Though misunderstood at first, Doctors Without Borders’ bold decision to stop accepting tsunami-relief donation could help revive public trust in nonprofits.

By Paul Barbagallo

At the time of this interview, Sexton was still busy assessing the unprecedented sum of high-dollar donations that had been contributed to MSF for its part in the tsunami-relief effort. Many large gifts came from people who’d not previously existed on any prospect files. Some have giving histories with MSF, but only at a $100 level, for example, and well below Sexton’s radar. But then, all of a sudden, bang, they anted up $15,000.