Non-Profits

Corporate Ownership Of Media Has Failed Canadians

February 19, 2024 Marc Edge, Canadian Dimension. Create! Canada, Corporatism, Journslism, Media, Non-Profits

For-profit media ownership has decimated journalism in Canada and continues to gouge us with some of the highest prices in the world for telecommunications services such as cellular phones, cable TV and Internet access in order to meet the ever-greater profit expectations of their owners. The private equity players and US hedge funds that own most of our largest newspapers are now harvesting them for hundreds of millions in cash and stripping their assets, all the while complaining to Ottawa that they’re losing money and need subsidies. Postmedia Network, which owns 15 of our 21 largest dailies, has been laying off journalists relentlessly for the past 14 years in order to drain the company of more than $500 million in debt payments.

Investigation: Prince Harry Charity Linked To Horrific Abuses In Africa

January 30, 2024 Survival International. Educate! Conservation, DR Congo, Land grabs, Non-Profits, Prince Harry, Sexual Assault, Violence

A charity with strong ties to Prince Harry has been funding rangers responsible for horrific abuses against Indigenous people in the Congo, including torture and rape, according to a major investigation published in the UK’s Mail on Sunday. The abuses have taken place in Odzala-Kokoua National Park in the Republic of Congo, which is managed by African Parks – Prince Harry is a member of their Board of Directors, a position to which he was “elevated” in 2023, after having served as their President for six years. The investigation has uncovered evidence of countless atrocities committed by African Parks’ “armed militia” against local Baka people.

Over Half Of 20 Top Public Charities Are Donor Advised Funds

September 10, 2023 Helen Flannery, Inequality.org. Educate! charities, Investments, Non-Profits, Tax Breaks

Last year, we wrote about how donor-advised funds, or DAFs, had become the top recipients of charitable giving in the United States. At the time, we were astounded to discover that DAF sponsors made up six of the top 10 and nine of the top 20 most successful public-charity fundraisers in the country. We’ve updated the data for 2021 — the most recent year for which complete data is available — and the picture has only gotten more stark. Donor-advised fund sponsors now make up seven of the top 10 and eleven of the top 20 public charities in the United States. Public charities are nonprofits that rely on a broad base of donors for their revenue.

The NED’s Role In Undermining Democracy In Haiti

October 27, 2022 Travis Ross, Black Agenda Report. Educate! Haiti, NED, Non-Profits, US Imperialism

Haiti is awash in money from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). The NED had a direct role in funding opposition forces and paramilitary forces leading up to the 2004 coup against democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. It is crucial, therefore, to explore how the NED is currently influencing Haiti by funding “Haitian-led” organization inside the country. The NED is overt regarding the grants it provides and funding it delivers on – you can simply visit their website and search. The organization is rarely analyzed, however, and their grantees are seldom scrutinized. The NED was founded in 1983. The NED’s co-founder, Allan Weinstein, was described by the Washington post as the “sugar daddy of overt operations”. According to its website, the NED is “dedicated to fostering the growth of a wide range of democratic institutions abroad” including political parties, business organizations, human rights organizations, and “independent” media.

Nicaragua A ‘Dictatorship’ When It Follows US Lead On NGOs

June 17, 2022 John Perry, Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting. Educate! Nicaragua, Non-Profits, Propaganda, US Imperialism

President Daniel Ortega’s government in Nicaragua is “laying waste to civil society,” according to the Associated Press (6/2/22). The Guardian (6/2/22) called it a “sweeping purge of civil society,” while for the New York Times (2/14/22), Nicaragua is “inching toward dictatorship.” According to the Washington Post‘s Spanish edition (5/19/22), the country is already “a dictatorship laid bare.” In a call echoed by the BBC (5/5/22), the UN human rights commissioner urged Nicaragua to stop its “damaging crackdown on civil society.” What can possibly have provoked such widespread criticism? It turns out that the Nicaraguan National Assembly’s “sweeping purge” was the withdrawal of the tax-free legal status of a small proportion of the country’s nonprofit organizations: just 440 over a period of four years.

How Billionaire Foundations Fund NGOs To Advance US Foreign Policy Goals

May 23, 2021 Rick Sterling, Popular Resistance. Educate! Nicaragua, Non-Profits, Philanthropy, US Imperialism

US foreign policy is increasingly promoted by billionaire funded foundations. The neoliberal era has created individuals with incredible wealth and through “philanthropy”, they flex their influence and feel good at the same time. While these philanthropists can be liberal on some issues, they universally support U.S. foreign policy and the “free market”. Because many of these super-rich individuals made their wealth through investments and speculation, most do not like a planned economy, socialized services beyond the private sector or greater government control. These mega wealthy individuals, and the people who run their foundations, are often intricately connected to the U.S. foreign policy establishment. Grants are given to projects, campaigns and organizations which align with their long-term goals.

4 Nonprofit Hospitals Pocketed $1.7 Billion In Profits In 4 Years

December 23, 2016 Lynn Petrovich, www.endtheillusion.com Educate! Hospitals, New Jersey (NJ), Non-Profits, Profit

By Lynn Petrovich for End The Illusion - Cumulative surplus for these four nonprofit entities totaled over $2.2 Billion, cash in the bank and/or Wall Street investments/brokerage firms. In addition to the above, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (EID #22-6029397), whose mission includes “promoting the health and health care of New Jerseyans and to support research, evaluation, learning and communication efforts that can improve the nation’s health” reported almost $10 Billion in surplus funds as of 12/31/14. In 2012, Barnabas Health, NJ’s largest nonprofit conglomerate, paid its outgoing CEO, Ronald Del Mauro (he was mentioned in my May 2011 request to Monmouth Medical Center), a precedent setting severance package of $21.6 million.

Just How Grey Are The White Helmets And Their Backers?

December 15, 2016 Jan Oberg, www.blog.transnational.org Educate! NGOs, Non-Profits

By Jan Oberg for TFF - While thousands of humanitarian organisations around the world are struggling fiercely with diminishing support from governments and the public, one has achieved a surprising amount of support from Western governments in a surprisingly short period of time and gained a surprising attention from mainstream media and ditto political elites: The Syrian Civil Defence or White Helmets. Their name of course makes you think of the UN’s Blue Helmets and white is the colour of those who should be protected in harm’s way – and the colour of innocence. However, for many years there has been an Argentinian relief organisation with the same name.

Hurricane Relief For Haiti: Best Organization To Support

October 9, 2016 Staff, www.popularresistance.org Organize! Haiti, Hurricane Matthew, Natural Disasters, Non-Profits

Longtime friend and reader Jack Balkwill forwarded us this information from Kathy Kelly about the best organization doing hurricane relief in Haiti. He wrote: There are "over 900 dead and counting, many living in tents now blown away, starving. I didn't want Red Cross with their million dollar executives. It is probably the most urgent charity existing right now, lives can be saved for pennies, if people donate a small amount it can work wonders in Haiti." Relief aid should be empowering. It should be delivered quickly to meet urgent needs, not be used as a permanent channel for relieving normal stress and pain associated with development woes. In times of tragedy, it is important to distinguish between the do-gooders and the predators. It is quite easy for predators to have the upper hand when they can cast themselves as valuable intermediaries.

Your Charity Case, Frack That, Oil Trains & Paradigm Lost

January 13, 2016 Eleanor Goldfield, occupy.com/actout Resistance Report Cove Point, Export Terminals, FERC, Fracking, Non-Profits

By Eleanor Goldfield for Act Out. This week:--- 'tis better to give than to receive – but who are you giving to and who's really receiving the gift? With the help of non-profit employee and activist, Anna Kaminski, we dive into the non-profit industry and peek behind that shiny charity veneer. Next up, from coast to coast, let's talk the fossil fuel industry – fracking, oil trains, export terminals oh my. Activists are making gains but they need your help in taking this fight up to the next level. But first, you have to lose it – a paradigm lost. @ActOutOnOccupy facebook.com/ActOutOnOccupy occupy.com/actout

Faith & Global Poverty Groups Criticize TPP On Fair Global Dvlpment

May 1, 2015 Oxfam, www.oxfamamerica.org Educate! Human Rights, Non-Profits, Poverty, Regulation, TPP

“Trade can indeed spur economic growth and poverty reduction, but only if the rules actually benefit those at the lower end of the development ladder,” said Raymond C. Offenheiser, president of Oxfam America. “Although it is being negotiated in secret, what we currently know about the TPP lines up the trade deal to do exactly the opposite.” In a letter to Congress, Oxfam joined a number of faith and development organizations, including ActionAid USA, Health Alliance International, American Jewish World Service, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (USA), , and NETWORK – a National Catholic Social Justice Lobby to urge for a change in course away from the current design of TPP and the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) bill in order for US trade policy to truly serve development outcomes and reduce global poverty.

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