The Corporation for National and Community Service announced Tuesday it is seeking proposals for $1-million in grants under the new Nonprofit Capacity Building Program.

The program, created by the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, will provide grants to organizations that can offer training and management help to small and medium-sized nonprofit groups. Matching funds from nonfederal sources are required.

Further details are available here.

The national-service agency also announced last week it is seeking grant propoals for the $4-million Volunteer Generation Fund, another program created by the Serve America Act. The money will go to state national-service commissions for projects to help nonprofit groups attract, manage, and retain volunteers.

Further details are available here.

The application deadline for both grant programs is May 18.

The new health-care overhaul that Congress has approved will affect nonprofit groups both as employers and as human-service providers. The legislation offers tax credits to help small charities offer their employees health insurance and penalizes larger employers that do not offer coverage if any of their employees need subsidies to purchase their own. It also expands the number of people who will qualify for Medicaid.

The Chronicle is working on an article we will publish shortly to explain how the health-care overhaul will affect the way nonprofit groups operate, and we would like to hear from you. Please send any comments to Suzanne Perry by noon on Monday, March 29.

Nicola Goren, the former acting chief executive of the Corporation for National and Community Service, is leaving the federal agency to become president of the Washington Area Women's Foundation.

Ms. Goren, who has been at the corporation for 12 years, served in the top job during a drawn-out search for a successor to David Eisner, the former chief executive, who left the post in November 2008. Mr. Eisner's successor, Patrick Corvington, took office last month. Ms. Goren then moved into a position as senior counselor in the chief executive's office.

She supervised the national-service agency during a high-profile period when Congress and the White House agreed to greatly expand AmeriCorps and create the Social Innovation Fund, which provides grants to help nonprofit groups expand successful social programs.

Mr. Corvington said Ms. Goren would take a break before starting her job at...

Nonprofit hospitals will be required to conduct "a community health-needs assessment" at least once every three years and take other actions under the terms of the major health-care legislation passed by the House of Representatives last night.

President Obama is soon expected to sign the legislation into law. A health-care bill passed earlier by the Senate had included the requirements for nonprofit hospitals and the House approved them without change.

In the assessments, hospitals will have to outline steps they will take to meet the identified needs.

Nonprofit hospitals also will be required to adopt and widely publicize written financial-assistance policies that explain whether free or discounted care is available and how to apply for it.

In addition, nonprofit hospitals will have to bill patients who qualify for financial assistance no more than the amount generally billed to...

The historic health-care bill adopted by the House of Representatives Sunday night provides relief to small charities that offer health insurance to their employees -- a victory for nonprofit leaders who fought for such language.

By adopting the Senate version of the major health-care overhaul, the House agreed that both nonprofit groups and businesses could qualify for tax credits. The original House bill offered only income-tax credits to small employers, which would not have helped tax-exempt groups.

The final bill, set to be signed by President Obama in the next day or two, allows nonprofit groups to apply the credit to certain payroll taxes, like the money withheld from employee checks for Medicare. The provision applies to employers with no more than 25 full-time employees and average wages below $50,000.

For tax years 2010 through 2013, nonprofit groups will be eligible for up ...

The National Council of Nonprofits is asking nonprofit groups to send stories about problems they are having with government contracts or with new fees or taxes so it can propose strategies to battle efforts it says are weakening charities at a time when their services are in high demand.

That pitch comes in a new council report, "State Budget Crises: Ripping the Safety Net Held by Nonprofits," which highlights obstacles some charities are facing in getting paid by recession-battered states and moves by some states or local governments to eliminate tax exemptions or impose new fees on nonprofit groups.

The council is working with the Urban Institute's Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy to survey the nonprofit world to document problems at federal, state, and local levels. It asks groups to send their problems, or their success stories in resolving them, via the Web page "Share Your ...

The Senate has passed legislation that would give tax breaks to nonprofit and other employers that hire unemployed workers.

The legislation, which was earlier approved by the House of Representatives, now goes to the president for his signature.

The measure, included in a jobs bill, would exempt employers from paying Social Security taxes in 2010 for employees hired this year.

The Alliance for Children and Families has estimated the Social Security savings could help nonprofit groups create up to 18,000 jobs.

The Internal Revenue Service's annual list of the "dirty dozen" tax schemes that Americans should avoid includes a warning about illegal efforts involving charitable organizations and charitable-tax deductions.

The IRS said it continues to observe the misuse of tax-exempt organizations. "Abuse includes arrangements to improperly shield income or assets from taxation and attempts by donors to maintain control over donated assets or income from donated property," the IRS said.

The tax agency said it "also continues to investigate various schemes involving the donation of non-cash assets, including situations where several organizations claim the full value for both the receipt and distribution of the same non-cash contribution."

Often, the IRS said, "these donations are highly overvalued, or the organization receiving the donation promises that the donor can repurchase the items later a...

The number of charities and private foundations registered with the Internal Revenue Service increased by 4.3 percent from 2008 to 2009, reaching a total of more than 1.2 million, according to figures released by the tax agency.

The percentage increase was slightly less than the rate that had been reported for the two previous years.

The IRS figures show that the number of groups classified under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code rose by 51,286 between 2008 and 2009.

In 2009, a total of 1,238,201 charities and foundations were registered with the federal government, compared with 1,186,915 in 2008.

The number of groups classified under Section 501(c)(3) has increased by nearly 90 percent since 1996, when the IRS counted a total of 654,186 of them.

The number of all charitable organizations increased by 5.2 percent from 2007 to 2008; 6 percent from 2006 to 2007; 1.7...

President Obama today announced a list of 10 charities that will share his $1.4-million Nobel Peace Prize award.

"These organizations do extraordinary work in the United States and abroad helping students, veterans, and countless others in need," he said in a statement.

The organizations are:

• Fisher House, which provides housing for families of patients at major military and Veterans Administration medical centers -- $250,000

• Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, which raises money to help Haiti recover from the recent earthquake -- $200,000

• American Indian College Fund, which offers scholarships and helps tribal colleges -- $125,000

• Appalachian Leadership and Education Foundation, which helps young people in Appalachia pursue higher education -- $125,000

• College Summit, which works with elementary and middle schools and school districts to increase college enrollment rates -- $125,0...