Late last week the IRS announced that hundreds of streamlined applications for recognition of exemption (Forms 1023-EZ) were rejected. Most were rejected because of the same mistake: the applicant’s name and employer identification number (EIN) on the form did not match IRS records. This mismatch results in automatic rejection of an application. In order to …
Posts Categorized: News
Twitter Experiments with "Buy" Button
Would you donate money through a “buy” button on Twitter? The social-media platform recently announced that it is starting to test the waters. The aim is to create a Twitter-based “convenient and easy, hopefully even fun” shopping experience. Seven nonprofits are among the “buy” button guinea pigs. The nonprofits are 9/11 Day of Service, The …
Prostate Cancer Foundation Rejects Donations Linked to Hacked Photos
The Prostate Cancer Foundation, which funds prostate cancer research globally, recently returned donations totaling $8,000. The donations were raised in connection with a post that was set up on Reddit to disseminate and view hacked nude celebrity photos. Viewers were called to donate to the Foundation to atone for having viewed the photos. In a …
501(c)(4) Scandal Focuses In on IRS's Political Bias
Democrats and Republicans on a Senate investigative panel reviewing the so-called tea party scandal agree that the IRS used improper methods to scrutinize the exemption applications of social welfare organizations. But the agreement stops there. The Democrat-led Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations found that there was “no evidence of IRS political bias” in the agency’s actions. …
Is Preventing Poverty Charitable?
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 …
Nonprofits Use Gambling to Help People Save Money
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 …