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. 

Sexual Healing vs the Hollywood Hype

A number of different twelve-step programs with a focus on sex addiction have been around for over twenty five years, but remain marginal compared to Alcoholics Anonymous—like most of the other spin-off groups other than NA and Al-Anon.

Getting Back at Backstabbers (Yes, Charities Have Them, Too)

I ran across a nonprofit reference in the November 11 Wall Street Journal in an article about protecting yourself from bosses and colleagues trying to undermine your reputation.

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. 

New York's Largest Soup Kitchen Still Dishing It Out

A New Yorker writer offers an affectionate profile that manages to reveal some of the paradoxes of serving free food in church. 

Animal Philanthropy: Dollars Chasing Dogs

The millions that Leona Helmsley left to her dog Trouble are a puddle compared to the pile earmarked for dog care in the Helmsley's charitable foundation.  But it could be that the foundation's goals are far from frivolous. 

WSJ Slams CVS Charity Golf Classic

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.

Private Philanthropy Puts Yale in the Drivers Seat in New Haven

Gleaming new campus buildings arise while the city's infrastructure crumbles around them. 

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.