Nonprofits Face More Scrutiny Over Controversial Donors

As Western universities and charities increasingly attract donors from the Middle East and the fast-growing economies of Russia, China, and India, they are dealing with increased scrutiny of donors, the Financial Times reports.

The recent resignation of the director of the London School of Economics and Political Science over the institution’s links with Libya, which included a large grant from one of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s sons, underscores the tension as institutions seek to balance the need to seek new donors with concerns over transparency, potential political fallout, and the origins of new philanthropists’ fortunes, the newspaper writes.