How Much Foundations Plan To Give In 2004
2004 budget Percentage change from 2003 Clara Abbott Foundation (Abbott Park, Ill.) $16,500,000 (P) - 11.3% Ahmanson Foundation (Beverly Hills, Calif.)1 32,700,000 (P) + 1.4 Annenberg Foundation (St. Davids, Pa.)2 190,000,000 (P) - 1.1 Atlantic Foundation of New York3 14,000,000 (P) - 20.4 Beldon…
The following awards have been presented for work in advocacy, fund raising, nonprofit leadership, philanthropy, and other areas. Corporate philanthropy. The Committee to Encourage Corporate Philanthropy (New York) has presented its 2003 Excellence in Corporate Philanthropy award, which honors…
Hospital Loses State Tax Exemption
A ruling last month to remove the tax-exempt status of a nonprofit hospital could lead to similar challenges at other hospitals, according to the American Hospital Association. An Illinois state tax panel last month stripped a Catholic hospital of its tax-exempt status. The Champaign County Board…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Electronic Filing Begins for Charities
The Internal Revenue Service is ready to offer charities the option of filing their federal informational returns over the Internet. Any organization that files a Form 990 or 990-EZ may participate in the program, according to the revenue service. Foundations, which must file a 990-PF, do not yet…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Directors of N.Y. Foundation Return $1.5-Million in Pay
Six directors of the Grand Marnier Foundation have paid a total of $1.5-million to the New York attorney general’s office to settle a lawsuit that accused them of having paid themselves excessive compensation over a 10-year period. The state will hold the money in escrow until the foundation gives…
By Harvy Lipman
Contributor
Campaign-Finance Decision Allays Nonprofit Concerns
Many nonprofit groups have expressed relief that a Federal Election Commission decision does not subject their public-policy statements to the finance limits imposed on political committees. Such groups had worried that the limits would restrict their ability to speak out on issues, such as…
By Harvy Lipman
Contributor
Several States Are Reviewing Loans Charities Made to Their Officials
The Minnesota attorney general’s office is investigating several nonprofit organizations that were identified by The Chronicle in a February 5 report as having made loans to their top officials, and charity regulators in at least four other states have begun reviews of organizations based on the…
By Harvy Lipman
Contributor
Bits: GuideStar and Network for Good Conducting Survey on Diversity and Technology
A conference called “Grassroots Use of the Internet” will be held March 13 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The meeting is sponsored by the Organizers’ Collaborative, a group that promotes the use of computers and the Internet as tools for activism. For more information: Go to…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Applications Sought for 2004 Federal Grants
Approximately $12.9-million will be available for grants in the 2004 round of the Technology Opportunities Program. Since 1994, the U.S. Department of Commerce program has awarded grants to nonprofit organizations and state and local governments for innovative technology projects in education,…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Benton Foundation Spins Off Technology Unit
The Benton Foundation, in Washington, is spinning off its technology-policy activities to renew its focus on promoting communications policies and programming that serve the public interest. The foundation’s Digital Divide Network -- including its popular Digitaldivide e-mail discussion list --…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Housing Counselor Helps Low-Income Renters Move Toward Homeownership
Erie, Pa. David Pesch stands near the entrance to a make-shift classroom at the St. Martin Center, in Erie, Pa., surveying the 16 students who have gathered for his weekly class on homeownership. The students are an eclectic mix of young and old, black and white, male and female. But they share one…
By PETER PANEPENTO
Contributor
High Court Ruling May Affect Religious Aid
The U.S. Supreme Court last week ruled that states could withhold government-financed scholarships from students studying religion, a decision that could have implications for efforts to funnel federal and state money to religious groups that provide job training, education, and other services. By…
By Ian Wilhelm
Contributor
Salvation Army Sued Over Employee Policies
In what experts are calling the first legal challenge to the Bush administration’s plan to direct government money to religious groups, the New York Civil Liberties Union last week sued the Salvation Army, saying the charity illegally discriminates against its employees based on their religious…
By Brad Wolverton
Contributor
California Regulator Proposes Charity Rules
California Attorney General Bill Lockyer has asked the state’s Legislature to pass several new laws to strengthen the state’s oversight of nonprofit groups and commercial fund raisers. The proposals would require nonprofit organizations with annual revenue of $500,000 or more to prepare financial…
By Harvy Lipman
Contributor
Many groups are curbing their retirement benefits Last year, the United Way of America, the umbrella group for 1,400 local United Ways, infused $2-million into its pension plan -- three times the amount it had put in three years earlier -- to ensure that it could fulfill its obligations to workers…
By Brad Wolverton
Contributor
Q. I work as a database administrator for a charity. In our employee handbook, it states that the group will pay salaries similar to other charities in our area, as determined by published salary surveys. I suspect I’m making less than my peers, but I can’t seem to find any salary surveys in my…
By Alison Stein Wellner
Contributor