The success story of a struggling AIDS organization, its executive director, and the intermediary that helped turn things around.
Consultants Directory Winter 2007
NPQ’s listing of consultants from across the nation from 2007.
Lessons from the Smithsonian: Misusing Nonprofit Advisory Committees
Our story about the Smithsonian’s hiring of a new director at the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) involved what might be an all-too-common practice in the sector. The Smithsonian hired a director without asking the museum’s advisory committee for its opinion on the candidates. In fact, the museum’s “board of trustees” was never
If Gates Leads on Divestment, Who Will Follow?
Not enough space is devoted to the investment practices and consequences of how foundations deploy their half-trillion dollars (actually, much more) of tax-exempt wealth in the markets. When the Los Angeles Times broke the story (actually, several stories) on the Gates Foundation’s investments in corporations that seemed opposed to the foundation’s philanthropic activities, many were
Déjà Vu All Over Again: Secrecy and Hubris at the Smithsonian
The Smithsonian Institution must specialize in irony. The interim secretary of the Smithsonian Cristian Samper who replaced the disgraced and disgraceful Larry Small, had a press conference at the National Press Club on September 21st titled, “Facts, Fiction and the Future of the Smithsonian.” Fiction is the operative word. Having made a big pretense of
Halting Steps Toward Increased Rural Philanthropy
If he has achieved anything, Senator Max Baucus has galvanized the attention of the foundation community to talk about rural philanthropy. In 2006, Baucus challenged foundations to double their grantmaking to rural America over the next 5 years. By the end of the year, he was the chair of the Senate Finance Committee, the Congressional
Linda Chavez’s Nonprofit Family Affair
Recently, the Washington Post revealed the multiple connections of one Linda Chavez; her husband, Christopher Gersten; and her sons, Pablo and David Gersten, in a number of 501(c)(3) nonprofits and political action committees (PACs). Chavez and the Gerstens drew multiple salaries for themselves and often delivered little in the way of program resources to constituents
House Hearing: Good Hitters vs Weak Pitchers
It was slow-pitch baseball at the House of Representatives Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight’s Hearing on Tax-Exempt Charitable Organizations chaired by Democrat John Lewis of Georgia on July 23, and the witnesses in the heart of the batting order belted the ball around the infield. Steve Gunderson of the Council on Foundations and Diana
Presidential Candidate Profiles: Romney, McCain
Politicizing philanthropic giving and charitable fundraising to serve the interests of politicians is a dangerous road for presidential candidates and for the nonprofit sector as a whole. In our continuing review of the nonprofit connections of current presidential candidates, the behavior of former Republican Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona
A Man Yelled at Me in a Meeting
e-Newsletter | The other day, in a meeting with maybe ten other people present, a very big man pointed his finger and yelled at me. We didn’t miss a beat.
Issues Seen Through the Nonprofit Experience of Barack and Michelle Obama
A presidential candidate’s nonprofit history may serve as a mirror for the kinds of decisions he might make about philanthropy once he’s seated in the Oval Office. That history of nonprofit involvement by a candidate or his spouse may also shine a light on the political values of the future putative leader of the Western
Presidential Candidate Profiles: Giuliani, Edwards, Paul
Some types of nonprofits need to do more disclosure, not less. This is particularly true of those used by not just a few politicians — members of Congress, presidential candidates, and political shills — to do campaign dirty work behind the donor- and expenditure-anonymity of the 501(c)(3) public charities. The litany of many politicians and