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Research Study Raises Questions About Gates Foundation’s Health Grants
May 8th
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation should increasingly be held accountable for the effectiveness of its grant making, according to a study published Friday in the medical journal the Lancet, the Associated Press reports.
“What we have is a private actor with a huge degree of influence, but not really a mechanism by which that influence is held to public account,” said David McCoy, who analyzed the $8.95-billion the world’s largest philanthropy gave to some 1,100 health organizations around the world from 1998 through 2007.
According to the report, nearly two-thirds of that money went to 20 organizations, many of which were based in the United States, some within miles of the foundation’s Seattle offices.
Philip Stevens, director of health policy at the International Policy Network, questioned the study, terming Mr. McCoy an activist who has criticized the principle of private involvement in health.
In the Arts: Emergency Infusion for National Gallery, Masterpieces for Auckland Museum
May 8th
President Obama’s 2010 budget proposes $40-million for an emergency face-lift for the iconic East Building of the National Gallery of Art, reports The Washington Post.
The money comes on the heels of an engineer’s report that found faults in the support system for the marble panels that make up the I.M. Pei-designed museum’s exterior. The work would increase the gallery’s 2010 federal aid to $165.2-million, up from $122.7-million this year.
In other arts news, the philanthropists and collectors Julian H. Robertson Jr. and Josie Robertson have donated works valued at $120-million to $150-million to the Auckland Museum of Art in New Zealand, according to The New York Times. The gift, which includes works by Picasso, Gauguin, and Mondrian, is reportedly the largest ever to an art museum in the Australasian region.
Also, The New York Times profiles the Rev. Jay Wegman, director of the Abron Arts Center on New York’s Lower East Side, which has hosted the likes of Lou Reed and John Cage and is gaining a reputation as a downtown locus for avant-garde performance.
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From The Chronicle: How the Obama Budget Would Affect Nonprofit Groups
May 8th
Nonprofit groups received mixed news in President Obama’s budget proposal released yesterday, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.
We have summarized the highlights in an article and offered more detailed coverage of each area that affects nonprofit groups in our Government and Politics Watch column.
Among the key areas we have recently added updates on: spending on international groups, social services, housing, and management of nonprofit groups. We’ll be continuing to add reaction and analysis throughout the day, and we urge you to add your insights and ideas by clicking on the comments link below the article, linked above.
Prospecting: Twitter and Charity
May 8th
A new competition is under way to raise $1-million for charity through the Twitter social-networking Web site, notes Prospecting, The Chronicle’s fund-raising column.
Give and Take: Charity Web Sites
May 8th
What are the elements any small charity should have on its Web site? That is the subject of a new post in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the best blog posts about the nonprofit world.
Podcast: Useful Online Tools for Charities
May 8th
In the latest installment of Social Good, a monthly Chronicle podcast, Jessica Clark, director of the Future of Public Media Project at American University, discusses whether nonprofit models are the future of newspapers.
Ms. Clark also talks with the host, Allison Fine, about some useful resources for nonprofit groups that want to improve their use of online tools.
Online Discussions Next Week: Starting a Charity and Financial Management
May 8th
Join us next Tuesday, May 12, at noon U.S. Eastern time for a live online discussion on starting a nonprofit organization.
Plus: The Chronicle is offering an online discussion Thursday, May 14, at noon U.S. Eastern time, on financial management during tough economic times.
The Chronicle’s online discussions are free and open to everyone. People who ask questions in advance have a better chance of getting answers.
Obama’s Win Raises Fund-Raising Challenge for Civil-Rights Memorials
May 7th
Museums and monuments devoted to the struggle for civil rights are facing new fund-raising hurdles in the wake of the election of America’s first black president, reports The Wall Street Journal.
As signs of racial progress, punctuated by President Obama’s election, spark debate about the relevance of traditional treatments of racism and blacks’ role in U.S. history, curators and others involved in such projects say they are encountering growing resistance from potential donors.
“Funders will always say, ‘Why does it matter today?’” said Doug Shipman, executive director of the planned Center for Civil and Human Rights, in Atlanta. “You have to prove to them that Martin Luther King matters today.”
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Court Backs 2002 Raids on Muslim Organizations
May 7th
An appeals court yesterday upheld a lower court decision asserting the legality of federal raids on a Northern Virginia network of Muslim charities, think tanks, and businesses, The Washington Post reports.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled that the March 2002 raids in search of evidence of terrorist financing — which included raids on homes — did not violate the targets’ constitutional rights. A Herndon, Va., family filed suit, alleging that agents fabricated evidence to obtain a search warrant and falsely imprisoned them in their home.
The raids, which were strongly denounced by Muslim leaders, have led to several indictments and the conviction of a prominent Islamic activist, Abdurahman Alamoudi, but no charges have been filed against the Herndon organizations at the center of the probe.
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