Good news, Bad News: Nonprofits and Politicians

When nonprofits and politicians mix, great things can happen. The pols can shake down the state or fed for grants, attract press and publicity, and inspire large donations toward projects of their liking. The downside is when Pols are on the take from nonprofits they start themselves.

In Philadelphia, Vince Fumo had his "own" nonprofit, through which he funneled millions of "donations" from "generous" donors like Verizon, which frequently had legislation to push through the PA State Senate. One of its infamous bills was the Telecommunications Act of 2004, which (get this) bans municipalities from providing wireless internet access to citizens. That's right, you have to ask Verizon for permission.

Fumo had his nonprofit buy things for him, like a tractor for his farm, and renovations to his office. And just Wednesday we learned of the Detroit Mayor's own nonprofit profiteering, where he has apparently had high-priced vacations paid for by a nonprofit run by his sister-in-law.

You work too hard on missions too important to let this sort of stuff go on. Between exorbitant executive salaries at large nonprofits and outright fraud, the nonprofit world continues to get smeared. I'm thinking a lot about this lately. I think we need to establish greater accountability, transparency, and oversight.

Any thoughts on this?