Supreme Court Ruling Upholds White House Office on Religious Charities
Charity leaders and legal experts who oppose giving federal money to religious groups for social services say last month’s Supreme Court’s ruling is causing them to rethink their strategies. The case, Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation, centered on whether average citizens and watchdog groups…
By BRENNEN JENSEN
Contributor
Midwestern Cities Fare Best in Luring Volunteers
Four out of 10 residents of Minneapolis-St. Paul volunteer annually, more than in any other of the nation’s ALSO SEE: TABLE: Volunteering in America’s 50 Biggest Cities 50 biggest metropolitan areas, a new report by the federal government says. Las Vegas, where 14 percent of residents volunteer,…
By MARTY MICHAELS
Contributor
Marketing Techniques Alone Won’t Advance a Charity’s Cause, Experts Say
When it comes to marketing, nonprofit groups should not simply try to raise awareness or reach small segments of their intended audience, but rather focus on spurring collective action, a brand and marketing expert said at an American Marketing Association meeting here this month. To do that,…
By Sue Hoye
Contributor
FCC Offers Educational Radio Licenses
For the first time in seven years, the Federal Communications Commission in mid-October will accept applications for new, full-power stations used for noncommercial, educational purposes. There is no application fee and, if granted, the license itself is free. To apply, a nonprofit group must be…
By Sue Hoye
Contributor
Google Offers Charities Free Software, Help
Google has announced that it is making tools available to help nonprofit groups communicate and collaborate. Google Apps, which will be free to nonprofit organizations in the United States, includes e-mail and calendar programs, Internet-based telephone and text-messaging services, and…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Omidyar Network Ends Online Forum
The charitable Web site Omidyar.net has announced it will shut down its message boards and interactive features and direct current members to other online discussions. The forum is part of the charitable enterprises created by Pierre Omidyar, who made his fortune as the founder of eBay. The change…
By Sam Kean
Contributor
The Red Cross must move fast to prepare for the worstWith predictions for an above-average hurricane system this year, and a new warning that terrorists are plotting an attack against the United States, questions about whether the American Red Cross is adequately prepared for the next big disaster…
By Ben Gose
Senior Editor
Alliance for Children and Families (Milwaukee): Appointed Jo-nette Arms, child-abuse-prevention project manager at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin’s Child Protection Center (Milwaukee), to be project director of the New Age of Aging program. America’s Second Harvest (Chicago): Appointed George…
The IRS is mailing letters to more than 650,000 small organizations that are required to file the new Form 990-N informational tax return. Tax-exempt organizations with gross annual receipts of $25,000 or less are required to file the form beginning in 2008. Previously, such groups were exempt from…
By Peter Panepento
Contributor
How Employees With Family Responsibilities Can Guard Against Discrimination on the Job
JOB MARKET A few years ago, a communications specialist interviewed for a job at a religious charity in Texas when she was ALSO SEE:ARTICLE: Knowing the Law Can Help Workers With Child-Care Duties Protect Themselves six months pregnant. The human-resources manager who offered her the job didn’t…
By Rebecca Gardyn
Contributor
Knowing the Law Can Help Workers With Child-Care Duties Protect Themselves
JOB MARKET A knowledge of current employment law can help nonprofit workers protect themselves against being ALSO SEE:ARTICLE: How Employees With Family Responsibilities Can Guard Against Discrimination on the Job discriminated against at work for tending to their family responsibilities, experts…
By Rebecca Gardyn
Contributor
United Way Leader Picked to Run Child-Advocacy Group
A 10-hour drive last year from an airport in India to the country’s tsunami-ravaged coast exposed Christine James-Brown ALSO SEE: TEXTBOX: About Christine James-Brown, Chief Executive of the Child Welfare League of America to images of poverty that still sear. She remembers seeing hundreds of…
By Caroline Preston
Contributor
A Review of American Health Philanthropy
NEW BOOKS Knowledge to Action: Critical Health Issues and the Work of Health Philanthropy Over 25 Years, is divided into 10 sections that cover health-related philanthropy and foundations. The first section describes the history of the nonprofit health industry and giving to it, and the remaining…
By Anne W. Howard
Contributor
Understanding Why Some Families Keep Turning Up in the Child-Welfare System
NEW BOOKS Families With Repeat Involvement With Child Welfare Systems: The Current Knowledge Base and Needed Next Steps, reviews what research has found about families visited more than once by child-protective services. The report describes patterns of repeat maltreatment and other problems —…
By Anne W. Howard
Contributor
Lessons From a Men’s-Leadership Program
NEW BOOKS Ending Violence Against Women in Eastern Congo: Preparing Men to Advocate for Women’s Rights, describes efforts to engage Congolese men in mobilizing and supporting Congolese women. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been embroiled in conflict for several years, and sexual attacks…
By Anne W. Howard
Contributor
Foundation Endowments Gain 13.7% Return
The endowments of the nation’s private and community foundations achieved an average 13.7-percent gain on their investments last year, according to an annual survey by the Commonfund Institute. Endowments of charitable institutions gained an average of 13 percent, the report said. Both returns were…
By Regina Nuzzo
Contributor