Nonprofit

More and more Americans are choosing to make their donations to charities online, as opposed to in-person or mail-based giving, according to the latest Charitable Giving Report from Blackbaud, a developer of technologies for nonprofit organizations.

A new analysis of how Americans and Canadians donate to nonprofit organizations shows the greatest overall increase since 2008.

Like all businesses, nonprofits need to track expenses, monitor income, create budgets, and produce financial statements. Also unlike their for-profit counterparts, nonprofits also need to track programs, membership dues, association fees, donations and grant funds.

Kansas Secretary of Revenue Nick Jordan told Wichita Republicans Friday that the state's system for giving sales tax exemptions to charities is too political -- and politics will probably keep it from getting changed.

The latest Blackbaud Index shows that overall charitable giving to nonprofits increased 1.6% and online giving increased 8.0% for the first half of 2014 as compared to the first half of 2013. In addition, overall charitable giving grew 1.5% and online giving grew 8.7% for the three months ending June 2014 as compared to the same period in 2013.

Small charities have a new, simpler process for applying for tax-exempt status. The Internal Revenue Service has introduced Form 1023-EZ, a shorter application form to help small charities apply for 501(c)(3) recognition.

Based on data from 4,138 organizations that raised more than $13 billion in the prior 12 months, The Blackbaud Index reported that overall charitable giving grew 1.3 percent for the three months ending April 2014, as compared to the same period in 2013.

A Connecticut bookkeeper has been accused of embezzling more than $830,000 from a nonprofit veterans' organization, police said.