Advocacy Rules and Nonprofit Groups
To the Editor: As the sector scrambles to respond to budget cuts and efforts to heighten oversight, a large myth restricting nonprofits’ effectiveness still prevails -- the notion that lobbying by organizations classified under Section 501(c)(3) of the tax code is illegal or discouraged by the IRS.…
An Open Debate on Conservatism’s Future Offers a Model for Liberals to Emulate
Twenty of the nation’s leading conservatives gathered last month to discuss the principles and vision of the conservative movement and the role that philanthropy should play in furthering its goals. The session was held by the Hudson Institute’s Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal, in…
By PABLO EISENBERG
Contributor
What Foundations Really Need to Succeed
To the Editor: A new foundation trying to navigate through the so-called infrastructure of philanthropy and find a safe membership harbor would be hard-pressed to decide where to dock. Consider the choices: the Council on Foundations, 30 regional associations of grant makers, the Association of…
Encouraging Innovation: a Task for Congress
The Senate Finance Committee’s examination of nonprofit groups is a historically unprecedented example of participatory policy making. As the committee looks for ways to stamp out abuses of the laws that govern charities and foundations, it has made extraordinary efforts to get the views of…
By Aron P. Goldman
Contributor
The After-School Corporation (New York): Appointed Daniel Kreiss, director of an after-school program at the Church Avenue Merchants Block Association (New York), to be director of major gifts. America’s Promise-the Alliance for Youth (Alexandria, Va.): Appointed Lizette Corro, managing director at…
Americans Must Push Charities to Lobby
To the Editor: In his opinion article, “Grant Makers Must Focus on Government’s Role” (February 17), Mark Rosenman was absolutely correct to say that nonprofit organizations must speak out about how the President’s proposals damage our sector, and our democracy. For example, rural areas are…
Report on Evangelicals Was Misleading
To the Editor: The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, in its report “Funding the Culture Wars: Philanthropy, Church, and State,” makes sweeping statements regarding potential fiscal irresponsibility among evangelical charities (“Grants Shaped Evangelical Movement,” February 17),…
What’s Killing Environmentalism: Moralistic, Overzealous Behavior
Seven years after it was signed by 35 countries, the Kyoto Protocol, which sets limits on the emissions of gases thought to produce global warming, has just taken effect. The introduction of the limits, said the Japanese official who presided over the conference that drew up the pact, was “a day of…
By LESLIE LENKOWSKY
Contributor
The Dangers of Limiting the Flow of Ideas
To the Editor: In an item in your February 17 Technology column (“New Technology Coalition Shares Patented Approaches”), Harry Gruber, chief executive officer of Kintera, asserted that business-method patents “have ... been around since the founding of the country.” While it is true that method or…
Don’t Give Up on Charity-Run Businesses
The scholarly attack on nonprofit business ventures has grown increasingly sharp in recent weeks. The Harvard Business Review’s February issue warns that nonprofit groups “should not be encouraged to search for a holy grail of earned income in the marketplace,” arguing that “sending social-service…
By Alfred Wise
Contributor