Strategic Grantmaking in Higher Education

poster abstractResources are scarce relative to the colossal task of tackling the barriers to higher education. Delineating a grantmaking program- given the social, political, and economic dynamics in higher education- offers a substantial challenge to the nonprofit sector. The choice of strategy, implementation, and measurement are paramount considerations in effective grantmaking. Such choices include the grantmaker’s role in community and geographical contexts, allocation of grants according to location and size, engagement in partnerships and networks, and goal setting and measurement. This study investigates best practices in strategic grantmaking in the field of higher education. Through analysis of a literature review and case study interviews, this study identifies effective strategies of grantmaking organizations in addressing barriers to higher education. Such strategies include defining organizational purpose and identity, utilization of innovative techniques, adaptation to changing systems, catalyzing research, collaboration with co-funders and grantees, “big picture” goal setting, and identification and measurement of impact. The knowledge gained from this study offers grantmakers the tools needed to heighten the impact of the organizational mission under the most effective terms

Charitable Bequest Giving in the USA

The estate tax plays an important and controversial role in many aspects of our society. This paper focuses on one of the more important and more controversial aspects of the estate tax. Namely, we examine the relationships between changes in the estate tax rate and estate tax exemption levels and aggregate charitable bequest giving using time series data. During life, donors give for many reasons, which may or may not be affected by the tax deductibility (only about one-fourth of US households itemize their taxes, so for three-fourths, the price of giving a dollar is a dollar). Likewise, the decision to give at death is motivated by many factors, including the tax implications for some, but it must be recalled that less than two percent of Americans pay any estate tax, and less than half of them pay anything that would be considered a meaningful tax (Rooney and Tempel, 2001). That said, for very large estates, the exemption levels and the estate tax rates can be a considerable factor in estate planning

Prison ministry workers in Indiana

This work describes prison chaplains and chapel volunteers from three perspectives: (1) a historical perspective which is used to investigate the role of religion in prisons, (2) the chaplains’ perspective on the partnership between chaplains and chapel volunteers, and (3) the volunteers’ perspective on the predictors of volunteering in prison ministry. First, the study provides a historical perspective on the role of prison ministry workers in prisons by examining: (a) the role of religion in the philanthropic life of John Howard, an eighteenth century prison reformer, (b) the role of religion in satisfying socio-economic pre-conditions that led to prison reform during the period of the Industrial Revolution, and (c) the role of religion during the development and evolution of the penal systems in the USA. Second, the study explores the partnership between paid chaplains working for over three months at ten state, medium to high-level security, men’s prisons in Indiana, and chapel volunteers providing in-person ministry work. The study is primarily based on in-person, in-depth interviews with 25 chaplains. Using modified analytic induction, the research leads to identification of four roles adopted by chaplains: Pastoral Counselor, Religious Coordinator, Administrative Minister, and Advocate for Prisoners. The study describes the partnership in general and explains how chaplains in each of these different roles perceive conflict and collaboration with volunteers. Third, the study constructs a sampling frame consisting of an estimated 916 to 1,132 chapel volunteers working in the ten prisons. The study is based on responses to a survey based on a convenience sample of 106 of these volunteers. The study uses OLS regression to test 32 hypotheses. Among other things, the study finds that statistically significant predictors of higher amount and higher frequency of volunteering to prison ministry include: being retired, shorter length of commute to prison, tenure as prison ministry volunteer, lower motivation to develop and strengthen social ties, and higher frequency of attending religious services. The work concludes with a summary and discussion of the findings, implications for theory and practitioners (including policymakers, prison administrators, chaplains, and volunteers), as well as limitations and suggestions for future research

Strategic Grantmaking in Higher Education

poster abstractResources are scarce relative to the colossal task of tackling the barriers to higher education. Delineating a grantmaking program- given the social, political, and economic dynamics in higher education- offers a substantial challenge to the nonprofit sector. The choice of strategy, implementation, and measurement are paramount considerations in effective grantmaking. Such choices include the grantmaker’s role in community and geographical contexts, allocation of grants according to location and size, engagement in partnerships and networks, and goal setting and measurement. This study investigates best practices in strategic grantmaking in the field of higher education. Through analysis of a literature review and case study interviews, this study identifies effective strategies of grantmaking organizations in addressing barriers to higher education. Such strategies include defining organizational purpose and identity, utilization of innovative techniques, adaptation to changing systems, catalyzing research, collaboration with co-funders and grantees, “big picture” goal setting, and identification and measurement of impact. The knowledge gained from this study offers grantmakers the tools needed to heighten the impact of the organizational mission under the most effective terms

The Clinical Genome Resource (ClinGen) Familial Hypercholesterolemia Variant Curation Expert Panel consensus guidelines for LDLR variant classification

The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1016/j. gim.2021.09.012) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.Purpose: In 2015, the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) and the Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) published consensus standardized guidelines for sequence-level variant classification in Mendelian disorders. To increase accuracy and consistency, the Clinical Genome Resource Familial Hypercholesterolemia (FH) Variant Curation Expert Panel was tasked with optimizing the existing ACMG/AMP framework for disease-specific classification in FH. In this study, we provide consensus recommendations for the most common FH-associated gene, LDLR, where >2300 unique FH-associated variants have been identified. Methods: The multidisciplinary FH Variant Curation Expert Panel met in person and through frequent emails and conference calls to develop LDLR-specific modifications of ACMG/AMP guidelines. Through iteration, pilot testing, debate, and commentary, consensus among experts was reached. Results: The consensus LDLR variant modifications to existing ACMG/AMP guidelines include (1) alteration of population frequency thresholds, (2) delineation of loss-of-function variant types, (3) functional study criteria specifications, (4) cosegregation criteria specifications, and (5) specific use and thresholds for in silico prediction tools, among others. Conclusion: Establishment of these guidelines as the new standard in the clinical laboratory setting will result in a more evidence-based, harmonized method for LDLR variant classification worldwide, thereby improving the care of patients with FH.Clinical Genome Resource (ClinGen) is primarily funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute through the following 3 grants: U41HG006834, U41HG009649, and U41HG009650. ClinGen also receives support for content curation from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development through the following 3 grants: U24HD093483, U24HD093486, and U24HD093487. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. J.R.C. acknowledges her PhD fellowship funded by the Science and Technology Foundation (SFRH/BD/108503/2015). L.T. and T.F. are supported by the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic (grant NU20-02-00261). S.E.H. is an Emeritus British Heart Foundation Professor and is funded by PG08/ 008 and by the National Institute for Health Research University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre. M.T. is supported by a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship. L.R.B. is a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research scholar and a Canada Research Chair in Precision Cardiovascular Disease Prevention. R.A.H. is supported by the Jacob J. Wolfe Distinguished Medical Research Chair, the Edith Schulich Vinet Canada Research Chair in Human Genetics, the Martha G. Blackburn Chair in Cardiovascular Research, and operating grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Foundation Grant) and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario (G-18- 0022147). J.W.K. is supported by the National Institutes of Health through grants P30DK116074 (to the Stanford Diabetes Research Center), R01 DK116750, R01 DK120565, and R01 DK106236 and by the American Diabetes Association (grant #1-19-JDF-108).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio