NPAction Update
Vol 2, Issue 4
2/17/2004

Welcome to this week's edition of the NPAction Update.

You are receiving this newsletter as requested during your registration with NPAction.org. To change subscription options, see the end of this message.


In this issue:
*What's New*
*Current Poll*
*Featured Article*
*Featured Download*
*Featured Resource Links*



*What's New*

There's nothing new about charities buying medicine to help out in disease-ravaged regions, but one charity has gone a step further. The Philadelphia Inquirer recently ran an article about the Institute for OneWorld Health, a charity that is actually developing drugs to help out poorer nations. This makes for an interesting case study on innovative ways for charities to help others, especially at a time when drug companies are coming under fire for pricing policies.

"Charitable groups developing drugs to help poorer nations"
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/business/7951495.htm


More nonprofit sector news is available on the NPAction newsfeeds. Just a warning, however, that these are raw newswire feeds, and may contain duplicates and somewhat unrelated stories.

NPAction Newsfeeds
http://www.npaction.org/newsfeed/allcategories/


*Current Poll*

Take a moment to participate in the biweekly NPAction Poll, continuously displayed on the right side of the website.

The last Update featured an article that showed Americans believe that volunteering time is more important to a charity than giving money. This issue, we'd like your opinion on this issue, so stop by and vote today (but don't try to vote twice!).

Here's your chance to ask a question you've wanted to ask other nonprofits, but couldn't figure out how. Send your idea for a poll to npaction@npaction.org.

Past Poll Results
http://www.npaction.org/article/archive/207



*Featured Article*

This issue's featured article gives advice on picking an online fundraising partner. Most organizations can use payment sites such as PayPal for small individual contributions and sales of books and materials, but partnering with an online fundraising or e-commerce site can substantially increase this capability.

"How to Evaluate Online Fundraising Partners"
http://www.npaction.org/article/articleview/223/1/150/

Remember that you can rate and comment on most NPAction articles by clicking the "New Comment" button at the end of an article.



*Featured Download*

This issue's featured download is step by step guide to prepare for a successful meeting between your group and a public official.

"Planning a Meeting With a Public Official"
http://www.npaction.org/filemanager/fileview/14/

More downloadable advocacy tipsheets
http://www.npaction.org/filemanager/list/7/



*Featured Resource Links*

The NPAction Resource Links Directory is a human-edited compendium of tools and references, contributed by nonprofits for nonprofits.

This issue's links relate to nonprofit accountability and transparency. As the election season begins to heat up (and it's only February), there will be more and more advertisements on candidates and issues sponsored by groups with nebulous names like "Citizens for Better Medicare." PR Watch's "Impropaganda Review" looks behind the names at who funds what organization.

"Impropaganda Review"
http://www.prwatch.org/improp/impropaganda.html


Our second link is the IRS's database of expenditure and contribution reports from "section 527" organizations, which are nonprofit political organizations created to influence elections. Until recently, finding out financial information on these organizations was difficult, but recent laws have mandated that the IRS post financial information about section 527 organizations on their website.

"Political Organization Filing and Disclosure"
http://www.irs.gov/charities/political/article/0,,id=109644,00.html


*"Steal This Code": Put NPAction on Your Site*

NPAction invites organizations to share our tools on their websites. Choose a logo that best meets your needs, whether you want to link to our site, incorporate our search engine with results from a range of nonprofit sources, add the ability to connect to federal lawmakers and national media, or state-level policymakers and media. Just copy the HTML code from our site, and you're ready to go (but when you steal the code, just let us know!).

"Steal the Code" today
http://www.npaction.org/article/archive/208


*NPAction Update Archives*
http://www.npaction.org/article/archive/210/


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NPAction, an online resource hosted by OMB Watch, provides access to tools and information for nonprofit advocacy from a wide range of organizational partners and sources in order to encourage greater participation by nonprofits in the policy arena. Funding for this project was provided by Atlantic Philanthropies, the Ford Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the Surdna Foundation.

For more information, contact:

NPAction
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� 2004 NPAction