Building Nonprofit Advocacy Capacity

Feb 8, 2016

Top 400 Taxpayers See Tax Rates Rise, But There’s More to the Story

As Americans were gathering party supplies to greet the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service released their annual report of cumulative tax data reported on the 400 tax r...

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Feb 4, 2016

Chlorine Bleach Plants Needlessly Endanger 63 Million Americans

Chlorine bleach plants across the U.S. put millions of Americans in danger of a chlorine gas release, a substance so toxic it has been used as a chemical weapon. Greenpeace’s new repo...

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Jan 25, 2016

U.S. Industrial Facilities Reported Fewer Toxic Releases in 2014

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data for 2014 is now available. The good news: total toxic releases by reporting facilities decreased by nearly six percent from 2013 levels. Howe...

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Jan 22, 2016

Methane Causes Climate Change. Here's How the President Plans to Cut Emissions by 40-45 Percent.

UPDATE (Jan. 22, 2016): Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its proposed rule to reduce methane emissions...

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more news

United Way State of Caring Index Shows Drop

Dec 15, 2004 by Kay Guinane

United Way's State of Caring Index dropped for the second year in a row, dropping 4.8 percent since 2000 and 1.3 percent from the prior year.

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Nonprofit Accountability Update

Reports of financial scandals and the emergence of many new nonprofits have increased scrutiny of the nonprofit sector. The Senate Finance and House Ways and Means Committees both held hearings in June that put nonprofits under the spotlight, and more congressional oversight activity is planned. Moreover, calls for greater nonprofit accountability are coming not only from the federal government, but also from state legislatures.

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Independent Sector Rounds Out Panel

Dec 13, 2004 by Guest Blogger

The Panel on the Nonprofit Sector, managed by Independent Sector , recently announced both the participants for its five work groups and the creation of a nine-member Citizens Advisory Group. The five work groups will assist the Panel as it prepares recommendations to the Senate Finance Committee on improving oversight and accountability of nonprofits.

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State of Philanthropy Report Looks at Grantmaking

Dec 10, 2004 by Kay Guinane

Report by National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) identifies accomplishments and shortcomings of grantmaking, urges foundations to use their assets of promote social programs.

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Senate Staffers Discuss Nonprofit Accountability

Dec 6, 2004 by Guest Blogger

On December 1, the DC bar luncheon hosted two speakers - staff members from the Senate Finance Committee. They discussed current proposals in front of the committee and future legislation. Visit PGDC's website for the full story.

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Activists Assess Needs, Trends for 'Progressive Politics and Technology'

Collaboration, innovation and integration -- those were the keys to advancement for progressive advocacy groups during the recent electoral season, according to presenters at the November "Roundtable on Progressive Politics and Technology." These will no doubt remain key watchwords for progressives as they strive to keep up with evolving technologies, and use them to make their outreach strategies, programs and messaging more effective in the years ahead.

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IRS Initiates Pay, Reporting Enforcement Effort

As part of a stepped-up enforcement effort, the Internal Revenue Service Exempt Organizations division (EO) is sending letters to approximately 2,000 charities asking them to detail their method of determining executive compensation. EO Director Martha Sullivan estimates 25 percent of organizations receiving the letter will be examined further. In a related issue, the IRS is contacting charities that have not answered question 89B of Tax Form 990. Question 89B deals with excess benefit transactions, and is considering the use of penalties up to $50,000.

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IRS explains current developments concerning charities

Nov 22, 2004 by Guest Blogger

The following article details a November 18th discussion on terrorism and grantmaking at the Western Conference on Tax Exempt Organizations, where officials from the IRS discussed current and future regulations of nonprofits.

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Muslims in a quandry over giving

Nov 19, 2004 by Guest Blogger

Read this article about the effects the Treasury Department's crackdown on Muslim charities is having on giving during Ramadan.

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New York Times Roundtable on Accountability

Nov 16, 2004 by Guest Blogger

Today, the New York Times had an interesting roundtable discussion about financial problems in the nonprofit sector and whether there is a need for further government regulation. The overall sense of the article seems to be that nonprofits, while most of them abide by the law, need to be have further regulation by the government if they are to redeem themselves in the eyes of the public. You can go to the New York Times site for the article or click below.

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