• A A A
  • Archives

    At-risk nonprofits get last chance from IRS

    Small nonprofit organizations at risk of losing their tax-exempt status because they failed to file required returns can preserve their status by filing returns by Oct. 15, 2010, under a one-time relief program announced by Internal Revenue Service.

    Is your favorite nonprofit one of them? The IRS has made the list available to the public — [...]

    U.S. giving drops again, individuals still top givers

    Giving declined in 2009 for the second consecutive year, according to Giving USA Foundation’s just published 2010 annual report on giving in the U.S.

    While total giving showed the steepest decline ever (Giving USA began issuing its annual reports in 1956), total giving was still an impressive $303.75 billion.

    Nonprofits to Lose Tax Exemptions May 15

    Is your charity or other nonprofit about to lose its tax-exemption? If it hasn’t been keeping up on filing its annual returns with the IRS, its tax-exemption is in jeopardy. Being “tax-exempt” basically means that a nonprofit doesn’t pay federal income taxes on income related to its core purpose.

    The New York Times yesterday reported that [...]

    Growth in number of public charities raises concerns

    An article in today’s issue of The New York Times reports on the dramatic growth in the number of public charities (up 60% in the last decade), and raises concerns about the ability of the IRS and state agencies to keep track, and about the revenue cost to the Treasury.

    It’s a good reminder to me [...]

    The rich give and grow richer (and happier)

    The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports that “Wealthy people who give away 10 percent or more of their income to charity tend to build a higher net worth — and to be happier — than other wealthy individuals who give less” — quoting Thomas J. Stanley in his new book, Stop Acting Rich … and [...]

    Will foundation giving drop even farther in 2010?

    Philanthropy commentator Sean Stannard-Stockton predicts that (given the current levels of stock market valuations) foundation giving will show an even greater drop in 2010 (23%) than the estimated 17% drop for 2009. If Sean is right, individual and family giving (always the largest source of charitable funding) will be even more important than ever in [...]

    Hollywood Directing Its Philanthropy Out of Town

    A report in The New York Times* reports a growing tendency for players in the Los Angeles entertainment industry to direct their giving to national and international causes, far beyond the local area. The report states

    The reasons vary: Hollywood companies, once local, are now part of multinational corporations; the recession has taken a toll; some [...]

    Philanthropy outlook good, but not for faith-based (Reuters survey)

    According to a Reuters survey of high net worth givers, philanthropy does not seem to have been hit by the global economic downturn. Contrary to some initial fears after the stock market plunge last year, giving by the rich to charitable causes seems to be rising as younger donors get more active in the field. [...]

    Giving Downturn in 2008 Sets Record

    On June 10, 2009, Giving USA Foundation released the latest Giving USA, its annual report on charitable giving in the U.S.

    Here’s the bad news: Charitable giving in the U.S. for 2008 dropped 2 percent from 2007 levels. That’s a 5.7% drop when you factor in inflation, and a record downturn for the 50+ years the [...]

    Nonprofits Numbingly Numerous

    So, you want to donate to a solid nonprofit charity. You have many choices (some say too many) – many with similar names.  The National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS) reports that (as of 2006) there were 1,478,194 nonprofit organizations in the U.S. This included:

    904,313 public charities [section 501(c)(3)]  (including about 190,000 registered churches / [...]