logo logo
Donate
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Social Justice
    • Racial Justice
    • Climate Justice
    • Disability Justice
    • Economic Justice
    • Health Justice
    • Immigration
    • LGBTQ+
  • Civic News
  • Nonprofit Leadership
    • Board Governance
    • Equity-Centered Management
    • Finances
    • Fundraising
    • Human Resources
    • Organizational Culture
    • Philanthropy
    • Power Dynamics
    • Strategic Planning
    • Technology
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Leading Edge Membership
  • Newsletters
  • Webinars

Nonprofit Newswire | Spies Like Us—Or Not

Rick Cohen
July 7, 2010

June 30, 2010, 2010; Source: Charlotte Observer |In the category of very unusual nonprofit happenings, we take note of the arrest of a bunch of alleged “sleeper” spies working for the Russian government. The press has detailed their ordinary lives under various aliases in the U.S., but little attention has been paid to one particular character and his connection, of sorts, to the U.S. nonprofit sector.

Donald Heathfield, of Cambridge, Mass. was on one of the various advisory boards of a nonprofit called the Lifeboat Foundation, described in an AP account as a group that “encourages scientific advancements.” Actually, Lifeboat doesn’t encourage just any old scientific advancements. The Minden, Nev.-based nonprofit is dedicated to helping humanity survive existential risks through technologies such as an asteroid shield, a “nanoshield” (a repellant against nanoweapons such as self-replicating ecophages), “Ark I” (a self-sustaining space colony built to ensure that humanity could survive if disasters make Earth uninhabitable), an “antimatter shield”, and an “alienshield” (actually a diplomatic and communications protocol “to minimize frictions caused by a first contact situation, be it friendly, unfriendly, or neutral”).

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.

There may be a for-profit and a nonprofit side to Lifeboat, given the dot.com website, but the organization does file 990s which are posted on Guidestar. Its total nonprofit income through gifts, grants, and contributions from 2004 through 2008 is only about $140,000, though the website has a professional look to it with numerous advisory boards containing the names of what looks like well over 400 people—including Heathfield at one time or another, according to the press accounts. His Lifeboat Foundation bio, apparently now deleted, says that Heathfield invented “Future Map”, “a continuously updated ‘Big Picture’ of the future that can be built for any organization, country, or specific domain of interest . . . composed of events anticipated to occur in the near- and long-term future”.

The Boston Herald described Lifeboat as a “bizarre” futurist organization, but among its many advisory board members are actor Ed Begley, Jr., conservative political commentator James Pinkerton, and science fiction author Ben Bova. Our favorite Lifeboat advisor, joining Bova on the Futurists Board, is one “RU Sirius”. If this is how Putin’s alleged spies planned to infiltrate “typical” American society, we may not have all that much to fear, at least until we find ourselves desperately needing the antimatter shield.—Rick Cohen

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

Our Voices Are Our Power.

Journalism, nonprofits, and multiracial democracy are under attack. At NPQ, we fight back by sharing stories and essential insights from nonprofit leaders and workers—and we pay every contributor.

Can you help us protect nonprofit voices?

Your support keeps truth alive when it matters most.
Every single dollar makes a difference.

Donate now
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

You might also like
Get Funds Flowing: Lessons from the Boston Foundation
Candace Burton
Amid Heatwaves, a Growing Concern Rises About Data Centers
Rebekah Barber
How to Navigate the Modern Nonprofit Job Search
Molly Brennan
How Can the Nonprofit Field Better Support Volunteerism?
Jan Masaoka
Return to Office: What’s Happening in the Nonprofit Sector and Why?
Sydney Nicole Sweeney
Latine Community Groups Mobilize to Defend Medicaid Against Cuts
María Constanza Costa

Upcoming Webinars

Group Created with Sketch.
July 24th, 2:00 pm ET

Organizing in Divided Times

The Relational Infrastructure We Need to Protect Democracy

Register
Group Created with Sketch.
September 24th-25th, 2:00 pm ET

Advanced QuickBooks for Nonprofits

Expert Guidance for Experienced QuickBooks Users

Register

    
You might also like
US Capitol Building
Trump Budget Bill Spells Trouble for Nonprofits
Isaiah Thompson
A group of about two dozen students, many wearing blue shirts, walk in the rain in front of the US House of Representatives.
How Nonprofits and Activists Can Oppose Trump’s “Big...
Matthew Rozsa
Conservatives Attack Nonprofits on Capitol Hill
Isaiah Thompson

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.

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Copyright
  • Donate
  • Editorial Policy
  • Funders
  • Submissions

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.