Is looking at a nonprofit’s overhead costs a good measure of its effectiveness? The leaders of three leading sources of nonprofit information – GuideStar, Charity Navigator, and BBB Wise Giving Alliance – recently wrote an open letter answering this question with a resounding NO. The letter reasons that focusing solely or predominantly on overhead(the expenses …
Posts Categorized: Fundraising
NY AG Spearheads Heightened Political Disclosure Requirements
Last year, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman unveiled a plan to “revitalize” New York’s nonprofit sector. We told you about it here. This year, he has a new focus – 501(c)(4) “social welfare” organizations. This isn’t too surprising given the press these organizations have received lately, but the high level of transparency the AG’s …
America's Most Wanted: Charities Edition
The Tampa Bay Times recently ran a series on what it and The Center for Investigative Reporting describe as the nation’s 50 worst charities. These include nonprofits whose fundraisers earn up to 98% of every dollar earned and whose insiders make millions of dollars per year. The articles also admonish charity regulators for not doing …
Google Tests a New Giving App
Do you think Google can change the world one $1 donation at a time? It’s trying to do just that with One Today, its new mobile application that enables people to contribute $1 to any highlighted charitable project of their choice. The app features a different project every day and allows donors to share their …
Will High Admin Costs Mean No State Charitable Deduction?
What if high admin costs caused your nonprofit to lose the ability to take donations that received a state charitable deduction? The Oregon legislature is considering a bill that will do just that. The bill mandates that charities devoting less than 30% of their expenses to their charitable programs over three years will be required …
Republicans Seek to Protect the Charitable Deduction
Yesterday we told you about Democratic Senators’ proposals to cut charitable deductions. Now Republican Rep. David Reichert is spreading the word that Republicans don’t agree. In an interview with The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Reichert affirms that he has never supported a cap on the charitable deduction and neither have any of his Republican colleagues. He …