Worth a listen: Foundation advice on how to spend Stimulus money well

Posted February 27, 2009 // 0 Comments // add yours

By Bruce Trachtenberg

Just a couple days after bemoaning the difficulty foundations have in getting media coverage, I’ve just listened to a replay of an excellent piece on NPR this morning – The Art of Doling Out Stimulus Dollars — that features interviews with representatives of the Gates and Pittsburgh Foundations, and other philanthropy observers, about what lessons grantmakers can provide the government when it comes to giving out lots of money effectively.  One of the best quotes is from Network Chair Emeritus and Pittsburgh Foundation President Grant Oliphant: “The whole idea that the government could have given away $350 billion to the banks without setting clear expectations for how that money would be used boggles the mind for those of us who work in philanthropy.”

Link to: Bruce Trachtenberg, The Communications Network

Welcome

Posted February 18, 2009 // 1 Comments // add yours

By Grant Oliphant

Welcome to Community E-Forum, The Pittsburgh Foundation’s new blog. If you are someone who shares our mission to make this community a better place for us all, we hope you will visit – and comment – here often.

I was privileged to be hired as The Pittsburgh Foundation’s President and CEO almost a year ago. I came into this role with high aspirations, both for the foundation and for the community we serve. (Read more…)

Economic crisis: Getting help to those in need

Posted February 18, 2009 // 2 Comments // add yours

By Grant Oliphant

At a meeting I was privileged to attend in Washington, D.C. recently to discuss the effects on our community of the economic crisis, a senior White House staffer aptly described our troubling climate as a “perfect storm” for the philanthropic sector. The phrase may be trite at this point, but it was not an understatement.

He was referring to the upsurge in demand from families and individuals facing real hardship, many of whom are seeking charitable support for the first time, combined with a drastic shortfall in government funding and the shrinking grantmaking capacities of charitable organizations, like The Pittsburgh Foundation. (Read more…)

Notes on belt-tightening for arts organizations

Posted February 18, 2009 // 3 Comments // add yours

By Germaine Williams

The admonition to tighten your belt means little for most arts nonprofits.  For small arts organizations in particular, the idea of eliminating nonessentials and operational waste to weather hard times ignores the realities of a meager existence. However, it is also undeniable that the current global financial crisis poses a complex threat to the region’s arts sector. Local arts funders are working together and with grantees to understand the impact of the financial crisis and to devise strategies to insure that long-term investments in the region’s cultural vitality are not lost. (Read more…)

Pittsburgh the beautiful

Posted February 18, 2009 // 0 Comments // add yours

By Saleem Ghubril

On Thanksgiving Eve last year, Saleem Ghubril, Executive Director of The Pittsburgh Promise, visited the family homes of some of the 2008 Pittsburgh Public School graduates who received Promise scholarship grants and who had supported initiatives to help promote the program. The individuals he met and spoke with that evening inspired him to write the following account of his experiences. Saleem’s journal is a touching and illuminating commentary and as he emphasizes so eloquently: “The Promise is such a blessing because it benefits all of our children, irrespective of their backgrounds or circumstances.”

We made a promise to every student who graduates from Pittsburgh Public Schools with certain academic, attendance, enrollment, and residency requirements that we will help them pay for higher education.  The Promise is simple, inclusive, and has no strings attached.  On the evening before Thanksgiving Day in 2008, unannounced, I visited the homes of a few such students to drop off small gifts.  I wanted to express my gratitude for their help with a project.  My drive took me to broadly diverse Pittsburgh neighborhoods to meet truly beautiful and remarkable people.  I had not met most of them prior to this visit.
(Read more…)