Foundations

The Boston Globe's Sacha Pfeiffer, of the paper's Spotlight team, has a fantastic story about foundation trustee Mark J. Avery, who Pfeiffer mentioned in a 2003 report on the pitfalls of inherited trustee positions. In that report, Pfeiffer used Avery as an example, citing the $400,000 annual salary and other benefits he reaped simply for inheriting his late father's trustee seat. Now, Avery is back in the news after a federal court found him guilty on 11 of 17 charges...

A former city employee sued Flint, Mich., and its mayor after being fired, alleging the city's head directed water-crisis donations to a campaign fund. The lawsuit, filed last week, claimed Maxine Murray, an assistant to Mayor Karen Weaver, came to city administrator Natasha Henderson "in tears" and confided that "she feared going to jail."...

The Clinton Foundation's critics may soon have less ammunition to suggest the organization lacks transparency. The charity has taken initial steps toward regaining a rating by Charity Navigator, a major charity watchdog that assesses more than 8,000 organizations on a scale of zero to four stars. The Clinton Foundation, headed by former President Bill Clinton,…

Financial problems are forcing the closure of NC New Schools/Breakthrough Learning, a champion of specialty and early-college high schools, the nonprofit announced Thursday. The organization had expanded rapidly, said Jeffrey Corbett, president of its board of directors, and the expansion outpaced its funding. "We ran into cash-flow problems that were directly related to growth and…

Presidents of large, private foundations get paid too much. How much? At foundations with budgets greater than $2 billion, the median CEO salary is more than $610,000 a year, not counting some very generous benefits and bonuses, according to the 2015 salary report from the Council on Foundations. That’s very generous. Too generous. I don’t say that…

Picture this familiar scenario: It’s been six weeks since you spent time and effort researching regional foundations and sending out eight new proposals in support of a planned educational initiative on behalf of your three-year-old community arts organization...

Two brothers await a South Dakota Supreme Court decision tomorrow on whether they can learn what happened to millions of dollars that disappeared from their late father's foundation. Mark and Paul Schwan—sons of Marvin Schwan who founded his namesake frozen-food business that owns brands, like Freschetta and Mrs. Smith's—are trying to figure out where more than $600 million went that the Marvin M. Schwan Charitable Foundation's trustees invested in offshore real estate developments...

Trump campaign’s adviser for veterans issues can’t account for $6 million the billionaire raised for veterans charities—and from the sounds of it, couldn’t care less. "I could ask, but it’s not high on my priority list," Al Baldasaro, a New Hampshire state representative, said. Back in January, Trump skipped an Iowa presidential debate due to…

The Chicago Cubs easily lead the league in fashion statements, with manager Joe Maddon’s propensity for turning his slogans into T-shirts. And one of his designs has prompted the St. Louis Cardinals to rethink a policy at Busch Stadium. During the Cubs’ first visit to St. Louis this season, ushers have told fans wearing Maddon’s…

The law firm featured in what have become known as the Panama Papers allegedly used nonprofit names to obscure the origins of millions of dubious funds in offshore accounts, according to reports...