Nonprofit News From Elsewhere Online
Churches’ contributions and other support for local political candidates in Abilene, Tex., have prompted calls for action from state and federal regulators. One unsuccessful city council candidate received $800 from three churches, while at least five churches displayed campaign signs for him and two other candidates. Scott Beard, a pastor, said he would return the donations, which violate federal and possibly state prohibitions, but the Freedom From Religion Foundation is demanding that the Internal Revenue Service revoke the churches’ tax-exempt status. Two local people have also gone to the Texas Ethics Commission about irregularities in Beard’s campaign-finance filings and plan to add the churches’ donations to their complaints. As for the yard signs, one of the candidates said he disagreed with experts’ assessments that they violated the law. “Just because we are religious; or more specifically; Christians; it does not mean we lose our 1st Amendment rights,” James Sargent wrote in a text message. (ProPublica and Texas Tribune)
Oxford University has joined the list of major institutions to remove the Sackler name from its buildings. The name will be scrubbed from a library and two galleries, as well as two staff positions. Members of the Sackler family, some of whom controlled OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, and related trusts gave the university donations “that ranged from 10 to 15 million pounds [about $12 million to $19 million] since 1993.” The university said it will keep the money. Oxford’s move follows similar removals by the Louvre, London’s Tate museums, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and others in light of Purdue’s central role in the opioid crisis, which has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives in the United States. The Sackler name will remain on a slate tablet that lists major donors “for the purposes of historical recording of donations to the university.” (New York Times)
Background from the Chronicle: A Legacy of Sackler: Let’s Reconsider Philanthropic Naming Rights (Opinion)
More News
- Google Billionaire Sergey Brin Gifts $600 Million in Surging Shares (Bloomberg)
- Venture-Fund Returns Show Worst Slump in More Than a Decade, Hit Endowments (Wall Street Journal — subscription)
- Prominent Foe of Female Circumcision Wins Prestigious $1.4 Million Templeton Prize (Associated Press)
- Trump’s PAC Funded Smithsonian Portraits Though Individual Donors Were Suggested, Emails Show (Washington Post)
- Inevitable Foundation Launches Emergency Relief Fund to Support Disabled Writers Amid WGA Strike (Hollywood Reporter)
- Former Seattle Nonprofit Executive Admits Stealing Millions For Gambling, Clothes, And Travel (KUOW)
Abortion
- Kan. Governor Vetoes Measures to Aid Anti-Abortion Centers, Limit Health Officials’ Power (Associated Press)
- La. Senate Votes 36-1 for Anti-Abortion Pregnancy Crisis Centers Tax Credit (Louisiana Illuminator)
Arts and Culture
- Ark. Museum Locked in Legal Battle Over Donation of Photo Trove Nearly 50 Years Ago (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
- National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis Plans ‘Transformative’ Expansion and Renovation (Memphis Commercial Appeal)
- ‘A Flapdoodle’ Follows Wichita Art Museum’s Game-Changing Sale of a Prominent Henry Moore Sculpture (Wichita Eagle)
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