Gates Foundation Funded PBS Program That Dovetailed With Microsoft Interests
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has spent hundreds of millions promoting Common Core Standards in public schools, supplied funding to a PBS video series on the subject without any explicit disclosure from PBS about the foundation’s political activism in that area, says Pando Daily. Microsoft is building part of its business around the Common Core.
Clintons Hit $200-Million in Endowment Drive for Foundation
Ten months into an effort to build an endowment to stabilize their namesake foundation’s long-term finances, Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton have raised four-fifths of their $250-million target, Bloomberg reports.
Former Foundation Leader Confirmed as U.S. Health Secretary
The Senate confirmed Sylvia Mathews Burwell Thursday to serve as secretary of health and human services, putting the former executive with the Gates and Walmart foundations in charge of Medicare, Medicaid, and continued implementation of the Affordable Care Act, writes The New York Times.
New Blackbaud Higher-Education Index Finds Giving Gains for 2014
A fundraising-technology firm’s newest monthly giving tracker shows a 0.8 percent rise in contributions to 558 client colleges and universities in the three months ending in April, The Chronicle of Higher Education writes.
Detroit Council Backs Shifting Museum’s Holdings to Trust
City legislators unanimously approved transferring municipal assets at the Detroit Institute of Arts to a charitable trust, part of the so-called grand bargain to help reduce cuts in pensions while shielding the museum’s collection from sale as part of Detroit’s bankruptcy case, the Detroit Free Press writes.
Asia Society Museum Director Picked to Lead Hirshhorn
The Smithsonian’s contemporary-art museum has tapped Melissa Chiu, head of the Asia Society Museum in New York, as its new director, The New York Times and The Washington Post report.
Experts Question $58-Trillion Wealth-Transfer Estimate
Critics say the report exaggerates how much charities will likely receive.
By Holly Hall
Contributor
N.Y. Council Members Tell Walmart to Stop Donating in City
A majority of city lawmakers is demanding that Walmart and the Walton Family Foundation stop funding local charities, terming the grants a ploy to blunt criticism of Walmart’s workplace practices and win support for its effort to locate stores in New York, the New York Post reports.
Knight Foundation CEO to Get 2014 Gardner Leadership Prize
Nonprofit coalition Independent Sector announced Alberto Ibargüen, the president and chief executive of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, as the 2014 recipient of its John W. Gardner Leadership Award, citing his grass-roots approach and innovative efforts in journalism, community engagement, and the arts.
American Express ‘Docu-Ad’ Spotlights Lack of Finance Options for Poor
In an unusual cause-marketing campaign, American Express has released a documentary-style advertisement highlighting the high costs for low-income people living outside the traditional financial system and making virtually no mention of the company or its products, writes The New York Times.