Nearly two years have passed since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and now is a perfect time to look at the charitable work in the area in terms of what has been accomplished, what needs to be done, and how charities point out the inequities that remain. The Chronicle of Philanthropy ($$) spotlights this discussion of charities and the hurricane recovery through a series of articles. An important point to discuss two years later is that charitable funds are still drastically needed.

In examining the giving so far, the Chronicle ($$) notes that "charities who are still working with storm survivors say even the unprecedented outpouring of charitable giving may not be enough to meet the continuing housing and social-service needs they see in the Gulf Coast — needs, they say, that may worsen in the coming year as federal support for survivors decreases and many of the poorest evacuees, lacking the resources to return home, settle permanently in the cities to which they originally escaped the disaster."

One article discusses the unique way the Rockefeller Foundation has helped New Orleans plan the development of the city. By helping to come up with the Unified New Orleans Plan, Rockefeller is looking towards strengthening local housing and philanthropic institutions so that they will be able to take on the rebuilding effort that is going to last for years. Nonprofits are worried about getting funders involved in the long-term recovery. As a newly released research project from the Foundation Center has found, "institutional donors may have their most important role to play after initial relief efforts have taken place and the attention of individual donors has moved on to other topics."

Another article focuses on the Mississippi Center for Justice, a nonprofit public interest law firm, which is working to provide legal assistance to residents who are facing trouble with contractors or other legal issues. And one exciting new organization that has applied for tax exempt status is the New Orleans Kid Camera Project. Children use disposable cameras to document life after Katrina creating powerful images. There is also an updated list of fund raising efforts for Hurricane Katrina.

And this interesting article from Salon points out that federal funding provided to Mississippi has largely been given out to the wealthy. "Under the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Community Development Block Grant program, 70 percent of the funds are supposed to be allocated to low- and moderate-income people. But the governor successfully lobbied to waive that requirement, undercutting its impact on Katrina survivors. As a result, only 25 percent of the money has reached the poorer segments of the population."

Seen but not Heard: Strengthening Nonprofit Advocacy, provides new research findings about the extent of nonprofit advocacy while also detailing the barriers and incentives for nonprofits seeking to engage in various types of policy activities. OMB Watch's Gary D. Bass and Kay Guinane co-authored the book with David Arons and Matthew Carter, with assistance from Susan Rees. Seen but not Heard was published in August by the Aspen Institute.

To order a copy, click here.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released nearly 300 pages of public comments about the revised Form 990. When the draft was released the IRS asked for comments quickly and now the IRS has posted on its website what they have received through Aug. 12. The comments vary; to read through them, visit the IRS web site. Organizations may send in comments about the 990 changes to the IRS up until the Sept.14 deadline.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the ACLU of Louisiana filed a lawsuit asking a federal judge to stop the payments of state taxpayer money to two Louisiana churches, asserting that the state's budget bill violates the Establishment Clause. There was no explanation of the purpose of the funds in the earmark to two churches and no restrictions are placed on permissible use of the grants, then theoretically the money could be used for religious purposes.

According to the ACLU press release; The state's general appropriations bill, HB1, signed into law last month, unconstitutionally directs taxpayer dollars in the amounts of $100,000 to Stonewall Baptist Church in Bossier City and $20,000 to Shreveport Christian Church. The grants were not subject to any oversight or competitive bidding process, and the bill offers no purpose or justification for the challenged earmarks. According to the ACLU, while the state can, in certain circumstances, provide funding to religious organizations for some programs that provide non-religious social services, the First Amendment squarely bars the government from funneling direct, unrestricted, cash payments to churches.

During a conference on rural philanthropy in his home state, Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) commented that cracking down on charitable abuses or imposing new regulations on nonprofit groups such as hospitals are not among his main concerns. According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy ($$) he said; "That's not at the top of my list." This may be surprising considering the report that his staff released last year with broad legislative recommendations for the nonprofit sector. During the conference last week Baucus urged foundations to double their grants to rural areas within five years. Baucus helped to set up the conference along with its host, the Council on Foundations.

Mr. Baucus also said he favored extending a law that allows people to give money from their individual retirement accounts to charity without paying any taxes, which expires at the end of this year. But he is not sure that expanding the provision to allow more types of groups to accept such gifts and increasing the amount donors can give — ideas advocated by nonprofit and foundation leaders — is politically feasible given Congress's vow to rein in the budget deficit."

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has proposed rules that would make more documents relating to tax-exempt organizations publicly available, including rulings that deny or revoke an organization's exempt status. "IRS said the rules affect organizations with exemptions under Sections 501(a) or 527, as well as groups that have been denied an exemption or have had their tax-free treatment revoked." To read the proposed rulemaking, click here.

Do you or your organization need help in training community organizers, or in particular, advice on the fundamentals of door knocking? At www.organizinggame.org, you will find resources that support face-to-face training for residents and community leaders. This interactive game (the "Organizing Game") innovatively teaches skills of door knocking, one of the most essential strategies for local community organizations.

We have found that the game is most effective when used in a group learning environment. You can use it as a fun addition to an already developed training or use it as the basis to create your own training (we will have instructor guides for the Toolkit soon). As a group you can discuss particular issues or questions that the game raises to apply the learning to your group's particular situation.

These materials have been used to train activists from many organizations in California and a Spanish version will eventually be released. I encourage you to visit www.organizinggame.org and click on "the game" on the right to play.