The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has been first and foremost a disaster for the environment as well as for those whose livelihood depends on the gulf – as I write this word comes that the “top kill” may have worked to finally put an end to this debacle.

Certainly BP’s public reputation is in terrible straits but another casualty is the reputation of the Nature Conservancy, which has embraced a working relationship with BP. See the first-rate reporting by Joe Stephens of the Washington Post, who broke this story. The Nature Conservancy-BP dustup has important lessons for all charities to bear in mind.

The simple reality is that at its core, the Nature Conservancy believes in having working relationships with corporations active in certain environmentally sensitive industries.

Yes, you can still hug a tree even if it’s covered in oil.

Readers can agree or disagree with the Nature…

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Tomorrow in Washington, arguably the most important public discussion about charities and the charitable sector this year is scheduled to take place at the National Press Club. It is a symposium sponsored by Catholic Law School that will discuss “Philanthropy in the 21st Century: Should All Charities Be Equal?”

Anyone with an interest in the charitable sector and its future success should attend.

The discussion is focused exactly on the issue that is first in the minds of policymakers in Washington who are interested in the tax-exempt sector: whether there is merit to a broader review and consideration of what is a charity. More specifically, should there be an effort to distinguish between types of charities?

The symposium is moderated by Professor Roger Colinvaux. It is rare that I am more interested in what the moderator has to say than the speakers (although the speakers in this case…

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Another charity. Another letter from the U.S. Senate. And again, coast-to-coast press coverage raising significant questions, this time about the recent Senate inquiry into pay practices at Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Many charity executives will say a small prayer of thanks that the mailman didn’t stop at their doors with a Senate-franked envelope.

Notwithstanding the power of prayer, leaders in the charitable community seeking to avoid letters from senators would do well to take a hard look at their organizations and ask fundamental questions.

The paramount question for the leaders of a charity to ask: What is our organization’s charitable goal and mission and how do we accomplish that mission?

To go further, is the mission (and are the related accomplishments) of our organization something that can be understood by a grandmother, and do our accomplishments justify the tax breaks …

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