Scrambling for Dollars Tainted by Scandal One Group Thrives

washingtonpost.com – business, economy, personal finance and market news and headlines. Page 1 of 3

Search Options E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS | ARCHIVES SEARCH: News

Jobs Cars Real Estate News Home Page Nation Scrambling for Dollars Politics Private philanthrophy has plateaued World Metro after the heady days in the 1990s Business when high-tech money helped fund Portfolio charities. Market News Company Research Economy Policy Tainted by Scandal Metro Business After a disastrous financial scandal Industries Many Ways to Volunteer: Animal Socials Personal Finance at United Way, crucial corporate CarolAnne Nargi, a volunteer cat socializer, Mutual Funds supporters still have yet to return. holds Minnie at the Animal Welfare League. Special Reports (Frank Johnston/Post) Columnists Live Discussions One Group Thrives Business Index Technology Tech centers for kids thrive on used Best Corporate Handouts Sports computers, service donations. More companies are setting up Style ways -- and even putting aside Education Travel Struggling to Survive days -- for employees to volunteer. Health Real Estate Grass-roots organizations cinch belts Home & Garden and broaden solicitations. Checking Out Charities Food Live Online Giving money to a charity should Opinion Live Online be viewed the same as any other Weather • Transcript: The Catalogue for Philanthropy's financial transaction. Weekly Sections Barbara L. Harman News Digest • Transcript: The Washington Post's Jacqueline Salmon Classifieds Print Edition Archives Site Index Personal Finance & Philanthropy Help / Feedback • Crenshaw: Doing Good for Charities and Your Taxes • Vehicle Donations Risky if Not Handled With Care • Singletary: Donate a Scholarship? You Can Do It.

Top Foundations Sites to Check Before Donating

The Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers's list of top 10 area grant- Charity.com: Has charity news and making foundations, ordered by the information for donating online. amount of their giving in 2002.

Charitychoices.com: Profiles more than 1. Whitaker Foundation, $68,698,503 300 national and local charities that meet 2. Eugene B. Casey Foundation, standards for inclusion in the Combined $52,470,000 Federal Campaign. Online donating 3. Fannie Mae Foundation, $38,287,112 offered. 4. Public Welfare Foundation, $19,369,950 5. Sherman Fairchild Foundation, Charitygift.com: Allows donations in $18,955,435 honor of friends, families or causes. Also 6. Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz offers a gift registry for contributions. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/legacy/donations.htm 10/28/2003 washingtonpost.com – business, economy, personal finance and market news and headlines. Page 2 of 3

Foundation, $16,706,820 Networkforgood.org: Has information 7. Freddie Mac Foundation, $15,930,264 on thousands of charities nationally. In 8. Case Foundation, $15,882,910 addition, lets people set up a "charity 9. J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott wish list" and figure out how donations Foundation, $11,374,675 will affect their taxes. 10. Gannett Foundation, $11,200,000 OPM.gov/cfc: Gives information on What You Need to Know charities included in the Combined Federal Campaign. To report suspicious charity solicitations or to check if a charity is registered, call Pointsoflight.org: Offers information on your state's charity regulator. volunteering and access to thousands of volunteer centers across the country that In Virginia, Office of Consumer Affairs: match people with charities. 804-786-2042 or 800-552-9963 (within Virginia). TouchDC.org: Has information about 25,700 charities in the Washington area. In Maryland, Charitable Organizations Volunteers can sign up as well. Division of the Office of the Secretary of State: 410-974-5534 or 800-825-4510 (within Maryland). Unitedwaynca.org: Offers information on local nonprofits and online giving.

In the District, Office of the Corporation Counsel: 202-442-9828. Before Writing that Check Charitynavigator.org: Evaluates the Consumers can also file complaints finances of more than 1,700 large against charity solicitors with the Federal charities by examining their tax filings. Trade Commission at 877-382-4357. For information: Give.org: Has in-depth reports on www.ftc.gov/charityfraud. hundreds of charitable organizations that solicit nationally. Also has tips on how to The Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving donate wisely. Alliance (www.give.org) and GuideStar (www.guidestar.org) provide Guidestar.org: Has financial records for databases on national nonprofit more than 850,000 nonprofits. organizations.

The Better Business Bureau • File a complaint about a charity • Tips on Giving • Tips on Tax Deductions • List of Charity Reports Index

ADVERTISER LINKS What's this?

Car Donation Charities Donate car nationwide & convenient to United Way, Cancer Research, etc www.donateacar.com

1-800-CHARITY Charity Cars, the original, 100% non-profit, nationally acclaimed. www.800charitycars.org

Search Options E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS | ARCHIVES SEARCH: News

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/legacy/donations.htm 10/28/2003 washingtonpost.com: The Charities' Case Page 1 of 3 washingtonpost.com

The Charities' Case Cutbacks in Funding Force a Scramble For Dollars and Donors

By Jacqueline L. Salmon Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, October 26, 2003; Page F01

Think you get hit up for a lot of charity giving? Just wait.

Like it or not, you're a bigger target than usual this year for local arts organizations, social services groups and the thousands of other nonprofits that populate the Washington area. These groups say they've got nowhere else to go. Money from corporations, government and foundations is dwindling.

Several efforts being launched this fall will try to squeeze a little more out of individuals as the holiday season nears.

Glossy catalogues featuring local community groups and their work and an ad campaign to encourage online charitable giving locally are scheduled to debut in the coming weeks. They're aimed at grabbing potential donors during the season that has come to stand for giving to the less fortunate and for tax planning for the next April.

"Overall, institutional and government giving is down," said Kae Dakin, president of the Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers, which is launching the ad campaign next month to publicize a Web site, www.touchdc.org, that allows donors to contribute online to any of the area's 23,000 nonprofits. "Individuals are the last bastion of hope."

But a report to be released shortly shows that private philanthropy is leveling off after relatively heady times in the late 1990s when high-tech money and a booming stock market gave heft to the checkbooks of donors.

"A Region of Givers," an annual study by Washington Grantmakers of charitable contributions, shows that individual giving, adjusted for inflation, was flat in 2001 after climbing 43 percent from 1997 to 2000, to $5.4 billion.

But even though private philanthropy has risen in recent years, this region generally does not get high marks from the various national indexes for its philanthropic largess.

A "generosity index" from Urban Institute researchers based on tax returns of itemizer households, to be released next month, ranks the Washington area as a not-very-impressive 157th out of 318 metropolitan areas in the United States.

A different study, released this year by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, found that the more affluent suburbs of Fairfax and Montgomery counties were particularly stingy. Prince George's County, on the other hand, came out as one of the best in the country in the Chronicle study for its generosity to charitable organizations.

Such indexes are controversial. Some experts say they overstate the level of giving to religious organizations and understate contributions to nonreligious groups.

What's more, they each use a different way and different data to measure people's willingness to make those tax- deductible contributions.

The Region of Givers report, for example, consistently rates the District better than average in giving. National giving in 2000 -- the most recent numbers available -- was 2.9 percent of adjusted gross income, but the District clocked in at

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A15052-2003Oct25?language=printer 10/28/2003 washingtonpost.com: The Charities' Case Page 2 of 3 4.8 percent. The Maryland suburbs came in at 4 percent and the Virginia burbs at 3 percent.

But considering the money sloshing around hereabouts, "this is not a leadership position for this wealthy region," said Barbara Harman, executive director of the Harman Family Foundation, which is trying to boost individual philanthropy with a "Catalogue for Philanthropy," to be released in November. "Here, in a very wealthy part of the world -- and in our nation's capital, where one would hope that residents would want to set an example of philanthropic leadership -- being average shouldn't be good enough."

The new focus on boosting individual giving is a bit of a change for Washington area charities, which were able to rely largely on fattened funding streams from government, foundations and corporations in the booming '90s.

With those resources, the number of local nonprofits almost doubled in the past decade, to 23,000 last year.

The result is that Washington has the fourth-highest number of charities per capita among U.S. metropolitan areas.

But those numbers could start falling. Already, many nonprofits have cut salaries and laid off staff, raised fees and closed medical clinics, homeless shelters and other programs as their revenue has shriveled. Others are partnering to share costs. A few have shut down.

And so, with the stock market improving and consumers feeling more flush, nonprofits are looking to individual donors to take up some of the slack.

The Harman Foundation's 64-page catalogue aims to help link affluent donors with small D.C. charities that can't afford expensive direct-mail campaigns or fancy galas to raise funds, said Harman.

"I talk to [potential] donors, and they say, 'I really don't know how to do this. I don't know where to start,' " said Harman. While these donors are no doubt familiar with large national charities, such as the American Red Cross, Harman said, "they don't know about this very elaborate and powerful universe of small and mid-sized charities that are doing this terrific work in their own backyards."

The catalogue is set to be mailed out in November to 20,000 households in the Washington area with annual incomes above $500,000 and will be posted at www.catalogueforphilanthropy.org.

A second catalogue, the "Spirit of Giving Guide," from the Community Foundation of the National Capital Area, is scheduled to be sent to 7,500 area foundations, public officials and wealthy households, also next month. It will focus on a dozen or so community groups that work in the impoverished District neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River.

A coalition of local foundations, nonprofit associations and other organizations is launching a $250,000 ad campaign next month in area newspapers, radio and television to promote private philanthropy. It will encourage online contributions through the www.touchdc.org Web site.

This is the second year for the campaign. Last year it raised $493,000 for area charities.

"The whole idea is to grow individual philanthropy via e-philanthropy," said Dakin of the Grantmakers group, which is spearheading the effort.

Individual organizations are also launching their own drives to boost private donations.

Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington -- which lost more than $200,000 in United Way funding last year and has seen other revenue decreases -- has begun a campaign to build an endowment from individual donations to help fund future operations "so we can sustain our work and not be so impacted by the vagaries of the economy and government funding," said President Edward Orzechowski.

Other groups have formed committees of their prominent backers to put the squeeze on friends and colleagues. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A15052-2003Oct25?language=printer 10/28/2003 washingtonpost.com: The Charities' Case Page 3 of 3 Legal Services of Northern Virginia, which lost more than $150,000 in Justice Department funding last year and also saw its United Way funding nosedive, has launched a campaign to raise money from area lawyers, said Executive Director Charles Greenfield.

So far, it has received $360,000 in pledges after forming a panel of Northern Virginia lawyers to raise funds from their peers.

In the coming year, "we hope to substantially increase that," Greenfield said.

And D.C.-based Community Family Life Services, which offers employment and housing services and other programs to the poor and homeless in the District, also has its big donors out scouting for contributions from friends and family.

The group sliced $500,000 from its $5 million budget this year when funding fell, said Executive Director Mary Lou Tietz, and can't afford more cuts like that.

It needs plenty more donors who can pony up $1,000 or more to stop that from happening, she said. "We just gotta get them."

ADVERTISER LINKS What's this?

National Next Day Pickup Allstate Car Donation Association Live expert phone help 800 953-5424 cardonations.org

Charitable Giving Options Establish your legacy today with the National Philanthropic Trust. www.nptrust.org

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A15052-2003Oct25?language=printer 10/28/2003 washingtonpost.com: Doing Good for Charities and Your Taxes Page 1 of 3 washingtonpost.com

Doing Good for Charities and Your Taxes

By Albert B. Crenshaw

Sunday, October 26, 2003; Page F04

Like almost everything else in today's economy, giving to charity is becoming (a) a lot more complex and (b) tax-driven.

Certainly there remain people who give generously to their church or favorite charities simply because they believe in them. But in Washington debates over the reduction or repeal of certain kinds of taxes, charities themselves have made it clear that they don't believe the charitable motive alone is enough to sustain them.

It should be no surprise, then, that over the years a wide variety of devices have been created so that taxpayers can obtain deductions in ways that maximize their tax benefits while minimizing their actual cost. And it should be equally unsurprising that Congress has enacted numerous rules to try to curb both abuses and general revenue losses from these mechanisms.

The result is endless twists and turns.

Most people know, for example, about the tighter rules that now apply to verifying charitable donations. Among them: The Internal Revenue Service will accept a canceled check as substantiation for cash gifts of less than $250, but for gifts of more than $250, the taxpayer must obtain a written acknowledgment from the charity, and the acknowledgment must say that the donor received nothing in return.

Like everything in taxes, however, there are exceptions. For example, a special rule applies to gifts to college athletic programs for which the donor receives the right to buy special seats or skyboxes or other favored treatment. In that case, the donation is 80 percent deductible.

In addition, overall limitations apply prevent donors from reducing their income more than a certain amount. A donor who gives cash or other ordinary property to a public charity cannot deduct more than 50 percent of his or her adjusted gross income (AGI). If the donation exceeds that, the excess must be carried over into a later year.

And there are other limitations. It's widely recommended that owners of appreciated securities give the securities to charity rather than selling them and giving the cash. That is because the charity can sell the securities and collect the full value tax-free, but a donor who sells first will have to pay capital gains tax. That's a good recommendation, but depending on the kind of securities and the kind of charity, gifts of this type whose value exceeds 30 percent or even 20 percent of AGI may have to be carried over.

The recent tightening has cut off most of the have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too options of years past, so "you have to have a pretty strong charitable motivation" for elaborate charitable giving to make sense, said Evelyn M. Capassakis of PricewaterhouseCoopers, the big accounting firm.

The tax and social benefits of charitable giving remain strong, though, and thus groups in search of support, along with mutual funds and other money managers, are increasingly working together to create avenues for willing individuals to make gifts. Many of the newer arrangements allow donors to have some -- or a great deal of -- say in where their money goes, without the headache of managing the donations.

"There's a menu [of planning tools] out there, and you have to decide which one best suits your needs," said Fairfax lawyer John Dedon.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A15028-2003Oct25?language=printer 10/28/2003 washingtonpost.com: Doing Good for Charities and Your Taxes Page 2 of 3 One charitable device that has exploded in popularity in recent years is the donor-advised fund. Such funds are charities operated by mutual funds or other financial services companies that accept gifts, manage investments and make grants based on the wishes of the donor.

With such funds, the donor makes a contribution, which can be cash, stocks, bonds, appreciated securities or other assets, and recommends that those assets be reinvested into one or more of the various investment options offered by the financial services company. The donor gets an immediate tax deduction, but if the investments succeed, the value of the assets increases, resulting in a larger eventual gift to the charity that the donor recommends.

A key advantage of these funds is that donors can take a big tax deduction upfront, such as in a year when they have had a spike in income, but they can dole the money out to charities over time.

An increasingly popular variation on the donor-advised fund is the community foundation, a public charity that is typically focused on local causes. These are public charities so that the most favorable IRS rules apply, but they are receptive to donors' wishes when it comes to distributing donations.

Individuals who are interested in charitable giving, especially to a specific cause, and want to continue to exercise considerable control over where their money goes without some of the restrictions that apply to private foundations, can consider what is called a supporting organization.

"These are for people who are charitably inclined and should be considered in their arsenal along with private foundations, charitable trusts" and other devices, said Dedon, who has advised a number of clients in setting up supporting organizations. "In the appropriate situation they can be a terrific planning tool."

People willing to put more time and effort -- and money -- into charitable giving can set up a private foundation. These are only for serious givers with serious money -- $2 million and up, said Capassakis. They make the most sense for people who wish to devote time to philanthropy and who wish to exercise a lot of control over where their money goes.

Private foundations, however, are governed by complex rules. Various tax filings are required each year, and generally a private foundation must distribute 5 percent of its assets annually.

"A lot of people find those extra duties are more onerous than they would like and more onerous than they expected when they got in," in which case they may opt to donate their foundation's assets to a donor-advised fund, said Beth Clark Rodriguez, a wealth adviser in the Chicago office of the J.P. Morgan Private Bank.

"It has to be a real donor-advised fund" and not a phony, she said, "but then you can relieve yourself from all the rules and regulations" and still do most of what you wanted to do in the first place but "in a much simpler fashion."

Charitable trusts, often set up in connection with an estate plan, offer another way to benefit a charity -- and you don't have to be dead to do it.

These are complex and should be set up with the advice of an expert, but you can, for example, donate assets to a charitable trust, take a current income tax deduction for a part of that donation and have the trust pay you an annuity out of the donation.

Such arrangements are useful to someone who has, for example, sharply appreciated stock that is very valuable but pays little dividend. The trust could take the stock, sell it without tax and reinvest the proceeds in assets that generate more income.

Many organizations, such as colleges, also offer annuities and other such arrangements to donors willing to make substantial bequests.

But these strategies, like other charitable arrangements, have been made less attractive by the recent tax rate cuts.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A15028-2003Oct25?language=printer 10/28/2003 washingtonpost.com: Doing Good for Charities and Your Taxes Page 3 of 3 "There are a lot of different things you can do," said Stephen R. Corrick, managing director at Wealth and Tax Advisory Services Inc. in McLean. "The big question is, I have appreciated property, how can I convert that into cash I can use at least tax cost? When the capital gain rate was 28 or even 20 percent, you get to a different answer than today when the rate is 15. Today, you may just want to sell, pay your taxes and keep the change."

ADVERTISER LINKS What's this?

Donate to Charity We handle it all. Tax deductible. No hassles. Fast processing. www.giftsforsight.org

Maximize Your Deductions Deduct your charitable donations and save hundreds on your tax bill. www.ItsDeductible.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A15028-2003Oct25?language=printer 10/28/2003 washingtonpost.com: Grass-Roots Organizations Cinch Belts and Broaden Solicitations Page 1 of 2 washingtonpost.com Grass-Roots Organizations Cinch Belts and Broaden Solicitations

By Steven Gray Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, October 26, 2003; Page F09

Just three years ago, investors buoyed by the tech-stock boom were calling Charlotte L. McConnell, executive director of Family and Child Services of Washington, asking her to take their money.

"That ended quickly," McConnell said tersely in a recent interview at the nonprofit organization's Northwest Washington office, recalling the flush times that are, indeed, over.

While the D.C. government's contribution to the charity's budget edged up to $6.7 million in fiscal 2002 from $6.3 million in 2001, the 121-year-old organization faces far greater demand for its child day care and senior citizen services. The organization says it is also facing the effects of lost donor confidence in the wake of the United Way scandal, and the broader downturn in the nation's economy.

Family and Child Services isn't alone, of course. The Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington, a collection of nonprofit agencies, has commissioned the Brookings Institution and George Washington University to study the effects of the fiscal crisis on the region's nonprofit social service organizations.

Pablo Eisenberg, a senior fellow at Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute, said larger organizations, such as museums and charities that focus on a disease, tend to be shielded from such downturns largely because "they're plugged into the wealth network. If you notice where the money from extraordinarily wealthy people is going, it's not to social service programs. [It's] going to universities, big hospitals and big established organizations.

"It's the struggling grass-roots organizations that will feel the short end of the stick," he added.

Chuck Bean, the roundtable's executive director, said that some nonprofit organizations, such as those in Northern Virginia, have fared better than others in part because "their members are high-tech companies. Those folks have some clout, some entrée and access." In the case of Family and Child Services, he said, "it's not only that you provide high- impact services. But to find the funding, you have to have the contacts."

McConnell agrees, noting that many prospective donors who live in the suburbs tend to invest in nonprofit organizations in their own communities, rather than organizations such as hers, which operates in-home day care programs across the District for low-income families. And because of the broader economic downturn, many vendors who last year donated $10,000 have pledged only $5,000, she said.

To counter that trend, the organization has in recent weeks launched an effort to diversify its funding sources and to court prospective donors, speaking at every engagement that comes along. One recent morning, for instance, Regina R. Schewe, the organization's director of development, received an unexpected call to meet with a prospective donor. She made that meeting, followed by another with a reporter, and then rushed out to survey a venue for the organization's first golf tournament.

Meanwhile, the organization, housed in a modest1960s-era building just blocks from the gleaming new Washington Convention Center, is hunkering down. Already its directors have eliminated three staff positions, and shuttered a foster boys' group home in Northeast Washington that was barely surviving on $200,000 a year from a now-depleted

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A15043-2003Oct25?language=printer 10/28/2003 washingtonpost.com: Grass-Roots Organizations Cinch Belts and Broaden Solicitations Page 2 of 2 surplus fund. So severe is the challenge to survive that the organization's 105-member staff has donated $17,000 in leave time.

"The reduction in giving primarily limits what we can do, not necessarily the quality," McConnell said. There are now fewer slots open in the organization's child-care program, which the group says served 20,000 children in 2002, and it has raised the cost the price of an individual mental health screening to $15from $5.

Still, even with downsizing, McConnell promises one thing: The organization isn't closing its doors. "It should be noted that we've been around 121 years. Times are tough, but we plan to continue. We have our obstacles, and they're becoming more and more surmountable." McConnell and her staff say they have learned that some things, some visions, have to be dimmed a bit, if only for now. For instance, the director of day care's dream of a citywide child literacy program will have to be put off. "We don't feel we're doing the full justice to children," Schewe said. "But you've got to first take care of their food needs, and their safety needs."

ADVERTISER LINKS What's this?

Vehicle Donation Charity Charity Car Donations to United Way, Cancer Research, etc www.donateacar.com

Donate to Charity Help us Restore Sight! Free Pickup. No Hassle 888-266-2434 www.carsforsight.org

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A15043-2003Oct25?language=printer 10/28/2003 washingtonpost.com: United Way Far From Recovering Lost Support Page 1 of 2 washingtonpost.com

United Way Far From Recovering Lost Support

By Jacqueline L. Salmon Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, October 26, 2003; Page F09

These aren't the best of times for the United Way of the National Capital Area. After a disastrous financial scandal, some of its most crucial corporate supporters have headed for the hills, leaving the organization struggling for survival.

In a culmination of nearly two years of revelations and internal dispute about the organization's finances, an outside audit of the troubled organization in August laid out a laundry list of embarrassing -- and possibly illegal -- activities among the past leadership of the group.

The audit found that its longtime former head, Oral Suer, had received more than $1.5 million in improper and questionable payments from the regional organization during his 27- year tenure. Other former United Way executives were accused of charging tens of thousands of dollars in apparently personal purchases on United Way credit cards and taking cash for unused annual leave -- some of which they took anyway.

The unsettling disclosures were followed closely by tax filings that revealed a controversial $1.5 million lump-sum payment to a former chief executive of the national umbrella organization, the Alexandria-based United Way of America. The national group also made headlines in 1992 when its president at the time, William Aramony, was convicted of stealing $1.2 million from the organization.

The slide for the National Capital Area United Way has been steep. In 2001, it was one of the largest and fastest-growing of the United Way's 1,400 affiliates, which operate independently of one another. The local United Way raised more than $90 million in its fall campaign that year.

Now, United Way officials say they will be happy just to bring in anything more than the $18 million they raised during last fall's private-sector campaign, which many large corporations deserted because of the controversy.

The United Way has fought back by touting the new management that has taken over the organization in the last year and has filed suit against Suer. It has also won praise for posting the audit on its Web site.

United Way chief executive Charles W. Anderson said last week that he has been heartened by the response to its campaign so far. "We are running at about 4 percent above last year at this point," he said, "and I am optimistic that the campaign will continue to pick up momentum in the days and weeks ahead."

But because of the controversy, many workers in the Washington area will see pledge cards and systems for handling them that are different from those of previous years, as other nonprofits take over from United Way or companies opt to handle fundraising drives themselves.

More workers will make their charitable choices online than in the past, since some companies and the newer organizations that run workplace campaigns are more computerized than the United Way.

About 1,850 Washington area employers are expected to participate in the United Way campaign this year, about the same as last year. They include Marriott Corp. and Amtrak, which have returned this year, as well as such United Way stalwarts as the local offices of Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Bank of America and consulting firm Deloitte, which never left. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A15046-2003Oct25?language=printer 10/28/2003 washingtonpost.com: United Way Far From Recovering Lost Support Page 2 of 2 PricewaterhouseCoopers, which conducted the United Way audit, says it will sponsor a United Way-only campaign this year, after using the United Way and another workplace campaign organization, Chantilly-based America's Charities, in last year's campaign.

Groups such as the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, the Council of Latino Agencies, the United Arts Organizations and others have expressed their support for the United Way and urged donors to contribute this year.

But many of the United Way's largest corporate supporters, such as Lockheed Martin, the Fairfax office of Exxon Mobil and the International Monetary Fund, opted to stay out, after backing away last year because of the controversy. A number of companies have turned to other workplace campaign organizations, such as America's Charities and Bethesda-based CreateHope.

The Combined Federal Campaign in the Washington area for 300,000 federal workers -- which was run for decades by the local United Way -- will be handled this year by an Alexandria nonprofit, Global Impact.

But Global Impact says the campaign won't look much different to participants. Federal workers will still get the same thick "Catalog of Caring" booklet listing more than 2,000 nonprofits -- local, national and international -- for which they can designate their contributions.

The United Way says its campaign will extend well into the new year. The CFC campaign runs until Dec. 31.

ADVERTISER LINKS What's this?

A Bankruptcy Alternative You can have a fresh start without filing! Free, confidential quote. www.i-owe.com

Bankruptcy Alternative We have a safe proven alternative to Bankruptcy, Get your Evaluation www.aarocredit.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A15046-2003Oct25?language=printer 10/28/2003 washingtonpost.com: Groups Check to See if Charities Measure Up Page 1 of 2 washingtonpost.com

Groups Check to See if Charities Measure Up

By Kenneth Bredemeier Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, October 26, 2003; Page F11

Giving money to a charitable organization should be viewed the same as any other financial transaction, say executives at some of the Washington area's biggest charitable foundations: Get all the facts before the check is cut.

With the economy flagging and donations sagging, Washington area foundations say that in a variety of ways they are devoting new energy to reviewing grant requests from nonprofit organizations, to determine as best they can that the money they're handing out is being wisely used, be it a $25,000 grant or a $1 million endowment.

And while Washington area residents may not have the expertise, and certainly not the staffs of trained investigators that foundations have to pore over a charity's budget and operations, foundation executives say individual donors can protect themselves in a variety of ways when deciding where to donate.

Terri Lee Freeman, president of the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region, which oversaw the $56 million of donations last year, asked pointedly, "How many things are you going to buy that you haven't looked at? Sometimes you have to ask specific questions about the promise of a group versus the expenditures. Do they match?

"It's really worth it to visit a site, to see what is actually going on, to see what is actually being done, visiting where your money is going," she said.

Maxine B. Baker, president and chief executive of the Freddie Mac Foundation, which donated about $24 million last year to 225 charities while rejecting bids from another 50 to 75 groups, said that three years ago her organization adopted "outcome-based grant-making," essentially a system that asks charities what they realistically expect to achieve if the mortgage finance giant's foundation gives them the money they're asking for.

"It's a new way of thinking for people on the front line," Baker said. "Let's say we're funding an after-school program. So we'd ask, how many students will come? How will their test scores improve? How do we measure if there is a change in the community? It helps us as funders to be able to go back to our board to say how things have changed."

She and other foundation executives said that individual donors can ask many of the same questions if they wish, including one of her favorites when she receives telephone solicitations: "What percentage of the donation goes to the charity?"

Baker said she asked that question when she received a recent telemarketing call asking for money for "some police or firefighter group and they said, '10 percent.' I said, 'You mean 90 percent goes to the fundraiser?' and they said, 'Yes.' "

She did not donate.

Other foundation executives said they have other criteria to measure the work and credibility of charities seeking donations or grants.

Anne Mosle, president of the Washington Area Women's Foundation, which focuses on funding for groups benefiting low-income women and girls, said: "Generally speaking, charities should be spending less than 25 percent on expenses and overhead. They need to have a clear, articulated purpose; a clear plan of action; strong, stable leadership; and

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A15015-2003Oct25?language=printer 10/28/2003 washingtonpost.com: Groups Check to See if Charities Measure Up Page 2 of 2 collaboration [with other groups in the community] because no one can operate in isolation.

"It's a definite red flag if they've only raised half their budget with a month to go in their budget year," she said, "or if everyone on their board has the same last name. That can still be fine, but there might not be as much outside perspective" if a board is dominated by people from one family.

Kae Dakin, president of Washington Grantmakers, an umbrella group of 150 family and corporate foundations, and Julie L. Rogers, president of the Meyer Foundation, which donated $6 million last year to 200 area groups with a variety of causes, said individual donors can check Web sites www.washingtongrantmakers.org and www.meyerfoundation.org.There they can find tips on evaluating charities and lists of charities that have undergone scrutiny by Washington area philanthropy groups and been deemed to be reputable.

Dakin said that a year ago Washington Grantmakers and other groups started a Web site, www.touchdc.org, that has a searchable online list of 25,000 charities in the Washington area with detailed information about their programs and finances.

Moreover, she said a panel of nonprofit, foundation and business officials comprising the TouchDC Coalition have compiled a list of five nonprofit groups in each of 11 categories, such as education, the environment, health, youth development and hunger, that it considers "to be doing the most effective work" at the moment in their fields.

Similarly, Rogers noted that by Nov. 17 the site www.catalogueforphilanthropy.org will list 70 groups, most of them Washington area charities, that also have been singled out by a panel of charity leaders as being the best in their specialties.

Peter Berns, executive director of the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations in Silver Spring and Baltimore, a group composed of 1,400 nonprofits in the state, suggested that donors look at www.standardsforexcellence.org for a list of 55 criteria that it deems essential for the operation of charitable groups.

In a nutshell, Berns said, he would ask a nonprofit seeking a grant or a donation, "Tell us how you're going to evaluate yourself. How do you know whether you're successful? What have you learned and how do you take what you've learned to improve your operations?"

Researcher Richard S. Drezen contributed to these reports.

ADVERTISER LINKS What's this?

Car Donation Charities Donate car nationwide & convenient to United Way, Cancer Research, etc www.donateacar.com

National Next Day Pickup Allstate Car Donation Association Live expert phone help 800 953-5424 cardonations.org

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A15015-2003Oct25?language=printer 10/28/2003 washingtonpost.com: The Best Kind of Corporate Handouts Page 1 of 3 washingtonpost.com

The Best Kind of Corporate Handouts More Companies Are Setting Up Ways -- and Even Days -- for Their Employees to Volunteer

By Amy Joyce Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, October 26, 2003; Page F06

Last Wednesday, the people at Right Management Consultants closed their laptops and picked up pumpkins. They locked the office doors and went to play at Children's National Medical Center, helping children decorate pumpkins, play games, make crafts and just have a fun-filled day.

In the work world, some companies know there's more to charity than writing a check. Right Management is one of them. And many companies that are cutting back on dollar donations are making up for it by volunteering.

American Management Systems (AMS) in Fairfax started a formal program about a year ago. America Online in Dulles began AOL Volunteer Days three years ago. Digex, a local technology firm, started a holiday giving program two years ago in which the company "adopts" local families in need. And there are hundreds more.

In fact, more than 105 companies volunteered last year through Greater DC Cares, a coordinator of volunteerism and philanthropy, an increase from the previous year's 73 firms. And anecdotally, Kelly Kinneen, the organization's spokeswoman, believes there are even more this year.

"Companies are using volunteering strategically," Kinneen said. "They may not have the dollars to give to organizations like they would like to, so companies . . . have volunteer days in their own community."

That strategic investment includes giving employees a day off to go to various volunteer locations or placing employees on the board of nonprofits. "A year or so ago, it was large companies like AOL and Freddie Mac. Now we're seeing smaller companies, too," Kinneen said. "There's a broad trend across the community."

This was the third year Right Management Consultants closed its D.C., Rockville and Fairfax offices so the 23 employees could spend the day at Children's.

Clay Parcells, the regional managing principal, proposed the idea when he joined the company three years ago. Clients are told the doors will be shut that day. Rather than be upset they are losing Right's help that day, many of them have sent donations for the hospital.

"We see it as one way to give back to the community," Parcells said. "Not only is there a benefit to giving back, but also it's a great team-building event for our group."

Corporate volunteering is nothing new, but it is on the rise, say nonprofits. The national office of Habitat for Humanity International said it has 100 corporate partners, companies that make a contribution of $100,000 or more. The number of partners has doubled in the past five years, said spokeswoman Barbara Webber. Companies have used an international trip to build Habitat houses as a sales incentive for employees. Others donate their products for the houses. The D.C. Habitat branch estimated that 35 to 40 percent of the groups on its volunteer waiting list are corporate.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A15027-2003Oct25?language=printer 10/28/2003 washingtonpost.com: The Best Kind of Corporate Handouts Page 2 of 3 AOL's volunteer days have grown. Five hundred of the Virginia campus's 4,000 employees took part earlier this month in the third annual AOL Volunteer Days -- the greatest number yet. The company also launched a pilot program this year through which employees installed anti-virus software in the computers at nonprofits.

"Part of our mission is to engage the communities in which we live and work," said Rich D'Amato, AOL's vice president of community investment.

The volunteer days are good for employee morale, said Melissa Stirling, a communications manager at the company. She went with a group that cleaned up a portion of the C&O Canal, and not only felt good about the service but said she now has more people to say hi to in the massive, busy hallways.

"A lot of people want to volunteer anyway," Stirling said. "But with a stressful work environment, it gets hard. So we're serving the opportunity up to them."

Jane Weizmann, a senior consultant with Watson Wyatt Worldwide, said that any company that does not have a volunteering or giving program is more of a rarity than one that does. "If you don't stand for something in today's world, you're really nothing," she said. After Sept. 11, 2001, and the economic downturn, "I think employers know that to engage your employees, you have to be committed to them," she said.

Mike Capron, senior manager of backup and recovery operations at Digex, suggested two years ago to senior management that the company needed some form of giving program around the holidays. "I sensed as a manager that we needed something a little more personal," Capron said. "I knew people wanted to give, but did not know an effective way to do it."

He figured it out. His department "adopted" three local families through Prince George's County's holiday sharing program. People outside the department took notice and showed interest in the program. So last year, the company agreed to take the program company-wide. There was a wrapping party at the office, and then two vans were filled twice with gifts for six families.

"Over and over I would hear, 'I just wanted to give and I didn't have a way,' " Capron said.

Other organizations have created ways to get employees to volunteer organizations, even if they can't make it out of the office or if they travel frequently on business. AMS employees can take part in a program called In2Books in which employees read certain books and become online pen pals with students reading the same ones. The employees can discuss the books, help to develop the students' writing skills and mentor them.

When the company supports volunteer efforts, employees are likely to feel a loyalty to the organization.

Brian Grim, a tech-support employee at AMS, said he is inspired by the company's support for its volunteer employees and programs. He has been involved with "Befriend a Child," which acts as a sort of big-brother program. AMS realized it had many employees involved with the group, so it is throwing a holiday party for the children this year and will foot the bill for food, Santa, toys and a disc jockey. "It's nice to know they show interest and care about their employees and getting involved with the community," Grim said.

Caroline Whalen, who has worked at AMS as a project manager for eight years, coordinated a program with Greenbriar West Elementary School in Fairfax about seven years ago. More than 20 employee volunteers go to the school on Thursdays to serve as mentors. You can spot the tutors by their cubicle decorations, she said. "We get wonderful crayon-decorated thank-yous from the students." The best thing she's heard in her years of volunteering was one winter, a student was heard saying she hoped it wouldn't snow "because it's tutor day."

Join Amy Joyce on Tuesday from 11 a.m. to noon for a live Life at Work discussion at washingtonpost.com. Is your work life spent whittling away in meetings? We want to hear about it. Send an e-mail to [email protected].

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A15027-2003Oct25?language=printer 10/28/2003 washingtonpost.com: Vehicle Donations Risky if Not Handled With Care Page 1 of 2 washingtonpost.com

Vehicle Donations Risky if Not Handled With Care

Sunday, October 26, 2003; Page F11

At least 18 charities in the Washington area accept donations of used vehicles, a manner of contributing that is attractive to many car owners because of the substantial tax deductions such gifts allow.

While an owner gets to deduct the appropriate Kelley Blue Book value of the donated car or truck, most of the charities realize only a fraction of that figure, anywhere from a few hundred dollars to about $1,000. Generally, the cars are picked up, transported and auctioned off by middlemen such as Charity Vehicle Systems Inc. of Fairfax and Copart Auto Auctions Inc. of Waldorf. The charities say they are satisfied with their small cut because of the enormous investment in infrastructure and equipment that would be required to conduct the entire vehicle-donation process themselves.

Less satisfying are the things that can happen to donors who rely too heavily on the charities or middlemen to take care of everything that vehicle donations entail. Donors have reported getting hit with traffic tickets resulting from sloppy follow-through or intentional lawbreaking after they have turned the cars over. There are also scammers, often unscrupulous tow-truck operators and garage owners, who have been known to buy donated cars, not register them and then bill the former owners months or even years later for storage.

This spring a spokeswoman for the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration shared the following tips with The Post's Dr. Gridlock. These or similar rules apply in most jurisdictions.

• Fill in the name and address of the charity under the "Assignment of Ownership" section of the vehicle title. This properly completes the transfer of ownership. Some charities may request that the new-owner information be left blank (taking ownership of the vehicle compels the charity to take an extra legal step to sell it). But leaving it blank leaves the donor at risk for future problems because such a title is considered "open" and unassigned. If the person who buys a donated car at auction does not register it, the ex-owner can be held liable for any fines or tickets the new owner may incur.

• Keep photocopies of all paperwork.

• Record the odometer mileage on the certificate of title.

• Do not leave the license plates on the car. Remove them and return the tags to the motor vehicle authority.

• Get, and keep, a receipt for the returned plates.

• Cancel insurance on the vehicle -- but only after the plates have been returned to the motor vehicle department.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A15014-2003Oct25?language=printer 10/28/2003 washingtonpost.com: Charitable Donations Fell in '02, Survey Says Page 1 of 1 washingtonpost.com

Charitable Donations Fell in '02, Survey Says

Associated Press Monday, October 27, 2003; Page A04

Contributions to the largest charities fell in 2002 for the first time in 12 years because of the troubled economy and uncertainty among donors, a new survey shows.

Donations to the 400 largest charities dropped 1.2 percent last year, to $46.9 billion from $47.5 billion in 2001, the Chronicle of Philanthropy said today in its annual survey. During the previous five years, donations increased an average of 12 percent each year.

"This economic downturn has just had so many twists and turns that donors aren't feeling very certain about the future, so they aren't as willing to give," said Stacy Palmer, editor of the Washington-based publication. "As donors are feeling more pinched, charities are feeling it, too."

The growing number of charities also contributes to the decline, as more nonprofits compete for donations, she said.

For the first time in a decade the Salvation Army, with nearly $1.4 billion in contributions, slipped from the top spot, the survey said.

A surge in giving prompted by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks pushed the American Red Cross to first place in 2002, from ninth. With $1.1 billion given to the Red Cross's Sept. 11 fund, the group's donations totaled more than $1.7 billion.

Charity officials have said their task in 2002 was complicated by many challenges, including layoffs, the stock market plunge, the erosion of trust in some institutions, and donor fatigue after the response to the attacks.

ADVERTISER LINKS What's this?

Donate and Save on Taxes Your donations can add up to hundreds of dollars in tax savings! www.ItsDeductible.com

Donor Advised Funds Simple, effective, no cost way to establish your legacy today! www.nptrust.org

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A21323-2003Oct26?language=printer 10/28/2003 washingtonpost.com: Charitable Giving Page 1 of 7 washingtonpost.com

Charitable Giving

Barbara L. Harman Executive Director of the Catalogue for Philanthropy Monday, October 27, 2003; 11:00 AM

Barbara L. Harman, Executive Director of the Catalogue for Philanthropy, was online to talk about how to choose a charity and what her organization looked for when putting together the Washington, D.C. catalogue.

An edited transcript is below:

Read The Washington Post's special report on charitable giving.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

______

washingtonpost.com: Good morning. Thank you for joining us today. Before we get started with questions from our readers, please tell us a little bit about the Catalogue for Philanthropy -- what it is, when it will be available for the Washington region, and your role in assembling it.

Barbara L. Harman: I'm very excited about the fact that the Catalogue for Philanthropy is coming to the DC area. The Catalogue project was initiated in Massachusetts and is now in its 7th year there. It's both an annual print catalogue and also an ongoing website, and both will be launched on November 17th. This is the Catalogue's first year here?the first of many years I hope. We focused on charities based right in the District for our inaugural year, but next year our plan is to expand to the Greater Washington area. The Harman Family Foundation is the lead sponsor of the catalogue, but we also had wonderful collaborative help--financial and otherwise--from the Meyer and Cafritz Foundations, from Washington Grantmakers, and from a host of other DC-based foundations who helped in the review process.

The Catalogue is an educational tool that explores the meaning, origin, and practice of individual philanthropy; its perspective is that philanthropy is not an obligation but an opportunity, that being a philanthropist is about using private means to affect the public good, and that doing philanthropy is a way of expressing one's interests and values. We hope that the Catalogue will help change the conversation about philanthropy, that it will inspire readers so that they will want to get engaged. It's so easy to think about philanthropy as that knock on the door at dinner time, or that person on the phone pressuring you to give. But we see the philanthropic sector as inspiring, and hope our readers will too.

On the practical front, the catalogue presents 70 small to medium-sized charities (with operating budgets under $2m? most of them WELL under $2m!) in all fields of philanthropy: nature, culture, human services, and international. Charities apply to the Catalogue (at no cost), are competitively selected by local grantmakers, and if chosen are featured in the catalogue (which is mailed to high end potential donors in the greater Washington area) and on the website. The Catalogue focuses on small organizations because, though they comprise nearly 85% of all charities, the public rarely hears about them (they cannot afford public fundraising and many attract no media attention). Yet they are very cost-effective (they have to be!) and donors who give to them really know they are making a difference. Because these organizations operate "below the radar screen" and can be hard to find on one's own, the Catalogue does the work of finding them for donors.

The idea is to engage individual donors by presenting to them a different layer of and different perspective on

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A584-2003Oct22?language=printer 10/28/2003 washingtonpost.com: Charitable Giving Page 2 of 7 philanthropy. There are so many small, grassroots charities out there who are smart, innovative, moving, effective, and creative. It's not our intention to pressure donors, or make them feel guilty, but rather to inspire them! We hope people will read about the wonderful, hard work these organizations are doing, and that they will WANT to get involved, will want to give. That's the whole approach of the catalogue. Learn about philanthropy. Explore this wide world of smaller charities. Figure out what interests you. Enjoy supporting things you care about. It's a good thing to be able to have an impact on our collective quality of life!

______

Arlington, Va.: The late 1990s were a high water mark for charitable giving. How much impact has the recession and continuing weak economy had on charitable giving?

Barbara L. Harman: It's had a pretty dramatic effect. Most of the recent data show that the huge increase in giving in the 90s will not continue, and that some organizations who thought it might are now finding it is quite difficult to raise money. Foundation assets are down, government spending is down, and this suggests to me that the ball is in the court of the individual donor. That's not to say individual donors can replace the government. of course they can't. But there is still a significant amount of wealth out there, and it would be wonderful to see individuals stepping up to the plate.

______

Baltimore: Looking on your Web site, I saw mention that the catalogue you produce for Massachusetts only goes to "100,000 affluent families." Is your organization only concerned about the giving habits of wealthy people?

Barbara L. Harman: You are looking at the Massachusetts site: in DC we will send out 25,000 catalogues. But you are right to notice that we will send them to affluent folks. This is NOT because we don't care about raising charitable giving more generally. It's just that the catalogue is expensive to make, and to b cost effective we have to send it where we think we might get the best results. But the website is available to all, and we really want to get the word out about that. Anyone can go to the website (live on Nov 17th) and download the whole catalogue, or just browse. We hope lots of people will visit, be inspired, and give!

______

Falls Church, Va.: How many charities will be included in your upcoming Washington guide, and how did you define geographic boundaries of the Washington region?

Barbara L. Harman: There are 70 charities in this year's catalogue. For applicants, we defined the boundaries as the District of Columbia--but just for this year. It was our first year getting underway, we didn't know how much funding we would have or how easy or hard it would be to get a good review process in place. So, we started small with the intention of growing. And we will! Next year we will expand our reach to Greater Washington. Catalogues will be mailed both to DC residents and those in the neighboring Md and Va suburbs.

______

Alexandria, Va.: What is The Harman Family Foundation, and are you part of the "Harman"?

Barbara L. Harman: The Harman Family Foundation is -- a family foundation! We are, relatively speaking, small, and like many family foundations we do a range of things. We make grants, help family members pursue their own philanthropy, and work on projects. The Catalogue is a project of our foundation whose areas of interest are arts, education, and ... the promotion of philanthropy! Yes, I am part of the Harman--but just one part.

______

Washington, D.C.: How can I get a print copy of the Washington catalogue?

Barbara L. Harman: Go to our website--www.catalogueforphilanthropy.org--and request one. Click on "Washington

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A584-2003Oct22?language=printer 10/28/2003 washingtonpost.com: Charitable Giving Page 3 of 7 DC" and you will see the "request a catalogue" section. It will take a while for your catalogue to come in the mail, because they wont be mailed until the end of the first week in November. And we use slow mail! It's cheaper!

______

Washington, D.C.: How can a small non-profit get listed on websites, newsletters or other organizational lists so that we are considered when fundraising tools are being developed?

Barbara L. Harman: There are a number of websites that you can "register" with. Guidestar is the obvious first, but it's a national database with over 800,000 charities on it. You can also register with Network For Good, And in DC, I would absolutely recommend that you fill out the requisite forms and get a good description of yourself onto www.touchdc.org, a local version of the above. Periodically, touchdc picks out and features a collection of interesting groups under each of its headings (arts, nature, human services, etc) and the featured nonprofits get some good exposure. You can apply to be featured in the catalogue next year. Our request for proposals will be on the website (www.catalogueforphilanthropy.org) in early March.

______

Washington, D.C.: How would a nonprofit for affordable elderly housing and services (budget under $700,000) participate in your Catalogue and/or website?

Thanks!

Barbara L. Harman: APPLY!!! We have a couple of groups in this area that will appear in the 2003 Catalogue. We do use a review board, and we can't accept every proposal. We look for smart, innovative, appealing groups that we think donors will be moved to support. Give it a try! Check back to the website in early March.

______

Alexandria, Va.: My mailbox is flooded with charitable solicitations every day. All are worthy causes, but I'm unable to give much to all of them. Is it better to spread the wealth to many charities, or focus all my giving on one or two?

Barbara L. Harman: A very interesting question! And Im not sure there is an easy answer. Personally, I like my giving to be "strategic"--that is, I like to feel that what I'm doing makes a difference. So I do two things: I try to make gifts in areas where I actually have some experience and expertise. This helps me to use my own gifts and talents when Im exercising my judgment. So I don't give to everyone: not because there aren't many worthy choices out there, but only because I want to give wisely and well and feel satisfied that what Im doing makes a difference. If I give in areas where Im knowledgeable in some way--and I mean that broadly--then I have the sense that I can exercise my judgment. So I also have taken to giving more in a smaller number of areas rather than spreading myself thin. Maybe not to one or two--but also, not to 20!

______

washingtonpost.com: Barbara, can you tell our readers a little about the advisory group that helped you narrow down the final list of charities for the Washington catalogue? How many people were involved, will these same experts be participating next year, etc.

Barbara L. Harman: We worked with 25 senior grantmakers at 15 area foundations. They worked in teams based on their area of expertise. We read the applications that the charities sent to us, and/or used our existing knowledge of them to do a preliminary evaluation. In some areas the choices were tough--say, if we had too many applicants in a particular area. Then, we met--often by phone or on an email chat--and really talked long and hard about the issues. The final selection was editorial: because the whole idea of the Catalogue is to interest potential donors in philanthropy, we want to present the range of philanthropic work in the region. So some excellent groups doing wonderful work were eliminated in the final selection process. We encouraged them to apply next year,. We describe our group of 70 as "some of the best," never THE best. Nest year there will be 70 more, and 70 more in the year after. So we will be

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A584-2003Oct22?language=printer 10/28/2003 washingtonpost.com: Charitable Giving Page 4 of 7 building a database of excellent, innovative, cost effective charities that readers can turn to year after year. And yes, we hope they will all review for us again, and that we will add more!

______

Bethesda, Md.: There are many, many charities out there. But aren't some more important than others? I believe the arts are important, but I'd much rather have my money support a health care or education program. Shouldn't everyone be encouraged to focus on human resources charities?

Barbara L. Harman: In my view, the question of what is important depends on the donor. If philanthropy is an obligation rather than an opportunity, then I think the donors will drop away. There are so many of us out there, there is no reason why we can't all pursue our own interests, tap our values, express our beliefs in our philanthropy. I love the arts, and I care about children, so I tend to look for organizations that care about both. Im also a teacher and I feel I am a better evaluator of programs that work at the intersection of the arts and education--because that is where my knowledge is and where my heart is! I'm sure that the projects I fund are valuable and that I am a better evaluator of them because I do what I know. If you love the arts, look at organizations that use the arts to support kids in afterschool programs, community centers, and the schools. There is always a way to do philanthropy and do what you love.

______

washingtonpost.com: What is the "Generosity Index" featured on the Catalogue Web site?

Barbara L. Harman: The Generosity Index is (like lots of other indexes) is a little complex, but here goes: It measures the wealth of states and ranks it (adjusted gross income). It then measures giving (itemized charitable deductions) and ranks that. This establishes a plus or minus correlation and these correlations are then ranked in order to give a set of ranks by state. Some indexes are only interested in relative kinds of having, but this one measures the relation of having to giving.

______

Washington, D.C.: How have you measured the success of your work to date in Massachusetts?

Barbara L. Harman: We measure the success in a variety of ways. First, we track dollars that are sent to us via a giving form that comes with the catalogue. Second, we track the dollars that are donated on the website. We TRY to get charities to keep track for us of dollars that come to them directly from donors--anecdotally, we think this may be the majority of donors--but this is hard to do. Sometimes, they just don't have the internal capacity to do that, but even when they do, it's easy to forget in year two, say, that a donation they are receiving is from a Catalogue donor ... who by now is just a friend of the charity! Maybe even on the board! But we do keep track of the dollars we can keep track of. We also keep an eye on Massachusetts's place on the generosity index. which has improved significantly since the inception of the Catalogue. No one would argue that was the only reason, but we think it is one of the reasons. We have had a huge range of gifts--from $10, to $100 to $1000, to $100,000 to ... $10million! (Let's do that again!)

______

Washington, D.C.: Are there any websites or organizational lists that focus particularly on international issues?

Barbara L. Harman: Network for Good has a section on international giving. So does Guidestar--but I think I would start with NFG (www.networkforgood.org). It's a little easier to use. Some of the bigger organizations--like the IRC (International Rescue Committee) and Human Rights Watch (www.humanrightswatch.org) may have links to other organizations,

______

Washington, D.C.: How much damage did the United Way scandals have on the charitable sector? Have donors been able to separate one organization's misdeeds from all the good work being done by others?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A584-2003Oct22?language=printer 10/28/2003 washingtonpost.com: Charitable Giving Page 5 of 7 Barbara L. Harman: This is a good question. I think the damage has been of two kinds: MANY workplace giving campaigns simply dropped the United Way from its giving plan and set employees loose to pick their own charities. This can be very hard to do without guidance (no Catalogue for Philanthropy to help them out!) and I would bet that many simply gave up. Also: scandals like these confirm peoples' negative views about philanthropy: they see scandals, and fraud and forget that in the case of the VAST, VAST majority of charities the story is stunningly and strikingly positive. It is absolutely amazing to me to see, every day, the wonderful work that small charities do--how hard they work, how innovative they are. This is something that the Catalogue is trying to reveal. We want to change the conversation about philanthropy--not ignore the scandals, but shine a light on the philanthropic sector in a new and inspiring way.

______

Gaithersburg, Md.: There are so many charities out there, many supporting similar cases. How can I determine if one, say cancer, organization is more deserving of my donation than another cancer organization?

Barbara L. Harman: Ah. Another good question--and a tough one. You need to dig a little deeper. DON'T hesitate to call a charity and ask to speak to someone in the know?a program director or a development director or an executive director. These organizations are incredibly eager to find new donors and forge new relationships and their key people will be happy to talk to you. A new donor is a very desirable person, so ask your questions, request material, pay a visit!

______

Bethesda, Md.: How can corporations use your catalogue and other services like it? Is it appropriate for business use?

Barbara L. Harman: You bet. If a corporation would like to use the catalogue for workplace giving, they should let us know! Send me an email: [email protected]. We can supply catalogues (unless you have 2000 employees!) or talk to you about directing people to our website--which is very user friendly. Our focus this year has been on individuals, but we would love to see a corporation take this on! Interested?

______

Washington, D.C.: Charity Navigator (www.charitynavigator.org)rates international charities

Barbara L. Harman: CharityNavigator only rates larger organizations. Check out the Catalogue for some wonderful small groups who wouldn't end up on Charity Navigator's radar screen!

______

Annapolis, Md.: You noted that charitable giving totals have declined in the current economic downturn. One thing I think would be very valuable for small charities is expert financial advice -- i.e. how to manage money given in good times for use during bad times. Are any of your partners working in that area?

Barbara L. Harman: The Meyer Foundation--which incidentally is an excellent source of information about wonderful charities working in the region--also has a funding area for strengthen the nonprofit sector. Check out their excellent website: www.meyerfoundation.org. Meyer would be a good group to ask about other organizations that work with nonprofits in this field.

______

Washington, D.C.: You've mentioned "workplace giving" a couple of times. What does that mean?

Barbara L. Harman: Workplace Giving refers to organized giving where you work. Some companies do it, and... some don't!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A584-2003Oct22?language=printer 10/28/2003 washingtonpost.com: Charitable Giving Page 6 of 7 ______

Windsor, Calif.: How does the Internet increase the effectiveness of non-profits, and to hold them better accountable as to how they manage and spend these donations?

Barbara L. Harman: I don't think the internet does do this! There are, of course, sites that evaluate charities (these have already been mentioned--charitynavigator.org and, here is another one, give.org (the Better Business Bureau) but these only cover the bigger orgs.

______

Arlington, Va.: What advise do you have for local charities trying to target corporate/organizational giving? Is there any money out there?

Barbara L. Harman: This is VERY hard. You might check out the www.nonprofitroundtable.org, a DC-based 9and local) organization that works on these issues. Their report this year on Corporate Giving was eye-opening, but not too encouraging. It's very tough to get on the radar screen of corporations. I recommend that you apply to the catalogue. I think we will--little by little--get visibility for small organizations who need the boost you're describing.

______

Baltimore: While waiting for approval of 501 c3, can a nonprofit sit under another nonprofit

Barbara L. Harman: It might be possible to get another 501c3 to be your sponsor, but it isn't clear that that would take less time than waiting for your nonprofit status to come through! In any case, I'd ask a lawyer. If you don't have one, call a legal services organization and get some good legal counsel before you do this.

______

Washington, D.C.: I regularly get called by paid solicitors looking for donations for specific charities. These calls leave me with mixed emotions -- I understand that some charities find it more beneficial to rely on paid solicitors, but I don't like the thought that some of my money might go to a private firm. Should I avoid charities that use paid solicitors?

Barbara L. Harman: Personally, I tend to avoid them. I don't think they are necessarily bad, but unless you are willing to do some real digging and find out how much of the donation is going to the paid solicitor and how much to the organization, you might want to steer clear. Again, you have choices! Look for areas of interest on www.touchdc.org, check out the catalogue wither in print or online, call the Community Foundation (www.cfncr.org) and ask about charities in your area of interest. You may find these routes more philanthropically satisfying.

______

Reston, Va.: Do you think the tax benefits of charitable giving are sufficient?

Barbara L. Harman: It depends on where you live, Massachusetts had--for one year--a state deduction for charitable giving--as it should. The next year, because of the budget crunch, it was gone. I think that;s very short sighted. All states should have a charitable deduction--as the federal government does!

______

Allegany, N.Y.: Should charities be required to disclose pertinent data relative to revenues and expenditures as a part of their solicitations?

Comment: I think potential contributors now are more interested in knowing what percentage of their donations will actually used in direct benefits. How much in a particular fund drive will go for fundraising? For administration, etc?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A584-2003Oct22?language=printer 10/28/2003 washingtonpost.com: Charitable Giving Page 7 of 7 Barbara L. Harman: If they don't, there is absolutely nothing to stop you from asking before you donate! I;m not sure this should be required, because not all donors want to know, and giving them too much information can be counterproductive. But they have the info, and you have the right to ask and to know!

______

Barbara L. Harman: Thanks for your questions. It's inspiring to see so many people interested in thinking and talking about philanthropy.

Best regards,

Barbara Harman

______washingtonpost.com: Thank you Barbara, and thanks to everyone who participated in today's live discussion. Please check out The Post's wonderful special package on charitable giving, which ran in Sunday's newspaper.

ADVERTISER LINKS What's this?

Vehicle Donation Charity Charity Car Donations to United Way, Cancer Research, etc www.donateacar.com

National Next Day Pickup Allstate Car Donation Association Live expert phone help 800 953-5424 cardonations.org

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A584-2003Oct22?language=printer 10/28/2003