News Briefing: As Newark Rebuilds, Help From Beyond City Limits

• Cory Booker, Mayor of Newark, aggresssively courts private capital to bolster his financially beleaguered city.  [New York Times]

• The board of the A.C.L.U. votes to take over the management and operations of its South Carolina affiliate.  [New York Times]

• Public radio tries to reignite its public.  [New York Times]

News Briefing: Gates Foundation to Give $306 Million to Assist Poor Farmers

• The relationship between the American Heart Association and Merck/Schering-Plough Pharmaceuticals is questioned after the charity came to the defense of a drug made by the company.  [New York Times]

• The Gates Foundation announces a new philanthropic initiative, giving $306 million to increase the productivity of impoverished farmers.  [New York Times]

• Former California Senate leader John Burton is sued for sexual harrassment by the executive director of his charitable foundation.  [San Francisco Chronicle]

Smithsonian Executives’ Pay Tops President’s, Report Finds

New York Times:  Salaries for some Smithsonian Institution executives are higher than those for other top federal jobs, including those of the United States president and vice president, according to the institution’s acting inspector general.

United Way’s Top Executive Says He Will Retire in the Summer

New York Times:  Lawrence Mandell, president and chief executive of the United Way of New York City, stunned the staff of the organization yesterday by announcing that he would be retiring in June.

Art Historian Hired to Direct the Getty

Los Angeles Times:  Moving to steady an institution shaken by scandals that forced the resignation of top executive Barry Munitz in February, the Getty Trust announced on Monday the hiring of President James N. Wood, a 65-year-old art historian and former president of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Supporters of A.C.L.U. Call for the Ouster of Its Leaders

New York Times:  More than 30 longtime supporters of the American Civil Liberties Union are calling for the ouster of the organization’s leadership, saying it has failed to adhere to the principles it demands of others and thus jeopardized the organization’s effectiveness.

A Guide for the First-Time Executive Director

The Nonprofiteer: The biggest shock is the change in constituency.  You've managed up--that is, managed your boss--before; if you hadn't done it successfully, you wouldn't be here.  Likewise with managing down.  So the skills are already in place.  The challenge is applying them to the multiple people on the Board of Directors.