Jennifer Howse, president of the March of Dimes, delivered Saturday’s weekly Democratic radio address to outline her organization’s support of the controversial State Children’s Health Insurance Program bill.

And the address is drawing some attention because it is seen as an unusual move by a major national nonprofit organization.

“Yes, the S-CHIP bill has bipartisan support, and yes, it had just been vetoed, and yes, the override had failed, meaning the program had emerged from the category of “legislation currently under consideration” and was once again a safe topic of conversation for a 501c3,” writes the anonymous blogger at The Nonprofiteer.

“Still it was a startling podium from which to hear nonprofit advocacy. And how often do we see the sector’s 300-pound gorillas do anything courageous with their very considerable weight?”

Was this a smart move, or a dangerous one,...

Sen. Charles Grassley isn’t convinced that nonprofit hospitals are doing enough to earn their tax breaks.

And he’s asking for public input as he attempts to decide whether to introduce legislation that would make nonprofit hospitals provide more charity care to retain their tax-exempt status.

Mr. Grassley, the Iowa Republican who is the ranking minority member of the Senate Finance Committee, said today that he is playing host to a round-table discussion that would focus on potential reforms of nonprofit hospitals.

The discussion — set for Tuesday, October 30 in Washington — follows the release earlier this year by Mr. Grassley’s staff of a list of potential reforms. Included in that list of reforms is a proposal that would require nonprofit hospitals to spend at least 5 percent of their annual revenues or expenses on charity care.

“It’s important to understand what they’re...

The Internal Revenue Service is trying to crack down on a possible scam involving real estate and charities.

The tax agency has started contacting charities it believes have taken part in so-called successor member interest real-estate transactions — transactions that it believes could be an abuse of the federal tax code.

The tax agency has sent letters to nonprofit groups it believes have taken part in the transactions.

Those organizations will be required to fill out a questionnaire about the transactions and could face penalties if they fail to properly answer the IRS’s questions.

The transactions are potentially abusive because they allow donors to improperly claim substantial tax deductions on ownership of a property.

In such cases, a donor buys either direct or indirect interest in a property. To avoid claiming capital gains— or to inflate the value of a loss — the donor...

The Annie E. Casey Foundation in Baltimore and the Eos Foundation in Boston are leading an effort to put the issues of poverty and opportunity high on the agenda for the 2008 presidential campaign.

The foundations plan to start a Web site on October 30 called “Spotlight on Poverty” that will feature filmed responses from several presidential candidates talking about poverty and will provide daily news, opinion, and research on the topic.

In addition, they will release a poll that shows voters’ attitudes toward poverty and hunger.

The effort also includes a panel discussion at the National Press Club in Washington that features former U.S. Rep. Harold Ford of Tennessee, former Department of Housing and Urban Development secretary Jack Kemp, U.S. Rep. James McGovern of Massachusetts, and the political consultant Jim McLaughlin.

An Internal Revenue Service official is urging the tax agency to increase the threshold for nonprofit groups that file the Form 990 informational tax return.

Nina E. Olson — who serves as the national taxpayer advocate at the IRS — has told the tax agency that only charities with revenue of $50,000 or more should be required to file the form. Today, organizations with at least $25,000 in revenue are required to do so.

Ms. Olson also recommends that the threshold be indexed to inflation.

Ms. Olson, who operates independently of other IRS offices and reports to Congress, made the recommendation as part of her comments about proposed changes to the Form 990, says changing the budget ceiling would eliminate administrative burdens faced by small charities that are required to file the form.

She says the threshold has been static for 25 years. Meanwhile, the Consumer Price Index,...

Museum leaders’ efforts to persuade Congress to change a new law that limits tax deductions for donations of art might soon pay off.

Two lawmakers on Wednesday plan to propose legislation to soften the sting of the new legislation, which was passed in 2006 as part of the Pension Protection Act.

Rep. Tom Udall, Democrat of New Mexico, and Rep. Phil English, Republican of Pennsylvania, say the bill they will introduce tomorrow would make it easier for donors to make fractional gifts of art to charity while also satisfying regulators who believe many donors had been receiving overly generous deductions for their gifts of art.

Before the Pension Protection Act of 2006 took effect, donors could pledge a portion of an artwork over many years, write off a percentage of its value each year, and keep the work in their possession until they died — as long as they allowed the museum to...

An incentive that allows older people to donate money from their individual retirement accounts to charities tax-free is scheduled to expire at the end of the year.

And Marc Carmichael, president of R&R Newkirk, a Willow Springs, Ill., company that helps charities seek planned gifts, is advising fund raisers not to expect Congress to extend the incentive.

At least two proposals are circulating through Congress that would make the IRA incentive permanent.

But Mr. Carmichael, speaking at this week’s National Committee on Planned Giving Conference in Grapevine, Texas, said donors who are considering making IRA gifts should move quickly.

“We should take the position with donors that it is not going to be extended,” he said.

He added, to laughter, that it is not often that fund raisers who seek bequests, trusts, and other planned gifts have the option of expressing a sense of...

Goodwill Industries says the revised Form 990 informational tax form will create significant burdens for charities that receive large numbers of donated goods and products.

The charity, which says 60 percent of its operating revenue comes through the sale of donated goods, issued a statement saying that the proposed form would require it to spend too much money recording and categorizing such donations for the government.

“Every dollar spent meeting pointless reporting requirements is a dollar we don’t have to spend on programs that help people find jobs and become financially independent, tax-paying members of their communities,” says George W. Kessinger, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International.

The new form would require organizations to record donations based on 22 or more different types of items.

“Like the IRS, Goodwill is concerned that some donors may have ...

The Treasury Department worries that too many taxpayers are overvaluing the worth of cars or other vehicles they donate to charity.

An audit released last month by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration concluded that a law passed in 2004 that sought to stop donors from inflating the value of such gifts on their tax returns has not done enough to prevent losses for the U.S. government.

“Taxpayers who may not be entitled to deductions for charitable contributions of motor vehicles are reducing their tax liabilities, which could result in the loss of revenue to the federal government and inequitable treatment of taxpayers,” the audit found.

Under the law, which took effect January 1, 2005, donors are supposed to deduct the amount the charity received for selling the car, not the fair market value, as donors were allowed to do in the past.

The audit found that 104,84...

The Internal Revenue Service is planning to make some significant changes to its proposal to revise the Form 990 informational tax return.

Among the key changes: the form will not require charities to calculate ratios that would measure fund-raising expenses, executive compensation, and operating expenses.

An IRS official told the Chronicle on Monday that the tax agency is also considering a plan to offer nonprofit groups a grace period on filling out some parts of the form.

What do you think of the latest changes to the proposed Form 990? Click on the comments link below this post to share your thoughts.