Where Most Needed

Roger Clemens Foundation Could Use Some Juice

The pitcher's charity foundation stages a golf event and sells memorabilia, and a significant amount of grants go to places that aren't mentioned in the organization's web site.

Doors Closing for Small Scale Advocacy Organizations

Changing priorities at two foundations affect funding for hundreds of small scale advocacy groups across the US.  It looks as though free lance advocacy is losing out to the broader strategic objectives of political campaigning.

Discounting Social Capital

Robert Putnam's latest research begins to show the limits of the social capital concept, to put it kindly. 

USAID Kicks Associates & Takes Names

The USAID Partner Vetting Program wants specifics on who is receiving aid using their funds, but just in the West Bank and Gaza—for now.  The proposal highlights the curious variability in the expectations of transparency—one organization advocating for vetting doesn't turn up in databases of registered nonprofit organizations. 

Nonprofit Organizations on Both Sides of World Bank Pay Scandal

Watchdog group releases documents that shows Paul Wolfowitz was highly involved in the posting of his companion to a nonprofit with close ties to the State Department. 

FBI Raid Chills Ramadan Giving for Michigan Charity

The organization is still cleared for contributions, and the raid does not appear to be related to terrorist funding. 

Charity Connection II

The Washington Post picks up the story of diverted earthquake relief funds that officials claim were connected with the airline bomb plot. 

Charity Connections Claimed in Bombing Plot

Charities in the UK and Pakistan are named in reports as conduits for funds, and other reports say earthquake relief in Pakistan was a pretense for fund transfers and personnel moves in the guise of relef workers.

WMN Poll: Charging Admission for the Smithsonian

The Smithsonian Institution museums on the Mall in Washington DC are currently free, but Congress only pays 70% of the museum operating expenses, leading to corporate sponsorships and media deals to provide additional funding, at the cost of the institution's integrity, some say.

As an alternative, the Smithsonian could just charge admission, like most museums and all major tourist attractions. Here is a short (3 question) survey that asks what you think and how much you would be willing to pay if there were a charge.

Before and After Death, The Rich are Getting Stingier

Bill Gates & Warren Buffett are countering a trend toward diminished charitable giving by America's wealthiest families.