Current giving may also be affected. In short, the argument goes, donors want to give now if they know that at death the government will take it away. He notes that the number of foundations set up by individuals has risen in the 1990s, from 42,000 to 66,000. Tempel's center reports. Fifteen years ago, about that many high-end donations were reported for the entire year.
Pay is up for nonprofit executives.
A survey by the Council on Foundations has found that the median salary for chief executives at private foundations has increased 13.9 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars since 1994. Ironically, the rise came during the period when new rules were adopted giving the Internal Revenue Service more leeway in sanctioning nonprofits or employees for, among other indiscretions, inordinately high compensation. But along with the new sanctions policy, the IRS is establishing pay standards based in part on comparable wages in the profit-making sector, where compensation has dramatically increased among executives. Sara Melendez, president of Independent Sector, which backs the intermediate sanctions rules, says a nonprofit should not necessarily be faulted for one person's transgressions. She stresses that her group has not taken a position on the new IRS pay standards.