Seattle Charity Sponsors Mobile Computer Lab
By NICOLE WALLACEThe Boys & Girls Club of King County is giving the Good Humor man a run for his money this summer. The organization, based in Seattle, is sending its Techmobile -- a mobile computer lab housed in a converted Winnebago -- out on the road to introduce children in the county’s poor…
Ensuring a Long Run for the Arts
Charity teaches management, financial ropes to cultural groupsBaltimore Center Stage Theater’s endowment will soon be worth more than $20-million -- topping the value of endowments at all but a handful of non-profit theaters nationwide. ALSO SEE:National Arts Stabilization The theater here, which…
By Meg Sommerfeld
Contributor
The following awards have been presented for work in philanthropy, volunteerism, and non-profit management: Children. The Boys & Girls Clubs of America has presented two awards for outstanding service to young people. Ted Turner, vice chairman of Time Warner (New York), has received the Herbert…
Write-Offs: Bills to Eliminate Estate Tax and Encourage Gifts for Medical Research
* The House of Representatives has passed a bill that would eventually repeal federal estate and gift taxes and eliminate the accompanying deduction for charitable bequests. The measure, HR 8, would gradually take effect during a 10-year period. Some fund raisers have argued that elimination of the…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
Charitable Deductions Rose in 1998, IRS Says
New statistics released by the I.R.S. show that deductions claimed for charitable contributions rose from $99.2-billion in ALSO SEE:Charitable Deductions Claimed on Tax Returns 1997 to an estimated $105.3-billion in 1998, an increase of 6.2 percent. The jump was significant but was sharply lower…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
Disclosure Rules Enacted for Some Lobbying Groups
President Clinton has signed into law new public-disclosure requirements for certain types of tax-exempt lobbying groups, known as “527 organizations” because of the section of the Internal Revenue Code under which they are organized. Under the law, which took effect July 1, 527 organizations must…
By Jennifer Moore
Contributor
‘Business Week:’ Going After the Big Money
After years of watching from the sidelines as the economy has boomed and the stock market has soared, more and more non-profit organizations are setting up units that are pursuing profits and investments, says Business Week magazine (June 26). “Everyone from New York’s Museum of Modern Art to the…
By Thomas J. Billitteri
Contributor
‘The New York Times’: a Volunteer Vacuum
National leaders from former President George Bush to Gen. Colin Powell have promoted the need for volunteerism, arguing that Americans should pitch in to help the needy. But is volunteerism making much of a difference? Sara Mosle, a writer and former schoolteacher, focuses on that question in The…
By Thomas J. Billitteri
Contributor
Reaching Youths: Tips for Charities
The Advertising Council has joined forces with the cable television channel MTV to produce a handbook aimed at helping non-profit organizations recruit young adult volunteers more effectively. The United States now has 26 million people aged 18 to 24 and the manual suggests that appealing to those…
San Francisco Charity Official’s Spending Examined
A San Francisco city supervisor has called for an inquiry into spending by the head of the city’s Catholic Charities affiliate. The supervisor’s move came as directors of the organization were already investigating the expense-account charges of its chief executive officer, Frank Hudson. The…
Signs That Foreshadowed a Landmark Law
The 1969 Private Foundation Law: Historical Perspective on Its Origins and Underpinnings, by Thomas A. Troyer, is a recollection of the circumstances leading to the Tax Reform Act of 1969, which required foundations to limit their involvement in political activity and to devote a minimum percentage…
By C. Quinn Hanchette
Contributor
Lessons Learned from “Social Entrepreneurship”
Social Purpose Enterprises and Venture Philanthropy in the New Millennium
By C. Quinn Hanchette
Contributor
Moving from Business to the Non-Profit World
From Making a Profit to Making a Difference: How to Launch Your New Career in Nonprofits
By Emily R. Sosland
Contributor
New Study of Charity Alliances
Collaborations among charities are most often prompted by three forces, a new University of Chicago study has found. In a study of 192 charities that have merged or made formal alliances with other groups, researchers found that the main motivations were: A sudden change in the status quo, such as…
By Meg Sommerfeld
Contributor
Help With Donor Files Offered to Charities
The Indianapolis software company eTapestry is offering its Web-based fund-raising software free to charities that have fewer than 1,000 donor records. The service -- which starts at $99 per month for groups with more than 1,000 donor records -- allows charities to maintain information about their…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Donors who plan to sponsor a rider in the Alaska AIDS Vaccine Ride can now make their contributions online. Next month more than 1,200 volunteers will ride their bicycles 510 miles between Fairbanks and Anchorage to raise money for research toward an AIDS vaccine. Each rider is responsible for…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor