Virginia Voters Approve Property-Tax Change
Residents of Virginia have approved a ballot question that amends the state’s Constitution to simplify the way nonprofit organizations obtain property-tax breaks. The Virginia Constitution provides that the state’s legislature can exempt property that is used by its owner “for religious,…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
Tax Agency Issues Ruling on Automobile Gifts
The Internal Revenue Service has issued a revenue ruling that explains how donors and charities should properly handle gifts of used cars. Revenue rulings from the IRS are designed to help the public by stating the government’s official position on aspects of tax law. In its position paper, the IRS…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
New Service Screens Charities for Prospective Donors, for a Fee
William’s Bay, Wis.
By Ian Wilhelm
Contributor
More and more organizations are evaluating nonprofit groupsTim D. Johnson, who works at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, contributes about $2,500 to ALSO SEE:Love Him or Hate Him, Charity Watchdog Garners Lots of AttentionNew Service Screens Charities for Prospective Donors, for a FeeThe…
By Ian Wilhelm
Contributor
Access Living (Chicago): Appointed Ann Shillinglaw, director of development at the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Stuart Graduate School of Business (Chicago), to be director of development. Access Living is a nonresidential center that provides disabled people with independent-living services.…
Nonprofit Groups Turn to Unions to Organize Workers and Collaborate on Common Causes
IN THE TRENCHES By Jennifer C. Berkshire When Joe Quirk made the decision to come out publicly in support of a labor-union organizing drive at his charity, he knew he was taking a risk. After all, the unionization effort under way at the Boston antipoverty group Action for Boston Community…
By Jennifer C. Berkshire
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A National Animal Charity Offers Its Own Nonprofit-Management Instruction
TOOLS AND TRAINING By Heather Joslyn In November 2000, Phil Morgan, head of the Escondido Humane Society, returned to his Southern California charity after completing an undergraduate program in nonprofit management at a Johns Hopkins University satellite campus. Only two months later, a tragedy…
By HEATHER JOSLYN
Contributor
A New Professional Network Gives Young Foundation Employees a Voice
BRAINSTORMS By Darlene M. Siska Two years ago, Alejandro S. Amezcua, then 23, was a program assistant at the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation in Flint, Mich. He came to the position with a strong background, having been a Jane Addams-Andrew Carnegie Fellow in Philanthropy at Indiana University, in…
By Darlene M. Siska
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One in Three California Foundations Employs Paid Workers, Survey Says
JOB MARKET By Lara L. McDavit One-third of California foundations have one or more employees, according to a new study of 228 California grant makers by the Institute for Family Foundations, a consulting company in Irvine, Calif. The survey focused on staffing and compensation, including the duties…
By Lara L. McDavit
Contributor
Most Charities Fail to Fill the Gap as Businesses Decrease Their On-Campus Recruiting Efforts
JOB MARKET By David Whelan As the special-projects manager at the YMCA of the USA, Shawn Dunn this year found herself assigned to review the group’s recruiting system. The Chicago organization is the umbrella group for more than 2,500 organizations, and by her count, about 1,000 jobs -- many of…
By DAVID WHELAN
Contributor
Salvation Army’s Top Commander Views Job as a ‘Holy Calling’
Clutching a well-worn Bible, W. Todd Bassett strides to the front of a small chapel inside the Salvation Army’s national headquarters during a service to welcome him as the charity’s new top U.S. executive. “I come to this position as national commander with a little fear and trepidation,” he tells…
By Brad Wolverton
Contributor
Technology Charity Decides to Pull the Plug on Its Work
PowerUp, a nonprofit group established in 1999 by corporations, private grant makers, and charities to increase needy youngsters’ access to technology, shut its doors last month. Board members and benefactors made the decision after concluding that the organization’s mission had been fulfilled,…
By Ian Wilhelm
Contributor
The following awards have been presented for work in advocacy, fund raising, nonprofit leadership, philanthropy, and other areas: Arts. The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize Trust (New York) has announced the recipient of the 2002 award for achievement in the performing arts. Lloyd Richards, professor…
Cracking Down on Abuse: How Law Works
In 1996, Congress passed a law that allows the Internal Revenue Service to levy fines on charity officials who receive inappropriately high salaries or excessively generous benefits, as well as the trustees who authorize those arrangements. In addition, penalties can be assessed on those who…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
How ’96 Law on Financial Abuses Has Been Applied by IRS in Four Cases
When a charity posts operating losses of $31-million in a single year and cuts back on programs, it may seem odd that its entire board of trustees should make nearly $1-million each. However, that’s what happened in 1994 at the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate, in Honolulu. The ALSO SEE:Falling Through…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
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