The grants will help organizations across eighteen states and the District of Columbia working to address hunger and financial insecurity among adults age 50 and older....

The foundation has awarded grants to nearly a hundred and twenty organizations working to promote diversity and support underserved and underrepresented communities across the country....

When social media giant Facebook goes public later this year, many of the new millionaires created by the company's initial public offering are expected to share some of their good fortune with charities and their favorite causes....

The program is designed to foster productive relationships between MJFF grantees and pharmaceutical companies and/or venture capital firms....

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Among members of the philanthropic, political and healthcare sectors, a loud snap was distinctly heard today, as the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation suffered a sharp case of whiplash. In a statement this morning, Komen rescinded its decision to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood for breast health programs – a decision whose announcement 48 hours earlier had unleashed a clamor of protest, rapid reaction and retaliation. Possibly the most prominent critic, who spoke with his fortune as well as his words, was NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who promptly pledged $250,000 in matching funds for donors to support Planned Parenthood and help replace the slashed funds, approximately $700,000. Another $100,000 challenge grant was announced this morning by Livestrong, the cancer-fighting organization founded by survivor Lance Armstrong.

In addition to these prominent funders, the Komen Foundation heard quick and sharp criticism from thousands of women, many of whom are the grassroots activists who have fueled Komen’s fundraising over the years with walks, pink ribbons, purchases and more. The strong and committed base that Komen has amassed through these activities has helped it garner numerous sponsors who are happy to get behind its important work, and equally happy to share in the rosy glow of such a positive brand. All of this makes it even more perplexing, given Komen’s acknowledged success and savvy, that it would have undertaken such a risky — and as it proved, potentially destructive — step.

While disagreement with the initial decision was certainly not universal, the overwhelming sentiment was an angry sense of betrayal — that a foundation dedicated to protecting women’s health should allow political pressure to dissuade it from supporting a long- established program that gives low-income, marginalized women breast screenings they could not access elsewhere.  And using the tools that have become ubiquitous in fundraising and activism – social media and publicity – the large community that has developed ties to Komen wasted no time in voicing their disapproval. From group emails among sisters and friends, to tweets by commentators in all walks from public health to politics to PR, to Facebook posting of links to encourage donors to meet the Bloomberg challenge, a rapidly growing wave of protest accompanied calls for action.

Whether the Komen decision was well thought out or not, its series of stumbles indicates it was unprepared for the reaction its announcement provoked. According to The New York Times, Komen board member and Washington lobbyist John Raffaeli said the foundation had hoped it was making a “quiet ending” to its relationship with Planned Parenthood. Raffaeli directed criticism at Planned Parenthood, in fact, for “using Komen’s decision to raise money.”

Nancy Brinker, who founded Susan G. Komen to fight breast cancer in memory of her sister, at first maintained the position that the decision reflected a tightening of grant-making procedures that were intended to make grantee organizations more accountable, but the indications that Planned Parenthood had been singled out mounted as the controversy escalated. Planned Parenthood has been a lightning rod for political controversy in recent years, and the arrival of political figures in Komen leadership – and the departure of Mollie Williams, managing director of community health programs – coinciding with the decision on Planned Parenthood, heightened concern that the underlying agenda was political.

The Susan G. Komen Foundation has built a world-class reputation for raising and channeling millions of dollars to the worthy cause of defeating breast cancer, and has created one of the top brands in this field. It may have taken its supporters’ loyalty for granted in venturing into this sea of controversy. I suspect it will need to look around carefully, once it swims back to shore, to see whether it has lost any of its longstanding friends and allies. Its statement today indicated that current funding would not be cut, leaving some to wonder what the future would bring. It would be a shame for Komen, or Planned Parenthood for that matter, to have to focus on such distractions in years ahead, rather than their vital missions of serving so many women.

Related articles

• Komen Changes Reason for Planned Parenthood Cuts (newser.com)
• Susan G. Komen officials resign in protest (piedtype.com)

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UPDATE: We have learned that Susan G. Komen For the Cure is reversing their decision on Planned Parenthood.  Stay tuned for more details.

UPDATE 2: Added a link to our new story on Komen.

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The NonProfit Times has been working tirelessly to bring readers the latest news on the spat between Susan G. Komen For the Cure and Planned Parenthood.  We recently published two articles on the story, one covering the initial news, and another detailing the fundraising that has resulted from the controversy.

Given the nature of this story, new news can break at any moment.  Pay close to attention to our website to see if there is any new information on it, or sign up for our newsletters for additional information.  In the mean time, we would like to direct readers to other articles on this developing story.  So without any further ado, here are some recent articles on the Komen-Planned Parenthood controversy:

• "Susan G. Komen Top Officials Resign As Backlash Gains Steam:" The Huffington Post
• "Supporters Rally Around Planned Parenthood:" The Superior Telegram
• "Head Of Susan G. Komen Defends Decision On Planned Parenthood:" The Los Angeles Times
• "Komen Apologizes, Reverses Decision:" The NonProfit Times

Users of the file-sharing site Megaupload feared their data could be in danger when U.S. prosecutors shut the site down last month.  But thanks to one nonprofit, users will be able to safely retrieve their files.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported yesterday that the San Francisco, Ca.-based Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a nonprofit technology foundation dedicated to defending peoples' digital rights, announced that it was teaming up with Carpathia Hosting, a data-storage provider, to create a new website that will allow Megaupload users to get their data.

Megaupload was shut down last month when seven men were arrested (including three Megaupload executives).  Prosecutors charged the men with racketeering, and claimed the file-sharing website facilitated millions of illegal downloads of movies, music, and other content.  The arrests were made at a $30 million mansion in Auckland, New Zealand.  Carpathia and another storage company were to begin deleting content yesterday before EFF's eleventh hour intervention.

You can read more about the story in The San Francisco Chronicle.

Created in 2006, the consortium is a collaborative project of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Rockefeller University, and Weill Cornell Medical College....

Nine cities will each receive up to $765,000 over four years to integrate the work of municipal agencies, schools, nonprofits, and other institutions working to expand access to high-quality afterschool programs....

In a move that many are calling politically motivated, Komen has issued a statement saying it had adopted criteria forbidding it from providing funding to groups under investigation by local, state, or federal authorities....

The grant will enable the organization to launch efforts aimed at helping educators achieve the Common Core State Standards, including a Web site featuring free resources designed to support teacher understanding and implementation of the standards....

The social networking behemoth Facebook filed papers yesterday to raise $5 billion in its initial public offering (IPO) of stock.  This is good news for Facebook employees and their investors, but what does it mean for charities?  It depends on who you ask.

MSNBC ran a piece on this subject yesterday, and it suggested that this new influx of wealth to Facebook employees could mean big bucks for nonprofits.  Why?  Facebook has provided their employees with stock incentives over the years, and they will be able to use these to cash in on the IPO.  Experts like Rob Mitchell of Atlas of Giving told MSNBC that when individuals' personal wealth increases, it makes them more likely to want to start a philanthropic legacy.

Patrick Rooney, executive director of The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, agreed with Mitchell, citing studies that show entrepreneurs are about twice as generous than people who inherit their wealth.

All of this doesn't guarantee that these new millionaires will start donating to charity.  In fact, there are some who don't think Facebook employees are all that likely to start being philanthropic, at least not immediately.  Robert Frank, a writer for The Wall Street Journal, told MSNBC that he thinks they are much too young to think about starting their philanthropic efforts.  He argues that they are still in the "accumulation phase" of their lives, and want to focus on changing the world through their company, not their philanthropy.

Charities will ultimately see a lot of money come in as as result of Facebook's IPO.  It's just a question of how soon.  You can read the full story on MSNBC.

We all heard what Punxatawney Phil had to say about the length of winter this year, but what did Potomac Phil have to say?

If you're wondering who Potomac Phil is, don't be alarmed, he's relatively new.  He's also not alive, but that's beside the point.  WTOP reported yesterday that Dupont Festival, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit, was seeking a live groundhog for its first annual Groundhog Day celebration in Dupont Circle Park.

The nonprofit had already spoken with the D.C. National Zoo, but they only offered prairie dogs, which didn't quite fit the bill.  The WTOP article directed readers to the organization's website, where anyone with information on how to get a live groundhog could contact them.

Dupont Festival eventually had to settle for a stuffed groundhog donated from Miss Pixie's Furnishings & Whatnot, a local D.C. store.  Thus was born Potomac Phil, who made his prediction for winter known to the public at 8 a.m. this morning.  And just like Punxatawney Phil, he predicted six more weeks of winter.  D.C. councilman Jack Evans attended the celebration, and declared that from now on, February 2 will be D.C. Groundhog Day.  So even if they didn't get a real groundhog, Dupont Festival at least got themselves a new holiday.

You can read the full story on the WTOP website.

There are three pillars to building an online community and engaging on social media channels:

1. Honesty, transparency, and being upfront.

2. Listening and being responsive to members of the community no matter how lame or silly you find the questions or feedback.

3. Thanking your community for their support, feedback and guidance. 

If you don’t practice these principals every single day somewhere along the way your community is going to revolt. And it won’t be pretty.

For example, yesterday, Planned Parenthood released a statement saying that the Susan G. Komen Foundation would not be renewing grants to support 19 local Planned Parenthood affiliates, which provided 170,000 clinical breast exams and 6,400 mammogram referrals to women in low-income communities through the Komen grant. According to Jessica Pieklo on the Care2 Cause Channel, last year’s grant totaled about $680,000.

Komen said that they cut their funding because Rep. Cliff Sterns (R-FL) launched a congressional investigation into whether or not Planned Parenthood was using public money on abortions. Since Komen has implemented more stringent eligibility standards to safeguard donor dollars “consequently, some organizations are no longer eligible to receive Komen grants,” said Komen in a press release yesterday.

How did the women’s community including many of Komen’s donors, Facebook fans, and followers on Twitter and Race for the Cure team leaders react?

They revolted.

Once the news began to spread, women and men of all ages flocked to Komen’s page on Twitter and Facebook and posted emotional and heart felt messages, expressing their sadness and anger over Komen’s decision to take away funding for breast cancer screening services.

What's more telling than this communal reaction is Komen's response to its own community's revolt. They went dark for 24 hours. Not a peep on Twitter or Facebook even as supporters continued to post thousands of messages on social networks and let's not forget the buzz that grew offline, around dinner tables, and office water coolers. Some members of Komen’s Facebook page even said that their comments were deleted.

(Michael Edwards is a leading expert on global civil society and the author of Small Change: Why Business Won't Save the World. This is the second in a series of posts in which he looks at different aspects of the Bellagio Initiative, an effort funded by the Rockefeller Foundation to produce a new framework for philanthropic and international development collaboration in pursuit of human well-being. Click here to read the first post in Edwards' series, "Well-Being and Philanthropy," and here to read/download the Bellagio paper from which the quotation below is taken.)

"The more one disaggregates the components of well-being into smaller and more manageable pieces...the more each piece can be measured and controlled in order to improve returns....[B]ut the same pieces can't simply be re-arranged to the same effect in different contexts...."

One of my most important career lessons was taught to me by Sithembiso Nyoni, an activist in Zimbabwe. "No country in the world has developed itself through projects," she said, reflecting on the tendency of NGOs to fund their own small bits and pieces of development and hope that they add up to something more substantial over time.

Unfortunately, because the larger structures of society evolve organically rather than in assembly line fashion, they rarely do. The long and messy processes that drive our politics, culture change, and institution-building can neither be predicted nor controlled, especially if the outcome is something as complex as well-being. In that sense, development is poetry and foreign aid is prose.

Of course, a clear sense of purpose and direction is important to success. In contrast to Zimbabwe, that was one of the things that distinguished South Korea, Taiwan, and other societies that developed quickly after World War II. But as the experience of those countries also shows, clear goals were balanced by the flexibility to pursue them in lots of different ways as circumstances changed. "Evolution is always surprising," wrote Whole Earth Catalog creator Stewart Brand, "so make room for it. If you let things flourish you get a wild ride, but you also get sustainability." That's been true of all game-changing experiences in development right up to the Arab Spring.

Tension between "local ownership" and "outside intervention" has been woven through the history of development efforts for half a century or more, and it's unlikely to disappear as long as foreign aid is a tool in the foreign policy toolkit. Accountability to taxpayers, concerns about corruption, and a desire to show more "value for money" have all reinforced a project-by-project mentality that a decade ago seemed to be fading in favor of unrestricted support. Projects that are carefully planned and monitored do offer the prospect of more control, even if their influence over the deeper drivers of development is weak. On the plus side, there are many ways to leverage the impact of projects -- including through policy advocacy, capacity building, networking, and knowledge-creation -- so that they become more than small pieces in a jigsaw that can never be completed.

Nevertheless -- and here's the link to current trends in philanthropy -- the idea that successful projects can be "replicated" or "scaled-up" has, for reasons I don't entirely understand, become an article of faith. There are striking similarities between the Millennium Villages Project in sub-Saharan Africa, for example, and the Harlem Children's Zone in New York City. Both have received significant injections of resources in an effort to demonstrate that good results are possible without broader changes in the surrounding environment. The same goes for school-reform efforts and the Obama administration's Social Innovation Fund. Other schools and communities will learn from these experiences and follow a similar path, or so the theory goes.

Except that they don't, because the resources aren't there, or because the same innovation doesn't work or isn't valued when transported to another setting, or because those broader forces have a nasty habit of kicking the ladder away just when you least expect it.

If that's the case, why do pilot projects (or "policy experiments," as they are often referred to in the U.S.) continue to exercise such a powerful hold on the imagination of philanthropists? Perhaps it's because they accomplish other things that are important, like building support for their favored approaches, strengthening networks of people prepared to back them, and keeping alive the comforting thought that social progress can be removed from the influence of politics, economic restructuring, and social struggle.

Even if it could, it would be something of a pyrrhic victory, threatening to sacrifice long-term improvements in the infrastructure of problem-solving for short-term advances in services and other material indicators of success. As fifty years of trial and error in development make clear, however, investing in people's capacities to innovate is much more important than replicating any particular innovation.

But how we do measure success in that kind of scenario? And is there a way to knit all these different approaches together in a positive and constructive fashion? That's the subject of next week's posts.

-- Michael Edwards

ArtsLab, which works to strengthen small Minnesota arts organizations' leadership and strategy development, will launch a two-year peer-learning community designed to promote shared learning and bolster the infrastructures of sixteen organizations....

The three-to-one matching grant from the Maltz Family Foundation in Cleveland requires the theater to raise $2.5 million by June 30 and will help boost the theater's endowment to $10 million....

Fundraising professionals are encouraged by the year-end fundraising efforts of groups like the Salvation Army, whose Red Kettle campaign brought in 4 percent more this holiday season than in 2010....

The annual NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments showed marked improvement over the average 11.9 percent return reported in the previous report, with returns positive for all major asset classes....

Inspired by my post, 20 Ways to be a Generous Blogger, I shared 12 Prompts for Generous Living and Blogging in this month's Juicy Blogging e-News.

You don't need to be a blogger, to try the Generous Living prompts, so I thought I'd share them here too. If you'd like to receive the Juicy Blogging eNews in your in-box once a month, you can subscribe by clicking here.  Have fun doing good!

************************** Wednesday, February 1
Live it: What are your generous living goals for the month? How do you want to give to yourself, your friends, your family, your local community, and the world at large?
Blog it: Share your reflections on your blog.

Thursday, February 2
Live it: Jot down ideas for gifts or cards for friends, family and colleagues who have February and March birthdays.
Blog it: Share a home made, or do-good gift idea on your blog.

Friday, February 3
Live it: Go for a walk and take a photo of something fun, funny, hopeful, or inspiring.
Blog it: Share the photo on your blog. If you can’t take a photo, find a photo on Flickr with an Attribution License. Be sure to credit and link back to the photographer, and let them know that you used their photograph.

Saturday and Sunday, February 4 and 5
Live it: Make a big batch of soup, or a large casserole. Freeze and share extra servings with someone who could use a break from cooking.
Blog it: Post photos of your dish, and the recipe on your blog. 

Monday, February 6
Live it: Buy or borrow a book about a person who inspires you, or a cause you’re passionate about.
Blog it: Share your 5 favorite do-good, or inspiring books on your blog.

Tuesday, February 7
Live it: Valentine’s Day is in a week. Make a list of people to send Valentines. Is there someone who will feel extra lonely on Valentine’s Day? Be sure to send them a card.
Blog it: Share a home made, or do-good Valentine’s Day idea on your blog. 

Wednesday, February 8
Live it: What are you really good at? Give it away to someone today.
Blog it: Write about your experience giving it away, or give something away on your blog.

Thursday, February 9
Live it: Post a quote that inspires you in a prominent place at work, or in your home.
Blog it: Share the quote on your blog. If you want, share a photo of where you posted it.

Friday, February 10
Live it: Find or make a video about something fun, funny, hopeful, or inspiring.
Blog it: Share the video on your blog.

Saturday and Sunday, February 11 and 12
Live it: Bake a batch of cookies, or cupcakes to share at a party, with your neighbors, or at work.
Blog it: Post photos of your treats, and the recipe on your blog.

Monday, February 13
Live it: Make a donation to your favorite nonprofit, or do-good project
Blog it: Shine a spotlight on the organization, or project on your blog. Share why it is close to your heart.

Tuesday, February 14
Live it: Write an email, or send a card to someone who inspires you.
Blog it: Post a "link love" list of bloggers who inspire you, and whose posts make your heart sing.


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