Some nonprofits, including the NAACP, can operate different divisions subject to different IRS rules but with the same branding.
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
Social welfare groups have become more common – and more controversial – in recent years. Fixing gaps in the oversight of this kind of nonprofit will take bipartisan action.
Who enforces regulations that bar churches from engaging in politics?
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President Trump claims that churches suffer from the over-regulation of their political speech. In reality, oversight is lax for religious groups and secular tax-exempt nonprofits alike.
Finding a well-run veterans’ charity isn’t hard with some due dilligence.
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Some veterans’ charities make the most of their donors’ dollars, while others squander that money. Vetting these groups will help ensure your money is well-spent.
Rules imposed after the 9/11 attacks can obstruct aid to Somalia’s internally displaced people.
Omar Abdisalan/AMISOM Photo
Rules imposed after 9/11 and still on the books are getting in the way of delivering aid to conflict zones. In countries like Yemen and Syria, it could mean the difference between life and death.
As journalism loses its financial footing, it may need more support from foundations.
Tim Karr/Free Press
In ‘The Givers,’ author David Callahan warns that today’s mega-rich philanthropists wield too much political clout. He may be exaggerating their power and lowballing the public’s own strength.
Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney has questioned whether Meals on Wheels gets ‘results.’
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
David Campbell, Binghamton University, State University of New York e Kristina Marty, Binghamton University, State University of New York
Trump’s budget director singled out Meals on Wheels as a waste of federal dollars. But identifying bad ways to spend taxpayer money is harder than it sounds.
Most U.S. environmental organizations are less diverse than this group of Californian environmental justice leaders.
Brooke Anderson/CEJA
How could green groups attract more diverse volunteers? Maybe they could put more time and energy into outreach toward the people most affected by environmental injustices.
Paul Odihambo shows off a bore well in his village outside of Kisumu, Kenya that a DIY aid group donated.
Susan Appe
Susan Appe, Binghamton University, State University of New York
With steep budget cuts looming, a growing number of tiny volunteer-driven organizations are delivering aid on their own. Will the Trump administration inspire even more small-scale global giving?
The government-funded International Republican Institute, a nonprofit, supports democratic efforts like this voter education campaign in Burma.
International Republican Institute
U.S. democracy assistance is not perfect. But drastic cuts to that slice of the federal budget would sever a lifeline to pro-democracy activists around the world.
If implemented, President Trump’s proposed foreign aid cuts would have many repercussions.
Kendra Helmer/USAID
As President Trump puts U.S. foreign aid on the chopping block, few Americans know much about it. Perhaps even fewer realize that the U.S. lags behind its peers on this front.
Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan are giving billions to charity through their donor-advised fund instead of a traditional foundation.
Jeff Chiu/AP Photo
As these tax-exempt vehicles transform philanthropy, they’re drawing more scrutiny. Will Congress or the Trump administration tinker with the rules that encouraged their rapid growth?
Lyndon Johnson, who was friends with evangelist Billy Graham, wasn’t targeting religious groups when he pushed his eponymous amendment in 1954.
AP Photo
President Trump recently repeated his pledge to eliminate the 63-year-old law, which bans charities from engaging in political activities, at the National Prayer Breakfast.