Charter Schools on Borrowing Binge as Enrollment Grows
Bond sales by taxpayer-funded, frequently nonprofit-run charter schools are on pace to break last year’s record of $1.9 billion as swelling enrollment and low interest rates fuel a borrowing spree, writes Bloomberg.
Nonprofit Breast-Milk Banks Fight Emerging Commercial Market
Nonprofit and for-profit breast-milk banks are jostling for dominance of a market poised to grow to meet demand from hospitals and neonatal care facilities, the Associated Press writes.
Should the Next Independent Sector CEO Be a Superstar Lobbyist or a Tech Geek?
Some nonprofit leaders want an unconventional choice who can rally Silicon billionaires, financial companies, and more.
By Alex Daniels
Senior Editor, Foundations
Paul Allen Launches Project to Promote Sustainable Seafood
The philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder is funding a new program to certify seafood restaurants whose menus consist mostly of sustainably sourced items, reports The Seattle Times.
What to Do With a Winner: Ice-Bucket Organizers Plot Next Steps
More than 600,000 of last year’s new donors asked for continuing information from the ALS Foundation.
By Megan O’Neil
Contributor
Medical Charities Embrace Investment to Speed New Drugs
The Washington Post looks at the growth of venture philanthropy among disease charities, focusing on the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and its $3.3-billion windfall last year from its investment in a pharmaceutical firm that developed a breakthrough drug.
Gateses and Waltons Among Top Donors to Jeb Bush Schools Group
Several major corporations and education-focused philanthropies have donated millions of dollars to the school-overhaul nonprofit launched by Jeb Bush after his tenure as Florida’s governor, the Associated Press reports, citing disclosures made last week by the Republican presidential candidate.
Money From Rockefeller Fund Backs Effort to Forge Iran Deal
A Rockefeller family philanthropy has taken a major role both financially and organizationally in backing U.S. attempts to reach an agreement on nuclear security with Tehran, Bloomberg reports.
Founder of Anti-Poverty Charity BRAC Wins World Food Prize
Fazle Hasan Abed, whose Bangladesh-based nonprofit is credited with helping lift more than 150 million people in developing countries out of poverty, has been awarded the $250,000 annual prize honoring work that improves the quality and availability of food, the Associated Press and The Wall Street Journal report.
Why I Give: ‘All These People Were Suffering and Dying’
Stories from displaced people working in his factories inspired Chobani Yogurt founder Hamdi Ulukaya to use new foundation to help refugees around the world.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
Nonprofit Coalition to Press Presidential Contenders to Protect Charitable Deduction
The Charitable Giving Coalition, a group of 44 nonprofits, says the charitable deduction is unique among tax incentives, because it “promotes a selfless act.”
By Alex Daniels
Senior Editor, Foundations
Charleston, Health Care, Gay Marriage, and More: Why Advocacy Matters
Social-justice victories — and a national tragedy — should encourage more foundations to put money behind policy change.
By Robert K. Ross
Contributor
‘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.
Faith Groups Prepare for Fight After Gay-Marriage Decision
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling Friday that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, religious conservatives are focusing on the rights of faith-affiliated schools, hospitals, and charities to set their own policies on employing and serving gays and gay couples, The Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press write.
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
Opinion: On Inequality, Follow Henry Ford, Not Ford Foundation
A Wall Street Journal opinion writer chides the Ford Foundation for its recent decision to focus its $500 million in annual grant making on fighting inequality, arguing that its namesake corporation’s production innovations have done more than philanthropy to benefit society.