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

Obama and the Nonprofit Sector

Nov 6, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

The Chronicle of Philanthropy has a special page dedicated to Barack Obama's (D-IL) positions on issues of importance to nonprofits, such as education, the arts, international aid, the estate tax, and much more. For example, Obama has "pledged to create a Social Investment Fund Network, which would distribute government and private money to charities working on innovative projects that focus on issues that have been identified by cities as priorities — crime prevention or education, for example — and help expand successful ones to other regions."

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State Ballot Measures and Charities

Nov 6, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

The Chronicle of Philanthropy ($$) reports that numerous states had measures on the ballot that could have resulted in harmful cuts for charitable organizations that rely on state aid.

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Using Technology to Monitor the Election

Nov 3, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

Numerous online resources have popped up lately that allow everyone to participate and protect the election process. Now, you can share your voting experiences with the world. Here are a few online tools;

VoterStory.org is a web widget to collect voter complaints across the web and feed them to a network of groups standing by to help individual voters and monitor trends.
Video the Vote is a network of citizens working to document voter suppression and disenfranchisement.

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IRS Representative Discusses Important Issues for Public Charities

Oct 30, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

At an American Bar Association teleconference, Judy Kindell, senior technical adviser to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) director of exempt organizations, commented on some important issues for charities. BNA Money and Politics ($$) reported on Kindell's comments. 501(c)(3) organizations are "prohibited from engaging in campaign activity, defined as any activity that favors or opposes candidates for public office.

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New Internet Resources and Campaign Finance Law

Oct 23, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

A column by Eliza Newlin Carney at National Journal.com ($$) discusses how the Internet and new online techniques effect campaign finance laws.

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Newly Released Legal Memo; Religious Hiring Doesn't Prevent Taxpayer Funding

Oct 21, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

The Washington Post reports that the Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel issued a legal opinion allowing the Justice Department to distribute a $1.5 million grant to World Vision, a Christian aid group that makes religious belief a condition of employment. More so, the legal opinion sheds light on the office that interprets laws across the government. "Much of the work of the office remains secret.

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New Fact Sheet for 501(c)(3) Groups On Proper Contact With Campaigns

Oct 8, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

The Alliance for Justice has released a new fact sheet for 501(c)(3) organizations on how to interact with political campaigns and parties. To read Permissible Nonpartisan 501(c)(3) and Partisan Campaign Contact on Voter Engagement/Protection Efforts, click here. The fact sheet is focused on voter protection issues, and when 501(c)(3) voter-protection groups can talk with political candidates or parties.

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U.S. Government Stops International Charity's Family Planning Work

Oct 3, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

The State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) told six African governments to stop giving contraceptives donated by the United States to the Marie Stopes International family planning organization for distribution to their populations. According to the Associated Press, this was done because of the charity's work in China.

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YouTube, Now a Permissible Way for Senate Offices to Increase Transparency

Sep 24, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

RollCall ($$) reports that Senators can now legally post YouTube videos on their Web sites. "Until now, any Senator who embedded a YouTube video or linked to a Flickr album was in violation of outdated rules that required them to keep within the senate.gov domain. Some posted such links anyway, and few were reprimanded."

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"Just Click Send"

Sep 24, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

A New York Times editorial puts the situation bluntly; "there is no excuse - except a desire to slow the public's right to know - for their ongoing efforts to block electronic filing of their reports on campaign donations."

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