Knight Foundation and Columbia U. Launch $60 Million Center to Defend 1st Amendment
The institute will work to protect free speech at a time when the influence of newspapers is waning.
By Alex Daniels
Contributor
George Mason May Not Need State OK to Name School for Scalia
The state body that oversees Virginia’s public colleges — which was set to vote Tuesday on George Mason University’s plan to rechristen its law school for the late Supreme Court justice at the behest of a $20 million donor — now says the university may not need its approval to make the controversial change, The Washington Post and the Associated Press report.
Karl Rove’s PAC Calls for IRS to Audit Clinton Foundation
American Crossroads cited a media report on a Clinton Global Initiative commitment involving a private company co-owned by associates of the former first family in seeking a review of the foundation’s finances, according to The Wall Street Journal.
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.
San Francisco in Talks for Lucas Museum After Chicago Delays
Representatives of Star Wars creator George Lucas have resumed talks with San Francisco officials over a new site for the movie mogul’s planned museum of art and film memorabilia, reports the Chicago Tribune.
Mass. Nonprofit Workers Among Highest Earners
Nonprofit employees in Massachusetts earned some of the highest wages in the country during the recession, outstripping private-sector employees on average, the Lowell Sun writes, citing recently released data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Foundation CEOs Struggle to Boost Mission Investing
The pressure for strong financial returns continues to overshadow efforts to do good by reallocating portfolios.
By Alex Daniels
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.
30% of Nonprofits File Tax Forms on Paper, Hampering Transparency
Nearly 87,000 charities filed federal tax information on paper last year, delaying public disclosure and hindering attempts at broader analysis of the nonprofit sphere.
By Peter Olsen-Phillips
Contributor
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.
Opinion: Getty Lawsuit Could Affect Foundation Diversity
A Los Angeles Times column looks at the potential impact on charitable organizations of a white woman’s court challenge to a Getty Foundation program aimed at boosting diversity at area arts groups.
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.
U.S. Park Service Eyes Naming Rights for Corporate Donors
The director of the National Park Service has proposed expanded rules on philanthropy that would make some facilities at the country’s 411 national parks available to be named for corporate contributors, writes The Washington Post.
Ex-Flint Official Says Mayor Tried to Steer Crisis Donations to PAC
A former city administrator filed a federal lawsuit Monday alleging that she was terminated for looking into claims that Flint’s mayor sought to channel contributions to a charity aiding families affected by the city’s water crisis into a political fund, Reuters and the Detroit Free Press report.
Mass. Catholic School Settles Suit Over Job Pulled From Gay Man
The Boston-area man had won a court ruling that Fontbonne Academy, an all-girls faith school in Milton, Mass., illegally discriminated against him by rescinding an employment offer after he revealed that he had a same-sex spouse, reports The Boston Globe.