NPQ’s Week in Review

 

Good Morning! At NPQ, what moves you is what moves us. The Week in Review highlights what our readers nominate as their favorite content and what they share with us and the community in the form of tweets, comments, contributed articles, and newswires.

But first, take a look at what you might have missed last week in some of the major news stories covered in NPQ.

NONPROFIT LEADERS OPPOSE OBAMA’S CAP ON ITEMIZED DEDUCTIONS: President Obama’s proposition to put a cap on itemized deductions is not making nonprofit advocacy groups very happy. The proposal’s intentions were to create revenue from large donations, but this could be an omen of the government’s aspirations to take charitable contributions for government purposes. Keep an eye out for similar bills, but fortunately it has slim chances of going through Congress.

KAUFFMAN FOUNDATION OPENS A CHARTER SCHOOL: The Kauffman Foundation, avid supporters of Teach for America and the KIPP charter schools, has decided to build its own charter school. The foundation came to a decision that as enthusiastic supporters of education, the most effective approach would be to take schooling into its own hands.

WHICH COMES FIRST, THE DONATIONS OR THE EGG?  How can you get your message to a multimillion-dollar university? By getting in touch with their multimillion-dollar friends. Harvard students, who have organized a cage-free-egg petition, went a step further and got 21 Harvard donors to withhold contributions until the school switches to cage-free eggs. This story has a lesson for anyone campaigning for change within a nonprofit community—get the donors’ attention and the rest of the community may follow.

COMMUNITY ORG SHOWS HOW VITAL OPEN COMMUNICATION IS DURING CRISES: The ED of a Texas nonprofit facing tough times decides to step down, and she and the board are refreshingly forthright about it. That’s exemplary crisis communication. Why is this news? Because it appears to be out of the norm.

 Readers’ Pick: THE Hottest article OF THE WEEK

altForbes List of 100 Most Powerful Women Includes Leaders from Nonprofit Sector

Forbes included some highly influential nonprofit-linked women in their most recent list of 100 Most Powerful Women. This article really took off on NPQ. Readers seemed to love finding their role models among so many other distinguished women on this list. Forbes’ list contained philanthropic givers such as Melinda Gates and poverty-fighting advocates like Helene Gayle.

 Conversation of the week

altNew Philanthropic Leader Howard Buffett Urges Nonprofits to Sell Impact Not Emotion

Warren Buffett’s grandson, 27-year-old Howard Warren Buffett, is talking over the reins as executive director at his father’s Howard G. Buffett Foundation. He brings a revised impact-based approach to grantmaking that we asked our readers to review. Little did we know how much readership we would get on this small piece—and what a passionate response we would get from some readers who felt that his strategy ignored the direct and innovative value of organizations in small and rural communities. Buffett the Younger had his defenders as well. Check out the conversation and weigh in with your thoughts.

 Trending Tweets of the week

alt

Thanks to all you tweeters out there. We are so thankful for all your support and article shares throughout this campaign. We truly appreciate it. Last week our stories on the complexities behind the question of whether your “tax-exempt” organization needs to pay taxes or not and an article on an agency giving out clipboard decoys to keep away street canvassers really ignited some interesting tweets.

#NPQ10K broke through the 10,000 follower barrier on Wednesday, September 14. Five lucky tweeters shared in our celebration and received free one-year subscriptions to The Nonprofit Quarterly magazine. So it does pay off to retweet us! And if you don’t already, follow us on Twitter: @npquarterly.

ljmanningSep 16, 3:36pm via Web

 

I want one!! RT @npquarterly Fed up with street canvassers? Agency gives decoy clipboards to passers-by to fend ’em off owl.li/6wFaF

 

thegrantplantSep 16, 9:53am via Web

 

Excellent piece by @npquarterly “Does My #Nonprofit Need To Pay Taxes?” 3bl.me/6pmdpw (Hint: often the answer’s ‘yes’)

 

GCN_OnlineSep 13, 7:15pm via Hootsuite

 

Which parts of the Obama’s job plan are most relevant to nonprofits? http://ow.ly/6taIo @npquarterly

 

SSUCCESep 13, 4:50pm via Hootsuite

 

donors have to be moved emotionally to give you the big bucks http://ow.ly/6q3jB @npquarterly

  NPQ’s READER Contributor of the week

Judah I. Kupfer, Esq.

NPQ is grateful for our frequent contributors who have a special area of expertise. This week we would like to recognize Judah I. Kupfer, an attorney who contributed a piece that provides practical guidance on the conditions under which your nonprofit might owe unrelated business income tax (UBIT). Judah has contributed to NPQ previously. In June he graced our pages with an article that discussed IRS requirements regarding compensation in nonprofits. These are the kinds of straightforward articles that are great readings for boards and execs wishing to become more familiar with their regulatory environments.

 

 NOW IT’S YOUR TURN! GIVE IT TO US.

Got a Tip for Us? We Need Your Voice Here

Did we miss something this week? What do you want to see us cover next week? Be our eyes and ears on the ground. Don’t hold back. Let us have it. And we’ll put it right here. Just let us know if you want it to be confidential.