Legendary NYU Fundraiser Pushes Higher Standards for Nonprofits
As Naomi Levine leaves her position at the university’s center for philanthropy, she wants to see better oversight and more professional practices.
By Holly Hall
Contributor
Planned Parenthood Head Defends Group’s Use of Fetal Tissue
The group’s president, Cecile Richards, apologized Thursday for the “tone” of a Planned Parenthood executive’s videotaped remarks on utilizing the organs of aborted fetuses but said the nonprofit is closely observing legal and ethical rules in donating the tissue for medical research, The Washington Post and CNN report.
Wisc. Court Ends Dark-Money Case Involving Scott Walker
The state Supreme Court put a stop Thursday to an inquiry by a group of prosecutors alleging collusion between Gov. Scott Walker’s political operation and nonprofit groups as Mr. Walker fought a 2012 recall effort, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and The Christian Science Monitor report.
House GOP to Investigate Planned Parenthood on Fetal Tissue
Republican leaders announced plans Wednesday for a congressional inquiry into Planned Parenthood’s handling of tissue from aborted fetuses following an anti-abortion group’s release of a video in which an official with the women’s health group discusses providing fetal organs for medical research, reports The New York Times.
Relief Groups Expand Fundraising in Fight for Aid Dollars
The world’s 50 largest aid charities have more than tripled their spending on fundraising to $1.5 billion over the past decade amid a boom in international aid and fierce competition to draw donors, according to a survey by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Global Leaders Reach Deal on Funding U.N. Development Goals
Following three days of contentious talks, leaders from rich and poor countries struck a deal Thursday on a new framework to finance U.N. goals to end poverty and hunger and meet other ambitious development targets by 2030, reports the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
After the Ball: How to Evaluate the Success of Your Fundraising Event
After a gala or other event, get your staff together to review how it went and collect feedback and ideas.
By Harry A. Freedman
Contributor
Anti-Abortion Group Claims Planned Parenthood Selling Fetal Tissue
An undercover video released Tuesday by anti-abortion rights group the Center for Medical Progress shows a Planned Parenthood official graphically discussing how to preserve an aborted fetus’s organs for medical research and the costs associated with providing the tissue to scientists, The Washington Post reports.
Anonymous $34-Million Donation Aids Oakland Nonprofits
The San Francisco Foundation is distributing $34 million from an unnamed benefactor among more than 15 organizations providing health care, affordable housing, and other social services in low-income communities in Oakland, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.
Detentions Interrupt Religious Charity’s Tour of China
A South African relief charity inspired by Sufi Islam said 20 of it associates were taken into custody by Chinese officials last week and accused of terrorism ties, Agence France-Presse reports.
Ford Freezes $4 Million in India Funding Amid Clampdown
The Ford Foundation is holding up aid to organizations in India as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government scrutinizes foreign donors viewed as meddling in domestic affairs, Reuters reports.
Boy Scouts Takes Step to Drop Ban on Gay Troop Leaders
The national youth group’s executive committee unanimously approved a resolution to eliminate a ban on openly gay adults serving in leadership positions, setting the stage for the Scouts to formally abandon the policy later this month, The Washington Post reports.
Opinion: Investment, Not Aid, Key to Ending Poverty
As government, corporate, and nonprofit leaders gather in Ethiopia at a major meeting on funding global development efforts, a top United Nations official writes in The Wall Street Journal that investment is supplanting direct aid as the driver in eradicating poverty and building equitable societies in developing countries.
Obituary: D’Army Bailey, Founded Museum at King Killing Site
The lawyer and activist, who led the campaign to open the National Civil Rights Museum at the Memphis motel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, died Sunday of cancer at age 73, The New York Times writes.
Aid Charities Balk at U.S. Anti-Terror Vetting of Workers
A U.S. Agency for International Development program aimed at screening federally supported aid nonprofits for terrorist ties is drawing fire from relief groups, which say the vetting is overly intrusive and could endanger their workers, The New York Times reports.
Nonprofit Teaches People to Raise Money for Rare Diseases Through Crowdfunding
The Rare Genomics Institute encourages participants to seek money from friends and family instead of the public.
By Rebecca Koenig
Contributor