Nonprofit news roundup for Sept. 4, 2008

September 4, 2008

In an effort to restore public trust, United Way of Central Carolinas announced that it will not set a monetary goal for its upcoming fundraising campaign, and that board chair Graham Denton has resigned, The Charlotte Observer reported Sept. 4 (see resignation story). Denton served on the executive committee that approved former CEO Gloria Pace King's controversial $1.2-million compensation package in 2006. 

Richard Armstrong, former director of the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, is slated to become the new director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, The New York Times reported Sept. 2 (see Guggenheim story). Armstrong will replace Thomas Krens, who announced his resignation in February after 20 years as museum director. Krens was criticized for his use of museum funds and strained relationships with high-end donors.

Eli and Edythe Broad are giving $400 million of their real-estate and insurance fortune to the Broad Institute, a joint effort of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to find genetic links to major diseases, The New York Times reported Sept. 4 (see Broad story). The gift, the largest to date from the Broad family, will go toward the creation of a $1-billion endowment to ensure the institute's continued operation.

In brief:

* The AARP, the nation's largest membership group and a lobbying giant in Washington, D.C., is celebrating its 50^th birthday, The Washington Post reported Sept. 4.

* A plane carrying United Nations staffers and other aid workers crashed into a mountain in eastern Congo, killing all 17 aboard, Bloomberg reported Sept. 3.

* Many British universities, including the University of the Arts London, are following in the footsteps of Oxford and Cambridge by adopting U.S.-style fundraising techniques, The Independent reported Sept. 4.

• Email this page