A Look at Investments, Borrowing Trends, and Charity Views on Finances
Investments held by private and community foundations performed better than two major stock-market indicators last year, but still declined nearly 9 percent in value, according to a new study by the Commonfund Institute, an organization in Wilton, Conn., that provides financial information to grant…
By NICOLE WALLACE, Michael Anft and Brad Wolverton
Study of Charity Businesses Finds That Many Earn Profits
A new survey of 72 nonprofit organizations that run 105 business ventures found that more than two-thirds of the ventures make a profit or break even. Of the profitable ventures, 45 percent made money within their first year of operation, and 12 percent did so within two years. Another 12 percent…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Barnes Audit Details Management Troubles
An extensive audit of the Barnes Foundation, made public this month, reveals details of some of the financial and management troubles in the past decade that helped deplete the art institution’s endowment. The foundation, housed in an estate in suburban Philadelphia, is seeking a court’s permission…
By Stephen G. Greene
Contributor
‘Harvard Business Review’: Cause Marketing
In the post-boom economy, some businesses have combined their marketing and charitable-giving strategies, notes an article in the Harvard Business Review (July). The companies are increasingly seeking to support charities in ways that will enhance their reputations, help them sell more products or…
By Elizabeth Schwinn and Brad Wolverton
‘Bloomberg Wealth Manager’: Donor Funds
A declining stock market caused assets to fall nearly 6 percent to $3.4-billion last year at 25 of the nation’s largest commercial donor-advised funds, according to an article in Bloomberg Wealth Manager (June). The declining market also led two companies -- Thornburg Investment Management and…
By Elizabeth Schwinn and Brad Wolverton
Charities Report $4-Billion in Business Income
Charities in 1999 reported $4-billion in business income not related to their charitable missions, according to a new study by the Internal Revenue Service. That’s a drop of $125-million from the amount of unrelated-business income charities reported in 1998. The money accounted for a little over…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Man Falsely Claimed Tuition as Donation
A man who used his family foundation to funnel payments for his children’s private-school tuition has been sentenced to five months in prison for tax evasion by the U.S. District Court for Northern California. In addition to the five months in prison, Tim Mosley of San Rafael, Calif., has been…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Court Upholds Church Tax Exemption
A federal appeals court has declined to rule on whether a Louisiana sales-tax exemption for churches and other religious groups is constitutional, saying the matter belongs in state court. The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said that because the case involved…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
IRS Bars Stock-Options Deals for Charities
The Internal Revenue Service has barred nonprofit organizations from offering their executives a type of deferred compensation similar to the stock options some corporations give their employees. Aggressively promoted by some of the nation’s largest accounting firms, the stock-option plans have…
By Harvy Lipman
Contributor
A Charity Leader Works to Beautify an Inner City
A DAY IN THE LIFE By Kimberlee Roth Detroit Rebecca Salminen Witt, president of the Greening of Detroit, is starting her day a couple of hours earlier than expected. At 7 a.m. on a Friday in June, she arrives at a vacant lot in downtown Detroit to supervise its refurbishing, even though volunteers…
By Kimberlee Roth
Contributor