Research Offers Clues on Ice-Bucket Challenge’s Success
The New York Times Magazine reviews research on giving behavior that could help explain why the ice-bucket challenge pierced the mental buffer that causes many people to avoid or ignore charity appeals and became a $115-million fundraising sensation.
PR Firm Urged Pipeline Company to Target Green Activists
An American public-relations agency hired to advise energy company TransCanada urged the firm to spread unflattering information about environmental organizations that have criticized its pipeline projects, according to The New York Times.
Emirates Includes Two U.S. Muslim Charities on Terror List
The Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Muslim American Society denied any links to terrorist movements after being included on a United Arab Emirates watch list that also includes al-Qaeda and Islamic State, Bloomberg writes.
Boston Watchdog Blasts Spending by Schools Foundation
An investigation by Boston’s fiscal watchdog agency found that city schools leaders channeled hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars into a nonprofit group that essentially served as a slush fund, The Boston Globe writes.
George Lucas Taps Crystal Bridges Head to Run Chicago Museum
Don Bacigalupi, who oversaw the 2011 opening of Walmart heir Alice Walton’s Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, has been hired to lead the Star Wars creator’s Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, The Chicago Tribune reports.
United States Ranks 9th in the World in Giving to Charity
The latest World Giving Index sees an uptick in the rate of American philanthropy, though the United States still lags some smaller and poorer nations.
By Drew Lindsay
Senior Editor, Special Projects
Pay-for-Success Is Gaining Momentum, Study Finds
A new study outlines benefits of having private investors fund social programs, with financial incentives for exceeding goals.
By Megan O’Neil
Contributor
CrowdRise Builds Virtual Tower to Promote Giving Tuesday
The online charity platform is launching a free smartphone app that will create hologram images of donors and amounts.
By TOM HELD
Contributor
Gates Foundation Leader Urges Grant Makers to Avoid Arrogance of Power
Speaking at the Independent Sector annual meeting, Susan Desmond-Hellman said she understood the challenges grantees face because until recently she was one.
By Megan O’Neil
Contributor
Foundations Step In to Fill Gap in Ebola Fundraising
Money from private philanthropies, notably those associated with billionaire technology moguls, has become critically important to assisting aid workers on the front lines of the Ebola battle in West Africa, writes The Washington Post.