Nonprofit Newswire | January 7, 2010 - Non Profit News

Clinton Foundation Draws Eclectic Donor List
January 2, 2010; The Daily Transcript | The William F. Clinton Foundation made the point clear: it was under no legal obligation to release the names or amounts of major contributors to the ex-president’s foundations, but was doing so pursuant to a promise that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made during her confirmation hearings. As provided to the Associated Press, the list contains names but only ranges of their contributions. Among the more notable names and donation ranges reported by the AP were $25 million each from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, controversial Canadian businessman Frank Giustra, and UNITAID (the international drug purchasing facility funded by 29 countries and the Gates Foundation), $10 million to $25 million from the Australian government’s foreign aid program, and $1 million to $5 million each from the Alltel Corporation, the Coca-Cola Company, and the Swedish Postcode Lottery. Somewhat more unusual were contributors such as Richard Scaife, the financier of what Hillary Clinton once described as the “vast right wing conspiracy” organized against her and her husband, with between $100,000 and $250,000, the Professional Golfers Association Tour responsible for $50,000 to $100,000 of donations, and the governments of Norway ($10 million to $25 million) and Oman ($1 million to $5 million). According to the AP, there are numerous Saudi Arabian donors. The list doesn’t appear to be publicly available and the December 31st press release about the foundation’s annual report describes the Foundation’s big initiatives: the Clinton Global Initiative, the Alliance for a Healthier Generation (a partnership with the American Heart Association), the Clinton Climate Initiative, the Clinton Economic Opportunity Initiative, and more—but not the list of contributors.—Rick Cohen

Krugman Warns Recession Not Over
January 5, 2010; Sydney Morning Herald | Let’s hope we all don’t fall asleep at the switch, seduced by the repeated assertions of too many national leaders that the recession is on the way to historical oblivion. Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman said in Atlanta the last week that there was a 30 to 40 percent chance that the U.S. economy would slide back into a recession (or perhaps not emerge from the recession) in the latter half of 2010, as the Obama Administration’s $787 billion stimulus package comes to an end. Apparently, conservative economist Martin Feldstein of Harvard and much more liberal economist Joseph Stiglitz of Columbia University said much the same thing, Feldstein calling the end of the stimulus a “serious cloud” and Stiglitz suggesting growth will not be robust any time soon. Krugman expects growth to slow to half of the current four percent annual rate achieved in the 4th quarter of 2009 with the possibility of outright declines in growth and unemployment ending 2010 higher than it began. Nonprofits have long been dealing with the brunt of the Great Recession. The word from the combination of Krugman, Feldstein, and Stiglitz suggests that they will be addressing recession issues for a long time to come.—Rick Cohen

Schools Look for Ways to Cover Costs
January 4, 2010; Baltimore Sun | A nonprofit environmental program for Maryland sixth-graders has been forced to start charging students for their week on the Chesapeake Bay as a result of the state’s budget cuts. Previously free for school programs, the average cost of the week-long program is around $350 per student, with $150 of it still subsidized by the state. School districts are having to find other ways to finance the remainder of the cost. Some school districts are charging students up to $150 for the program. The Baltimore County school has received money for about 10 scholarships from some families and is raising money by selling lawn chairs that people can use at the town’s Fourth of July fireworks show. In years past the North Bay Adventure Program has served up to 10,000 students. Now some weeks only one third as many students are able to participate. It is these kinds of out-of-school experiences that can teach students the greatest lessons and we stand to miss the most as budgets continue bleed out.—Aaron Lester

From the Annals of Personal Hygiene Financing
January 6, 2010; Taranaki Daily News | From the “I can’t believe I am even writing this” department comes the story of a New Zealand auction of an actual toenail grown for a year on a “good, honest male Kiwi” foot. We first came across this weird story on the POPFI Web site but then had to read the actual auction to believe it. When we last looked the bidding was at $56 New Zealand. Proceeds from the auction will benefit the Hawera Salvation Army. The winner will receive the 12-millimeter-long nail in the mail. This is not an official Hawera Salvation Army auction and the head of Hawera Salvation Army, Captain Joe Serevi, said while he’s appreciative of the gesture, he’s “not really keen on the toenail.”—Kristin Barrali