News Briefing: Save the Children Breaks With Soda Tax Effort

• Obama meets with Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett to discuss the Giving Pledge.  [USA Today]

 

• Pedro Espada is indicted for embezzling from a nonprofit he controlled.  [New York Times]

 

• Save the Children abandons efforts to tax soft drinks and claims grants from Coca-Cola and Pepsi are not a factor in the decision.  [New York Times]

News Briefing: Anti-Smoking Advocate Is Named to Health Post

• The ACLU claims Roman Catholic bishops are wrongly imposing their religious beliefs on victims of human trafficking.  [Associated Press]

• The overlap of names on Bill Clinton's foundation donor list and business interests raises questions about ethical conflicts between Hillary's official actions and her husband's fundraising.  [Associated Press]

• Barack Obama chooses the head of a leading anti-tobacco organization to be the number two at the Department of Health & Human Services.  [New York Times]

News Briefing: Some Philanthropists Are No Longer Content to Work Quietly

• A new breed of philanthropists are using their money to influence public policy.  [New York Times]

• David G. Booth donates $300 million to the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.  [New York Times]

• The Chicago Tribune sits down with David Booth to discuss his record donation to the University of Chicago.  [Chicago Tribune]

• In Sarasota County, opportunity exists for Habitat for Humanity and the city to work together.  [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]

News Briefing: Economy Expected to Take a Toll on Charitable Giving

• Several prominent foundations in the New York area have been particularly damaged by the recent collapses on Wall Street.  [New York Times]

• The Howard Hughes Medical Institute chooses Robert Tjian, a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Berkeley, as its next president.  [New York Times]

• Thirty-three pastors defy a federal law that prohibits U.S. clergy from endorsing political candidates from the pulpit.  [Washington Post]

News Briefing: Bloomberg’s Next Battle: Revamping Senior Centers

• Bloomberg seeks to bring his business-minded, results-based approach to the city's senior centers.  [New York Times]

• Chairman of the Smithsonian donates $15 million to the National Museum of Natural History.  [Washington Post]

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: Most of Clintons' $10 Million in Charitable Donations Went to Family Foundation

• American Idol and Fox prepare for their second annual "Idol Gives Back" fundraising appeal.  [New York Times]

• The Kenyan government is asking donor nations, including the U.S., to provide nearly $500 million to resettle people and rebuild the tens of thousands of burned down homes, businesses, public utilities, and schools.  [New York Times]

• Seventy-seven percent of nonprofit hospitals are in the black compared to just 61% of for-profit hospitals.  [Wall Street Journal]

• The majority of the Clintons' charitable contributions over the past eight years has gone to the Clinton Family Foundation.  [Washington Post]

News Briefing: From Small Donors Come Big Rewards

• Bill Clinton's sprawling business and charitable empire attracts more scrutiny as the Democratic presidential nomination race gets tighter.  [Wall Street Journal]

• Grass-roots giving is reshaping campaign fundraising.  [Los Angeles Times]

News Briefing: Medical Center to Support Tuition Fund in Pittsburgh

• The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, with an annual "excess of margin" of $618 million, will contribute up to $100 million to help pay college tuition for seniors graduating from the city's public schools.  [New York Times]

• Wiley College, struggling for survival, turns to silver screen for its fundraising hopes.  [New York Times]

• Fordham alum William D. Walsh gives the school his antiquities collection, establishing the Fordham Museum of Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Art.  [New York Times]

• 501 (c)(4) nonprofit groups emerge in 2008 election campaigns.  [Washington Post]

News Briefing: Mystery $100M Donation Lifts Erie, PA

• Mysterious donor gives staggering $100 million to the Erie Community Foundation; 46 charities to receive $1 - $2 million each.  [Associated Press]

• For 2008 election, some major political players are expected to shift their money from traditional campaign entities to nonprofits, who do not impose contribution caps.  [Los Angeles Times]

• Charities begin experimenting with mergers as a way to cut costs, reduce duplication of services, and increase their reach.  [New York Times]