The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "charity" ...
-
Duping the Donors
The stories show how major charities tell telemarketers to lie about how much of donations is actually going to the charity (sometimes 22 percent, sometimes zero); and other nonprofits that aren't charities makes hundreds of millions of dollars tax free.
Tags: Telemarketers; charities; donations; nonprofits; taxes
-
Concealing County Corruption: Anatomy of a Cover-Up
Wayne Dolcefino saves the best for last. In his final investigation for KTRK-TV, he and the 13 Undercover Unit demonstrated relentless persistence as they attempted to shake up a county government with an abysmal record of policing itself. This submission begins with four reports detailing shocking evidence of corruption inside the downtown precinct of Constable Jack Abercia. 13 Undercover spent several months doing painstaking surveillance -- catching the Constable’s deputies running his personal errands, working extra jobs on the clock and stockpiling never driven county patrol cars while lawmen were being laid off. 13 Undercover then managed to get a hidden camera inside the chief deputy’s office as he and two deputies talked openly about corruption inside the precinct. The language is often foul mouthed and always revealing. The FBI nabbed Aberica and two top commanders in a bribery sting weeks later. The veteran former constable is now awaiting trial. Eventually, 13 Undercover turned our cameras on county leaders to say “enough is enough.” Not only was action not forthcoming, it quickly became clear that many in positions of power wanted this all to go away without getting their hands dirty, without ending decades of a patronage system that made deputies feel required to give money to their boss’s campaigns and charities to keep their jobs. That was not an option. This investigation demanded accountability and we held leaders to the promises they made to the public. In late summer, 13 Undercover scored a major public records victory that revealed what one commentator dubbed "a cover-up of Nixonian proportions." The series culminated with the long awaited, and previously unimaginable, indictment of one of the county’s most popular elected officials – precinct 6 Constable Victor Trevino. New county directives now prohibit constables from soliciting money from their deputies and legislation is expected to filed in Austin to protect county employees from further shakedowns.
Tags: Corruption; county government; officials
-
Greg Mortenson
Serious questions were raised about the co-author of bestseller "3 Cups of Tea" and Nobel Prize Nominee Greg Mortenson and the way donations to his charity were being used.
Tags: Charity; Greg Mortenson; Non-profit
-
Follow the Money
The year-long series of investigations tracked the federal money trail of tax dollars, charity dollars, and corporate/government conflicts of interest. One investigation exposed how many federal officials took all expense paid luxurious vacations funded by taxpayer money to the failed climate summit in Copenhagen.
Tags: tax dollars; money trail; federal officials; taxpayer money; Haiti; Copenhagen
-
No more Easter egg hunts
The reporter discovers that a Mississippi utilities company had been "donating" money to charities and then reimbursing themselves by raising electric bills.
Tags: charity; donation; electric utilities
-
"Charity Starts at Top"
Certain charities have been paying their executives "excessive salaries" despite federal laws designed to prohibit such an act, the Observer reports. Loosely enforced rules and a lack of staffing in the IRS office that audits nonprofits allows many of the large payouts to go unnoticed.
Tags: David Cerullo; Franklin Graham; Inspiration Networks; Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan's Purse; City of Light
-
Full Disclosure
When the Daily Record used the state's new open records law, it created an open records website. Doing this published multiple public records based stories and investigations. One of the largest stories to come out of this was the compensation paid to the founders and operators of Angel Food Ministries Inc. This raised the question of what their earnings were being used for and if they were really an organization focused on helping the less fortunate.
Tags: FOIA; Angel Food Ministries Inc; charity; new open records law; records; public; access; documents; Wingo family; non-profit; Christian
-
Charity Paid Leaders $2.5M
Angel Food Ministries Inc. is a charity that distributes discount groceries to people in need. However, the founding Georgian family received $2.5 million in pay to operate the organization. Questions surrounding whether the charity is completely legitimate surfaced when further investigation revealed insider loan activity in the charity as well.
Tags: Angel Food Ministries; groceries; charity; 2.5 million; pay; family; insider loans; leaders; organization; operation; Georgia;
-
Scott Rothstein coverage by Bob Norman
Fort Lauderdale attorney Scott Rothstein over the past few years began amassing fortunes, sweeping the political scene, and donating large sums to charities. New Times reporter Bob Norman broke the story on Rothstein's rise to affluence which was funded by a $1 billion Ponzi scheme. Norman was the first journalist to question Rothstein's legitimacy, and his continued coverage of the Rothstein case broke additional developments. Two months later Rothstein fled to Morocco on a private jet.
Tags: Fort Lauderdale; attorney; Scott Rothstein; fortune; power; charity; Morocco; Bob Norman; scheme; fraud; Ponzi; New Times;
-
Perfectly Legal
The investigation exposed how a network of charities orchestrated a scheme to move more than $130 million in cash and goods from one charity to another while doing almost no charitable work. By manipulating federal tax laws and taking advantage of lax federal oversight, these charities inserted themsevles into the government's annual charity drive (the largest of its kind in the world) and reaped millions of dollars in donations from unsuspecting federal employees.