Sprinkle my ashes or else Planned Parenthood gets $50k

It's been six weeks since Bruce E. Ivins, the alledged anthrax suspect, killed himself. However, his cremated remains are still stored at a funeral home in Maryland awaiting bizarre probate proceedings.

According to The New York Times:

In a will he wrote last year, a few months before the Federal Bureau of Investigation focused the anthrax letters investigation on him, Dr. Ivins wrote of his wish to be cremated and have his ashes scattered. But fearing that his wife, Diane, and their two children might not honor the request, he came up with a novel way to enforce his demand: threatening to make a bequest to an organization he knew his wife opposed, Planned Parenthood.

“If my remains are not cremated and my ashes are not scattered or spread on the ground, I give to Planned Parenthood of Maryland” $50,000, Dr. Ivins wrote in the will. Court records value the estate at $143,000.

Ms. Ivins is a former president of Frederick County Right to Life, according to F.B.I. records. Bruce Ivins played keyboards at a Catholic church in Frederick and described himself in e-mail messages as “pro-life,” but he was not an anti-abortion activist, said his lawyer, Paul F. Kemp. Ms. Ivins declined to comment, Mr. Kemp said.

I'm not sure if I've ever heard of a donor who uses his/her will to encourage action by threatening to make a donation to a group that the surviving heirs hated.

I think I'm going to add an addendum to my Last Will and Testament today that my heirs need to continue this blog once I die or else...

Bombshell internal report leaked on Shriners Hospital fundraising

An internal investigative committee established by the joint boards of the Shriners of North America fraternal organization and the Shriners Hospitals for Children has released some disturbing accusations about fundraising.

The New York Times published this copy of the 23-page report which is stamped CONFIDENTIAL and "Attorney-Client Priviledged." Stephanie Strom's article says:

"The committee found that the chairman of the Shriners Hospitals Board of Trustees, Ralph Semb, sought to dismiss a fund-raising executive who had refused to hire a direct-mail company Mr. Semb and another board member tried to steer him to."

Semb (who is pictured here) denies any wrongdoing, the documents go on to report:

"Most of the committee’s report relates to the dismissal and rehiring of Mr. McGonigal, who said he did not hire the direct-mail company favored by Mr. Semb and Mr. Bracewell because the company appeared to have ties with Vantage Financial Services, which had performed poorly for the Shriners in the past.

The Shriners employed Vantage to handle fund-raising for the hospitals from 1999 through 2003. Out of $46.2 million raised by Vantage, the Shrine received only $2.5 million, according to the report."

Seems like there might be a lot more funny business going on than just those tiny hats and the mini-cars they drive at parades.

UPDATE: I was referred to this website which has more juicy information on Vantage:

“The Vantage Group and its subsidiaries Vantage Financial Services Inc. and Vantage Direct Marketing Services Inc. have agreed to pay $4.5 million to settle civil postal fraud charges,” said directmag.com, also in 2003.

It continued, “The government’s complaint, which named Henry R. Lewis (then Vantage’s CEO) and Harry S. Melikian (then Vantage’s CFO), alleged that while conducting fundraising programs for nonprofits, the company improperly mailed 78 million pieces of mail at the reduced nonprofit rate, knowing they were not entitled to use the rate for their cooperative mailings.”

Apparently, the story goes like this:

"The complaint, filed in 1998, noted that in 1990 the Postal Inspection Service investigated Vantage for sending illegal cooperative mailings.

At that time, a U.S. Postal Inspector informed Vantage, Lewis and Melikian that mailings sent pursuant to Vantage’s standard contract were ineligible for the reduced non-profit rate because Vantage had a financial stake in the mailings. As a result of the 1990 investigation, Vantage and one of its non-profit clients paid a postage deficiency to the government.

In response to that investigation, the complaint said Vantage revised its standard contract to make clear that, in the future, Vantage would not have a financial stake in the programs it conducted on behalf of non-profit clients.

Based on the revised contracts, the Postal Service permitted Vantage to mail at the non-profit rate on behalf of its nonprofit clients.

The complaint alleges, however, that Vantage then entered into secret
“side letters” with many of its non-profit clients, agreeing to take a financial
state in the mailings."

I should would be curious who leaked the internal Shriners report...

Kate Barr is not happy with ACORN

I agree with Kate... it's hard to think of how anyone can justify ACORN's reaction to this story. I know it's painful to say. Trust me, I love ACORN and the important work they do.

I'm not saying I agree with the wackos like Michelle Malkin or the Consumer Rights League, but this is a really big fuck-up.

Thank god for whistle blowers. This one was a true hero.

Vastly different approaches

Stephanie Strom at the New York Times compares the vastly different approaches taken by Acorn and the Points of Light Institute when each learned off potential financial embezzlement.

Acorn chose to treat the embezzlement of nearly $1 million eight years ago as an internal matter and did not even notify its board. After Points of Light noticed financial irregularities in early June, it took less than a month for management to alert federal prosecutors, although group officials say they have no clear idea yet what the financial impact may be.

A whistle-blower forced Acorn to disclose the embezzlement, which involved the brother of the organization’s founder, Wade Rathke.

The brother, Dale Rathke, embezzled nearly $1 million from Acorn and affiliated charitable organizations in 1999 and 2000, Acorn officials said, but a small group of executives decided to keep the information from almost all of the group’s board members and not to alert law enforcement."

Yuck. But wait it gets worse:

"Wade Rathke said the organization had signed a restitution agreement with his brother in which his family agreed to repay the amount embezzled in exchange for confidentiality.

Wade Rathke stepped down as Acorn’s chief organizer on June 2, the same day his brother left, but he remains chief organizer for Acorn International L.L.C.

He said the decision to keep the matter secret was not made to protect his brother but because word of the embezzlement would have put a “weapon” into the hands of enemies of Acorn, a liberal group that is a frequent target of conservatives who object to its often strident advocacy on behalf of low- and moderate-income families and workers."

Don't you see... they kept it a secret so as not to give their enemies a weapon.

Travel voucher horror story hits Points of Light Foundation

The NonProfit Times broke a story this week about an unfolding scandal at the Points of Light Institute.

"An estimated 1,100 customers who purchased travel vouchers for airline flights from the Points of Light Institute’s store on eBay have been left with nothing. The Points of Light Institute has closed that area of the eBay store and is working with law enforcement to investigate what it is calling “significant financial and operational irregularities.”

Each reservation is for one to four people, so as many as 4,400 travelers could be impacted. Sources told The NonProfit Times that travel had been booked through May 2009 that could total more than $1 million."

Michelle Nunn, president and CEO, was interview by The NonProfit Times on Tuesday and tried to explain how the organization uncovered the scandal.

"Two senior managers learned of the irregularities through customer complaints, which they explored and ultimately verified through an independent contractor, and reported to Nunn on the evening of June 26, she said. Customers were notified of the situation late Friday, July 4, at which time the refund application process began.

Because of the ongoing investigation, Nunn could not elaborate on the type of “irregularities.” She said the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., was contacted within 24 hours, as was the organization’s counsel -- McKenna, Long & Aldridge -- which is doing its own investigation."

It's amazing what kinds of problems managers can actually uncover when they explore customer complaints. Sounds like whoever was pulling off the scam set-up a complex way of hiding what they were doing. Apparently, the organization is still trying to figure out exactly what happened.

"The independent contractor was terminated “as soon as we learned of these issues,” Nunn said. The contract was created and begun in 2003 as a program of the Points of Light Foundation, which merged with the Hands On Network last year. The independent contractor, Maria Herrmann, was a former employee in business development at the Points of Light Foundation, but Nunn did not know the duration of her employ prior to that.

Herrmann is no longer listed on the organization’s Web site and calls to her cell phone and home phone were not returned. A woman answering the door at Herrmann’s Washington, D.C. residence told a reporter she could not help her and declined to say if she was in fact Maria Herrmann."

Call me a cynic, but the whole idea of people raising money for charities by selling discounted travel vouchers sounds shady. Call me a purist, but I get really queasy when the donor's motivation is driven by the idea of "getting something for free" instead of for the donor intent being on helping support the mission.

In hindsight, I wonder if the Board of Directors sees this observation by The NonProfit Times as a damning indictment of the senior management and their own culpability is allowing this to happen:

Despite thousands of tickets being sold, Nunn described the eStore as a “very small enterprise,” grossing about $100,000 and netting $15,000 in the fiscal year ending 2007. She explained that the numbers "are the totals that were reported on our books and in our audited statements of Points of Light Foundation (pre-merger). The recent discoveries obviously do not align to these numbers and that is what is under investigation.”

The NPT story can be from here and to read about a traveler's horror story, go here.

UPDATE: Some people at the eBay Forums website think that incentive travel company Mitch-Stuart, Inc. is to blame. I wonder if there is going to be a blame game coming next? Hermann was quoted in the NPT in May of 2007 talking about Mitch-Stuart.

Have you seen Victoria Tanner?

Police in Ohio are looking for a 12-year-old girl who goes by the name Victoria Tanner. The girl is accused of scamming "hundreds of people out of hundreds of dollars" by claiming to raise money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

NewsNet 5 showed this video to viewers today. Scam victims say they believe the girl is being coached to enter a restaurant, ask permission to solicit funds, and promise season passes to an area amusement park. Some police even think the girl's parents are coaching her.

"She tells you that her dad manages Cedar Point and will give you a free season pass for $40," Heather Lobello of All Paws Pet Grooming in Parma said. "I've been waiting for over a week to hear from her or get the tickets. When I called the number she gave me -- a bogus number -- the person on the other end said 'you've probably been scammed.'"

The charity is not receiving the money and the donors are not receiving the amusement park passes (big shocker!). The scam has covered a 360 square mile area over the past week.

In related news... I bought some magic beans from a guy near my office yesterday. He told me that it was worth paying $40 for the handful of beans because they would grow some huge stalk to take me to magical places... as of yet - no stalk.

When corporate "brand cops" sue nonprofits

Jeff Brooks has a nice post today on the bad decisions made by the "brand cops" at Louis Vuitton.

Seems an artist named Nadia Plesner created this image to make an obscure point about Darfur. Then, stupidly, Louis Vuitton sued her for misusing their brand.

Brooks thinks the fashion company made a bad decision by sueing, "because now it looks like International Fashion Designer vs. Starving Babies."

Meanwhile, I forgot to register my reaction to a federal judge who rejected an effort by Johnson & Johnson to prevent the American Red Cross from using the charity’s logo on retail products. More on that later (time permitting).

Nonprofit legal humor

I found a cool website recently that shares dozens of humorous anecdotes about nonprofit legal issues. Don Kramer publishes a legal newsletter that has "Nonprofit Law You Need to Know."

I thought this real thank you note sent to a donor was priceless:

The charity sent out its thank you letter to supporters a little more than two weeks after the fundraising event. It read in its entirety as follows:

“On behalf of the [Special] Awards Committee, thank you for your support of the [Special] Awards Breakfast and the important work of the [charity]. Your gift will make a difference in the lives of so many.

“This special fundraising event took place on Friday, [date] with a networking and VIP reception that started at 7:15 a.m. and the Breakfast & Award Ceremony commencing at 8:00 a.m. The breakfast was held at the [name] Hotel, [address], in the Millennium Ballroom.

“It is because of donors like you that we are able to keep our promise [to better the world].”

One can only wonder whether the second paragraph was included because it was such a memorable event that the donors would have forgotten where they had been.

Wow. Talk about a mail merge malfunction!

Greenwich church can't find $400,000

The New Haven Register is reporting that church officials have concluded their investigation into a Greenwich priest who failed to account for more than $400,000 in church funds he kept in secret accounts.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport said it has provided its findings to federal authorities after investigating the Rev. Michael Moynihan. He resigned last year as pastor of St. Michael Church in wealthy Greenwich and was stripped of his priestly authority last month after he was found living with another man.

The newspaper says that the report offers few details on how Moynihan might have spent church money, but it does cite $58,000 used to buy a boat as well as restaurant, travel expenses and a livery service. The article goes on to say:

Moynihan was stripped of his priestly authority after the Bridgeport Diocese learned last month that he shared a Manhattan apartment with another man. Moynihan failed to end that association despite promises to do so, and engaged in “obfuscation” when questioned about church money, Bishop William E. Lori wrote in a letter Thursday to parishioners.

It seems crazy to me the diocese was more concerned with the priest's co-habitation with another man that they were with their terrible internal controls. Then again, it appears that the church never would have found out about the secret accounts unless the F.B.I. tipped them off to the banking deceptions.

Bridgeport diocese officials say they have made “great strides” in implementing a new system of financial procedures and controls in all 87 parishes in Fairfield County. Those steps have become a model for other dioceses, Lori said in a telephone interview Friday.

“I think people can have a great deal of confidence that the donations to the parishes are used well and wisely for the mission of the parish,” Lori said.

Hat tip to Mike Burns (again) at Nonprofit Board Crisis for blogging this story.

Nonprofit CFO fired after gambling with $3.6 million

I came across a really neat blog today run by Mike Burns called Nonprofit Board Crisis. The website pointed me in the direction of this story in the San Francisco Chronicle:

The chief financial officer for the nonprofit that runs the recently opened, 800-car underground garage next to the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum in Golden Gate Park has been fired as investigators probe the disappearance of $3.6 million in garage funds - money that may have been flushed on the stock market.

The missing millions came to light a couple of weeks back when a vendor called the chairman of the Music Community Concourse Partnership board to complain that he hadn't been paid for his work on the garage, which opened in 2005, said Sam Singer, a spokesman for the nonprofit.

When garage chief financial officer Greg Colley was called in to explain, he asked for a little time to sort things out, Singer said. The next day, Colley turned up with an attorney and said he had borrowed the money to play the stock market, Singer said. Colley said he had fully intended to return the money, but then the market took a nosedive.

With that, the nonprofit fired him, Singer said.

In situations like these, you have to ask how the hell the Board of Directors allowed this much money to be "borrowed" without a proper internal control process.

"Restitution is what we're after"

Rodney Rodis, a retired Roman Catholic priest, who plead guilty to mail fraud and money laundering in the theft of more than $600,000 in donations from St. Jude Church and Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Louisa County, Virgina between 2002 and 2006 was sentenced to 63 months in prison.

According to Zinie Chen Sampson's article for the Associated Press:

Authorities said Rodis set up bank accounts and a post office box where he directed parishioners to send contributions. Rodis then transferred the money to his personal account, using it to support his family — a wife and three children, whom he concealed from parishioners. He also wired money overseas to relatives who used it to buy real estate.

Lawyers for the 51 thief argued for leniacy because of health issues. Meanwhile, the parishes feel betrayed. The man who succeeded Rodis said after the hearing he wasn't convinced of the sincerity of his predecessor's apologies.

"He did this for five years, systematically, and in a very organized way," the Rev. Michael Duffy said. "Restitution is what we're after."

A judge gave Rodis credit for time served, but ordered him to repay the Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond more than $591,000 and required the Filipino native to meet with federal immigration officials for possible deportation after his prison term ends.

Charity scam figure set for release from federal custody

The NonProfit Times posted a detailed story today on John G. Bennett Jr.'s pending release from federal custody:

According to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, he will be set free from a halfway house in Philadelphia on March 5. He was sent there this past Sept. 11 after serving nearly 10 years at the Fort Dix Federal Correctional Institute in New Jersey.

Go here to read more details about Bennett's role in what I think was one of the biggest charity scams of all-time.

Yep, he's still in jail

Thanks to the research assistance of a quick-witted old friend, Don't Tell the Donor has learned that John G. Bennett Jr. is still in prison serving a 12 year sentence for bank fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, false statements, filing false tax returns, money laundering and money laundering to promote unlawful activity.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons website shows that inmate number 50156-066 is projected to be released on March 5th, 2008. So lock up your endowments fellow fundraisers, in less than a month he's going to be released from Federal Correctional Institution in Fort Dix, New Jersey.

To read more about "the six-year long Ponzi-turned-pyramid scam defrauded roughly 150 charities out of more than $100 million," go here.

Be sure to vote in our reader poll - should Bennett have been sentenced to more than 144 months in prison?

Is John G. Bennett Jr. still in jail?

A free "Don't Tell the Donor" prize to the first person who can email me at donttellthedonor@gmail.com and prove whether or not John G. Bennett Jr. has been released from prison yet. The only source I can find says that he applied for early release in the summer of 2005.

The biggest charity scam of all time?

CNBC's hit show American Greed devoted its broadcast Wednesday night to the infamous story of John G. Bennett, Jr. who was able to scam roughly 150 charities out of more than $100 million prior to being caught in 1995.

The NonProfit Times described the scam as "a promise to double organizations' investments after a six-month holding period through anonymous matches. It was later discovered that the anonymous donors didn't exist. At its most basic, a Ponzi scheme pays off original investors by using the funds from new recruits. Eventually new recruits dry up and the scheme collapses."

Amazingly, Bennett was able to raise over $500 million from 1100 donors and embezzle $135 million of it - mostly from Christian religious organizations and charities in the Philadelphia - before being discovered by Albert Meyer, an accounting teacher at a college in Michigan.

After Meyer was able to get the attention of a reporter at the Wall Street Journal, the foundation declared bankruptcy and many prominent nonprofits in a terrible financial situation.

According to the PA Attorney General's complaint, the victimized charities included the Boy Scouts of America, the Environmental Defense Fund, Haverford College, Harvard University, Princeton University, The Nature Conservancy, One to One Partnership Inc., Planned Parenthood, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Stanford University Medical School, the United Way and Yale Law School. Other organizations included:

Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, $2.7 million
Biblical Theological Seminary, Hatfield, Pa., $5.8 million
CB International, Wheaton, Ill., $4.6 million
Covenant College, Lookout Mountain, Ga., $5 million
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Mi., $4 million
Houghton College, Houghton, N.Y., $4 million
John Brown University, Siloam Springs, Ark., $4 million
International Missions, Reading, Pa., $5 million
International Teams, Prospects Heights, Ill., $5 million
King College, Bristol, Tenn., $5 million
University of Pennsylvania, $2.1 million
Wheaton College, Wheaton, Ill., $4.6 million

The NonProfit Times also reported that "victimized charities later recovered more than 90 percent of their losses in an unprecedented bankruptcy settlement orchestrated by leaders at ECFA who formed the United Response to New Era, according to officials familiar with the settlement."

Bennett faced 82 federal counts of money laundering and wire, mail and bank fraud. He planned to claim in his defense that he had been possessed by "religious fervor", but the judge did not allow this. In the end Bennett pleaded no contest to all the charges in March of 1997. Though federal sentencing guidelines indicated a sentence of 22 to 27 years, the judge gave him 12.

What's most interesting is that Bennett was originally slated to be released next month - in March of 2008, but I've been unable to determine through research if this bastard ever got out of jail early on good behavior.

If you want to read more about this scam, I recommend this article.

Donation thief sentenced to one night of homelessness

Last Thursday, a 28 year old man named Nathen Smith walked into Judge Michael Cicconetti's courtroom in Painesville, Ohio expecting to be sentenced for stealing a donation kettle from the Salvation Army last Christmas.

However, the sentence seemed to shock everyone.

"Now when you're taking money directly from the homeless", said Cicconetti, "then I want you to feel like that individual, like the homeless person and experience that. So you can do 90 days in jail or spend one night on the street followed by 3 days in jail."

The judge told Smith to empty his pockets and carry only his identification. A global positioning tracking device was clamped on Smith's leg so that he could be located at all times as he wandered the streets of Painesville.

Smith seemed resigned to his punishment despite the harsh cold temperature outside.

One of Nathen's options for the night is under the Main Street bridge where the homeless in Painesville can often be found sleeping. There are blankets and sleeping bags piled up in the snow near the base of the bridge.

Judge Cicconetti told Smith, "I am not going to give you any clues where you're going to find food. I'm not going to give you any clues where you are going to spend the night. That's up to you."

Hardly a slap on the wrist, huh? Go here to watch a video from a local Ohio television news program.

High school 50/50 raffle faces scrutiny

The Lafayette School Corporation has suspended its 50/50 fundraising raffles after a parent of a Jefferson High School basketball player reported the raffles to the Lafayette (Ind.) Police Department.

The school district since has ceased all raffles at athletic events until a permit is given from the Indiana Gaming Commission. Other area schools The Star Press that they face similar pressure.

"I stay as far away from that Gaming Commission as I can because they're not real flexible people," [New Castle Chrysler High School Principal Bruce] Gaylor said. "Most of the people that win the 50/50 go ahead and give it back to the school as a donation. For crying out loud, schools are just hustling to find dollars now, and they keep trying to take 'em away from us. Every time we find a way to make a buck, they try to take 'em away from us, it seems like."

For crying out loud indeed. While it may be hard to believe that a parent actually ratted them out to the police... the truth of the matter is, many donors are outraged when they hear that a nonprofit's fundraising program keeps only 50 cents of every dollar raised... why should a raffle be judged any differently?

In fact, a friend of mine in California emailed me to say the California Penal Code (Section 320.5), bans such raffles "because less than 90% of the overall earnings are offered to the high school or charitable cause."

Televangelists ignore Senate investigation

Sen. Charles Grassley, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, sent lengthy questionnaires a month ago to six ministries so he could review whether pastors were complying with IRS rules that bar excessive personal gain through tax-exempt work.

However, two of those televangelists ignored Thursday's deadline to turn over information.

Benny Hinn of World Healing Center Church Inc. and Benny Hinn Ministries of Grapevine, Texas, said in a statement to the AP on Thursday that he will not respond to the inquiry until next year.

A lawyer for preacher Creflo Dollar of World Changers Church International in suburban Atlanta had said Wednesday that the investigation should be referred to the IRS or the Senate panel should get a subpoena for the documents.

All the ministries preach a form of "Word of Faith" theology, known as prosperity gospel, which teaches that God wants believers to reap material rewards for their faith.

Because they have tax status as churches, the ministries do not have to file IRS 990 forms like other non-profit organizations - leaving much financial information largely behind closed doors.

The letters sent Monday were the culmination of a long investigation fueled in part by complaints from Ole Anthony, a crusader against religious fraud who operates the Dallas-based Trinity Foundation, which describes itself as a watchdog monitoring religious media, fraud and abuse. "We've been working with them for two years," Anthony told CBS News. "We have furnished them with enough information to fill a small Volkswagen."

The other ministries targeted in the inquiry are Bishop Eddie Long of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church and Bishop Eddie Long Ministries of Lithonia, Ga.; Randy and Paula White of Without Walls International Church and Paula White Ministries of Tampa, Fla.; and Kenneth and Gloria Copeland of Kenneth Copeland Ministries of Newark, Texas.

Brothers get 8 years prison for Katrina donation scam

Two Houston brothers were each sentenced this week to more than eight years in prison for wire fraud and aggravated identify theft in connection with operating a Web site that purported to raise money for the Salvation Army to help Hurricane Katrina victims.

The brothers were convicted in June after a four-day trial. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, they registered a Web site called www.salvationarmyonline.org on Sept. 3, 2005 - less than a week after the hurricane hit the gulf coast.

More than 250 people donated over $48,000 before the corresponding PayPal accounts were frozen because of reports of fraud, according to the prosecution.

U.S. District Judge David Hittner sentenced Steven Stephens, 24, to 63 months each on six convictions of wire fraud, prosecutors said Wednesday. U. S. Attorney Don. DeGabrielle told the Houston Chronicle that Hittner sentenced Bartholomew Stephens, 27, to concurrent 57-month prison terms on each of his six wire fraud convictions.

Mistrial declared in Islamic charity trial

In 2001, the Bush administration designated the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development a terrorist sponsor. Once the largest Muslim charity in the country, the organization had its assets frozen and later seized by the government.

However, on Tuesday a mistrial was declared for the terrorist financing charges stemming from fundraising allegations. Emma Schwartz at the U.S. News and World Report questions the impact this mistrial will have against other Muslim charities:

What the mistrial means for the future of terrorist financing cases is still unclear. The government has a handful of pending investigations. It has frozen assets of a few Michigan-based Muslim charities. It has raided several Virginia-based Muslim charities. And in March, it indicted the Islamic American Relief Agency for sending money to Iraq during the 1990s, when the country was under sanctions.

Other Muslim charities and religious leaders called the verdict a relief.

Reading this story made me think of a related article I saw a couple weeks ago and forgot to mention on this blog. I've been surprised more fundraisers haven't blogged or talked about the quandary many Muslims found themselves in as they considered how to give zakat, a donation required of Muslims, especially during Ramadan.

Recent heightened scrutiny of Islamic charities by federal officials is running headlong into the determination of Muslims to donate to causes that serve the neediest and to abide by their holy book, the Quran. As fears intensify, community leaders have called on the government to create guidelines for safe contributions.

Go here for more on this subject.