Charities Review Military-Leave Policies as Reservists Are Deployed
Frank Moser was working as a district executive for the Boy Scouts of America, recruiting and training adult volunteers in eastern ALSO SEE:SPECIAL REPORT: Iraq’s Reach Into the Nonprofit World South Dakota, when his Army National Guard unit was called to active duty. He was sent to a military base…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Donated vacation deals are a mixed blessing for charities After four years of owning a time share in the Caribbean, James and Helen Kelble, of Gulph Mills, Pa., decided they wanted something different for their vacations, and they put the property up for sale. The couple listed the time share —…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Hurricane Fund Led by Former Presidents Is ‘Work in Progress’
The Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund, a new charity created by former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton days after the August hurricane hit the Gulf Coast, has made its first grants. But the fund faces questions about how its money will be spent — including its support of religious groups and…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Americans Have Mixed Views on Charities
Americans have positive feelings about nonprofit groups in general, but they harbor serious reservations about some aspects of the philanthropic world, according to a new survey by Harris Interactive, a research company in Rochester, N.Y. The survey was intended to measure how Americans felt about…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Company bets that donors will gain inspiration from a movieCharlotte, N.C. With a $10-million budget and the star power of James Garner, Lee Meriwether, and Brian Dennehy, a movie ALSO SEE:Book Excerpt: A Tale of Wealth, Charity, and Self-DiscoveryCompany Lays Out Steps to Inspire Philanthropy…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
House Passes Rule to Curtail Advocacy by Nonprofit Groups
The House of Representatives has passed legislation that would 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 12 months of applying for a grant. The legislation was…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Report Says Charities Don’t Understand Donors Well
Charity leaders are out of touch with the typical American donor’s perception of the nonprofit world, according to a new report. Nonprofit officials overestimate donors’ interest in public-policy debates — such as the extent to which government ought to regulate charities — and underestimate…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
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
Protestants Give Smaller Share of Income to Church Activities, a New Report Finds
Protestants are donating a smaller and smaller share of their after-tax incomes to churches, according to a new report. The main decline has come in the form of gifts to church-run charitable activities, which, as a percentage of take-home pay, dropped to a 36-year low. An analysis of 146,000…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Disc Jockey’s Antics Attract Attention and Big Bucks for Charity
Buffalo, N.Y. Larry Norton, a radio disc jockey here, has lived for two days inside a giant ice cube, ridden a Ferris wheel ALSO SEE:DATABASE: The Philanthropy 400Special Report: The Philanthropy 400 for five 20, and set what he says is the world record for the longest radio broadcast by staying on…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor