June 22, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
A prominent charity watchdog has what he considers to be a simple way to maximize the Internal Revenue Service’s resources for auditing charities.
Trent Stamp, president of Charity Navigator, proposes that the agency focus its audits squarely on the part of the nonprofit world he believes is most responsible for poorly managing donors’ money.
“Go do audits of every group that claims to work on behalf of the police, firefighters, veterans, and sick kids, and has a large telemarketing budget,” Mr. Stamp writes on his blog. “Sure, you’ll unfairly pull in a few honest groups that don’t deserve the scrutiny, but most you find will be lousy, and I suspect the good guys will endure the audit for a playing field that is subsequently cleared of the predatory outlaws.”
The IRS, Mr. Stamp says, needs to do a better job at protecting the interests of people who donate money to charity.
The tax agency, he says, is “out-manned and they’re doing their best.” But, he adds, “through no fault of their own, their best isn’t good enough. Donors are on their own.”
What should the IRS do to find and punish bad charities? Click on the comments link below this post to share your thoughts.
