Benefit Concerts Raise Millions for Katrina’s Victims
The music industry has responded to Hurricane Katrina with a flurry of fund-raising concerts that ALSO SEE:Special Report: Hurricane Relief industry observers say is unprecedented. Beginning with the “Shelter From the Storm” event, broadcast on 26 television networks September 9, musicians from…
By Harvy Lipman
Contributor
Getty Trust Promises to Aid State Inquiry on Spending
After a series of newspaper articles criticized financial practices at the J. Paul Getty Trust, officials there say they have met with investigators from the California attorney general’s office who were seeking information about Getty’s financial activities. The meeting comes after the Los Angeles…
By Harvy Lipman
Contributor
Defining a Legislative Earmark: How The Chronicle Conducted Its Analysis
One of the most difficult parts of any effort to determine how much Congress gives out in earmarks is figuring out ALSO SEE:A Gold RushManna or Pork?Seeking Federal FavorsLobbying for CharitySecuring an Earmark: What Appeals to LawmakersA Tempest Breaks Out Over Federal Aid for Indoor Rain…
By Harvy Lipman
Contributor
A Tempest Breaks Out Over Federal Aid for Indoor Rain Forest
Ted Townsend had a bold vision for a charity project, but he couldn’t seem to persuade donors of the value of his plan ALSO SEE:A Gold RushManna or Pork?Seeking Federal FavorsLobbying for CharitySecuring an Earmark: What Appeals to LawmakersWinning an Earmark Is Not Child’s PlayDefining a…
By Harvy Lipman
Contributor
Audit of Atlanta Scouts Finds Problems
The top executive of the Boy Scouts of America’s Atlanta council has resigned after an audit found that the organization had falsified the number of boys it had signed up under a program designed to increase the number of minority youngsters who become scouts. David Larkin, Scout executive for the…
By Harvy Lipman
Contributor
Key lawmakers ask fundamental questions about the types of organizations that deserve tax exemptionsWashington One of the most powerful lawmakers on Capitol Hill last week opened a wide-ranging inquiry into nonprofit organizations, raising fundamental questions about what constitutes a charity and…
By Harvy Lipman and Elizabeth Schwinn
Tax Agency Declines to Create Separate Charity Database
As Congress and others step up their scrutiny of charities, many lawmakers, watchdog groups, academic researchers, and others are disappointed that the Internal Revenue Service has decided not to set up a database that will make it easy for the public to gather data in the informational tax returns…
By Harvy Lipman
Contributor
President’s plan would increase role of religious groupsWashington President Bush last week put into concrete terms his vision of compassionate conservatism. In the 2006 ALSO SEE:TABLE: The Nonprofit World and President Bush’s Budget: Key Proposals spending plan he proposed to Congress last week he…
By Harvy Lipman
Contributor
College Endowments Grew With Stock Market Last Year
Endowments at American colleges and universities earned substantially more last year than they did in the previous few years, according to two new reports. Endowments reported average returns of 14.7 percent in 2004, according to the annual Commonfund Benchmarks Study, released by the Commonfund…
By Harvy Lipman
Contributor
Study Examines Causes Behind Reporting Errors on Federal Tax Returns
More than a third of nonprofit groups that collected $50,000 or more in 2000 told the federal government they did not spend anything on fund raising even though that was often not the case, according to a new study that examined the informational tax returns charities must file. Many other…
By Harvy Lipman
Contributor