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Nonprofits / Philanthropy

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Recession, wrecking balls, and history

Posted Wed, Jan 7, 6 a.m.

The new year will be challenging for historic preservation in Seattle, but there are great opportunities and new initiatives ahead, too. Here's a breakdown of six front-burner issues for 2009. First of 2 parts

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Can writers get a federal bailout too?

Posted Fri, Dec 19, 6 a.m.

Some think the time is ripe to revive a New Deal program that put writers to work for the public good. Others say that's what bloggers are already doing.

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Pacific Science Center's architecture might change

Posted Wed, Dec 17, 6 a.m.

Dramatically lit at night, the Science Center is an icon in the Seattle skyline. A national group is sounding alarms about potential alterations of the campus, though the arches seem sacrosanct.

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Charlie and me

Posted Thu, Nov 27, 6 a.m.

A Thanksgiving story, learning from a wise homeless man.

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KCTS hires a new leader

Posted Thu, Oct 16, 12:59 p.m.

Maurice Bresnahan gets the hot seat, arriving next month from South Carolina. Seattle's public-TV station is finally out of debt, but it still seems more about survival than revival.

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Cinderella gets a new pair of shoes

Posted Thu, Oct 16, 2 a.m.

A Bothell-based non-profit plays fairy godmother to those who want to attend the ball but have nothing to wear.

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The SSO starts to look beyond Maestro Schwarz

Posted Thu, Oct 9, 4 a.m.

The next three years could involve a lot of healing, finding new visions for the symphony, and a chance to solve its financial weakness.

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Stymied by mosquitoes and bacteria

Posted Wed, Sep 3, midnight

Impatient for solutions to AIDS, tuberculosis, and infectious disease, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation put out a call for anyone who thought they had an idea — and more than 4,000 poured forth. A second request for grant applications goes out today.

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The making of an effective arts board

Posted Thu, Aug 28, 3 a.m.

It's no easy task in a non-profit world of growing financial pressure. Two essentials: A board must partner with staff, and everyone needs to keep focus on furthering the community mission.

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In the absence of an AIDS cure, prevention gains prominence

Posted Thu, Aug 7, 5 a.m.

As vaccine research retrenches, scientists seek to provide a stopgap with new approaches to HIV prevention that were first explored with help from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

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As PONCHO regroups, Seattle arts struggle

Posted Thu, Jul 24, 9 p.m.

The key problem is the shortage of public funding for the arts, as private donors are realizing they can't shoulder all the costs.

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A building worthy of greenery

Posted Tue, Jul 22, 5 a.m.

Vancouver's in-city oasis, VanDusen Botanical Garden, hopes to go green big-time with a $23 million visitor center that could be the region's first structure to meet the most rigid sustainability standards.

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Seattle Symphony diversifies the product line

Posted Fri, Jul 11, 9 a.m.

The symphony embarks on some new, non-traditional programming directions as it faces a decline in season ticket buyers and tight finances. So far, it seems to be working.

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Gift shops aren't just for gifts anymore

Posted Wed, Jul 9, 5 a.m.

When looking for the next great addition to your wardrobe, try a museum store.

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Health insurance coverage vs. science

Posted Tue, Jul 1, 5 a.m.

A device to help those with autism and other conditions communicate has been excluded — and then included, and then excluded again — from health insurance coverage in Washington. At issue is the process by which insurers decide what's covered and why, which doesn't always reflect scientific consensus.

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Bill Gates 2.0

Posted Sun, Jun 29, 9 p.m.

Traditional methods of scientific research have not produced the medical breakthroughs he expected. Now he's going to use his money, through the Gates Foundation, to challenge old ways. The man is breathtaking.

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City budget road show

Posted Thu, Jun 12, 11 p.m.

Chapter 4: During May, Seattle City Council members listened to hours of public comment on how tax dollars should be allocated by the 2009-10 budget. Now what happens? Not much until autumn — then a flurry of activity.

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Ruby and Shirley

Posted Tue, Jun 10, 4 p.m.

Before Hillary, there were Ruby Chow and Shirley Bridge, here fondly remembered by a woman inspired by their early examples of setting a high bar for civic leadership.

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The Wing Luke Museum takes flight

Posted Thu, Jun 5, 10 p.m.

The handsome new space is a striking work of architecture, and the exhibits make up a "meta-museum," continually asking questions about how a museum should relate to its community.

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Bring on Lama-Palooza

Posted Thu, Apr 10, 5 a.m.

But please don't ask about independence for Tibet.

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Other media

Wikipedia appeals for donations and gets flooded with gifts The $6 million campaign was inching along, and then Jimmy Wales wrote his impassioned plea.

Nonprofits to face tough questions, in wake of Madoff scandal Donors will be more skeptical of the way nonprofits protect their capital assets, given what the Madoff case showed.

Today's advice from Good King Wenceslas: Think of the poor. It's come to mean a day of post-Christmas shopping bargains but the history of December 26 is tied to charitable giving.

Lots of questions about Clinton's donor list Never mind the Arab sheiks. What are normal charities, who have their own missions to take care of, doing in giving lots of money to Bill's foundation?

Liberals talk compassion but conservatives open their pockets more to charity Conservatives are also more likely to volunteer for worthy causes and to give blood, says Nicholas Kristof. Liberals give more to the arts.

Blog posts

The "N" word at Lakeside

Posted Mon, Dec 15, 11 a.m. 2008

An African-American poet stirs up a Seattle private school by using a word that is "antithetical to Lakeside’s spirit."

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On Whidbey, the weird turn pro

Posted Wed, Oct 15, 5:44 p.m. 2008

Islanders re-define the fundraising gala.

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The WaMu sale: worst possible way for Seattle

Posted Fri, Sep 26, 2:40 p.m. 2008

The loss of Washington Mutual is a very big, very bad deal for the Seattle region. Its scope is just beginning to sink in. Large, locally run public companies are a major civic asset, as they attract talent, develop leaders by testing them on local charitable boards, and have a real stake in the broader prosperity of a region that is their home.

Consider another point. If another bank had bought WaMu in an orderly way, rather than the sudden swoop of FDIC and the shotgun marriage to JPMorgan Chase, the acquirer would have negotiated with WaMu's board and made promises about reaching out to the community and made pledges of support to such causes as ArtsFund and United Way. There would be more reason to be humane in the elimination of jobs. There would be an effort to buy local love, spreading contributions around.

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Surprise Symphony: Gerard Schwarz is stepping down

Posted Wed, Sep 10, 3 p.m. 2008

In a startling development, longtime maestro of the Seattle Symphony, Gerard Schwarz, announced his retirement, which will come at the end of the 2010-11 season. Schwarz is among the longest-tenured of any major American conductor, leading the Seattle Symphony since 1985. His title after 2011 will be conductor laureate, and he will retain occasional conducting duties.

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How light rail (and foundations) can tie a corridor together

Posted Mon, Sep 8, 3 p.m. 2008

Like most cities, Minneapolis is expanding its light rail transit lines, with a new one called the Central Corridor set to connect downtown Minneapolis and downtown St. Paul in 2014. The line has already touched off real estate speculation, which might drive out inexpensive housing and businesses. Enter an interesting coalition of local and national foundations, hoping to maximize benefits and mitigate harms. Seems like a good idea to import to the land of Sound Transit.

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People for Puget Sound responds

Posted Fri, Aug 8, 10:17 a.m. 2008

Kathy Fletcher, the executive director of People for Puget Sound, has responded to Daniel Jack Chasan's Crosscut article about setting priorities — performing triage, essentially — as we plan to reduce the impact from the several million people who live around the inland sea. Here's what she wrote:

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Another change at the top for ACT Theatre

Posted Fri, Aug 1, 3:31 p.m. 2008

Seattle's A Contemporary Theatre has just replaced its managing director, the veteran Seattle arts administrator Kevin Hughes, with his second-in-command, Carlo Scandiuzzi, whose title will be executive director. George Nunes is promoted to general manager.

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Seattle and the elixir of growth

Posted Thu, Jul 24, 11 a.m. 2008

In some moods, I think that Seattle's business renaissance has peaked. Starbucks is contracting, Microsoft is stumbling, Boeing is losing bids, Safeco is sold, and Washington Mutual is sinking. Has our formula of rapid growth spreading across the globe run into the wall?

But then I look at the front page of today's "Marketplace" section of The Wall Street Journal, where three of the four stories are about Seattle-based companies. There's the story of Microsoft's scramble in the executive suite, with the sudden departure of Kevin Johnson, formerly in charge of the Yahoo merger campaign; Costco reporting an earnings squeeze as the prices for merchandise are rising faster than they can pass along costs to its value-seeking customers; and Amazon doubling its second-quarter profits as customers shift from shopping by car to shopping by online.

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How about a nuclear museum on the UW campus?

Posted Sun, Apr 27, 5 a.m. 2008

I got a very interesting e-mail from Dr. Steven Gilbert, Phd., Vice President of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility (WPSR). He'd read my recent piece about the possible tear-down of More Hall Annex (the old Nuclear Reactor Building) on the University of Washington campus, and he has a great idea for the facility: Turn it into a nuclear museum. In fact, WPSR is already at work on the museum project, and it might be the perfect tenant if the UW will reconsider its destruction of this fascinating, historic modern structure.

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Another mayoral spokesperson departs for the same nonprofit

Posted Mon, Apr 28, 3:57 p.m. 2008

Martin McOmber, senior communications and policy advisor for Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, will leave city employment on Wednesday, April 30, to join Casey Family Programs as communications director. McOmber will feel right at home at Casey, because the managing director of communications there, Marianne Bichsel, was herself spokesperson for the mayor before joining the foundation in Seattle last fall.

Alex Fryer, communications advisor at the Office of Sustainability and Environment, will fill in until the mayor names a new comm director – though the official City Hall announcement today sure makes it sound like the job is Fryer's to lose.

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