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According to the Nonprofit Times, the big news from the Giving USA 2014 report was that charitable giving in the United States jumped 4.4 percent to $335.17 billion last year, giving renewed hope that the country could return to pre-recession levels of giving sooner than expected.
Giving USA, the annual report on philanthropy, reports on the sources and uses of charitable giving in the United States.
Other highlights from the report were:- Giving to public-society benefit organizations was up 8.5 percent to $23.89 billion or 7 percent when adjusted for inflation.
- Giving to individuals was estimated to have risen 1.4 percent to $3.7 billion.
- Giving to religious organizations was, once again, the largest by a total of $105.53 billion (31 percent of giving), but was down for the fifth consecutive year, declining 0.2 percent or 1.6 percent when adjusted for inflation.
A complimentary copy of the 2014 Giving USA Report Highlights maybe downloaded on the Giving USA website. |
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Subway Restaurant Founder Donates $30 Million to Danbury Hospital |
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Danbury Hospital has opened the doors to its largest addition ever: The Peter and Carmen Lúcia Buck Pavilion. The 11-story, state-of-the-art building is named for Dr. Peter Buck and his late wife. Dr. Buck donated a record-setting $30 million to support the building of the Pavilion.
His original anonymous $10 million donation was issued with an innovative challenge. While remaining unidentified, he promised that if, with the help of community donations Danbury Hospital met its $50 million campaign goal, he would contribute yet another $20 million.
Dr. Buck, a Danbury resident who co-founded the world's largest restaurant chain, SUBWAY, expressed great appreciation for the superior care he and his family received at Danbury Hospital over the years, and his desire to help provide the region with world-class health care that rivals the best academic medical centers in the country.
The Peter and Carmen Lucia Buck Foundation, a member of the Connecticut Council for Philanthropy, was established in 1999 by Dr. Peter Buck and his wife Carmen Lúcia as a private family foundation seeking to improve the quality of life in the communities it serves. The Foundation pursues a paramount goal: "Giving motivated people the tools they need to help themselves."
Read The Wall Street Journal interview with Dr. Buck: www.wsj.com.
For more information: Carrie Schindele, The Peter and Carmen Lúcia Buck Foundation, 212-360-6173. |
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Region's Food Future Envisioned in New Report |
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Food Solutions New England recently announced the publication of their research report, A New England Food Vision, which advocates for “building the capacity to produce at least 50% of clean, fair, just and accessible food for all New Englanders by 2060.”
Incorporating more than three years of collaborative research and input from hundreds of voices from throughout New England, A New England Food Vision, considers the future of the region: a future in which food nourishes a social, economic, and environmental landscape that supports a high quality of life for everyone, including generations to come.
The report outlines three scenarios: the current agricultural footprint (the amount of land producing food); a well-balanced and achievable Omnivore’s Delight footprint; and an aggressive but possible Regional Reliance footprint. A New England Food Vision delves into detail for how each of these scenarios are calculated, achievable and capable of long-term, positive social impact.
Connecticut-based The 1772 Foundation with the Baker Foundation, Tides Foundation, Henry P. Kendall Foundation, John Merck Fund, and the Claneil Foundation provided funding for the publication.
For more information: Mary Anthony, The 1772 Foundation, 860-928-1772, maryanthony@1772foundation.org. |
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Philanthropy Investment Leads to 4 Tony Awards |
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Hartford Stage’s Artistic Director, Darko Tresnjak, and "A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder" earned 4 Tony Awards, which are given annually to the best Broadway productions. “Gentlemen’s Guide,” which was developed and first performed at Hartford Stage in 2012 and then opened on Broadway in November 2013, received a $100,000 grant from the Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving in April of 2012. Previously, a $35,000 grant from the Garmany Fund supported a workshop to develop the show. “Our friend Richard would have been so proud to have been a part of this extraordinarily successful production by Darko Tresnjak and the Hartford Stage Company,” said David Polk, a close friend of Richard Garmany and advisor to the Garmany Fund. “This in turn will further advance and promote the arts in Hartford. Our congratulations to all who helped make this wonderful achievement possible!” For more information: Chris Senecal, Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, 860-548-1888, csenecal@hfpg.org. |
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Cox Tween Safety Survey Reveals New Challenges |
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The Tween Internet Safety Survey, commissioned by Cox Communications in partnership with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), found that nearly all tweens (95 percent) use mobile devices to go online.
Mobile devices and gaming consoles are widely used by tweens to access web content; the survey revealed a lack of guidelines and controls on these devices that can leave tweens vulnerable. While 68 percent of parents surveyed said they monitored their child’s Internet behavior on mobile devices, the survey showed that only 1 in 5 (17 percent) actually use basic parental control features such as age appropriate web content filtering on smartphones, tablets and game consoles.
“We applaud the efforts parents are making to keep their kids safe online, but we all must remain vigilant and proactive when it comes to knowing what children are accessing on the web and the devices they are using,” said Ernie Allen, NCMEC president and CEO. “Educating parents about the potential risks their children face online and empowering them to take simple preventive steps is critical to helping keep families safe.”
More information on the Tween Internet Safety Survey may be found at the Cox Take Charge! website, where parents may also find tips and tools to keep their kids safer online.
For more information: Todd Smith, Cox Communications, 404-269-3124, tsmith@cox.com. |
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Cigna Helps Fill Blessings in a Backpack |
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Every Friday, 20 million children across the U.S. leave school uncertain if there will be a meal for them at home over the weekend. To help nourish children nationwide, the Cigna Foundation announced that Blessings in a Backpack is the recipient of a $100,000 grant for its program to feed schoolchildren on weekends. Blessings in a Backpack serves more than 65,000 school children at 634 schools across the US, including select schools in Hartford, New Haven, Stamford and Willimantic.
“By working with Blessings in a Backpack, Cigna can fill the most basic need for children – food – a need that is fundamental to children’s ability to thrive and to grow up to be healthy and well,” said David Figliuzzi, executive director of the Cigna Foundation.
Blessings in a Backpack provides elementary schoolchildren who are enrolled in the federal Free and Reduced Price Meal Program with a backpack of food to take home for 38 weekends during the school year. Backpack food includes easy-to-prepare, ready-to-eat foods like granola bars, juice boxes, raisins and oatmeal.
For more information: Gloria Barone, Cigna Foundation, 215-761-4758, gloria.barone@cigna.com. |
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COMMUNITY FOUNDATION NEWS |
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Community Foundations Celebrate Legacy Giving in June |
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Many community foundations in Connecticut are encouraging planned or legacy giving during the month of June. Leave a Legacy is a public awareness campaign designed to inspire people to make a charitable bequest. Bequests are just one type of "planned gift" (a gift that will be distributed sometime in the future) that can be made to a nonprofit organization(s).
More than 80 percent of Americans contribute to the nonprofit groups of their choice throughout their lifetimes. But according to 2011 IRS data, of those who leave estates, only 22% (17% - CT) are making charitable bequests.
"Imagine how much good could be done if each one of us remembered a favorite charity or cause in their will or estate."
Community foundations translate collective giving into big impact
Thanks to our community foundations, people in cities and towns throughout Connecticut can pool their charitable funds into community resources for the benefit of all. Community members from Andover to Woodstock have given $1.8 billion since the state’s first community foundation, Connecticut Community Foundation serving Greater Waterbury and the Litchfield Hills, was established in 1923.
These gifts build endowment funds that benefit their communities forever and help create personal legacies. When you contribute to an endowment managed by the community foundation in your town, your gift is invested over time. Earnings from your fund are used to make grants addressing community needs. Your gift—and all future earnings from your gift—is a permanent source of community capital, helping to do good work today and in the future.
Together, 18 community foundations in Connecticut have made grants of more than $87.9 million in grants in 2012. To access additional facts on community foundations in Connecticut and news and stories of their activities, visit the Council’s Connecticut Network of Community Foundations webpage.
To find your community foundation visit: www.ctphilanthropy.org/connecticut-network-community-foundations. |
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Supporting a Coordinated System of Early Care, Education and Child Development in CT |
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With an eye for bettering the long-term outcomes for young children and their families, especially the 79,000 (34%) Connecticut children who live in low-income households, Fairfield County Community Foundation has contributed $25,000 to the Early Childhood Funders Collaborative.
The Collaborative, a project of the Connecticut Council for Philanthropy, was formed in 2011 and works for a more resilient and early childhood services system to Connecticut children and families with community and state services. Research shows that investing in early childhood saves in the future, and by focusing on Connecticut’s early childhood system, the Collaborative hopes to achieve a maximum return on investment and ensure that the state provides the best resources and programming to build stronger and healthier young children and families.
The Collaborative will also help build capacity in the newly established Office of Early Childhood Education (OCE), recently approved by the legislature and signed into law, as it seeks to bring together staff, programs and funding previously residing in five different agencies.
The Fairfield County Community Foundation, a charter member of the Collaborative, is joined by 11 other funders who have collectively committed $437,500 for 2014: American Savings Foundation; Children’s Fund of Connecticut; The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven; Community Foundation of Greater New Britain; Connecticut Community Foundation; Connecticut Network of Community Foundations; The Fund for Greater Hartford; William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund; The Grossman Family Foundation; Hartford Foundation for Public Giving; and Liberty Bank Foundation.
For more information: Maggie Gunther Osborn, Connecticut Council for Philanthropy, 860-525-5585, mosborn@CTphilanthropy.org. |
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Preschoolers to Receive State-of-the-Industry Vision Screening |
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In late May, early childcare providers from Education Connection, Healthy Families, Family Strides, and The Maria Seymour Brooker Memorial attended training in the use of the Pedia Vision SPOT Vision Screener. The Spot Screener and training was made possible by a grant from the Louis O. Thibeault Fund for the Advancement of Children's Education at the Community Foundation of Northwest CT. Beginning in the Fall, students attending preschool and early childhood development programs throughout Torrington and Winsted will receive Pedia Vision SPOT Vision Screener eye screenings. The SPOT is a handheld, non-invasive vision screener that enables early education providers to bring vision screenings to children. The Spot can quickly detect near-sightedness, far-sightedness, unequal refractive power, blurred vision, eye structure problems, pupil-size deviations, and eye misalignment. When deficiencies are detected, screeners provide a printed report that parents can take to a physician for a follow-up screening and appropriate treatment. “Use of the SPOT has a tremendous impact on children’s lives,” said Douglas Zybrands, who provided SPOT training. “Without funding from sources like the Thibeault Fund, many of these children would likely go without early vision screenings.” For more information: Nicole Easley, Community Foundation of Northwest Connecticut, 860-626-1245, neasley@cfnwct.org. |
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Support Aims to Make Quinnipiac River Cleaner, More Enjoyed |
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The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven granted $136,455 from the Quinnipiac River Fund to 12 organizations for programs that reduce river pollution, support the environment and educate the public about the Quinnipiac River. The River flows from west of New Britain southward to North Haven and into New Haven Harbor. The Fund supports projects focused on research, public access, land use planning, land acquisition, habitat restoration, advocacy, and education. A sampling of grants include: - Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice: $15,000 will support a community education course to train New Haven residents about ways to reduce water pollution in the Quinnipiac River; the trained residents will in turn educate additional individuals in the community.
- Watershed Partnership Inc.: $20,000 will support outreach, education and advocacy of the current school lawn pesticide ban and activities associated with the expansion of the ban for all Connecticut parks, playgrounds, municipal playing fields and town greens.
- Urban Resources Initiative: $12,000 will support an Urban Wildlife Refuge in Fair Haven, a community-based land stewardship to benefit a wildlife and waterways project in partnership with Audubon Connecticut, community green-space groups and the local business community.
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Links to More Community Foundation News |
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LINKS TO MORE FOUNDATION NEWS |
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Connecticut Community Foundation recently elected four new trustees to their board:
ROBERT BAILEY is a former senior international banker with more than three decades of leadership experience at Citibank, NationsBank and Banco Santander in Asia, Europe and Latin America. Bailey, a resident of New Milford, also served as Under Secretary for Finance and Administration at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
DANIEL BEDARD is a partner and founder of Bedard & Company, PC and Bedard Advisors, LLC. Bedard, a certified public accountant and lifelong resident of Southbury, also served four years of active duty in the United States Army and has volunteered extensively serving on numerous nonprofit boards.
MICHELLE FICA is managing attorney of the Waterbury Office of Connecticut Legal Services, which provides legal assistance to low-income clients. Previously, Fica, a West Hartford resident, worked for Greater Hartford Legal Aid.
DAVID PELLETIER is a certified public accountant with Budwitz & Meyerjack of Cheshire, where he provides audit, accounting, and tax consulting services. Pelletier, who lives in Cheshire, is extremely active in his community, having volunteered his time and expertise for many organizations in the area. |
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LUIS CABÁN, former executive director of the Southside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance (SINA) and longtime community activist, has been named chair of the steering committee for the Latino Endowment Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.
Cabán serves as a commissioner of the Metropolitan District Commission, a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston CDAC, and executive board member of the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute (USHLI). |
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 The Connecticut Council for Philanthropy is an association of grantmakers committed to promoting and supporting effective philanthropy for the public good. With members representing 112 independent, family and community foundations, federated funds, and corporate foundations and giving programs, the Council is Connecticut’s foremost resource on philanthropy. The organization benefits the larger grantmaking community, the nonprofit sector and the public in Connecticut.
For more news about philanthropy in Connecticut, go to the Council's news room, Connecticut Philanthropy Digest archives and our blog, CTPhilanthropyNotes.org.
News about Connecticut funders may be submitted to the Council for consideration. The Connecticut Philanthropy Digest is brought to you by the Connecticut Council for Philanthropy. Edited by Laurie Allen. |
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