The event in New York City in late January looked more like a pitch meeting for venture capitalists than the usual Jewish philanthropic gathering. Several dozen businessmen and women holding booklets with financial balance sheets listened attentively as 17 heads of Jewish not-for-profit organizations took the stage and spoke for 20 minutes each, as if…
Congress budgeted $13 million for a controversial nonprofit security assistance program that mostly aids Jewish institutions. The money was in the $1.1 trillion budget passed this week by both houses of Congress. Last year the program received just $10 million. The program, which has existed since the mid-2000s, has so far disbursed $151 million through…
(JTA) — Bernard Madoff. An unscrupulous contractor. Art that disappeared or was destroyed by fire – it’s not clear which. Bad, bad bookkeepers. And did we mention Bernard Madoff? These were among the causes of “material diversion” of assets – tax-speak for lost funds or property totaling $250,000 or 5 percent – reported by Jewish…
(JTA) — The biblical David used a slingshot to kill Goliath, thus earning the attention of King Saul. Today, Jewish organizations are trying to use Slingshot, an annual guide of the 50 “most innovative organizations and projects,” to capture the attention of donors. The ninth installment of the guide was released Thursday. Launched in 2005…
One Jewish charity CEO hid allegedly stolen cash in his apartment closet. Another had an affair with his assistant while the assistant’s son-in-law stole from the CEO’s organization. A third covered up sex abuse charges for decades. Scandal after scandal has hit New York’s top Jewish charities this year. Experts blame lax oversight, saying that…
The stunning array of charges against William Rapfogel, the disgraced former head of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, should prompt Jewish organizations to engage in soul-searching and make governance changes to avoid similar misfortunes, say experts in non-profit management and ethics. But that, they say, isn’t happening. Charming and savvy, Rapfogel was arrested September…
Of all the things we’ve learned about the Internal Revenue Service these past few weeks, the most amazing item is this: The IRS has a highly attenuated sense for the proper place for God in our lives. Just listen in on a telephone conversation from 2012: An IRS agent named Sherry Wan is telling the…
As the Internal Revenue Service reels from revelations that it targeted Tea Party groups’ tax-exempt applications for extra scrutiny, Jewish groups from the left and right are seeking to draw attention to a less noticed reality they say they face: Groups with ties to Israel seem to be drawing extra IRS scrutiny, too. Several Jewish…
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