Amid Crisis, Former National Service Chief Sees Hope in Volunteerism
On the day before he stepped down as chief executive of the Corporation for National and Community Service, David Eisner said in a speech at Georgetown University that he was both proud and concerned. “It is very possible that this economic downturn is going to do to our civic infrastructure what…
By Cassie J. Moore
Contributor
With the economic downturn likely to lead to a significant drop in charitable donations and already taking a bite out of many endowments, many nonprofit organizations have begun to think about ways to cut back their spending. One expenditure that could soon go the way of canceled holiday parties:…
By Jennifer C. Berkshire
Contributor
To Dan Pallotta, there’s something very wrong with the nonprofit world. It suffers, says the former fund raiser, from a self-defeating mind-set that demands charity workers sacrifice personal benefit to help their social causes. Mr. Pallotta argues that such thinking leads to unfair scrutiny of…
By Ian Wilhelm
Contributor
All Kinds of Minds (Durham, N.C.): Announced the resignation of Melvin D. Levine, co-founder and a consultant for the organization. Mary Jo Dunnington, consultant for elementary and secondary education at the North Carolina Network of Grantmakers (Chapel Hill), was appointed vice president for…
American Rivers (Washington): Appointed Jennifer Levine, director of marketing at Levine and Associates (Washington), to be director of marketing. Aquinas College (Nashville): Appointed Kate Davis, manager of advancement information systems, and Cindy Dorman, program manager, to be managers of…
The following awards have been presented for work in advocacy, fund raising, nonprofit leadership, philanthropy, and other areas: Education. The 2008 Harold W. McGraw Jr. Prize in Education, awarded by the McGraw-Hill Companies (New York) to honor individuals dedicated to improving education in the…
Domestic-Policy Expert Tapped as New Education Director
After 28 years of living in Washington, Barbara Chow moved this fall back to her native state, California, to become education director at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, in Menlo Park. She uprooted her life and a career largely spent in the federal government to concentrate instead on…
By nicole lewis
Contributor
Charity World Needs to Be ‘Squeaky Clean,’ IRS Says
Two key Internal Revenue Service officials told nonprofit leaders that the agency will continue efforts to ensure that tax-exempt organizations are following federal laws. “We are going to continue to insist that the sector is squeaky clean,” Douglas Shulman, the commissioner of Internal Revenue,…
By Eric Kelderman
Contributor
Nonprofit Coalition Considers Stand on Taxes
Members of the nonprofit world are weighing how to ask for more federal money from Congress and the White House in 2009. Specifically, Independent Sector has drafted a set of priorities for the next president and Congress that includes asking for higher taxes, with the goal of allowing the federal…
By Eric Kelderman
Contributor
IRS Adjusts Rules on Charitable Deductions
The Internal Revenue Service has announced its annual changes affecting charitable donations for the 2009 tax year, updating the rules to account for inflation. One change affects the way donors calculate their charitable deductions. Federal law allows donors to take deductions only for the…
By Eric Kelderman
Contributor
San Francisco Considers Salary Limits for Some Charities
Charitable groups receiving support from the city of San Francisco may face limitations on how much they can pay their executive directors. Legislation proposed this month would prohibit groups from using city funds to pay their leaders if the executives earn more than six times the total…
By BRENNEN JENSEN
Contributor
Big Conservative Group Eliminates 202 Jobs
Citing a decline in donations caused by the slowing economy, Focus on the Family, the Christian advocacy charity in Colorado Springs, has eliminated 202 staff positions — 149 of them filled, 53 that were already vacant. “The pocketbooks of all types of donors, from small donors to larger donors,…
By BRENNEN JENSEN
Contributor
Site Helps Charities Craft News Releases
Charities seeking help to improve their news releases now have another tool at their fingertips thanks to a new Web site created by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, in Miami. The Knight News Release Workshop offers step-by-step instructions that show nonprofit writers how, and how not,…
By CANDIE JONES
Contributor
Web Site Encourages Donors to Pool Their Contributions
When FINCA International sets up a village bank in a developing country, neighbors come together to borrow money to start and expand small businesses. Because very few residents have collateral, the borrowers guarantee one another’s loans — making the success of the whole village as important as…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Obama Urged to Overturn International Aid Rules Opposed by Charities
With Barack Obama set to enter the White House in January, international aid groups are hoping his administration will reverse controversial antiterrorism programs that affect charities. One concern is the so-called Partner Vetting System proposed by the U.S. Agency for International Development.…
By Ian Wilhelm
Contributor
100,000 Nonprofit Groups Could Collapse in Next Two Years, Expert Predicts
More than 100,000 nonprofit groups nationwide will fail within the next two years, including a few “big brand-name nonprofits,” a scholar of philanthropy and government told charity leaders assembled here to discuss the fallout from the nation’s financial meltdown. Paul C. Light, a professor of…
By Paula Wasley
Contributor