Brad Pitt's housing fiasco and more philanthropy highlights from 2022

+ donating to abortion funds US Edition - Today's top story: Donating to help women get abortions is a First Amendment right – protected by Supreme Court precedents [View in browser]( US Edition | 27 December 2022 [The Conversation] [The Conversation]( Many of 2022’s top news stories – abortion restrictions, mass shootings and the war in Ukraine – shook things up for philanthropy and nonprofits. After the Supreme Court issued its Dobbs ruling, questions arose about whether the Constitution still protected the right to financially help women and girls get an abortion in states banning the procedure. The answer is yes, argued University at Buffalo law professor Lucinda M. Finley in one of my favorite articles of the year. To support her case for why charities and individuals have a [freedom to donate]( to abortion funds, she drew on fascinating precedents like the Citizens United campaign finance ruling and panhandling cases. Early in 2022, millions of Americans began to chip in to aid Ukrainians. The Conversation turned to Beth Gazley, a nonprofit scholar at Indiana University, for guidance on the best ways to donate. She recommended [several practices](, such as funding organizations rather than strangers and dispatching cash rather than goods, in one of the year’s most-read articles on giving. Maybe you’ve found yourself wondering about the National Rifle Association’s history following tragic mass shootings like the ones in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas. In an article that was very popular with our readers, political scientist Robert Spitzer summed up how the NRA emerged soon after the Civil War but only began to emphasize what its supporters call “[gun rights](” in the 1970s. Diana Cuy Castellanos, a University of Dayton scholar of nutrition, and John C. Jones, who studies urban food systems at Virginia Commonwealth University, teamed up to write another article I’d like to highlight: They observed that food pantries frequently, and rather unhelpfully, have an “[acorn squash problem](” because they give away foods that their clients don’t want and are unlikely to eat. And I learned a lot while editing nonprofit scholar George Mitchell’s snapshot of [research about charities]( that buck “widely accepted norms for nonprofit financial management.” He and a colleague determined that these organizations tend to fare better than organizations that strictly follow standard operating procedures. Judith Keller, an urban geography Ph.D student, relayed the results of her investigation of the many things that went wrong with movie star Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation. Homeowners sued the New Orleans charity he founded after Hurricane Katrina over the faulty construction of housing it built for them – reaching a $20.5 million settlement with the apparently defunct group in August. Pitt’s charity, Keller explained, “[ushered in another disaster](” for the survivors it was supposed to help. It was by far our most popular article in 2022 on these issues. And one last note on philanthropy: If you are considering your own end-of-the-year donations, we hope you will consider supporting this nonprofit organization. Your donations will be put to good use in creating trustworthy journalism for you. [Give today and your donation will be tripled by a generous donor](. Emily Schwartz Greco Philanthropy + Nonprofits Editor Editor's picks An abortion provider in San Antonio had to turn patients away after the June 24, 2022, Supreme Court ruling. Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images [Donating to help women get abortions is a First Amendment right – protected by Supreme Court precedents]( Lucinda M. Finley, University at Buffalo Even in states that ban abortion, legal precedents indicate that donating to, and receiving assistance from, abortion funds is an expression of free speech. Not everyone’s up for converting this vegetable into a side or main dish. duckycards/E+ via Getty Images [Food pantries that give away stuff people can’t or won’t cook have an ‘acorn squash problem’]( Diana Cuy Castellanos, University of Dayton; John C. Jones, Virginia Commonwealth University Efforts to make donated food as healthy as possible backfire if the recipients throw it out. Bucking conventions can be wise. wenmei Zhou/ DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images [Charities that don’t embrace common financial norms tend to outperform their peers]( George E. Mitchell, Baruch College, CUNY A new study adds to a body of work that casts doubt on the wisdom of the standard rulebook many donors expect charities to follow. Reader favorites Brad Pitt walks past a house under construction in New Orleans in a 2007 photo. AP Photo/Alex Brandon [Brad Pitt’s apparently defunct foundation reached a $20.5 million settlement with Hurricane Katrina survivors over its green housing debacle]( Judith Keller, University of Heidelberg The low-income homebuyers who obtained these homes were deprived of the financial security they were promised. They’re now eligible for at least $25,000 in reimbursements for repairs. These charity leaders teamed up to fundraise on March 3, 2022, for refugees fleeing Ukraine. Stefan Rousseau/PA Images via Getty Images [How to responsibly donate to Ukrainian causes]( Beth Gazley, Indiana University Give with your head, not just your heart, advises a scholar who has studied donations made after disasters and other crises. NRA conventiongoers, like these at the gun group’s 2018 big meeting, browse firearms exhibits. Loren Elliott/AFP via Getty Images [How the NRA evolved from backing a 1934 ban on machine guns to blocking nearly all firearm restrictions today]( Robert Spitzer, State University of New York College at Cortland The group, founded in 1871, didn’t try to smother virtually all gun control efforts until the mid-1970s. - - More of The Conversation: Like this newsletter? You might be interested in our weekly and biweekly emails: • [Weekly Highlights]( • [Science Editors' Picks]( • [This Week in Religion]( • [Politics Weekly]( • [Global Perspectives]( • [Global Economy & Business]( - - About The Conversation: We're a nonprofit news organization dedicated to [helping academic experts share ideas with the public](. We can give away our articles thanks to the help of foundations, universities and readers like you. 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