Alliance for Justice, a coalition of advocacy groups, has published a chart outlining how the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on corporate campaign spending affects nonprofit groups.

The ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission allows corporations -- including nonprofit advocacy groups covered by section 501(c)4 of the federal tax code -- to use money from their general treasuries to promote the election or defeat of political candidates, without having to set up separate political-action committees.

Previously, only 501(c)4 groups meeting certain criteria, such as accepting no business or labor contributions, had the right to make such "independent expenditures" -- that is, spending that is not coordinated with political candidates or campaigns.

The chart notes that tax-exempt groups must still comply with Internal Revenue Service rules, for example those that...

While President Obama was on Washington's Capitol Hill reflecting on his first year in office during his State of the Union speech Wednesday night, another top White House official was in Los Angeles offering her views on the challenges for government, foundations, and other nonprofit organizations.

Sonal Shah, head of the White House's Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation, urged foundations to take greater risks, saying one of the lessons she learned in her first year is that the federal government is not easily able to finance experiments with new efforts to treat social problems.

"It's hard to take risks when you have 535 board members," she said, referring to Congress's role in overseeing government spending.

She said we need some "creative destruction" to figure out what ideas were worth government investing in - whether it be to reduce child mortality, improve...

More than 20 religious leaders sent a letter Wednesday to President Obama urging him to show "active and public leadership" to get Congress to pass a health-care overhaul bill.

"We implore you to make it plain to all Americans that the decisions of Congress have moral consequences," it says. "Letting this life-line lapse would be a failure of historic proportions."

The letter, sent as the president prepares to deliver his State of the Union address tonight, was signed by representatives of groups including Catholics in Alliance for the Public Good, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Hindu American Seva Charities, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, National Council of Churches USA, and Sojourners. The signers include more than a third of the White House Office for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships

"Too many people in our congregations and communities have waited too long...

A coalition of nonprofit groups has urged President Obama to revise the executive order he signed just over a year ago that limits the ability of lobbyists to get administration jobs, saying it had led to "unintended consequences" that undermine his goal of open government.

The rules should be changed to "welcome charitable lobbyists that represent large swaths of ordinary Americans to the table with business and government," says a letter that is signed by 13 groups, including the Alliance for  Children and Families, the Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest, Common Cause, Human Rights Watch, and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

Those groups have been unhappy with the executive order from the start, arguing the White House should distinguish between lobbyists that work for the public interest and those who aim to increase private profits.

The letter, sent on ...

As Congress returns to work this week after its December break, lawmakers will be taking up several key issues important to charities and donors.

Among them:

Estate tax. In 2001 Congress passed the current estate-tax law, which gradually phased out the tax through 2009 and repealed it for 2010. However, in 2011 the current law is set to expire and estate-tax levels that applied years earlier at higher rates are scheduled to go back into effect.

The House of Representatives last month passed a bill that would eliminate the 2010 repeal and permanently keep the estate tax at levels that were in effect in 2009.

Because the Senate has not yet voted on the provision, no estate tax exists currently.

The estate tax that applied in 2009 allowed heirs to exempt $3.5-million ($7-million for couples) and face a top tax rate of 45 percent. The estate tax that is scheduled to apply in 2011...

Four key members of Congress say they will introduce legislation that would encourage Americans to contribute cash to charities that help with “emergency aid and rebuilding efforts” in Haiti.

“The Senate-House plan would allow U.S. taxpayers to make charitable contributions to Haiti relief programs until March 1, 2010, and claim those contributions on their 2009 tax return,” said a statement from the members of Congress. “Under current law, taxpayers would have to wait until next year’s filing season to claim a tax deduction for Haiti-related contributions,” the statement said. “Today’s proposal is limited to cash contributions made specifically for Haiti disaster relief.”

One of the members of Congress, Sen. Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, said that “by extending the period for charitable deductions, we make it easier for concerned citizens...

The Council on Foundations, an association of grant makers, is asking the Internal Revenue Service to declare Haiti a “qualified disaster,” a move the group says would help corporations assist their employees who were affected by the earthquake.

The designation would allow company foundations to provide monetary aid to their needy workers in the country, writes Steve Gunderson, president of the Arlington, Va., organization, in a letter to Douglas Shulman, commissioner of the federal tax agency.

Under IRS rules, corporate grant makers are barred from using philanthropic dollars to help employees except for special circumstances.

“Regrettably, some U.S. companies have employees who have been adversely affected by the earthquake,” Mr. Gunderson says. “These companies would like to assist their employees by making qualified disaster payments from company foundations.”

He says the ...

New York’s two senators announced today they plan to introduce legislation to suspend some limits on charitable tax deductions for gifts to help victims of Haiti’s earthquake.

Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles E. Schumer, both Democrats, said the bill would waive rules that limit individuals from writing off more than 50 percent — and corporations more than 10 percent — of their income for charitable contributions in a given tax year.

The measure, which would apply to donations made in 2010, would be similar to tax breaks that were adopted for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

The bill would also extend special tax rules for donations of food inventory that expired at the end of 2009, the senators said. These would allow corporations that donate food for Haiti’s earthquake victims to deduct the actual market value, rather than the cost to produce the food.

“Haiti needs our help...

The American Hospital Association is asking Congress to drop provisions that would affect nonprofit hospitals from a final version of the health-care legislation under consideration.

The House of Representatives and Senate are beginning negotiations to merge bills they passed separately that would overhaul the health-care system.

The House bill did not include provisions for nonprofit hospitals, but the Senate measure did.

“The AHA does not believe that the new requirements for charitable hospitals and their ability to maintain tax exemption in the Senate bill are necessary and we urge the [House and Senate] conferees to remove these provisions from the final health-reform conference report,” the hospital association said in a January 7 letter to leaders of Congress.

The American Hospital Association particularly objected to two requirements in the Senate bill. It urged Congress to...

President Obama has been more successful at fulfilling his campaign promises to promote public service than he has in almost any other category, according to an analysis by the National Journal.

The publication, which conducted a promise audit to assess the progress the president has made toward completing campaign promises in various categories, awarded Mr. Obama a 71 percent for public service.

It noted that Congress last year passed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which will enlarge AmeriCorps; a stimulus package that included money for AmeriCorps and YouthBuild; and measures to increase spending on Senior Corps and provide $50-million for the new Social Innovation Fund.

The “promise audit” gives percentage scores to various steps toward completing campaign promises — for example, 25 percent for action short of legislation or an executive order, 50 percent if...