s Report on Giving 2007. Almost 83 percent of all donors were individuals, including many grateful patients, AHP said.