Independent Sector Co-Founder Dies

The New York Times reports: “Brian O’Connell, who helped found Independent Sector, an organization that represents the interests of charities, foundations and nonprofit giving programs in the United States, often before Congress, died March 21 at his home in Chatham, Mass.”

The Independent Sector, now with 550 member nonprofits, was an innovation:

At the time, such groups were united by type — for example, arts, colleges or museums — or by the service provided. Mr. O’Connell and Mr. Gardner, who died in 2002, saw the need for an umbrella organization that could speak for all charities and other nonprofit groups and represent their interests in Washington, where the threat of unfavorable tax legislation often loomed.