New Pennsylvania Law and Court Ruling Specify Standards for Tax Exemptions
After years of debate, the State of Pennsylvania has enacted a law that redefines what non-profit organizations must do to qualify as charities and gain exemptions from property and sales taxes. The House and Senate passed the legislation and Gov. Tom Ridge signed it into law last month. Many…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
Government Has Found God, but Some Charities Are Skeptical of Conversion
At Gospel Rescue Ministries of Washington, D.C., clients who show up looking for a hot meal and a clean bed are no longer required to attend worship services. The Rev. Edward J. Eyring, executive director of the charity, says that the new policy simply makes sound theological sense. “Making people…
By Paul Demko
Contributor
Faith-Based Charities to the Rescue?
Religious groups expand services and offer spiritual support to people forced to move from welfare to work Spurred by the new federal welfare law, religious charities and congregations nationwide are redoubling their efforts to pull people out of poverty. Some churches and other religious groups…
By Paul Demko
Contributor
Abilene Christian U. (Tex.): Appointed Michelle Morris, manager of special publications at the Abilene Reporter-News, to be director of marketing and public relations. American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts (Napa, Cal.): Appointed Daphne L. Derven, national director of education at the…
The following awards have been presented for work in philanthropy, fund raising, volunteerism, and non-profit management: Associations. The American Society of Association Executives (Washington) has announced the recipients of its 1997 Keystone Awards for Excellence in Membership, which recognize…
Charity Would Owe Tax on Advertisement, IRS Rules
The I.R.S. has ruled that a charity would owe unrelated-business income tax on revenue from advertisements that a company wants to place on walls of the organization’s offices. Non-profit groups must pay the tax on commercial operations not related to their tax-exempt purposes. The charity, which…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
IRS Asks for Views on Idea to Change Filing Rules
The I.R.S. is asking for public comment on an idea that it has recently pondered: Should many more small tax-exempt groups be allowed to avoid filing informational tax returns that detail their finances. Non-profit organizations must provide such a return -- known as the Form 990 -- if their annual…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
Government Changes Timing on Remainder-Trust Payouts
The Internal Revenue Service, responding to complaints from fund raisers, has reconsidered its position on the timing of payouts made by many charitable remainder trusts. In April, the I.R.S. proposed regulations that would shorten the amount of time that charitable remainder trusts have to make…
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Contributor
4 NAACP Leaders Asked to Resign
Four members of the national Board of Directors of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People have been asked to resign because of legal and financial problems. The N.A.A.C.P.'s executive committee sought the resignations because it was concerned that the organization’s…
Clinton to Resume Volunteer Awards
President Clinton is restoring a popular feature from the Bush Administration: the daily Points of Light award, which recognizes outstanding volunteer service. Beginning January 1, Mr. Clinton will issue awards five times a week to Americans who are working to achieve the goals of the Presidents’…
Microsoft Gives $7-Million for Technology Training
Microsoft Corporation is donating $7-million to community colleges over the next five years to train students to become computer professionals. The gift is designed to help employers deal with shortages of high-technology workers. The American Association of Community Colleges, which represents…
By DOMENICA MARCHETTI and Susan Gray
$15-Million in Internet Ads Donated by Companies
Dozens of charities will get free exposure in cyberspace under a program announced this month by two advertising groups. The program, sponsored by the Advertising Council, a non-profit group that has long helped charities develop public-service announcements, and the Internet Advertising Bureau, an…
By DOMENICA MARCHETTI and Susan Gray
Schools and Libraries Offered Technology Aid
Schools and libraries will be able to seek help from two new groups as they try to find cheap Internet access and advice for ways to deal with long-term technology challenges: * The Schools & Libraries Corporation is a non-profit organization that was created last month by the Federal…
By DOMENICA MARCHETTI and Susan Gray
Aspen Institute Announces Latest Grants to Support Research on Non-Profit Issues
When the Aspen Institute’s Nonprofit Sector Research Fund was set up in 1991, its backers saw it as a way to enhance the scope, quality, credibility, and independence of scholarly research on the non-profit world. Pooling grant money into a single, centralized source would make it easier and more…
‘How We Beg’: a Sampling of Research Topics
The annual meeting of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action, to be held next week in Indianapolis, will include presentations on some 250 research papers. Following is a sample of the papers: “Crooks and Angels: Public Attitudes Toward Non-Profit Action,” by…
2 Research Projects Aim to Provide Detailed Picture of Non-Profit Organizations
Researchers are conducting countless studies, both big and small, around the nation and world to chart the dimensions of non-profit activity and its effects on public policy and social welfare. Two of the hottest projects promise to yield important new information about the breadth and impact of…
By Thomas J. Billitteri
Contributor