Weekly News Recap: October 21, 2016
There will be a state memorial for former Alberta premier Jim Prentice in Calgary on Oct. 28. (Todd Korol/Reuters)
Philanthropic controversy
Peter Thiel to Donate $1.25 Million in Support of Donald Trump One of very few people in the tech world supporting Mr. Trump. You might remember Mr. Thiel as the funder behind Hulk Hogan's take-down of Gawker. Related to this story, you might be interested in Time to sever ties with Peter Thiel? Silicon Valley fights over his donation to Donald Trump (10/16/16)
Why Doctors Without Borders Refused a Million Free Vaccines From MSF's perspective, this is a principled stand against the high price of drugs. From Pfizer's perspective, why would MSF imperil their patients with this refusal? What are your thoughts? (10/14/16)
Donald Trump and the problem with celebrity foundations Both candidates have had public perception issues with their respective charitable foundations. These issues have spilled over to hurt the charitable sector overall. Thanks to Mick Mulloy for sharing this link (10/12/16)
News
Red Deer County halves $1-million request for 2019 Winter Games It appears that Platinum sponsorship was a little too rich for the County. RED DEER STORY (10/19/16)
Enbridge cuts 5% of workforce, including 370 jobs in Canada Ironically this news comes as we are, arguably, emerging from the worst of the economic slump. CALGARY STORY(10/19/16)
Plentiful downtown Calgary office space seen as a bargain, by some Are you looking for space? CALGARY STORY (10/19/16)
State memorial for former Alberta premier Jim Prentice set for Oct. 28 This is a terrible tragedy. Jim loved Canada and he loved Alberta. Our hearts and minds are with his family and the families of the other three men who died in this accident. ALBERTA STORY (10/19/16)
Relief for fire-damaged Fort McMurray businesses comes months after funding promise I am just happy it is happening. FOR MCMURRAY STORY (10/19/16)
City blindsided by Canadian Finals Rodeo return Good news? Bad news? Hard to say but it looks like Edmonton might remain the home of the CFR, at least for now. EDMONTON STORY (10/18/16)
A first look at Kalamazoo's plan for the Foundation for Excellence We have covered this story in previous recaps (September 2, 2016 and August 5, 2016). This is a fascinating look into the intersection of philanthropy and municipal finance. (10/18/16)
My Report to the President This is U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's report to President Obama on the Cancer Moonshot. It's a moving and important read. (10/17/16)
80-storey tower proposed for downtown Edmonton Easily twice as tall as anything else in Edmonton. EDMONTON STORY (10/17/16)
SAIT celebrates 100th anniversary with big campus bash Happy birthday SAIT! You have never looked better. CALGARY STORY (10/16/16)
Former premier Roy Romanow named U of S chancellor What an outstanding choice. Congrats to the University of Saskatchewan. SASKATOON STORY (10/15/16)
MS Society in Sask. ends door-to-door campaign They cite declining number of canvassers, the changing way people choose to donate and the cost of supplies. SASKATCHEWAN STORY (10/14/16)
Ottawa announces $35-million grant for new NAIT building The funding is earmarked for a new productivity and innovation building at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology that is expected to partner with industry to solve problems and create jobs. EDMONTON STORY (10/12/16)
Tools and references
- Prospect Research in Canada: An Essential Guide for Researchers and Fundraisers An excellent reference for all fundraisers but especially those who do prospect research. Oh, and happy birthday APRA. (October 2016)
Insights
- When Arts and Money Mingle: The Three Challenges that Fundraisers in Arts Nonprofits Face Insights from Betty Xie, filmmaker and fundraiser. Currently, Betty works at the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival as its development and programming associate. She is also a 2016 Fellow of AFP's Fellowship in Inclusion and Philanthropy Program. (8/12/16)
Philanthropic personalities
- Meet An Influential Chicago Couple Digging Into Education Reform A deeper look at Bruce and Diana Rauner who have given over $20 million to support improved education in Chicago alone. (10/17/16)
Life and career hacks
A Field Guide for Online Reading Material Terrific weekday reading list. I read Medium every day (most of the hacks you read here come from there) and I have skimmed a few of the others. (10/18/16)
I Don’t Read. I Search. And it Works. For those who don't read, this is for you. The fact is, we all read. How we read is the question. (10/18/16)
5 Daily Habits to Improve your Attention Span "Treat attention as currency." We could all do better by just doing that. (10/18/16)
What is Your Big Five Personality Score? Fun and interesting. No surprise, I scored high on Open to Experience, Extroversion, and Agreeableness. I scored moderately on Conscientiousness and Neuroticism. (10/17/16)
14 Habits of Exceptionally Likable People Not your typical list. Lots of high EQ information and ideas here. A must read and refresher for all humans. (10/17/16)
15 Surprising Things That Can’t Be Copyrighted The included infographic is terrific. (10/13/16)
7 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started My Career I almost passed this article by because of the title. If I was writing the title, it would have read: 7 Things That Are critical To Your Life. This is an excellent article for anyone wanting to be better. Enjoy. I did. (10/11/16)
VIDEO: How a world champion of public speaking prepares for presentations Engaging and useful video on how to prepare a great presentation. And it's short, less than two minutes. Thanks to Michelle Regel for sharing this link. (9/16/16)
Studies and reports
The Social Deficit: How much faster will charities have to run to stay in the same place? A critically important report from the Chief Economist for Canada’s Charitable and Nonprofit Sector, Brian Emmett. His report indicates that by 2026 (ten years from now), Canada's charitable sector will have to be raising $23 billion more than they are today just to maintain the status quo. Full report in PDF form is available through this link. CANADIAN STORY (10/18/16)
The future belongs to the bold. Canada needs more courage A great report from Deloitte on Canada's 'business courage' in the context of Canada's 150th birthday in 2016. Thanks to Mick Mulloy for sharing this report. CANADIAN STORY (October 2016)
2016 NONPROFIT FINANCE STUDY Not exactly riveting reading but this is an important study. Note: U.S. based. (October 2016)
Large gifts
UMES receives one million dollar donation The University of Maryland Eastern Shore has received a $1 million gift to their honors program from the Richard A Henson Foundation. (10/19/16)
$4.7M donation sparks literacy movement in Newark schools Students at three Newark schools will be going home from book fairs with at least 10 free books, thanks to a $4.7 million donation meant to foster child literacy. The private donation will be carried out through the United Way of Essex and West Hudson. (10/19/16)
With $50m, Bloomberg thanks Museum of Science Michael Bloomberg has made a $50 million gift to the Museum of Science in Boston, Massachusetts. “I went every Saturday, and it changed my life,” recalled Bloomberg, 74, who attended classes there starting when he was about 10 and through to his high school years.“It just showed me the possibilities and showed me what was out there in ways that traditional school didn’t do.” (10/18/16)
Prominent Nashville family makes multimillion-dollar donation to Vanderbilt Vanderbilt University has received a donation from the Eskind family that will go toward a $12.9 million renovation of the Annette and Irwin Eskind Biomedical Library. (10/18/16)
Domino’s pledges to support FFA with $1 million donation Domino's Pizza has committed $1 million to support the Future Farmers of America (FFA) organization. "There is no Domino's without the dairy, tomato, wheat and other farmers across the United States working hard every day to produce the food we serve." (10/18/16)
Phil and Penny Knight will give $500 million to University of Oregon for science complex Boom! "The University of Oregon has received a $500 million commitment from Phil and Penny Knight to build a new science complex in Eugene. Phil Knight is the founder of Nike. Phil and Penny Knight have given away over $2 billion. (10/17/16)
Rowan University receives $25 million donation to expand Fossil Park Jean and Ric Edelman, graduates of Rowan University in New Jersey, gave $25 million to transform the school's Fossil Park. The 65-acre park, located in Mantua Township, was purchased by the school in January for $1.95 million. Researchers have unearthed fossils from the Cretaceous Period, which lasted from 145 million to 66 million years ago, at the site. (10/17/16)
MOMA RECEIVES DONATION OF 102 WORKS BY LATIN AMERICAN ARTISTS, WILL ESTABLISH RESEARCH INSTITUTE Patricia Phelps de Cisneros and Gustavo A. Cisneros have announced that they will donate 102 works by 37 Latin American artists to the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The donation also establishes a research institute dedicated to the further study of art made in Latin America. (10/17/16)
Lakeland Gets Donation From Hanson Family For Expansion The new Lakeland Medical Center Pavilion will include the Hanson Heart Center, named for donors Merlin and Carolyn Hanson and their family. Mr. and Mrs. Hanson have donated $1.5 million to the project. (10/16/16)
Ramon Sessions returns the love with $1 million donation to alma mater Ramon Sessions always dreamed big where basketball was concerned, even if no one else shared his particular vision. But someone at the University of Nevada did. They believed in him when few others did, and Sessions returned the favor last week with a $1 million donation to his alma mater toward the development of an on-campus basketball practice facility. The idea of his name being splashed across a building — the Ramon Sessions Basketball Performance Center — on the campus he called home from 2004-2007 still boggles the mind of the 10-year NBA veteran and backup point guard for the Charlotte Hornets. (10/14/16)
Kellogg makes $2.6M donation to United Way of Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Kellogg company has made a $2.6 million donation to the United Way campaign in the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo region. The money will benefit the education, income and health needs of many families in West Michigan. This announcement comes just a day after Kellogg vowed to provide more than 1.9 billion servings of food around the world by the end of the year. (10/14/16)
Georgetown Prep Receives $20 Million Donation Georgetown Preparatory School in North Bethesda received a $20 million anonymous gift that the 228-year-old private boys school will use to renovate its two residential buildings and make other improvements, a school spokesman said Friday. (10/14/16)
Guelph vet college gets $2.5M donation for new surgical facilities The gift is from La Fondation Emmanuelle Gattuso and it will go toward the $9-million project to create new surgery and anesthesia facilities on the Guelph campus. GUELPH STORY (10/14/16)
Tennessee gets $5.5 million donation for new track center The donation came from Randy and Jenny Boyd, who both graduated from the university and live in Knoxville. Randy Boyd is commissioner of the state of Tennessee's Department of Economic and Community Development and owner of the Southern League's Tennessee Smokies, the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. (10/14/16)
Merlis Belsher makes record $12.25-million donation for new U of S rink Merlis Belsher thought long and hard about the idea of contributing a rather large sum of money — the largest-ever from an individual donor, as it would turn out — to help build a new rink on the University of Saskatchewan campus. SASKATOON STORY (10/13/16)
UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine receives $30M donation Philanthropists Tamar and Vatche Manoukian donated to the school’s Division of Digestive Diseases. According to a UCLA press release, their donation motivated other anonymous donors to contribute to the division as well, making the total gift $30 million. (10/13/116)
St. V's gets $1M donation to pediatric unit renovation Tom and Joan Scott have donated $1 million to help the St. Vincent Healthcare hospital in Billings Montana renovate its pediatric intensive care unit. Tom Scott is the former CEO of First Interstate BancSystem and the son of its founder, Homer Scott. (10/12/16)
University of Montana picks up $24M donation The donation comes from Bill Franke and his family. The $24 million donation will benefit the College of Forestry and Conservation and the Global Leadership Initiative. The University of Montana is located in Missoula, Montana. (10/12/16)
Welcome to our recap of the week's news, articles, and information of note. ViTreo Group Inc. provides this information for the benefit of our clients, associates, staff, partners, and stakeholders. The content is collected and curated by ViTreo partner Vincent Duckworth. If you would like to submit a link for consideration, please send an email to info@vitreogroup.ca
The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by ViTreo Group Inc. of the linked web sites, or the information, products or services contained therein. ViTreo Group does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. All links are provided with the intent of meeting the mission of the ViTreo Group Inc. Please let us know about existing external links which you believe are inappropriate.