New Posts

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...

read in full
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...

read in full
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...

read in full
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...

read in full
more news

Independent Sector Rounds Out Panel

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.

read in full

Summary of Presentations at Pace Law Review Symposium on Anti-Terrorist Financing Guidelines

A Pace Law Review Symposium, "Anti-Terrorist Financing Guidelines: The Impact on International Philanthropy", highlighted the need for changes in the guidelines and increased transparency of the reasons behind government decisions to shut down several Muslim charities accused of financing terrorists. The guidelines were published by the Treasury Department in November, 2002, and have been widely criticized.

read in full

State of Philanthropy Report Looks at Grantmaking

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

read in full

Senate Staffers Discuss Nonprofit Accountability

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.

read in full

AD REFUSAL DEEMED VIOLATION

A federal appeals court has ruled that the city's mass transit agency (MBTA) violated the First Amendment by refusing to put up a nonprofit's ads because they encourage the use of marijauna. The MBTA should have known that they can't deny ad space on the basis on content. In 2003, the same nonprofit, Change the Climate, sued the government over the placement of ads in terminals of Washington, D.C.'s Metro system. Judge Paul L. Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the government’s attempt to censor the ads was illegitimate and constitutionally impermissible. He issued a permanent injunction against Istook’s appropriations rider, saying that, “there is a clear public interest in preventing the chilling of speech on the basis of viewpoint.” The injunction prohibits the enforcement of the law. As a result, Change the Climate and other groups can again display their ads — criticizing drug policies — on the subways and at bus stop shelters.

read in full

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.

read in full

Post Election Analysis of 527s, Other Issues Begins

Now that the first election since passage of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA) is over, analysis of its impact on campaigns, parties, donors and independent groups is underway. Overall, there was a huge increase in the number of small donors to both campaigns and independent groups and elimination of soft money donations to parties and federal candidates. While much more needs to be learned before further reform efforts go forward, initial reports provide an indication of long-term trends.

read in full

CFC Issues Terror List Check Guidance

After months of silence the Combined Federal Campaign has issued guidance on how charities participating in this workplace-giving program for federal employees should implement its requirement that they certify they do not knowingly employ persons on various government terrorist watch lists. The CFC Memorandum 2004-12 provides background information and clarification, but does not change the interpretation that led a dozen nonprofits to file suit to block the policy.

read in full

Court Narrows Faith-Based Suit

A law suit claiming sweeping constitutional problems with the Bush administration's faith-based initiative has been largely defanged by a court's decision that the plaintiff does not have standing to file the suit. The dismissal of all but a small portion of a lawsuit means the merits of the case remain undecided in the courts.

read in full

OMB Watch Launches Advocacy Blog

OMB Watch's nonprofit advocacy project is pleased to announce the launch of its new "Advocacy Blog". "Weblog," and "blog," are popular terms to denote a website (or a portion of a website) that contains short, frequent posts and Web links. The entries are usually sorted in reverse chronological order and archived by category and date. OMB Watch's new blog will cover a wide range of nonprofit issues, and will be updated throughout the week by OMB Watch staff. We are confident you will find it a valuable resource.

read in full

Pages

Resources & Research

Living in the Shadow of Danger: Poverty, Race, and Unequal Chemical Facility Hazards

People of color and people living in poverty, especially poor children of color, are significantly more likely...

read in full

A Tale of Two Retirements: One for CEOs and One for the Rest of Us

The 100 largest CEO retirement funds are worth a combined $4.9 billion, equal to the entire retirement account savings of 41 percent of American fam...

read in full
more resources