Where Most Needed

No-name charities with close ties to for-profit medical practices conduct clinical trials and provide staff training using corporate donations. 

Neighborhood groups fight the transfer of Southwest Museum artifacts to the Autry Center in Griffith Park.

Interim executive Jack McGwire continues with plan to have six hundred smaller chapters report administratively to larger ones. 

A sociology and a business professor conclude that lack of professionalism in consulting leads to boom and bust fad cycles that get in the way of genuine innovation.   

A study shows charities do a better job running hospitals—but the ice cream stores (and similar social ventures) are the current rage. 

Youth soccer league in Connecticut facing $334,441 in fines and back taxes for failing to file employment taxes for two tax years. 

And a look at the Form 990s suggests why Grover Norquist's group and others were susceptible to abuse.

Free demolitions halted until group provided plan to handle hazardous household waste; group had thought itself exempt. 

Physician group practice pulls out of rural nonprofit hospital, criticizing its quality—but hospital CEO says the issue is control.

Statewide Florida group tries to educate Washington-area volunteer groups, yet its own mission and web site show that serious shortcomings remain in  volunteer management for major disasters. 

Questionnaire with 80 questions to 550 organizations probes hospital policies and practices regarding billing, uncompensated care, compensation, and more.

A promising program (home visitation by nurses for first-time mothers) needs Proctor & Gamble help with marketing rather than measurement. 

We are referring of course to FIFA, the international NGO that oversees World Cup football (aka soccer). 

Group will partner with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. to handle operation and distribution for the network. 

Well known organizations allow their fellows to have multiple affiliations, which are sometimes disclosed, sometimes not. 

International donations hardest hit, with an inflation-adjusted loss of 5% after inflation, but arts & culture groups also see decline. 

A helpful paper on federated charities finds a striking difference between charities serving different sexes. 

Author Julie Ayer brings an insider perspective to the story of a nonprofit sector that evolved an alternative to pure top-down management. 

Executive director agrees to return $100,000 and restructure board with directors who are neither employees nor relatives. 

A glut of "me too" warm weather events lead to oversaturation and complaints.

What Mr. Gates' decision means for charities—and we discover why you can't find the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Form 990 from Guidestar.

The Names Project Foundation moved to Atlanta and rejected activism, so the quilt mostly sits in storage. 

Rocky Mountain Institute embraces with enthusiasm, but fair trade groups remain wary.

But if county was willing to pay, perhaps an opportunity was missed. 

Volunteers who give more than 100 hours a year account for over 80% of the volunteer hours. 

Organizations will pay $1,000 to $15,000 (based on their donations) for use of the BBB seal. 

Organization agrees to dissolve in exchange for waiving of penalties—but $14,000 in taxes will be paid.

Getting the chronically homeless into apartments changes the dynamics and economics of homeless care. 

Since 2000, this new organization has sponsored free 10 day trips to Israel for Jewish young adults from 18 to 26. 

But the report includes an eye-opening comparison of how huge the response to Katrina was.

A year after charges of inflated membership roles, the internal audit reports 13,000 registration forms are "non-compliant," while an FBI investigation continues.   

The state's nonprofit sector proves incapable of supporting even an extremely modest trade association. 

But a museum internal auditor needs a lower profile and a more focused mission to maintain effectiveness. 

The Muscular Dystrophy Association associates with Harley Davidson to secure a lock on summer fund raising.

In New Orleans charters may be the only hope, while in Utah legislators run charter school management companies.

Funders encourage two social service agencies to merge in Boston, while Silicon Valley community foundations eye integration as part of a leadership transition.

Survey details differences between blog users and non users in various attitudes and actions around corporate social responsibility.

Charitable institutions provide the obscure forums for discussion of life and death issues that rarely see the light of media scrutiny.

Local jurisdictions step up to fund the difference and (of course) traveling blockbuster exhibitions will continue to charge admission.

Industry rise could be a case study in (mis)using the charity form to reap huge profits. 

New York Times looks approvingly on organization that accepts more money than it knows what to do with.