A Charity Struggles When Founders Die

The Christopher Reeve Foundation got in trouble with a charity watchdog group during a tumultuous period when both of its founders died, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The actor Christopher Reeve died in 2004, and his wife, Dana Reeve, died unexpectedly this year.

In December 2004 the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, a watchdog branch of the Better Business Bureau, told the foundation that it had failed to pass the group’s accountability standards.

Two years later, the alliance reported other lapses at the foundation, including not clearly notifying its board of planned spending on administration, fund raising, and grants; and failing to post a link to its tax filings on its Web site.

This fall the foundation gave the alliance new budget information and updated its Web site to disclose contributions, and last week the alliance said the foundation had met the accountability standards.

Peter D. Kiernan, whom Ms. Reeve tapped as her successor before she died, said that although the foundation went through a rough patch when its founders died, it has gone from “a charity driven by the passion of two individuals who were unbelievably dedicated, to a charity driven by the same principles but with the board as the engine.”

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