News Briefs for November 3, 2013

American Red Cross to Change Online Disaster Solicitations

The American Red Cross, after talks with New York’s attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, about the group’s response to Superstorm Sandy, agreed to omit references to specific disasters when seeking online donations to avoid confusion about how it will spend the money it receives. It also agreed to do more to let the public know when its fundraising needs for a major disaster have been met, and said it will provide $6-million in new money for housing in Sandy-battered communities.

Penn State to Pay $60-Million to Sandusky Victims

Penn State University said it would pay $59.7-million to 26 victims of the former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, who is now serving a prison term for abusing 10 boys while working at Penn State and the Second Mile, a youth charity he founded.

Investigation Highlights Fraud, Other Diversion of Assets at Nonprofits

More than 1,000 nonprofits checked a box on their Form 990 tax filings from 2008 to 2012 to report that they had discovered a “significant diversion” of assets, according to a Washington Post investigation. Hundreds of millions of dollars were lost to embezzlement, fraud, and other unauthorized uses of money, but many organizations routinely omitted key details of the fund drainage on their tax forms, the newspaper found.

Charity that Offers Cash to Poor Reports Strong Results

Charities traditionally help poor people by providing services, goods, or money that must be spent a certain way. But a new study found that poor people in Kenya who were simply given cash to spend any way they wanted were less hungry and had higher incomes, more household assets, and greater psychological well-being than a group that didn’t receive any help, a study found. The cash, an average of $720 provided by the charity GiveDirectly, had little impact on health or education, however, according to the study, conducted by researchers working with Innovations for Poverty Action.

Oxfam to Cut Staff, Concentrate Work in Fewer Countries

Oxfam, the global-development charity, said it planned to cut 125 jobs in Britain, close some English regional offices, and concentrate its work in fewer, poorer countries. It said its 2013 income fell by 4.5 percent from the previous year, to $588-million.

Food-Stamp Benefits Fall AS Stimulus Boost Ends

Benefits for more than 47 million food-stamp recipients fell on November 1, when a boost introduced by the 2009 federal economic-stimulus program expired. The cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will equal $5-billion in 2014, or $29 a month for a household of three, says the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Cleveland Art Museum Director Resigns Over Extramarital Affair

David Franklin resigned as director of the Cleveland Museum of Art after the board discovered he had had an extramarital affair with a former museum employee who committed suicide, the board chairman, R. Steven Kestner, said in a statement to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Virginia Davidson, a lawyer representing Mr. Franklin, said in an e-mail that the revelations involved a “tragedy that has nothing to do with Dr. Franklin’s fine performance” as museum director.

Nonprofits to Pay $1-Million For Calif. Campaign-Finance Violations

Two out-of-state nonprofits will pay a record $1-million to settle charges that they violated California’s campaign-finance laws by failing to disclose their spending to influence two ballot measures, state authorities said. The case involved the Center to Protect Patient Rights and Americans for Responsible Leadership, both connected to the conservative brothers Charles and David Koch. The patient-rights center said in a statement the state had recognized that the group’s conduct was inadvertent.