Good reads from the charity world

Good reads this Wednesday in the Philanthropy world!  Coincidentally, both are about money.

Several charity groups have asked that we stop worrying so much about their overhead expenses when choosing organizations to support.  The Chronicle of Philanthropy outlines both sides of the debate and suggests that we still need these data points to keep everyone honest.  I feel that there will always be a few bad apples when money is involved and we need some watchdog groups to tell us who is not being a good steward of the donor dollar.  I especially get annoyed with the pu-pu-platter of cancer charity organizations that have a name similar to the larger, more well-known organizations and use that similarity to skim donations from the intended recipients.  Call them out!

In other news, it appears that Komen has ‘replaced’ Nancy Brinker with a new CEO.  According to the Dallas Morning News: Judith Salerno, 61, is executive director and chief operating officer of the Institute of Medicine, a prestigious independent group that advises the government and private sector about health and science.

The NPQ announced the new hire with a snarky headline: Komen Finally Chooses a Successor to Brinker or So They Say 

Apparently, the NPQ does not believe that Nancy Brinker was really replaced, since her new title is Chair of Global Strategy and will be responsible for “revenue creation, strategy and global growth as chair of the Komen Board Executive Committee.”  She will report to the new CEO.

Komen clearly needed to do something bold, since they have been criticized for some bad decisions in the past year – like the Planned Parenthood debacle, the “resignation” but not departure of the CEO, and the dialing-back of their signature events.  I hope this new ‘leader’ can use her health policy experience to get the fundraising back to where it should be so that we can get rid of this nasty disease. 

We will miss you, Kris