Where Most Needed

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.

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. 

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. 

Turkey Rescue a Thankless Task

Amid national feasting, a few charities look out for a handful of birds that escape the annual massacre.

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. 

Missing Bingo Bucks in Brookhaven

Accusations and allegations fly about $10,000 missing from a charity bingo game supervised by volunteers in a Long Island community, with town officials claiming that a half million may be gone. 

Blogathon Demonstrates Long Tail (Up to a Point)

Shared vision is largely absent from a twenty-four-hour blogging event to raise money for charity, which could be why it wasn't more successful.  And the winner was online editor for a newspaper in Midland, Texas, who blogged from a 30-foot Genie scissors lift in a grocery store parking lot (isn't that cheating?)

Habitat for Humanity in the U.S. Faces Mid Life Crisis

Restructuring after the dismissal of founder Millard Fuller has some affiliates longing for a more grassroots approach, but a glance at form 990s and trends in U.S. housing reveals more fundamental perils facing the organization's mission and methods in its home country. 

Barbershop Harmony Society Restyles

The group has achieved a name change, headquarters relocation, and acceptance of a modern repertoire to attract younger members, despite grumbling from the old guard.  And the organization offers a wealth of accessible, online help for local groups that want to organize—better than what many nonprofit advisors have to offer. 

Voluntourists Are Considered Gawkers after Tahoe Fires

Every disaster site has to contend with the effects of convergence of people, of communications, and of material on an infrastructure that is already damaged by the disaster.