Panel: Nonprofits need higher ethics

Panel: Nonprofits need higher ethics: "Panel: Nonprofits need higher ethics
More government oversight, financial disclosure urged for charities, foundations.

Recommendations sought for charities
The Panel on the Nonprofit Sector, which includes leaders of nonprofit groups from across the country, issued recommendations Tuesday for Congress, the Internal Revenue Service and the nation's 1.3 million charities and foundations:
Nonprofits should:
� Adopt conflict-of-interest policies.
� Recruit board members with financial literacy skills.
� Develop procedures to protect whistle-blowers.
Congress and the IRS should:
� Increase IRS resources for oversight.
� Suspend the tax-exempt status of groups that repeatedly fail to file tax forms.
� Require nonprofit officials to certify that their tax forms -- which are open to public inspection -- are correct.
� Require electronic filing of tax forms.
� Expand financial reporting rules.
Source: Independent Sector
By John Strauss
john.strauss@indystar.com
March 2, 2005
A panel of national nonprofit groups on Tuesday called for higher ethical standards and greater federal oversight of charities and foundations.
Nonprofits should adopt conflict-of-interest policies and recruit more business-savvy board members, said the Panel on the Nonprofit Sector, which also recommended more government oversight and financial disclosure."