logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Complimentary Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

Charities and Politicians Toxic Together

Rick Cohen
November 18, 2010
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

November 15, 2010; Source: Times-Picayune | Once again, a politician’s linkage with a nonprofit results in an odiferous dynamic. In Louisiana, a publicly funded nonprofit for underprivileged youth—the Jefferson Sports and Scholastic Foundation—run by a Jefferson Parish councilman, appears to have fallen short of some basic tenants of nonprofit ethics and accountability.

The nonprofit couldn’t (or wouldn’t) provide documentation for several hundred thousand dollars worth of expenditure, including $100,000 owed to a firm owned by a member of the state legislature. A state audit identified $96,000 in the nonprofit’s expenditures that seemed to lack a business purpose, such as $1,950 for a country club membership and $8,800 for a Florida golfing trip.

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

No surprise, but some of the Councilman’s relatives also got paid by the nonprofit. The litany of alleged transgressions is pretty compelling in contrast to the pathetic responses of the pols involved, including the state legislator who called the criticism of the nonprofit—and of him—a “travesty.”

For us at NPQ, it’s more of the same old story. Over the years, we’ve written a number of articles on charities linked to politicians. Their stories rarely turn out positive, to put it mildly. Whether in Congress, in the state legislature, or local government, the combination of politicians and charities is almost always toxic.—Rick Cohen

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
About the author
Rick Cohen

Rick joined NPQ in 2006, after almost eight years as the executive director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP). Before that he played various roles as a community worker and advisor to others doing community work. He also worked in government. Cohen pursued investigative and analytical articles, advocated for increased philanthropic giving and access for disenfranchised constituencies, and promoted increased philanthropic and nonprofit accountability.

More about: Nonprofit News

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

Spring-2023-sidebar-subscribe
You might also like
5 Land Defense Protests Around the World
Iris Crawford
Turning Toward EV Frontline Communities
Katherine Leah Pace
Muslim Women Are Reclaiming The Narrative
Anmol Irfan
How Policy Is Building a Social Economy in South Korea
Minsun Ji
Nonprofits and Movements: How Do the Two Relate?
Steve Dubb
Human-Centered Design for Behavioral Health
Sonia Sarkar

NPQ Webinars

April 27th, 2 pm ET

Liberatory Decision-Making

How to Facilitate and Engage in Healthy Decision-making Processes

Register Now
You might also like
AOC’s “Tax the Rich” Dress Dazzles Met Gala, while...
Anastasia Reesa Tomkin
Foundation Giving Numbers for 2020 Show 15 Percent Increase
Steve Dubb
Strike MoMA Imagines Art Museums without Billionaires
Tessa Crisman

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

NPQ-Spring-2023-cover

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Careers

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.