Internet Rally to Build Web Sites in a Day
Charities in Austin, Tex., are preparing for an old-fashioned “Web raising.” In September, 20 non-profit groups will gather for the “Accessibility Internet Rally.” With help from teams of Internet experts, the charities will create Web sites from scratch over the course of a day. Experienced…
By Paul Demko
Contributor
Company Helps Charities Use the Internet Effectively
A Seattle software company hopes to help charities take better advantage of the Internet. Real Networks, which has developed software that allows audio and video signals to be broadcast over the Internet, has started a service called Real Impact. It is an expansion of the company’s “WebActive” site…
By Paul Demko
Contributor
Fidelity Gift Fund Modifies Guidelines to Appease Critics
A popular grant-making charity established by Fidelity Investments has reacted to concerns about potentially abusive practices by refining its guidelines. Earlier this month, Fidelity’s Charitable Gift Fund informed donors that it would no longer approve gifts to private foundations or to foreign…
By Stephen G. Greene
Contributor
Who Benefits From This Charity? Some Say It’s the Founder, Not AIDS Patients
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. Driving to her job at a charity here that provides health care to kids with AIDS, Stormy Schevis says she grew increasingly puzzled every time she passed by the National Foundation for AIDS Relief. Parked in front of the organization’s offices would be a brand-new Porsche…
By Paul Demko
Contributor
Troublesome AIDS activist blasts charities; they say he’s off base Michael A. Petrelis stands in the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue on a recent humid afternoon, surrounded by a crowd of more than 100 reporters, AIDS activists, and bewildered tourists. Beside him is the corpse of his friend and…
By Paul Demko
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…
Arizona State U. (Tempe): Appointed William R. Jenkins, former vice-president for communications at the FMC Corporation (Chicago), to be director of development communications. Austin College (Sherman, Tex.): Appointed Sheri Altland, director of development at Arkansas Tech U. (Russellville), to be…
Housing Charity Taxed on Storage Businesses
The I.R.S. has ruled that a housing and community-renewal charity stepped beyond its mission when it acquired two temporary-storage businesses and must therefore pay taxes on the income from those facilities. The charity, which rents housing to low- and moderate-income families, first notified the…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
IRS Hopes Access to Returns Leads to Greater Accuracy
The Internal Revenue Service expects that its soon-to-be-released rules making it easier for the public to get copies of charities’ informational tax returns will force organizations to file forms that are more accurate and complete than they have traditionally been, according to Marc Owens,…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
Expired Break for Stock Gifts Worries Foundation Donors
Donors who want to use appreciated stock to set up or supplement private foundations are keeping their fingers crossed that Congress will soon vote to renew and make retroactive a key tax benefit that recently expired. Until June 30 of this year, donors could deduct the full market value of…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
Panel on Civic Renewal Adds Another Voice to Calls for Tax Incentives to Promote Giving
A growing chorus of politicians, scholars, and non-profit officials are calling on Congress to pass new tax incentives to encourage Americans to increase their gifts to charities. The most recent voices to weigh in: William J. Bennett, a Republican who served as Secretary of Education in the Reagan…
By Jennifer Moore
Contributor
Supreme Court Upholds ‘Decency’ Standard for Arts Grants; Other End-of-Term Rulings
As the Supreme Court ended its 1997-98 term last month, it made several rulings that directly affected non-profit groups, including a decision that upholds the ability of the National Endowment for the Arts to make grants only to projects that meet “decency” standards. Other rulings stripped a key…
By Jennifer Moore
Contributor
New York Charities Raised Salaries by 5.1% in 1997
Employees of charities and foundations in the New York City area earned an average 5.1 per cent more in 1997 than in 1996, according to a new survey. The increase outpaced the rate of inflation -- 1.7 per cent last year -- and was about the same raise that employees got the previous three years.…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
Advertising Campaigns by 18 Charities Capture ‘Addy’ Awards
Advertisements created for non-profit organizations were honored last month with American Advertising Awards, also known as ADDY’s. The competition, sponsored by the American Advertising Federation in Washington, drew more than 60,000 entries. Following are the non-profit winners and recipients of…
Text of Maryland Association’s Guidelines for Ethical Behavior by Charities
Following are the eight “Guiding Principles” and 55 “Standards for Excellence” recently adopted by the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations and distributed to its members. Guiding Principles I. Mission and program Non-profits are founded for the public good and operate to accomplish a…
State Associations Draft Ethical Standards to Bolster Trust in Charities
In the past decade, scandals in the non-profit world have left many organizations seeking guidance about what constitutes ethical behavior. Non-profit associations in several states have been grappling with that issue, hoping to increase public confidence in charity while also providing benchmarks…
By Stephen G. Greene
Contributor