NonProfit Pro

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently upheld a $2.25 million jury verdict against the directors of a nonprofit nursing home, holding them personally liable for breach of their duty of care. Their sin? Failing to remove the nursing home’s administrator and CFO “once the results of their mismanagement became apparent.” The decision, while unusual, illustrates that serving on a nonprofit board is not risk-free even if as in this case, the directors do not breach their duty of loyalty or engage in any self-dealing.

DonorSearch has partnered with Sustain Software, a provider of donor and organization management software to nonprofit organizations. The partnership will bring new prospect research and screening capabilities to Sustain Software's customers.

(Press release, April 22, 2015) — A new survey supports a long-held hypothesis that many nonprofit boards are ineffective, say Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) researchers.

Recent tweets on nonprofit technology (#nptech).

(Press release, April 22, 2015) — When asked to name their top challengers, leaders of nonprofits were most likely to say "raising funds in a competitive environment with higher expectations for ROI" (74%), "leadership capacity deficit" (54%) and "populating the board with the people with the right fit" (51%), according to the findings of Nonprofit Pulse, a new national survey of 103 nonprofit leaders by accounting firm Marks Paneth.

Federal investigators looking into Chicago Public Schools' dealings with a leadership training academy are also examining records involving an elite nonprofit group led by a powerful board comprised of movers and shakers.

Authorities have sought documents related to the Chicago Public Education Fund, according to a report in the Chicago Tribune. The report is the first indication of how far the inquiry could extend beyond Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office.

The nonprofit fund gave seed money for the SUPES Academy, which later obtained a $20.5 million no-bid contract from the Chicago school district.

They say you don't get rich by writing a lot of checks. And if you believe the IRS, failing to pay billions in federal taxes may explain how two brothers and Texas businessmen amassed a fortune worthy of landing them among the Forbes 400 Richest Americans.

Sam Wyly, who along with his now-deceased brother, Charles, rose from meager beginnings to an estimated net worth in excess of $1 billion, now owes the IRS more than twice that amount—a reported $2.03 billion—in back taxes, penalties and interest.

How does one accumulate a tax debt in excess of the GDP of Saint Lucia?

Last fall, the Portland-based Children's Cancer Association's MyMusicRx program produced an online music festival to support kids with cancer and other serious diseases.

The Webby Awards took notice. Bedstock Online Music Festival is the only nonprofit campaign nominated in the Webbys' events category.

The Webbys are the leading international awards honoring excellence on the Internet, including websites, interactive advertising and online film and video.

Bedstock is the David going up against several Goliaths—BBC, Google and TED. MyMusicRx fans and supporters can cast their vote in the People's Voice contest among nominations.

This week's message is short and sweet—do not try to personalize your online marketing communication if you can't do it right. Just don't.

Recent tweets on fundraising (#fundraising).