#non-profits

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Andrew Bernard

“It has become clear that the explosion of antisemitic activity on college campuses has been supported and encouraged by bad actors who, in many cases, have used tax-exempt organizations for those purposes,” he said. “The violence and hatred directed at Jewish Americans and in support of terrorist organizations like Hamas are not some organic uprising.” 

“There are well-orchestrated efforts by anti-American and anti-Jewish organizations within the United States that provide financial and logistical support to those who harass and threaten Jewish students,” he added.

Students for Justice in Palestine, American Muslims for Palestine, the Tides Foundation and the People’s Forum were among the groups that Smith and others listed as playing a particularly pernicious and potentially illegal role in supporting both anti-Israel protests and Hamas.

“I’ve made a formal request to the IRS demanding they revoke the tax exempt status of an organization named the People Media group,” Smith said. “This organization funds a publication by the name of the Palestine Chronicle that employed a so-called journalist, who was caught actually imprisoning Israeli hostages in Gaza.”

In June, the Israel Defense Forces rescued two hostages, who were found to be held by Abdullah al-Jamal, a contributor to the Palestine Chronicle and an occasional spokesman for Hamas. 

The Chronicle stated in June that al-Jamal was a “freelance contributor,” who wrote for the publication on a “voluntary basis.”

[girlactionfigure]

For the first time, the Belgian Justice Ministry confirms that Hamas uses non-profit organisations to lobby and raise funds in Belgium.

We urge the Belgian government to conduct a thorough investigation and hold those involved accountable.

- - - - - 

🇧🇪Pour la première fois, le ministère belge de la Justice confirme que le Hamas utilise des organisations à but non lucratif pour faire du lobbying et collecter des fonds en Belgique.

Nous exhortons le gouvernement belge à mener une enquête approfondie et à demander des comptes aux personnes impliquées.

act_il_france🇧🇪

[tomorrowusa]

Another crooked far right Republican.

Republicans become outraged at the thought of raising the minimum wage. But the fanatically pro-Trump Republican National Committee committeewoman from California Harmeet Dhillon paid herself $120,000 for a two-hour work week. And that's just the tip of a corrupt iceberg.

Since becoming an RNC committeewoman for California in 2016, she made hundreds of appearances in conservative media, predominantly Fox News. From 2019, these appearances were often based on lawsuits sponsored by that non-profit she helms, the Center for American Liberty (CAL), and aimed at rightwing bugbears like Covid restrictions, leftist street protesters and gender-affirming healthcare. The Guardian has found that at least $1.32m has been transferred from the CAL to her law firm, Dhillon Law Group, in a move one charity expert described as “problematic”. Additionally, state and federal filings show Dhillon takes a $120,000 salary from CAL for a two-hour work week. Meanwhile, the non-profit has entered into a close relationship with a well-heeled rightwing foundation whose financial generosity has been matched by a seat on the non-profit’s board. CAL was founded in 2018, initially under the name Publius Lex, by California lawyers with extensive connections to Republican politics and rightwing legal organizations, according to state and federal filings.

There a variation of "double dipping" going on here.

Dhillon’s position as CEO in a non-profit whose biggest contractor is Dhillon Law Group is a “conflict of interest”, according to Joan Harrington, a fellow at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at the Santa Clara University, and an expert on non-profit law and ethics. Harrington added that non-profits can navigate this, and that “the board can accept conflicts of interest if they are brought to the board’s attention annually”. But another ethical problem “the board can’t fix”, Harrington said, is the issue of compensation.

In the world of Trump-style business practices, ethics is for losers.

[Mark] Trammell, the executive director [of CAL], wrote on the extensive use of Dhillon Law that “the organization’s day-to-day legal operations are managed by me, its executive director”, adding, “I select the law firms the Center for American Liberty partners with on its public interest litigation.” Trammell also wrote: “We select law firms based on their expertise, geographical location, and interest in representing our clients at nonprofit legal rates.” But Harrington added that “transparency protects donors, and this is not a transparent situation”. With Dhillon acting as CEO and legal contractor, running cases sponsored by the non-profit, and making Fox News appearances in both guises, Harrington said: “It looks like Dhillon Law and the non-profit are overlapping to the extent that its hard to tell the difference.”

[pearwaldorf]

Copper Canyon Press is a local poetry publishing house based out of Port Townsend, WA. You may be familiar with some of their poets, who include Richard Siken, Ocean Vuong, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Natalie Diaz.

For many years their pressmark was the Chinese word for poetry, 诗*. The reason given was that the character combines the concepts of "word" and "temple", which is not true at all and most likely derives from orientalist bullshit and incorrect interpretation of characters as ideograms.

It was the 70s in rural Washington, of course there was going to be this sort of hippie nonsense. It was certainly not meant maliciously, and in the greater scheme of things you roll your eyes and move on with your life.

But. As part of their ongling DEI initiative, stakeholders elected to embark on a multi-year process to design a new pressmark, one that is more abstract and inclusive without the orientalist and appropriative vibes of the original. Their Racial Equity Work Plan details some of the thinking behind why they did this.

It can seem like bikeshedding to people who aren't in the know, and if that was the only thing that changed, it absolutely would be. But the Press is putting in the work, and adding updates as they follow through on list items. This is the sort of transparency other non-profits, especially those who have been taken to task about stated timelines and opaqueness, should strive to emulate.

--

*My Chinese name is 丽诗, which means "beautiful poem". My grandma came up with it, also to align with my English name.

Poetry is very important in Chinese culture. Yilin Wang explains some of the context, and why what the British Museum did to her translations and Qiu Jin's poetry was an act of colonialist violence by an institution that damn well knew better and backed down only with the threat of legal action.

[schraubd]

Draw the Lines

Slowly but steadily, there are increasing sanctions on Israeli actors responsible for implementing human rights violations in occupied Palestinian territories. The UK just announced new sanctions against West Bank outposts. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken warned Israel that if it doesn't increase the flow of aid into the Gaza Strip, military aid might be cut off. And in one of the more symbolically (if probably not tangibly) impactful moves, Canada revoked the charitable status of the Jewish National Fund* due in part to its activities in the occupied West Bank. Given the ubiquity in the diaspora Jewish imagination of JNF's little blue boxes, the Canadian decision was a bombshell, and the Canadian Jewish community is reportedly aghast, and claiming that it is being unfairly targeted by a biased organization. I'm not a Canadian lawyer, and so I won't comment on the underlying legal issues. Speaking broadly though, JNF's historical importance does not and should not give it any immunity to violate Canadian non-profit laws or to funnel "charitable" donations to projects that violate Canadian policy, which absolutely can include projects that retrench Israel's occupation of the West Bank and which stymie the project of Palestinian statehood. Blue box or no, there is no right to leverage Canada's tax code to flout Canada's foreign policy priorities regarding Israel and Palestine. The one thing that does give me pause is the claim that the Canadian tax authorities have refused to tell JNF exactly which activities are out of compliance or how to get back into compliance. That seems troublesome. JNF absolutely should be given clear guidance about what it the tax authorities deem to be compliant and non-compliant activities, at which point JNF can decide whether it wants to come into compliance or not (and the public can decide whether the rules are or are not reasonable). Draw the lines clearly about what is and is not permissible, and let the chips fall where they may -- but secret rules smack of punitive targeting. Other than that, though, my general view is that it is up to Jewish charities to stay in compliance with the law, and it is entirely reasonable for the law to declare that aiding the occupation is not a charitable endeavor. * The article on this story did give me one blast from the past moment. It extensively quoted Corey Balsam, head of Independent Jewish Voices, praising the decision to revoke JNF's charitable status. That name rang a bell -- Corey Balsam was who I cited in my White Jews: An Intersectional Approach paper arguing that even non-White Jews were functionally "whitened" by virtue of being Jewish. He made that argument in a graduate school thesis paper, so seeing his name pop up again was a fun "where are they now" moment. via The Debate Link https://ift.tt/8f7DXS4

[coolbeansfangirl]

Volunteering

This past week (April 14-20) was National Volunteer Week in Canada. I had to prepare some social media content for this because the company I work for has a lot of dedicated volunteers. During the week, I’d occasionally scroll through the hashtag and see various organizations thanking their volunteers and highlighting exemplary individuals, as they should. Clearly, the volunteer community is…

[charliejaneanders]

My latest newsletter is all about the the debate that tore the trans community apart back in 2001, and why I think we've moved past it. Gather round, kids! It's story time...

[ailurinae]

Current as of November 21st 2024

Readers, make sure you have all your favourite Ao3 fics downloaded.

Writers, make sure you have copies of all the fics you have posted on Ao3.

I don’t want to be alarming, but things could get really bad really fast. OTW shared this today on Twitter, and I'm a bit worried about it 😅

Ao3 is a non-profit organisation. If they have to start paying taxes, I have no idea what will happen.

[tribalephemeral]

Something Which Will Affect Everyone including Louisville / Neighborhood Non-profits

Oppose Empowering the Treasury Secretary to Unilaterally Shutdown Non-profits by Declaring them ‘Terrorist Supporting’ without Evidence Oppose house bill [xxxx] (instructions in short video, or go to house.gov and senate.gov and find the phone numbers yourself) And Organize for Yourself! Oppose the Bill but also Organize for You! Public Schools, Civil Rights, Essential Workers, Community,…

[mkdigi]

JOIN US AT THE GARDEN GET DOWN!

The Garden Get Down is a yearly jubilee raising funds for Grow Pittsburgh, one of this city’s greatest assets for their commitment to promoting food that is fresh, healthy, and local.  Developing and maintaining school and community gardens, conducting short workshops on growing and preserving food, providing summer-long Urban Farmers in Training employment, and much more, they’re an invaluable…

[thelocalmuffin]

Hey everyone, House just passed H.R 9495 as of 11/21, which is a bill that prevents non-profits for helping with causes such as Palestine and other acts the government deems "terrorism."

The guardian explains why it's a massive problem here.

This could seriously hurt non-profits that are trying to help multiple good causes with the vague terminology they are using to give themselves power to dictate what that means.

They are trying to fast track it while everyone is panicking about the results of the election. CALL YOUR SENATORS AND SAY NO TO H.R. 9495.

If you can't call for any reason, absolutely spread the word and reblog this post.

This is extremely serious and a dangerous bill. We should do what we can to stop it.

[uplymedia]

Decentralized Fundraising: Non-Profits Navigating the Web3 Frontier

In the modern era of fundraising, non-profits grapple with a host of challenges, the most pressing of which involves middlemen and third-party platforms chipping away at valuable donations. However, an emergent technology promises a revolutionary shift. Welcome to the realm of Web3, where the ethos of decentralization offers non-profits a vibrant landscape to thrive in. For business owners…

[hadesisqueer]

Hi. Sorry about this. I'm Spanish. As some people might know, Spain is currently going through a very destructive flash fall in the last few days. I'm lucky enough that my town hasn't been affected, but unfortunely it isn't so everywhere. At the time I'm writing this, over 150 bodies have been found, there's still people missing and there are entire towns destroyed or isolated with no electricity and roads, and a lot of people have no access to tap water or a way to cook food.

Hambre Cero is a food bank non-profit. It will be giving food to those who don't have access to it after the flash fall. Hambre Cero is currently also active in Lebanon and Palestine. If you guys can please donate or at least reblog to spread this, I'd really appreciate it.

[altpick]

February 24th - Altpick's Weekly Member Round-Up

This past week we highlighted work from illustrators Janice Fried and Klaus Kremmerz and photographer Greg Whitaker. To see more of their work, please visit their pages on Altpick.com. Illustrator – Janice Fried‘s mixed media work has been published widely and she is always exploring new ways to work and new venues to work in. ©Janice Fried Illustrator Klaus Kremmerz is skilled in creating…

[reportwire]

Pfister Energy Installs Solar for First Net Zero Energy Maryland School

Rooftop and Ground-mount solar part of overall renewable energy package for Wilde Lake Middle School. Press Release – updated: Mar 13, 2017 Baltimore, Maryland, March 13, 2017 (Newswire.com) – ​​Pfister Energy, a national commercial solar installer, was chosen by Howard County Public Schools to help create the first net zero energy school in Maryland, Wilde Lake Middle School. To achieve net…