This is yet another example of a disturbing trend in the balkanization of the internet, which will have the inevitable consequence of rendering it difficult or impossible to create the kind of synoptic view of the nonprofit sector as a global institution that this blog has tried to make available to readers.

The Post’s decision raises questions about its future usefulness as a national newspaper of record — though it is not as problematic as the Times of London’s paywall arrangement, which limits access only to subscribers who are customers of UK banks (no Visa or Mastercard charges are accepted!).

Here comes the Washington Post paywall. By Dylan Byers. Politico.com. June 5, 2013. The Washington Post will launch its paywall on June 12, publisher Katharine Weymouth announced in a letter to readers on Wednesday.
Non-subscribers will be allowed to view 20 pieces of content per month on site, though as with most paywalls this can be circumvented by accessing the site through outside links and social media. But Weymouth encouraged readers to “consider subscribing even if you don’t reach the limit; a subscription will provide unlimited access to all The Post’s world-class journalism, multimedia and interactive features and more. Importantly, you will also be helping to support our newsgathering operations.” Digital packages, including access to the desktop and mobile websites, will be priced at $9.99 per month. The all-digital package, which includes access to custom apps, will be priced at $14.99. Print-edition subscribers will have full access.

The nonprofit sector — the universe of associations, civil society, philanthropy, and voluntary action — is the most rapidly growing and changing organizational domain in the world.

Once considered an adjunct of government, over the past half century nonprofits have taken on many of the tasks of government and play key roles in the process of public governance, not only as sources of policy and vehicles for advocacy and political mobilization, but also as providers of a wide range of public services.

Because nonprofits operate in virtually every industry and in many jurisdictions — global, national, state, and local –, it is extraordinarily difficult to track significant the emerging issues and trends that affect them. This difficulty is compounded by the fact that press coverage of nonprofits is fragmentary and often shallow and because scholarship is highly specialized and balkanized.

Through weekly global surveys of major newspapers, periodicals, broadcast media, and on-line news sources, this blog brings to readers’ attention important stories and will, through commentaries, link those news accounts to pertinent scholarship in order to offer in-depth understanding of important emerging issues and trends. The blog will also take note of scholarly books and articles of potential significance to practitioners, policy makers, and other thoughtful readers.

Using Nonprofit News & Comment

Blog entries appear as “Weekly News Summaries” — compilations of precises of news items. Each item includes a link to the original source and the full text of the story. Because of the on-going monetization of on-line newspapers and other media, full texts may not be available for all stories.
Stories relating to the United States are organized topically by type of organization or activity. International stories are organized by country and, in certain instances, by topic (such as “Catholic Sex Abuse Scandal” and “Sustainable Development”). All stories are archived by topic and date.

Contact Us

Comments or questions about Nonprofit News & Comment should be directed to Peter Dobkin Hall, Senior Research Fellow, Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations, Harvard University.

“Faces of the NRA.” NBC News. May 6, 2013. Over the weekend, scores of gun owners descended on Houston, where the National Rifle Association held its 142nd annual meeting. More than 500 exhibitors – displaying handguns, shotguns, rifles, scopes, knives, home entertainment games, targets, safari hunting trips, ATVs, jewelry and other accessories — came to make sales and connections. Classes in women’s self-defense and game cooking were held; children took aim at the air gun range; and a gun rights rally, “Stand and Fight,” was held Saturday night. Many conference-goers were native Texans, but others came from such far-flung corners as Wisconsin, Florida and Utah. Some even made the trek a family vacation.

“Silicon Valley Group’s Political Effort Causes Uproar.” By Somini Sengupta and Eric Lipton. New York Times. May 8, 2013. “Move fast and break things” has been the motto at Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook, embodying the Silicon Valley ethos of unapologetically finding new ways to solve old problems. His latest foray into politics in Washington, however, might be characterized as “Move fast, play hardball and be prepared for blowback.” Fwd.Us, the new nonprofit advocacy group created by Mr. Zuckerberg and several technology executives and investors to push for an overhaul of immigration law, has bankrolled television ads endorsing the conservative stands taken by three lawmakers, prompting an outcry from liberal groups and a call to withhold advertisements from Facebook. The uproar, some say, will be a lesson for Silicon Valley companies as they try to influence emotional political issues like immigration. But the group’s supporters brashly say they were ready for the reaction.
Related story:
“Mark Zuckerberg’s Group Loses High-Profile Backers Elon Musk, David Sacks.” Huffington Post. May 11, 2013.

“Koch Brothers’ Ownership Of LA Times, Tribune Papers Met With Protests, Ads, State Leaders’ Opposition.” Huffington Post. May 9, 2013. The fight is on against possible Koch Brothers ownership of the Tribune papers, which include the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune. Unions and liberal advocacy groups are planning protests and running ads on the Los Angeles Times and New York Times websites starting Thursday, according to liberal groups Courage Campaign Institute and Forecast the Facts. And they have the leaders of the California state legislature behind them. Darrell Steinberg, the California Senate President pro Tem, and John A. Pérez, the speaker of the California Assembly, said Wednesday that they would oppose the sale, the New York Times reports. Both men control seats on the boards of California’s major pension funds. “I oppose it,” Steinberg said of a possible sale to the Los Angeles Times. “I believe newspapers are a public trust. The Los Angeles Times has a long and respected tradition of community leadership and impartiality. The Koch brothers have a long and demonstrated history of a rigid political ideology.” About one-quarter of the assets held by Oaktree Capital Management, the leading shareholder in the Tribune Company, comes from public pension funds, Bloomberg Businessweek reports. In a letter sent Thursday to Bruce Karsh, president of Oaktree and chairman of Tribune Company, ten public employee unions warned that a sale to the Koch brothers “would be adverse to the retirement security of public employees whose pension funds you are responsible for managing and investing.” The letter said the Koch brothers are “anti-labor, anti-environment, anti-public education and anti-immigrant.”

“The Harvard PhD and the Hispanics’ IQ: How Jason Richwine’s Dissertation Got Him Fired by the Heritage Foundation.” By Jon Wiener. Nation. May 11, 2013. He’s probably the first person ever to lose his job because of his Harvard Ph.D. dissertation: Jason Richwine, let go by the Heritage Foundation on Friday. The problem: he co-authored their position paper opposing immigration reform; and then somebody discovered that his Ph.D. thesis at Harvard’s Kennedy School was dedicated to the proposition that Hispanics have lower IQs that white people. Not even the Heritage Foundation wanted to go there–so after two days trying to answer embarrassing questions, he left quietly. But how did he get a Harvard Ph.D. for work that even the Heritage Foundation wouldn’t accept?

“Chicago’s Famed Field Museum Struggles To Dig Out Of A Hole.” Morning Edition/National Public Radio. May 6, 2013. The economy may be on the rebound, but many cultural institutions are still struggling to regain their financial footing. That’s especially true for one of the country’s most recognized museums — the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Known internationally for its research as well as its exhibits, the Field Museum must pay off millions in bond debt — and toe an ethical line as it does. “Before the economic decline, for the arts and cultural field, it was a time at which it felt like you could do anything. You could plan a multimillion-dollar project and there wasn’t a substantial risk of having to suffer any major consequences,” she says. But then the stock market tanked, and the Field’s endowment took a hit, says Richard Lariviere — he’s docent Jan’s husband, and he also happens to be the museum’s CEO. “If you think you’ve got to cross the street to get to the restaurant on the other side, and you get run over by a car you think — why did I ever want to go to that restaurant?” he says. “And we’ve been hit by a car like every other institution.” Now, as one of the country’s premier cultural organizations works to climb out of its financial hole, it faces the imminent loss of curators and scientists who have less than two weeks to decide whether to accept early retirement packages.

CHARTER SCHOOLS

“Charter school advocates want cap removed in Mass.; Number of schools limited in Bay State.” By Michael Levenson. Boston Globe. May 8, 2013. Three years after state lawmakers lifted the cap on the number of charter schools that can legally operate in Massachusetts, advocates urged lawmakers Tuesday to abolish it, citing a study that found that the schools outperform traditional public schools in the state, particularly in Boston. The study by Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes found that 83 percent of Boston charter schools have significantly better gains than their traditional public school peers in reading and math and that no Boston charter schools have significantly lower gains. In addition, poor black and Hispanic students in Boston charter schools have shown much better performance in reading compared to their poor peers in the city’s traditional public schools. “To put it bluntly, the charter sector here is the highest quality that we have seen in any of the 29 states or any of the cities that we have looked at,” ¬Edward Cremata, a research ¬associate and coauthor of the report, told the Legislature’s Education Committee. “We find that a student in the charter school [in Boston] gains an ¬additional 12 months in reading every year compared to their traditional public school counterpart and additional 13 months in math.” The schools, however, remain controversial because they operate with fewer restrictions from the state and almost always employ nonunion teachers.

“LePage bill lifts cap on charter schools, lets public money go to religious schools.” By Christopher Cousins. Bangor Daily News. May 9, 2013. Gov. Paul LePage unveiled two new education proposals Thursday that are sure to stir controversy in the final weeks of the legislative session. One new proposal by LePage would lift the cap on the number of public charter schools allowed in Maine, make it easier for economically disadvantaged students to transfer to other schools and allow public money to flow to religious schools. A second LePage proposal would push the cost of remedial courses needed by higher-education students at public institutions to their home school districts. Both proposals come a day after a LePage spokeswoman and Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen told reporters that no major new education proposals were expected from the governor prior to the end of the legislative session next month. The Maine Education Association and the Maine School Management Association assailed both bills as what they called more attacks on public education. “This is proof the governor will go to great lengths to cause even more harm to our schools,” said Lois Kilby-Chesley, president of the Maine Education Association. LD 1529, An Act to Expand School Choice for Maine Students, which was printed Thursday, would advance school choice options for Maine students, furthering a long-held goal of the LePage administration that is roundly opposed by educators, teachers unions and Democrats in the Legislature.

HIGHER EDUCATION

“Smith and Hammonds Express Regret, But Reaffirm Justification Behind Email Searches; Deans Maintain Searches Were Intended to Preserve Confidentiality of Ad Board Proceedings.” By Nicholas P. Fandos and Samuel Y. Weinstock. Harvard Crimson. May 6, 2013. In an interview with The Crimson last week, Dean of the College Evelynn M. Hammonds and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Michael D. Smith expressed regret over the handling of the search of Harvard resident deans’ email accounts. Still, the administrators, who authorized the controversial searches, maintained that the searches were necessary to plug a breach in confidentiality. Both Hammonds and Smith cracked a smile when asked whether things should have been done differently, saying that the answer was obvious. Proper policy was not in place at the time of the searches and communications mistakes were made, they said. The hour-long interview was the Deans’ first sit-down with The Crimson since news of the covert searches broke on March 9, and the first with any media outlet since Hammonds announced to faculty at their monthly meeting on April 2 that she had broken FAS email privacy policy by authorizing a second round of searches of faculty, rather than administrative, accounts without Smith’s approval. Since news of the searches became public, administrators have explained that they were intended to plug a leak of confidential Administrative Board documents related to the massive Government 1310 cheating investigation. Despite challenges to that claim by several College administrators who say that the email in question was neither confidential nor a leak, Smith and Hammonds reaffirmed that justification on Friday.

“Colleges Cut Prices by Providing More Financial Aid.” By Ruth Simon. Wall Street Journal. May 6, 2013. Private U.S. colleges, worried they could be pricing themselves out of the market after years of relentless tuition increases, are offering record financial assistance to keep classrooms full. The average “tuition discount rate”—the reduction off list price afforded by grants and scholarships given by these schools—hit an all-time high of 45% last fall for incoming freshmen, according to a survey being released Monday by the National Association of College and University Business Officers. “It’s a buyer’s market” for all but the most select private colleges and flagship public universities, said Jim Scannell, president of Scannell & Kurz, a consulting firm in Pittsford, N.Y., that works with colleges on pricing and financial-aid strategies. It is likely that some private colleges will be forced to be even more generous with discounts this fall. As of the May 1 deadline for many high-school seniors to commit for their freshman year of college, early reports suggest some non-top-tier schools fell 10% to 20% short of enrollment targets, said Mr. Scannell. The jump in aid shows that many colleges are losing pricing power as more families focus on cost and value, with about 65% increasing their discount rate in the fall of 2012. Except for the most exclusive schools, private colleges increasingly are vulnerable to the stagnant wages of many families, deepening student debt, the uncertain job market, growing questions about the value of costly four-year degrees and unfavorable demographics.

“Reports of Cheating at Barnard College Cause a Stir.” By Ariel Kaminer and Randy Leonard. New York Times. May 8, 2013. The Barnard College course called Major English Texts II was known by students as an easy A, a low-stress literature survey taught by a popular instructor. But on Wednesday, Major English Texts II became much more serious. Students had to take a final exam that had not originally been part of the course. The exam took place in a large auditorium, rather than in the cramped classroom where the 120 or so students normally meet, so they could be kept farther apart and the extra faculty members assigned as proctors could watch them more easily. And students kept their eyes on their own papers, not resorting to the cheating that members of the class said had once been the norm.

“Campus-oriented news, first-person reports from student activists and journalists about their campus; New York Students Join Solidarity Rally at Cooper Union.” Photo essay by Caleb Savage and StudentNation. Nation. May 10, 2013.

“Swarthmore Students to Board of Managers: No More Business as Usual.” Nation. May 6, 2013. On May 4, an open meeting between the Swarthmore Board of Managers and a coalition of student activist groups was held on campus. While the meeting was focused on fossil fuel divestment, a coalition of students broadened the discussion, transforming it into a general assembly, addressing a wide range of student concerns, including sexual assault on campus, the accountability of managers and the administration to students, and the experiences of students of color, queer students, first-generation and working-class students, as well as the central imperative of fossil fuel divestment. Dozens of students spoke, along with Swarthmore alumni, faculty, and two Board members. The discussion demonstrated an admirable solidarity and support among the students.

“College Divestment Campaigns Creating Passionate Environmentalists.” Morning Edition/National Public Radio. May 10, 2013. Students associated with “Brown Divest Coal” protested in front of the Brown University president’s office during a rally May 3. The group is demanding that the university stop investing in certain oil and coal companies. At about 300 colleges across the country, young activists worried about climate change are borrowing a strategy that students successfully used in decades past. In the 1980s, students enraged about South Africa’s racist Apartheid regime got their schools to drop stocks in companies that did business with that government. In the 1990s students pressured their schools to divest in Big Tobacco. This time, the student activists are targeting a mainstay of the economy: large oil and coal companies. So far only a few small colleges have opted to drop investments in fossil fuel companies. But already the movement is having a big impact on the students who are driving it.

“A Fund-Raiser’s Finale.” By Robin Pogrebin. New York Times. May 5, 2013. There are many artists at Lincoln Center. Reynold Levy, president of the performing arts center, likes to think of himself as one of them. His art is putting the arm on donors, and he is acknowledged to be one of the very best nudges in New York. “I’ve asked everyone for money,” Mr. Levy said in an interview. “They hide behind pillars when they see me.” The personal letter. The luncheon confab. The pure play to vanity. These are among Mr. Levy’s tools. The gala, he writes in his 2009 fund-raising guide, “Yours for the Asking,” gives men and women “an excuse to wear those new cuff links and display that new gown.” “To see and be seen doing some good is a form of public recognition most people cherish,” he continues. “Don’t let them tell you otherwise.” Now in the fund-raising finale to close out his 11 years at Lincoln Center, he has set out to raise more than $8 million for the annual spring gala on Thursday, which will honor him as he prepares to depart in December. The amount would be a record for a gala at Lincoln Center and among the higher sums ever raised for an event by a New York City cultural organization.

CATHOLIC SEX ABUSE SCANDAL

“After rebuke by archbishop, Cardinal Mahony takes higher profile; Stripped of public duties by Archbishop Jose Gomez over mishandling of clergy sex abuse cases, Mahony has begun what some call a rehabilitation tour.” By Teresa Watanabe and Harriet Ryan. Los Angeles Times. May 9, 2013. When Archbishop Jose Gomez stripped his predecessor, Cardinal Roger Mahony, of public duties for mishandling clergy sex abuse cases, a church spokesman said the retired prelate’s life would remain largely the same with one exception: confirmations. No longer would Mahony preside at springtime rites in which teenagers receive the sacrament that marks full passage into the Catholic Church, the spokesman said. But three months later, Mahony is back doing confirmations. Since Easter, he has officiated at eight services, including one last week in which he anointed more than 120 youths at a Wilmington parish. His presence has caused controversy, with some parents threatening to pull their children from the liturgies and at least one parish priest asking that Mahony not attend. It has also raised questions about why Gomez’s rebuke of Mahony, an unprecedented move that won him praise from victims and their supporters around the world, had so little lasting effect. Gomez’s January letter to the region’s more than 4 million Catholics seemed to rule out any conspicuous place for Mahony in the archdiocese. Noting that the cardinal had “expressed his sorrow for his failure to fully protect young people entrusted to his care, ” Gomez told the faithful, “Effective immediately, I have informed Cardinal Mahony that he will no longer have any administrative or public duties.” Rather than recede from the spotlight, however, Mahony has become more prominent. The March papal conclave made him an important figure in a major international story, a position he touted with frequent posts on Twitter and his personal blog. Since his return from Rome, he has advocated immigration reform, his signature issue, and embarked upon what some in the church are calling a “rehabilitation tour” to tell his side of the abuse story to fellow priests. The speeches have played to mixed reviews, with some clerics saying he has a right to defend his record and others all but rolling their eyes.
Related story:
“A church leader’s posthumous fall from grace; Starting in the 1950s, Msgr. Benjamin Hawkes got L.A. churches built, hobnobbed with the rich and helped the poor. Ten years after his death, he was accused of sexual abuse.” Los Angeles Times. May 12, 2013.

NETHERLANDS

“The Anne Frank Fund on the Anne Frank Foundation: They’re acting like Nazis Yves Kugelmann says ‘it’s a matter of fact’ that a Dutch institution is again trying to seize the family’s possessions.” By Charlotte McDonald-Gibson. Independent. May 9, 2013. A war of words has broken out between two rival charities bearing the name of the diarist Anne Frank, with one of the foundations accusing the other of acting like Nazis. The Anne Frank Fund in Basel, Switzerland, is trying to retrieve about 25,000 letters, documents and photographs that it lent the Netherlands-based Anne Frank Foundation in 2007. The Dutch foundation, however, insists that it is the legal owner of some of the archive. The increasingly bitter dispute over the papers of the Second World War diarist has been rumbling on in the courts since 2011, but it spilt into the press this week when one of the Swiss fund’s board members accused the Dutch organisation of actions reminiscent of Nazi Germany. “In the 1940s, the Frank family had its possessions seized by the Germans and their accomplices – now a Dutch institution is trying again to carry out a seizure,” Yves Kugelmann told the Dutch newspaper, De Volkskrant. A spokeswoman at the Anne Frank Foundation, which runs the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam where the Jewish teenager hid from the Nazis, said they had been trying to resolve the dispute discreetly. “It’s really sad this is happening,” Maatje Mostart told the Associated Press news agency. It is not the first time the Swiss and Dutch charities have clashed over Anne’s legacy, whose recollections of her time hiding from the Nazis before her family was caught and deported to a concentration camp have made her a symbol of the Holocaust.

UK

“Manage your board by building great relationships; Your organisation will be more productive if you nurture the relationship between board and executive.” By Caron Bradshaw. Guardian. May 6, 2013. Many charity finance professionals gather each year for Charity Finance Group conference. This year I’m presenting alongside my chair of trustees on the topic of ‘managing your board’. I’m looking forward to it because the relationship between the board and executive in CFG is great. I’m wondering if this is simply good fortune or whether the way we approach our relationships holds the key to a happy marriage between governance and delivery. Picture the scene – 10 serious senior charity professionals, a chief executive and four senior managers making paper aeroplanes. Conversation flows and there is obvious trust and mutual respect. Chatter and laughter is abundant, interspersed with challenging questions and serious thinking. The event? Our strategic planning day. While we had fun, we absolutely nailed some taxing strategic questions, moved the organisation on a step or two and underlined the importance of good relationships. It’s a propensity, not just of finance people, to focus unduly on transactions when we work. We tend to think it is OK to have a ‘bit of fun’ but then we must knuckle down to ‘some real work’. We focus on getting the job done, on delivering services. This focus is often at the expense of building relationships. I think this approach is outdated. The old adage ‘you shouldn’t mix business and pleasure’ is misplaced, business should be pleasurable. First, you spend a great deal of time at work and life is too short to be miserable. Second, having fun, knowing your colleagues, understanding what drives your board and taking time to build great relationships yields such dividends that the work becomes far easier. Given our human imperfections and the constant challenges of change, having strong relationships help. In the right conditions individuals can work together, find solutions, be creative, adapt and change with less angst, fewer resources and in less time. You can remove blame from your work culture, empower individuals, and think across roles only if trust and mutual respect is nurtured. That happens when you attach sufficient importance to relationships. Remember, people don’t actually divorce over the toothpaste tube being squeezed in the middle. That proverbial cause is a single minor transaction indicative of a failed relationship. So while what we have here at CFG may not be perfect, it is more productive, resilient and positive as a result of investing in how we work. If you want it for your organisation, spend more time nurturing the relationship between board and executive – and you’ll get a marriage made in heaven, not a messy divorce.

“Chetham music school sex inquiry: More than 30 report ‘widespread abuse’; 39 teachers under investigation in relation to sexual abuse allegations.” By Paul Gallagher. Independent. May 8, 2013. Victims of suspected widespread sex abuse at one of the UK’s leading music schools told staff about the assaults but “nobody believed them”, according to the lawyer representing many of the victims. Liz Dux said that several of the alleged victims had all independently told her that abuse was “rife” at Chetham’s music school in Manchester. She also said teachers allegedly involved in “rape and habitual indecent assault” were particularly manipulative in befriending the parents of their victims before the abuse took place. “They manipulated their way in and embedded themselves within their victims’ family,” she said. “That way it made it even harder for anyone to believe the child when they complained about the abuse. One of my clients told me that she told her mother of what was going on only for her mother to believe the teacher when they denied it. The school acted in the same way, I’m told. One person said to me ‘it was reported to the school but they refused to believe me’.” A police investigation began in February following the conviction of Michael Brewer, the former head of music at Chetham’s who was found guilty of indecently assaulting a pupil, Frances Andrade. The 48-year-old killed herself at her home in Guildford, Surrey one week after giving evidence against him at Manchester crown court. 39 teachers from the £31,000 a year boarding school and the Royal Northern College of Music, where many of Chetham’s tutors are sent to teach, are currently under investigation according to police.

“Tax scandal threatens charity donations; Regulator stands accused of cowardice and bringing the whole sector into disrepute.” By Sanchez Manning. Independent. May 8, 2013. The Charity Commission’s handling of a high-profile tax-avoidance scandal that saw shockingly little donated money reach good causes has put charities at risk of losing the public’s confidence – and consequently their money, one of the leading figures in the sector has warned. Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), the UK’s largest charity association, said the regulator had brought charities into “disrepute” by failing to act over the controversy. The Cup Trust was exposed in January as giving only £55,000 to good causes despite raising £176m over two years as part of a scheme in which donors were suspected of claiming millions in tax relief through an abuse of the Gift Aid scheme. But after a 24-month investigation, the Charity Commission, chaired by William Shawcross, allowed the Cup Trust to remain on the charity register. Sir Stuart condemned the decision in a speech he gave at a conference in London. He said that “the complete lack of intervention by the commission in this whole affair has brought damage and disrepute to the sector as a whole, putting us at serious risk of losing the trust and confidence of the public”.He continued: “What was so obvious in the Cup Trust case is how a legalistic approach dominated common sense, meaning that decisions were made following the letter of the law rather than the spirit, no matter what disastrous consequences this caused. “It seems that, in the case of the Cup Trust, the commission was so concerned about what it couldn’t do that it didn’t do what it could do.” In a sustained attack at the conference organised by the Association of Charitable Organisations, Sir Stuart further criticised the performance of senior Charity Commission representatives in front of the Public Accounts Committee in March.

“How to become a philanthropist; Researchers at the Centre for Charitable Giving are investigating the reasons why prominent entrepreneurs, like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, become philanthropic.” By Charles Harvey. Guardian. May 29, 2013. “How do you become philanthropic?,” is a question that has never really been studied in depth. What does the journey from entrepreneur to philanthropist look like, and how can we chart these experiences to help the cause of more and increasingly effective giving? Our research team, based at the universities of Newcastle, Exeter and Strathclyde, has conducted a major initiative to understand the experiences of entrepreneurs turned philanthropists: the ‘big-givers’ of all backgrounds, whether they are local or international players, who have become committed to sharing their wealth. The group will present its findings on “Understanding the philanthropic journey” at a CGAP Conference in London on Thursday where they will co-present with two leading entrepreneur-philanthropists: Sir Tom Hunter of West Coast Capital and Hunter Foundation, and Rakesh Bharti Mittal of Bharti Enterprises and Bharti Foundation. We want this research to show there is a logical process at play which many struggle to understand. Entrepreneurs apply the same rigour and disciplines from the world of commerce to the charitable sector, which suggests there is in fact a science to giving at this level that can be replicated and learned from.

“Five steps for moving the debate on charity overheads forward; We must define and rebrand ‘admin’ costs – as vital to a charity’s management – and admit that some spend too little on the cause.” By Joe Saxton. Guardian. May 8, 2013. There is a cold war in the charity world. On one side are the public and the vast majority of donors. The public don’t like admin costs, overheads and waste, and they don’t like to think of their money going to anything but the charity’s cause. Our research at nfpSynergy shows this antipathy to costs and overheads very clearly. People typically think about 10% of their donation at most should go on admin and about 20% be spent on fundraising. They see admin costs as worse than fundraising costs. Their top worry is how much of their money goes on “the cause”. They are also concerned about high salaries for chief executives and are more likely to see them as admin costs rather than the cause. In this respect the public are very conservative. We may not like what they think, but as donors they should not be ignored. In the opposing corner are those who hate it when donors and philanthropists tell them how they think charities should be run. The very same people who would claim that it’s important to be donor-centric then bust a blood vessel when those donors tell them a home truth they don’t want to hear: they think donors should be seen giving not heard complaining. I describe it as a cold war because, for the most part, these two differing views on admin and overheads don’t get discussed much. Only occasionally does a skirmish break out that symbolises the whole debate.

“Care homes face prosecution if abuse concerns are not reported; New social care legislation means executives must report employees if they are suspected of harm or neglect.” By Randeep Ramesh. Guardian. May 8, 2013. Ministers are also planning to unveil a new payment system for social care that will ensure elderly people do not have to sell their homes. Care homes will face prosecution if they do not report concerns that their staff are mistreating patients under social care legislation to be published this month. The “duty of candour” on social care providers, a recommendation in the Francis report into the Mid Staffs NHS scandal, will be set out by health secretary Jeremy Hunt and would mean industry executives would have to tell health regulators if they thought their employees might be harming or neglecting elderly people. Ministers will also lay out a new payment system for social care, which the government says will “ensure the elderly do not have to sell their homes to meet their care bills”. This allows elderly and vulnerable people to borrow the cash to pay for residential care from councils – to be repaid when they die and their house is sold. At present councils can offer a deferred payment scheme, though many do not as it is in effect an interest-free loan. The government intends to make this scheme universal and allow local authorities to charge interest. Experts say this will make the new system more expensive. The government will also set a national eligibility level, replacing the postcode lottery whereby elderly people receive different levels of state support depending on how councils rate their needs.
Ministers will set a cap on care costs at £72,000 from 2016. However, this system is not designed to underwrite private care homes – and the industry says that only a very narrow band of the elderly who are accepted as “eligible and can find a care home that accepts local authority funding” will not have to pay for care. Such is the complexity of the system that insurers are calling for the government to make regulated financial advice a legal requirement in social care.

“A lot of money in the voluntary sector is misspent, key speaker says; In some cases, if the public knew where the money was going, there would be a revolt.” By Sophie Hudson. Guardian. May 9, 2013. A lot of the money invested in the voluntary sector is spent perpetuating the very issues the sector is meant to be resolving, delegates at the Charity Finance Group annual conference heard yesterday. Speaking during a panel debate on the importance of financial leadership Peter Holbrook, chief executive of Social Enterprise UK, said in some cases, if the public knew where the money was going, there would be a revolt. “A lot of charitable money … is invested in perpetuating the issues we’re meant to be tackling,” he said. He added that he would like to see finance directors being bold in their investment portfolios. “I think too much time is spent doing things right and some of us have lost the appetite for social justice that brought us into the sector in the first place,” he said.

“Charities must influence public service delivery processes; There will be real opportunities for the voluntary sector in public service delivery.” By Sophie Hudson. Guardian. May 9, 2013. Charities need to influence public service delivery processes if they want to avoid letting opportunities pass them by, delegates at the Charity Finance Group’s annual conference heard yesterday. Speaking during a session on the challenges of delivering public services, John Tizard, an independent strategic advisor and commentator on public policy and affairs, said there would be real opportunities for the voluntary sector in public service delivery. “But if we’re not careful it won’t be on the terms we want, and if not it may pass us by, so we need to get in there and influence it,” he said. He said it was important for charities to think about how they were going to sustain their organisations for the sake of their beneficiaries. “We don’t know how long the economy is going to flatline,” he said. “The likelihood is that we’re not going to see growth for the foreseeable future.” He said government had indicated there were very few parts of public services that could not be delivered by other sectors.

“Citizens Advice: fears grow over charity’s ability to cope with workload; Citizens Advice is taking a greater role in consumer protection, but does it have enough resources to step into the advice gap?” By Miles Brignall. Guardian. May 10, 2013. Citizens Advice has taken on extra roles previously operated by organisations such as the Office of Fair Trading. Consumers will increasingly have to turn to Citizens Advice as it takes on a growing role in consumer protection – but concerns remain over whether the charity has sufficient resources to cope. Last April the organisation, which is best known for its advice bureaux staffed by volunteers, took over the Consumer Direct helpline. It has since taken on extra roles previously operated by other organisations such as the Office of Fair Trading, and is now the lead body for “consumer advocacy”. From 2014, it also takes on energy and postal services, albeit through a separate body that will be called Consumer Futures. The highly-regarded charity, which used to receive £20m a year from the taxpayer, is getting an additional £10m a year to fund the new work, but will it be able to respond to the extra workload? Citizens Advice offices have, in many areas, struggled to cope with demand from people seeking help with significant problems including debt, housing and benefits changes – a demand that has only increased during the economic downturn. They have also seen their own funding cut by local authorities struggling to budget their own books.

“The martyrdom of St Bono; A new biography denounces the U2 singer’s anti-poverty campaigning, and his personal tax arrangements. But his starry chums – such as Bill Clinton – are fighting back.” By Adam Sherwin. Independent. May 12, 2013. To some, Bono is the ultimate celebrity philanthropist, the leather-clad rocker who cajoles presidents into committing billions to help the world’s poorest. But, according to a scathing new biography, the U2 singer is an “ambassador for imperial exploitation” and a hypocrite who has failed to come clean over his own “murky” tax affairs. Written by Harry Browne, a Dublin-based writer, The Frontman: Bono (In the Name of Power) is a brutal dissection of the Irish rocker and the motivation behind his anti-poverty campaigning. The book argues that Bono, 53, has become an “unwitting symbol of the complacent wealthy Western elite”. It criticises the star’s “paternalistic and often bullying advocacy of neo-liberal solutions in Africa; his multinational business interests; and his hobnobbing with Paul Wolfowitz [former World Bank president]“.

“Exclusive: Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, urged to scrap most bishops’ seats in House of Lords; Former Labour minister, Frank Field, claims poor voting turnout shows seats are being ‘wasted’.” By Andrew Grice. Independent. May 9, 2013. A senior MP has called for most of the 25 bishops who sit in the House of Lords to lose their seats because they play “gesture politics” but rarely turn up to vote. Frank Field, a former Labour minister and ex-member of the Church of England General Synod, has launched a stinging attack on bishops who criticise government policies and yet do not bother to vote against them when they have the chance. Writing in The Independent, Mr Field called on the new Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, to revive Lords reform by handing most of the 25 seats to people from employers, trade unions, universities, the arts, armed forces, the law, the media and women’s and children’s groups. The former Welfare Reform minister said that 43 bishops issued a statement criticising the Government’s welfare cuts in March. But only six of the 16 who sit in the Lords turned up when the House debated them and only one took part in all four votes. “This turnout of bishops is the worst kind of gesture politics,” he said. The voting record of bishops suggests their places in the second chamber are being “wasted”, he added. Mr Field said: “It may be that the Church of England now appoints bishops who feel they have nothing to say to the nation on the great ethical issues of the day. Some could quite legitimately believe that their time would be better spent in their dioceses. But it surely cannot be impossible for bishops, who sign protest letters, to so organise their diaries that they can turn up and put their votes where their mouths are.”

“Former Archbishop of York ‘covered up’ sex abuse scandal.” Times of London. May 10, 2013. The former Archbishop of York stood accused last night of covering up allegations that a senior Church of England clergyman had abused choirboys and school pupils. Lord Hope of Thornes was made aware of the accusations against the Very Rev Robert Waddington, a former Dean of Manchester Cathedral and once the cleric in overall charge of Church schools, in 1999 and again in 2003. Waddington was stripped of his right to conduct church services but the archbishop did not report concerns about alleged past abuse or a potential continuing threat to children to police or child protection agencies. The Church of England cannot wait and hope for the number of abuse claims against its clergy to die down.
Related story:
“Action This Day; The Church of England cannot wait and hope for the number of abuse claims against its clergy to die down.” Editorial. Times of London. May 10, 2013.

“IRS admits targeting conservatives for tax scrutiny in 2012 election.” By Zachary A. Goldfarb and Karen Tumulty, Washington Post. May 10, 2013. The Internal Revenue Service on Friday apologized for targeting groups with “tea party” or “patriot” in their names, confirming long-standing accusations by some conservatives that their applications for tax-exempt status were being improperly delayed and scrutinized. Lois G. Lerner, the IRS official who oversees tax-exempt groups, said the “absolutely inappropriate” actions by “front-line people” were not driven by partisan motives. Rather, Lerner said, they were a misguided effort to come up with an efficient means of dealing with a flood of applications from organizations seeking ¬tax-exempt status between 2010 and 2012. During that period, about 75 groups were selected for extra inquiry — including burdensome questionnaires and, in some cases, improper requests for the names of their donors — simply because of the words in their names, she said in a conference call with reporters. They constituted about one-quarter of the 300 groups who were flagged for additional analysis by employees of the IRS tax-exempt unit’s main office in Cincinnati. It was not clear whether the IRS had anticipated the firestorm that it would ignite with its disclosure. Indeed, it appeared to have happened by chance when Lerner, appearing Friday at a conference held by the American Bar Association, responded to a question about the allegations by conservative groups.
Related stories:
“Conservatives have themselves a real scandal on their hands.” Washington Post. May 10, 2013.
“The IRS scandal will test everyone.” Washington Post. May 10, 2013.
“IRS Apologizes for Scrutiny of Conservative Groups.“ Wall Street Journal. May 10, 2013.
“The IRS Targets Conservatives.” Wall Street Journal. May 10, 2013.
“I.R.S. Apologizes to Tea Party Groups Over Audits of Applications for Tax Exemption.” New York Times. May 10, 2013.
“IRS Apologizes For Targeting Conservative Groups In 2012 Election.” Huffington Post. May 10, 2013.
“After Targeting Conservative Groups, IRS Apologizes.” All Things Considered/National Public Radio. May 10, 2013.
“Worst Week in Washington; Who had the worst week in Washington? The IRS.” Washington Post. May 10, 2013.
“IRS knew of Tea Party profiling in 2011, report shows.” USA Today. May 11, 2013.
“IRS Knew Tea Party Was Being Targeted In 2011: Report.” Huffington Post. May 11, 2013.
“In the Arena; IRS Mess.” Huffington Post. May 11, 2013.
“IRS officials knew of agents’ tea party targeting in 2011.” CNN. May 12, 2013.
“The Taxman vs. the Tea Party.” Op-ed. New York Times. May 11, 2013.
“IRS officials knew of tea party targeting.” Politico.com. May 11, 2013.

“Nonprofit Explorer: Research Tax-Exempt Organizations.” By Mike Tigas and Sisi Wei. ProPublica. May 9, 2013. In April 2013, the IRS released structured data culled from the tax returns of almost 616,000 tax-exempt organizations. Use this database to find organizations and see details like their executive compensation, revenue and expenses, as well as download their tax filings going back as far as 2001. Nonprofit Explorer includes nonprofit tax return data released by the IRS in April 2013 for tax returns processed by the IRS during 2012. This generally consists of filings for the 2011 fiscal year, but may include older records. The IRS data release includes only a subset of what can be found in the full Form 990s. Wherever possible, we’ve linked to PDFs of the full 990 for each organization, some going back ten years, collected at public.resource.org. Which Organizations Are Here? Every organization that has been recognized as tax exempt by the IRS has to file Form 990 every year, unless they make less than $200,000 in revenue and have less than $500,000 in assets, in which case they have to file form 990-EZ. Organizations making less than $50,000 don’t have to file either form but do have to let the IRS they’re still in business via an “e-Postcard.” Nonprofit Explorer has organizations claiming tax exemption in each of the 27 subsections of the 501(c) section of the tax code, and which have filed either Form 990 or Form 990EZ. It does not yet include organizations that file a form 990PF (private foundations) but we’ll release an update soon that will do so. Types of Nonprofits. There are 27 nonprofit designations based on the numbered subsections of section 501(c) of the tax code. See the list » How to Research Tax-Exempt Organizations: We’ve created a guide for investigating nonprofits for those just getting started as well as for seasoned pros. Here’s where our data comes from: IRS Raw filing data. Includes EINs and summary financials as structured data. IRS Organization profiles Includes organization names, addresses, etc. You can merge this with the raw filing data using EIN numbers. Public.Resource.Org Bulk Form 990 PDFs. PDFs of Form 990s going back to 2000.

“The ProPublica Nerd Blog; Secrets for Data Journalists and Newsroom Developers; Resources for Investigating Tax-Exempt Organizations.” By Scott Klein and Liz Day. ProPublica, May. 9, 2013. In addition to our Nonprofit Explorer interactive database, here are some resources for researching charities and other tax-exempt organizations.

“Donor of the Day: Supporting ‘No. 1′ Causes.” By Melanie Grayce West. Wall Street Journal. May 6, 2013. The late real-estate financier William “Bill” P. Carey wanted to ensure the institutions of the city were as good as they could be for him and for everybody else. New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center was among the institutions that Mr. Carey, who died in 2012 at the age of 81, supported. Before his death, his foundation donated $5 million to the hospital to expand its emergency care. A dedication ceremony of the 5,200-square-foot space and 15 private treatment rooms in the emergency care department was held last week on the 40th anniversary of W.P. Carey Inc., the New York-based investment-banking firm Mr. Carey founded. The treatment area will now be known as the W.P. Carey Emergency Unit. Mr. Carey’s nephew, Francis “Jay” J. Carey, is the president of the W.P. Carey Foundation. He says that his uncle’s gift was partly motivated by a willingness to give back to the hospital where the late Mr. Carey received care. His uncle, who had an encyclopedic knowledge of rankings—be it college or hospital rankings—also enjoyed supporting things that were “No. 1″ in rankings. “Bill enjoyed associating with things that were the best, donating to things that were the best and keeping them that way,” according to his nephew. The W.P. Carey Foundation primarily supports education and causes in Baltimore, where the history of the Carey family dates back to the 1700s. The late Mr. Carey donated $50 million to Johns Hopkins University to create a business school. In 2007, the university launched the Carey Business School, so named for Bill Carey’s great-great-great-grandfather. The late Mr. Carey also cared deeply for New York City, says his brother, Francis “Frank” J. Carey, the chairman of the executive committee of W.P. Carey Inc. He supported the arts and liked to give large gifts that would make a difference. He also kept an eye on his gifts and was vocal about what should and shouldn’t be done with a donation, according to his nephew and brother, who are now continuing the late Mr. Carey’s vision through his foundation. “He really cared about it. He didn’t just give the money away,” said Jay Carey.

“Donor of the Day: Two Decades of Work in the Bronx.” By Melanie Grayce West. Wall Street Journal. May 7, 2013. Landon Slane believes that every person deserves quality education and that children who don’t learn in a typical academic fashion can be reached through arts-based learning. Ms. Slane, 46 years old, is the chief executive, co-founder and co-designer of Slane, a New York-based jewelry company. She runs the company with her sister, Heath Slane. Ms. Slane says she entered the jewelry business in a roundabout way after pursuing a master’s degree in social work and a stint working in film production. Around the same time she and her sister launched their jewelry company—more than 15 years ago—Ms. Slane became involved in the then fledgling Bronx-based organization, DreamYard, a charity that uses arts-based education to reach inner-city children and encourage them to pursue higher education. The organization’s focus on creativity and arts spoke to Ms. Slane’s various passions and she began volunteering. DreamYard “combined all of my interests,” she says. “It became an outlet for me in New York.” The charity and the jewelry company have grown in tandem, says Ms. Slane, who is a board member for the organization. She has donated some $85,000 to DreamYard over the years, growing her involvement with her giving. “While one is a for-profit and one is a nonprofit, we’ve gone through a lot of the same growing pains at the same time,” she says. “It’s been such an honor for me to work from the ground up with them.” Today, DreamYard reaches some 8,500 children from kindergarten through high school more than 40 public schools. The organization also operates its own art center and high school. The charity says that students that enroll in DreamYard’s four-year program all go on to a college.

“Donor of the Day: A Donor’s Invisible Link to Ireland.” By Melanie Grayce West. Wall Street Journal. May 8, 2013. When Loretta Brennan Glucksman, the chair of the American Ireland Fund, wants to sell a philanthropic project to a potential donor, all she has to do is make sure that the would-be philanthropist takes a trip to Ireland. “If you can get them first to Ireland, to see the place and feel the people and to the project, that’s the best sales pitch,” says Ms. Glucksman, 75 years old. That approach is one she learned from her late husband, veteran Wall Street trader Lewis L. Glucksman, who died in 2006. He took her on her first trip to the country in the late 1980s and sold her on its charms, beauty, the people and its culture. Mr. Glucksman, a New Yorker and of Hungarian-Jewish descent, had come to love Ireland as a young Navy officer during World War II. He’d spent his furloughs in the country tracking the paths of the Irish writers he adored.
Mr. Glucksman loved Irish literature. He was never happier than when he was on the waters around Ireland, taking in the air, peace and solace, according to Ms. Glucksman. The consummate boater—he liked motors and navigation—he once bought an ice breaker from the government of Norway and sailed it into Kinsale harbor in County Cork, Ireland. Mr. Glucksman was Irish at heart. Ms. Glucksman is Irish by birth, the granddaughter of immigrants. Together, supporting Irish causes and charities became a passion. Over the years, some $27 million was given by the couple to the American Ireland Fund in support of various organizations and projects, including the Glucksman Ireland House at New York University, which the couple founded in 1993. The American Ireland Fund is part of the Worldwide Ireland Fund, founded in 1976, which raises money for worthy causes in Ireland and around the world. Under Ms. Glucksman’s tenure as chair of the American fund, the organization has grown to be a force in private funding for nonprofits in Ireland. Her vision for the fund is that it will continue “to grow to represent the very real and sometimes ephemeral and unexplainable bond between Ireland and her diaspora.” “People leave Ireland but they never let her go,” says Ms. Glucksman. “There is this wonderful umbilical that stays attached. I can’t explain it, but I’ve seen it in operation.”

“Why Bill Gates Thinks Ending Polio Is Worth It.” By Michaeleen Doucleff. All Things Considered/National Public Radio. May 8, 2013. Some critics say that ending polio has become Bill Gates’ “white whale.” Why not just settle for the huge drop in polio cases that we’ve seen over the past decade and then spend money on other things that kill so many more kids, like diarrhea and malnutrition? “Polio is special,” Gates tells NPR’s Robert Siegel on All Things Considered. “Once you get it done, you save $2 billion a year that will be applied to those other activities. There’s no better deal economically to getting to zero.” And Gates is putting his money — and his effort — where his passion is. “Polio alone, for the last year, has been the majority of my time because we were having to really decide: Do we double down? Do we do this right?” he says. In the end, he and his foundation calculated that to do it right and wipe out polio worldwide, it would about $5.5 billion over six years.