The Daily Tell

With the BP Oil disaster still fresh in the minds of many, donations to environmental agencies have seen a dramatic upswing over the past few months. Most recently, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation has awarded a grant worth $3.1 million to three separate environmental agencies: Defenders of Wildlife, Natural Resources Defense Council and The Wilderness Society.

The three organizations all promote wildlife-friendly and environmentally responsible renewable energy development. With the grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, which will be given over three years, the organizations will work together to influence administrative and legislative processes related to renewable energy siting.

"The ultimate objective should be a uniform, predictable and proactive approach to renewable energy siting and to land conservation that protects wildlife and wild lands while allowing renewable energy production to ramp up quickly," said Andrew Bowman, director of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Scholar at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies Jim Lyons will lead the project as a senior director. According to Lyons, the grant will allow them to represent nature in the development of national policies for renewable energy.

The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation has made it the organization’s goal to enhance people’s lives through grants that support all aspects of society, such as performing arts, environmental conservation, medical research and the prevention of child maltreatment.

Another environmental agency that received a major donation in June was the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. The Foundation Center reports the environmental agency is using $2.5 million received from BP Oil to develop wetland habitat for migratory birds that are affected by the Gulf Coast oil spill. The NFWF will acquire private lands from local farms to construct the new homes for the birds.

The Board of Directors at the Boston Foundation has approved the distribution of nearly $30 million in grants that will be given to regional nonprofit organizations. The grants will go to organizations that fit the foundation’s four core areas of concentration: health reform, arts and culture, economic security and nonprofit management.

One thing that the Boston Foundation addressed with its grants is health reform. In an effort to encourage active habits and increase access to healthy food and opportunities for physical activity, the foundation gave grants to Share our Strength, Playworks, Victory Programs ReVision Farm, Sportsmen’s Tennis Club and the Greater Boston Food Bank. The activities of these five organizations, which provide physical education and food to young people, will be boosted by grants worth between $30,000 and $300,000.

Boston is home to a broad number of cultures, and supporting the region’s diverse heritage is another goal of the Boston Foundation. Grants between $50,000 and $625,000 will be awarded to organizations such as the YMCA of Greater Boston and Arts Boston to fund performances as well as art education programs.

To promote the development of the region’s low-income individuals, the Boston Foundation also announced it would be supporting several employment services, such as Boston Employment Service/STRIVE and Massachusetts Coalition for Adult Education. Grants worth $110,000 to $300,000 will be given to these organizations to help the city’s residents gain economic freedom.

Finally, the organization issued a one-year grant worth $40,000 to Third Sector New England, which will support its online Nonprofit Management 101 course.

The Foundation Center reported earlier this year that the Boston Foundation distributed nearly $3 million in grants in the first quarter of 2010. These grants comprised a mix of general operating and program-based support.

Based in Flint, Michigan, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation is dedicated to supporting efforts that promote a just, equitable and sustainable society. The foundation has established grants intended to enhance the capacity of individuals, families or institutions at the local level and beyond. The Foundation hopes that its collective work in any program area could lead toward systematic change.The four areas of focus are Civil Society, Environment, Flint Area, and Pathways Out of Poverty.

I recently got an email from the Mott Foundation directing me to a series of fantastic South Africa-based philanthropy essays. The email read:

“As the excitement and drama of the World Cup Games continues to engage audiences worldwide, The Mott Foundation invites you to take a deeper look at South Africa from the perspective of the nonprofit organizations it funds and the daily struggles faced by those trying to fulfill the promise of democracy and social justice for all South Africans.

“Beyond the Games: Reflections from South Africa during the World Cup” is a four-week blogging project featuring guest writers representing a wide range of nongovernmental organizations in communities from Cape Town to Durban to Rustenburg. The Mott World Cup bloggers include:

Ela Gandhi

The granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi, a former member of South Africa’s Parliament and current editor of Satyagraha magazine, who examines the positive and negative effects of the World Cup games on the ordinary people of South Africa.

Saeanna Chingamuka

A young feminist in a democratic South Africa who works for Gender Links, an organization that is using the World Cup games to raise awareness of women’s rights and gender-based violence.

Fr. Michael Lapsley

Director of the Institute for Healing of Memories in Cape Town, which provides victims of South Africa’s tragic past with a “safe and sacred place” where they can explore their personal histories and find emotional release.”

These are just a few of the essays…there are several more. Check it out!

Supporters of sustainable energy have scored a touchdown with a new system photovoltaic energy system that is being installed in the 1.3-million square-foot Patriot Place. The complex, located in Foxborough, Massachusetts, encompasses Gillette Stadium as well as dozens of dining and shopping locations.

Home to the three-time Super Bowl Champions New England Patriots, Gillette Stadium uses more than 1,500 kilowatts of electricity. The new solar panel arrangement will generate approximately 525 kilowatts of power, reducing the amount of electricity used by the stadium and surrounding establishments by more than 33 percent.

This is possible thanks to the Evergreen Solar panels used for the project. The panels are constructed using with a "string ribbon" process, Solar Novus explains. The technology, developed at the nearby Massachusetts Technical Institute, reduces the cost of manufacturing the solar panels, providing businesses with environmental alternatives to conventional power sources.

The panels are also coated with an anti-reflective glass, which delivers 2 to 3 percent more electricity compared to panels with standard glass. Additionally, the panels have a 4 percent higher output under sweltering conditions.

Constellation Energy, the company installing the system, estimates that the arrangement will generate more than 12 million kilowatt hours of electricity during the next 20 years. Further, Constellation claims that the atmosphere will be spared from more than 8,800 metric tons of carbon dioxide – the equivalent of sidelining more than 1,600 passenger vehicles for a year.

Constellation scores an extra point for its commitment to sustainable construction practices. The company is using tools that emit low amounts of carbon. Constellation is also utilizing a wastewater reuse system, which can save millions of gallons of water annually.

Mayo Shattuck, CEO of Constellation Energy, is a known philanthropist. In 2006, Constellation Energy gave approximately $10 million to various nonprofit programs. Shattuck supports philanthropy through volunteering as well encouraging corporate and employee donations, according to his website. Mayo Shattuck is naturally a big supporter of clean and renewable energy.

Bill Gates and Warren Buffet are no strangers to charity. The two have given billions to numerous organizations worldwide, participated in several fundraising events and volunteered several hours of their time to various philanthropic causes. Earlier in June, for example, Warren Buffet helped generate $2.6 million for charity by auctioning off a free dinner date to the highest bidder, reports Bloomberg.

Now, the two billionaires are taking their philanthropic deeds to the next level. Gates and Buffet recently announced a new charity campaign, called "The Giving Pledge." Bloomberg reports that the goal of the drive is to encourage wealthy individuals in the United States to give significant portions of their fortunes to charity.

"Bill and Melinda Gates and I are asking hundreds of rich Americans to pledge at least 50 percent of their wealth to charity," Buffett wrote on the campaign’s website. The Berkshire Hathaway executive donated 99 percent of his own fortune to the organization. "Neither [my family's] happiness nor our well-being would be enhanced" by keeping any more, he said.

The initiative was first announced on May 5 in 2009, when the Gates organized a meeting in New York with Buffet and other wealthy Americans, including Oprah Winfrey and Michael Bloomberg. The idea put forth by Buffet was to discuss strategies that encouraged giving.

The Giving Pledge hopes to raise more than $600 billion – 50 percent of the salaries earned by the top 400 wealthiest Americans. While for many, that may seem a lofty goal, Buffet and Gates believe it is an "an understandable and quite reachable bar for the wealthiest."

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was founded in 1994. According to the organization’s official site, it focuses primarily on three areas: global development, global health and charity in the United States.

With charitable donations worth hundreds of thousands of dollars praised so highly in the mainstream media, some citizens who are tight on cash feel intimidated and about contributing to a good cause. A new philanthropic effort started in the Greater Memphis region of Tennessee is targeting those kind-spirited individuals by collecting donations of $1 a day.

The Community Foundation of Greater Memphis launched the new group, GIVE 365, as an initiative to nurture philanthropy among younger contributors, reports the Memphis Daily News. The group hopes to collect $365 per person over the course of a year – a relatively low barrier of entry for donors.

"We really wanted to figure out a way to engage the next generation in philanthropy so we targeted young professionals," Melissa Wolowicz, director of grants and initiatives, told the Memphis Daily News.

Individuals that donate to the organization will also help decide how the grants will be dispersed. Half of the collected money will go toward projects that will be launched this year, while the other half will be placed into an endowed fund for future GIVE 365 grants.

The group encourages members of any age to contribute. Donations can be given either by an individual or in the name of a household. GIVE 365 hopes to have 365 members by the end of the year, giving them $133,000 to spend annually.

"We believe in this effort," Robert Fockler, executive director of the Community Foundation, told the news source.

Younger contributors are increasingly becoming a more active force when it comes to charitable donations. For example, the Visitation Elementary School Junior Board, comprised of students in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades, recently generated more than $2,000 for a program that will provide free music lessons for Kansas City children.

Olivia Bouler has been pretty busy the last few weeks drawing and water-coloring pictures of Gulf Coast birds – being careful to stay in the lines – and in the process, raising an estimated $80,000 for the birds.

After seeing the wildlife devastation brought about by BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig explosion, the 11-year old from Islip, NY felt motivated. She decided to write a letter to the National Audubon Society, stating her intentions of selling drawings of birds to raise money for the ecological organization’s Gulf Coast relief efforts. The Audubon Society quickly bought one of her drawings before working with Olivia’s mother to develop a unique charitable giving program.

For the program, Olivia sends a drawing to every person that donates to specific oil spill relief efforts. The fifth-grader spends around 20 minutes on each drawing, sketching and coloring pictures of local Gulf Coast birds like pelicans, gulls and sandwich terns.

"Olivia heard about the oil spill and she immediately thought of the birds," Olivia’s mother, Nadine Bouler, told MSNBC. "She’s a bird lover. She knew they were nesting and she knew the spill would bring an incredible change to their habitat."

MSNBC also reports that more than 100 oiled birds have been found dead so far, with that number expected to increase dramatically over the next few weeks.

To be eligible for a drawing, individuals need to donate to the National Audubon Society, the Weeks Bay Foundation, the Mobile Bay Estuary Program or the National Wildlife Federation, according to the Huffington Post.

Olivia is familiar with the Gulf Coast area, having visited family that lives in Alabama along the Gulf. She has made about 150 drawings so far and will eventually create 500 different pieces. Once she finishes, donators will receive limited edition prints of Olivia’s artwork.

AOL honored Olivia’s efforts by creating a virtual gallery for her to display her work and donated $25,000 to the National Audubon Society.

The Performing Arts Center Eastside of Bellevue, Washington announced it has received a $25 million grant this week from the Atsuhiko and Ina Goodwin Tateuchi Foundation. In recognition of the foundation’s generosity, the Performing Arts Center Eastside will be renamed the Tateuchi Center.

The grant is the single largest grant ever donated to an Eastside organization. It was given to the performing arts center as part of its $160 million capital campaign. Most of the funds will be allocated to the building of a new 2,000-seat concert hall and 250-seat cabaret-style venue.

The Performing Arts Center Eastside has raised $60 million so far for the construction of the building whose opening is slated for 2013. Another $3 million of the Tateuchi Foundation grant will be used to develop programming, including Japanese and Japanese-inspired performances.

The Performing Arts Center Eastside was founded in 2002 with the mission of building a performing arts center to serve the Bellevue community. The center seeks to positively transform the lives of its patrons through the presentation of artistic, cultural, educational and entertainment events. The Tateuchi Foundation decided to award the funds after noting the similarity in goals of the two organizations.

"The Tateuchi Foundation wanted to make sure there was a harmony between the foundation and the mission of the performing arts center," John Haynes, the center’s CEO, told the Bellevue Reporter. "Once they saw that the harmony and purpose aligned, they were eager to get on board."

The newly-named Tateuchi Center hopes that the Tateuchi Foundation’s grant will inspire others to donate to the performing arts venue. If the center is able to raise sufficient funds for the construction to begin within a year, they could save $20 million from the final cost.

Other notable grants given to the Tateuchi Center have come from Steve and Paula Reynolds, Anu and Naveen Jain and Intelius, Microsoft, and state and local governments.

The Carnegie Corporation of New York announced the approval of 33 new grants this week, worth almost $25.2 million.

The grants, distributed both nationally and globally, were decided last Thursday at the corporation’s quarterly meeting in New York. They are organized into five separate categories: External Affairs, International Program, Cross-Cutting, the National Program and the Special Opportunities Fund.

International grants make up the majority of the announced funds and focus on sub-Saharan Africa. A number of African organizations were named as grantees, many focusing on education. The University of Ghana Legon received a $2 million to build a research commons on their campus. The University of Pretoria in South Africa was also given $2 million to create a Masters of Information Technology program at its school. The eThekwini Municipality was also a major recipient of the international grants. The group was awarded $3 million to be distributed over 36 months to build a model city library.

According to the corporation, its work "incorporates an affirmation of our historic role as an education foundation but also honors Andrew Carnegie’s passion for international peace and the health of our democracy."

The corporation states that focusing on the United States was Andrew Carnegie’s primary aim and, in keeping with this mandate, the Carnegie Corporation also gave millions to nationally-minded organizations.

The San Francisco-based New Schools Fund will be supported with a $5 million award, the largest grant under the national program. Other major grants were given to the Committee for Economic Development, the U.S. Education Delivery Institute and Battelle for Kids, among others.

At the time of its founding in 1911, the Carnegie Corporation of New York was the single largest philanthropic trust. They continue to support organizations that promote international peace, security and education.

A growing trend in charitable giving has groups of philanthropic individuals coming together weekday evenings to eat dinner, write checks and support their communities.

"Giving circles" are holding meetings throughout the country more than ever. These groups usually convene a few times a year in informal gatherings over dinner, snacks or drinks. Attending individuals are encouraged to donate money to the cause being discussed and celebrated at the meetings – nonprofit organizations that are usually chosen before the meetings as a result of extensive research.

These gatherings operate on a much smaller scale than corporate philanthropy groups, but they are a powerful fundraising force. Since most groups donate locally and to little-known charities, giving circles can have a tremendously beneficial impact on their neighborhoods. Donors may also be more willing to give more financial support as they feel that it could make a larger difference when combined with other funds. Donating $10 individually might not feel as helpful as taking part in a $6,000 donation.

As the Boston Globe reports, one giving circle made up of women in the Boston suburb of Needham raised $3,000 in the time it would normally take to watch a few episodes of television during prime time. The group was founded as an alternative to the fancy, often high-cost benefit dinners that generally characterize collective philanthropy.

Those involved in giving circles may also be more willing to donate time and money to charitable causes on their own. By acknowledging the importance of community involvement on a group level, many people feel inspired to reach out individually to charities that may not be the recipients of giving circle group checks, but that they are personally interested in.

According to the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers, hundreds of giving circles are currently operating throughout the nation. In a 2006 study done by the group, 77 giving circles were found to have donated more than $44 million.