Big Foundations Replenish Coffers Gutted by Recession

Hewlett found that the initiative had not done enough to persuade donors to give solely because of a group’s worthiness and not for emotional reasons.

Now, Hewlett will try to improve charitable giving by “shifting to a strategy to foster openness and transparency and collaboration” among foundations and nonprofits, Hewlett’s president, Larry Kramer, told The Chronicle.

He said the foundation would also support work to find new ways to address cybersecurity threats.

Other foundations are supporting creative efforts to lower health care costs by improving how people in urban and rural areas get services. The Helmsley Charitable Trust has poured $67 million over the past five years into a rural telemedicine program in seven Midwestern states.

Of this, $27 million has gone to Avera Health, which has built a telemedicine system that connects emergency medical experts at large hospitals with patients and their medical providers in far-flung rural facilities through real-time video links. Pharmacists at central hubs can dispense needed medications through a vending-machine pharmaceutical system in rural facilities.

Another trend finds grant makers increasingly relying on data to assess the tangible results of programs.

Michael Bloomberg’s foundation is supporting fracking, or hydraulic fracturing to mine natural gas, to help advance its “Beyond Coal” campaign, which uses data and measurement to guide efforts aimed at retiring a third of U.S. coal plants by 2020.

“We don’t shy away from controversy if we can make a difference,” New York’s former mayor wrote in typically blunt fashion in his annual letter about his philanthropy, quoted by The Chronicle.

“We insist on using data to guide our work and ensure we’re delivering results,” he wrote.

 “When national governments are slow to act,” Bloomberg Philanthropies will work with cities. It will partner with public and private organizations to “enhance our impact” and “work to multiply the power of philanthropy by helping local communities advocate for themselves and create change that lasts.”