IRS Issues Final Rules for Tax Form That Charities Are Required to File
The Internal Revenue Service has released final instructions for the Form 990, completing the first major overhaul in a generation of the informational return that most charities must file with the federal government. The IRS modified some language in the instructions, including tinkering with the…
By Ben Gose
Senior Editor
IRS Releases Instructions for New Charity Tax Form
IRS releases instructions for new charity tax form
By Ben Gose
Senior Editor
Templeton Foundation’s Assets Expected to Grow by 50%
The $1.3-billion John Templeton Foundation may see its assets increase by 50 percent by the end of 2009, following the death last month of its founder, Sir John M. Templeton, the mutual-fund pioneer. That would most likely make it among the 30 wealthiest grant makers in the United States. Mr.…
By Ben Gose
Senior Editor
Bloomberg and Gates Funds to Spend $375-Million to Fight Tobacco Use
Michael R. Bloomberg and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have announced a new $375-million joint commitment to fight tobacco around the world, especially in developing countries. The new commitment comes on top of the $125-million that was donated by Mr. Bloomberg, the mayor of New York, two…
By Ben Gose
Senior Editor
At Globalgiving.com, donors can contribute as little as $25 to any of hundreds of projects, such as drilling new wells for fresh water in Bangladesh, teaching computer skills to rural students in Sri Lanka, and providing emergency shelter to children orphaned by the May earthquake in China.…
By Ben Gose
Senior Editor
Two Donors Award Gifts of $100-Million Apiece
Two nonprofit groups have each received donations of $100-million: Gerhard R. Andlinger, an investment manager, has pledged $100-million to Princeton University, in large part to stimulate research and education on efforts to curb global warming. David H. Koch, a businessman, has pledged…
By Ben Gose and Maria Di Mento
Congress Continues to Scrutinize Spending by Wealthy Groups
With the stock market sinking rapidly, will Congress lose its zeal for scrutinizing the largest endowments? Some members of Congress, including Sen. Charles E. Grassley, the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, have raised the idea of requiring nonprofit groups with an endowment or…
By Ben Gose
Senior Editor
Ford Foundation Official Warns About Dangers of Alternative Investments
As endowments increase their allocations to alternative assets, skeptics have generally focused on two risks of such investments: their high fees, which eat into returns, and their tendency to use lots of debt, which can spell disaster when investments drop sharply. Now an investing expert at the…
By Ben Gose
Senior Editor
Increasing Number of Smaller Charities Seek Outsiders to Manage Their Endowments
Some small and midsize charities, disappointed by the investing results produced by managers hired by their boards, have decided to hire experts to take over all the duties of managing an endowment. Commonfund, which helps colleges and other charities manage their endowments, has in recent years…
By Ben Gose
Senior Editor
The 253 endowments in The Chronicle’s annual survey enjoyed their fifth straight year of strong investment returns in 2007, but that streak may come to a halt in 2008. The endowments in the survey earned a median return of 15.7 percent in 2007 — meaning that half of the endowments achieved higher…
By Ben Gose and Maria Di Mento