The 2006 Annual Meeting of the California Tax Bar & the California Tax Policy Conference was held in San Jose on November 3-5, 2006. Nina Olsen, National Taxpayer Advocate, gave an illuminating keynote address on the role of the Taxpayer Advocate Service, an independent organization within the IRS that...
Western Conference on Tax Exempt Organizations
I recently returned from the 10th Annual Western Conference on Tax Exempt Organizations held in Los Angeles between November 16 and November 17, 2006. The conference featured a number of powerhouse practitioners in the area of EO (exempt organizations) law and several representatives from the Internal Revenue Service. Not...
Chronicle Opinion: What the Election Results Mean to Nonprofits
The Chronicle of Philanthropy (November 8, 2006) published the opinion of Leslie Lenkowsy, a professor of public affairs and philanthropic studies at Indiana University, on the implications of the November 7 election on the nonprofit sector. Among what Professor Lenkowsy sees in her crystal ball: With respect to influencing...
Net Impact Annual Conference – October 27-29, 2006
Net Impact, a charitable nonprofit organization with a network of 10,000 members in 75 cities on 4 continents, held its 14th Annual Conference in Chicago last weekend. The theme of the Conference, hosted this year by the Kellogg School of Management: Navigating Global Change. The principal keynote speaker was...
Independent Sector Annual Conference – 2006
While I was not able to attend the Independent Sector Annual Conference held this year in Minneapolis, I was able to follow some of the happenings thanks to the Independent Sector website. The conference was attended by over 700 nonprofit leaders and scholars and highlighted the importance of collaboration...
Nonprofit Congress Publishes List of Key Priorities for Nonprofits
The Nonprofit Congress, an initiative of the National Council of Nonprofit Associations (NCNA), recently released Voices From the Field: The National Meeting Briefing Book, a summary of six key priorities (the "Priorities") for nonprofits as identified by participants in Town Hall meetings across the country. The NCNA National Meeting...
Chronicle Reports IRS Taking a Tougher Stance on Charities
The Chronicle of Philanthropy (October 12, 2006) reports that the Exempt Organizations (EO) division of the IRS has added employees and shifted its approach to focus on greater enforcement. Among the observations from the Chronicle: In the past five years, the EO division has added about 100 full-time employees,...
Nonprofit Joint Ventures – Introduction
What is a joint venture? Broadly defined, a joint venture is a relationship which arises from an express or implied agreement between two or more parties to undertake some common objective for their mutual benefit. More narrowly defined, a joint venture is a separate legal entity formed by two...
Venture Philanthropy – An Introduction
According to Social Venture Partners, venture philanthropy means "funding organizations that support enterprising nonprofits and social entrepreneurs with not only financial resources, but also management and technical support as well. This support is focused on enabling nonprofits to build greater organizational capacity and infrastructure via long term, engaged relationships...
Social Enterprises – Some Basics
The Social Enterprise Alliance (SEA), a 501(c)(3) membership organization devoted exclusively to building sustainable nonprofits through earned income strategies, defines social enterprise as: an organization or venture that advances its social mission through entrepreneurial, earned income strategies. San Francisco-based REDF, a 501(c)(3) organization formerly known as The Roberts Enterprise...