In a letter to the Hill newspaper, Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) identifies the issues he sees most pertinent in nonprofit reform. These are:

• Excessive compensation perks, pay and sweetheart deals involving officers and directors.
• Nonprofit groups that act more like for-profit businesses than charities.
• Inappropriate political activity.
• Lack of financial transparency and accountability to donors.
• Nonprofit hospitals that do not provide adequate charity care and community benefits.
• Tax-exempt organizations fronting as tax-shelters.

According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy (subscription required): More than a million charities and private foundations were registered with the Internal Revenue Service as of September 30, 2005, according to figures released by the tax agency, up from roughly 800,000 in 2000.

The Senate Finance Committee yesterday approved a number of charitable reforms. The reforms, which were unexpectedly rolled into a tax-adminstration bill via Sen. Chuck Grassley's (R-IA) manager's amendment, includes increased excise taxes, requiring electronic filing of Form 990, and a requirement that non-profits that currently do not file tax returns at all to provide the IRS with general information every three years. Grassley issued a press release on the bill on Wednesday. He talked about the broad probe he has been conducting at abuses by tax-exempt groups. The press release says:

From the New York Times: If the estate tax bill approved last week by the House becomes law, it will benefit wealthy families and cost the government a lot of tax revenue. But there are likely to be other winners and losers as well. Charities may find it harder to get donations and some heirs may have to wait years or even decades longer to collect inheritances, while surviving wives or husbands receive larger inheritances.