Weekly News Recap: April 6, 2018

--- --- Peter Munk attends a Barrick Gold shareholders meeting in 2016.Peter J. Thompson/National Post

Sometimes it’s better to be kind than to be right. We do not need an intelligent mind that speaks, but a patient heart that listens. — Gautama Buddha

Lists of lists

News

  • Autographed guitars stolen from Edmonton charity recovered at Calgary pawn shop (CBC) EDMONTON STORY Nice ending to this story. "A collection of autographed electric guitars stolen from an Edmonton music charity has turned up at a Calgary pawn shop. Todd Crawhaw, executive director of Edmonton's Rock and Roll Society, said staff at the Sharky's International pawn shop had heard about the recent theft and refused to make an offer." 4/4/18

  • Big Brothers Big Sisters wait list growing in Grande Prairie (CBC) GRANDE PRAIRIE STORY "'These men are out working for months straight ... they don't feel like they have time to give.' More than 50 boys and girls in Grande Prairie are waiting to meet a role model through the Big Brothers Big Sisters mentorship program [and] 41 out of 52 are boys between the ages of six and 17 [...]." 4/3/18

  • RDC recognized with bronze for excellence in marketing (Red Deer Advocate) RED DEER STORY Congrats to Red Deer College! Nice work guys. "RDC’s Marketing & Communications department received a bronze Paragon Award in the Magazine category from the National Council for Marketing & Public Relations (NCMPR)." 4/2/18

  • Four giant pandas settle into new home at Calgary Zoo (Globe and Mail) CALGARY STORY "They can’t be seen by the public, not for another month at least. But the giant pandas of China have pulled into Calgary like rock stars on their biggest tour, like headliners at a panda-palooza." 3/30/18

  • What's in a name? City to explore sale of naming rights on local pools, arenas (Calgary Herald) CALGARY STORY "The city is considering hiring consultants to assess the value of naming rights and sponsorship opportunities associated with a host of recreation properties, from aquatics and fitness centres to golf courses and arenas, according to municipal bid documents." 3/30/18

  • Calgary Technologies Inc. poised for pivotal change with appointment of president and chief executive officer (UCalgary) CALGARY STORY Congrats Terry! "[Calgary] Technologies Inc. (CTI) [has] announced the appointment of Terry Rock as president and chief executive officer. Rock is a passionate promoter of Calgary’s potential and has an extensive entrepreneurial and strategic leadership background." In a related story, Terry speaks about his aspirations for CTI. 3/29/18

  • Breaking new ground: Métis in Alberta buy their land from province for 1st time in Canada (CBC) FORT MCKAY STORY This is a huge deal! Well done everybody. "The Métis community of Fort McKay, Alta., has become the first in Canada to buy all of the land it's on from a provincial government." 3/28/18

  • Barrick Gold founder Peter Munk dead at 90 (CBC) CANADIAN STORY A leader in Canadian philanthropy. We will not see his like again. RIP Mr. Munk. "Canadian entrepreneur and philanthropist Peter Munk, who founded Barrick Gold and built it into the world's biggest gold-mining company, has died at the age of 90." 3/28/18

  • The Women's Impact Initiative (AFP Blog) "On March 8, AFP celebrated International Women’s Day by launching its new Women’s Impact Initiative, or WII. The Initiative is AFP’s response to a series of issues around the role of women in fundraising, including gender inequity, sexual harassment, and implicit bias." 3/28/18

  • Regina school installs bench to promote mental health, friendship (CTV News) REGINA STORY "The Canadian Mental Health Association Regina launched their first buddy bench at Thomson Community School [recenty]. Buddy benches are put in place to teach children about diversity, compassion and inclusiveness. They are brightly coloured benches where students can sit if they are feeling bored or lonely. Other students can then go to the bench and ask them if they would like to play or talk." 3/27/18

  • Greater Vancouver Food Bank asks people to reconsider donating Loblaws gift cards (CBC) VANCOUVER STORY "The Greater Vancouver Food Bank wants people to rethink making donations of Loblaws gift cards, despite a social media campaign to pass the cards on to charity [...]. The cards need to be activated online before they can be used, adding an extra organizational step for staff and volunteers, the statement explained." 3/27/18

  • Quad ball diamond project rounding third (Rocky View Weekly) LANGDON STORY The North Bow Community Facility Board's (NBCFB) Quad Ball Diamond Project has successfully secured fundraising commitments of $200,000. ViTreo is proud to be working with the NBCFB. 3/27/18

Books to read

Life and career hacks

Opinion

  • The Ethical Argument for General Operating Funds (Nonprofit AF) "General operating funds allow us nonprofits to be most effective at helping people, including saving lives. By restricting funds you are impeding our work; therefore, your philosophies and policies are causing people to get hurt and die. And that is unethical." March 2018

Economic development

Philanthropic controversy

Trends and shifts

  • Billionaire Frank McCourt Makes $45 Million Donation to Manhattan Cultural Institution (Penta) Boom! Nice gift to culture. "Billionaire Frank H. McCourt Jr. donated $45 million to The Shed, a cultural space opening in New York in 2019, crediting it as an institution with global impact." 4/3/18

  • Alexa's latest trick is voice-activated charitable donations (engadget) This had to happen. Love that it has. "Amazon's efforts to make charitable giving easier now extend to Alexa. The shopping juggernaut has partnered with some 40 organizations so that next time you're feeling generous, all you have to do is say 'Alexa, make a donation to Detroit Achievement Academy' within earshot of the digital assistant." 4/2/18

  • Is the Council on Foundations Doomed? (Inside Philanthropy) "In 2006, the Council on Foundations reported revenues of $17.2 million. A decade later, in 2016, it reported revenues of $11.6 million. That’s a pretty brutal decline in fortune—especially when you consider that many thousands of new private foundations were created during this same period." 3/27/18

  • The Most Important Self-Driving Car Announcement Yet (The Atlantic) "Autonomous vehicles will transform urban life by 2020, if Waymo’s time line is correct [...]. But the qualitative impact will be even bigger. Right now, maybe 10,000 or 20,000 people have ever ridden in a self-driving car, in any context. Far fewer have been in a vehicle that is truly absent a driver. Up to a million people could have that experience every day in 2020." 3/28/18

  • Media Release: The changing face of the Canadian family (Wire Service) "Canadian families are becoming more diverse and they’re pretty stable units overall, as shown in the sixth and latest edition of Close Relations." 3/27/18

Large gifts

  • $1M donation expands business education program for aspiring Indigenous entrepreneurs (Saanich News) VICTORIA STORY Nice gift BMO! Thanks! "Indigenous business ventures in Canada will get a boost thanks to a $1 million donation from BMO Financial Group to expand the Aboriginal Canadian Entrepreneurs Program (ACE)." 4/3/18

  • Global handbag king hands $5 million donation to Concordia's Korean Language Village (Bemidji Pioneer) "The handbag king who brings the world luxury labels like Michael Kors, Marc Jacobs, Coach and Tory Burch just made a $5 million donation to Moorhead's Concordia Language Villages." Concordia College is a private college located in Moorhead, Minnesota. 4/2/18

  • U.S. Cellular Celebrates National Volunteer Month with $1 Million Donation to Boys & Girls Clubs of America (Business Wire) "U.S. Cellular [...] announced a $1 million donation to Boys & Girls Clubs of America to provide K-12 Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) educational opportunities to youth." 4/2/18

  • McKesson creates foundation for opioid crisis with $100M donation (Becker's Hospital News) Nice move McKesson! "McKesson Corp. [...] committed $100 million to form a nonprofit foundation dedicated to addressing the nation's ongoing opioid epidemic." McKesson Corporation is an American company distributing pharmaceuticals and providing health information technology, medical supplies, and care management tools. 4/2/18

  • $10 million anonymous gift contributes to funding for new engineering center (Maine Campus) "[The] University of Maine engineering department has received a $10 million anonymous gift. This donation is to go toward UMaine’s new Engineering Education and Design Center, which will cost an estimated $80 million overall." 4/2/18

  • Clippers Foundation to donate $10 million to renovate Los Angeles' basketball courts (LA Times) "Ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and in an effort to improve youth fitness and access to sports, the Clippers Foundation will announce Monday a $10-million donation to the L.A. Parks Foundation to renovate all indoor and outdoor basketball courts in city parks." 4/2/18

  • UCLA Health Sciences gets $20 million gift to fuel expansion (Healthcare Finance) "UCLA Health Sciences announced that it has received a $20 million commitment to advance its surgical capabilities. The gift from Eugene and Maxine Rosenfeld will enable the expansion and revitalization of UCLA Health's learning resource center, including the UCLA Simulation Center. " 3/29/18

  • Anonymous donor gifts millions to build Planned Parenthood clinics in Texas (The Hill) "An anonymous donor has promised to grant $9 million for the construction of two new Planned Parenthood health centers in Texas." 3/29/18

  • Elon music program gets $1M donation (The Times News) "A gift of $1 million from an anonymous Elon University family will mean significant upgrades for the music production and recording arts program, beginning as early as this semester." 3/29/18

  • Over $1 million donation made to Carson-Newman University (ABC) "The Unversity of Carson-Newman has received a gift of over $1 million for endowed scholarship support. The gift will also provide support for students' success during college. A gift from the late Anna Lee and Harrell Pendleton of Morristown will allow the University to give a give an endowed scholarship like none they've offered previously." 3/29/18

  • International African American Museum gets $1 million donation from global company (ABC) "The International African American Museum (IAAM) announced [...] a $1 million gift from Johnson Controls, a Milwaukee-based company that specializes in HVAC solutions." The International African American Museum is located in Charleston, South Carolina. 3/28/18

  • UCF nets $6.6 million donation from alum (Orlando Sentinel) "[Jim] Rosengren, who graduated from [the University of Central Florida] UCF in 1981, and his wife, Julia, recently gave $6.6 million to his alma mater, the largest gift in school history from an alum. His donation will benefit a handful of areas, including the RESTORES clinic, which has treated veterans, active duty military personnel, first responders and survivors of the Pulse nightclub shooting for PTSD." 3/28/18

  • Cryptocurrency Giant’s $29 Million Gift Funds Every Request on DonorsChoose.org (Chronicle of Philanthropy) Some believe that cryptocurrency is 21st-century snake oil. For the one in six public schools in the U.S. now benefitting from this massive gift, this is certainly not the case. One of the coolest aspects of this story is that that this gift happened because the founder of the crowdfunding site, DonorsChoose.org, made an "insane" pitch to the founders of Ripple. Charles Best suggested to Ripple that they cover every single request on their site. They went for it. Boom!" 3/28/18

  • Morning Shakas to Dr. Allen Zecha for his generous donation to Hawaii Pacific University (Island News) "It's a huge donation for students and faculty at a local university [...]. Hawaii Pacific University is receiving a $1-million gift from global businessman and supporter Dr. Allen Zecha. The money will be used to establish a school of engineering and develop graduates with the capacity to solve complex social issues in our communities as well as support other initiatives." For those who are wondering what shakas means (I was), here is an article on the practice. 3/28/18

  • Anonymous $2.5-million donation will benefit drug-addicted babies (Fox News) "A massive donation is going to help some of the most vulnerable in our community: Babies who are born addicted to drugs. An anonymous donor gave $2.5 million to Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital to expand its services for treating addicted babies." 3/28/18

  • Pa. will use $1 million donation from insurer to track, try to head off heroin addiction crisis (Penn Live) "A foundation associated with health insurer Aetna has donated $1 million toward a state-led collaboration intended to give a better real-time look at the opioid addiction crisis, and predict trends in the epidemic." 3/27/18

  • Walter, Dodgers pledge to help rebuild Puerto Rico with $2 million donation (Dodger Insider) "Dodger Owner and Chairman Mark Walter and the Los Angeles Dodgers announced a donation of $2 million to Habitat for Humanity of Puerto Rico to support rebuilding efforts following the devastation left behind last year by Hurricane Maria." 3/27/18

  • Kelvin Ro’s donation helps keep Culinary Institute on track (Honolulu Star Advertiser) "For more than 20 years, chef Kelvin Ro has been a primary fundraiser for the Culinary Institute of the Pacific’s efforts to build a new campus and restaurant on the slopes of Diamond Head. This year, Ro is putting up some cash of his own — $1 million, part of it to be paid directly by him, the rest out of the profits of his business." 3/27/18

  • [$1.6 Million Donation from Farzaneh Brothers to ISO] (https://ostate.tv/media/%241.6+Million+Donation+from+Farzaneh+Brothers+to+ISO/0_cv7cduyx) (OStateTV) "Thanks to a generous gift from brothers Jalal and Mohammad Farzaneh, students and faculty at Oklahoma State University will be able to expand their knowledge in the area of Iranian and Persian Gulf studies." 3/10/18

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

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