2 Groups Release Protocols for Data on Donations
By NICOLE WALLACEThe issue of data standards for the non-profit world is heating up. Two for-profit organizations have released non-profit data-exchange protocols. The protocols are specifications for formatting data about charitable donations so that information about gifts can move easily between…
FCC Approves New Phone Number for Social Services
By DEBRA E. BLUMPeople looking for a food bank, an after-school program, or other health and social services soon will be able to dial only three numbers on their telephones for help -- 211. Under a plan approved last month by the Federal Communications Commission, the dialing code 211 will provide…
New Student Wave: Service Over Sunbathing
Just as “volunteer vacations” have become more popular with working adults and retired people, ALSO SEE:The Pause That Refreshes‘Volunteer Vacations': Sources of InformationVolunteer Vacations and Charitable Deductions they are also gaining ground among students looking for a new way to spend their…
By Meg Sommerfeld
Contributor
Vacation time is volunteer time for more and more AmericansSince 1994, Beth Van Gorp, 32, has spent three of her vacations in El Salvador. But the ALSO SEE:New Student Wave: Service Over Sunbathing‘Volunteer Vacations': Sources of InformationVolunteer Vacations and Charitable Deductions North…
By Meg Sommerfeld
Contributor
Following are summaries of recent reports by the Council of Better Business Bureaus´ Philanthropic Advisory Service and the National Charities Information Bureau. Those two private organizations report on whether charities meet standards for fund raising, governance, financial management, and…
Write-Offs: I.R.S. on Charity Lobbying; and Forms for 527 Organizations
TAX WATCH By GRANT WILLIAMS The I.R.S. is again assuring charities that lobbying is perfectly permissible.The service answers nine questions about advocacy in a letter to Charity Lobbying in the Public Interest -- a project of Independent Sector that works to “dispel the myths that lobbying by…
Charity Told to Pay Tax on Business Earnings
TAX WATCH By GRANT WILLIAMSA charity that runs a consignment store, tea room, and gift shop may keep its tax exemption but must pay income tax on some revenue, the Internal Revenue Service says in a ruling that gives insight into its view of charity-operated enterprises. The group at issue, which…
Using Religious Groups To Help Troubled Kids
Faith-Based Institutions and High-Risk Youth, by Harold Dean Trulear, is an overview of strategies used by religious organizations that work with youths in poor communities. Mr. Trulear, a vice president at Public/Private Ventures, examined sites in 11 cities where faith-based institutions had a…
By C. Quinn Hanchette
Contributor
Ensuring the Health of ‘Conversion’ Funds
Building Strong Foundations: Creating Community Responsive Philanthropy in Nonprofit Conversions, edited by Harry Snyder and Deborah Cowan, is a guide intended for community groups, regulators, news media, courts, and other organizations that want to keep watch over foundations created as the…
By C. Quinn Hanchette
Contributor
‘The American Spectator’: Taking Aim at AmeriCorps
By JENNIFER MOOREAmeriCorps “operates more like a federal relief program for nightclub comics” than a national-service effort, writes James Bovard in a cover story in The American Spectator (July/August). Mr. Bovard points to several projects AmeriCorps members helped run, including a drive to…
‘Time’: Giving Styles of the New Philanthropists
By JENNIFER MOOREThe multimillionaires of today “are finally stepping up to the collection plate,” according to Time (July 24). “And just as they’ve transformed American business, members of this new generation are changing the way philanthropy is done.” The magazine reports that today’s donors…
Advertisements on Behalf of Charities Are Honored With ‘Addy’ Awards
ALSO SEE:18 Charities Win Awards for Ads ADVERTISING FOR THE ARTS, CAMPAIGN Winner: “Support those who want their Mozart as much as they want their MTV,” “Support music that comes from the heart. Not the Hollywood machine,” and “Music should be taught by someone other than a purple dinosaur,” a…
18 Charities Win Awards for Ads
The Tennessee Repertory Theatre’s effort to project a different image through its marketing ALSO SEE:Advertisements on Behalf of Charities Are Honored With ‘Addy’ Awards materials helped it win one of this year’s American Advertising Awards, known as Addys. The institution was looking for a way to…
Bits: Charitableway.com to Buy Charitygift; and List on Charity Business Ventures
By NICOLE WALLACE Charitableway.com (http://www.charitableway.com), a San Carlos, Calif., company that helps other companies put their employee-giving programs online, has signed an agreement to buy Charitygift (http://www.charitygift.com). Charitygift, which under the terms of the deal will…
Program Helps Charities Shape Technology Plans
Wired for Good is helping charities in the Silicon Valley develop sound technology plans. Non-profit groups go through a stringent application process to participate in the program, which is run by the Center for Excellence in Nonprofits, in San Jose, Calif. Charities that are chosen for the…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Technology Aids Access to Disability-Rights Exhibit
By NICOLE WALLACEThe National Museum of American History, in Washington, is using technology to make its new exhibit on the disability-rights movement accessible to people with disabilities. Located next to a powerful symbol of the civil-rights movement -- a section of the lunch counter from the…