joining me now is felicia taylor, chairman of rockefeller philanthropy advisers, a philanthropy services has overseen over $3 billion in global philanthropy. good to have you on the program. two years after the financial crisis, what is the charitable giving landscape look like. >> it depends on what part of the landscape you're looking at. if you're up in the mountaintops where the ultra high net individuals are, the kind of folks who are participating in the giving pledge that bill gates and warren buffett has launched, things look pretty good. if you're talking about average americans, they're still struggling a little bit, not so certain about the recovery. not a lot of extra cash. and if you're looking at a lot of nonprofits in communities, they are really still right in the thick of the recession, and giving has been down for them for two years now, and maybe another coming. >> it's tough out there for the average. >> extremely tough out there for the average person and the small nonprofit. >> you mentioned bill gates. this year warren buffett and bill gates spearheaded that pledge

she also hosts "social good"-- a podcast for the chronicle of philanthropy.lloyly son, when we look at this sector, how does special media help doane authors find causes and help causes find donors? >> that's a great question, ray. thank you for having me on tonight. so social media democratizes the entire feed of geting and receiving donations. it enables donors to search for causes, to find out what people are saying about those causes, why people are giving it to it and to hear the stories of people that the causes are helping. and on the flip side social media is pulling insiders out, and allowing outsiders in. to organizations. so that they can create a more meaningful relationship between themselves and their cause. >> suarez: do we have good numbers yet? do we know if an overall charger chunk of all giving is being done through social media? >> so the percentage of giving online and through social media is rising very quickly, but still to have an overall perspective of it, ray, it's still less than 10% of all giving. >> suarez: does shall creates anot

and their philanthropy comes at a critical time for charities in this country. the recession has taken its toll on donations. last year, americans gave $303 billion, but that was down nearly 4% from 2008. >> to the extent that you can help out, if you don't you're a jerk. i don't think it's... ( laughter ) i don't think it's great. i don't think what steve and i are doing is great at all. i think if you don't do it you're a jerk. >> we have big problems in this world and we have to kind of join together to try to solve them and this is one way to do it. >> couric: andrew carnegie would agree. >> couric: both men also stress >> couric: both men also stress the importance of giving anything you can so we hope you'll reach out to the charity of your choice this holiday season. and that is the "cbs evening news" for tonight, i'm katie couric. thanks for watching. i'll see you right back here tomorrow night. good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh acce >>> your realtime captioner is linda marie macdonald. caption colorado, l.l.

collaborative effort between the public utilities commission, the trust for public land, and a number of philanthropies in putting together a five-block pathway. i also to word -- toured with fran martin. while i was impressed with the pathway, i found us wanting in the way that people access it from visitation valley. i am looking forward to talking with staff about that issue. let us move on with the agenda. >> is there any public comment on the president's report? item #3 is the general manager's report. >> i have a few short announcements. happy hanukkah to those that celebrate and those who don't. join us next thursday in golden gate park for the eighty first annual holiday tree lighting. it celebrates the beginning of the holiday season and features fun for the entire family. and there is a rumored a visit from santa. i have mentioned this out prior commission meetings, but i have had a great pleasure [unintelligible] d is one of this country's renowned classical pianists. he performed a spectacular concert benefiting children on the autism spectrum. he went bach and forth, playing bach, charlie

we want to have a new model for business and philanthropy. we always wanted to be part of the communities we are part of, and that is so important to us. when we think about our next decade in san francisco, as we are building our headquarters in mission bay, we are excited to be part of san francisco and all other projects like this. thank you so much for everybody that made this happen, everybody putting in the hard work. [applause] >> thank you. speaking of hard work, this impressive project is actually a class room. i'm going to invite ramon and courtney and theresa up from the labor training foundation. here are five students who started at -- you got here at 6:30. that is early. they are going to build these courts and learn how to get out and work on these types of complicated projects. i could not have imagined how complicated but to ball -- bocce ball courts could be. ultimately, this is giving real jobs to real san franciscans. so with that, i want to bring up ramon, court may, theresa, our partner at dpw -- courtney, theresa, our p

>> i was looking for someone to join in philanthropy. i was going to put together a super board for the charity, a teammate's charity that deals with professional athletes. and i was looking for a way to get ahold of him. bob doyle, my manager calls and says, hey, steve wynn is looking for you and i'm thinking, here it is, divine intervention. and so i think i know why he's looking for me, like other people in his field have looked for me before to come out of retirement and play music. i wasn't going to do it, but it would be a great window for me to open the philanthropy options with him. so the plan was, i would get steve wynn to give me a lot of money for my charity, while letting him down easy to say i'm not going to come out of retirement, i can't play your place. and how it ended up was, he never gave me a dollar for charity and now i work for him. so it's just -- >> larry: i know steve very well, and he's very persuasive. >> he is. but he's a very, very, very nice man. >> larry: why didn't he give you a dollar for the charity? >>

he recently created what he's calling the facebook of philanthropy. a new web platform that could revolutionize the way people give by making giving fun. in his more than 15 years as an actor's actor, what is less known about edward norton is the kind of charitable work he's done off -camera. along the way, is something he's noticed about how charities use the internet that's inspired his latest project. >> we were very frustrated by what we saw out there. everything -- we called it use and drop. it was just a button where you could donate but really nothing more. and we wanted to communicate more than that. >> norton and his friends saw an opportunity to shake up how people give online. and he came up with what he calls the facebook of philanthropy, called crowdrise, a fund-raising web platform that's also a community. >> this is the platform where you plant the flag and say this is who i am as defined by what do i care about? what am i passionate about? >> within minutes, anyone can create a page, start a fundraiser, and ask for donations from frien

not only ones of the world's youngest billionaires but a newcomer to the world of philanthropy.was in the open show in september when he pledged $100 million to the newark, new jersey school system. he signed a pledge to donate the majority of his wealth to charity. and another honorable distinction for facebook.com. s palo alto base companies tops the list of best places to work in the u.s. southwest airlines number two, bane and company rounded out the top through. cooperate based apple ranked 20 and glassdoor.com conducted the survey. it ranks the company solely on the input of employees. >> we rank mike nicco number one as meteorologist here. >> you won't if you're heading to the sierra this weekend. let's take a look outside and show you what's going on. so true in this business. heavenly mountain resort. thank you resort sports network for showing such a beautiful shot of the snow. not empty chair lifts but not as full as they could be or already starting friday when a lot of folks are off work and out of school. beautiful picture there. let's talk about what's going on he

. >> when you posted all the recipients on a blog he inspired acts of philanthropy. >> a little kid whoother, three months later, an average genealogists found his mother. >> my $10 i gave to my church. >> i gave my $10 away today. >> will you take my $10? >> what is it that you leave on this earth? and that is what came into focus by doing as. >> he now has a job and he is ending the year. he is actively committing people he works with to commit to giving away $10 per day. he will dedicate the next year of his life to volunteer work. >> that is the definition of a great guy. how much do we have to give you to give us some warm weather? >>> we will be about 15 degrees below the record low. make you feel warmer? >> not really. now, our rightnow, current temperatures are into the teens. it is a dangerous cold. make sure the youngsters heading to school tomorrow are dressed appropriately. here in washington, 22 degrees. well this december is the coldest december we have had since 2000, the year overall will be one of our warm or years. 2010 will be well above average. our temperatures -- 1

supervisors, a couple of things to add would be that we have been greatly helped by volunteers and philanthropy area. over 129,000 volunteer hours in the system. much of that is for beautification. in addition we have had many philanthropic areas focusing on this day, allowing us to steam the weeds in the cracks and sidewalks and those types of things rather than using pesticides. as mentioned, under the leadership of the program we will continue to do so. chris geiger, as indicated, has shown that there is an inverse relationship between the number of gardner's and pesticide use. when we are under-resource, you do see that there is increased reliance on pesticides. that is the one thing i would flag. supervisor chu: is the department supportive of this? is there any foreseen potential impact that would be negative? >> we have worked very closely with the department in addressing those concerns. supervisor chu: what was the conversation like with other departments that use those pesticides? >> rather than speak for them, bart, would you like to speak? dpw is not here but they were interested in

. >> but our philanthropy doesn't stop with a check.ur employees have donated their time to the san francisco food bank receiving food packaging, sorting, taking deliveries for families out there so it's really a pleasure. >> so david you're getting even more money this year. does that happen typically that, you know, companies up the ante? >> many companies during this recessionary time have upped the anti-and julius, thank you so much for this wonderful gift on behalf of the entire food bank organization. thank you to union bank for your generosity and your continued determination to end hunger if the bay area. this gift alone will provide 90,000 meals during the holidays. >> wow. >> well, thank you both for being here and merry christmas. that's a look at what's going on over here, guys. back over to you. >> both of you, thanks for coming in or christmas eve. that's really great. >>> and that's it for the cbs 5 news at noon. our next newscast is at 5:00. >> we're always on cbs5.com. so go do that last-minute shopping. or go to a movi

the streets of 18th- century london have sparked a new wage of finance to be -- a new wave of philanthropy. >> this is a very facile place to visit. they needed to attract people in. once they were here, they acted as a way of saying, what are going to give? >> the hospital continued for more than 200 years. it was closed in 1954 when local authorities took over protecting vulnerable children. many former residents have painful memories. this woman was abandoned by her mother. >> i did exactly as i it was told. i walked up to the stage and i turned it around and i saw that my mother had gone. she had not said goodbye, or anything at all. i have only seen her once since then. >> the hospital failed to cater for the emotional welfare. back in the 1700's, this was a lifeline preventing many thousands of infant deaths. this exhibit gives an insight into the hidden corner of british social history. >> a voter from donna has been named the bbc africans footballer for 2010. >> there was one ambition that he had, to get to the finals of the world cup. something to celebrate now, he got his hands o

the american commute of philanthropy. >> they can give you an idea of whether a charity is spending on charitable mission. >> monetary support and political organizations and candidates is not deductible. financial experts stress when making monetary do nagsz, pay by credit card or check instead of cash and receipts are a must. >> it's essential to save proper documentation so save any reaps you received from the charity and if you donated cash make sure that you have a bank or credit card statement. >> if you are donating electronics, they have to be in working order. clothing and household items must be in good condition or better. checks have to be mail and post marked bite end of the calendar year and credit cards must be swiped in 2010, even if the bill is not paid until next year. nbc news. >> we are about to embark on a milestone and hopes to take the first human life robot. they will be on board the space shuttle discovery when it launches on february 3rd. fingers, thumbs and grips a pen and even write. they plan to use the robot to do jobs that are dangerous for people with ce

the center on philanthropy at indiana university leased optimistic news for charitable charities reporteddonations during the first 9 months of this year. >>> and good news when it comes to the sales rose nearly 1% last month fueled in part by deep holiday discounts. that is the fifth straight monthly gain for retail sales and it shows consumers are becoming more comfort]nte spending money despite the tough job markets. consumers spent more on clothing and other general items, but there was a few weak spots last month. heck tongs sales sw6dipped just little bit. and speaking of shopping abc2 news.com is your source for the holidays. we have a holiday guide tips on shopping for 6Ñperfect gifts ho to find the perfect christmas tree. go to abc2news.com/holiday. >>> well, a police officer and a suspect get into a scuffle and it's all caught on the but that's not the end of this store. how a good samaritan jumped into action to help out the officer. >>> @gqand hit-and-run involvi a snowman. the dramatic crash all caught on tape. . >>> athieff steals l of dollars in chips without firing a singl

has one of the world's youngest billionaires, but also as a prominent new comer to the world of philanthropy. the wall, as stephanie reports 2010 person of the year joins a prominent list of giants and the business world to receive the honor >> time magazine has named its person of the eric facebook founder martin and we did checking we found a handful of big names in the business have been times first person of the year. weicker sought bill gates was named person of the year in 2005 along with his wife linda. he does not always as well for his efforts. it to of the first three honorees came for the business world. if walter chrysler got the nod in 1928 as did all when young the founder broadcasting pioneer rca in 1929 ted turner was * person of the year 1991 and the last two on the list reshape the modern technology landscape. it just like martin house. intel and amazon dock, have as well. in new york stephanie. >> the on-line business website glass door has released a new list of the top 50 companies to work for in the united states. several bay area companies made that list. you can see f

. >> uja federation is a philanthropy that helps people.entially, that's it. >> we're sorting food that people from all over the county have donated, and it's going to the bronx community council food bank. >> it feels really good to give back to my community and the people who need it. >> reporter: but before any of this can get shipped out, everything needs to get organized. the teens are each given a specific job and are assigned to a zone. >> i'm a sorter. so basically, i'm getting everyone putting a bunch of food on the table, and we have to separate it if it's soup or pasta or vegetables. >> reporter: then everything is date checked to make sure that none of the food has expired. >> one kid found something from 1995 in the pile. so we just have to make sure that none of that stuff gets to the families. >> reporter: after the food is finally sorted and checked, it's ready to be packaged and placed on a truck to be sent out. it's kind of like an assembly line at a factory. each person doing their own part, working together towards a com

i am currently employed with a venture philanthropy organization creating low-income jobs for individuals with barriers to work. i want to urge your support for the san francisco local hiring policy for construction. my first point is that the economic analysis of this ordinance failed to account for the real hard and soft costs of maintaining the status quo. it is well documented that there are costs associated with pervasive and retracted unemployment. the obvious are related to increased fiscal expenditures for services to support unemployed individuals as well as the loss of tax receipts. less obvious costs are social costs. the relationship between rising unemployment and rising crime and worsening social dislocation, as well as a decline in real income and spending accompanied by a rise in property and income inequality. i see this every day as new housing stock rises on third street without workers targeted by this ordinance working and therefore unable to occupy his residence or shop in our business district. serious considerations of the conclusions of mr. egan's analysis must fa

not only one of the world's youngest billionaires but newcom to the world of philanthropy.was in the open show in september when he pledged $100 million to the newark, new jersey schoo system. he signed a pledge to donate the majority of his wealth to chary. and another honorae distinction for facebook.com. s palo alto base companies tops the list of best places to work in the u.s. soutest airlines number two, bane and company rounded out the top through. cooperate based apple ranked 20 and glassdoor.com conducted the survey. it ranks the company solely on the input of employees. >> we rank mike nicco number one as meteorologist here. >> you won't if you're heading to the sierra this weekend. let's take a lo outside and show you what's going on. so true in this business. heavenly mountain resort. thank you resort sports network for showing such a beautul shot of the snow. not empty chair lifts but not as full as they could be or already starting friday when a lot of folks are off work and out of school beautiful picture there. let's talk about what's going on here and then

. >> reporter: stacy palmer at the "chronicle of philanthropy" says that's a real problem for arts and cultural nonprofit groups. >> it's very challenging for nonprofits that work in areas that aren't providing direct social services to the very neediest people to be able to get that message across about why the arts or the environment or those kinds of things are important. >> reporter: according to giving u.s.a. foundation, donations to arts, culture and humanities organizations dropped by almost 2.5% to $12.3 billion last year. with funding from government and foundations also down, class acts arts made sacrifices. >> we unfortunately had to take mandatory furloughs, and we took a pretty significant payroll cut last year. >> reporter: the other consequence when arts nonprofits lose money is the impact on artists themselves. people performing for and teaching the disadvantaged may also be having trouble making ends meet. but there is one bright spot. palmer says affluent people have recognized the arts are suffering, and they haven't stopped giving. over 70% of high-net-worth househo