Tax Agency Investigates Nonprofit Hospitals
TAX WATCHBy Elizabeth SchwinnThe Internal Revenue Service has begun looking into how well nonprofit hospitals are complying with federal law requiring them to provide social benefits, such as free or low-cost health care for the poor, in exchange for their tax-exempt status. The tax agency has sent…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
A Former Minister Learns the Power of Asking for Donations
The most valuable lesson I’ve learned about running a nonprofit organization came from my experience in the for-profit world. That lesson? Put simply — make sure you ask for money. I’ve found that for many in the nonprofit world that proves to be a difficult task. However, I believe it’s an…
Volunteering in the United States: a Snapshot
NUMBER OF AMERICANS WHO VOLUNTEER In millions 2002 59.8 2003 63.8 2004 64.5 2005 65.4 PERCENTAGE OF AMERICANS WHO VOLUNTEER 2002 27.4% 2003 28.8% 2004 28.8% 2005 28.8% WHERE VOLUNTEERS GIVE TIME Activities Volunteers Perform Coach, referee, tutor, teach, or serve as a mentor: 35% Fund raise or sell…
Red Cross’s Actions After Hurricane Katrina Criticized in Congressional Watchdog’s Report
By Elizabeth SchwinnAs the victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struggled last year to find food and housing, relief was delayed by a bureaucratic squabble between the American Red Cross and the Federal Emergency Management Agency over what duties the nonprofit group and the government agency…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Almost 29 Percent of Americans Volunteered in 2005, Government Survey Finds
The typical American volunteer is a white woman who donates her time to a religious organization as a ALSO SEE:Charts: Volunteering in the United States: a Snapshot tutor or other position helping children, says a new government study. The wide-ranging report, which examines national volunteering…
By Ian Wilhelm
Contributor
Bits: Katrin Verclas Appointed Executive Director Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network
The Community Technology Centers’ Network will hold its 15th annual conference in Washington July 27-29. The meeting will highlight the history of and changes and innovations in the field of community technology. For more information: Go to http://www.ctcnet.org. Katrin Verclas has been appointed…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Mass. Company Adds Online Fund-Raising Service
For the past 17 years, the Target Analysis Group has analyzed and compared direct-mail fund-raising data for charities to show them how they fared relative to other organizations. Now, the Cambridge, Mass., company is incorporating online fund-raising into its analysis. Target expects 12 to 15…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Charities Urged to Monitor Congress Internet Debate
A contentious debate about how to regulate the Internet, now before Congress, is full of technical jargon and confusing dueling slogans, such as “Hands Off the Internet” and “Save the Internet.” But media-policy experts are urging charities not to tune it out, because the outcome could have a major…
By SUZANNE PERRY
Contributor
A children’s hospital’s efforts to build a grass-roots advocacy network pay off in legislative victories
By Alison Stein Wellner
Contributor
Need Is Great, but Charities Say Raising Funds for Darfur Proves Challenging
By Caroline PrestonAs secretary general of the United Nations, Kofi Annan’s relationship to the U.N. World Food Programme is not ALSO SEE:Article: Care in the CrossfireArticle: Grandson of Holocaust Survivors Rallies Support for Darfur typically that of benefactor. But in May, Mr. Annan gave the…
By Caroline Preston
Contributor
Grandson of Holocaust Survivors Rallies Support for Darfur
Swarthmore College’s idyllic Pennsylvania campus is thousands of miles away from the violence that erupted three ALSO SEE:Article: Care in the CrossfireArticle: Need Is Great, but Charities Say Raising Funds for Darfur Proves Challenging years ago in Sudan’s Darfur region. But Mark Hanis says that,…
By Caroline Preston
Contributor
Charity workers in Sudan face obstacles on many frontsIn early April, the Norwegian Refugee Council received an unusual eviction notice. Sudanese officials gave the Oslo ALSO SEE:Article: Grandson of Holocaust Survivors Rallies Support for DarfurArticle: Need Is Great, but Charities Say Raising…
By Caroline Preston
Contributor
Founder of Wikipedia has an encyclopedic missionWhat Jim Wales seeks is as simple as it is sweeping: He says he wants everyone in the world to have free ALSO SEE:Article: Charities Recommend Keeping Tabs on Entries in Online Encyclopedia and ready access to the sum of all human knowledge. Mr. Wales…
By BRENNEN JENSEN
Contributor
How hard is it to move up from smaller, local nonprofit groups to larger, national ones?
Personal connections go a long way toward making you a more appealing candidate.
By Rebecca Gardyn
Contributor
Providing a Meaningful Education:the Challenges for Academe
The Chronicle asked numerous charity leaders, scholars, recruiters, students, and other experts to outline the key challenges facing academic programs that train college and graduate-school students to take jobs at nonprofit organizations, and to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of academic…
Alternative college in San Francisco lets students put their ideas on social change to work in the real worldWhen Darrick Smith was an undergraduate at the University of California at Santa Cruz, he found plenty of support from his faculty mentors as he created his own educational program for black…
By Sandy Asirvatham
Contributor