The news that Charity Navigator, BBB Wise Giving Alliance and Guidestar have launched a "campaign" to encourage donors to not only focus on non-profit organizations overhead costs as a measure of efficacy is welcome -- if surreal -- news.

The effort includes a new website, a social media campaign, a...

One June 12th, 1964, almost exactly 49 years ago, Nelson Mandela was convicted by an apartheid court of sabotage, and jailed for life.

At the time he told the court:

I do not deny that I planned sabotage. I did not plan it in a spirit of recklessness...

In Time magazine's cover story "Millennials: The Me Me Me Generation" by Joel Stein, he argues that we should remain hopeful despite the abundance of data about just how lazy, entitled and narcissistic the new generation of young adults are.

I'm more than just hopeful. I believe that...

Watch the news on any given day and you are likely to have a very grim view of what is happening in the Middle East. Syria is engulfed in chaos. Iraq continues to struggle with horrible violence. The conflict between Israelis and Palestinians continues its sad trajectory. On my recent...

A little noticed piece of news emerged in the world of philanthropy this week. A dozen new billionaires signed onto the Buffett-Gates Giving Pledge. The Pledge, established in 2010 by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, encourages the world's wealthiest individuals to give at least half of their wealth to charity...

Many people's understanding of the Middle East is rooted in problems. For the casual observer, the problems in Iraq and the daily tragedy unfolding in Syria represent the trajectory of the entire region.
But on the contrary, despite the challenges of the region, something is quietly unfolding in...

This morning, 20 toothbrushes sat on the bathroom counter. Twenty pairs of winter boots weren't put on. Twenty little chairs at the breakfast table sat empty.

The horrors of what occurred in Newtown are just sinking in. Spending a moment thinking what it looked like in that classroom will make...

When Nouriel Roubini talks, leaders in philanthropy and the nonprofit world should listen.

Why? Well, Roubini was one of the few who predicted the collapse of the United States housing market and the worldwide recession which started in 2008. On July 9, calmly and specifically, he said something that...

On the New York social scene, philanthropy is the primary organizing force. As any New Yorker can attest, it is very often causes that are the reason people gather in ballrooms and concert halls, and if managed correctly, these events can raise enormous amounts of money for important efforts, both...

Buried deep within Facebook's IPO documents, and largely ignored by media who are focused on the wealth that will be created by the IPO, is a startling letter from Mark Zuckerberg. It's a letter that should make the entire corporate world stop and take note, and a letter...

In New York and Los Angeles, the two places I spend most of my time, there is a familiar dinner party conversation that goes something like this...

"I just don't know about Obama"

"I agree, he hasn't done everything he promised he would do."

"I don't know if I'm going...

When it was first created in 2005 by President Bill Clinton and his top advisor Doug Band, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) announced that it would convene the world's leaders to work collaboratively to create innovative solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges.

A lot...

In the spring of 2006 I went to New Orleans to see what I could do to help rebuild following the nightmare of hurricane Katrina. With a group of partners including Global Green, we began the process of developing a multi-family housing project by announcing a design competition...

It's often said that the best defense is a good offense, and in the case of Village Voice Media their attack on Ashton Kutcher was a preemptive strike aimed at changing the topic.

A bit of background...

When the online classified ads provider Craiglist closed the adult services section of...

Yesterday in the desert outside Nogales, Arizona, it was well over 100 degrees.

I was hiking up a hill, through thorns and over rocks with a colleague of mine and an agent from US Customs and Border Protection.

We had left our car and set out on foot after her...

I'm on the way to Arizona for a few days of learning about the challenges of immigration reform, and the harsh reality of the Mexican/US border.

Before I leave on any trip, I try to tell my kids where I am going, and what I am trying to do.

Today,...

Working for Ambassador Richard Holbrooke was hard. Actually, it was incredibly hard.

The problem with working for Holbrooke was that before you even opened your mouth he already knew the questions he was going to ask you in response to the questions he asked you.

In any given room,...

It was announced that 17 additional families have committed to return the majority of their wealth to charitable causes by taking the Giving Pledge. The announcement followed the news in August that a group of 40 families had taken the pledge, a long-term charitable project launched by Warren...

The Iranian opposition has again taken to the streets, with increasingly violent clashes being reported via Twitter, Facebook and Youtube.

Reports that Ali Moussavi, a 35-year-old nephew of opposition leader Mir Hussein Moussavi, was killed during a protest in Tehran on Sunday have fueled the protests--protests that could be...

One of the most important events in the history of civil rights may have happened today. Theodore Olson and David Boies' lawsuit seeking to overturn Proposition 8, California's ban on same-sex marriage is one of the boldest, clearest actions taken on the issue, and Olson's role in Bush vs. Gore...