Where Most Needed

Harvard, Unbuilt and Unloved

Civil society (the local Cambridge version) puts a damper on architectural visions, while on the other side of town MIT manages to soar with the eagles. 

Big Churches, Small Groups

Mega churches concentrate efforts on developing small group leadership skills to keep their members engaged on a personal level.  Perhaps secular nonprofits need to pay attention. 

A Peek into United Way's Hidden Restructuring Program

Large and small mergers are steadily cutting the number of United Way organizations in the US, but community fears of losing out in funding allocations are the chief obstacle to administrative streamlining.

Carnegie Hall Evicts!

About fifty tenants of the Carnegie Hall Studio Towers are facing eviction as the organization decides to convert the apartments to its own use.

Diversity in Funding Sources More Talked About Than Practiced

A study of more than fifty organizations in Baltimore with income from $1 million to $50 million shows that close to 90% rely on just one line on the Form 990 for more than half their income.  Even more notable: the lion's share of private contributions go to organizations that make private contributions their primary source of income.

UK's Version of the Charity Clothes Collection Scam

Gangs, often from Lithuania, use phony fliers or just boost clothes put out for collection, with impunity. 

Trial Spotlights Lapses in Cleveland Diocese Oversight

The first of two federal trials accuses a former assistant treasurer of the diocese of conspiring with the CFO in an overpriced outsourcing arrangement for accounting and computer services that included kickbacks to the CFO.  But when the CFO was found out, he went to work for the Columbus diocese.  The defense claims that these arrangements were business as usual in Cleveland. 

Dawning of the Dark Side of Philanthropy

A few voices are (re)awakening to the realization that philanthropy is about public relations, not charity.  But they aren't yet ready to abandon the myth of an independent third sector or civil society. 

College Accrediting Bodies Want to Cut the Corporate Claptrap

At least one group of watchdog organizations are looking past the arbitrary divisions between for-profit, nonprofit, faith-based, and governmental  organizations. 

Edsouth CEO Pulled in a Million from Two Jobs with Affiliated Organizations

Before a corporate restructuring of the nonprofit student loan servicing organization, Tony Hollin claimed to work fifty hours a week from two different subsidiaries.  But he isn't alone in the student loan industry.