Social Service/Public Welfare/Human Services
January 31, 2017 at 10:02 am
Actor and former White House staffer Kal Penn has raised more than $500,000 for Syrian refugees after a person left a message on one of his Instagram posts saying that he "[doesn't] belong in this country." Penn posted an image of the comment on Saturday accompanied with a link to a crowdfunding page. "To the…
January 31, 2017 at 9:12 am
In a surprise announcement, the Boy Scouts of America said that it will begin accepting transgender boys who want to join its scouting programs. The Scouts' policy change came in a written and video statement released by Chief Scout Executive Michael Surbaugh. He said that for more than a hundred years the Scouts used the…
January 30, 2017 at 9:02 am
The American Civil Liberties Union broke all its fundraising records this weekend as it became the main group challenging President Donald Trump’s immigration restrictions. The ACLU raised $24,164,691 this weekend from 356,306 online donations after Trump signed the order suspending the country’s refugee program and banning entry into the United States of citizens from seven…
January 25, 2017 at 9:42 am
At first glance, the Oregon Public House looks like any other hipster pub in Portland. There are lovingly-crafted local beers. Someone’s playing a ukulele. The only thing missing are the free-range chickens. But take a closer look, and you’ll notice something unusual: a sign reading “nonprofit pub.” “This is the most Portland thing I’ve ever…
January 18, 2017 at 8:33 am
An iconic photo of 3-year-old Syrian boy Aylan Kurdi washed up dead on a Turkish beach had a greater impact on fundraising efforts for Syrian refugees than hundreds of thousands of deaths, a study has shown. The photo of Kurdi appeared in media across the world in the days after he drowned in the Mediterranean…
January 13, 2017 at 12:53 pm
Foundations receiving tax-deductible contributions are booming, but a new report says little of the new money pouring in makes its way to those working on social justice issues. The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy report says between 2003 and 2013, which included the Great Recession, the assets of the country's grant-making foundations increased by more…
January 11, 2017 at 8:00 am
In late 2016, the New Economy Initiative, which is the largest philanthropic funder of regional economic development in the country, announced that it would be distributing half a million dollars to 32 small businesses around Southeastern Michigan. Two winners received $100,000, while 30 others got $10,000 each. The awards came out of the group’s third…
January 10, 2017 at 8:00 am
Donations to the Committee to Protect Journalists surged after actress Meryl Streep used her Golden Globes acceptance speech to urge people to support the organization, Money Magazine reported Monday. In her lifetime achievement award speech, Streep urged the audience to donate to the group as a means to hold President-elect Donald Trump accountable. "Our founders enshrined the…
January 6, 2017 at 10:41 am
A surfing dog has raised half a million dollars for various charities since she started participating in fundraising events for six years. Ricochet, known as the only SURFice dog, reached the $500,000 fundraising milestone, which benefited more than 250 different causes dedicated to kids with special needs, people with disabilities, veterans with PTSD and animals…
January 5, 2017 at 10:47 am
There's something very wrong with how our society deals with those it leaves behind. For all its benefits, modern welfare tends to be restrictive, humiliating, bureaucratic and just not enough. Meanwhile, the ranks of those left behind by today's economy keep expanding, as more workers are sidelined by large-scale structural forces like globalization and technological change.…
