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Senate Campaign Finance Bill Would Target Nonprofits
May 9th
The New Hampshire State Senate is preparing to vote today on a bill that would require nonprofits and other groups to report the money they spend on state and national political races.
Nonprofits have long been under the microscope of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for contributions or statements made during campaign season but, as was reported by The Union Leader, Senate bill HB 1704 would expand the definition of a political committee to include tax-exempt organizations, specifically 501(c)(4)s, 501(c)(5)s, and 501(c)(6)s. These include social advocacy groups, labor unions, and business associations.
In the wake of the Supreme Court decision Citizen v. United, there has been a lot of concern about anonymous donors using 501(c)(4)s as a means to funnel huge contributions to what are known as Super Political Action Committees (PACs). Still, both liberal and conservative groups have expressed displeasure with the current bill.
New Hampshire ACLU Executive Director Claire Ebel told The Union Leader that she was particularly concerned about a section of the bill that requires disclosure when a group pays for “distribution of information critical of a member of the general court who has not filed for office.” Ebel believes this is in direct violation of the First Amendment. The Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy, a conservative organization based in Concord, N.H., also has issues with this section of the bill.
HB 1704 is being promoted by Concord-based Coalition for Open Democracy, whose program director, Olivia Zink, denied the bill would squash free speech. She said the bill was based on similar legislation that was passed in Maine that was upheld by the First Circuit Court of Appeals.
You can read the full story in The Union Leader.
Nonprofits have long been under the microscope of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for contributions or statements made during campaign season but, as was reported by The Union Leader, Senate bill HB 1704 would expand the definition of a political committee to include tax-exempt organizations, specifically 501(c)(4)s, 501(c)(5)s, and 501(c)(6)s. These include social advocacy groups, labor unions, and business associations.
In the wake of the Supreme Court decision Citizen v. United, there has been a lot of concern about anonymous donors using 501(c)(4)s as a means to funnel huge contributions to what are known as Super Political Action Committees (PACs). Still, both liberal and conservative groups have expressed displeasure with the current bill.
New Hampshire ACLU Executive Director Claire Ebel told The Union Leader that she was particularly concerned about a section of the bill that requires disclosure when a group pays for “distribution of information critical of a member of the general court who has not filed for office.” Ebel believes this is in direct violation of the First Amendment. The Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy, a conservative organization based in Concord, N.H., also has issues with this section of the bill.
HB 1704 is being promoted by Concord-based Coalition for Open Democracy, whose program director, Olivia Zink, denied the bill would squash free speech. She said the bill was based on similar legislation that was passed in Maine that was upheld by the First Circuit Court of Appeals.
You can read the full story in The Union Leader.
Using Celebrities For Breast Cancer Awareness
Nov 21st
It's not uncommon to see nonprofit organizations enlist the help of celebrities to generate buzz. When they a cause is paired together with big names, it is often a recipe for success. That has certainly been the case with the Los Angeles, Calif.-based Noreen Fraser Foundation's campaign for breast cancer awareness.
An article in last week's edition of The Times of Northwest Indiana highlighted how the organization has used celebrities in their recent Men For Women Now (M4WN) campaign, which provides a forum for men to support each other while helping their loved ones fight breast cancer. The campaign has already garnered some big names in show-biz, like Russel Brand, Neil Patrick Harris, Zach Galifianakis, and Jack Black.
The campaign is notable for bringing some comic relief to a painful subject. For example, Black appeared in an ad for M4WN to encourage women to get mammograms:
Make sure to read the full article on M4WN on NWI.com.
An article in last week's edition of The Times of Northwest Indiana highlighted how the organization has used celebrities in their recent Men For Women Now (M4WN) campaign, which provides a forum for men to support each other while helping their loved ones fight breast cancer. The campaign has already garnered some big names in show-biz, like Russel Brand, Neil Patrick Harris, Zach Galifianakis, and Jack Black.
The campaign is notable for bringing some comic relief to a painful subject. For example, Black appeared in an ad for M4WN to encourage women to get mammograms:
"All of us guys, dudes, and bro–imgos are getting off our lazy butts and making appointments for our beloved ladies to meet with this bad boy."The campaign also partnered with Chicago, Ill.-based Threadless to create a t-shirt creation contest. Artists were encouraged to submit their designs for a shirt that would raise awareness towards breast cancer using humor. 25 percent of the proceeds from the shirt, which will be sold by Threadless, would go to the Noreen Fraser Foundation in an effort to conduct more research on breast cancer. The creator of the winning design is set to receive $750 in cash, a $250 Threadless gift card, and an iPad 2 prize pack. Not a bad haul for a little bit of creativity.
Make sure to read the full article on M4WN on NWI.com.
Retro Article Of The Week: Outrage To Dogfighting Charges Knocked Out Site
Sep 23rd
Philadelphia Eagles Quarterback Michael Vick is enjoying a career resurgence in the city of brotherly love. He led the Eagles to the playoffs last season, and was rewarded with a 10-year, $100 million contract extension this off season. But it wasn't all fun and games for Vick. He first signed with the Eagles after he was released from prison on dogfighting convictions two years ago, a signing that caused a huge stir in the sports and animal rights worlds. Days after his sentencing in July of 2007, the Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS) launched a campaign to send e-mails to the NFL Commissioner's office. If it was ever possible for a campaign to be considered too successful, this was it.
More than 275,000 e-mails were sent through HSUS's website, causing the site to experience major outages. To put the use into perspective, the website experienced five times its normal volume on July 19th, and six time the normal volume on the 20th. The NonProfit Times wrote an article about these outages in September 2007. Here's an excerpt from that piece:
The charity's technology provider made some initial fixes within the existing framework before moving an additional server to boost capacity, Handy said. "We also sent emails to advocates in our file in smaller chunks, so email wouldn't go to a large number of people at the same time. We spread demand out over a larger time window. That seemed to have worked," he said.
"The real issue was the fact that we had emailed a pretty good size of our file at the same time," Handy said. "The issue was in the news, with public outrage, a much higher percentage of people wanted to take issue. People on our file then told family and friends to do the same."
It's hard to anticipate, "but you need be ready to handle any kind of crisis," Handy added. "We are the leading organization on animal fighting abuse. We need to be ready to respond...but it's hard to pay for that capacity you need" every year or two.
"The demand goes from ordinary to extraordinary overnight. It speaks to the need of having systems in place, and excess capacity with your technology partner to handle anything," Handy said.
Though the outages were unfortunate for the organization, the increased traffic led to increased donations. There was certainly no complaints on that front. If you want to read the full article, please go to our website.
More than 275,000 e-mails were sent through HSUS's website, causing the site to experience major outages. To put the use into perspective, the website experienced five times its normal volume on July 19th, and six time the normal volume on the 20th. The NonProfit Times wrote an article about these outages in September 2007. Here's an excerpt from that piece:
The charity's technology provider made some initial fixes within the existing framework before moving an additional server to boost capacity, Handy said. "We also sent emails to advocates in our file in smaller chunks, so email wouldn't go to a large number of people at the same time. We spread demand out over a larger time window. That seemed to have worked," he said.
"The real issue was the fact that we had emailed a pretty good size of our file at the same time," Handy said. "The issue was in the news, with public outrage, a much higher percentage of people wanted to take issue. People on our file then told family and friends to do the same."
It's hard to anticipate, "but you need be ready to handle any kind of crisis," Handy added. "We are the leading organization on animal fighting abuse. We need to be ready to respond...but it's hard to pay for that capacity you need" every year or two.
"The demand goes from ordinary to extraordinary overnight. It speaks to the need of having systems in place, and excess capacity with your technology partner to handle anything," Handy said.
Though the outages were unfortunate for the organization, the increased traffic led to increased donations. There was certainly no complaints on that front. If you want to read the full article, please go to our website.
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