Experts Question Tax Handling of Gifts to Clinton and Trump Charities
Tax experts tell The Huffington Post that some speaking fees Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton passed on to family charities should have been reported by the presidential candidates as personal income because they were donations given in return for a service.
Veterans-Charity Watchdog Downgrades Wounded Warrior Project
A nonprofit that evaluates veterans and military-related charities for the public has removed the controversial Wounded Warrior Project from its list of accredited organizations, The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Met Museum Will Reword Signs in Deal on Admission Donations
Signs at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art will change to say that a $25 donation for admission is “suggested,” not “recommended,” as was previously the case, The New York Times and Hyperallergic report. The museum was sued in 2013 by a member and two tourists who said the vague signage misled visitors about the museum’s pay-what-you-wish admissions policy.
A Bike-athon Looks at the ‘True Cost’ of Raising Money
Pelotonia takes a hard look at what is really bringing in the money and expands its merchandise line.
By Drew Lindsay
Senior Editor, Special Projects
A Tool to Measure the Real Success of a Fundraising Event
How to calculate the true value of your event — after deducting expenses from money raised, and accounting for new donors, major gifts, increased awareness of a cause, and more.
By Drew Lindsay
Senior Editor, Special Projects
3rd Generation of Walton Family Makes Sharp Turn in Giving
The grandchildren of Walmart’s founder are taking a deeper interest in the specifics of their philanthropy than their parents did — and they have some new approaches in mind for the environment, education, and other causes.
By Alex Daniels
Senior Editor, Foundations
Better Ratings Help Small Charities but Not Big Ones
Larger charities struggling to cut administrative costs to get a coveted third or fourth star from Charity Navigator may be wasting their time, a four-year study suggests.
By Alex Daniels
Senior Editor, Foundations
Minn. Orchestra Regains Financial and Artistic Stride
The New York Times reports on the Minnesota Orchestra’s recovery from the devastating labor strife that the organization’s president called a “near-death experience.”
Diversity-Focused Tech Nonprofit Gets Y Combinator Boost
A nonprofit start-up promoting diversity in the overwhelmingly white and male technology industry has been accepted into influential business incubator Y Combinator, USA Today writes.
Tiny Colleges Catching Up to Elites on Endowment Returns
New York Times financial columnist James Stewart writes about small institutions such as Radford and Southern Virginia University that are outperforming heavyweights like Harvard and Yale in investment gains.
Opinion: Public Pays Price for Knight’s Stanford Largesse
Phil Knight’s $400 million gift to fund Stanford University graduate-school scholarships “should reignite a dormant debate” over the cost to taxpayers of elite colleges’ burgeoning endowments and massive philanthropic support, a Los Angeles Times columnist writes.
N.J. Towns Line Up to Challenge Hospitals’ Tax Exemptions
A dozen municipalities across New Jersey are seeking to collect taxes from nonprofit hospitals in the wake of a court ruling last year that resulted in one town securing a $15.5 million tax payment, NJ Advance Media reports.
Aid Charities Say Anti-Terror Laws Hampering Help to Syria
Western countries’ counterterrorism laws, particularly those aimed at interrupting financial flows to jihadist groups, are making it harder for charities to deliver food, medicine, and other vital supplies in militant-held parts of Syria, according to the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
N.Y. Charities Find Government Contracts Don’t Cover Costs
With the collapse last year of a large and mostly taxpayer-funded New York City charity, other area nonprofits are growing wary of the financial squeeze that can come with relying primarily on government human-services contracts, The Wall Street Journal reports.
U. of Buffalo Faculty Question Campus Foundation’s Spending
The University of Buffalo Foundation plows nearly 40 percent of its spending into salaries for its own staff and university employees, compared to about 7 percent for student scholarships, The Buffalo News reports, citing an analysis by a campus faculty organization.
Chicago Catholic Charities Seeks Budget Push From Pews
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago is calling on priests and congregants to press Illinois legislators to resolve a monthslong budget impasse that has left the state owing more than $25 million to the nonprofit, reports the Chicago Tribune.