The following awards have been presented for work in advocacy, fund raising, nonprofit leadership, philanthropy, and other areas. Arts. Americans for the Arts (Washington) has presented its Frederick R. Weisman Award for Philanthropy in the Arts to Teresa Heinz, chairman of the Heinz Endowments and…
Congress Investigates Charity Tax Deal
By Elizabeth Schwinn A Congressional subcommittee last week examined a tax deal involving charities and other tax-exempt groups, such as pension funds. The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations spent two days examining two approaches it said involved questionable tax shelters, including…
Appeals Court Reverses Tax-Exemption Ruling
By Elizabeth Schwinn A federal appeals court has ruled that, to retain its tax exemption, a charity hospital must do more to demonstrate that it retains control of a joint venture with a for-profit partner. The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overturns a lower court’s…
Web Site Focuses on Vision Problems
VisionConnection, a new Web site, provides information about vision impairment, its prevention, and vision rehabilitation -- all in a format that makes it easy for people who are blind or have limited sight to gain access to the material. Forty vision organizations from around the world worked…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Study Says News Stories Can Aid Online Appeals
Nonprofit organizations can improve their online fund raising by better timing their appeals to news coverage related to their work or cause, according to a new report. In a survey of visitors to Atlantic Monthly Online this summer, more than 80 percent of respondents -- 493 out of 600 -- said they…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Mapping Technology Links L.A. Charity Services
A new Web site combines a database of health, education, and social-service providers in Los Angeles County with mapping technology to help people find the services they need and to make it easier for policy makers and activists to understand the local social-service landscape. HealthyCity.org…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Study: Charity Fraud Exceeds $1-Billion
High-level charity officials stole or misused at least $1.28-billion from 152 nonprofit organizations during the past seven years, but the organizations recovered less than half that amount while many perpetrators received minor punishment, according to a new study. The study, by Harvard…
By Brad Wolverton
Contributor
Charities Brace for State Cuts
Nonprofit groups told to expect hard times until 2006As states continue to grapple with a fiscal crisis that some economists have described as the worst in 50 years, ALSO SEE:Tough Times for State Budgets budget experts and charities in many locales are concerned that nonprofit groups could be big…
By Ian Wilhelm
Contributor
Catholic Giving in 2002 Rose 4.9 Percent
Giving by Americans to the Roman Catholic Church rose last year despite a clergy sexual-abuse scandal that rocked its congregations, according to a new study. Giving at church services and other general collections grew 4.9 percent, or $273-million, to $5.8-billion last year for the country’s 194…
By Ian Wilhelm
Contributor
Majority of Older Adults Are Volunteers and Donors, New Study Finds
By Nicole Wallace Eighty-seven percent of adults age 45 and older spend time volunteering, according to a new survey published by ALSO SEE:Giving and Volunteering by Adults 45 and Older AARP, a membership and advocacy group for older people. Fifty-one percent said that they volunteer through a…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor