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Home :  Nonprofit Issues :  Advocacy Blog : 
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Monday, October 31, 2005

Thomas To Examine Credit Unions in Hearing
From Congress Daily(subscription required):

BANKING: The House Ways and Means Committee hears testimony Thursday on the tax-exempt status of credit unions, part of an examination of the tax-exempt sector Ways and Means Chairman Thomas launched last year. The credit union tax exemption has been in place for nearly 70 years. The industry argues it should remain tax-exempt because credit unions, which have 87 million members nationwide, are not-for-profit cooperatives generally run by volunteers, and they return their earnings to their members.

Banking industry groups are pushing for changes to the tax status of some large credit unions that offer a widening array of "bank-like" services, such as commercial loans.

Thomas has raised questions about whether tax exemptions are warranted for organizations that provide goods and services similar to those of taxpaying companies. Bush administration officials and many congressional leaders from both parties have voiced strong support for the credit-union tax exemption.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 10:30:00 AM



New Report on Public Perception of Charities
From the Chronicle of Philanthropy: Charity leaders are out of touch with the typical American donor's perception of the nonprofit world, according to a new report.

Nonprofit officials overestimate donors' interest in public-policy debates -- such as the extent to which government ought to regulate charities - and underestimate donors' distaste for fund-raising techniques they associate with big business, such as telemarketing, the report says.

The report, released today by Public Agenda, a research organization in New York, is based on six focus-group discussions conducted with men and women who were considered "civically engaged" - that is, they had voted in the last election; were a member of a civic group; had given at least $300 to charities, and volunteered at least once in the past year.

For the report: www.publicagenda.org

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 09:14:52 AM



Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Hopkins Rept. Assesses Nonprof Accountability
With Hurricane Katrina demonstrating anew the need for an effective and reliable network of private, nonprofit organizations to help meet urgent national problems, and recent calls for increased regulation of nonprofit organizations from the Senate Finance Committee and others, a new report from the Johns Hopkins University's Nonprofit Listening Post Project offers the first up-to-date information on the actual governance and accountability practices of U.S. nonprofit organizations.

More than 600 nonprofit organizations in the United States were surveyed for the report, which reveals that the overwhelming majority of the organizations responding have boards of directors that are already significantly involved in the key oversight functions that nonprofit boards are expected to perform.

For the report and for more information on the Listening Post

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 05:42:21 PM



Friday, October 07, 2005

Form 990 Draft Up for Comment on IRS Website
A draft of IRS Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax, for Tax Year 2005 is available for public comments on the IRS website for tax-exempt organizations.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 11:11:17 AM



Thursday, October 06, 2005

Allen Urges Treasury To Allow Supporting Orgs
In a Sept. 19 letter, Sen. George Allen, (R-VA) urged Treasury to continue to allow the responsible use of supporting organizations for charitable efforts while working to eliminate abusive practices associated with the organizations.

The letter can be found here

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 08:43:04 AM



Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Goverment Cracks Down on Fake Katrina Charities
From the Washington Post

Concerned that the Gulf Coast hurricanes are spawning an unprecedented number of bogus appeals to help victims, law enforcement officials and charities have launched aggressive efforts to prosecute fraud.

State and federal officials have filed charges in at lease four cases involving fraudulent appeals. They expect that number to rise sharply in the coming weeks as investigators examine thousands of suspicious fundraising Web sites, "phishing" schemes that steal financial information from donors and people falsely claiming to be raising money for hurricane funds.

Posted by Jennifer Lowe, 09:08:48 AM




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