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Nonprofits need to help their donors understand that charitable organizations have a lot in common with businesses. Dan Pallotta, a prominent nonprofit expert, told a group of charity fund raisers in New York. "We don't like to see a lot of people making a lot of money in charities," says Mr. Pallotta, the keynote speaker at this week's Direct Marketing Association's New York Nonprofit Conference. People have a "visceral reaction" to the notion. But nonprofit ...

Faith charities are mobilizing to fight a provision in pending Congressional legislation that would prohibit them from getting federal money if they consider job applicants' religion in hiring decisions, says The New York Times. More than 100 nonprofit groups with religious ties signed a letter sent Wednesday to all members of Congress that says the language in a bill to reauthorize the grant-making Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration would erode existing ...

OneStar eNews: August 2010 Last Chance to Complete the Task Force for Strengthening Nonprofit Capacity Survey In collaboration with the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, OneStar and the Task Force for Strengthening Nonprofit Capacity are implementing a statewide nonprofit survey. Your input is critically ...

By Grant Williams The Internal Revenue Service today reminded thousands of small charities that they can keep their tax-exempt status even if they missed their May deadlines to file a new online form. "If you are a volunteer, member, or just a friend of an organization at risk of losing its exemption, please alert the organization and encourage it to go to IRS.gov and find out how the organization can come back into compliance today," the IRS said. The IRS ...

Issue Number: 2010-20 Inside This Issue Do You Know a Small Organization at Risk of Losing Its Exempt Status? New FAQs for "At-Risk" Organizations Revised Publication on Tax-Exempt Organizations and Gaming Now Available IRS Announces New Return Preparer Application and User Fees StayExempt Mini-Courses What You Need to Know About IRS Tax-Exempt Organization Workshops Ten Tips for Taxpayers Making Charitable ...

Rick Cohen August 20, 2010; Source: WUSA | The key to maximizing website visits on the Internet involves using the right keywords. We know one keyword that always works-Rush Limbaugh. Another key is good video. This story has both. Recently, Rush went off on nonprofits, declaring those of us who work for nonprofits a "bunch of lazy idiots" and, intriguingly "rapists in terms of finance and the economy." Tough stuff from the Rush man! The head of the D.C. Central Kitchen, ...

The popular notion that corporations have a responsibility to give back to the public-and that doing so will make a company more profitable-is a flawed strategy at best, and at worse, a dangerous one, writes Aneel Karnani, an associate professor at the University of Michigan's business school, in an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Karnani says corporations' focus on social responsibility will "delay or discourage more effective measures to enhance social ...

By Grant Williams The Internal Revenue Service has issued two free updated handbooks for tax-exempt groups and donors. The 14-page "Charitable Contributions: Substantiation and Disclosure Requirements," known as Publication 1771, "explains the federal tax law for organizations such as charities and churches that receive tax-deductible charitable contributions and for taxpayers who make contributions," the IRS said. "There are record-keeping and ...

By Grant Williams The Internal Revenue Service has issued two free updated handbooks for tax-exempt groups and donors. The 14-page "Charitable Contributions: Substantiation and Disclosure Requirements," known as Publication 1771, "explains the federal tax law for organizations such as charities and churches that receive tax-deductible charitable contributions and for taxpayers who make contributions," the IRS said. "There are record-keeping and ...

Rick Cohen August 18, 2010; Source: Huffington Post | One of the top nonprofit bloggers is Kelly Kleiman who writes as the Nonprofiteer. In this piece done for the HuffPo, Kleiman points out that municipalities throughout Illinois are looking at nonprofit property owners as potential sources of tax revenues. In the wake of the Provena Covenant Hospital decision in which the Illinois Supreme court decided that Provena didn't qualify as a nonprofit for property tax purposes ...

Bruce Trachtenberg August 19, 2010; Source: Boston Globe | Tax collectors already have a reputation for being among the least popular people around. So a story from the Boston Globe isn't going to do much to improve their image. The paper reports that the town of Whitman sent the local Baptist church the first tax bill it has ever received in 188 years. While it's bad enough that municipalities around the country are starting to tax formerly exempt groups, like ...

Ruth McCambridge August 20, 2010; Source: Wall Street Journal | Lewis Cullman, a 91 year old New York-based philanthropist who has given hundreds of millions of dollars to charity over his life, and author of You Can't Take it With You, is advocating for an increase of the 5 percent foundation payout minimum, or alternatively for a "sunset clause" that would require foundations to spend down within a predetermined span of time. He tells the Wall Street Journal that $600 ...

By Raymund Flandez Starbucks customers can soon donate to a nearby school's classroom project with a click of a mouse while waiting for their venti, nonfat, no foam, extra-hot chai tea latte. With free Wi-Fi now available in nearly all Starbucks stores, the coffee chain is opening its own digital channel this fall to give its customers free access to various paid sites and services. It has already joined with Apple's iTunes, The New York Times, ...

By PAUL SULLIVAN Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates gave billionaires a jolt of positive publicity last week with the unveiling of the Giving Pledge - a promise by 40 individuals and couples to donate at least half of their fortunes to charity. Their commitments were outlined in individual letters explaining their reasons. Enlarge This Image David Goldman/CNBC Bill Gates and Warren Buffett last year. Their ...

Giving outlook grim, fundraising poor but hey we're tweeting! Today, some important news released: 1. GuideStar said today the giving outlook is grim (though as I always like to point out, online giving is up). Notably, The Effect of the Economy on the Nonprofit Sector: A June 2010 Surveysaid: •Some 40 percent of participants reported that contributions to their organizations dropped between January 1 and May 31, 2010, compared to the same period a year ...

By Holly Hall Donations to many charities have been sluggish in the first five months of the year, according to a new study of more than 7,000 nonprofit organizations. Forty percent of charities reported a decline in giving from January through May, compared with the same period in 2009, according to GuideStar, a Web site that maintains financial information about charitable organizations. Eight percent of organizations said that they were "in imminent danger of closing ...

Issue Number: 2010-19 Inside This Issue IRS Commissioner Encourages Small Organizations At Risk of Losing Exemption to Take Action Register Now for Fall Workshops for Small and Midsize 501(c)(3) Organizations Have You Met Coach? New Website Allows Public to Comment on Paperwork Burdens Online Nationwide Tax Forums Employer-Provided Health Coverage - Not Taxable 1. IRS Commissioner Encourages Small Organizations at Risk of ...

I'm happy to announce that OSWER will be holding our fourth Video Town Hall discussion on Thursday, August 12 from 1:00 - 2:00 PM EST. The topic of the conversation will be the BP oil spill. Anyone who wishes to attend will have an opportunity to ask questions directly to myself and other EPA experts. Since the BP spill occurred, EPA staff have worked with local personnel and other government agencies to minimize the effects of the spill. EPA experts have been deployed to the Gulf to ...

TechSoup By the Cup - August 4, 2010 The Newsletter from TechSoup.org "Technology served the way nonprofits need it." ...

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