Madonna's Raising Malawi Charity Cuts Ties With Kaballah

2011 tax return shows that board of directors affiliated with Madonna's religion-of-choice for years was replaced

Madonna is running a more secular ship this days.

The singer's Raising Malawi foundation, which supports impoverished children in the southeast African nation, is no longer a supporting organization for Kaballah Centre International, the nonprofit face of the Jewish-mysticism practice that Madonna has been affiliated with since the late 1990s.

There's been no official word as to why the two are no longer in the business of do-gooding together, but, according to Raising Malawi Inc.'s 2011 tax return, obtained by E! News, they cut ties on March 16, 2011. 

The Kaballah-affiliated board of directors was also replaced back in 2011. Madonna's business manager, Richard Feldstein, was listed as the foundation's principal officer, while she remained as chair and longtime manager Guy Oseary is board secretary.

A summary explanation included in the tax filing states: "Pursuant to a restructuring agreement with KCI, RMI amended its organizational documents to remove corporate control from KCI. RMI is now controlled by a self-perpetuating board of directors which is not affiliated with KCI."

The news comes on the heels of Malawi President Joyce Banda publicly chiding Madonna for seemingly reneging on her promise to build a girls' school, an institution akin to the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy in South Africa.

An associate of the charity told the BBC that Madonna's nonprofit has given $400,000 toward the building of 10 classrooms.

Per the tax documents, the organization received a little more than $2 million in revenue/donations in 2011, down from the previous year's amount of $6 million-plus. In addition, in 2011 the organization only paid $32,004 in salary compared to $195,342 in 2010. But the foundation also doled out more than $1.1 million for various projects in 2011.