New National Service Chief Vows to Improve Relations With Charities
In an interview with The Chronicle, David Eisner, the new chief executive of the Corporation for National ALSO SEE:Tough Times for National ServicePresidential Contenders Weigh In on AmeriCorps and National ServiceClothing Company CEO Wears Passion for Service on His Sleeve and Community Service --…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Tough Times for National Service
Charities remain wary after cutsmade in AmeriCorps programWhen torrential rains caused flooding in Skagit County, Wash., in October, the state’s Emergency Management ALSO SEE:Presidential Contenders Weigh In on AmeriCorps and National ServiceNew National Service Chief Vows to Improve Relations With…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Review of 9/11 Response Finds Charities Missed Opportunity to Lead
Organizations responding to major disasters must be willing to share information and assert leadership, according to a new report that reviews the relief efforts following the September 11 terrorist attacks with an eye toward improving services after other national crises. Among its 22…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Big Change Afoot at Pew Trusts
The Philadelphia foundation transforms its legal structurePhiladelphia The Pew Charitable Trusts, one of America’s richest private foundations, has gained approval from the Internal Revenue Service and two Pennsylvania courts to transform itself into a charity. The move, a change in legal and tax…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Opposition Forms to Charity Tax Bill
Thirty-four nonprofit groups are opposing a Senate bill on charitable giving, saying a tax break in it to promote greater use of land trusts would be too costly and would put religious groups seeking to purchase land at a disadvantage. In a letter sent last week to chairmen of the House and Senate…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
IRS Increases Scrutiny of Credit-Counseling Groups
The Internal Revenue Service, which has spent the past year scrutinizing nonprofit credit-counseling organizations, announced this month that it is cracking down on the groups. The announcement came a few days after the IRS joined the Federal Trade Commission and a group of state charity regulators…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
New Fund-Raising Endeavors Pay Off for Animal-Protection Charity
After six or seven years of making small contributions to the Humane Society of the United States, a dog-loving ALSO SEE:DATABASE: Philanthropy 400 ResultsSurviving Tough TimesCHARTS: The 400 at a GlanceDoing the Numbers: How the Philanthropy 400 Survey Was CompiledCancer Group Thrives After…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Checking Up on Credit Charities
Debt-advice groups sparking new government scrutinyFollowing a divorce, a series of moves to pick up acting work, and a string of temporary jobs that dried up when the economy soured in 2001, Alyssa Polacsek owed $20,000 to two credit-card companies. Looking for help, she turned to Debticated, a…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Supreme Court Upholds Ban on Direct Political Gifts by Nonprofit Groups
The U.S. Supreme Court last week ruled that nonprofit organizations, just like for-profit businesses, must abide by a longstanding ban on direct contributions to federal political candidates. By a vote of 7 to 2, the court said that applying the prohibition to nonprofit groups does not violate the…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Panel Recommends Review of Tax Shelters
In response to concern that tax-exempt organizations are being used as illegal tax shelters, an Internal Revenue Service advisory committee has recommended the creation of two new offices to tackle the problem. The committee cited two examples of abuses of charitable-giving laws: car donations by…