IRS Plans More Workshops For Small Charities

November 02, 2007

IRS Plans More Workshops For Small Charities

The Internal Revenue Service has added three new cities to its list of places that will play host to one-day seminars for small- and mid-sized charities that want to know more about how to maintain their tax-exempt status and comply with federal laws.

The workshops are designed for administrators or volunteers who are responsible for making sure their organizations comply with the law.

The workshops will be held in Arlington, Va., from April 1-3; in Austin, Texas from May 6-8; and in Columbus, Ohio from May 20-22.

The IRS had previously announced workshops in Salt Lake City; Columbia, S.C.; and Columbus, Ohio.

Each workshop is limited to 200 people and costs $45 per participant.

Go to the IRS’s Web site for more information.

— Peter Panepento

Comments

The I.R.S. (Service) has made much of their pending trainings for small and mid-size nonprofit organizations. With a total of 17 sessions currently scheduled with 200 seats per sessions, the Service is offering training to a maximum of .319% of the entire registered pool of 501©(3) candidates if one uses the figures provided by the Chronicle in its April 5, 2007 edition.

If one assumes that only 50% of those organizations are “small and mid-size” then the Service is making available seats for approximately .68% of the target audience. Nothing in these figures would suggest hat the effort by the I.R.S. while admirable is aggressive outreach to that portion of the exempt organization picture that have few resources and less time to devote to the information needed than their larger counter-parts.

Knowing that a recent study of the non-profit sector in Maryland showed that some 80% of the organizations in the state had budgets of under $250,000 much more needs to be done. National organizations, association and grant-making foundations are all going to have to become participants in this effort or education of the “small and mid-size” will fall significantly short of success.

John C McGee
Woodstock, GA

— John C McGee Nov 6, 01:56 PM #

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