Watchdog keeps tabs on nonprofit abuses and scams

Gary R. Snyder is author of “Nonprofits on the Brink: How Nonprofits Have Lost Their Way and Some Essentials to Bring Them Back,” a book that “identifies nonprofit weaknesses and suggests structural changes; he argues nonprofits' lack of accountability and absence of capable leaders has led to offenses comparable to for-profit corruption," according to a review in the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Snyder also maintains a web site that includes running commentary on the need for charitable reforms and efforts to do so. His latest items include:

• The House of Representatives did not pass a measure to reform the practice of adding “earmarks” to bills. To date, Snyder says, 15,584 earmarks have cost taxpayers a total of $32.7 billion.
• California Representative Jerry Lewis efforts to steer millions to academic institutions in his district led to a federal congressional corruption investigation. The probe is exploring Lewis’ ties to land that was given to the city of Redlands and then donated to the Congressman by a company that has received tens of millions of dollars worth of contracts through the House Appropriations Committee, which Lewis chairs.
• Nonprofits are benefiting from the scandal over Representative Mark Foley’s sexually explicit e-mails as members of Congress donate campaign contributions received from Foley, including organizations that are advocates for children.
• The wife of California Congressman John Doolittle set up a fundraising company and received $165,000 in commissions on contributions raised by her husband’s campaign, some of which was directed to charities. The Association of Fundraising Professionals notified Doolittle that this practice is explicitly banned by the AFP ethics code.
• Former Texas Representative Tom DeLay diverted excess campaign funds he raised to Missouri Representative Roy Blunt and his son, who was running for Missouri Secretary of State. Blunt in turn made payments to Delay’s foundation and a consulting firm and donated $100,000 to the Missouri Republican Party, which spent $160,000 on Blunt’s son’s campaign.
• Eleven co-hosts listed on an invitation to a fundraiser for Ohio Representative Steve Chabot were also on boards of charities that will get $1.6 million in Chabot earmarks.
• In Lynchburg, Va., Mayor Carl Hutcherson was convicted of stealing from his church’s charity and disabled Social security recipients to pay back taxes and other debts. He resigned and has been sentenced to three years of probation, $15,000 in fines and 200 hours of community service.

While Snyder mostly highlights politicians abusing charities, he also provides some of the context for demands for more accountability and transparency from nonprofits. As he quotes Senator Charles Grassley, former chair of the Senate Finance Committee: “We’re seeing more and more charities used in the best interests of lobbyists and special interests, not the public.”