U.N. Makes Urgent Call for Donations to Ebola Trust Fund
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued an urgent appeal for contributions to a U.N. fund established last month to tackle the Ebola epidemic, the BBC reports. The fund, with a $1-billion target, has received pledges of $20-million from donor governments, of which only $100,000 has been paid, by Colombia.
Gates Foundation Solicits Australian Firm for Ebola Treatment
Following the foundation’s “highly unusual” request, CSL, a maker of therapeutic blood-plasma products, is working on a plasma-based treatment for Ebola sufferers, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Booming Silicon Valley Foundation Extends Giving Reach
The San Francisco Chronicle looks at the history and growth of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the largest philanthropic entity of its kind in the country. The article includes a profile of foundation CEO Emmett D. Carson and details the fund’s work with growing immigrant communities in Northern California.
Dreamforce Becomes Marc Benioff’s Philanthropic Bully Pulpit
The Salesforce.com CEO has flamboyantly placed philanthropy front and center at the business-software firm’s annual Dreamforce gathering, focusing events and his keynote speech on giving and causes, Fortune writes.
Independent Publisher McSweeney’s to Go Nonprofit
The switch will allow the book and magazine imprint launched 16 years ago as an outlet for quirky, commercially risky material to be more ambitious in literary areas that are largely neglected by traditional publishers, author and McSweeney’s founder Dave Eggers told The New York Times.
Awareness Isn’t the Problem – It’s Shame
People with serious diseases face real struggles that we need to address to remove shame and stigma.
By Patty Huber Morrissey
Contributor
GuideStar Unveils Online Tool to Gauge Nonprofits’ Diversity
Organizations can see how they stack up to industry standards by providing information on their workers’ gender, sexual orientation, race, and any disability.
By Alex Daniels
Contributor
Medical Charity at Ebola Forefront Says It’s at Its Limit
Doctors Without Borders, the global aid group that has taken the lead in fighting the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, says it is stretched to the limit and needs other organizations to ratchet up work against the deadly virus, Reuters reports.
Aid Groups Say Public Slow to Open Wallets for Ebola Fight
Giving to tackle the Ebola epidemic is running well short of that for other major disasters, with philanthropic and governmental organizations pinning the lag on public fear and confusion over the disease and a lack of visceral media images of suffering, writes The Washington Post.
Mass. AG’s Suit Meshed With Aims of Backer’s Nonprofit
A lawsuit filed by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley over federal mortgage agencies’ refusal to sell foreclosed homes to nonprofits that want to return them to the original owners appears to be in sync with the interests of an organization run by the co-chair of her campaign finance committee, according to The Boston Globe.