Do ‘Global Statesmen’ Like Clinton and Blair Help Charity?
The emergence of former political leaders such as Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, and Tony Blair as world statesmen using philanthropy to pursue their agendas — and the phenomenon’s impact on aid organizations and other charities — is examined by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Social Innovation Fund Report Finds Signs of Success
But many beneficiaries say the evaluation mandate is a financial burden.
By Alex Daniels
Contributor
Diana Aviv Leaving Independent Sector for Feeding America
The longtime nonprofit leader, who has headed the coalition for a dozen years, said the Feeding America job “presented itself” a few months ago.
By Alex Daniels
Senior Editor, Foundations
Leaders’ Pay Hits New Heights at Big N.Y. Arts Institutions
The top executives at the Museum of Modern Art, Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Opera, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the American Museum of Natural History earned more than $1.2 million each in 2013, according to a Wall Street Journal review of major New York City arts groups’ tax filings for that year.
As Earnings Rise, Big Law Firms Giving Little for Legal Aid
Major law firms reaped record revenues last year but donated only one-tenth of 1 percent of their proceeds to legal aid for the needy, The New York Times writes, citing an analysis by The American Lawyer magazine.
Del. Museum Sells 2 More Works to Retire Building Debt
The Delaware Museum of Art said Monday that it has sold paintings by Andrew Wyeth and Winslow Homer to private collectors, completing a controversial “deaccessioning” to repay construction debt and refill its coffers, The News Journal of Wilmington reports.
Nancy Brinker Shifts to Volunteer Role at Susan G. Komen
The founder of the world’s largest breast-cancer charity announced Friday that she is giving up her staff position, returning to what she called her “favorite role” as a volunteer, The Wall Street Journal reports.
‘Voluntourism’ Boom Draws Calls for Stricter Oversight
Some aid groups and academics are calling for tighter controls on the volunteer tourism industry as opportunities to travel with a purpose proliferate, raising questions about the good done by inexperienced Westerners on short-term visits to developing countries, the Thomson Reuters Foundation reports.
Opinion: Sean Parker on How ‘Hackers’ Can Remake Giving
In a Wall Street Journal column, the Napster co-founder and former Facebook executive describes how a generation of young tech moguls is changing traditional philanthropy and offers advice to this “hacker elite” on deploying its enormous wealth to solve global problems.
Ruling Could Mean Millions in Taxes for N.J. Hospitals
A New Jersey judge sided with the town of Morristown in its yearslong effort to assess property taxes on a local nonprofit hospital, ruling that the medical center had significantly intermingled for-profit and charitable activities, NJ Spotlight reports.
Gates Foundation Eliminates a Quarter of IT Staff
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has cut 33 of 129 jobs in its information-technology department as part of a reorganization of the unit, technology-news site GeekWire reports.
Smithsonian Plans New Rules on Disclosing Research Funding
The Smithsonian Institution will tighten its conflict-of-interest guidelines for researchers with an eye toward preventing corporations and other outside donors from exercising undue influence on scientific studies, reports The New York Times.
Foundation Heads Call on Peers to Publicize Diversity Data
The leaders of six large organizations push for more openness about the racial and gender make-up of nonprofit boards and staff.
By Alex Daniels
Contributor
Philanthropy Can Do Much More to Warn of Climate-Change Dangers
Instead of devoting so much money to policy development, it’s time to spend for advertising and other ways of reaching the public.
By DAVID FENTON
Contributor
Thrift-Store Firm to Donate $1.8 Million in Minn. Settlement
International secondhand retailer Savers will pay $300,000 each to six Minnesota partner nonprofits and make its fundraising methods more transparent to settle a court fight with the state’s attorney general, the Star Tribune reports.
Maine Gov. Accused of Threatening Nonprofit School Over Hire
Legislators on both sides of the aisle are expressing dismay over allegations that Republican Gov. Paul LePage threatened to pull more than $500,000 in state funds from a nonprofit-run charter school if it installed a top Democratic lawmaker as its president, writes the Associated Press.