From Council on Foundations: At 12:30 a.m. this morning, the Senate passed the Tax Relief Act of 2005 by a vote of 64-33. The final bill contained a number of charitable reform provisions, including provisions affecting donor-advised funds and supporting organizations. Before final passage, Senators approved a manager’s amendment offered by Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) that made changes to the donor-advised fund and supporting organization provisions.

On Senate Finance Committee nonprofit incentives/reforms: Chronicle of Philathropyarticle OMB Watch's Watcher article

A new study by Boston College shows that states that previously reported to lag behind the nation in charitable giving actually have higher generosity levels than those indicated by a widely-touted annual index. The study, conducted by researchers at the Boston College Center on Wealth and Philanthropy, recalculates giving levels which since 1997 had been annually evaluated by the Generosity Index, a widely used list that ranks all 50 states according to how much local residents give to charity, published by the Catalogue for Philanthropy. For more information, or to read the study, click here

The Combined Federal Campaign has released its final rule for anti-terrorist certifications for charities applying to participate in the program in the upcoming year. The new rule requires a general certification of compliance with anti-terrorism financing laws, but does not make checking employees’ names against government watch lists mandatory. The nonprofit sector has scored an important victory in this case. Details will follow soon, after we have completed a thorough review of the final rule. The final rule is online here