August 2008
August 29, 2008
Charity Brings Antipoverty Message to Republican Convention Delegates
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 help from Dorothy Day more than doubled from 264 in 2005 to 574 in 2007. “Campaigns are the vehicles for setting public agendas,” Father Estrem said. “And our agenda is to move people out of poverty and uphold their innate dignity.”
Other nonprofit-related activities timed for the Republican gathering include:
- A panel discussion on Monday in Minneapolis of U.S. foreign assistance that will include Raymond C. Offenheiser, president of Oxfam America, the international relief group, and Vin Weber, chairman of the National Endowment for Democracy, a nonprofit group that works to strengthen democratic institutions around the world. Other panelists include Rep. John Bozeman, Republican of Arizona, and Andrew S. Natsios, former head of the U.S. Agency for International Development.
- A discussion of education policy on Tuesday in Minneapolis sponsored by more than a dozen groups, including AmericanSolutions for Winning the Future, a public-policy advocacy group chaired by former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich; the Education Equality Project, a new group fighting to improve education for African American and Latino students; and Ed in ’08, an education-advocacy group financed by the Eli & Edythe Broad Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Speakers will include Mr. Gingrich and the Rev. Al Sharpton, the New York civil rights activist, who co-chairs the Education Equality Project.
Advocacy Group Sends 'Postcards' To Vice Presidential Nominees
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 Biden of Delaware was picked as the Democratic vice presidential nominee.
August 27, 2008
Democrats Propose Federal Fund for Charities
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.
August 26, 2008
IRS Steps Up Efforts to Monitor Churches Involved in Politics
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 fundamental rights of religious groups and is encouraging church groups to openly preach about election candidates on September 28 as a protest.
August 21, 2008
Rep. Tubbs Jones, Co-Chair of Congressional Philanthropy Caucus, Dies
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 serving with her as a co-chair on the House Philanthropy Caucus.”
Senators Charles Schumer, Democrat of New York, and Richard Burr, Republican of North Carolina, announced in July they are setting up a comparable caucus in the Senate.
August 20, 2008
Nonprofit Representatives to Mingle With Political Activists in Denver
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 the future of the arts in the United States, organized by the Americans for the Arts Action Fund and the National Association of Music Merchants. The action fund — the advocacy arm of Americans for the Arts, which represents groups like museums, theaters, and orchestras — planned the event as part of its ArtsVote2008 project to persuade presidential candidates to promote arts-friendly policies. Panelists will include Robert Lynch, president of the action fund; Manuel Diaz, mayor of Miami; Sheila Johnson, co-founder of Black Entertainment Television and a philanthropist; and the musician John Legend.
- A panel discussion on Wednesday on poverty organized by several groups including ONE, the nonprofit organization that fights global poverty and AIDS. Tom Daschle, the former Senate majority leader, will represent ONE on the panel.
- A roundtable discussion on Thursday on the impact of poverty and other issues on women and their families, sponsored by the Ms. Foundation for Women and Women’s eNews, a nonprofit news service. Recipients of Ms. Foundation grants will discuss the situation in the Gulf Coast three years after Hurricane Katrina hit.
Are you aware of other events at the convention that would interest Chronicle readers? Add any events listings by clicking on the comment link just below this post.
We’d also like to hear from you if you are attending either the Republican or Democrat conventions. Send an e-mail message to editor@philanthropy.com.
August 19, 2008
U.S. Senate Creates Philanthropy Caucus
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, which has been trying to improve relations with Congress following several years of investigations into alleged charitable abuses, has been encouraging both the House and Senate to set up caucuses to increase awareness of issues affecting the nonprofit world.
The House set up the Congressional Philanthropy Caucus more than a year ago, chaired by Robin Hayes, Republican of North Carolina, and Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Democrat of Ohio.
That caucus, which now has 44 members, has held one official meeting—-in the spring, when a Council on Foundations official provided an overview to two House members and about 20 Congressional aides about how foundations work, said Rodney Emory, the council’s vice president of government relations.
The two co-chairs also sent letters urging House members to participate in “District Days,” a project sponsored by the council and the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers to get foundations to set up meetings with members of Congress while they are in their home states during the August break, Mr. Emory said. He said more than 100 meetings have been scheduled.
The council is hoping to set up another briefing for both philanthropy caucuses sometime in the fall, Mr. Emory said.
U.S. Government Offers Help Distributing Donations as Antiterror Measure
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 government resources and distribution networks, thereby leveraging counterrorism mechanisms only available to the government,” said Mr. O’Brien.
Mr. O’Brien also urged charity leaders to consider adopting guidelines created in 2005 by the Treasury Department to prevent the exploitation of charities by terrorist groups. The guidelines, which are voluntary, suggest that charities collect information on grant recipients and key staff members and check this information against terrorists lists maintained by the Treasury Department.
Efforts to ‘Refine’
Many nonprofit leaders have raised concerns about the guidelines, saying they are impractical and threaten the independence of nonprofit organizations. Mr. O’Brien acknowledged these criticisms and said the Treasury Department would continue to work with charities to “refine” the anti-terrorism measures.
While the attention of charity leaders has focused on the threat of donations being channeled to terrorists, Mr. O’Brien said the Treasury Department was also concerned about other ways in which nonprofit groups are being exploited by terrorists.
Many of the charities that Treasury has designated as supporting terrorism provide charitable services, he said, but they are also being used to build support for terrorist groups and recruit new members.
“Many of these charities do provide actual services, as well as support terrorism,” said Mr. O’Brien. “It is this aspect of the threat that underlines our voluntary guidance covering the vetting of key employees and grantees of charities working in high-risk areas against lists of designated terrorist organizations, entities, and individuals.”
Mr. O’Brien also encouraged nonprofit organizations to develop their own measures for preventing terrorism. He praised a recent accreditation program for Muslim charities developed by Muslim Advocates, an advocacy group, and the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance, a watchdog group.
“We strongly support this effort and it is our hope that this type of program will be embraced by other groups and that the original scope will be expanded to also cover terrorist-financing issues and preventive measures for charities working in high-risk regions,” said Mr. O’Brien.
Democrats Urged to Endorse Measures to Promote Nonprofit Work
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 party principles that are meant to guide voters as they vote in next November’s presidential race also proposes that Democrats endorse:
- More money for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
- An “unprecedented national investment” to ensure every child has access to high-quality pre-kindergarten programs, Head Start, and Early Head Start.
- An expanded AmeriCorps, new opportunities for international service, new public-service opportunities for experienced and retired persons, tax incentives for college students who serve, and use of the Internet to better match volunteers to openings.
- Health Infrastructure 2020, a global effort involving both philanthropy and business to work with developing countries to improve health conditions.
- Fifty-billion dollars over five years to expand U.S. global programs to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis.
- Expansion of programs to help homeless veterans.
For more details on how the 2008 campaign affects nonprofit groups, see this special section of our Web site.
IRS Plans to Issue Details Today on New Charity Tax Form
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 of what the instructions mean for nonprofit groups that are required to fill out the new form.
August 07, 2008
IRS Publishes Proposed Charitable-Gift Guidelines
The Internal Revenue Service has published proposed rules aimed at making sure donors keep proper records to substantiate gifts of cash and property they make to charities.
The proposal explain how the tax agency plans to enforce laws enacted in recent years that included provisions designed to cut down on abuses by donors and charities.
For example, the Pension Protection Act of 2006 said no tax deduction could be taken for gifts to charities of furniture, household goods, and clothing that are not in “good used condition or better.”
In its proposed rules, the IRS said that it and the Treasury Department are “aware that a number of charities publish donation guidelines listing items the charity will and will not accept, and believe that the guidelines are helpful in ensuring that charities receive donations of items that are of meaningful use to the charity.”
The revenue service said it welcomes comments from charities on how donation guidelines they publish may relate to the “good used condition” requirement in the law.
The proposed rules were published in today’s Federal Register.
The IRS requests that comments about its proposal be submitted by November 5.
August 06, 2008
Senate Finance Committee Charity Analyst Joins Obama Campaign
The Senate Finance Committee has temporarily lost a key philanthropy specialist, Kristin Bailey, to Sen. Barack Obama’s Democratic presidential campaign.
Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat who chairs the committee, hired Ms. Bailey last year as a policy analyst specializing in tax-exempt organizations including charities and foundations. She has taken a leave of absence to serve as a field organizer for Mr. Obama in Montana until after the November 4 election.
Most of her duties will be handled by Matt Slonaker, another committee staff member, until she returns, a committee spokesman said.
Senator Baucus’s chief of staff, Jim Messina, has also taken a leave of absence to work for the Obama campaign. He was appointed chief of staff to the Obama national campaign in June.
John Selib, former legislative director for Senator Baucus, is now serving as his acting chief of staff.
The Montana senator, whose committee oversees charitable organizations, is himself up for reelection in November, but his seat is considered safe.
IRS Offers Preview of Revisions for New Form 990 Instructions
The Internal Revenue Service has offered a glimpse of some of the changes being made to the draft instructions for the new Form 990 — and says it will post the revised instructions in full on the its Web site by August 15.
The Form 990, which was completely redesigned for the 2008 tax year, is the primary document that charities annually file with the federal government.
Among the changes to the instructions will be a revised definition of the term “key employee” for the purposes of reporting executive compensation, transactions with charity insiders, and other items.
In response to criticism that the original definition was overly broad, the IRS has laid out a three-prong test to identify key employees.
To counter complaints about some of the new form’s extensive reporting requirements, the revised instructions will lay out how charities can prove they have made a reasonable effort to obtain relevant information about the family and business relationships among their trustees, officers, and key employees.
Changes in instructions were also made to the supporting schedule that hospitals must fill out and to the schedule requiring information about tax-exempt bonds.
The revised instructions are based on public comments the IRS received following the April release of its draft instructions.
An update on the IRS Web site says that the upcoming release of the amended instructions will be accompanied by background documents intended to explain the changes.
—Debra E. Blum
August 05, 2008
New Measure Seeks to Aid People Who Deliver Meals to the Needy
Rep. Robert E. Latta, an Ohio Republican, has introduced a bill that would increase the tax deduction for people who use their automobiles as part of their volunteer work for charities if that work is for “the delivery of meals to homebound individuals who are elderly, disabled, frail, or at risk.”
Under current federal law, volunteers who drive their cars for charitable purposes may deduct 14 cents a mile for their car costs (or be reimbursed by a charity at that rate without the payment being subjected to federal income tax). Some members of Congress say that rate is too low, especially as gas prices have risen in recent months.
Mr. Latta’s bill, HR 6675, would increase the mileage rate for those who deliver meals from the current 14 cents to 58.5 cents per mile, which is the current rate for business expenses.
Many lawmakers have drafted bills in recent weeks to help charity volunteers who use their vehicles including those who provide aid to victims of the Midwestern floods.
Government Asks Public for Views on Charity Student-Loan Forgiveness Rules
The U.S. Education Department is seeking comments by August 15 on proposed regulations to carry out a new law that would forgive the student-loan balances of some charity workers.
The College Cost Reduction and Access Act, H.R. 2669, allows people to erase their loan balances after making 120 payments if they been a full-time “public service employee” during that time. The benefit would apply only to payments made after October 1, 2007.
The Education Department is proposing language to define which organizations qualify as “public service” employers.
It suggests the term apply to government agencies, tribal colleges, nonprofit groups that qualify as charities under 501c3 of the Internal Revenue Code, and private groups that don’t qualify for that tax designation but that provide specific public services such as child care, help for older people and people with disabilities, legal services, education, and public safety.
The draft regulations also define “full time” to mean working an annual average of 30 hours per week, an average of 30 hours per week during a contractual period of at least eight months (designed to cover teachers), or the number of hours that the employer considers full time.
The department proposes that people who hold full-time AmeriCorps jobs qualify for the benefit, and that any money that they use from their AmeriCorps education awards to pay off student loans count when calculating the 120-payment minimum.
August 01, 2008
Hedge-Fund Managers Could Get Charitable-Giving Incentive
Tax bills proposed in both the House and Senate would give hedge-fund managers a generous new tax deduction for charitable donations as a way to promote philanthropy.
Under the proposed tax-extender bills, hedge-fund managers would be allowed to receive a full tax write off for every dollar they donate to charity — up to 100 percent of their deferred compensation.
Other taxpayers are allowed to deduct donations up to 50 percent of their annual income.
Sen. Charles Grassley, the Iowa Republican who is the ranking minority member of the Senate Finance Committee, calls the proposed deduction for hedge-fund managers unfair.
“Everyone is obviously in favor of charity, but treating wealthy hedge-fund managers better than your average American makes no sense from a tax-policy perspective,” Mr. Grassley said in a written statement.