Our story about the Smithsonian’s hiring of a new director at the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) involved what might be an all-too-common practice in the sector. The Smithsonian hired a director without asking the museum’s advisory committee for its opinion on the candidates. In fact, the museum’s “board of trustees” was never informed of the selection of the candidate, and most board members found out about the choice only by reading about it in the press.

(more…)

Not enough space is devoted to the investment practices and consequences of how foundations deploy their half-trillion dollars (actually, much more) of tax-exempt wealth in the markets. When the Los Angeles Times broke the story (actually, several stories) on the Gates Foundation’s investments in corporations that seemed opposed to the foundation’s philanthropic activities, many were shocked by the foundation’s rather cavalier dismissal of its critics.

(more…)

Earlier this year, when Republican Congressman Robin Hayes of North Carolina announced his intention to create the Congressional Philanthropy Caucus, nothing seemed amiss. The caucus was the lobbying creation of the Council on Foundations (COF)—so much so, in fact, that Hayes told interviewers to call “Steve” (as in Gunderson, the CEO of the foundation trade association) to understand the caucus’s agenda, as the Cohen Report noted earlier this year.

(more…)