Browsing by Author "Kramarek, Michal"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Charitable Bequest Giving in the USA
    (2014-07-10) Rooney, Patrick; Hayat, Amir; Kramarek, Michal; Wang, Xiaoyun
    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.
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    Strategic Grantmaking in Higher Education
    (Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2010-04-09) Osili, Una; Miller, Melanie; Kramarek, Michal
    Resources 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.