In The News

Even before the tech failure, The Pittsburgh Foundation’s contract with Kimbia was to end soon, and Christopher Whitlatch, the community foundation’s manager for marketing and communications, was asked to evaluate other providers. In doing the research, he developed a list of questions other community foundations could use when evaluating a current or potential provider. The questions cover areas such as a platform’s capacity and availability of customer support.  

Many community foundations have used the incident as a learning opportunity. "It’s a shame that such a major issue happened," said Christopher Whitlatch, manager of marketing and communications for the Pittsburgh Foundation. "But at the same time, the good thing about the sector is it learns and grows any time something like this happens."

Lori Hepner has been exploring landscapes in the Arctic that are being threatened by climate change. She creates new art from photographs taken outside and then transformed in the studio using LEDs that she moves while taking long exposure photographs. This work will be supported by a $10,000 grant she just received from the Pittsburgh Foundation and the Heinz Endowments.  

Academy Award-winning actress Goldie Hawn will be in town Sept. 20 at the Fairmont Pittsburgh, Downtown, for “Be Inspired,” hosted by Bethlehem Haven of Pittsburgh to honor Dr. Edward J. Donnelly III and nurse Marilyn Sullivan for their work caring for Pittsburgh's homeless women.  

The Pittsburgh Foundation has scheduled a date for a second try for its Day of Giving fundraising event, which had to be cut short in May because of technical problems. The foundation has set 8 a.m. until midnight Sept. 21 as the date for the recovery Day of Giving.

“It is a great way to give back to the community by helping the Historical Society raise funds for their ‘Save our Stagecoach’ project . . . keeping history alive in our community,” said Michael Reese, one of the Visionaries of The Community Foundation of Westmoreland County. The Visionaries are future philanthropic leaders with the desire to make a lasting impact on Westmoreland County.

Twelve Pittsburgh artists — out of 184 applicants — are receiving up to $10,000 for projects in a variety of media. The Pittsburgh Foundation and the Heinz Endowments jointly sponsor the grant to support individual professional artists in the Pittsburgh area.

Five dogs, at a total cost of $110,000, have been funded locally. Three were funded by philanthropists who have established Pittsburgh Foundation funds: the family of retired Steelers star Troy Polamalu; Robinson businessman Scott Noxon; and retired Peters businessman Joseph Fairbanks, a Navy veteran who works with organizations that help veterans. The Pittsburgh Foundation donated $44,000 for the other two.  

“Pittsburgh has such a rich history, and August Wilson shared his personal story and Pittsburgh’s with the world,” says Janera Solomon, executive director of the Kelly Strayhorn Theater, who led the charge to salvage the center. She encourages people “to come together to contribute to our cultural legacy with music, dance, storytelling and art... Our cultural community is an important part of the city’s growth, and a center that brings people together matters.”  

When leaders from approximately 48 Pennsylvania-based foundations gathered in State College in April for the Council on Foundations’ Pennsylvania Philanthropy Conference, the negative effects of the state’s infamous nine-month budget impasse on human service delivery were painfully fresh. A new survey of Foundation leaders explores if and how philanthropy could use new or existing public policy channels to benefit nonprofits.