Philanthropy

California foundation leaders called for help Tuesday for a growing number of victims of the Sept. 11 tragedy: nonprofit groups that are losing donations as they face increasing pressure to provide food and medical care to people who have lost their jobs. A survey of 413 nonprofit providers of "safety net" services to low-income Californians showed a $25-million drop in donations--a figure representing a small portion of the money lost by the safety net nonprofits in the state.

When Lori Angeleri asked South Bay hotels to accommodate families of AIDS patients at discounted rates, her intentions were simple: to unite AIDS families with their ailing children. But when four of 22 hotels she asked agreed to make extra rooms available at a cut rate to families of AIDS patients, the Hermosa Beach entrepreneur, working on behalf of a small Redondo Beach church, scored a victory for AIDS fund-raisers trying to enlist corporate support.

In the 16 years since his release from prison, disgraced junk-bond king Michael Milken has beaten prostate cancer, raised hundreds of millions of dollars for medical research and reshaped an image tarnished by a 1990 conviction for securities fraud. One thing he's been unable to do is win a presidential pardon, despite the support of some of the country's most influential people. Before he left office Jan.

It's not that Latinos don't care about philanthropy. It's just that they have a distinct way of giving--one that tends to go undetected by the Internal Revenue Service and others who monitor philanthropy. Rather than donate priceless works of art or write checks to their favorite charities, Latinos contribute more at a grass-roots level.

In a major blow to corporate philanthropy in Los Angeles, Arco is eliminating the entire staff of its respected Arco Foundation, staffers said. Arco officials said the cuts do not represent a change in the company's philosophy of community involvement, but acknowledged that the amount of money it gives--now $13 million a year--may decline because of drops in the company's profits.

As he sat in a Tokyo room last week, Craig Smith--publisher of the Seattle-based Corporate Philanthropy Report--reflected on the dramatic difference in his reception on this trip to Japan and his visit just five years ago. Then, many Japanese executives were baffled at his questions about their plans for corporate philanthropy because their concept of charity was taking care of their own employees. This time, Smith said, the discussions have far more depth.

A pair of Orange County educators, who "worked hard and invested well" while running a private school and other enterprises, has pledged to give $20 million to USC's School of Education. The gift, to be officially announced today, is the largest ever made to an education school in the United States.

California's charitable foundation assets--which were relatively modest as recently as two decades ago--are now growing at a rate faster than those in the rest of the country, according to a study by the new USC Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy. In 1978, California held 8% of national foundation assets; in 1998 it accounted for 14%, the study said. During the same period, the state's share of foundation grants grew from 7% to 11% of total giving nationwide, it said.

Economist M. Frances Van Loo takes issue with the old Wall Street maxim that the business of business is business. Good works should matter too, she believes. The professor at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley has for years aimed to drive a little kindness into its hard-as-nails MBA education.