Tax Agency Issues Draft of Charity Tax Form
TAX WATCHThe Internal Revenue Service has released a draft version of a revised Form 990 informational tax return for nonprofit organizations and has asked charities to comment on its ideas. The draft form requires more information from charities about the compensation they pay. Charities would…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Proposal Would Limit Charitable Deductions
TAX WATCHA presidential advisory committee expects to recommend soon that the government make big changes to the federal tax code -- and eliminate the opportunity for many Americans to take deductions for charitable gifts. The committee was formed by President Bush to advise his administration on…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
‘Harper’s’: Raising Money for Schools
PRESS CLIPPINGSThe growth of private fund-raising groups that raise money for public schools is leading to growing inequality between schools in wealthy areas and those in poor neighborhoods, charges Ellen Zimmerman, a freelance writer, in Harper’s magazine (October). The fund-raising groups, often…
‘Forbes’: Donations of Patents
PRESS CLIPPINGSThe Internal Revenue Service is cracking down on companies that inappropriately claimed charitable deductions for donating “what could be clunker patents,” writes Forbes (October 17). The magazine says the IRS has already denied $1-billion in patent deductions and is auditing another…
‘Alpha’: Donor’s Investment Plan
PRESS CLIPPINGSThe billionaire industrialist Eli Broad wants to double the size of his foundations’ assets in the next three years, in large part by making shrewd investments, writes Institutional Investor’s Alpha magazine (September/October). Mr. Broad, whose fortune is estimated to be…
‘The New Yorker’: Gates Foundation
PRESS CLIPPINGSOverstating the impact of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is nearly impossible, writes The New Yorker magazine (October 24) in a review of the work of the Seattle philanthropy. “The research programs of entire countries have been restored, and fields that had languished for…
House Set to Consider Rule to Restrict Nonprofit Advocacy
Some nonprofit officials are concerned that legislation could soon be proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives to disqualify charities from receiving federal money from a new housing fund if they have lobbied or carried out any other advocacy activities -- such as voter registration -- within…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Investments Rise 8.2% for Health-Care Groups
Nonprofit health-care organizations generated 8.2 percent on their investment assets last year, compared with 14.1 percent the previous year, according to a new report by the Commonfund Institute. The gains correspond to the performance of the stock markets. The Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index…
By Harvy Lipman
Contributor
Relief Groups Say 2005 Disasters Point Out Vital Technology Needs
Washington The field of international relief and development needs to find new ways to use technology to better coordinate disaster assistance, especially between large international groups and small local organizations, charity leaders told participants at a meeting here last week. “Information is…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Nonprofit Groups Devise Ideas for White House Meeting on Aging
Donna Butts, executive director of Generations United, in Washington, says she chuckled when she read the letter telling her she had been named an at-large delegate to the White House Conference on Aging, to be held in Washington in December. “It said, ‘You’re expected to be visionary. You’re also…
By SUZANNE PERRY
Contributor