As Americans ponder how to get involved in the presidential race, research co-authored by Professor of Marketing Selin Malkoc and the University of Notre Dame's John Costello (PhD '21) shows they often prefer to volunteer rather than donating funds.

Brian Mittendorf, the H.P. Wolfe Chair in Accounting, weighs in on alleged financial mismanagement by leader of the nonprofit Bay.org.

Despite official documents that show the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy took steps to safeguard its finances — including oversight from its board of directors and annual audits — an official is accused of stealing tens of millions of dollars. Brian Mittendorf, the H.P. Wolfe Chair in Accounting, says more skepticism is needed to ensure nonprofits are protected against theft.

Brian Mittendorf, the H.P. Wolfe Chair in Accounting at Fisher, says an “interesting partnership” has developed between charities and financial-services companies. At the center of this relationship: shared opposition to proposed rules by the U.S. Treasury Department that would penalize certain payments from charitable funds to wealth advisers who steer the investments.

Brian Mittendorf, the H.P. Wolfe Chair in Accounting, says unusual compliance practices and "sloppy record keeping and inconsistencies with accounting treatment" are part of the problems that are plaguing the prominent voter-registration group.

Brian Mittendorf, the H.P. Wolfe Chair in Accounting at Fisher, was among 50 nonprofit leaders, regulatory experts and lawyers who participated in an event hosted by the Urban Institute in partnership with the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University. Mittendorf co-presented research into the lack of transparency around donor-advised funds, which offer a way to move charitable money to political groups anonymously.

A conservative advocacy group leading the effort to torpedo top Biden administration nominees has failed to disclose some spending on political ads, a move experts say could complicate its tax-exempt status. The spotlight on the American Accountability Foundation (AAF) also raises transparency questions about such organizations and their affiliations with so-called dark money groups which can be used to obscure their finances, say Brian Mittendorf, the H.P. Wolfe Chair in Accounting.

If true that recent reports that Elon Musk appears very likely to be abusing rules governing nonprofits, Brian Mittendorf, the H.P. Wolfe Chair in Accounting, says Musk’s actions are likely testing the spirit of the law rather than its letter.

After years of concerns about how quickly the money reserved for charity gets distributed and whether donor-advised funds need to operate more transparently, proposed new federal regulations are now pending. Though the regulations would not create new requirements for how rapidly these funds distribute money, they do provide some new guidelines for what uses for DAFs are allowed by law, writes Brian Mittendorf, the H.P. Wolfe Chair in Accounting.

The allegations of corruption on display in open court for weeks on end could shake the perception that the NRA is a strong organization, says Brian Mittendorf, the H.P. Wolfe Chair in Accounting at Fisher.

New York authorities have accused the NRA, Wayne LaPierre and three of his current or former colleagues of squandering millions of dollars the gun group had obtained from its members.

An analysis shows that SantaCon raised $1.4 million through SantaCon programming from late 2014 through 2022, and that less than a fifth of that money has gone to registered nonprofits. “The money going to their targeted charities is minuscule as a percentage of their budget," says Brian Mittendorf, the H.P. Wolfe chair in accounting at Fisher.

The SDG Impact Fund grew from $238 million to $10 billion in one year. Cryptocurrency and NFTs appear to have played a part; the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals do not. Brian Mittendorf, the H.P. Wolfe Chair in Accounting, and Helen Flannery, a fellow at the progressive Institute for Policy Studies, say publicly filed tax documents raise more questions than answers about whether the fund is being used to for the tax benefit of the wealthy.

The group is slowly abandoning its original mission to teach Americans how to handle guns. Spending on these programs has dropped 77 percent in less than a decade. The trend, says Brian Mittendorf, the H.P. Wolfe Chair in Accounting at Fisher, can impact membership, which in turn leads to questions about the long-term future of the organization.

Balancing administrative costs with direct benefit expenditures is a tightrope for many nonprofits. New insights from Telesilla Kotsi, assistant professor of operations and business analytics, turns conventional thinking on its head by showing how increased spending on overhead and fundraising can actually make an organization more effective and resilient.

Brian Mittendorf, the H.P. Wolfe Chair in Accounting, provides context into just how much charities receive from donations solicited by telemarketers in Ohio — and why we're reluctant to ask where the money ultimately ends up.

Swedish death cleaning can help us rethink our relationship to stuff — and our environmental impact. It can, according to research from Marketing and Logistics Chair Joe Goodman, also help us derive happiness by differentiating meaningful items from other clutter.

Brian Mittendorf, the Fisher Designated Professor of Accounting, says the NRA's financial picture is, as of early 2023, a mixed bag. The gun group has shored up its financial position over the last few years. However, the way in which that financial recovery came about risks hemorrhaging the NRA’s core supporters.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the now-defunct exchange for trading cryptocurrencies, believed in ‘earning to give.’ Brian Mittendorf, the Fisher Designated Professor of Accounting and an expert in nonprofit accounting, explains the significance of FTX’s implosion for philanthropy and the nonprofits Bankman-Fried supported.

Anil Arya, the John J. Gerlach Chair in Accounting, and Brian Mittendorf, the Fisher Designated Professor in Accounting, write about a proposed new rule governing the disclosure of stocks as gifts — a tactic that has tax implications.

The National Rifle Association appears to be experiencing diminished membership revenue and cuts to core programs, according to a financial report obtained by ABC News. Brian Mittendorf, the Fisher Designated Professor in Accounting who tracks NRA spending, says the numbers suggest the NRA appears to be at a "real risk of entering a downward spiral."

Research by Assistant Professor of Operations and Business Analytics Telesilla Kotsi and her colleagues Owen Wu and Alfonso J. Pedraza Martinez, of Indiana University, shows how cash assistance can be provided to refugees while minimizing inflation and price gouging.

The foundation started by organizers of the Black Lives Matter movement is still worth tens of millions of dollars, after spending more than $37 million on grants, real estate, consultants, and other expenses, according to tax documents filed with the IRS. The tax filing suggests the organiz

“The word ‘give’ can have a more negative connotation than ‘spend’ to donors. ‘Give’ highlights how you’re being separated from your money, which is not appealing,” says study co-author Selin Malkoc, associate professor of marketing.

People want to feel like they have control when giving, according to new research by Selin Malkoc, assistant professor of marketing and logistics. The study finds that donors feel like they have more control over their donation when they are told they’re actively spending their money on an important cause, as compared to just giving their money.