Preserving Open Space for the Ages
As land trusts win broad support, they grapple with new challenges Non-profit organizations dedicated to preserving land have emerged from the placid backwaters ALSO SEE:Land Deals Show Promise, Pitfalls of PreservationSome Recent Transactions Involving Land Trusts of the conservation movement to…
By Stephen G. Greene
Contributor
American Ballet Theatre (New York): Appointed Louis G. Spisto, president of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, to be executive director, effective September 1. American Dietetic Association (Chicago): Appointed Connie L. Rivera, chief operating officer, to be chief executive officer. American Red…
Bill Would Give Break for Volunteers’ Car Use
A bill pending in Congress would help people who use their cars as part of their volunteer work for charities. Under current federal law, volunteers may deduct 14 cents a mile for their automobile costs, or be reimbursed by a charity at that rate without the payment being subject to income tax. The…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
IRS Alerts Agents to Car-Gift Concerns
The I.R.S. has warned its district offices to watch out for serious problems involving donations of used cars to charities. In a memorandum to agents, Marc Owens, director of the tax agency’s Exempt Organizations Division, said that his office is particularly concerned about some claims in…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
Christian Coalition Loses Tax-Status Fight
Some experts in charity tax law are urging the Christian Coalition to make public what they believe to be a confidential letter from the I.R.S. that denied the group’s application for tax-exempt status. After a 10-year review, the revenue service told the Christian Coalition that it did not qualify…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
Groups Win Victory in Fight Over Taxes
In a pair of decisions that could affect many non-profit organizations, the U.S. Tax Court has ruled that the money Common Cause and Planned Parenthood Federation of America received by renting their mailing lists is not subject to unrelated-business income tax. Non-profit organizations must pay…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
Charitable Deductions Rise Sharply, IRS Says
New statistics released by the Internal Revenue Service show that deductions claimed for charitable contributions rose from $86.2-billion in 1996 to an estimated $95.8-billion in 1997, an increase of 11.2 per cent. The jump was not as high as the 14.9-per-cent rise registered from 1995 to 1996, but…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
Neighborhood Groups Call for More Help
Promising Strategies: Results of the Fourth National Survey on Community Efforts to Reduce Substance Abuse and Gun Violence reports discrepancies between what leaders of community-based organizations think is necessary to stem drug and alcohol abuse and shootings, and federal-government policies…
By C. Quinn Hanchette
Contributor
Homeownership in New Mexico Gets Boost
More Than Bricks & Mortar: Housing That Builds Community, by Michael Schubert, argues that owning a home strengthens civic involvement as well as self-respect. Mr. Schubert, president of Community Development Strategies, in Chicago, chronicles the effects of a three-year, $400,000 grant awarded in…
By C. Quinn Hanchette
Contributor
‘Fast Company’: Technology and Social Change
A new breed of non-profit organization is bringing technology to poor neighborhoods -- and encouraging residents to use it to change their lives and their communities for the better, says Fast Company magazine (July-August). The magazine profiles three organizations that it says operate on the…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
‘Worth’: Monkey Business in a Charitable Bequest
Curious George is always getting into trouble. Except this time it’s the Curious George Foundation immersed in monkey business, according to Worth magazine (July-August). And the mess has been far harder to clean up than those created by the perky primate of storybook fame. The magazine relates the…
By Meg Sommerfeld
Contributor
Trustees Step Down at California United Way
In the wake of a major financial crisis at the United Way of Santa Clara County, all 18 members of the board have agreed to resign by September 30 and be replaced with new trustees. In May, the board fired executive director Eleanor Jacobs, after the organization found itself facing an estimated…
Virginia Clears Evangelist’s Charity
Concluding a two-year investigation, Virginia’s Office of the Attorney General has found that Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation -- a charity created by the television evangelist Pat Robertson -- was not guilty of any intentional wrongdoing despite “a serious…
White House Plans Giving Conference
First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton is organizing a first-ever White House conference on philanthropy, scheduled for late October. The meeting, tentatively titled “Gifts to the Future,” will focus on individual donors and will emphasize “the importance of innovative ways of passing on the tradition…
Bits: New Non-Profit E-Mail Lists
* Two new e-mail forums discuss how to use the Internet to raise money. The Gilbert Center, a Seattle organization that provides technology help to charities, has started Online Fundraising. TO SUBSCRIBE: Send an e-mail message to autoshare@gilbert.org. In the body of the message, type the words:…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Child-Welfare Statistics Compiled by Charity
The Child Welfare League of America, in Washington, has created an on-line data base that provides statistics on the well-being of children in the United States. Developed in coordination with state agencies that monitor child welfare, the data base currently provides state and national figures on…
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor