logo
Donate
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
    • Glossary
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Magazine
  • Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

Nonprofit Newswire | The Kilpatrick Fund’s Missing Money

Rick Cohen
April 21, 2010

April 20, 2010; Detroit Free Press | The lead says it all: “Ten years after it was established, the controversial Kilpatrick Civic Fund is broke.” We have reported frequently about charities and foundations established by politicians that have been used for sometimes less charitable, more political purposes.

Disgraced, indicted, jailed former Detroit mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, has his version of political charities, the Kilpatrick Civic Fund, which paid for some of his personal and family fundraising “trips” that became one of the topics behind his journey from city hall to jail. A judge said the former mayor could tap the Civic Fund to help repay the $1 million he owes the City of Detroit for misspending public dollars. We don’t quite get that, since the Civic Fund was a nonprofit, not a Kilpatrick family bank account.

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.

But between 2007 and 2008, some $222,000 disappeared from the Fund, leaving a balance of $2,467. So let’s talk to the president of the Civic Fund and ask what happened. Oops, the head of the fund is Kilpatrick’s sister, Ayanna, who declined to talk to the Detroit Free Press. Ayanna might not have been the most penurious of nonprofit leaders. When the foundation was located at Detroit’s Renaissance Center, it paid no rent, but after it moved to Ayanna’s home, the rent and utilities bill climbed to $43,115 (on top of the $32,728 Ayanna received as salary).

Over the years, the regulators have seemed to avoid issues we’ve raised many times about political foundations—examples where people with municipal business interests made substantial gifts to the Civic Fund and (surprise!) they won generous city contracts through the Mayor. They also appear to have let the Civic Fund’s inability to provide detail on the bulk of its grant distributions slide. It’s now long past time for the feds to ask Ayanna Kilpatrick and Kwame Kilpatrick to fully account for the moneys donated to their civic “charity.”—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
How the State of the People Power Tour Is Building Power and Amplifying Black Voices
Rebekah Barber
Private Equity and Wheelchair Services: How to Address a National Crisis
James A. Lomastro
Amid Disappearing Federal Funds, Could New York Be a Model for City-Level Health?
Rebecca L. Root
Madeleine L’Engle’s Books Were Never Meant to Be “Safe”
Charlotte Jones Voiklis
The Human Cost of Cutting Medicaid
Rebekah Barber
As Long as Social Media Is Around, Can We Really Break Free of Overconsumption?
Anmol Irfan

Upcoming Webinars

Group Created with Sketch.
May 27th, 2:00 pm ET

Ask the Nonprofit Lawyer

Register
Group Created with Sketch.
June 26th, 2:00 pm ET

From Performance Management to Mutual Commitment

Fostering a Culture of Joyful Accountability

Register

    
You might also like
US Capitol Building
Tax Provision Would Give Trump Administration Unilateral...
Rebekah Barber and Isaiah Thompson
A piggy bank wearing a graduation hat and standing on a pile of cash, symbolizing how endowments for academic institutions can be accessed in difficult times.
Endowments Aren’t Blank Checks—but Universities Can Rely...
Ellen P. Aprill
Saving AmeriCorps: What’s at Stake and Why We Must Act Now
Hillary Kane

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

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.