Suit Alleges Drug Firm Made Gifts to Secure Medicare Money
A whistle-blower lawsuit accuses pharmaceutical company Celgene of donating to and colluding with two large patient-assistance charities to get more Medicare patients to use its drugs, in violation of a federal antikickback law, Bloomberg reports.
San Francisco Museums’ Head Casts Doubt on Reports of Exit
Bay Area philanthropist and socialite Diane “Dede” Wilsey indicated she might not give up her roles as CEO and board president of the Fine Arts Museums without a fight, according to The New York Times.
Charity Care at Pa. Hospitals Lags Behind Other States
Free care to low-income patients amounted to less than 1 percent of revenue at nearly two-thirds of Pennsylvania’s hospitals in 2014, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports, citing data that medical centers provided to the state agency that monitors health-care costs.
Turkish Complaint Prompts Tex. Review of Charter Schools
Texas’s education agency is looking into the operations of nonprofit network Harmony Public Schools, which Turkey’s government links to an expatriate Muslim cleric it claims orchestrated last month’s failed coup, the Houston Chronicle and The Wall Street Journal report.
Falling Out Over Fundraising Wracks Small Pa. College
Mansfield University of Pennsylvania has moved to cut ties with its nonprofit fundraising arm amid an acrimonious dispute over giving, deficits, and donor disclosure, The Philadelphia Inquirer writes.
Road to Hershey Trust Deal Paved With ‘Toxic’ Board Battles
A New York Times business column traces the web of financial deals and board disputes that brought on last week’s agreement with Pennsylvania regulators to reform governance at the $12 billion charity that controls the Hershey Company.
Walters Art Museum Adds Investing to Diversity Push
The Baltimore institution is bringing its endowment into a larger diversity effort, hiring four minority- or women-owned financial firms to manage portions of its $116 million portfolio, reports The Baltimore Sun.
Donors Offer $70 Million for Mich. City to Create Foundation
Kalamazoo officials are moving forward with a proposal to take a page from philanthropy to close the city’s budget deficit, cut taxes, and fund long-delayed projects, the Kalamazoo Gazette reports.
Nonprofits and Mass. Towns Tussle Over Tax Proposal
The Boston Globe looks at the battle between charities and local governments in Massachusetts over a state bill that would assess levies on some nonprofit-owned real estate.
‘Ice Bucket Challenge’ Credited for Major ALS Discovery
Money raised through the viral fundraiser that swept the internet two years ago contributed to the identification of a gene that scientists have linked to diagnoses of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, The New York Times and The Christian Science Monitor report.
Chicago’s Jackson Park to Be Home of Obama Library
The $500 million center will sit between Lake Michigan and the University of Chicago in the historic South Side park, the Chicago Tribune and the Associated Press write, citing sources familiar with the selection process.
Clinton Foundation Donors Said to Be Irked by Lack of DNC Access
Big contributors to the Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton Foundation are griping that their gifts to the charity aren’t getting them admitted to exclusive events at the Democratic National Convention put on for major campaign donors, according to The Huffington Post.
Nonprofit N.Y. Circus to End Holiday Shows as Giving Slides
The Big Apple Circus, which gave away tens of thousands of tickets a year for performances in a tent behind Lincoln Center, is folding its big top after falling well short of an emergency fundraising goal, Bloomberg and The New York Times write.
Fraud Concerns Prompt U.S. to Freeze Some Syria Aid Contracts
The government has put more than $200 million in contracts for humanitarian aid to Syria on hold amid fears that corruption is draining money from relief efforts, reports The Washington Post.
Fisk U. Art Sales Open Window Into ‘Deaccessioning’ Debate
The New York Times looks at sales of donated works by Nashville’s Fisk University in light of the larger debate in the museum world over art sales by financially struggling institutions.
Nonprofit Opens a Financial Pipeline for Women-Led Social Ventures
Seeded with a $1 million challenge gift, the effort by RSF Social Finance will mix loans, grants, and investment to help create “a more inclusive economy.”
By Rebecca Koenig
Contributor