Earlier this week I wrote about for-profit companies creating nonprofit subsidiaries for the sole purpose of qualifying for Congressionally banned earmarks. Today I want to draw your attention to another unusual use of the nonprofit, as a means to distribute tax-exempt donations to political efforts on the West Bank.

The following discussion is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to serve as legal or tax advice. For specific information about prohibited tax shelter transactions, consult your attorney or tax advisor.

Reprinted from Exempt Organizations Advisory

OK, it's hypercompetitive out there for the gift, grant, and/or sponsorship. Other organizations are probably scrambling for all the state, federal, corporate, and individual donor opportunities that exist on Planet Earth. Even some of the larger not-for-profit organizations that traditionally have relied on name recognition and brand are actively seeking new donors and funders. Acquiring new qualified donors takes longer than ever.

I was part of a team conducting a focus group for a large nonprofit client. The focus group comprised representatives from the financial sector, a target audience this particular national nonprofit was most interested in cultivating through its messaging.

Today, marketing isn't so much about the "big sell" as it is about the way in which you communicate with your audiences. Of course, big-budget ad campaigns for TV, radio, print, and, now, online will never go away entirely, but realistically, most nonprofit organizations do not have the budgets to invest in traditional advertising, let alone any other kind of costly marketing campaigns.

If your nonprofit's fiscal year ended June 30, it would behoove you to verify that it is compliant with IRS reporting requirements. As we've noted previously, the Pension Protection Act of 2006 requires the IRS to revoke automatically the tax-exempt status of any organization required to file an annual information return (IRS Form 990-N, 990-EZ, 990, or 990-PF) that fails to do so for three consecutive years.

Here's a killer strategy for increasing your gifts by up to 39 percent.