Where Most Needed

Bank is Biggest Beneficiary of Army Charity

Army Emergency Relief, recently subject of an AP investigative report, pays a bank over a million dollars a year to churn investment funds, while army officers continue to shake down the troops for more donations. 

Virginia Pastor Ministers with an Iron Hand—and Hot Cars

Leading the same congregation for over 30 years, Pastor Star R. Scott left the Assemblies of God, dismissed the church board, and brooks no dissent among his shrunken but still substantial fellowship.

Acorn and Wall Street Have the Same Problem

The Wall Street Journal accidentally connects the dots between two current scandals making it plain that compensation issues are at the heart of management problems with US organizations: non-profit and for-profit, small and large. 

Acorn: Where's the Oak?

Pulled down by an embezzlement scandal and a lightning rod for right-wing attacks, the deeper tragedy at Acorn is how Wade Rathke turned community organizing into a personality cult that prevented the emergence of a new generation of leadership. 

Fearful Symmetry in San Francisco

Christmas Day tiger escape is a grim reminder of the risks of nonprofit mismanagement and the flaccid oversight that comes with self-regulation.  No one is keeping an eye on the tiger, or its keeper. 

Rescuing Animals from the Animal Rescuer

Good intentions lead to bad results for some animals in the care of a fund-strapped southern California animal rescue operation. 

American Red Cross: The CEO Model Has Failed

New CEO Mark Everson has resigned after six months on the job for having relations with a chapter executive in Mississippi (giving new meaning to Katrina relief).  But the Red Cross has made its greatest strides under interim leadership over the last decade, calling into question whether the organization really needs a high profile chief—and whether they can find one.

Independent Sector Releases Watered Down Principles for Nonprofits

The IS-sponsored Panel on the Nonprofit Sector announces principles that aren't that different from ones that other nonprofit groups adopted decades ago.  And they still don't address over-indulgent executive compensation—much less fundraising phone calls and junk mail. 

Philadelphians Dare to Question WHYY Executive Salaries

Staff, a newspaper columnist, and a local magazine take on the CEO of the local public broadcasting outlet for excessive compensation and poor performance. 

Sidebar: Cambridge College and the Risks of Governance

A successful school for working adults provides an example of why legal compliance doesn't eliminate risks in charity governance.