March of Dimes Drive Moves From Letters to E-Mail
A 50-year-old fund-raising tradition is going online. The March of Dimes Mothers March started out in 1950 as a campaign in which volunteers went door-to-door asking their neighbors to contribute to the group’s efforts to find a cure for polio; eventually it evolved into a neighborhood…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Site to Fight Hunger Gets a New Owner
GreaterGood.com has purchased the Hunger Site, a popular Web site where corporate sponsors make a donation to the United Nations World Food Programme every time a visitor clicks on the site’s “Donate free food” button. Since its founding in June, almost 34 million people have visited the site,…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Reflections of a Top Regulator
As Marc Owens leaves IRS, he mulls changing nature of non-profit world.
American U. (Washington): Appointed Albert Checcio, vice president for development and alumni/ae affairs at Temple U. (Philadelphia), to be vice president for development. Cedars-Sinai Health System (Los Angeles): Appointed Gary Leo, vice president for the Western region in the Los Angeles office…
‘Forbes’: Palm Beach’s Charity-Ball Circuit
The more than 200 charity balls held in Palm Beach, Fla., generate some $35-million a year in ticket sales, according to Forbes magazine (February 7). But as the number of fund-raising events keeps increasing, non-profit groups must constantly search for ways to make their events popular, the…
By Meg Sommerfeld
Contributor
‘Business Week’: Walton’s Schools Crusade
Although Wal-Mart fortune heir John Walton went to public schools in Bentonville, Ark., and his own son attends public school in Wyoming, he has decided to focus his philanthropy on voucher programs that help children attend private schools. One reason, reports Business Week (February 7), is that…
By Meg Sommerfeld
Contributor
‘The Economist’: Scrutinizing Nongovernmental Groups
Non-profit organizations that work closely with the United Nations and governments to provide war and famine relief and other charitable services are growing rapidly throughout the world, but they aren’t always forces for good, says The Economist (January 29). Many so-called nongovernmental…
By Thomas J. Billitteri
Contributor
For-Profit Social-Service Contracts Could Hurt the Poor, Leaders Say
In an effort coordinated by Catholic Charities USA, officials of 18 major social-service organizations have issued a statement warning that the poor could suffer as government officials turn to for-profit companies to provide social services to the needy. The statement calls for stronger government…
By Thomas J. Billitteri
Contributor
A Peek at the Job Histories of Grant Makers
111 Visionary Program Officers: A Who’s Who of Progressive Foundations, by Mac McLean and Michael Shuman, publishes the resumes of grant makers who participated in a survey intended to shed light on their backgrounds. Each entry lists the person’s employment history, education, honors and awards,…
By C. Quinn Hanchette
Contributor
Congressional Panel Urges Greater Disclosure of Non-Profit Data by IRS
A key Congressional committee is recommending that the Internal Revenue Service be allowed to greatly expand the amount of financial and other information it releases to the public about the country’s 1.3 million non-profit organizations. Increased disclosure of such information would “improve the…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
President Urges Congress to Pass Philanthropy Tax Plan
As Congress begins to consider next year’s federal budget, President Clinton is urging the House and Senate to pass three tax proposals that are aimed at promoting philanthropy. The plan, which would cost the federal government $14-billion over 10 years to carry out, is the result of discussions at…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
Write-Offs: A New Job for IRS Charity Chief; Ruling on Tax Deductions
* Marc Owens, who is retiring from the Internal Revenue Service after a decade as director of its Exempt Organizations Division, says he will soon “have a very different relationship” with the tax agency. Later this month, Mr. Owens will join the Washington law firm of Caplin & Drysdale, where he…
By Jennifer Moore
Contributor
Key Charity Tax Break Attacked by Sen. McCain
The tax deductibility of gifts of stock, art, or other items that have risen in value has become an issue in the Republican race for the presidential nomination. Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who is seeking the GOP presidential nomination, is promoting a plan to eliminate a key tax…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
Charity’s Web Site Offers Help With Letters to Editor
The California League of Conservation Voters is using its Web site to help visitors write letters to the editor. Ecovote Online, the Oakland, Calif., organization’s Web site, features information about the league’s campaign to promote Proposition 12, a state bond measure that would provide…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Intel to Train Teachers in Computer Technology
The Intel Corporation has started an ambitious program to train 400,000 teachers in 20 countries in the use of computer technology and teach them how to make it part of their classroom lessons. Over the next three years, the Santa Clara, Calif., company, which produces computer chips and other…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Contest’s Top Prize: Non-Profit Internships
Most Internet sweepstakes lure contestants with the promise of big checks, cars, and glamorous vacations, but Yahoo is sponsoring a contest where the prize is an internship at a non-profit organization. Entrants in the Yahoo Web Corps Internship Opportunity Contest will be competing for 10 summer…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor