Arlington, VA, June 28, 2001 -- Herman Art Taylor, a leader within the non-profit community, has been named president of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, the new organization formed by the recent merger of the Council of Better Business Bureaus' (CBBB) Foundation [and its Philanthropic Advisory Service (PAS)] and the National Charities Information Bureau (NCIB).

Taylor was selected following a search by the newly-named BBB Wise Giving Alliance Board of Directors, which includes former directors of the NCIB and the CBBB Foundation, as well as leaders from the non-profit community and Better Business Bureau system. The appointment of Taylor was announced by the co-chairs of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance Board: George Penick, former NCIB Board Chair and current president of the Foundation of the Mid South, and Cliff Whitehill, former CBBB Foundation and CBBB Board Chair and former senior vice president and general counsel of General Mills.

"Art Taylor has the demonstrated savvy and strategic management skills to chart a successful course for the BBB Wise Giving Alliance. His record of accomplishments in the non-profit arena and his legal and financial accounting background will be of great value to the Alliance and the donors and charitable community we serve," Penick said.

Whitehill agreed, adding that this is "an exciting time for the BBB Wise Giving Alliance. The merger is official; we've secured the services of a top-notch professional to propel our growth as a leadership organization in the nonprofit sector; we'll soon issue new charity standards on accountability and other issues, and we're preparing to announce important new research into donor expectations."

About Art Taylor

In perhaps his best-known non-profit role, Art Taylor headed the Opportunities Industrialization Centers of America, Inc. (OICA) from 1990 to 1999. Under his leadership, the OICA network of employment and training programs grew to serve more than two million disadvantaged and under-skilled Americans, with affiliates in 70 cities. For his efforts, The Philadelphia Business Journal cited Mr. Taylor as one of Philadelphia's 40 rising business leaders under 40 years old.

Taylor's non-profit board affiliations include Independent Sector (vice chair, Board member since 1998), the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (Board member since 1999), the Black Leadership Forum (1991-1999) and Franklin & Marshall College (trustee since 1996).

Most recently he served as chief operating officer of St. Hill & Associates in Philadelphia, providing critical leadership to a rapidly growing company. Early in his career, Taylor worked for Keystone Foods Corporation as a cost analyst and as an auditor for UGI Corporation and Deloitte Touche.

He's a graduate of Franklin and Marshall College and earned a J.D. from Temple University School of Law.

About the BBB Wise Giving Alliance

"The BBB Wise Giving Alliance has already made substantial progress combining the databases, staff operations, publications and intellectual capital of two well-respected charity monitoring organizations. It's time now to focus on taking services to a new level to meet the increasing market demand for charity information, and to position the Alliance as the most reliable, respected source for information on accountability issues confronting donors and consumers," Taylor said.

Taylor's appointment caps a list of recent Alliance initiatives, which include:

1. Board of Directors named : The 19-member Board of Directors, which was mutually agreed to by the Alliance's two predecessor organizations, includes the following officers and members: George Penick (co-chair), Foundation for the Mid South; Clifford L. Whitehill (co-chair), General Mills, retired; Virginia M. Esposito (secretary), National Center for Family Philanthropy; Paul Tschirhart (treasurer), Sher & Blackwell; Douglas Bauer, Goldman Sachs; Ronna Brown, BBB of Metropolitan New York; Nora Carpenter, BBB of Southwest Idaho; Emelda Cathcart, formerly with AOL Time Warner; John S. Etchieson, BBB, Austin, TX; Deborah C. Foord, Credit Suisse Asset Management; David S. Ford, Lucent Technologies Foundation; Michele Glaze, Dell Computer Corporation; Ernest R. Gutierrez, Jr., The Kresge Foundation; Sheila A. Leahy, SAL Consulting; Alfonso F. Lenhardt, Council on Foundations; Matthew Margo, CBS Corporation; Kenneth L. Nees, Sony USA Foundation; Marcus Owens, Caplin & Drysdale; and, Peter Shiras, Independent Sector.

2. Web site (www.give.org) launched : The Alliance web site offers up-to-date national charity reports, tips on giving for donors and businesses, information about current Alliance projects, frequently-asked-questions and news releases.

3. Joint charity guide issued : The first two editions of the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Guide have been published, offering donors a convenient single source for the latest evaluations of national charities and timely information to support wise giving decisions. A complimentary copy of the new quarterly guide, which replaces the long-standing newsletters separately published by the NCIB and PAS, is available by calling 1.800.575.GIVE or visiting the web site, www.give.org.

4. Research on donor expectations : Findings from a major survey of donor expectations by a noted polling organization will be released this summer. Individual donors were surveyed on a wide range of accountability issues of interest to the non-profit community.

5. Progress on standards revision project : The Alliance is currently in the process of revising the charity standards with the expectation that a draft of the new standards will be released for public comment later this year. A 16-member advisory group representing large and small charities, corporate and foundation donors, Better Business Bureaus, and experts in nonprofit accounting, philanthropic research, state regulation and international solicitation practices is spearheading the effort. A Discussion Document is posted on the www.give.org web site to encourage both donor and charity input on accountability issues being considered in the standards update.