Nonprofit News From Elsewhere Online
The National Audubon Society’s Board of Directors has voted to keep the conservation group’s name, despite its links to a slaveholder and white supremacist. Even as local chapters of the nonprofit have changed their names, the national group’s CEO said its board had decided that “Audubon” had come to symbolize the 118-year-old group’s mission and achievements, “transcending” the name of John James Audubon. The 19th-century naturalist was a white supremacist and slaveholder, for whom the group was named more than 50 years after his death. The Seattle chapter, which has dropped “Audubon” but has not yet settled on a new moniker, said in a statement it was “shocked, confused, and deeply disappointed” by the decision. The national organization’s employee union changed its name to the Bird Union last month, saying, “We will not elevate and celebrate a person who would reject and oppress our union members today.” (New York Times)
The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank is part of a shifting landscape giving major nonprofit investors more leverage to demand environmental, social, and corporate-governance goals from the venture capitalists taking their money. Before the government bailout of SVB was announced, some large institutional investors considered offering cash to the startups stuck in limbo in exchange for their setting diversity and ESG goals. In the long term, observers say the power is shifting away from venture capitalists who offered huge returns to foundations and endowments but often dismissed requests by these investors to establish and record socially responsible practices. Ascendant now are deep-pocketed foundations and others “as economic headwinds for the venture-capital industry have given more power to its investors to make demands.” Those demands are likely to extend to the startups funded by venture capitalists as well. (Semafor)
Plus: Silicon Valley Bank Collapse Leaves a Huge Gap in the Affordable-Housing Ecosystem (Market Watch)
More News
- Chuck Schumer Gives Campaign Donations From Silicon Valley Bank’s Ex-CEO, PAC to Charity (CNBC)
- Walgreens Is Pulling Back on the Abortion Pill; These Startups and Nonprofits Aren’t Backing Down (Fast Company)
- Ukraine Needs Armored Vehicles. This Ukrainian Charity Bought Dozens. (Wall Street Journal — subscription)
- Catholic Charities of Omaha Active-Shooter Drill Lawsuit Raises Legal Question (Omaha World-Herald)
- The Maine Lobster Industry Sues Calif. Aquarium Over a Do-Not-Eat Listing (NPR)
- St. Louis Creates Philanthropic Fund, Other Programs to Direct Capital to Disinvested Areas After Federal Pandemic Dollars Run Out in 2026 (St. Louis Business Journal)
- City Council Committee OKs Pro-Union Ordinance Aimed at Chicago Nonprofits Despite Opposition (Chicago Tribune)
- Stories of Nonprofit Heroes and Social-Change Innovators (Savvy Altruism)
- ‘Rough Sleepers': How One Person Can Make a Difference Caring for the Unhoused (NPR)
Museums
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art Owns 77 Works Linked to Trafficker Subhash Kapoor (Observer)
- Thank you, Ellen Futter: 30 years on the job, American Museum of Natural History president leaves a dino-sized legacy (New York Daily News)
- Museum Watch Group Decries Ousting of Moscow’s Tretyakov Gallery Director, Warns of ‘Loss of Art Autonomy’ (ARTnews)
