IRS Bars Stock-Options Deal for Charities
By Harvy Lipman The Internal Revenue Service has barred nonprofit organizations from offering their executives a type of deferred compensation similar to the stock options some corporations give their employees. Aggressively promoted by some of the nation’s largest accounting firms, the…
Advice for Keeping Board Members Motivated Over the Long Haul
After three years of serving on the board of a mental-health center near her home in northern Ohio, Mary Mihaly felt her enthusiasm sputtering. Then serving as vice president and being groomed for the presidency, she was “terrified,” she says. “Most of what I did involved rubber-stamping staff…
By Kimberlee Roth
Contributor
Survey of Foundations Emerging From Health Care Conversions
A Profile of New Health Foundations, May 2003 provides a snapshot of the characteristics and grant-making priorities of 165 health foundations formed when nonprofit organizations became for-profit companies. State laws typically require such converting organizations to preserve the charitable…
By Jessica Kronstadt
Contributor
Research on Improving the Performance of Grant Makers
Agile Philanthropy: Understanding Foundation Effectiveness, by Joel J. Orosz, Cynthia C. Phillips, and Lisa Wyatt Knowlton, describes the growing attention researchers are devoting to determining how grant makers can better work with grantees to accomplish charitable goals. Mr. Orosz is a professor…
By Jessica Kronstadt
Contributor
Former Mayor Raises Political Profile of the National Urban League
In choosing Marc H. Morial as its president, the National Urban League -- long known for its programs around the country that offer African-Americans job training, housing services, business advice, and other help -- has made a bid to become more of a political force. Mr. Morial, 45, was elected…
By Elizabeth Greene
Contributor
Indiana U. Offers Ph.D. on Philanthropy
The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, in Indianapolis, has added a doctoral program in philanthropic studies to its academic offerings -- the first traditional Ph.D. program dedicated solely to that discipline. The new graduate program was authorized this month by the state’s Commission…
Supreme Court Upholds Ban on Direct Political Gifts by Nonprofit Groups
The U.S. Supreme Court last week ruled that nonprofit organizations, just like for-profit businesses, must abide by a longstanding ban on direct contributions to federal political candidates. By a vote of 7 to 2, the court said that applying the prohibition to nonprofit groups does not violate the…
By Debra E. Blum
Contributor
Panel Recommends Review of Tax Shelters
In response to concern that tax-exempt organizations are being used as illegal tax shelters, an Internal Revenue Service advisory committee has recommended the creation of two new offices to tackle the problem. The committee cited two examples of abuses of charitable-giving laws: car donations by…
By Debra E. Blum and Elizabeth Schwinn
Estate-Tax Repeal Would Hurt Giving, Report Says
If the estate tax were repealed, Americans would give about $10-billion less each year to charity than they now do, according to a new report. Hardest hit, says the report: private foundations, which typically receive the greatest share of money from charitable bequests. The report, prepared by OMB…
By Debra E. Blum and Elizabeth Schwinn
The following awards have been presented for work in advocacy, fund raising, nonprofit leadership, philanthropy, and other areas. Arts. Americans for the Arts (Washington) has presented several awards at its annual meeting. Craig Dreeszen, former director of the Arts Extension Service at the U. of…
NPower, a network of organizations that provide technology assistance to other charities, has received a $50,000 grant from the SBC Foundation to update an emergency-preparedness guide created by its New York affiliate to share lessons learned by area nonprofit groups after the September 11, 2001,…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
New Database Lists Nonprofit Legal Sources
Lawyers and scholars have a new resource to which they can turn as they conduct research on nonprofit legal issues. The National Center on Philanthropy and Law at the New York University School of Law has created an online database that offers citations to more than 7,000 books, articles, and other…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Charities’ Internet Sites Win Webby Awards
Nonprofit organizations made a strong showing at the 2003 Webby Awards, taking top honors in several categories. Given by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, an association for online-communication professionals, the Webbys honor Internet sites in 31 categories, such as…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
California Campaign Tries New Fund-Raising Tool
The Sharp HealthCare Foundation, in San Diego, has added a new weapon to its capital-campaign arsenal. The fund-raising arm of the city’s largest health care system has developed a multimedia CD-ROM as part of its $50-million campaign to raise money for new building projects, computer technology,…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
United Ways Merge in Chicago Area
United Way in Chicago and United Way of Suburban Chicago, a federation of 52 United Ways, have agreed to merge into a new organization by the end of December. Under the agreement -- aimed at streamlining operations in the region, which has the greatest number of United Ways in the country -- the…
Red Cross Lays Off 231 Workers
The American Red Cross, in an effort to reduce costs and streamline the organization, is laying off 231 employees and choosing not to fill an additional 79 positions. The move involves consolidating financial and human-resource departments at the charity’s biomedical facility in Northern Virginia…