Nonprofit Speech Rights | Center for Effective Government

Welcome to NPAction.org!

OMB Watch announces the pilot launch of NPAction, a new online resource for nonprofit advocacy. NPAction is being developed as a vibrant central advocacy hub that provides nonprofits access to information about rules governing policy participation, examples of successful and unsuccessful efforts, and identification of key resources. Our goal is to increase the awareness of groups already engaged in public policy participation, and to, thereby, enhance opportunities for building communities of interest among new and emerging and existing public policy participators. We are working live behind the scenes to continuously improve our offerings. Nonprofits are therefore encouraged to actively explore what's available, suggest their own ideas for resources to add, and provide comments on our work to date. Visit NPAction today!

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2002 Stockholm Challenge Winners

The winners of the 2002 Stockhom Challenge have been announced. The international awards, recognizing public, private, or academic attempts to utilize technology in ways that impact the lives of people while alleviating the effects of the digital divide. 2002 Stockholm Challenge Winners

e-Government: "The eCitizen Portal. Government Services A Click Away" (Singapore)
Culture: "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" (Oxford, MS)
Health: "Health Information Project" (Watertown, MA)

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Talkin 'Bout My Digital Government...

While the capacity to engage citizens in greater civic participation and interaction with goverment, questions linger as to whether the willingness of citizens to engage through digital government, especially those at the margins-- like young people.

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Election Results Could Impact CARE Act

If the CARE Act on charitable giving is not passed in the lame duck session, it will have to be re-introduced in the next Congress, and re-considered by the Senate Finance Committee, which as a result of last week's elections, will have a new Republican chairman, Sen. Charles Grassley (IA).

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OMB Seeks Comments on Grant Applicant ID Numbers

Send us your comments on the Universal Identifier for Grant Applicants by visiting our forum on grant streamlining. As part of its effort to streamline the federal grants process, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has proposed that each nonprofit grant applicant be assigned a single identification number through the Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) -- the same system used by for-profit corporations for federal contracts.

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IRS Seeks Comments on Revised Application for Exempt Status

Nonprofits are encouraged to review proposed IRS revisions to Form 1023, the application for recognition of exempt status under Section 501(c)(3), which includes charitable, educational, scientific, religious and other groups. In Announcement 2002-92, issued Oct. 15, the IRS seeks comments from nonprofits, regulators, practitioners (attorneys and accountants) and others on: “1. Ease of comprehension, 2. Customer burden, 3. Technical accuracy, and 4. Sufficiency of information requested." The draft is based on comments received in a prior public comment period.

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Faith-Based Initiative Moves Forward at Agencies

With Republicans taking control of the Senate, President Bush's stalled proposal to increase federal funding of faith-based organizations likely moves to the front burner. In the meantime, however, the administration is moving forward with administrative reforms of agency grant programs. “We really want the legislation badly,” Jim Towey, director of the White House’s faith-based office, told the Washington Post on Aug. 31, “but this office isn’t just about federal legislation. This office is going to more forward with the president’s initiative.”

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PowerUP Centers Program Comes to an End

John Schwartz, writing in the 10/30/02 New York Times discusses the shutting down of the PowerUP initiative, launched in late 1999 to combat the digital divide in underserved communities. Launched in late 1999, PowerUP (http://powerup.org) was an effort to provide capital and technological expertise to youth-serving entities within underserved communities across America. Over 950 technology centers were developed or enhanced through the project, and each will now be supported through other organizations, local financing, or other means.

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Local Government and Online Citizen Interaction

The Internet and American Life Project, in conjunction with the National League of Cities-- a municipal organization consisting of 1,800 cities and towns, released a 10/2/02 report on how local officials use the Internet for dealing with constituents online. The Internet and American Life Project, in conjunction with the National League of Cities-- a municipal organization consisting of 1,800 cities and towns, released a 10/2/02 report on how local officials use the Internet for dealing with constituents online.

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Church Based PAC Formed

"Margin of Victory," a new political action committee dedicated to turning out Christian voters, has been formed as a political committee exempt under Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code, which governs PACs.

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