News Briefing: CARE, in Return to Roots, Will Offer Virtual Packages

• CARE will offer donors the option of buying virtual care packages.  [New York Times]

 

• Nicolas Sarkozy's museum plan sparks debate on French culture.  [New York Times]

News Briefing: Wife’s Charity Offers Corporate Tie to a Governor

Charities like the Jindal Foundation offer ties to politicians.  [New York Times]

The LeBron James Family Foundation begins spreading 'Decision' wealth.  [Associated Press]

Billionaire Carlos Slim opens a new art museum in Mexico City.  [CBS News]

News Briefing: Retailer Links with Musicians for Green Causes

• The Art Institute of Chicago has received a $10 million gift from the Jaharis Family Foundation.  [New York Times]

 

• Patagonia launches a new music initiative, where fans can get exclusive tracks and the profits go to green causes.  [Associated Press]

 

• Nelly Furtado will donate the $1 million she was paid to perform for members of Gadhafi's clan.  [Associated Press]

News Briefing: Long After Giving His Money Away, a Donor Takes the Pledge

• Charles Feeney becomes the 59th signatory to the Giving Pledge.  [New York Times]

 

• Itzhak Perlman resings from the Westchester Philharmonic.  [Wall Street Journal]

News Briefing: Knight Foundation Spreads Random Acts of Culture

• The Knight Foundation spreads random acts of culture.  [New York Times]

 

• Slate lists the largest American charitable contributions in 2010.  [Slate]

 

• Private philanthropists push for change in Catholic schools.  [New York Times]

News Briefing: Charter Schools Expand with Public, Private money

• The charter school movement expands with the support of the Obama administration, wealthy donors, and a highly publicized documentary.  [Washington Post]

 

• Walter Collins is named the Executive Director of the California Symphony.  [San Jose Mercury News]

News Briefing: Corcoran Hires consultant to Help Re-Imagine Museum

The Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee files for bankruptcy.  [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

The Corcoran Gallery of Art turns to consultants to help re-imagine the museum and art school.  [Washington Post]

News Briefing: Gates Foundation donates $50 million to Smithsonian

• The Gates Foundation donates $50 million to the Smithsonian.  [Washington Post]

 

• The Seattle Symphony Orchestra names Simon Woods as its new executive director.  [Seattle Times]

 

• The U.N. says North Korea's food problems remain pressing.  [Reuters]

News Briefing: Cultural Boards Get Younger Look

• A study by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy says that only 11 percent of American foundations devoted at least half their grants to programs that benefit vulnerable students.  [Associated Press]

 

• The Supreme Court will decide whether patents on inventions that arise from federally-funded research must go to the university where the inventor worked.  [Associated Press]

 

• New York's elite cultural boards begin recruiting trustees under 40.  [Wall Street Journal]

 

• Newark's Cory Booker has raised $240 million for parks, schools, and police since taking office in 2006.  [Bloomberg]

News Briefing: Rome Trial of Ex-Getty Curator Ends

• The case against Marion True, the former curator of antiquities at the J. Paul Getty Museum, ends after a cour rules that the statute of limitations had expired.  [New York Times]

• A rare sheet of stamps featuring Audrey Hepburn is expected to fetch six figures at a charity auction in Berlin.  [Associated Press]

• The nation's largest for-profit college says it will tighten admission practices.  [Associated Press]

• USC announced two donations totaling $100 million.  [Los Angeles Times]