News Briefing: 2 Charities Set to End a Merger, Papers Say

• Smile Train and Operation Smile prepare to end their merger plans.  [New York Times]

 

• Blue Cross CEO receives $8.6M in exit deal.  [Boston Globe]

News Briefing: To Help Donors Choose, Web Site Alters How It Sizes Up Charities

• As the number of millionaires rises in the Asia-Pacific region, so too does the demand for philanthropy-related advisory services.  [New York Times]

 

• Charity Navigator embarks on an overhaul to offer a wider array of information to donors who are deciding which organizations they might help.  [New York Times]

 

• Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, and Justin Timberlake join other celebrities in a charity campaign called Digital Life Sacrifice.  [Associated Press]

 

• High-tech campaigns sweep the nonprofit world.  [Denver Post]

 

• U.S. nonprofit organizations are seeing a slight increase in donations.  [Associated Press]

News Briefing: Group Is Accused on Tax Exemption

• The Americans for Prosperity Foundation is charged with running advertisements that are "political in nature."  [New York Times]

• A U.S. aid worker kidnapped four months ago in Sudan has been freed by authorities.  [Associated Press]

• The humanitarian leader Abdul Sattar Edhi has been helping the destitute and sick for more than 60 years.  [Associated Press]

• Billionaire fund manager Stanley Druckenmiller plans to shut down his hedge fund and spend more time on philanthropy.  [Bloomberg]

News Briefing: 2 New York Institutions Want to Keep Ponzi Gifts

• Animal shelters in the Gulf area are filling up as owners uncertain of their economic future give up their pets.  [Associated Press]

• Two high-profile New York City institutions - the Asia Society and the Spence School - have not returned donations made by Hassan Nemazee, who admitted to running a Ponzi scheme.  [New York Times]

• A significant part of past donations for the annual AIDS Walk in San Francisco has gone to an international AIDS charity.  [New York Times]

• The National Endowment for the Arts announces $3 million in grants to city governments and other organizations around the country for urban design projects.  [New York Times]

News Briefing: Nonprofit Advocate Carves Out a For-Profit Niche

• Richard Berman has founded six nonprofit organizations that his critics say are just moneymakers for his communications firm.  [New York Times]

• A nonprofit gym in Boston helps women in a low-income neighborhood lose weight and get in shape.  [NPR]

• Six years into an effort to build a local audience, the Brooklyn Museum sees its attendance drop 23% from the year before.  [New York Times]

• Sharon Rice, the former Executive Director of the Medical Association of Atlanta, pleads guilty to one count of wire fraud after stealing nearly $300,000 from the non-profit organization.  [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

News Briefing: LI Breast Cancer "Charity" Was A Scam

• USA Today publishes a special section on philanthropy.  [USA Today]

• A family in Great Neck, New York is accused of setting up a fake breast cancer charity and soliciting over $500,000 from unsuspecting donors.  [Newsday]

News Briefing: Obama Names Charities Receiving His Nobel Prize Money

• President Obama releases the names of the charities that will receive his $1.4 million in Nobel Peace Prize money.  [New York Times]

• A group of Republican senators questions high salaries and expensive travel bills for executives at the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, raising issues that could jeopardize millions in federal funding for the national charity.  [Associated Press]

• Disney's "Give a Day, Get a Disney Day" reaches its goal to inspire 1 million people in 2010 to give back to their communities.  [USA Today]

News Briefing: States Move to Revoke Charities’ Tax Exemptions

• Michael Hintze, founder of hedge-fund manager CQS, is one of the public faces of philanthropy in the U.K.  [Wall Street Journal]

• Scoring charitable work is evolving from an art into a science.  [Wall Street Journal]

• Faced with steep declines in tax revenue, an increasing number of states and localities are considering eliminating various tax exemptions for nonprofit groups.  [New York Times]

• Chileans accelerate their rescue, aid, and security efforts in damaged regions Sunday.  [Washington Post]

News Briefing: Russian Leader Expresses Support for Nonprofits

• The American Red Cross embarks on a holiday fundraising campaign, complete with an online gift catalog and advertising.  [New York Times]

• Andrew Cuomo files papers to shut down the United Homeless Organization, alleging it is a sham run by people who keep most of the cash donated to them.  [NBC News]

• Russian President Dmitri Medvedev calls for tax incentives and other measures to assist Russia's nonprofit groups.  [New York Times]

• Young heirs seek moral balance between inherited windfalls and social responsibilities.  [Washington Post]

News Briefing: Accountants Sue Charity for Wrongful Dismissal

• Two accountants sue Feed The Children for wrongful dismissal after they notified the charity's board that the organization owed $1.1 million in taxes.  [Associated Press]

• Barbra Streisand auctions more than 400 of her dresses and suits, books, and other collectibles for charity.  [Associated Press]

• The nonprofit salary of a well-connected D.C. lobbyist is questioned.  [Washington Post]