Daily News Roundup: New Gates-Omidyar Project to Harness Satellite Data

Megadonors’ “Radiant Earth” Project Aims to Mine Satellite Imagery for Good: Bill and Melinda Gates and Pierre Omidyar are funding an effort to gather and analyze data from satellites on matters ranging from plant health to the impact of natural disasters and make it freely available for use in addressing humanitarian and environmental concerns, the Thomson Reuters Foundation writes.

Financial and Modernizing Moves Doomed Met Museum Head: Vanity Fair offers an inside look at the boardroom battle that led to the forced resignation last month of Metropolitan Museum of Art director Thomas Campbell, whose ambitious expansion plans and focus on digital efforts sowed internal division as the museum’s budget deficit swelled.

Charity: Water Data Efforts Connect Donors to Mission: Focusing on the nonprofit’s annual ball in December, Fast Company details how Charity: Water deploys data and innovative technology to measure its impact on sanitation and health in developing countries and bring the message about its work home to donors. Read a Chronicle Resource Center article on using data to boost fundraising.

State Farm Debuts Volunteer Platform With Ad Push: Television spots that began airing this month tout the insurance company’s new Neighborhood of Good program, an online effort to promote volunteerism by connecting consumers with charitable opportunities in their communities, writes Advertising Age.

Ga. Foundation Says It Unwittingly Gave to White Nationalist Group: The Community Foundation for the Central Savannah River Area said it did not review alt-right leader Richard Spencer’s National Policy Institute before processing two gifts totaling $25,000 made through one of its donor-advised funds, reports the Los Angeles Times. The donations were the largest to the institute in 2013 and 2014, according to previously unpublished tax returns the organization provided to the Times.