Nonprofit News From Elsewhere Online
Time’s Up, the high-profile nonprofit that arose out of the #MeToo movement and collapsed amid internal divisions and public embarrassment, is disbanding. The organization launched five years ago amid a reckoning over sexual harassment and assault in the workplace. It quickly took in $24 million in donations for its legal defense fund, which has focused on helping women in lower-paid jobs and women of color. But in 2021, some of its top executives left after taking heat for advising the administration of then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo when he was accused of sexual misconduct. A persistent criticism was that the organization was too close to the kinds of powerful people accusers find difficult to take on. A top-to-bottom review followed, and Time’s Up was stripped down to a skeletal staff. With its demise, it will transfer the $1.7 million left in its coffers to the legal defense fund, which will continue to operate. (Associated Press)
Background from the Chronicle: Time’s Up Takes Off as Hollywood Allies With Worker Advocates
The end of the AmazonSmile program is another blow to nonprofits already facing increased demand, staffing shortages, and falling “micro” donations, among other woes. The e-commerce giant said the program, which gives 0.05 percent of a customer’s purchase to a charity of their choice, had little impact, citing an average donation of $230. But a spokesman for the National Council of Nonprofits said that’s not a small sum to small nonprofits. Amazon has said it will continue to donate to charity, but another nonprofit leader in California worried it would overlook smaller groups in favor of “high-profile, large, non-controversial organizations.” Some smaller groups that benefit from the Smile program have asked the company to reconsider. “I can tell you as an animal not-for-profit, it made a huge difference to us. That $9,400 meant the world. That isn’t nothing to us,” a New York state animal sanctuary wrote on Twitter. (MarketWatch)
Big Donors
- Hedge Fund Billionaire-Turned-Philanthropist John Arnold Is Behind Miami-Dade’s Bail Reform Software (Miami Herald)
- MacKenzie Scott Has Given More Than $226 Million To Mich. Nonprofits (Crain’s Detroit Business)
- UVA to Use $100 Million Gift To Launch Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology (WVIR)
Politics and Nonprofits
- Dark Money Group Linked To Leonard Leo Is Dissolved (Politico)
- Classified-Documents Controversy Brings Spotlight to Penn Biden Center (Wall Street Journal — subscription)
Religion
- Losing Their Religion: Why U.S. Churches Are On the Decline (Guardian)
- Historic Black Churches Receive $4 Million in Preservation Grants (Associated Press)
Arts and Culture
- Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against Mich. Museum Over Van Gogh Painting (MLive)
- Descendants of Jewish Refugees Escaping Nazis Sue Guggenheim Museum for $200 Million Picasso Painting (AMNY)
