April 1997
VOLUME 4, ISSUE 8/ $5.00
A nonprofit newspaper for the nonprofit community
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OF NORTH CAROLINA
Seizing opportunities
Nonprofits adapt to increased scrutiny
Many nonprofit leaders see
increased attention from the
media and public officials as a
positive development. But they
warn that misconceptions about
the role of the “independent sec
tor” remain in force.
By Barbara Solow
In North Carolina and throu^out
the U.S., nonprofits are increasingly
in the spotlight.
Public officials and the media are
paying more attention to the sector
as issues such as welfare reform,
health care and education are debat
ed. Regulatory agencies are probing
the activities of large tax-exempt
groups. And a growing number of
forums - such as Gov. Jim Hunt’s
recent legislative briefing for non
profits and President Clinton’s
national summit on voluntarism this
month - are generating greater public
awareness of the role nonprofits play
in their communities.
THE SECTOR
But while they welcome the grow
ing recognition of their work, non
profit leaders are wary about what
they see as persistent misconcep
tions about how the sector operates.
“I’m concerned any time I see
such rapid attention being given,”
says Jacquie Kennedy, executive
director of the Raleigh-based North
Carolina Commission on National
and Community Service. “I think it’s
very important that we identify the
roles, responsibilities and expecta
tions about what our resources really
are. It’s frightening for a lot of non
profits because they don’t have the
resources to address what seems
now to be a sui^e for them to pick up
on what government isn’t doing.”
So-called “devolution” - a move
ment away from government-funded
services in favor of privately-funded
initiatives - is creating both danger
Look for SECTOR, page 15
James and Mary Semans
Enriching the culture by beheving in people
For the past 40 years, James and
Maiy D.B.T. Semans have support
ed arts, cultural and health care
organizations in the belief that tal
ent can appear anywhere if it is
properly nourished.
By Kelly Prelipp Lojk
Durham
When Mary Duke Biddle Trent and
James Semans met in 1953, she was a
widow with four children and a budding
career in public life. He was a distin
guished urologist in private practice in
Atlanta.
Both came from prominent families
— hers were tobacco magnates from
Durham; his father was a banker in
Uniontown, Pa.
The couple hit it off immediately,
finding they had common interests, par
ticularly in medicine and the arts, and a shared love
of learning.
Within a year of their initial meeting, they wed,
beginning a dynamic partnership that continues to
thrive.
Throughout their marriage, they have remained
devoted to their mutual interests and have worked
tirelessly on promoting them through their philan
thropy
B^use of their significant and sustained sup-
Dr. James and Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans in their Durham home.
Photo by Kristin FVelipp
PHILANTHROPY AWARD
port for North Carolina’s nonprofit sector, the
Semanses are the recipients of the 1997 North
Carolina Philanthropy Award. The couple were
scheduled to receive the award, which is sponsored
by the Philanthropy Journal, at Philanthropy ’97,
the annual conference for the state’s nonprofit sec
tor.
Joel Fleishman, president of Atlantic
Philanthropic Service Co. in New York,
has known the Semanses since 1961,
while working as a legal assistant for
Gov. Terry Sanford. “In my view,”
Fleishman says, “no individud philan
thropists have had a greater continuing
influence on the state of North Carolina
over as long a period of time as Jim and
Mary Semans have.
“Their contributions of time, energy
and vision have profoundly shaped the
landscape, especially in the worlds of
culture and the arts. There are count
less institutions in North Carolina that
would not be in existence today but for
the loving dedication of Jim and Maiy ”
In fact, in the last 40 years it is dif
ficult to name a significant cultural pro
ject undertaken in the state that has not
received support from the Semanses.
James ^mans is chairman of the
Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, estab
lished 41 years ago by his mother-in-law to help fnnd
charitable activities at Duke University, in North
Carolina and New York. Mary Semans is vice chair
woman of the foundation’s board of trustees.
Mary Semans has been a trustee of the Duke
Endowment in Charlotte since 1960 and chairwom
an since 1981. The foundation established by her
great uncle, James Buchanan Duke, is the largest in
Look for SEMANS, page 20
Booming-business
Investment advisers court growing sector
In the face of rapid growth within
the sector, money managers
advise nonprofits and founda
tions to consider investing in
longer-term and less conserva
tive ventures.
By Kelly Prelipp Lojk
Business in the nonprofit sector is
booming.
'This news may come as a surprise
to organizations scrambling to make
ends meet, but a look at the big pic
ture shows otherwise: The sector,
which for two decades has grown
more rapidly than business or gov
ernment, has 500,000 charitable non
profits whose annual operating
expenses account for 8 percent of the
national economy.
These statistics, however, come as
little surprise to the for-profit invest
ment advisers and institutions trying
to attract nonprofits’ business by
offering financial management ser
vices specifically for the sector.
INVESTING
Nonprofits clearly see the value of
cultivating donors and raising funds.
But to many, thou^ts of re-evaluat-
ing investment strategies and diversi
fying portfolios seem like a luxury
they can’t afford.
Roger Hart, who provides
accounting services for smaJler non
profits from his Chapel Hill office,
says many organizations have a way
to go in learnhig the basics of money
management.
“People who work at nonprofits
tend to be program-oriented, client-
oriented and service-oriented,” Hart
says. “They are personally not as
interested in financial management
and have a tendency to neglect such
issues.”
When it comes to investing
money, financial advisers run into
additional difficulties. For example,
in discussing investment policies
Look for INVESTING, page 11
A new player
Group to
expand
coverage
for kids
Healthy Kids, a new effort to pro
vide health insurance for North
Carolina children, hopes to
launch a model program this fall.
Among its founders are former
staff and board members of the
Caring Program for Children.
By Barbara Solow
A new nonprofit modeled on a
Florida health-care program aims to
reduce the number of uninsured chil
dren in North Carolina.
Healthy Kids of North Carolina
proposes to operate as a subsidized
health insurance program for chil
dren marketed through the state’s
schools. Organizers hope it will
become one of seven national demon
stration projects funded by a $3 mil
lion grant from the New Jersey-based
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Among the supporters of Healthy
Kids are former sMf and board mem
bers of the Caring Program for
Children - a health insurance program
managed by Blue Cross Blue Shield of
North Carolina.
Founding board members of
Raleigh-based Healthy Kids are
Connie Mullinix of Flynt Mullinix
Health Care Consulting in Chapel Hill;
Bob Greczyn, president and chief
executive officer of Cary-based
Healthsource North Carolina; and
Meg Sternberg, vice president of sales
and marketing for United Healthcare
in Cary.
Karen Mortimer - who was tired as
executive director of the Caring
Program after she spoke out against a
decision to give administrative control
to Blue Cross - is a consultant to
Healthy Kids.
MuUinbc says the Healthy Kids
program will focus on children of the
working poor.
“Most uninsured children - and
there are now about 127,000 in North
Carolina - have parents who have
jobs,” she says. “The idea is to sell
insurance to families for children who
are eligible for the [federal] school
lunch programs.”
To make the program affordable to
Look for HEALTHY KIDS, page 9
Connections 3
Grants & Gifts 16
In April 16
Job Opportunities 24
Opinion 10
People 17
Professional Services...!8
( NONPROFITS
} FOUNDATIONS
1 VOLUNTEERS
1 CORPORATE GIVING
1 FUNDRAISING
Joining forces
A statewide coalition of nearly
50 nonprofits has formed to
lobby tor the needs of North
Carolina's children.
Expanding the base
The Triangle Community
Foundation's new Catalyst ini
tiative has resulted in
$32 million in new endowed
funds or deterred gifts to
charity.
In search of a model
The NetDay volunteer effort
to wire schools tor the
Internet may not be applica
ble to all parts of the non
profit sector, but it has been
successful in expanding the
reach of new technology.
Dishing out donations
Ben & Jerry's ice cream fran
chise stores in North Carolina
have, in some cases, sur
passed their parent compa
ny's level of giving to non
profits.
Celebrity waiters
A new nonprofit will enlist
volunteers to work as waiters
at special fundraising events
for charities in North
Carolina.
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