Nonprofit Start-Up Zidisha Aims to Take Microfinance Online
After participating in start-up incubator Y Combinator, Zdisha secured Silicon Valley funding by offering small, poverty-fighting loans to African entrepreneurs by means of a peer-to-peer online platform rather than through traditional microfinance tools, writes The Wall Street Journal.
19th-Century Founder’s Words Central to Cooper Union’s Tuition Battle
A New York court is attempting to parse the flowery prose of a 19th-century education patron in determining whether the college he established can begin charging undergraduate tuition for the first time in its more than 150 years, The Wall Street Journal writes.
New ‘Bucket’ Challenge Aims to Build Solidarity with Gazans
A Palestinian journalist has launched a “rubble bucket challenge,” an adaptation of the ice-bucket challenge that urges people to publicly show support for Gazans affected by Israeli air strikes, The Daily Telegraph and The Washington Post write.
Ohio Woman Gets 2 Years for $588,000 Theft at Nonprofit
Wendy Harper of Columbus was also ordered to pay restitution to the Harvest Management Group, a nonprofit housing provider, where she used her position as payroll supervisor to give herself raises and heavily inflated her mileage reimbursements, reports the Columbus Dispatch.
White House Offers New Compromise on Contraceptive Mandate
The Obama administration laid out new rules Friday for faith-affiliated nonprofits to opt out of providing birth-control coverage for their workers, offering to take responsibility for ensuring such coverage for employees at organizations that state a religious objection to the mandate. The Wall Street Journal reports.
ALS Charity Faces Challenge of Spending Ice-Bucket Windfall
With the ice-bucket challenge swelling the ALS Association’s coffers by millions of dollars a day, the organization risks lower rankings from the nonprofit watchdog groups if it does not spend the money quickly on mission-related work, Fortune writes.
Declining Demand for Blood Could Drain Red Cross Finances
Medical advances have sharply reduced the need for blood transfusions, sowing major changes in a blood-bank industry dominated by the American Red Cross, The New York Times reports.
Wisc. Governor Sought Gifts for Conservative Nonprofit
Documents briefly made public Friday indicate that Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign encouraged donations to an advocacy group that was battling efforts to recall the governor and Republican state lawmakers in 2011 and ’12, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Bloomberg Applies Mayoral Methods to Global Philanthropy
The New York Times looks at ex-New York mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s burgeoning global philanthropy, focusing on his efforts to curb tobacco use in Turkey and other countries with high smoking rates.
Miley Cyrus Uses Music Awards Win to Launch Homelessness Campaign
The pop star sent a homeless man to the podium at MTV’s Video Music Awards Sunday to accept her prize for video of the year and simultaneously kicked off an online fundraiser for a Los Angeles charity serving homeless young people, reports The New York Times.