IRS Compiles Auditors’ Checklist
The Internal Revenue Service has provided its auditors with a list of questions to ask selected religious and social-services groups this year as part of an ongoing effort to determine how the agency can best strengthen its auditing program. The revenue service says it will use the answers to build…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
College Endowments Drop an Average of 6%, but Donations Remain Steady, Study Finds
Colleges and their fund-raising foundations saw the value of their endowments fall for the second year in a row, according to preliminary results of a new study. The value of assets fell an average of 6 percent in fiscal 2002, compared with 3 percent in fiscal 2001. The study was conducted by the…
By Michael Anft
Contributor
Key Technology Meetings Slated for March
Two leading technology conferences will be held in March in Oakland, Calif. The Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network, a national organization for individuals, charities, and businesses that provide technology help to nonprofit groups, will hold its 2003 Roundup March 7-9 at the Oakland Marriott…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
New Technology Tools Offered to Charities
TechSoup has added new products to its DiscounTech online store to benefit small and medium-size nonprofit organizations. TechSoup is a technology Web site for nonprofit groups that is run by CompuMentor, a San Francisco charity that provides technology assistance to other nonprofit organizations.…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Arthritis Foundation’s Atlanta Headquarters Makes Budget Cuts, Lays Off 17 Workers
Blaming the economic slowdown, the Arthritis Foundation has laid off 17 employees at its Atlanta headquarters and made budget cuts of nearly 40 percent in some program areas. The layoffs, announced December 3, reduce the size of the headquarters staff by 9 percent, according to Dennis Bowman, a…
By Harvy Lipman
Contributor
Federal Agency Urged to Help Relief Charities
The problems surrounding charities’ response to September 11 should prompt the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help national nonprofit organizations develop strategies for disaster relief, said the General Accounting Office in a new report. While nonprofit disaster-relief groups, such as the…
By Ian Wilhelm
Contributor
Lack of Money Forces Federal Service Program to Suspend Application Process
Interest in joining AmeriCorps was so robust last year that the program has suspended the enrollment of new volunteers until Congress releases enough money to cover the additional people. The problem was compounded by imprecision in the federal government’s procedure for monitoring the enrollment…
By Stephen G. Greene
Contributor
Waiting for the Ruinous Drought on Wall Street to End
A major foundation has been flirting with the charity I lead, Jewish Family & Life, for some time now. We got to the stage where foundation officials had requested a proposal, and we turned it around quickly. And then silence. No acknowledgment. No return phone calls or e-mails. Finally, a key…
By Yosef I. Abramowitz
Contributor
Boston University agreed last month to turn over $3-million it had received from one donor to two other charities. The money was donated by David G. Mugar, who had threatened to sue the institution for fraud. Mr. Mugar pledged the gift in 1988 to expand the Mugar Memorial Library, which had been…
Giving Troubles Found in Studies
Nonprofit organizations continue to face declines in donations and an uncertain outlook for recovery, according to two recent reports. In a new survey by GuideStar, a nonprofit group that distributes information online about charities, almost half -- 48 percent -- of the charities that responded…