Tag Archives: charities

Rich giving less of their income to charity, poor more — TN 4th overall

NEW YORK (AP) — Even as the income gap widens, the wealthiest Americans are giving a smaller share of their income to charity, while poor and middle-income people are donating a larger share, according to an extensive analysis of IRS data conducted by the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

The Chronicle, a leading source of news coverage of the nonprofit world, said in a report being released Monday that Americans who earned $200,000 or more reduced the share of their income they gave to charity by 4.6 percent from 2006 to 2012. Those earning less than $100,000 donated 4.5 percent more of their income, the report said.

The Chronicle’s analysis was based on tax returns filed by Americans who itemize their deductions, including their charitable gifts. Rankings were compiled for states and metropolitan areas based on the ratio of contributions to adjusted gross income.

According to the report, changes in giving patterns were most pronounced in major cities, where the percentage of income that residents donated dropped markedly between 2006 and 2012. In Philadelphia and Buffalo, New York, the share of income given to charity fell by more than 10 percent; there was a 9 percent drop in Los Angeles, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Washington, D.C.

(Note: Text summary of the report is HERE; a list of state rankings HERE.)
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TN charities collecting millions through gaming fundraisers

Tennessee-based nonprofit groups — churches, schools, hospitals, civic service clubs and others — collectively grossed $23.5 million over the past three years from charitable fundraisers featuring raffles, cakewalks and similar games of chance, reports the Chattanooga TFP.

On Nov. 4, voters will decide whether to add veterans’ service organizations such as the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Disabled American Veterans to the list of groups eligible to hold annual gambling fundraisers.

The state House and Senate approved 145 such fundraisers this year. Groups may not raise money using pulltabs, punchboards, bingo, instant bingo, casino games like keno, slot machines and roulette wheels and games of a type operated by the Tennessee Education Lottery Corp.

In the 2014 fiscal year ending June 30, dozens of groups collectively grossed $8.3 million, according to Blake Fontenay, a spokesman for Secretary of State Tre Hargett. That includes money from concessions and other items sold. No collective figures on net proceeds going to charity were available.

Groups are required to submit paperwork to the state showing how much money was raised from the games and spent on prizes and costs of conducting the games such as renting a site.

At least 25 percent of gross receipts must go toward charitable purposes. A group that fails to meet that standard two years running is permanently banned from applying again.

Bill, Crissy Haslam (and others) do the ALS ice bucket challenge

Haslam said he and his wife were challenged on video by Carianne and Chris Meystrik, members of Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church, which they and the Haslams attend. Carianne Meystrik has been battling ALS for 17 years. (No mention of Mark “Coonrippy” Brown, who lost to Haslam in the Republican gubernatorial primary, then later challenged him to take the ALS challenge. Previous post HERE.)

The phenomenon has captured the fancy of participants across the globe, including billionaire Bill Gates, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, actress Gwyneth Paltrow and Spanish tennis great Rafael Nadal.

Coonrippy challenges Haslam again (Alexander, too)

Mark “Coonrippy” Brown, distant runnerup to Gov. Bill Haslam in the Aug. 7 Republican gubernatorial primary, has had a bucket of ice water dumped on his head and challenged Haslam, Sen. Lamar and a Nashville radio talk show host to join him in accepting the ALS challenge.

UPDATE: Haslam accepted the challenge, though crediting others — not Brown — for he and wife Crissy doing so. (See post HERE.) Alexander has, too, said spokesman Brian Resinger in an email:

“Senator Alexander has already accepted the challenge, which he received from several Tennesseans, and is glad to join in fighting ALS. Now he’s moved on to the hard part: who to challenge next.”
For more on the ALS challenge, here’s a Thursday news release from the organization’s website:

As of Thursday, August 21, The ALS Association has received $41.8 million in donations compared to $2.1 million during the same time period last year (July 29 to August 21). These donations have come from existing donors and 739,275 new donors to The Association.

The ALS Association’s mission includes providing care services to assist people with ALS and their families through a network of chapters working in communities across the nation and a global research program focused on the discovery of treatments and eventually a cure for the disease. In addition, The Association’s public policy efforts empower people to advance public policies in our nation’s Capital that respond to the needs of people with ALS.
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As the Tennessean says, whether Alexander, Haslam and talk radio host Michael DelGiorno accept the challenge remains to be seen.

Dean bests Haslam in ‘food fight’

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nashville Mayor Karl Dean has won his “food fight” with Gov. Bill Haslam for the second year in a row.

The competition, which ran from Nov. 6 through Friday, pitches the two offices against each other for who can donate the most food to the Second Harvest Food Bank in Nashville.

The mayor’s office gathered 385 pounds of food per person, while Haslam staffers donated 345 pounds each.

Metro Nashville government workers collected a total of 122,000 pounds of food, which is enough to provide nearly 102,000 meals.

According to Second Harvest, more than 1 million Tennesseans find themselves in dire need of food.

Mayor charged with stealing from Toys for Tots charity

GREENBRIER, Tenn. (AP) — A Middle Tennessee mayor has been arrested and accused of stealing $60,000 from the Toys for Tots charity he founded.

Greenbrier Mayor Billy Wilson was arrested at city hall on Monday.

According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Wilson, who is also volunteer fire chief, was indicted on Friday by a Robertson County grand jury on one count of official misconduct and one count of theft.

He is accused of taking money from Greenbrier Toys for Tots for his personal benefit between Nov. 1, 2005, and Oct. 31, 2013.

He was booked into Robertson County Jail on $5,000 bond Monday afternoon. Jail records indicate he was released the same day.

Messages left at his home and office Monday were not immediately returned.

Charities to Get $40M in Settlement of Nursing Home Litigation

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News release from Tennessee Attorney General’s office:
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — National Health Investors, Inc., (NYSE:NHI), National HealthCare Corporation (NYSE MKT: NHC, NHC.PRA), the court-appointed Receiver for two Tennessee nonprofits, SeniorTrust of Florida, Inc., (“SeniorTrust”) and ElderTrust of Florida, Inc., (“ElderTrust), and the Tennessee Attorney General announced today that they have agreed to resolve a long-standing dispute that has been the subject of litigation. The resolution of the litigation, together with the Receiver’s sale of 14 nursing homes and liquidation of the nonprofits’ assets, will ultimately result in approximately $40M for charitable purposes in Tennessee.
The Tennessee Attorney General had previously asked the Davidson County Chancery Court to place both of these nonprofits in receivership. The Receiver subsequently filed suit against National Health Investors, Inc. (“NHI”) and National HealthCare Corporation (“NHC”).
NHI helped to establish SeniorTrust and ElderTrust, two Tennessee 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporations, in 2000. Between 2001 and 2004, NHI sold a group of skilled nursing facilities in Missouri and Kansas to SeniorTrust and a group of skilled nursing facilities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire to ElderTrust. The Receiver’s primary dispute with NHI concerned the financial terms on which NHI had sold and financed the purchase of the facilities to the nonprofits.
In 2007, NHC acquired the lease of a long-term care facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee, known as Standifer Place from SeniorTrust. The Receiver’s primary dispute with NHC concerned the financial terms on which NHC acquired the lease.
The Receiver for SeniorTrust and ElderTrust claimed that the financial terms of the various transactions with NHI and NHC were unfair to the nonprofits, a claim NHI and NHC disputed.

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Haslam Contributing $4.5 Million Per Year to Family Foundations

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Over a 10-year period, Bill Haslam has contributed more than $45 million to two charitable foundations that, in turn, have donated almost $25 million to hundreds of organizations promoting education, religion and culture.
The average of $4.5 million per year in combined donations to Charis Foundation, established by Haslam and his wife in 2001, and the Haslam Family Foundation, established by his father in 1998, dwarfs the $690,000 in average annual charitable giving separately reported by Haslam as a candidate for governor two years ago.
Combined, the two foundations have accumulated about $100 million in assets through Haslam donations and investing. That means a store of funds for giving to charities far into the future — perhaps 50 years or more, the governor suggests.
“We’ve obviously been blessed. Part of what goes with that is a responsibility to be generous,” said the Haslam in an interview last week.

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