Senior Research Associate and
Program Director
National Center for Charitable Statistics
Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy
Tom has worked on an array of activities and research areas since joining NCCS in 1996, including electronic filing of IRS Forms 990, assessing the quality of IRS nonprofit data, understanding nonprofit overhead costs, and improving databases that deal with nonprofit arts organizations. Previously, Tom served as Research Director of Citizens Fund from 1990 to 1994, and as Senior Research Associate at Independent Sector, where his work focused on the impact of federal budget changes on the nonprofit sector. He received a J.D. from Georgetown University.
Publications
| Viewing 1-10 of 19. Most recent posts listed first. | Next Page >> |
Hearing on Public Charity Organization Issues, Unrelated Business Income Tax, and the Revised Form 990: Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Oversight of the Committee on Ways and Means United States House of Representatives (Testimony)Staff from the Urban Institute, GuideStar and the Foundation Center submitted joint comments to the Subcommittee on Oversight of the Committee on Ways and Means, United States House of Representatives for its hearing on "Public Charity Organization Issues, Unrelated Business Income Tax, and the Revised Form 990" July 25, 2012. The authors make recommendations for achieving greater transparency, accountability and effectiveness in the nonprofit sector by requiring electronic filing of IRS Forms 990 to improve the quality of data on nonprofits and the speed with which those data become available.
| Posted to Web: August 16, 2012 | Publication Date: August 16, 2012 |
The Nonprofit Sector in Brief: Public Charities, Giving and Volunteering, 2010 (Research Report)This brief highlights trends in the number and finances of 501(c)(3) public charities as well as key findings on private charitable contributions and volunteering, two vital resources to the nonprofit sector. It includes the most recent data available.
| Posted to Web: September 14, 2010 | Publication Date: September 01, 2010 |
The Nonprofit Sector in Brief: Public Charities, Giving and Volunteering, 2009 (Policy Briefs)This brief highlights trends in the number and finances of 501(c)(3) public charities, as well as key findings on private charitable contributions and volunteering, two vital resources to the nonprofit sector. Figures on giving and volunteering include the most recent data available. Data reported on the nonprofit sector are from 2007—a snapshot of the sector just before the U.S. economic recession.
| Posted to Web: May 06, 2010 | Publication Date: April 01, 2010 |
Five Questions For Thomas Pollak (Five Questions)Thomas H. Pollak, coauthor of "Washington-Area Nonprofit Operating Reserves" answers five questions about local nonprofits’ financial health. This first-of-its-kind study looks at the operating reserves of public charities—from soup kitchens to job-training centers to local arts groups—as reported in their 2006 tax filings. The study found that most nonprofits had weak reserves before the downturn, leaving them vulnerable to effects of the recession.
| Posted to Web: July 13, 2009 | Publication Date: July 13, 2009 |
Washington-Area Nonprofit Operating Reserves (Research Report)This report, funded by the Meyer Foundation, looks at the operating reserves—the cash and other liquid assets—of public charities in the Washington Metropolitan area. Using IRS Form 990 data, the report found that 57 percent had reserves insufficient to cover three months of expenses, a level that many experts consider the minimum necessary for financial stability. This leaves them especially vulnerable to the rapid declines in revenue or increases in expenses that occur in economic downturns like the present. A substantial perecentage of all types and sizes of organizations lacked adequate reserves.
| Posted to Web: June 24, 2009 | Publication Date: June 24, 2009 |
The Broader Movement: Nonprofit Environmental and Conservation Organizations, 1989-2005 (Research Report)This study, the first comprehensive look at IRS data on more than 26,000 environmental and conservation organizations – 8,000 of which had revenues of $25,000 or more – reveals a core of prominent national organizations and a larger, more rapidly growing universe of regional, local, and other specialized groups. Taken as a whole, the environmental movement expanded in number of organizations, members, and in total revenues almost every year since 1960. It focused less on advocacy than on projects and education, and was younger, more densely networked, and more dependent upon grants and contributions than was the nonprofit sector in general.
| Posted to Web: December 01, 2008 | Publication Date: December 01, 2008 |
Facts and Figures from the Nonprofit Almanac 2008: Public Charities, Giving, and Volunteering (Policy Briefs/In Brief)This brief highlights trends from the seventh edition of "The Nonprofit Almanac 2008", prepared by the National Center for Charitable Statistics at the Urban Institute. The Almanac is the latest in the Urban Institute's series of statistical profiles of the nonprofit sector and focuses primarily on 501(c)(3) public charities. We also highlight key findings on private charitable contributions and volunteering, two vital components of the nonprofit sector. This brief includes the most recent available data (2005 and 2006).
| Posted to Web: May 12, 2008 | Publication Date: May 01, 2008 |
Nonprofit Almanac 2008, The (Book)America's nonprofit sector continues to grow faster than its business sector or its government. The Nonprofit Almanac 2008 presents data on nonprofits' place in the national economy and trends in wages, employment, private giving, volunteering and finances. The tables and graphics will give scholars, practitioners, and policymakers the data they need at a glance, while the textual analysis will help them plan for the future.
| Posted to Web: May 02, 2008 | Publication Date: May 02, 2008 |
The Finances and Operations of Performing Arts Organizations in 2001 and 2002 (Research Report)This report summarizes key facts and trends affecting the performing arts sector from 2001 and 2002. The data collected permits managers and observers of nonprofit professional producing companies, and presenters to take a common perspective on how they are financed and operated, to compare organizations of different disciplines and different size, and to explore changes from year to year.
| Posted to Web: March 28, 2007 | Publication Date: March 31, 2003 |
The Scope and Activities of 501(c)(3) Supporting Organizations (Research Report)Supporting organizations provide a broad array of services, including grants and other financial benefits, to 501(c)(3) public charities. This study found that nearly 92 percent of the large supporting organizations with no apparent grants in our sample provided significant financial services and benefits to their supported organizations. Complex business and legal factors like those at work in the for-profit world appear to drive such activities in most of these organizations.
| Posted to Web: June 05, 2005 | Publication Date: June 05, 2005 |
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