NonProfit Pro

The charade comes to an end this month for many of the 2016 presidential contenders, who have long avoided saying they are running — while they are so obviously running — in order to sidestep rules that burden declared candidates. The timing is driven by money. April marks the start of a sprint to raise as much of it as possible for an official candidacy before the summer reporting deadline. Candidates who fail to show that the early big money is flowing into campaign accounts could quickly falter.

China has prepared a draft law for charities to register directly with the government, making it easier for them to raise funds and gain tax exemptions, while allaying public concern over the way they are run, following some high-profile scandals. The draft law underscores official concern about anemic charity donations in the world's second-largest economy, which ranked 133 among 135 countries rated by the World Giving Index, largely because of public mistrust of charities.

A bill in the N.C. Senate could raise a lot of revenue from large nonprofit organizations, especially hospitals, but groups representing private universities and other nonprofits are objecting as well. Nonprofits get refunds for state sales taxes they pay up to $31.7 million under current law. Senate Bill 700 would cut the refund cap to $70,370.

Nonprofits applied for $285 million in refunds on their 2012-13 taxes, said Sen. Andy Wells, R-Catawba County, sponsor of the bill. Hospitals accounted for about 80 percent of that, he said.

Once or twice a month, similar scenes are unfolding at Boston-area nonprofits, many of them small enough that a six-figure contribution is akin to hitting the lottery. The out-of-the-blue phone call or voice mail. The unlikely caller. The astonishment that leads some people to assume they’re victims of a prank.

And, finally, the dawning realization that the man on the line bearing gifts is, indeed, New England Patriots owner and billionaire businessman Robert Kraft.

While it is rare, Richard and I have found some of the best MGOs and managers are ones who collaborate, who go out of their way to seek counsel and have real confidants at work.

Heading in to 2015 NonProfit PRO rounded up some of the nonprofit industry’s finest, who were kind enough to share their nonprofit trends for 2015, including these eight trends on nonprofit leadership and boards of directors.

Recent tweets on nonprofit technology (#nptech).

The American Civil Liberties Union laid off 23 employees, about 7 percent of the organization’s national staff. The cuts affected employees in New York, D.C., California and Wyoming. ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero announced the impending reductions internally in a March 26 email to employees, and the affected staffers were notified Monday.

In the email, which was obtained by The Washington Post, Romero cited the need for the ACLU to cut costs.

Recent tweets on fundraising (#fundraising).

Gov. Beshear of Kentucky, while surrounded by a host of dignitaries, recently signed into law new regulations governing nonprofit organizations. Largely, it appears that the new law, House Bill 440, will make governance of nonprofits in Kentucky a little bit easier and the management of small associations less cumbersome. The Kentucky Uniform Unincorporated Nonprofit Association Act has been added to the laws governing nonprofits in the Commonwealth. It creates and describes the rules for unincorporated nonprofit associations, a new classification for nonprofits.