How Washington’s Political Scandals Could Harm Nonprofit Groups
Philanthropy’s reputation has already been tarnished by well-publicized scandals, but the charges surrounding Rep. Tom DeLay, majority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, now threaten to inflict further damage. Nonprofit organizations have been accused of sponsoring junkets for members of…
By LESLIE LENKOWSKY
Contributor
For Charles Lewis, investigating corruption is a passion and telling the truth a religion. For 15 years, as founder and executive director of the Center for Public Integrity, he has pursued this mission as well as, if not better than, anybody else. When he stepped away from the job last winter, he…
By PABLO EISENBERG
Contributor
Debating the Role of Charities and Government
LETTERS TO THE EDITORTo the Editor: The strident castigation of the nonprofit sector by Pablo Eisenberg (“Strong Measures Are Needed to Prevent Nonprofit Abuses,” June 9), yet another in his long series of diatribes against the nonprofit world, betrays a woeful lack of understanding of what this…
Let’s Start a New Nonprofit Movement
The nonprofit world has undergone explosive growth in recent decades. Charitable organizations generate more than $800-billion a year and employ 9.5 percent of the American work force. Yet the general public has only a hazy understanding of what nonprofit organizations do and how they earn their…
By Robert Egger
Contributor
Many charities need improvement when it comes to communication practices, experts sayMichael Reynolds, a retired corporate marketing executive, now works three days a week at Sempervirens Fund, a ALSO SEE:Communications Help: a Sampling of Resources Los Altos, Calif., group that works to preserve…
By SUZANNE PERRY
Contributor
Celebrity Philanthropy: Another View
To the Editor: We appreciate that The Chronicle decided to include the Giving Back Fund in its survey and articles on donor-advised funds (“Problems Prompt One Fund to Adopt New Restrictions,” April 28). However, contrary to P.T. Barnum’s oft-quoted statement about publicity, we are not happy…
Strong Measures Are Needed to Prevent Nonprofit Abuses
Leaders of the nonprofit world frequently proclaim that they want to clean up the scandals that have been rippling through foundations and charities with alarming regularity. But it is hard to believe that many of them are sincere about the desire to change, at least if the draft of a new report to…
By PABLO EISENBERG
Contributor
Don’t Eliminate Small Foundations
To the Editor: Emmett D. Carson proposes eliminating two-thirds of all foundations to ease the workload of Internal Revenue Service agents and state regulators in his article, “An Easy Way to Curb Foundation Abuses” (Opinion, May 26). He predicts the emergence of a “more exclusive club” of…
Pressures on foundations to become more accountable and to demonstrate their value to the public are mounting in the wake of news reports about misconduct and increased Congressional scrutiny of all nonprofit organizations. Despite those pressures, many foundations are not evaluating the…
By FRANCIE OSTROWER
Contributor
Focus on What Works to Prevent Gun Deaths
LETTERS TO THE EDITORTo the Editor: To combat the problem of violent and accidental gun deaths, the strategy of Ellen S. Alberding and the Joyce Foundation (April 14) is to write opinion pieces calling for more research. To achieve the same goal, the strategy of the National Rifle Association…