Photograph courtesy Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis

People attending the Republican National Convention next week in downtown St. Paul will find it hard to avoid an antipoverty message from the local Catholic Charities.

Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis has erected a billboard along a freeway, I-94, just outside the area where delegates will be meeting, and a banner on the Dorothy Day Center, a homeless shelter across the street from the Xcel Center, the convention site.

Both read: “Our political agenda: food, shelter, dignity.”

While the timing coincides with the convention, the Rev. John Estrem, the group’s chief executive, says the issues transcend political parties. “We ask all people – regardless of politics — to get involved this fall in talking about our future,” he said in a statement.

Catholic Charities said the number of families seeking ...

To take advantage of today’s announcement that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has joined Sen. John McCain’s bid for the White House, an advocacy group is pushing the presumed Republican vice presidential nominee to commit to helping poor people worldwide.

Only hours after the announcement, the ONE Campaign sent an e-mail message to supporters asking that they send a “digital postcard” to Ms. Palin, which says: “Congratulations on being picked to be #2 on the ticket. We hope you’ll be in the fight to end global poverty.”

On the organization’s blog, Virginia Simmons, ONE’s online communications director, points out that the next few days are crucial in making an impression on the Alaska governor.

“Soon Palin will be engulfed in campaigning and national media, so now is our moment to break through the clutter,” she writes.

The ONE Campaign started a similar effort when Sen. Joe...

The Democratic National Committee is including a provision in the party’s official platform that calls for the creation of a federal fund to support charities that have devised successful ways to meet social needs.

“Social entrepreneurs and leading nonprofit organizations are assisting schools, lifting families out of poverty, filling health-care gaps, and inspiring others to lead change in their own communities,” the party says in its platform. “To support these results-oriented innovators, we will create a Social Investment Fund Network that invests in ideas that work, tests their impact, and expands the most successful programs.

The party also calls for the creation of a federal office that coordinates the efforts of government and nonprofit groups.

As the race for the White House heats up, the Internal Revenue Service is stepping up efforts to keep church groups from running aground of campaign laws.

The tax agency on Monday issued its updated tax guide for churches and religious groups, and nearly one third of the document focuses on the rules governing churches and politics.

The release reinforces the IRS’s recent efforts to crack down on the amount of political activity conducted by religious charities.

More than 350 charities were investigated by the tax agency for engaging in possible illegal political activities during the 2006 election cycle.

The intense contest between Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain for the Presidency has raised concerns that religious groups and other charities will be even more aggressive in campaigning this fall.

One group, the Alliance Defense Fund, says the IRS’s effort violates the ...

Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, a Democrat of Ohio who co-chaired the Congressional Philanthropy Caucus, died Wednesday of a brain hemorrhage.

The congresswoman “was a tireless and tenacious advocate for philanthropy, and her commitment to and leadership of the sector built new avenues of partnership between the public and private sectors,” the Council on Foundations said in a statement.

The council worked with Ms. Tubbs Jones to set up the caucus last year as a forum for discussing issues that affect the charitable world. The group, which is also led by Rep. Robin Hayes, Republican of North Carolina, now has 44 members.

Mr. Hayes said in a statement he was “terribly saddened” by the death, calling Ms. Tubbs-Jones a “wonderful philanthropist and friend.” “She was someone who cared dearly about helping others—especially those who couldn’t help themselves,” he added. “I will miss...

Nonprofit and foundation representatives will mingle with political activists during the Democratic National Convention that takes place next week in Denver.

One of the most prominent events will be a philanthropy roundtable on Monday at the Denver Performing Arts Complex featuring Diana Aviv, president of Independent Sector; Eli Broad, founder of the Broad Foundations; Lawrence Brilliant, executive director of Google.org; Ted Turner, founder of the United Nations Foundation; Andrew Young, co-chairman of GoodWorks International; and several other philanthropic leaders.

The event, “2008 Philanthropy Roundtable: A Driving, Personal Force for Change,” is one of 10 roundtable discussion on “critical issues of the day” planned by the convention’s executive committee to coincide with the Democratic gathering.

Other nonprofit-related events include:

• A panel discussion on Tuesday on ...

Two U.S. senators have created a Senate Philanthropy Caucus to look at ways to help foundations and charities.

Sens. Charles Schumer, Democrat of New York, and Richard Burr, Republican of North Carolina, sent a letter to colleagues in late July asking them to join the caucus to “support the long tradition of good works by the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors.”

The letter praises philanthropy for improving American culture in areas including education, clean water, public health, and public libraries; strengthening nonprofit groups; and allowing communities to try new ideas and test theories.

“The work done by private foundations, nonprofit groups, and individual philanthropists plays essential roles in each of our states and it is increasingly important for Members of Congress to be informed about developments in the philanthropic sector,” it says.

The Council on Foundations...

Donors who want to provide aid in areas of the world threatened by terrorism should consider forming partnerships with the U.S. government to distribute their money, Patrick O’Brien, assistant secretary for terrorist financing with the U.S. Treasury Department, told a meeting of charity leaders on Friday.

Speaking at a day-long conference for Arab and Muslim-American charity executives, Mr. O’Brien cited as a model a partnership announced on August 1 between American Charities for Palestine and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

American Charities for Palestine, a nonprofit organization in Washington, will raise money from American donors who want to assist people in the Palestinian territories. USAID will then help the charity direct its contributions to projects in the region.

“Essentially, this type of partnership allows individual U.S. donors to tap into the...

Delegates to next week’s Democratic National Convention in Denver will vote on whether to adopt a platform that includes several steps to benefit nonprofit groups, such as a new federal office and a new government fund for innovative ideas.

“Social entrepreneurs and leading nonprofit organizations are assisting schools, lifting families out of poverty, filling health care gaps and inspiring others to lead change in their own communities,” says the draft 2008 Democratic National Platform.

It proposes a Social Investment Fund Network that “invests in ideas that work, tests their impact and expands the most successful programs” and an “office to coordinate government and nonprofit efforts.

Both of those ideas echo proposals made by Senator Barack Obama, the Illinois senator who is set to win the Democratic presidential nomination during the convention.

The draft version of the...

The Internal Revenue Service today is expected to release the final version of the instructions for the new Form 990 informational tax form. The form is the key document charities fill out to disclose information to the tax agency and the public.

The instructions correspond with the redesigned Form 990, which takes effect for the 2008 tax year. The redesign is the first major overhaul of the form in 25 years.

The IRS released a draft version of the instructions in April.

It then solicited public comments on the instructions, with the goal of incorporating some of the recommendations into the final rules.

Many charity leaders, lawyers, and accountants have been anticipating the release of the instructions, which are the key to understanding how to fill out the updated Form 990.

The Chronicle will post links to the new instructions when they are released and will offer analysis ...