High Court Kicks Contraceptive Mandate Back to Lower Courts
The Supreme Court unanimously agreed Monday not to decide on the clash between the Obama administration and religious nonprofits over the Affordable Care Act’s requirements on birth-control coverage, instead calling on the parties to resolve the divisive issue in the lower courts, Bloomberg and CNN report.
Opinion: Dan Pallotta Says Major Nonprofit Groups Should Merge
Nonprofit advocacy, leadership, watchdog, and policy groups should join forces to build a strong, unified voice for the nonprofit sector, the Charity Defense Council head writes in a piece in the Harvard Business Review.
Gates Foundation Further Cuts Fuel Holdings, Selling BP Stake
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has shed all its shares in the British oil giant, a further sign that the world’s largest philanthropy is pulling back from investments in fossil fuels, The Guardian writes.
Powell Jobs Heads Magazine’s List of Philanthropy Leaders
Town & Country named its top 50 philanthropists of 2016, citing celebrities, tech moguls, nonprofit leaders, and others the wealth and lifestyle magazine says “are using money, influence, and family name to change the game in big ways.”
How — and Why — to Keep Jargon Out of Fundraising Appeals
Eliminate words and phrases that trip up donors in your direct mail, emails, and other fundraising pitches.
By Timothy Sandoval
Contributor
Nonprofits Need to Talk About Race, Not Just Diversity
Impassioned exchanges at recent philanthropy conferences showed a bracing willingness to put racism on the table.
By Tamara Copeland
Contributor
Foundations’ Flint Pledge Fuels Debate on Philanthropy’s Role
The Christian Science Monitor looks at this week’s commitment by 10 foundations to pump $125 million into Flint, Mich., and what it portends about philanthropy’s role in responding to crises to which governments contribute or are slow to address.
Obama Urged to Rescind Memo Allowing Bias by Faith Groups
A group of prominent constitutional lawyers is calling on the White House to withdraw a George W. Bush-era legal memo that allows religious nonprofits to discriminate in hiring for federally funded programs, ProPublica writes.
Global Charities Say More Relief Aid Should Go to Local Groups
Major international aid organizations say humanitarian crisis response could be drastically improved if more relief money from governments and the United Nations went directly to nonprofits based in the conflict and disaster zones, according to a survey by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Supreme Court Decision Undoing Cities’ Anti-Panhandling Laws
A free-speech ruling that allowed a pastor in Arizona to put up signs directing people to church services is having a ripple effect on communities’ efforts to clamp down on begging on the street, Bloomberg reports.
Homegrown Giving Blooms Among Growing Ranks of Rich Africans
Economic growth in Africa is fostering a cohort of wealthy moguls and a concurrent jump in large-scale philanthropy, leading online news and culture magazine Ozy to posit that the next Bill Gates could come from the continent.
12 Ways to Be Sure Your Board Is Active and Committed to Your Cause
Steps any nonprofit can take to involve its trustees more fully in fundraising and governance.
By Susan Schaefer and Bob Wittig
Dream of Using Drones for Good Takes Flight in Rwanda
With help from UPS and other partners, the African nation hopes to make blood and vaccines quickly available to all of its 11 million residents.
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Buffetts Call Philanthropy a ‘Product of Power’
In an essay published by Time, Jennifer and Peter Buffett promise to work to ensure that their charitable dollars “don’t recreate the very systems that keep women from accessing their power in the first place.”
New Nonprofit Promotes Gender Diversity in Silicon Valley
Created by prominent Silicon Valley women who’ve held posts at firms such as Google, Pinterest, and Reddit, Project Include aims to diversify technology companies, reports The New York Times.
Group Pledges $50 Million to Mitigate Gentrification in D.C.
The commitment by a national community-development nonprofit aims to protect low-income residents from displacement and other effects of gentrifications in the Washington neighborhood of Anacostia, The Washington Post reports.