Newhouse School will host symposium examining future of local news

‘The News Re-imagined: The Promise of Foundation-funded Journalism’ will be held April 4

Nationally respected journalists, as well as community leaders and news media executives from Central New York, will gather at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications for a daylong symposium focusing on the future of local news and its impact on the community. “The News Re-imagined: The Promise of Foundation-funded Journalism” will be held on Wednesday, April 4, from 9:25 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium in Newhouse 3. The event will be webcast live at http://thenewsreimagined.syr.edu. Follow on Twitter at #newjourn.

The news media has experienced tremendous upheaval in the past several years. As consumers increasingly turn to online and mobile platforms for their news and information, traditional media companies and their newsrooms have struggled to adapt and survive, while new media companies have struggled to find their footing and become sustainable.

Last year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a report titled “The Information Needs of Communities: The Changing Media Landscape in a Broadband Age,” which sought to ensure the long-term health of news and information resources as a benefit to communities and their citizens. Among other things, the report recommended a new role in journalism for foundations, philanthropists and citizens.

Through a series of panel discussions and question-and-answer sessions with the audience, the symposium will focus on the viability of foundation-funded journalism, and will also look at how local news coverage can better serve the community and the impact when there is a lack of in-depth reporting on various subjects.

The event will begin at 9:25 a.m. with welcoming remarks from Newhouse Dean Lorraine Branham, followed by a keynote address by Steven Waldman, author of the FCC report, at 9:30 a.m.

The first panel, “Foundation-funded Journalism: The Making of Headlines,” will begin at 10:30 a.m. Participants will discuss the current state of foundation-funded journalism at the national level, as well as the issue of maintaining editorial independence. Panelists are Kevin Davis, CEO of Investigative News Network; Stephen Engelberg, managing editor of ProPublica; Peggy Girshman, executive editor of Kaiser Health News; Peggy Girshman, executive editor of Kaiser Health News; and Steve Katz, publisher of Mother Jones. Waldman is moderator.

Following a break, the second panel, “In-depth Local News: Successes and Challenges,” will begin at 1 p.m. Participants will discuss their news organizations’ successes and challenges in providing consistent and specialized coverage of issues such as health care, education and local government. They will also discuss the FCC recommendation that foundation funding should support the hiring and placement of specialized local reporters in newsrooms. Panelists are Jim Aroune, vice president of broadcasting with WCNY-TV (PBS); Lissa Harris, editor of watershedpost.com; Ashley Kang ’04, G’11, director of The Stand; Ron Lombard ’81, news director of YNN—Your News Now (Syracuse); and Rex Smith, vice president and editor of the Times Union (Albany, N.Y.). Moderator is Al Tompkins, senior broadcast faculty with the Poynter Institute.

The third panel, “The News Re-imagined: Community Needs and Foundation Response,” will begin at 2:30 p.m. Participants will address such questions as: What does the community need and want from local reporting? What is the impact on the community when there is a lack of consistent in-depth coverage of important issues? What role can foundations play? Panelists include Clark Bell, journalism program director with the McCormick Foundation; John Eberle, vice president for grants and community initiatives with the Central New York Community Foundation; Elisa Morales, housing supervisor with La Liga: The Spanish Action League of Onondaga County; Michael Henesey, coordinator of communications with the Syracuse City School District; and Helen Hudson, at-large member of Syracuse Common Council. Moderator is Hub Brown, associate dean with the Newhouse School.

A reception will follow.

The symposium is funded through a $20,000 grant from The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Carnegie Corp. of New York, which asked top communications schools to take action on the FCC report through seminars and research projects. Carnegie and Knight are dedicating more than $800,000 to help implement the report’s recommendations.

The event is free and open to the public. Parking is available in SU pay lots. For more information, see http://thenewsreimagined.syr.edu or contact Kristen Northrop at 315-443-7358 or kmnorthr@syr.edu.

Building Sustainability, Increasing Impact: An R&D Approach to Evaluation

Grantmakers Forum of New York

Join us for a…
Philanthropy Forum

Building Sustainability, Increasing Impact:
An R&D approach to evaluation

May 15, 2012, 1:00-4:00pm

M&T Ballroom, Memorial Art Gallery, 500 University Ave, Rochester 14607

Traditional evaluation—assessing services after the fact—doesn't always help those who design and implement the programs that assist community residents. A Research and Development (R&D) approach to evaluation helps leaders rethink and revamp programs to continually improve the delivery and direct benefits of services to the people who need them. By engaging in learning via R&D practices, nonprofit leaders

·  gain a more realistic means for assessing the cost of success,

·  grow services to reach more who need them,

·  demonstrate to funders where successes really occurred and where the impact of their grant dollars can be expanded.

And nonprofit organizations whose leaders engage in R&D behaviors are nearly twice as likely to be sustainable and grow as those who don’t.

Presenter:

Peter York is Senior Partner and Director of Research, TCC Group, a consulting  firm with clients in the nonprofit, public, and private sector. He is an acknowledged expert in designing learning systems for organizations and collaboratives. York is an authority in the field of capacity building, including studying, designing, implementing, and evaluating the impact of investments made in nonprofit organizational capacity building, community building, and policy/advocacy initiatives. York earned a BA from Purdue University, a Master's Degree in Social Service Administration, and "all but dissertation" in his Ph.D. work at Case Western Reserve University's Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences.

Open to all nonprofit organizations and the public. Parking Available.  Fee: $40 first registration, $25 each additional registration from same organization.

Registration form here. (PDF Form attached also)

Sponsored by

Community Foundation Seeks Applications for $85,000 Prize

March 21, 2012 – In celebration of its 85-year anniversary, the Central New York Community Foundation announced today that it will award a special one-time grant of $85,000 through its new CNY85 Collaborative Impact Prize. The successful project will support the implementation of an innovative, collaborative, cross-sector solution to a critical community issue.

Applications must be submitted electronically to grants@cnycf.org and must be received no later than midnight, July 20, 2012. Projects involving multiple organizations are encouraged. The lead applicant must be a 501(c)3 public charity or a municipality located in and serving residents of Onondaga and/or Madison County. Full guidelines and the application can be found at http://mygiving.cnycf.org/prize. The winner, which will be chosen by committee, will be announced on National Philanthropy Day - November 15, 2012.

Project Guidelines

The Community Foundation is seeking applications with as many of the following characteristics as possible:

1. The concept is innovative and entrepreneurial in nature

2. The project seeks to address a specific community need or systemic problem

3. The need or issue being addressed is well supported through public data sources (cnyvitals.org or other data/reports). More information about the CNY Vitals community indicators can be found below.

4. A well-developed strategy with measurable outcomes is employed

5. Creative, non-typical collaborations and strategic partnerships (multi-disciplinary, interdependent, regional, cross-sector, etc.) are utilized

6. There is promise for sustained impact (the project/program will be institutionalized, or seeks to develop new social enterprise, fee-for-service or other funding mechanism to scale/sustain).

“It is our hope that this prize opportunity will help break down the barriers between people and institutions, allowing new and innovative solutions to community issues to emerge,” said John Eberle, Vice President of Grants and Community Initiatives at the Community Foundation. “By promoting collaborative problem-solving, we will undoubtedly discover new approaches for solving age-old problems.”

The CNY85 Giving Project

The Collaborative Impact Prize is one way the Community Foundation is using the occasion of its 85^th anniversary to expand its support of local nonprofit organizations. The other, The CNY85 Giving Project, is helping them to gain visibility and support via public online vote. To learn more about the Giving Project, please visit cny85.org.

About CNYVitals

CNYVitals provides information on the trends and issues facing area residents to generate discussion, inform planning, and celebrate successes. The Community Foundation, along with its partners, hope that this data will help area leaders and organizations make smart investments by focusing funding and programming on projects and initiatives that make the most sense and have the greatest positive impact on our region. The community indicators were the result of a collaborative effort between Syracuse University’s Maxwell School, FOCUS Greater Syracuse, the Central New York Community Foundation, city and county municipalities and a host of nearly 80 community-based organizations that have signed on to help gather and analyze the data on Central New York’s greatest needs.

The resulting data, which currently includes 180 data points, is a snapshot of Central New York’s current state of affairs within various interest areas. The architects of this project hope that making this information available to the general public will inspire collaborative discussion and action to address the community’s most pressing needs while also focusing funding and programming on projects and initiatives that will have the greatest positive impact on the region. All of the data can be viewed and contributed to at cnyvitals.org.

About the Central New York Community Foundation

This year, the Central New York Community Foundation celebrates its 85-year anniversary. Established in 1927, the Central New York Community Foundation encourages local philanthropy by supporting the growth of a permanent charitable endowment for the betterment of the region. The Community Foundation is the largest charitable foundation in the area with assets of more than $128 million. It awards close to $5.6 million in grants to nonprofit organizations annually and has invested more than $100 million in the community since its inception. The Community Foundation serves as the steward of charitable legacies for individuals, families and corporations through the administration of nearly 600 funds. The organization also serves as a civic leader, convener and sponsor of special initiatives designed to strengthen nonprofits that address the region’s most pressing challenges. For more information, visit www.cnycf.org.

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City of Syracuse Pushes Fees/Tax for Nonprofits

The Syracuse Post-Standard featured a recent article about the City of Syracuse's financial challenges and plans to address it. This includes fees/PILOTs for nonprofits:

Eyeing nonprofits

The city boosted property taxes 5.4 percent in 2010, but property taxes account for less than 12 percent of city revenues — $33 million out of a budget of $284 million.

Just over half of the city is exempt from taxes.

“When 50 percent of your property is off the tax rolls, using property tax to fund your services as a city doesn’t make sense,” Miner said.

Many tax-exempt parcels are owned by government agencies. But about one-sixth of city property — $1.2 billion worth — is owned by private, tax-exempt institutions such as universities, hospitals and churches, assessor David Clifford said.

Miner and members of the council want those nonprofit institutions to pay a share of the city’s costs.

“If you use snowplows, you should have to pay for snowplows,” Miner said. “If you use police services and fire services, you should have to pay for that.”

Last year, Miner persuaded Syracuse University to make $500,000-a-year voluntary payments for city services, saying she hoped to persuade other nonprofits to do the same. But thus far there are no other takers.

“We’re having discussions,” Miner said, not specifying with whom. “Nobody has banged on my door with a million dollars.”

City leaders will push the issue this year.

Common Councilor Pat Hogan said tax-exempt institutions should pay a fee for city services based on the number of employees they have, a rough proxy for how much they depend on city services.

If they won’t contribute voluntarily, Hogan said he is prepared to propose a city income tax. Hogan said he envisions allowing city property owners to deduct their city income tax from their property tax.

He floated a similar idea during negotiations with Onondaga County over sharing sales tax revenue, but dropped it when the county agreed to the city’s terms.

“The large nonprofits have to start paying their fair share,” Hogan said. “Or we’ll bring back the commuter tax.”

Read more here.

Online Voting is Now Open for Local Nonprofit Grant

Community Foundation is calling on public to vote for favorite project

March 5, 2012 - A business incubator for refugee entrepreneurs; a campaign to encourage buying local; and a peregrine falcon exhibit near the State Tower Building in Downtown Syracuse. Those are just a few of the ten unique projects currently competing for the public’s support in The CNY85 Giving Project. The project that receives the most online votes by the end of the month will receive an $8,500 grant from the Central New York Community Foundation in celebration of its 85-year anniversary.

The Community Foundation is calling on the public to visit cny85.org to view the full list of projects and vote for their favorite. Each visitor can cast one vote per day until March 31. The winner will be formally announced in mid-April, after all of the votes have been verified.

About The CNY85 Giving Project

The month of March is the first of four voting periods The CNY85 Giving Project will open to the public over the course of the year. The March round features economic development, transportation, planning and environmental projects. Future rounds will feature projects that address human services and housing (June), education and technology (September) and arts, culture and civic leadership (December).

“We see The CNY85 Giving Project is an opportunity for the public to learn about some of the outstanding nonprofit programs being offered here in Central New York,” said Peter Dunn, President and CEO of the Community Foundation. “The Project is a celebration of our 85-year anniversary, but we also want it to draw attention to the many other nonprofit organizations engaged in a variety of activities to make Central New York a great place to live and work. We hope that those who participate in voting are inspired to get more involved in their community, whether that be monetarily or through some form of volunteerism.”

The Community Foundation will be accepting applications for its second round, featuring projects that address Central New York’s human service and housing needs from April 1- April 31. Nonprofit organizations that serve Onondaga and/or Madison Counties are invited to enter by submitting a simple online form. To view the Project’s full calendar and learn how to apply, visit cny85.org.

About CNYVitals

Each round features projects of different themes based on findings of a community indicators project, CNYVitals. The community indicators were the result of a collaborative effort between Syracuse University's Maxwell School, FOCUS Greater Syracuse, the Central New York Community Foundation, city and county municipalities and a host of community-based organizations that have signed on to help gather and analyze the data on Central New York’s greatest needs.

The resulting data is a snapshot of Central New York's current state of affairs within various interest areas. The architects of the project hope that making this information available to the general public will inspire collaborative discussion and action to address the community's most pressing needs while also focusing funding and programming on projects and initiatives that will have the greatest positive impact on the region. All of the data can be viewed and contributed to at cnyvitals.org.

About the Central New York Community Foundation

This year, the Central New York Community Foundation celebrates its 85-year anniversary. Founded in 1927, it strives to inspire philanthropy in Central New York by connecting the generosity of donors with community needs - making grants to organizations working to enhance the quality of life of those who live and work in Central New York from more than 550 charitable endowment funds that it manages. Grants are awarded for programs in the areas of human services, arts and culture, education, environment, health, economic development and civic affairs. As the region’s largest endowed philanthropic foundation, the Community Foundation awards more than $5 million in grants to nonprofit organizations annually. The Community Foundation is located at 431 East Fayette Street, Syracuse, NY 13202 and can be reached at (315) 422-9538 or www.cnycf.org.

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