Advocacy

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Why We All Need to Take a Ride on VolunteerSpot's #TinyCars Campaign

Submitted by Cara Thenot
on Fri, 01/27/2012 - 21:22

On Tuesday, January 24, 2012, VolunteerSpot launched a “Tiny Cars” campaign to fight for support of H.R. 387: Charitable Driving Tax Relief Act of 2011.  Passage would mean an increase of the measly $.14 per mile tax deduction rate for charitable driving unchanged by the U.S. Congress since 1997. That’s compared to the 50 cents per mile deduction for business use of a personal vehicle in 2011.  And the new bill would also no longer count such reimbursement to volunteers as gross income.

Nonprofit Spark Radio Interview Makes Great Advocacy Tool for Volunteer Resource Managers

Submitted by Cara Thenot
on Tue, 01/24/2012 - 16:43

Thanks to Nonprofit Spark, an online radio show for new or emerging non-profits, volunteer resource managers have a new tool for garnering attention to the importance of volunteer involvement in their organizations. The January 23rd show, “The Case for Strategic Volunteerism in Your Non-profit,” makes a compelling case for being as strategic about involving volunteers as nonprofits are about other management issues such as fundraising.

June 19, 2011: International News From the Field

Submitted by Susan J Ellis
on Sun, 06/19/2011 - 00:00

19 June: The Wall Street Journal article, "Stray Cat Strut: Woman Beats IRS," captured the importance of the story in its first two sentences:

When Jan Van Dusen appeared before a U.S. Tax Court judge and a team of Internal Revenue Service lawyers more than a year ago, there was more at stake than her tax deduction for taking care of 70 stray cats.

Hanging in the balance were millions of dollars in annual tax deductions by animal-rescue volunteers across the nation—and some needed clarity on the treatment of volunteers' unreimbursed expenses for 1.55 million other IRS-recognized charities.

This volunteer incurred $12,068 in expenses while taking care of stray cats in her home on behalf of the IRS-approved charity, Fix Our Ferals. This covered such things as cat "food, veterinarian bills, litter, a portion of utility bills, and other items such as paper towels and garbage bags." When she attempted to deduct these costs on her 2004 income tax return, the IRS disallowed them and she

June 5, 2011: International News From the Field

Submitted by Susan J Ellis
on Sun, 06/05/2011 - 00:00

5 June: Oregon Volunteers announced their new Volunteer Management Advocacy Kit via Facebook on June 2. Developed "to better empower Oregon volunteer managers to advocate for their profession and serve as a one-stop-shop for excellent resources," this presentation (viewed via sliderocker™ or PDF) benefits volunteer resources professionals no matter where they are located. The overall concepts presented for what an individual can do to strengthen the profession of volunteer management are universal, and all viewers can easily note when Oregon specific resources are mentioned and then search the Internet for equivalent resources in their own area.

The strategies in this new tool are nicely laid out as action steps and the resources to accomplish those steps are pulled together in one convenient place. Even better, it’s free! We recommend downloading the Kit and keeping it at hand when developing your professional goals.

January 9, 2011: International News From the Field

Submitted by Susan J Ellis
on Sun, 01/09/2011 - 19:47

9 January: In an impressive show of government communication, the British Cabinet Office has released what is called the “Giving Green Paper” through a Web page that also offers seven accompanying essays solicited to add to the discussion. Go to http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/giving-green-paper to download all the items and see for yourself the way they are presented. It is introduced as:

The Giving Green Paper sets out the Government’s initial ideas for building a stronger culture of giving time and money to start a national debate on our society’s attitude to giving. This is not a conventional green paper. We want it to embody a collective approach to building culture change so it is written from a variety of perspectives. In addition to our own proposals and announcements, we have highlighted many ideas from outside of government.

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