Government Audit Finds Big Losses at Nonprofit Health Co-Ops
The nonprofit insurers established with federal loans under the Affordable Care Act to offer health coverage through government-run exchanges lost tens of millions of dollars last year, and most fell short of enrollment goals, the Associated Press reports, citing an audit by the Department of Health and Human Services’ inspector general.
We Need to Prove Impact Investing Makes a Difference
Foundations and companies should borrow evaluation techniques from nonprofits to demonstrate that their programs improve society.
By William Burckart
Contributor
Justice Dept. Faults Auditing Firm on Big Brothers Big Sisters Assessment
The U.S. Justice Department’s internal watchdog is seeking an ethics review of PricewaterhouseCoopers over what the agency termed “extensive deficiencies” in the auditing firm’s assessment of grant compliance by Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, reports Reuters.
Wall Street Still Sees Promise in Social-Impact Bonds
Major banks remain interested in so-called “pay-for-performance” financing to test new social programs, despite the plug being pulled on the first such effort in the United States, Reuters writes.
GOP Senators Plan Vote to Bar Funding for Planned Parenthood
As an anti-abortion group released a third video on Tuesday of Planned Parenthood officials discussing the use of fetal tissue for medical research, Republican leaders said Tuesday that the Senate will vote before its August recess on ending federal funding for the women’s health organization, the Associated Press reports.
Ex-Intel Chief Gives Unrestricted $100 Million to Caltech
The donation from Gordon Moore, co-founder of the Silicon Valley giant, and his wife, Betty, establishes a permanent endowment that California Institute of Technology officials plan to use to fund graduate-student fellowships, the university announced Monday.
Judge Rejects Citizens United Bid to Shield Donor Information
A federal court in Manhattan declined Monday to grant the conservative nonprofit an injunction against New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s demand that it give officials data on big donors before fundraising in the state, Reuters reports.
Nonprofit Running Big U.S. Program for Disabled Faces Inquiries
Multiple federal agencies are investigating AbilityOne, the U.S. government’s major employment effort for people with severe disabilities, and SourceAmerica, a nonprofit that manages the multibillion-dollar program, according to CNN.
Spelman College Drops Professorship Endowed by Bill Cosby
The historically black women’s college in Atlanta has terminated a humanities faculty chair established with a $20-million gift from Mr. Cosby and his wife in the late 1980s, reports The New York Times.
New England Prep School Heads’ Pay Rose a Quarter in 3 Years
Median pay for the headmasters at 32 prestigious private high schools in New England reached nearly $450,000 in 2012, a 23 percent increase from three years earlier, according to a Boston Globe survey of the institutions’ tax filings.
Hearing-Aid Charity’s Gifts Hitch Star Power to Its Cause
The Starkey Hearing Foundation, which donates hearing aids to the poor, routinely attracts high-powered celebrities to its international missions and fundraisers, in part by giving millions of dollars to the stars’ own charities, Minnesota Public Radio reports.
Videos Spark New Drive to Cut Planned Parenthood Funding
Surreptitiously shot videos in which Planned Parenthood officials discuss how to perform abortions to retain fetal tissue for medical research are rekindling anti-abortion activists’ long-held hopes to end government funding of the women’s health organization, The Wall Street Journal writes.
Report: Lax Controls Raise Bias Risk in IRS Nonprofit Audits
The federal government’s watchdog agency is calling on the Internal Revenue Service to strengthen oversight of how nonprofit groups are selected for audits to ensure the choices do not reflect IRS staffers’ biases, Bloomberg and the Associated Press report.
Orphanage Head and Charity Win $14.5 Million Defamation Award
A Maine jury awarded $7 million Thursday to the founder of an orphanage in Haiti and $7.5 million to an affiliated North Carolina charity in a defamation case over claims of child sexual abuse, reports the Portland Press Herald.
Figure in Ala. Charity Fraud Case Admits to Drug Mailings
The ex-chief financial officer of two nonprofit Alabama health centers pleaded guilty Thursday to sending packages containing Valium, Adderall, and other drugs to people involved in a fraud case in which she was implicated, the Birmingham News writes.
Leonardo DiCaprio Gala Raises $40 Million for Green Causes
The actor’s foundation hosted a star-studded gala in France Wednesday night to raise money for environmentally focused grants, campaigns, and media efforts, reports the Associated Press.