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...

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...

National-service advocates are asking colleagues to sign a letter urging the U.S. Senate to act quickly to confirm the nomination of Patrick Corvington, a senior associate at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, as chief executive of the Corporation for National and Community Service.

A Senate committee approved the nomination in December, but the full Senate left for its holiday recess without acting on it.

The letter — drafted by the coalitions America Forward, ServiceNation, and Voices for National Service — notes that Congress approved a big increase in the federal agency’s budget in December, partly to expand its programs as authorized by the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act.

“Buoyed by this landmark year, the service community is ready to address America’s most pressing challenges,” it adds. “However, CNCS remains without permanent leadership to oversee this expansion and...

The Internal Revenue Service should collect information from small nonprofit groups about the kind of help they need to comply with tax-reporting requirements, then develop a plan to meet their needs, the agency’s advocate for taxpayers has recommended.

“Tax-exempt organizations must meet tax compliance and reporting obligations that can be surprisingly complex,” Nina E. Olson, the national taxpayer advocate, said in her annual report to Congress. “Smaller organizations, which constitute the majority of the tax-exempt sector, are more likely to face this complexity without the assistance of professional tax preparers.”

Only nine IRS employees are now primarily responsible for providing information and education to 1.8 million diverse tax-exempt organizations, the report says, and the agency has no way to obtain comprehensive information about which services the groups need or how...

The Corporation for National and Community Service today released a long-awaited draft notice spelling out how it will award grants under the $50-million Social Innovation Fund.

The “Notice of Funds Available” — which was delayed by slow Congressional action to approve the agency’s budget — says the corporation plans to award approximately five to seven grants of $5-million to $10-million during the 2010 fiscal year, which ends September 30.

The money, which will be awarded for periods of up to five years, will go to “intermediary grant-making organizations” that will in turn award grants of at least $100,000 annually to promising nonprofit groups. Both the intermediary organizations and the nonprofit groups must provide matching funds.

The draft notice, which will be finalized after a comment period that ends January 15, also offers a definition of “social innovation” and...

The House of Representatives passed a $154-billion jobs bill on Wednesday that includes $200-million in fresh money for AmeriCorps, the national-service program.

The money, provided in the Jobs for Main Street Act, H.R. 2847, would allow AmeriCorps to add 25,000 members as part of a broader effort to tackle the country’s high unemployment rate by creating and saving public-service jobs.

“AmeriCorps members conduct vital services for nonprofits and communities including financial counseling, disaster response, housing support, and after-school programs,” says an explanatory note about the legislation.

The jobs bill would also pay for public-works projects; help states hire teachers, police officers, and firefighters; and extend federal unemployment benefits and other safety-net measures. About half of the money, including the AmeriCorps allocation, would come from a federal fund...

Several wealthy people today added their voices to a campaign to get Congress to extend and strengthen the estate tax, calling it a key incentive for people to leave money to charity.

“The federal estate tax encourages individuals and families such as mine to direct a significant portion of their estates to philanthropy,” Richard Rockefeller — chairman of the board of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and a grandson of John D. Rockefeller, the industrialist and philanthropist — told a telephone conference call.

His sentiments were echoed by William H. Gates Sr., co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and John C. Bogle, founder and chief executive of the Vanguard Group, the financial-services company.

The phone call was organized by United for a Fair Economy, in Boston, a nonprofit group that works to lessen income inequality. The group is pushing Congress to act before its ...

The Senate on Sunday approved a spending bill for fiscal 2010 that increases the budget for national-service programs and provides $50-million for the new Social Innovation Fund.

The bill raises the Corporation for National and Community Service’s budget to almost $1.15-billion — up from about $890-million in 2009. However, it cuts the budget for a Volunteer Generation Fund to $4-million, down from $10-million proposed by President Obama, and allocates only $1-million for the Nonprofit Capacity Building Program, down from $5-million proposed by the original congressional sponsors.

The bill now goes to the president for signature.

See The Chronicle’s previous coverage and a Corporation for National and Community Service summary for background.

The House of Representatives today approved a spending bill that increases the budget for the Corporation for National and Community Service to almost $1.15-billion in fiscal year 2010, up from about $890-million in 2009.

It sets the budget for the Social Innovation Fund at $50-million, the Volunteer Generation Fund at $4-million, and Nonprofit Capacity Building Program at $1-million.

For more background on the budget deal, see this article from The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee today approved the nomination of Patrick Corvington, a senior associate at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, to head the Corporation for National and Community Service.

The nomination now goes to the full Senate for a vote.

See The Chronicle‘s article about Mr. Corvington’s nomination.