Talisman Philanthropy

Clinton Foundation v. Burning Man – Nonprofit Transparency

March 5, 2015 at 11:14 am Barbara Talisman, CFRE Leave a comment

Interesting reading nonprofit news within seven days of each other.

Eric Braverman is out as CEO of the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation – after less than two years. Politico writes,

Braverman had been brought in with the former first daughter’s support to help impose McKinsey-like management rigor to a foundation that had grown into a $2 billion charitable powerhouse. Read more.

Other reports indicate he tried to make too much change too fast. Isn’t that always the case – bring in a change agent then slow them down….

On the other end of the spectrum, Burning Man made the press for the openess of their financial records. Writes Brian Mittendorf in an opinion piece in the Chronicle of Philanthropy

Its leaders, who decided that being a nonprofit entity was more in keeping with the organization’s mission, did not fill out the financial forms in a way that merely complies with the law. Instead, they went out of their way to provide additional details, particularly in regard to transactions with insiders and other items stemming from its reorganization. Read the full piece here.

I found it interesting two non-profit organizations, both led and supported by a few key donors have take two very different paths of transparency…….where does your nonprofit organization stand in the land of transparent communications and financials?

Entry filed under: A Better You, Fundraising, Nonprofit fundraising. Tags: Bill, Braverman out as CEO of Clinton Foundation, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation. Burning Man transparent financials, nonprofit transparency.