A Destructive Storm Gives Birth to a Charity Leader
My parents came from Alabama, but I was born in Biloxi. My mother was an only child and my father was one of 13, and together they had the six of us. When I was growing up in Biloxi there were a lot of mom-and-pop businesses on Main Street: My parents owned the Kitty-Kat Restaurant, and all of us…
Baby Boomers Express Strong Interest in Charity Jobs, but Obstacles Remain
At least 6 percent of Americans between the ages of 44 and 70, or 5.3 million people, are working in second ALSO SEE: ARTICLE: Charity Work as a Second Career: What Americans Want careers with charities, governments, schools, or other institutions that benefit society, according to a new survey.…
By Caroline Preston
Contributor
Nonprofit Executive Makes a Jump Into the ‘Trenches’
While many nonprofit leaders may feel most passionate about being “in the trenches” of a social-service organization, others — like Peter V. Berns — are quite happy ALSO SEE: INFO: About Peter V. Berns, incoming executive director, the Arc of the United States working behind the scenes. “I’m one of…
By Sandy Asirvatham
Contributor
IRS Committee Says Donors Exaggerate Value of Artwork
The IRS has recalculated the value of hundreds of pieces of artwork donated to charities or left to heirs. As it has in the past, the tax agency’s Art Advisory Panel found that many people exaggerated the value of paintings and other items contributed to charities and placed too small a value on…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
Key Senator Blasts Hospitals’ Payment Policies
Sen. Charles E. Grassley, the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, has criticized nonprofit hospitals that have an “upfront-collection policy” or demand cash payments from people with inadequate or no insurance before treating them. At a Congressional hearing on ways to fix the…
By SUZANNE PERRY
Contributor
IRS Urged to Use Caution in Approach to Governance
A committee of nonprofit experts that advises the Internal Revenue Service is urging the tax agency to be cautious in its stepped-up efforts to promote good governance by charities. Such efforts “are fraught with complexity,” said the Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities in a…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
A Look at Recent International Giving by Foundations, Companies, and Governments
NEW BOOKS The Index of Global Philanthropy 2008, is the third in a series of annual reviews of international giving by foundations, companies, governments, and other organizations. Among the key findings: In the United States, religious congregations provided $8.8-billion in international…
By Anne W. Howard
Contributor
Coalition Seeks Streamlined Approach to Foreign Aid
A group of nonprofit leaders, researchers, and academics has proposed a set of ideas for improving how the American government fights poverty overseas. The coalition, known as the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network, called for stronger and better-coordinated leadership on foreign aid, ideally…
By Caroline Preston
Contributor
Mich. Hospital Offers Online Wish List to Donors
An online effort to assist entrepreneurs in developing countries served as inspiration when a hospital foundation in Grand Rapids, Mich., decided to expand its Internet fund raising. Officials at the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital and Spectrum Health Foundations say they looked to the successful…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Ex-Supreme Court Justice Promotes Game Project
Sandra Day O’Connor does not play video games. But she believes in their potential. In her keynote speech at the Games for Change conference in New York this month, the retired Supreme Court justice discussed her latest project, Our Courts, an online interactive digital game and civics curriculum…
By Alison Stein Wellner
Contributor
Red Cross Experiments With Disaster Blogs
As flood waters inundated large swaths of the Midwest, the American Red Cross used two blogs to get information out to the public. The organization used blogging software to create an online newsroom that brought together information about shelter locations and feeding programs, news alerts, and…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Relief Groups Warn of Dire Conditions in Zimbabwe as Election Nears
By Caroline PrestonAid groups have become the latest victims in the political repression that has gripped Zimbabwe amid presidential elections this year. The government this month ordered humanitarian charities to suspend relief operations in the country, a move the organizations say could have…
By Caroline Preston
Contributor
The exterior of the Brooklyn Children’s Museum’s gleaming $39-million, 55,000-square-foot addition, ALSO SEE: LIST: Experts Offer Tips for Cutting Energy Costs LIST: ‘Green’ Resources for Nonprofit Groups which opens in September, might be covered in bright yellow tiles, but the museum is also a…
By BRENNEN JENSEN
Contributor
Which universities have gift-officer training programs?
If the college at which you’re employed doesn’t offer training, there are further alternatives.
By Cassie J. Moore
Contributor
An explanation of Internal Revenue Service codes.
Both 501(c)(4) and 501(c)(6) groups may engage in lobbying with less restriction.
By Cassie J. Moore
Contributor
The following awards have been presented for work in advocacy, fund raising, nonprofit leadership, philanthropy, and other areas: Corporate giving. The Points of Light Foundation and Hands On Network (Washington) has presented its annual Awards for Excellence in Workplace Volunteer Programs, which…