Philanthropy, Voluntarism & Granting

Tuesday, November 27, 2018
The Problem With Charitable Giving

NEW YORK, NY -- Starting this fall, and well into the future, medical students at New York University will get free tuition. In a few years, shiny new facilities will welcome cancer patients in Atlanta and brain researchers at Stanford. The announcements about these developments credit generous philanthropists, but fail to mention who else is footing much of the bill: American taxpayers. Like most charitable giving, health care philanthropy is tax-deductible. When wealthy people give away millions of dollars, their tax bills go down. But that leaves the rest of us either to pick up the slack or go without the investments that our government could have made with those funds.

Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Give Everyone the Same Tax Incentive to Donate ­— Not Just the Rich

WASHINGTON, DC -- The consumer orgies of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday have a rapidly growing nonprofit rival: Giving Tuesday, which celebrates its seventh year today. Begun by a coalition hoping to reinvigorate giving in the United States during the holiday season, Giving Tuesday has turned into a philanthropic juggernaut: Last year, the day moved at least $300 million to nonprofits by mobilizing hundreds of thousands of people, many of them infrequent donors, to give to charities of their choosing. Giving Tuesday champions the welcome spirit of ordinary donors and the amazing diversity of American charity. But when it comes to philanthropic giving in the United States, it proves the exception to a stubborn rule. 

Monday, November 19, 2018
A Spotlight on Corporate Giving and Nonprofits - Hartford Business Journal Community Excellence and Nonprofit Awards

HARTFORD, CT -- As part of Hartford Business Journal's efforts to spotlight the important role of nonprofits, and the businesses that support them, they've launched their inaugural Community Excellence & Nonprofit Awards.  The independent panel of judges — Susan D. Sadecki, president and CEO, Main Street Community Foundation; Eric Daniels, partner, Robinson & Cole LLP; and David Garvey, director, nonprofit leadership program and adjunct professor, Department of Public Policy, UConn — selected the winners, who were nominated by the public, in seven different categories ranging from corporate citizenship and volunteer of the year to nonprofit and nonprofit leader of the year. Honorees for the Partnership Award include: include The Hartford, City of Hartford, Hartford Public Library, and CCP members Aetna Inc., and Travelers Cos.

Monday, November 19, 2018
Insurers Unite to Help 'Seed' Hartford's Financial Reboot

HARTFORD, CT -- The Hartford Business Journal's Partnership Award Winners are The Hartford, Aetna Inc., Travelers Cos., City of Hartford, and the Hartford Public Library. When insurers Aetna, The Hartford, and Travelers Cos. paid a combined $10 million to the city of Hartford this summer, they were making good on a March 2017 pledge to help the city regain its financial footing by providing a $50 million boost — assuming the city forged a comprehensive and sustainable solution to address its fiscal problems. The insurers saw progress in the last year and paid the first installment of what they and the city hope will be four more annual payments of $10 million. Of that first amount, $8.1 million is covering operating expenses of the Hartford Public Library this fiscal year, with the balance going to law enforcement and recreation.

Friday, November 16, 2018
Hartford Foundation will invest $2.9 million for 29 Hartford-area municipalities to fund local initiatives

HARTFORD, CT -- The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving said Thursday it would invest $2.9 million to provide each of the 29 cities and towns it serves with a fund of $100,000 to use as the communities see fit. “We are exceptionally excited about this new approach,” Hartford Foundation President Jay Williams said, noting that it was prompted by his listening tour of the cities and towns the foundation serves.

Pages