IRS Panel Seeks Comments on Plan for Reporting Errors
TAX WATCH An IRS advisory committee is seeking feedback from charity officials and legal experts on whether the tax agency should create a new program for tax-exempt organizations that would encourage them to come forward when they discover problems with their informational tax returns or other…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Tax Agency Offers Advice on Charity Accountability
TAX WATCH As charities debate whether to create ways to police their own behavior, the Internal Revenue Service has come forward with its ideas to improve accountability. The tax agency has released an unofficial “discussion draft” of nine principles for charity boards to follow. The principles…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Volunteering by Americans Hits Four-Year Low
Sixty-one million Americans donated time to charity last year, the lowest number of volunteers in four years, according to new data from the federal government. The figure represents a drop from the 65.4 million people who said they volunteered in 2005, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor…
By Ian Wilhelm
Contributor
Philanthropy Experts Debate Merits of Socially Responsible Investments
Foundations may hamper their charitable efforts if they invest only in companies that say they are socially responsible, said a scholar last week during a debate on whether grant makers should align their investments with their missions. Jon Entine, an adjunct fellow at the American Enterprise…
By Ian Wilhelm
Contributor
Grant Maker Gains Insight While on Active Duty
OUTSIDE THE NONPROFIT WORLD Last year, Bonnie Jenkins received a phone call with a message that few foundation officials have ever received. She was going to war. Ms. Jenkins, who works at the Ford Foundation, in New York, learned that March morning that her U.S. Naval Reserve unit had been called…
By Ian Wilhelm
Contributor
Bits: MobileActive Publishes Guide on Cell-Phone Advocacy
MobileActive, an Amherst, Mass., network of people who use cell phones to promote civic engagement, has published a guide on cell-phone advocacy. To get there: Go to http://www.mobileactive.org/guides. Charity Navigator has added to its Web site an interactive map of Africa that allows visitors to…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
New Prize Honors Software Developers
A new award will honor a person or group whose work is making it easier for people to start using free and open-source software. The APC Chris Nicol FOSS Prize will be awarded by the Association for Progressive Communications, an international network of organizations that use technology to promote…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Kintera Shakes Up Its Top Leadership
The upheaval in the fund-raising software industry continues with a leadership shake-up at Kintera, a San Diego company that provides Web-based software for nonprofit organizations. Kintera has named Richard N. LaBarbera as the company’s new president, and Alfred R. Berkeley III has been elected…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Washington Charities Expect to Increase Salaries
Salaries for nonprofit workers in the Washington area are expected to rise in 2007, according to a new survey of local nonprofit employers. However, a new ALSO SEE: GRAPHIC: Percentage of Washington nonprofit groups that offer bonuses and other rewards to workers TABLE: Nonprofit pay: salary ranges…
By Scott Westcott
Contributor
Charities urge Congress to drop cuts proposed by the White House By Elizabeth SchwinnPresident Bush this month proposed to cut or freeze many of the programs that benefit nonprofit organizations. But the outlook for his budget is uncertain: While last November’s election brought in new…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor