Giving Compass' Take:

• Ted Kitterman discusses the ways that nonprofits are reacting to the donations offered - or already given - by the Sackler family, whose fortune was made in part by the opioid crisis. 

• How can funders help to fill the gaps left by the removal of this funding source? How can funders work to ensure that the money they give is well-gotten? 

• Read more about tainted money in philanthropy. 

Nonprofits need donors, but at what reputational cost? Outcry has been building over donations from the Sackler family, who own Purdue Pharma, which has been inextricably linked to the opioid crisis in the U.S. The family now faces a lawsuit brought by more than 600 cities, counties and Native American tribes.

The Sackler name reaches far beyond the pharmaceutical industry. Sackler money has helped fund prestigious art museums and galleries, including the Guggenheim in New York and the Tate Modern and the National Portrait Gallery in the U.K.

These museums now face a choice: Disavow a major benefactor, or face public scorn. Many organizations are choosing to return the money, among other measures.

Museums have faced increasing pressure from their constituents to reject the money, including protests at the Guggenheim led by Goldin. Protests had also been planned at other institutions.

Though it can be difficult to return donations, advisors have urged other nonprofit organizations to join the art museums in refusing Sackler money.

Read the full article about donations funded by the creators of the opioid crisis by Ted Kitterman at Ragan's PR Daily.