The “gut and replace” practice of the Hawaii legislature, whereby a bill’s contents can be removed and replaced with completely different language even after public hearings and committee approvals, is being challenged by nonprofit advocacy groups.
The real problem here isn’t that costs aren’t transparent, but that our health care system, which consumed 18 percent of GDP in 2017—more than $3.5 trillion—is irrational.
Observers have long noted the problem of the revolving door between federal agencies and the nation’s largest corporations. Now, we see the same dynamic recreate itself in the nonprofit sector, threatening the public’s confidence in our sector’s stewardship.
Increasingly, Memorial Sloan Kettering, a leading nonprofit cancer research center, has formed close and intertwined relationships with for-profit organizations. Like many of its peers, it has become less concerned about compromising its autonomy.
When a 10-year board member says, “I’ve never seen any minutes. I’ve never had any involvement with the board at any level. I just agreed to serve,” maybe something isn’t quite right with the nonprofit’s governance.
Interim US attorney general Matthew Whitaker is hiding his financial backers behind a nonprofit shield and that provides the public with less capacity to monitor accountability.
There is concern being raised in Missouri about the use of hidden money in the gubernatorial campaign and how closely the candidate worked with the organization supplying the funds for campaign ads.
When and how should an organizational board share its thinking about organizational change and engage its stakeholders? How is it best to balance the efficient decision-making a closed-door process can offer against the potentially messier and more political nature of a wider process? Well, do you want a small mess now, or a big, angry one later?
The Charles Koch Foundation will make the details of their future academic grants public and share their criteria for grantmaking.
Federal law currently requires nonprofits filing a Form 990 to list in a confidential section all donors who gift $5,000 or more. Some states want to disclose these donors. Privacy advocates fear that doing so might stifle political speech.
