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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Nonprofits Benefit from Estate Tax, Seattle Op-Ed Says

Aug 4, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Grateful Americans don't mind giving something back As a non-millionaire who paid an estate tax, I am tired of the false claims made in Thursday's guest column by Dick Patten. For starters, a recent non-partisan study found that virtually no farm or small business would pay estate taxes with a few simple changes to current law. In our state, raising the exempt amount to $3.5 million per person means that only 80 estates would likely pay any estate tax in 2006, and just 3 percent of them are family-owned farms or businesses. Millions of average Americans have good reasons to oppose repeal.

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CRS Report Re JCT Ideas for Charitable Donations

Aug 4, 2005 by Guest Blogger

The Report summarizes major proposals by the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) for dealing with high-profile issues in the area of charitable giving. The proposals came from a January 2005 report compiled by the JCT staff (JCS-02-05) and have not been endorsed by the chairman or the ranking member on the Senate Finance Committee. However, the ideas could play a role as the Finance Committee staff molds a comprehensive overhaul of tax exemptions with introduction of legislation possible in September.

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IRS TE/GE Division to Step-Up Enforcement

Aug 4, 2005 by Guest Blogger

At the National Conference of State Social Security Administrators in Denver on July 25, Internal Revenue Service Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division Commissioner Steven Miller announced that the office will be placing a greater emphasis on enforcement in upcoming years, rather than on customer outreach and education. Miller is planning to complete more than 1,400 examinations in 2006, and IRS Commissioner Mark Everson has already pledged 26 new TE/GE agents and a division budget increase of 9 percent.

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Nonprofits Turning to For-Profit Model

Aug 1, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Changing the way an organization is run to increase efficiency and impact, a process known as capacity building, is one of the biggest trends in nonprofits. Motivated in part by an uncertain economy, nonprofit organizations have become more results-driven by developing new ways of creating revenue, increasing employee specialization, and enhancing marketing techniques. For the full scoop...

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Interim Rept on Foundation Expenses

Jul 28, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Foundation Expenses and Compensation: Interim Report 2005, issued by the Urban Institute, the Foundation Center and GuideStar, represents the largest study ever of the expense and compensation patterns of grantmaking foundations. It was funded by the Mott and Ford foundations. With federal legislation affecting nonprofits and foundations expected later this summer, the study is designed to inform the policy debate. The findings suggest that, along with type and size, a foundation’s mission and program goals are important factors in analyzing its charitable expenditures.

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New Aspen Paper About Foundation Spending

Jul 28, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Congress is once more scrutinizing nonprofit organizations, and the debate about spending by foundations—including the percentage of their assets distributed each year for good works, also known as “payout”—may soon heat up again.

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Congressional Schedule

Jul 28, 2005 by Guest Blogger

Both the House and the Senate are in session this week. The Senate will consider a FY06 defense authorization bill and may consider a bill that would permanently repeal the estate tax. The House will consider a Postal Service overhaul bill and small business legislation. Both chambers could also vote on comprehensive energy legislation, a transportation reauthorization bill and the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) by the end of the week.

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Car Donations Have Seen Drop

Jul 12, 2005 by Guest Blogger

For years, charities have been collecting cars and reselling them to make money. Car donations have generated millions of dollars for nonprofit organizations. But that may be changing. Back in January the federal government changed the tax law that covers car donations. The change means people who donate cars don't get as big of a tax break as they used to. And charities say there's been a sharp drop in the number of cars being donated. Check out the whole story!

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Nonprofits File Amicus in Legal Services Case

Jul 12, 2005 by Kay Guinane

A host of nonprofits have filed a friend of the court brief supporting legal service programs’ right to use private funds without government restrictions in a constitutional challenge currently under consideration in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The amicus brief argues that a requirement of separate facilities for separately funded activities is unduly burdensome and unnecessary.

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