New Massachusetts Rules Target Financial Abuses

The news comes as the Senate Finance Committee, led by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), is preparing to foist a new set of federal laws and regulations -- the mother of all legislation governing charities. As experts attest, at a minimum, the majority of nonprofit organizations -- and there are 1.2 million charities, churches and social welfare groups in our country (about 85,000 new ones each year) -- will have to add accounting or legal staff just to handle compliance.

So what does Reilly's proposed legislation signify for nonprofits nationally? Will other states follow suit? How can the smaller, local charities shoulder the burden of these added expenses?

This storm has been looming for some time, and many have warned that if charitable organizations don't start governing themselves, legislators will step in and make it far more arduous and costly to comply. And for those in Massachusetts, it might be too late.

Paul Barbagallo

Senior Editor, FundRaising Success

Editor, FS ADVISOR

pbarbagallo@napco.com

P.S. Has your organization planned for federal or state legislation addressing financial governance of charities? If so, what steps have you taken to brace for the change? E-mail your comments to pbarbagallo@napco.com.

P.P.S. IN THIS ISSUE: Look for FS ADVISOR'S Direct Mail Spotlight, a new section that examines direct-mail packages gleaned from Target Marketing Group's own Who's Mailing What! Archive, a direct-mail library of more than 20,000 fundraising packages from every sector in the nonprofit world. Each issue will profile a new piece's creative, design, copy and overall marketing approaches. For more information, visit http://www.whosmailingwhat.com