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What began as a fun way for Atlas Brew Works and DC Brau Brewing Company, two Washington, D.C.-based breweries, to engage the community and raise funds for an important cause, left them with a bad taste in their mouths and a five-month headache. So, what happened? Why did this attempt to do good go so wrong? The reasons are manyfold...
How often do you assess the systems that drive your organization? Your systems’ capabilities affect the processes carried out day-in and day-out by staff, managers, board members and volunteers. Focusing on those systems, here are six areas of consideration for assessing your nonprofit technology infrastructure that directly affect the overall management capabilities within your organization...
Months after a missing shipment of Haiti-bound relief supplies was discovered in South Florida, the shipyard where it still sits is refusing to release it. That’s despite pleas from the Grand Rapids, Michigan-based charity that shipped the container, which included $150,000 worth of medical and other supplies donated by more than a dozen West Michigan…
A former chairman of the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) board of directors is suing the museum, alleging misuse of his $1.4 million donation. In 2004, Robert Lang made a donation to name a wing of MOSI after his wife, Whitney Lang, who died the year before. Under the agreed-upon terms, the wing was…
Zachary DuBow was used to seeing MetroCards strewn all over the city’s subway stations—discarded by tourists or neglected by everyday commuters. He began to wonder how many of the cards contained little bits of leftover money. Probably not enough for a full fare, he thought, but what if he combined the value of all the…
Parking fines aren't usually the stuff of holiday cheer. But a few cities around the country are turning them into an opportunity to promote giving, letting drivers cover part or all of their fines with food donations. Lexington, Ky., first adopted the program, called "Food for Fines," during the 2014 holiday season. There, 10 cans…
Planned Parenthood announced Tuesday it would no longer accept payments from companies that use tissue left over from abortions for research, bending to pressure in the wake of undercover videos targeting the group. In a letter to the director of the National Institutes of Health, Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards said the payments had become…
A court-sanctioned investigation has found state Sen. Jeff Hayden, DFL-Minneapolis, and his wife Theresa received at least $3,486 in improper reimbursements from a now-defunct nonprofit organization. A report filed in Ramsey County District Court Thursday alleges Community Action of Minneapolis paid for plane tickets, hotel stays, travel expenses and spa services for the Haydens. With…
If you donated cash to survivors of the Nepal earthquakes this year, you may want to consider exactly how—or if—your money has been used. Sixteen of the world's largest disaster-relief charities have revealed to the Thomson Reuters Foundation that they are spending up to a sixth of funds designated for Nepal on their overheads rather…
Criminals are using poorly protected charity websites to test the validity of stolen credit-card numbers, costing some groups thousands of dollars, cybersecurity experts said this week. Simplified online donation pages make it easy for people to give—but also serve as prime testing ground for credit-card thieves. "There’s a giant target painted on the industry’s back…