Unicef USA’s Caryl Stern to Lead the Walton Family Foundation

Plus, what to do when your cause is in the spotlight, and two universities each get $30 million [Philanthropy Today] Was this newsletter forwarded to you? [Please sign up]( to receive your own copy. Leadership [Unicef USA’s Caryl Stern Moves to Walton Family Foundation]( [Image]( COURTESY OF UNICEF By Alex Daniels Chronicle reporter She says her new job will allow her to broaden her portfolio into new lines of environmental and educational work. (PREMIUM) ADVERTISEMENT [advertisement]( Communications and Marketing [What To Do When Your Cause Is in the Spotlight: Lessons from the Amazon Fires]( By Jim Rendon Chronicle reporter Rainforest-preservation and indigenous-rights groups saw a spike in donations and interest when fires in Brazil drew the world’s attention. What can your nonprofit learn from their experience? (PREMIUM) Gifts Roundup [U. of Rhode Island and Hampden-Sydney College Each Get $30 Million]( By Maria Di Mento Plus, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill lands $25 million, Russell Hitt and his family have donated $16 million to Inova Behavioral Health for a drug-addiction program, and Craigslist founder Craig Newmark has given $2.5 million to the Wikimedia Foundation. More Big Gifts Plus, see all gifts of [$1 million or more]( in the Chronicle’s database. Paid for and Created by CCS Fundraising [Reflections on Giving]( After the recent publication of [Snapshot of Today’s Philanthropic Landscape]( CCS Fundraising executives discuss the changing landscape of giving in the U.S. Subscribe to the Chronicle Propel your organization's mission with a subscription to the Chronicle. You’ll get unlimited access to the Resource Center, a complimentary membership to GrantStation, and our subscriber-only monthly magazine, filled with premium content and expert analysis on breaking news, policy changes, and fundraising tips. [Subscribe Today]( Nonprofit News From Elsewhere Jeffrey Epstein and Nonprofits Although university administrators and researchers are coming under scrutiny for their roles in pursuing donations from Epstein, the soul-searching is reaching deep into institutions. At MIT, a graduate student is reckoning with her small part — mailing Epstein a thank-you gift — while her professor, noted architect and designer Neri Oxman, faces media questions about $125,000 in contributions from Epstein to her lab. ([Boston Globe]( What’s next for nonprofits and their donor vetting processes. Fundraising experts suggest that the controversy over the Epstein gifts to MIT will prompt other nonprofits to tighten their systems for deciding whether to accept contributions from controversial sources. ([Boston Globe]( Jeffrey Epstein fits into a long American history of philanthropy by super-rich men who have committed illegal or immoral acts or who espoused odious views: Howard Hughes, Henry Ford, and Andrew Carnegie, to name a few. His secret gifts to MIT’s Media Lab suggest that the system for accepting contributions has become “a pool of dark money.” ([Wired]( Harvard professor and anti-corruption activist Lawrence Lessig has argued that, while institutions should not take money from unsavory figures like Epstein, if they do, unanimity is the best policy because it does not allow donors to launder their reputations. But isn’t that laundering happening in a more subtle way? ([New York Times]( More Epstein News Moulton Gives Away Cash from Donor Linked to Epstein ([Boston Globe]( Can the MIT Media Lab Save Itself? ([Boston Globe]( Jeffrey Epstein ‘Facilitated’ Construction of Harvard-Linked Building ([New York Post]( See more news about [Epstein-related fallout]( for nonprofits. Other Top Stories Planned Parenthood and its ousted leader are still wrangling over departure terms. Leana Wen, who was asked to step down, has accused the nonprofit’s board of withholding her health insurance and exit pay as “ransom” to pressure her to sign a confidentiality agreement. In response, Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Melanie Newman said: “Dr. Wen’s recent allegations are unfortunate, saddening, and simply untrue. The attorneys representing the board have made every good faith effort to amicably part from Dr. Wen, and are disappointed that they have been unable to reach a suitable resolution regarding her exit package.” ([New York Times]( Plus, see a Chronicle advice column about what the new interim leader at Planned Parenthood could do to put the organization [on an upward path after the leadership challenge](. Some tech giants are pooling resources to teach children around the world how to use artificial intelligence. The Technovation project, funded by Google, [Nvidia]( [Intel]( and the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, includes 15 weeks of training capped with a global competition for the best application of A.I. Teams have come from Bolivia, Cameroon, India, Somalia, Spain, and the United States, among other countries, and Technovation’s founder said she especially wants to connect children in developing countries with the powerful technology. The winners of this year’s competition were a team from Spain that fitted out a swim cap that could alert lifeguards when a swimmer is in trouble and a Palestinian team that used image-recognition software to analyze children’s drawings for signs they might be the victims of bullying. ([Wall Street Journal]( — subscription) See more from the Chronicle about [philanthropic investments in artificial intelligence](. Eight years after Washington, D.C.’s public schools teamed up with the Flamboyan Foundation to fund teachers’ regular visits to their students’ homes, teachers in the system have made more home visits than in any other public school system in the country. Teachers meet their students and their students’ parents, learn their students’ interests and gauge which approaches might keep both more engaged during the school year. The city’s teachers, who are paid $40 per visit, visited 11,000 students during the last school year. ([Washington Post]( Additional News Papa John's Donation to Simmons College Breaks Down After Schnatter Gift ([WDRB]( Roger Federer Foundation Will Donate $50 Million by End of 2019 ([Tennis World]( Former Director of Military Charity Sentenced to One Year in Prison for Fraud and Tax Evasion ([WTOP]( Milwaukee Business, Nonprofit Groups Plan Big Community Investment Fund ([Milwaukee Business Journal]( — subscription) What Everyone Else Is Reading [Whistle-Blower Tells the Backstory of Jeffrey Epstein and MIT Media Lab]( Signe Swenson raised concerns with her supervisors that she says were ignored. [A Foundation Collapsed. Its Money Is Gone. What Happened Is Shrouded in Mystery.]( Ford and other big grant makers that supported ZeroDivide have a lot of questions. So does California’s attorney general. (PREMIUM) [5 CEOs of Big Foundations Pledge to Do More to Help Charities Pay Overhead]( Leaders of the Ford, Hewlett, MacArthur, Open Society, and Packard foundations also called on all grant makers to recognize that stingy policies are making it hard for many nonprofits to operate efficiently and stay solvent. [MIT Scandal Exposes a Crisis of Ethics at All Nonprofits We Must Fix (Opinion)]( At too many charities, we value donations over everything else. If fundraisers don’t work to improve the situation, we face loss of trust from donors and possible government regulation. [Donor-Advised-Fund Sponsors Have Found a New Way to Hype Payout Rates as Fund Assets Reach $110 Billion (Opinion)]( The approach seems designed to distract policy makers, charities, and others from asking tough questions about the disconnect between the benefit to donors and the benefits to charity and the common good. Planned Giving Success: Get Started and Grow Join our next webinar — The time is right to focus your attention on seeking bequests and other planned gifts: Nearly $9 trillion in assets is[projected to flow from Americans’ estates]( by 2027. But carving out resources to go after those gifts can be tough. Join us and two experts who have secured millions in bequests to learn how to start and maintain a successful planned-giving program. They’ll explain how to make the case for investment to your leaders, share real-world examples of marketing materials and messages, and outline key dos and don’ts. [Join us]( on September 26 at 2 pm Eastern. Want More News and Ideas About Fundraising? See our brand new free weekly newsletter chock full of stories to give you an edge, keep you up to date, and inspire you with advice from your peers. [Subscribe here](. Job Opportunities Find your next job in the Chronicle's jobs section, where employers have posted hundreds of the best career opportunities in the nonprofit world. Here are a few: [Assistant Director of Alumni Relations]( Franklin & Marshall College [Director, Volunteer Engagement]( Longwood Gardens [Vice President Chief Development Officer, TMC Foundation]( Tucson Medical Center [Director of Development, Rare Book School]( Rare Book School at the University of Virginia [Search the Chronicle's jobs database](. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Sign up]( for other newsletters, [stop receiving]( this email, or [view]( our privacy policy. © 2019 [The Chronicle of Philanthropy]( 1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037 [The Chronicle of Philanthropy](