Miami Officials OK $49 Million Bailout for Science Museum
The loan, approved Tuesday by Miami-Dade County commissioners, is aimed at helping the Frost Museum of Science complete construction of a $305 million downtown building, a project held up by a dearth of private fundraising, the Miami Herald reports.
Southern Cal and Thomas Jefferson U. Receive Major Gifts
The University of Southern California received $25 million from property magnate Edward Roski and his wife, Gayle, to support vision care and research, writes The Pasadena Star-News, and Philadelphia’s Thomas Jefferson University announced a $20 million gift from Vickie and Jack Farber to expand its center for neurological research, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Calif. Man Gets 57 Months for $4 Million Nonprofit Fraud
Accountant Donald Gridiron was sentenced Tuesday to nearly five years in prison for stealing millions of dollars from a New Jersey megachurch and a California golf charity to feed a gambling habit, NJ Advance Media reports.
Grants Roundup: GE Foundation Awards $50 Million to Boston Organizations
Other awards include $21.9 million from the MasterCard Foundation to Arizona State University to help students from Ghana complete undergraduate and master’s degrees.
By Eden Stiffman and Alex Daniels
Nonprofits Need to Boost Digital-Strategy Efforts, Report Says
A survey shows that only 61 percent of nonprofits have at least one staff member dedicated solely to digital strategy, and 52 percent have at least two.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
Veteran Charity Leader Picked to Head National Human Services Assembly
Lee Sherman, the veteran nonprofit executive tapped to head the National Human Services Assembly, said he will work to address the “fear and recrimination that are all too prevalent in our public discourse” about the needy.
By Heather Joslyn
Contributor
Colleges Defend Endowment Tax Break in Letters to Congress
In written responses to a Congressional inquiry into higher-education finances, the country’s wealthiest private universities characterized their tax-exempt status as crucial to their academic and research missions and campus upkeep, Bloomberg writes.
Baltimore Firms to Invest $69 Million to Juice Local Economy
Led by Johns Hopkins University, some two dozen businesses and institutions committed Monday to a three-year effort to build, hire, and buy locally as Baltimore rebuilds from rioting last April, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post write.
India’s Corporate-Giving Law Raises Money but Also Questions
Direct corporate philanthropy has spiked since the country enacted a law two years ago requiring large companies to donate at least 2 percent of their net profits to charity, but the rise has been accompanied by allegations of skewed giving and corruption, The Guardian writes.
As Conn. Mulls Endowment Tax, Fla. Invites Yale to Relocate
With Connecticut lawmakers considering a proposal to tax some investment profits on the university’s $26.5 billion endowment, Florida Gov. Rick Scott is beckoning the venerable New Haven institution to move south, reports The Washington Post.