This Week's Eye-Catching Philanthropy Headlines
There’s a lot going on in the world of philanthropy this week. Here is a round-up of stories that caught our eye.
Nation’s First Undergraduate Degrees in Philanthropic Studies
The Chronicle of Philanthropy highlights the five graduates from Indiana University who will be the nation’s first to earn bachelor’s degrees in philanthropic studies. The program is intended to produce future nonprofit leaders and it’s one of many new undergraduate nonprofit programs across the country. As for their future plans, two of Indiana’s graduates are moving on to graduate school and the others are seeking entry-level jobs at nonprofit organizations or foundations.
Charities Seek Some of Facebook’s Billions
The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports on how Silicon Valley nonprofits are anxious to “friend” Facebook and its employees in hopes they will receive donations stemming from the company’s IPO this week. If Facebook employees need a solid example to follow, the company’s co-founders Mark Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskovitz are setting an example with their own philanthropy. Both have pledged to give at least half of their wealth to worthy causes. And the company has already budgeted $500,000 to start the Facebook Local Community Fund, which will enlist Facebook employees and local leaders to review grant applications from local charities. We look forward to more “status updates” on how Facebook plans to give back post-IPO windfall.
Newman’s Own to Grant $30M
The Wall Street Journal reports that the Newman’s Own Foundation announced plans to give away at least $30 million to various charities this year. Marking Newman’s Own 30th anniversary, the foundation has awarded $350 million in grants during its existence and 2012 will be its largest funding year ever. The funds will support nonprofits that work in the areas of nutrition, child healthcare and leadership initiatives. Let’s raise a glass -- of Newman’s Own lemonade, of course -- in celebration of Mr. Newman’s philanthropic and entrepreneurial endeavors. Cheers!
Donate via Tweets and Texts
Mashable reports on a new service launched in the UK which makes charitable giving easy via text and Twitter. Givey works as a payment platform and lets people make “on-the-fly donations” with short tweets and SMS texts that benefit charities. Starting in August, Givey will record all donations and rank users by their charitable acts. Eventually users will be able to log their time spent volunteering. The CEO explains, “It could also become a way for companies to identify future employees or leaders based on the glance of their Givey Score.” We’ll be watching for updates on when the service will hit the U.S.