News

• Date: 01 February 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nba.30418
• Published date: 01 February 2018

NONPROFIT BUSINESS ADVISOR FEBRUARY 2018

12 © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company • All rights reserved

DOI: 10.1002/nba

News

Former congresswoman

sentenced for charity fraud

Former Florida Rep. Corrine Brown (D-Jackson-

ville) was sentenced to ve years in prison for her

role in a conspiracy and fraud scheme involving a

sham charity.

According to the Justice Department, between

late 2012 and early 2016, Brown and her co-con-

spirators—Brown’s chief of staff, Elias Simmons,

and Carla Wiley, president of the fraudulent char-

ity—participated in a conspiracy and fraud scheme

involving One Door for Education—Amy Anderson

Scholarship Fund, in which the defendants and others

acting on their behalf solicited more than $800,000 in

charitable donations based on false representations

that the donations would be used for college scholar-

ships and school computer drives, among other chari-

table causes. Testimony by One Door donors showed

Brown and her co-conspirators solicited donations

from individuals and corporate entities that Brown

knew by virtue of her position in the U.S. House of

Representatives.

Many of the donors were led to believe One Door

was a properly registered 501(c)(3) nonprot orga-

nization, when, in fact, it was not, the DOJ said.

Instead, the agency said, Brown and the others used

the vast majority of One Door donations for their

personal and professional benet, including tens

of thousands of dollars in cash deposits that went

into Brown’s personal bank accounts, according to

evidence introduced at trial.

Trial evidence also showed that more than $300,000

in One Door funds was used to pay for events hosted

by Brown or held in her honor, including a golf

tournament; lavish receptions during an annual

conference in Washington, D.C.; and the use of a

luxury box during an NFL game. According to trial

evidence, despite raising over $800,000 in donations,

One Door was associated with only two scholarships

totaling $1,200 that were awarded to students to cover

Quarterly data show declines

in donations, donor retention

Data from the third quarter of 2017 show a de-

crease in both donor giving and donor retention

rates among the nation’s nonprots. According to the

Fundraising Effectiveness Project, year-to-date giv-

ing through September 2017 was down by 4 percent

compared to the same time period in 2016, and donor

retention is currently at its lowest point in ve years,

a cause for concern for any organizations that rely on

individual donations for their funding, the FEP said.

The drop in donations is attributed mainly to

fewer major gifts—those of $1,000 or more. While

donations of less than $250 and midlevel donations

between $250 and $1,000 are up by 6.9 percent and

20.1 percent, respectively, major gift donations de-

clined by 8 percent compared to the same period the

prior year, the FEP said.

Overall retention rates through the third quarter

came in at 45 percent—about 2 percent lower than the

same point in 2016, continuing a downward trend that

started in 2013. And new donor retention—a slightly

different metric—was also down, at 17.6 percent as of

September 2017, compared to 23.2 percent the year

before, the FEP said.

If these downward trends continue, the FEP said,

the cost of fundraising will certainly increase ac-

cordingly.

To read the FEP’s report in full, visit http://bit.

ly/2zeFqEP. ■

his original worksite in spite of being told that he felt

physically threatened.

EMPLOYEE WINS ➔ Judge Copperthite ruled

that Rice had met his burden by alleging facts that

a reasonable jury could nd were severe enough, be-

cause the purported comments were race-based and

threatened physical harm, and his supervisor failed

to remedy the situation.

[Rice v. Howard County Government, U.S. District

Court for the District of Maryland, No. ADC-16-

3498, 07/31/2017]. ■

expenses related to attending a college or university.

Brown and Wiley were ordered to forfeit

$654,292.39, and Simmons was ordered to forfeit

$727,964.90. All three defendants were ordered to

pay total restitution of $452,515.87 to victims of

the fraud scheme. Brown was ordered to pay an ad-

ditional $62,650.99 in restitution to the IRS, and

Simmons was ordered to pay an additional $91,621.38

in restitution to the U.S. House of Representatives.

EMPLOYMENT LAW (continued from page 11)