Philanthropy, Weaponized
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In a recent series of articles, The New York Times detailed how nonprofit think tanks are rife with conflicts of interest. The Times reported how corporations made charitable donations to certain think…
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A Catchy, Popular, Attractive, and Bad Idea
[This post was co-published in The Chronicle of Philanthropy on August 9, 2016.] The charitable world has been buzzing recently about a new idea from the Minneapolis Foundation: The Pay It Forward…
Read More Partial Score
The late comedian George Carlin had a shtick back in the 1970s where he played a television sports anchor. With mock seriousness, he’d stare at the camera and say, “Here’s…
Read More Nice Work If You Can Get It
[This post was later published, with some small adjustments, as an op-ed for Inside Philanthropy on May 3, 2016.] Presidents of large private foundations get paid too much. I don’t say that…
Read More Better Than Endowments
[Note: This essay is based upon my presentation of the same title at the International Conference of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, delivered March 21 in Boston.] Charitable organizations are always…
Read More Anticipating the Worst
People make dumb decisions. Sometimes the decision isn’t really a decision at all, but simply a momentary loss of focus, like locking yourself out of the house when you take…
Read More Foundations, For Better or For Worse
Most of us don’t question the basic operating procedures of private foundations. They are what they are. But if not for a turn of events a century ago, the common…
Read More Why the IRA Charitable Rollover is a Big Deal
It’s not often that good news comes out of Congress these days. But the nonprofit sector should give Congress credit for a provision in the federal budget that was passed…
Read More Friends Don’t Let Friends Start Nonprofits
I’m often approached by people asking for advice on creating a new nonprofit. My response, inevitably: Don’t do it! I say this not because I question the power of nonprofits…
Read More Never Can Say Good-bye
There’s an old proverb that it takes one person to throw a stone in a well, but ten to get it out. I think the nonprofit equivalent is that it’s…
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