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Author Archives: Suzanne Perry
January 15, 2013, 5:38 pm
Boustany Reappointed Head of House Nonprofit Oversight Panel
Rep. Charles Boustany—a Louisiana Republican who started holding a series of hearings on nonprofit issues last year—has been reappointed chairman of the House Ways and Means oversight subcommittee.
The announcement was made today by Rep. Dave Camp of Michigan, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, which oversees tax-exempt organizations.
Mr. Boustany was re-elected to Congress after winning a runoff election last month that was required by state law because no candidate had won a majority of votes in the November contest.
He held a hearing in July on charities with complicated operations like a profit-generating arm and in May on issues including oversight of universities and hospitals.
Mr. Boustany told The Chronicle last year he was concerned that the IRS had not been aggressive enough in monitoring charity abuses.
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January 10, 2013, 9:14 am
Fiscal-Cliff Tax Deal Expected to Boost Charitable Giving
The income-tax provisions adopted by Congress to avert the year-end “fiscal cliff” will increase charitable giving by an estimated 1.3 percent, or $3.3-billion, in 2013, according to a new Urban Institute analysis.
The boost will come mainly from the decision to increase the top tax bracket from 35 percent to 39.6 percent on income above $400,000 for individuals ($450,000 for married couples), the institute said.
Because the charitable deduction is tied to a person’s tax bracket, those donors will now save $39.60 in taxes for every $100 they give to charity. In other words, their gift will cost them only $60.40, down from $65 under the 35-percent rate.
People in the top 1 percent of income distribution will provide almost all of the higher giving, increasing their donations by an estimated 6.2 percent, the analysis found.
The study also took into account the decision to…
November 8, 2012, 9:33 am
5 Candidates Endorsed for Nonprofit-Friendly Agendas Win Election
While many people were glued to their television sets this week waiting to learn who the country’s next president would be, Robert Egger and Douglas Knight were closely monitoring the results of some less-publicized races.
The two nonprofit leaders run CForward, an organization that Mr. Egger founded last year to promote candidates who have strong agendas for strengthening nonprofits in their communities. The group endorsed eight candidates, all but one for a state or local office, and five of them won.
“I can’t tell you how fun it was to look at all the returns,” says Mr. Knight, who was following city council, state legislative, and other races in eight states.
CForward made its endorsements after scrutinizing the records of 60 candidates across the country who were nominated by nonprofit workers, eight interns who worked for CForward last summer, and others.
The group gave…
November 8, 2012, 9:22 am
Most Key Lawmakers for Nonprofits Win Re-Election
Several Congressional candidates with key positions on committees that influence nonprofit policy won re-election Tuesday. They include:
• Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees tax-exempt organizations.
• Rep. Dave Camp of Michigan, the Republican chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, which also oversees tax-exempt organization.
• Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, senior Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee’s oversight subcommittee, the panel that investigates alleged charity abuses.
But the oversight subcommittee’s chairman, Charles Boustany of Louisiana—who has been holding a series of hearings about charity regulation—faces a runoff election next month as required by state law because no candidate won a majority of votes. He will face Rep. Jeff Landry, also a Republican congressman. They are…
September 26, 2012, 10:23 am
Senators Quiz Fundraising Firm About Work for Veterans Group
The Senate Finance Committee has asked Quadriga Art, a direct-marketing firm, to provide financial records about its ties to the Disabled Veterans National Foundation, a charity the committee is investigating because it has spent little money on services that directly help veterans.
Most of the money the veterans’ group has raised from an extensive direct-mail operation has gone to pay bills at Quadriga and its subsidiary Brickmill Marketing Services. It owes about $17-million to the two companies, a Quadriga spokeswoman said last month.
The finance committee’s letter asks Mark Schulhof, Quadriga Art’s chief executive, to provide details about business dealings among Quadriga, its related entities, and the veterans’ charity from 2008 to 2011. It requests information about the goods and services the companies have offered, their cost, the revenue they have earned, and the money…
September 21, 2012, 5:16 pm
Romney Limits His Charitable Deduction to Increase Tax Bill
Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann, contributed $4-million to charity last year but claimed a tax deduction for only $2.25-million, according to their 2011 tax return and other financial information released today.
They limited their deduction because their income was less than the amount they reported last January on an estimated tax return, and their donations “would have significantly reduced their tax obligation for the year,” according to a letter from Brad Malt, a family trustee.
Mr. Romney wanted to increase his tax bill to conform to his statement in August—based on the January estimate—that “he paid at least 13 percent in income taxes in each of the last 10 years,” Mr. Malt said.
In the 2011 return issued today, Mr. Romney reports adjusted gross income of almost $13.7-million, down from $20.9-million in the estimated return. After limiting the charitable deduction, his…
September 21, 2012, 3:07 pm
White House Philanthropy Event Was a Closed-Door Affair
People who promote innovative approaches to social problems usually stress the importance of sharing knowledge so that everyone can learn about the most effective strategies.
But organizers of Thursday’s closed-door White House Forum on Philanthropy Innovation must not have gotten the memo.
The event—hosted by the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation and attended by philanthropists, nonprofit leaders, government officials, and others—was not announced publicly and was closed to the news media.
There were no news releases, White House blog mentions, or Webcasts.
A few participants blew the event’s cover, however. One nonprofit group sent out a news release about its founder’s plans to attend. Several attendees tweeted throughout the day at #WHInnovation. And some discussed it with The Chronicle afterward.
When asked about the…
September 4, 2012, 4:48 pm
Social Innovation Fund Director to Leave This Month
Paul Carttar, director of the federal government’s new Social Innovation Fund since April 2010, will step down at the end of this month, the Corporation for National and Community Service said.
Idara Nickelson, the corporation’s chief investment officer, will become the fund’s new director, Wendy Spencer, the agency’s chief executive, said in an e-mail to associates.
Mr. Carttar, a nonprofit expert with a wide range of experience in philanthropic, academic, government, and business, was the first director of the Social Innovation Fund, a grants program championed by President Obama to provide money to help nonprofits expand effective social programs.
Housed in the national-service agency, it has a budget of $45-million this year, with additional money provided by nonprofits and foundations.
Ms. Spencer said Ms. Nickelson, who has also served as the corporation’s…
August 14, 2012, 10:08 am
New PAC for Nonprofits Endorses Its First Candidates
CForward, a political-action committee that was set up last year to promote candidates who pledge to stand up for nonprofits, has made its first endorsements.
They include five contenders for state legislatures and one each for city council, mayor, and the U.S. House of Representatives.
“Our choices are not based on any single issue, or geography, gender, or political party,” the group said in a statement. With governments cutting budgets across the country, it looked for candidates that would “promote our role in creating jobs, attracting investment dollars and maintaining the civil society required for traditional business to thrive.”
Robert Egger, who founded CFoward, said he hopes that nonprofit employees nationwide will contribute to the candidates’ campaigns. “We want to attract hundreds, if not thousand, of small contributions,” he said in an e-mail. “In a local mayor’s…
July 31, 2012, 8:26 pm
Social Innovation Fund Awards $42-Million
The Social Innovation Fund, a federal program designed to help nonprofits expand effective programs, has awarded more than $42-million to 11 groups in its third round of annual grants, the Corporation for National and Community Service announced today.
The fund, which gives money to grant makers that in turn award it to innovative nonprofits, has allotted $11-million to four new groups and $33.9-million to seven existing grantees.
The newcomers, which will each receive $2-million over two years:
• The Capital Area United Way, for early-childhood programs in the greater Baton Rouge area.
• The GreenLight Fund, for programs to help improve the academic performance of low-income young people in Boston, Philadelphia, and the San Francisco Bay area. GreenLight seeks out the best programs and finances their work in select cities. (See a profile of the fund from The…
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