Opinion: Thiel Backing Hulk Hogan Suit Is not Philanthropy
A Salon culture writer takes issue with tech billionaire Peter Thiel’s assertion that his bankrolling of the pro wrestler’s sex-tape lawsuit against Gawker Media is “one of my greater philanthropic things that I’ve done” and likens the view to a self-interested strain of Silicon Valley giving.
N.Y.’s Struggling Beth Israel Hospital to Shut Down
Facing debts of more than $200 million, the 127-year-old Lower Manhattan institution will shutter and re-create itself as a much smaller facility, The Wall Street Journal writes.
Ex-Mayor to Lead Minneapolis Foundation; YouthBuild Founder to Retire
Plus, the Barr Foundation hires its first vice president and the Council on Foundations gets a new diversity leader.
By anais.strickland
Contributor
Drug Firm Pledges $100 Million to Back Youth Science Contest
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals made a 10-year commitment to support the Science Talent Search and significantly boosted prize money for the long-running scholastic math and science competition, reports The New York Times.
Minn. Sues Telemarketer Over Charity ‘Pledge Reminders’
The state’s attorney general filed suit Wednesday against fundraising firm Associated Community Services, which regulators allege barraged people who had declined to donate to a veterans organizations with follow-up calls and emails seeking payment of supposed pledges, the Star Tribune reports.
U. of Massachusetts to Drop All Fossil-Fuel Investments
The UMass system said Wednesday that it will sell all of its $770 million endowment’s holdings in oil, coal, and gas, reportedly becoming the first major public university to fully embrace fossil-fuel divestment, writes The Boston Globe.
Ill. First Lady’s Charity Joins Budget Suit Against Governor
An early-childhood-education nonprofit headed by Diana Rauner, the wife of Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, has joined a coalition of charities suing her husband and several members of his administration over failure to pay off state human-service contracts, according to Crain’s Chicago Business.
Ex-NBA Player Charged With Embezzling From Africa Charity
A federal indictment unsealed Wednesday accuses Kermit Washington, a forward who played with several teams in the 1970s and ‘80s, of pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars from a nonprofit he founded to help needy people in Africa, the Associated Press writes.
Most CEOs Don’t Leave by Choice, Study Says
Only nine of 40 nonprofit leaders surveyed by a North Carolina State University researcher said they replaced a predecessor who retired voluntarily.
By HEATHER JOSLYN
Contributor
Regulators Say Limiting Donor ID Could Hit Anti-Fraud Work
State authorities charged with ferreting out nonprofit malfeasance are concerned their efforts could be hamstrung by legislation now before Congress that would lift the requirement that tax-exempt groups disclose major donors to the Internal Revenue Service, Reuters writes.
Aid Summit Produces ‘Grand Bargain’ to Cut Overhead Costs
Meeting in Turkey this week at the World Humanitarian Summit, governments and aid groups reached agreement on a plan to reduce relief groups’ administrative spending by about $1 billion a year and ensure more donor money reaches people in crisis, reports the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Cash Giving to Poor Gains Ground but Fuels Backlash
New Republic magazine looks at the rising popularity of direct, unrestricted cash transfers to poor people and the pushback against the aid method among traditional relief agencies.
$34 Million, 3 Months, and a Chance for Change
In early 2015, an anonymous donor tapped the San Francisco Foundation to quickly find Oakland charities that could help shrink economic and health disparities in the city. Here’s how they did it.
By Rebecca Koenig
Contributor
Jeb Bush Returns to School-Reform Charity He Founded
The Foundation for Excellence in Education announced Tuesday that Mr. Bush, who left the group last year to run for president, has returned as its chairman and president, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
Former Trustee Jailed in $52 Million Alaska Charity Fraud
Mark Avery was sentenced to 13-plus years after being convicted of using charitable funds for a spending spree on aircraft, boats, and personal expenses in the mid-2000s, The Boston Globe and Alaska Dispatch News write.
Teresa Heinz to Turn Over Reins of $1.6 Billion Family Fund
Ms. Heinz’s three sons will take successive four-year terms leading the Heinz Endowments after she steps down in October after 25 years chairing the Pittsburgh-based foundation, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.