US Supreme Court readies historic rulings - 16 May 2013 - Web News Daily
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The US Supreme Court is preparing to hand down one of the most significant sequences of judgments in US history, with upcoming rulings expected to have far-reaching consequences for millions of Americans.
The nine-justice panel must issue opinions on outstanding cases it has heard in fall and winter sessions by the end of June.
They are set to rule on cases involving hot button issues such as gay marriage, equal opportunities in education and voter rights for minorities.
The first of the keenly awaited opinions could be released as early as Monday, with analysts tipping the possibility of a resolution to a case revolving around the affirmative action admissions policy of the University of Texas at Austin.
An undergraduate student, Abigail Fisher has challenged the college's decision to deny her admission because of racial quotas.
Fisher argued that she had effectively been discriminated against because she was white, in violation of equal protection rules enshrined in the US Constitution.
ARTS: The vital economic impact of the arts in the UK - 16 May 2013 - BD Live
by James Pickford
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LONDON’s tightening grip on arts philanthropy was laid bare in new research that showed that arts organisations in the UK capital secured 90% of donations from private individuals.
The figures will deal a serious blow to theatres, galleries and performing arts groups across the English regions, which are suffering from the combined impact of cuts in government and local authority funding and a sluggish economic recovery.
Philip Spedding, director of Arts & Business, the non-profit consultancy that carried out the research, said: "For arts organisations outside London, this is going in the wrong direction."
Against a backdrop of falling public funding, private investment in the arts in 2011-12 rose 7.6%, to £660.5m. All three categories of giving — from individuals, trusts and businesses — edged up, illustrating a "remarkably robust show of support for culture", the report said.
SA: Statement by the Department of Trade and Industry, Draft Lotteries Amendment Bill open for public comment - 16 May 2013 - Polity
Members of the public have until 7 June 2013 to submit comments on the Draft Amendment Bill of the Lotteries Act of 1997.
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According to the Minister of Trade and Industry (the dti) Dr Rob Davies, the amendment Bill followed several improvements already made in the administration of the National Lotteries Board. The Bill proposes the appointment of permanent distribution agencies. Davies is of the view that this will address the lack of quorums in the distribution agencies which affect their efficiency.
“To address this we will appoint fulltime distribution agencies because we discovered that part-time distribution agencies do not work. Due to their workloads, there had been unsatisfactory delays from the time that applications were received until funds were distributed. This is caused by the fact that the members are appointed on a part time base and sometimes they struggle to form a quorum. This will be something of the past once the Bill is implemented,” said Davies.
Do NGOs practice what they preach? - 15 May 2013 - Pambazuka
Diversity and inclusion are important to almost all non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Beyond this recognition, to what extent do NGOs adequately reflect these values?
Click here to read article on Pambazuka News website
To find out, I chose to look at the Executive Boards of the 2013 Top 100 NGOs, a list of what the Global Journal considers to be the most impactful, innovative and sustainable NGOs. I looked at Executive Boards because they are the supreme governing body of an NGO. Their decisions determine the organisation’s direction and policies, and eventually its impact on the people it serves. Board membership is therefore vitally important. (For details, see methodology )
What emerged?
UK Doubles Aid Budget but Ends Aid to South Africa - 02 May 2013 - SACSIS
By Alexander O'Riordan
Click here to read the article on SACSIS website
On April 30th 2013, the Mail and Guardian reported that the United Kingdom will phase out aid to South Africa. While the press has implied that the cuts are due to budget reasons, this is not at all the case.
When David Cameron was elected to power he was elected partly on the promise that he would cut spending in every government department except aid, education and health care. In keeping with his commitments, just over six months ago Prime Minister Cameron pledged to increase the UK’s spending on international aid and, in fact, in the government’s own budget aid is projected to grow by 38% between 2012 and 2015 and, in fact, the UK’s aid budget has increased almost 50% since the year before the financial crisis.
So, what is happening is not about budget austerity but rather about changing priorities from using aid to build relationships with developing countries as a whole to focussing on lower income countries and directing the majority of its resources to fragile or conflict prone states. As evidence of these shifting priorities, the Mail and Guardian quotes the UK Development Secretary, Justine Greening, as explaining "It is right that our relationship [with South Africa] changes to one of mutual cooperation and trade.”
New Companies Act - Does your non-profit have to adopt a new MOI by the end of April?
By Nicole Copley (BA LLB LLM-tax) (Non practising attorney) Specialist legal consultant to NGOs.
The NGO sector loves a crisis, and fresh out of the mass NPO deregistration and re-registration calamity, panic is spreading again, this time about the supposed ‘deadline’ of 30 April 2013 for former section 21 companies (now called Non Profit Companies) to adopt new Memoranda of Incorporation (what the new Companies Act now calls the founding documents of all companies).
It is not true that NPCs (or any companies) have to adopt a new MOI, and it is also not true that it has to be done by 30 April.