Philanthropy Notes: December 2012

The Lance Armstrong Foundation has officially changed its name to the Livestrong Foundation in order to distance itself from its founder in the wake of cycling’s biggest doping scandal. The name change was effective on October 30, after documents signed by Armstrong were filed with the Texas Secretary of State. The foundation has raised more than $500 million for cancer research and programs for survivors. “All of us—especially Lance—wanted Livestrong to have a presence that was bigger than its founder,” said Mark McKinnon, a member of the foundation’s board. “We knew that in order to make the most profound and lasting impact for cancer survivors, the cause and the organization had to have its own persona.”

More than 80 grant makers, nonprofits, and businesses have created “The New Americans Campaign,” which aims to help legal immigrants living in the United States to become U.S. citizens. Each year only 8 percent of the nation’s 8 million legal immigrants become naturalized, some deterred by paperwork and the $680 processing fee charged by the government, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reports. The $20 million campaign is funded by Carnegie Corp. of New York, George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, JPB Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund, and the Grove Foundation.

Nonprofit health care groups raised a record $8.9 billion in 2011, an increase of more than 8 percent over the previous year, according to a new report from the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy. The $8.9 billion figure was higher than the previous record of $8.5 billion set in 2008. Data from 469 hospitals and other health care institutions showed that the pool of donors grew by more than 2 percent last year.

GOLDMAN SACHS WATCH

After one of its former traders was accused of failing to disclose an $8.3 billion futures position, Goldman Sachs is reportedly negotiating with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to settle the case. The CFTC accuses Matthew Marshall Taylor of deception and of concealing the large size, risks, and potential profits or losses related to the S&P 500 e-mini futures deals five years ago. Goldman faced a $118 million loss as a result of the alleged improprieties.

After the New York Times published a sensational op-ed by Goldman Sachs executive Greg Smith in March filled with attention-grabbing accusations, the newspaper is now trashing Smith’s new tell-all book, Why I Left Goldman Sachs. “The book not only fails to deliver concrete examples to back up his sweeping conclusions, but he admits changing ‘names or descriptors’ for some (but not all) people and acknowledges that what he does disclose is ‘from memory,’” writes reporter James B. Stewart. This is quite a let-down after the op-ed in which Smith described the corporate culture at Goldman as “toxic and destructive” and accused the company of promoting “morally bankrupt people” and “ripping their clients off.”