Conservative Nonprofit Broke Campaign-Finance Law, Says FEC
A 501(c)(4) group with links to prominent conservative operatives violated federal law by failing to properly disclose details about its political advertising during the 2010 congressional elections, the Center for Public Integrity writes, citing a Federal Elections Commission report.
Head of Global Sports Charity Resigns Amid Corruption Inquiry
The president of the International Athletics Foundation, a Monaco-based charity that works to promote track-and-field events worldwide, stepped down Tuesday after French authorities targeted him in a graft investigation linked to alleged doping by Russian athletes, Reuters reports.
IRS Weighing New Option for Documenting Donations
Donors who report gifts of $250 or more to the Internal Revenue Service may get a new way to substantiate the contributions under a pending IRS rule change, according to Bloomberg BNA.
Millions Given to Calif. Youth Charity Goes to Telemarketers
California Police Youth Charities has raised some $6.9 million since 2011 with the help of celebrities and major-league sports teams but paid 83 percent of the money to professional fundraisers, the Los Angeles Post-Examiner writes.
Supreme Court Turns Down Calif. Case on Donor Disclosure
The justices’ decision Monday leaves in place a lower-court ruling that a conservative nonprofit must comply with an order by the state’s attorney general to name major donors in regulatory filings, reports the Associated Press.
Nonprofit Calif. Health Insurer Sues Executive-Turned-Critic
Blue Shield of California is accusing its former public-policy director, now an outspoken critic of the organization, of allegedly disclosing confidential company information, reports the Los Angeles Times.
World Bank: Climate Change Could Reverse Gains on Poverty
A new report from the bank warns that the effects of global warming could drive more than 100 million people into extreme poverty and threaten prospects for meeting the United Nations development goals, the Thomson Reuters Foundation writes.
High Court to Hear Faith Groups’ Cases on Contraceptive Rule
The Supreme Court agreed Friday to take up lawsuits brought by religious nonprofits challenging the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that their health-care plans provide birth-control coverage for employees, Politico and The Washington Post report.
Florida Legislators Seek Overhaul of State Charity Drive
Lawmakers are calling for changes in administration of the Florida State Employees Charitable Campaign following reports that the for-profit company running the drive received more than half of the money donated by government workers last year, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.
Greenpeace India Says It Faces Government Shutdown Order
The environmental-activist group, under fire for months by India’s government over its use of foreign donations, said Friday it has been ordered to dissolve within a month, reports The New York Times.
Watchdog Groups Request Justice Department Investigation of Pro-Rubio Nonprofit
The Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21 allege that the Conservative Solutions Project exists for the sole purpose of supporting Senator Marco Rubio’s candidacy for president, and in doing so violates its 501(c)(4) nonprofit tax status, Mother Jones reports. While super-PACs are allowed to support individual candidates, so-called “social welfare” groups are not.
Opinion: Pay-for-Success Financing Model Shows Promise
The growing technique of pay for success, which uses an intermediary to fund a government program at no risk to taxpayers, shows much promise, a health-care program evaluator writes in an opinion article in The Wall Street Journal. The writer also notes some of the model’s drawbacks, including misguided incentives and potentially biased program evaluations.
New Head of Key Congressional Committee Seen as Friend to Nonprofits
Kevin Brady, a Texas Republican, is very familiar with the work of charitable groups, but action on major legislation affecting them is probably off the table until 2017.
By Alex Daniels
Contributor
Clinton Foundation Affiliate Agrees to Refile Tax Forms
After saying it would not refile tax returns to correct errors in its reporting of funding from governments, the Clinton Health Access Initiative reversed course Wednesday and said it would submit amended documents to the IRS, Politico report.
Advocates Say Tide Turning on City Laws Targeting Homeless
Antipoverty activists say they are seeing signs of a retrenchment in U.S. cities’ pursuit of ordinances that restrict sleeping outdoors or feeding people in public, measures activists contend are aimed at curbing homelessness by criminalizing it, NPR reports.
High Pay at L.A. County Fair Nonprofit Prompts Audit Call
Los Angeles County officials are calling for investigations of the finances and tax status of the nonprofit that runs the annual county fair amid reports that it lost millions of dollars while paying top executives in the high six figures, the Los Angeles Times report.