From "Donor-Advised Funds: Assets, Awards, and Accounts at a Sampling of Big Providers," The Chronicle of Philanthropy (April 28, 2005) (reporting 2004 figures and comparisons to 2003): Peninsula Community Foundation (San Mateo): Assets: $370,575,777 (+7.7%) Amount distributed to charities: $75,240,090 (+88.4%) Number of funds: 414 (+3.2%) Amount contributed to...
The Scope of 501(c)(3) Supporting Organizations – Urban Institute
The nonpartisan Urban Institute prepared a research report on "The Scope and Activities of 501(c)(3) Supporting Organizations" dated May 31, 2005. The following are excerpts from the report: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS Supporting organizations provide a broad array of services, including grants and other financial benefits, to the organizations they...
Issue: Type III Supporting Organizations
IRS: "Some promotors have encouraged individuals to establish and operate supporting organizations described in section 509(a)(3) for their own benefit. there are a variety of methods of abuse, but a common theme is a "charitable" donation of an amount to the supporting organization, and a return...
Public Charities: Supporting Organizations
"Supporting organizations are public charities that carry out their exempt purpose by supporting one or more other exempt organizations, usually public charities. The category can cover many types of entities including university endowment funds and organizations that provide essential services for hospital systems. The classification is important because it...
Senate Passes Tax Relief Act of 2005
The Senate passed the Tax Relief Act of 2005, with certain amendments, by a vote of 64 to 33 early this morning. The two California Senators were split; Sen. Diane Feinstein voted in favor of passage and Sen. Barbara Boxer voted against it. The following provisions are covered by...
Senate Finance Committee Approves New Giving Incentives and Charitable Reforms
On November 15, 2005, the Senate Finance Committee approved legislation containing provisions for charitable giving incentives and charitable reforms. Under the bill, which will next go to the full Senate, individuals who do not itemize deductions on their returns may deduct amounts that they donate to charities in excess...
New York Times Article – What Is Charity?
In the November 14, 2005 edition of The New York Times, Stephanie Strom’s article "What Is Charity?" asserts that hearings of the House Ways and Means Committee examining whether tax exemption is justified for certain types of nonprofits "have terrified nonprofit leaders, more than a Senate Finance Committee threat...
13th Annual Net Impact Conference – November 10-13, 2005
Net Impact, an organization with a network of more than 13,000 new-generation leaders committed to using the power of business to improve the world, held its 13th Annual Conference at the Stanford Graduate School of Business on November 10-13, 2005. As a board member of this truly incredible organization,...
IRS Threatens to Revoke Exempt Status of Church for Antiwar Sermon
The Internal Revenue Service threatened to revoke the tax-exempt status of Pasadena’s All Saints Episcopal Church because of an antiwar sermon delivered two days before the 2004 presidential election. On June 9, 2005, the church received a letter from the IRS stating that "a reasonable belief exists that you...
Ways and Means Counsel Believes Wisespread Governance Reform Unlikely
According to a November 1, 2005 article published on the Planned Giving Design Center website, John Buckley, minority chief tax counsel for Ways and Means, in a program sponsored by the Emerican Institute of Certified Public Accountants, said that support for enacting sweeping charity governance reform measures in the...