Tenn. and Conn. Investigate Sandy Hook Charity’s Missing Funds
Law-enforcement officials in both states are looking into a Nashville-based runners’ group that raised $103,000 for people affected by the December 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Conn., but has turned over only $30,000, the Associated Press reports.
Conn. Alleges Head of Scholarship Charity Drained Coffers
Connecticut authorities have filed suit against the executive director of a prominent Hartford-area education foundation, accusing her of funneling more than $200,000 of the charity’s money to personal use, reports The Courant of Hartford.
Tongue-in-Cheek Naming Campaign Pays Off for N.C. Charity
Social-services agency United Ministries of Durham has struck fundraising success with a campaign that gives donors naming rights to a range of items large and small that their gifts provide for poor families and the homeless, The New York Times writes.
Land-Mine Charity Backed by Princess Diana Pays School Fees for CEO’s Kids
The land-mine-clearing organization Halo Trust, which gained prominence through its work with Princess Diana and is supported by Prince Harry, pays tens of thousands of dollars a year to send its chief executive’s children to private boarding schools, The Telegraph reports.
Security Grants for Nonprofits Boosted 30% in Budget Deal
The $1.1-trillion budget agreement approved by Congress last week includes $13-million in Department of Homeland Security grants for nonprofit groups to safeguard their facilities, a 30 percent increase from 2013, reports the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
‘Three Cups’ Author Admits Rearranging Events in Books
Author and philanthropist Greg Mortenson, in his first interview since he and his education charity were engulfed in scandal in 2011, told the “Today” show that the events depicted in his best-selling memoir Three Cups of Tea occurred but that he altered their sequence and timing.
Iowa Nonprofit Casinos Paid Leaders More than $650,000
The state’s two nonprofit gambling centers, established to channel millions in gaming revenue to charities in their communities, paid their top executives about $650,000 and $700,000 in 2012, according to the Des Moines Register.
Pro-Obama Nonprofit Raises $26-Million in 1st Year
Organizing for Action, the “social-welfare” group formed last January to promote President Obama’s second-term agenda, relied primarily on small donations to collect more than $26-million in its first year, The Washington Post reports.
Philadelphia Clinic Offers Health Lifeline to Undocumented
Described by its co-founder as an “underground health system,” Puentes de Salud provides primary care for Philadelphia’s undocumented and uninsured Latino immigrants, The New York Times writes.
Group Estimates Philanthropy Rose 13% in 2013, Clashing With ‘Giving USA’
Each group criticizes the other: “Giving USA” is a “technological dinosaur"; Atlas of Giving’s results aren’t reliable because it won’t divulge its methods.
By Alex Daniels
Contributor