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April 25, 2008

Regulating Fund Raising: Join the Debate

The debate over how best to ensure charities are spending the right amount on fund raising expenses compared with their spending on charitable efforts is growing more intense.

In recent days, a number of proposals have been floated:

• A top official at the Internal Revenue Service Thursday it will figure out how to use its authority to crack down on charities that are inefficient in their spending on fund raising and other expenses.

• Members of the House are considering asking charities that send direct-mail appeals to post data about how much money from a solicitation will end up benefiting a charitable cause.

• A key member of the Senate has proposed that the Federal Trade Commission start regulating charities to determine if their fund-raising appeals are fraudulent — especially if too little money raised goes to the cause.

• An executive at a prominent direct-mail company, has drafted a legislative proposal to overhaul the way nonprofit groups disclose information about their fund-raising activities.

We want to hear what you think of all these efforts. Let us know your thoughts by clicking on the comment link.

Friday April 25, 2008 | Permalink

Comments

1. It is none of the government’s business to oversee fund raising for non-profits. People need to be wise in making contributions. We really don’t need more “nanny state” involvement to protect us from something that people should take care of for themselves.

   — Clark Dickerson    Apr 26, 01:47 PM    #

2. My gut reaction is to agree that the gov’t has no business regulating charity efficiency. But, since they “subsidize” us in effect, through our tax-exempt status, they should have a say at the table. I think, however, they should set standards and expectations that would guide donors, not establish regulations that would box us in.

   — Howard Freeman    Apr 28, 05:57 PM    #

3. More troubling than the prospect of a federal intervention in my view is the dog’s breakfast of state regulations. If there is to be federal oversight I hope it pre-empts states’ rights.

   — Henry (Hank) Goldstein    Apr 29, 02:07 PM    #

4. Requiring that a reasonable percentage of assets be spent on the professed goals of a charity is reasonable if receiving, in effect, tax-free subsidy. Further, publicly revealing (now hidden) all donors over $5000 is reasonable if engaging in public issues, which do affect elections.

   — Bruce Kesler    Apr 29, 02:18 PM    #

Commenting is closed for this article.

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