Phil Buchanan, president of the Center for Effective Philanthropy, says that a strong business sector is vitally important to this country. But so is a strong government. And a strong—and actually independent—independent sector. Now, as we learn that many corporations are not paying their fair share of taxes, Buchanan argues that it would be a good time to hear those independent-sector voices.

More and more newspaper stories are uncovering problems with charities created to respond in one way or another to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. In addition to learning about the all-too-typical examples of charitable predators making money off of the grief of the 9/11 victims, there are other important issues to be explored in the 9/11 charity experience.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the world’s richest philanthropy.  Harvard University is the world’s richest institution of higher education.  Does Harvard need a half-million-dollar grant from Gates to “re-imagine” the future of its Ed School?  Does Gates really need to be giving 6-figure grants to help Harvard’s imagination? 

The Council on Foundations is seeking input on what the Council should look for in a new president and CEO. Wouldn’t it be great if the Council really incorporated nonprofits’ suggestions into its search process? 

Forty-seven years ago, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Economic Opportunity Act that launched the War on Poverty. It also led to the creation of an immeasurably valuable part of the nonprofit infrastructure that we take for granted today-Community Health Centers, VISTA, Head Start, Community Action Agencies, Legal Services, and much more. Born in 1964, the Economic Opportunity Act is somewhere between a Baby Boomer and a Generation X’er, but the nonprofit capacity it built serves all of us.

There is a growing movement among wealthy Americans to protest Bush-era tax cuts. Some, like Warren Buffett, are speaking out. Others are redirecting their tax-cut largesse back to the commonweal. 

With nonprofits seeing their government funding cut to the bone—and beyond—more attention is being paid to taxes and whether everyone is paying their fair share. A new study finds that at least 25 U.S. corporations paid less in taxes last year than they gave their CEOs in compensation.

Another item for the “misappropriation of public funds” files. The ED of a nonprofit in Washington, D.C. allegedly took city dollars and used them to turn a warehouse into a strip club that he later sold for millions.

Shelterforce magazine challenges all of us to think about radically different approaches to U.S. housing policy. For example, take a look at this Alan Mallach piece for a particularly challenging, pragmatic piece of “radical” rethinking.

Say it costs $100 to provide a certain amount of day care services in New York City. Mayor Bloomberg’s Administration for Children’s Services will only pay $93.30. The official city policy appears to be structural underfunding of day care services—and possibly other nonprofit services as well. That means nonprofits will have to hunt for private funds in order to qualify for City day care grants or contracts.

Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Paul Allen and others made their billions in Silicon Valley and turned into youngish philanthropists. Apple’s Steve Jobs, now stepping down as CEO, seems to eschew self-aggrandizing philanthropy, or perhaps any philanthropy at all. You got a problem with that?