An investigative report suggests that the high-profile charity event, a favorite of its golf-addicted CEO Thomas Ryan, provides a way for suppliers to skirt ethics rules against expensive
favors to company employees. Meanwhile, the charity itself spends most
of its income putting on the event rather than giving.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Major foundations are stumbling over themselves to report lessons learned on disappointing initiatives, but there is a suprising sameness in What Doesn't Work.
When a huge foundation initiative failed to show much progress, they brought in outside help to turn it around, completely revamped the project, and wrote it all up for the world to see.
Congress granted the Micronesia mission group a couple of Coast Guard cutters in 1999, but they quickly sold them. We dive deep into the organization's tax filings and the authorizing legislation for more buried treasures.
