For a visionary individual who wants to start a nonprofit, the concept of ownership can be a tricky one. You’re a founder on a mission, with big ideas to help solve problems in your communities, and you want to retain…
Five months ago, three-year-old Raelee Parris passed away. I never had the pleasure of meeting Raelee, but I know people who did. It’s very clear from the stories I’ve heard, I’m the one who missed out! He was a Super…
In a fantastic piece today in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Tim Delaney, chief executive of the National Council of Nonprofits, exposes multiple examples of currently proposed state legislation aimed at the nonprofit community. Mr. Delaney explains how, in each example,…
The Internal Revenue Service issued its annual compilation of agency data yesterday. In what was a surprise to many, the number of approved applications for 501(c)(3) status actually dropped in 2015 from 2014’s numbers. The 2015 fiscal year, which ended September…
By Karl Zinmeister, The Philanthropy Roundtable This article is adapted from a talk delivered on January 29, 2016, at Hillsdale College’s Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship in Washington, D.C. It is a long piece, but…
Well, that was fast. At least the IRS made the right decision on this. Just to update you, the IRS recently proposed allowing charities to (optionally) collect the Social Security numbers of donors and report the detailed donor/donation information to…
An article published yesterday by the online newspaper, ProPublica (which claims to focus on stories with “moral force”), is getting a lot of attention. In the essay entitled, The Wall Street Takeover of Charity, writer Jesse Eisinger goes to great…
Ever since Barack Obama became President in 2009, we have had to endure his annual budget proposal to limit the tax deductibility of charitable contributions. And each year, we, along with almost the entire nonprofit sector, scream in frustration, knowing…
All 501(c)(3) organizations are required by law to file some version of IRS Form 990 annually, with the notable exception of churches. Since the establishment of Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3), churches have been exempt from this annual reporting requirement. …
UPDATED (9:00 am, 10/1/2013): It happened. Most non-essential, federal workers are now furloughed until further notice. As of midday, Monday, September 30, 2013, both sides of the political aisle are firmly entrenched on the federal budget talks and neither side…