Charity Governance

MARSHAL WILL KANE (GARY COOPER) TAKES ON DEAN ZERBE AT HIGH NOON TOMORROW, MARCH 25, 2008

DATELINE: March 24, 2008, Hadleyville, Kansas

Dean Zerbe, a former top aide to Senator Charles Grassley, will be the featured guest in an Internet question and answer session scheduled for tomorrow (Tuesday, March 25 at 12 noon, eastern time) by the Chronicle of Philanthropy.  Zerbe will discuss the regulatory horizon for charitable organizations and what he learned from his many investigations of charitable organizations as a Senate staffer. 

Take advantage of this opportunity to ask all your pointed questions.  Muster the courage.  You may be shot down in the street, but what the heck.  Isn't preserving your personhood worth the risk?

Go to http://www.philanthropy.com for sign in instructions.  It's free.

FROM T. BOONE PICKENS TO THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO IN JUST ONE WEEK: ARE SENATORS BAUCUS AND GRASSLEY ALREADY CHANGING BEHAVIOR?

Dateline: May 31, 2007, Chicago

Last week we wrote an article about two $50 million gifts made by T. Boone Pickens to two institutions. Each gift carried the stipulation that the money could not be spent until the $50 million gift and the income thereon had grown to $500 million. Pickens clearly exhibited a preference to help future generations rather than the one that is currently alive.

Today, the Chicago Sun Times devoted a full page article to an anonymous University of Chicago alum's $100 million gift to the U of C. The article, by reporter Dave Newbart, is headlined "$100 Million Loan-Killer." The alum's gift can be viewed as the antithesis to T. Boone Pickens' gift. The Sun Times reports that the funds are to be used...

SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE STORY RAISES INTERESTING GOVERNANCE AND TAX ISSUES ABOUT TWO SAN DIEGO NONPROFITS, BUT MORE INVESTIGATION IS WARRANTED

The San Diego Union-Tribune has the start of an a very interesting investigative series about two multi-million non-profits operating in the San Diego area.  The story’s most tantalizing facts include two very small boards, poor grant administration, and a contract with a for-profit entity that raises questions as to whether insiders are stripping earnings out of one of the organizations.  The reporter, Jeff McDonald, has his work cut out for him if he wants to take the story to the next level.  See Pair Build Empire of Nonprofit Services, Aug. 20, 2006.  Based on the story to date, nobody can conclude whether the apparent problems Mr. McDonald has uncovered are just a case of...

SENATOR GRASSLEY IS AT IT AGAIN: DEMANDS INFORMATION FROM A TRUSTEE RE COMPENSATION

Harvy Lipman of the Chronicle of Philanthropy reports today that Senator Grassley, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, is at it again.  See Senate Committee Reviews Oklahoma Trustees' Pay (February 9, 2006).  According to Mr. Lipman, Senator Grassley sent a letter to Sharon J. Bell, a trustee of the Chapman Trusts, an Oklahoma-based charitable trust organized as a supporting organization.  Ms. Bell reportedly receives $1.4 million to act as trustee and the Bank of Oklahoma reportedly receives $3.9 million (both numbers are for an annual period).  Those are admittedly...