Is Preventing Poverty Charitable?

September 4, 2014 Posted by Jessica Shofler in Board, Director Duties, News, Nonprofits

According to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), the answer is No. CRA recently told Oxfam Canada that its mission to prevent poverty was too broad in that it could benefit people who are not already poor. The review was part of a standard filing to renew Oxfam Canada’s nonprofit status as required under a Canadian …

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Nonprofits Use Gambling to Help People Save Money

September 2, 2014 Posted by Jessica Shofler in Fundraising, News, Nonprofits

Most people would rather buy a lottery ticket than put money in a savings account. But Doorways to Dream, a nonprofit organization that aims to create savings innovations for lower-income individuals, is helping people essentially do both with its Save to Win program. The program offers prize-linked savings accounts. This means that every certificate of …

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Off-the-Court Conflicts for the U.S.T.A.

As the U.S. Open got started this week, The New York Times was more interested in conflicts off the court than on it. An examination of the United States Tennis Association (U.S.T.A.), the 501(c)(6) national governing body for the sport of tennis, revealed that several of the organization’s current and recent board members have benefitted …

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Nonprofit Embezzlement Finally Stopped After 40 Months

August 28, 2014 Posted by Jessica Shofler in News, Nonprofits

Wendy Harper started to embezzle from her nonprofit employer within four months of assuming her duties as payroll supervisor. She wasn’t caught until 40 months later. During her time as acting payroll supervisor at Harvest Management Group, a nonprofit that manages 18 properties for the disabled and elderly, Harper used her position to embezzle almost …

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New IRS Phone and Email Scams

August 26, 2014 Posted by Jessica Shofler in IRS, News, Scams
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The IRS is warning of phone and email scams targeting individuals and businesses. First, scammers have been making calls claiming to be from the IRS. They may say that a taxpayer owes money or is entitled to a large refund. Even worse, some of the scammers are threatening arrest or revocation of the taxpayer’s driver’s …

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IRS Makes Progress on Exemption Application Backlog

August 22, 2014 Posted by Jessica Shofler in IRS, News, Nonprofits

At the beginning of 2014, 15% of the exemption applications still on backlog with the IRS were more than one year old. The IRS Tax-Exempt and Government Entities Division (TE/GE) announced this week that the division has since closed 97% of those cases. According to TE/GE’s deputy commissioner, Donna Hansberry, the division is “on pace …

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