Federal Taxation and Charitable Organizations - Term Paper Example

Analytical report on three charitable organizations Introduction Charitable organizations are special types of nonprofit generation organizations that strive achieve philanthropist goals. Such organizations invest in social wellbeing of the society by offering free education, feeding programs or even various health care services (Landskroner, 2002). They offer such services either freely or at subsidized rates with the view to improving the social wellbeing of the society. Just as their names suggests, such organizations lack an effective and reliable source of funding. They rely on donations from well-wishers. However, the sizes of such organizations vary based on their influence in a country and ability to mobilize resources with which to achieve its objectives. The United States has numerous charitable organizations running various philanthropist programs in various sectors of the society. As such, donating in any of the charitable organizations requires effective analysis of the specific organizations in order to safeguard an individual’s values. Individuals managing the charitable organizations are human just as any one else. This implies that they possess a quality of greed and would always want to enrich themselves from the positions of leadership and management. Charitable organizations just as any other organization therefore require a degree of accountability. Before donating to a charity organization, it becomes prudent to evaluate and analyze the administrative structures of an organization, its projects and its ability to achieve its goals. In doing this, the researcher in this context selects three of such organizations he believes are most deserving and analyses their structures thus justifying his selection based on the quality of management in the organizations and the effectiveness of the philanthropic projects the organizations run within the country. Anyone donating always hopes to help the people. With this understanding, the research investigates the ability of the selected charitable organizations to influence the lives of the public. The three charitable organization selected for the review are United Way, Feeding America and The Task Force for Global Health. The three are among the largest and most popular charitable organizations in the United States, the three in various sectors of the society and run various charitable programs all of which seek to improve the social wellbeing of the American citizenry. The three organizations enjoy a national outlook owing to their ability to infiltrate the country. As the largest charitable organizations, the three run different projects in all the states of the country. Additionally, their large structures are a portrayal of effective management that upholds the ethical values of management key among which is accountability. As discussed earlier, accountability is a feature of effective management that ensures that an individual’s donations benefit the targeted population. Food security index in the United States Feeding America Formed in 1979, Feeding America is a nonprofit generating nationwide network that runs various feeding programs in the United States. The organization feeds more than thirty seven million deserving Americans through various projects such as soup kitchens, food pantries and shelters. The organization identifies the need to feed and protect the country’s most vulnerable and forgotten population thereby leading the country in its fight for hunger. Food is a basic want whose lack is a portrayal of absolute poverty in a country (Warner, 1971). In a country such as the United States, the largest economy and global superpower, everyone assumes that every citizen is wealthy. Such assumptions heighten the vulnerability of a specific segment of the population. Feeding America thus identifies such a serving population and reaches them by providing them with various feeding programs thus improving both the country’s economy and image to the international community. Feeding America’s scope of operations Feeding America has numerous network programs key among which it enlightening the population on poverty and hunger in the country. As such, the organization’s staff carries out extensive research on the patterns of hunger and poverty in the country and prepare different forms of educational materials, which they use in educating the public. Information and awareness is one of the most effective tools used in the fight against poverty and hunger. Besides educating the citizenry, the organization has over two hundred food banks strewn all over the country. Just as the name suggests, the food banks serve as stores for the organization. The food banks offer the organization an efficient reach to their targeted population in all the states in the country. The organization is operational throughout the year always identifying new vulnerable population and providing them with both food and information on poverty eradicating and hunger management. The charitable organization therefore works closely with different government institutions as they share data and often coordinate in times of crisis. While the organization remains operational throughout the year providing feeding programs to vulnerable population, it further intensifies its activities in times of disaster. Feeding America works with other charitable organizations such as the Red Cross during disasters thereby ensuring that survivors and disaster victims receive adequate food. The longevity and size of the charitable organizations are among the basic factors that portray the effectiveness of the organization’s management. The organization is therefore deserving of any form of donation from the country’s wealthy. The organization requires adequate financial aid in order to run its various programs. The organization must employ appropriate individuals to carry out its numerous activities. Carrying out researches all year round and working with the country’s most vulnerable populations require professionally trained individuals. As such, the country requires adequate financial resources to recruit professionals and to stock its numerous food banks. Adequate financial aid will help the charitable organization purchase other resources such as cars and recruits adequate personnel thereby enhance the efficiency of the organization’s operations throughout the country. The organization has a dedicated management team. The current chief executive officer just as many other of his predecessors hold frequent press conferences through which he elicits the public’s participation on the organization’s operations. Furthermore, the organization has a board of directors mandated with the effective management of the organization’s resources. Such are effective portrayals of the effective management of the organization a feature that assures every donor of the effective utilization of their donations. United Way worldwide United Way worldwide is an active charitable organization in the United States. The organization has more than one thousand two hundred local offices spread in all the states in the country. Through such offices, the charitable organization works with local communities in identifying and resolving prevailing social problems in the communities. The charitable organization tailors the services it offers a community based on the problems it identifies in the community. The management of the charitable organization appreciates the diversity in the American society thus the disparity in wealth distribution. As such, the organization understands that every community faces peculiar challenges. It therefore has the numerous offices through which it engages the local communities in identifying and resolving the prevailing social problems. Despite having such a particular approach to solving the prevailing social problems, United Way invests the following focus areas: health, education and income. The charitable organization is among the most appropriate to invest in owing to its operational structure. Most donors demand require accountability and would always feel the input of their money. United Way works with locals in identifying pertinent problems affecting the locals. The large number of offices is a portrayal of the level of the organization’s involvement with the locals. This way, the organization remains informed on the nature of the problems affecting American communities. This implies that the organization operates with adequate information and therefore develops appropriate tailored solutions to the problems. The organization encourages the participation of different stakeholders including government agencies; faith based organization, financial institutions and private individuals among others to mobilize and distribute resources and run the operations of the organization. Currently, the organization runs various health care, education, feeding and drug eradicating programs in various parts of the country consisting of both urban and rural setups. The nature of the programs relies on the nature of the problems and the setups; this enhances the effectiveness of the programs. The Task Force for Global Health The Task Force for Global Health is yet another American charitable organization that deserves donation. Health care remains among the most important factor affecting the quality of life in a country. In the United States, quality health care remains a preserve of the country’s wealthy. Millions of Americans remain exposed to the various lifestyle diseases that continue to increase the country’s mortality rate thereby threatening the productivity of the economy. The government continues to invest in health care with the view to reversing the worrying statistics. The Task Force for Global Health is a charitable organization that strives to offer high quality health care to the American population. The charitable organization, which is a part of the Emory University works with numerous other partners such as the CDC CARE and The Carter Center among many others. It leads medical research and roll out charitable health care programs to the deserving population (United States, 1999). The organization is the country’s third largest charitable organization that operates globally since 1984. The longevity and raid development of the organization portrays the effectiveness of the organization. Currently, the organization champion research on the Ebola virus, a global pandemic. Donating to the organization is therefore a sure way of influencing the health of the world. In retrospect, the three charitable organizations deserve donations. Ms. Susanna Beckett can therefore either select one or share her donation among the three organizations. References American Law Institute-American Bar Association Committee on Continuing Professional Education., & American Bar Association. (1900). Tax exempt charitable organizations: Ali-aba course of study materials. Philadelphia, Pa: American Law Institute-American Bar Association Committee on Continuing Professional Education. Federal taxation and charitable organizations. (1975). Durham, N.C: School of Law, Duke University. Landskroner, R. A. (2002). The nonprofit managers resource directory. New York: Wiley. Pennsylvania., & Pennsylvania. (1985). A Sunset performance audit of the Commission on Charitable Organizations pursuant to Act 1981-142. Harrisburg, Pa. (Rm. 400, Finance Bldg., Harrisburg 17120: The Committee. Treusch, P. E., & American Law Institute-American Bar Association Committee on Continuing Professional Education. (1988). Tax-exempt charitable organizations. Philadelphia, Pa: American Law Institute-American Bar Association Committee on Continuing Professional Education. United States. (1999). Liability reform for charitable organizations: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs, Foreign Commerce, and Tourism of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, United States Senate, One Hundred Fifth Congress, first session, June 17, 1997. Washington: U.S. G.P.O. Warner, A. G. (1971). American charities. New York: Russell [and] Russell. Read More