Release Date: 01-24-2005

For information, contact:

Jeanne Ellinport
(202) 467-6163
jeanne@nonprofitpanel.org

(Washington, D.C.)—The Panel on the Nonprofit Sector invites the nonprofit community to comment on recommendations from its five Work Groups and Expert Advisory Group regarding actions to strengthen governance, ethical conduct, and accountability within the sector through a comment period beginning today.

Over the past seven weeks, more than 100 members of the Work Groups have held intensive discussions that have culminated in a preliminary set of recommendations for consideration by the Panel. The recommendations also include comments from the Panel’s Expert Advisory Group.

These recommendations will be part of the deliberations by the Panel as it prepares the interim report it will present to the leaders of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee in early March.

The Panel, formed at the encouragement of the Senate Finance Committee leadership, is comprised of 24 leaders from a broad range of America’s public charities and private foundations.  It is assisted by five Work Groups specializing in: Governance and Fiduciary Responsibilities; Legal Framework; Oversight and Self-Regulation; Transparency and Financial Accountability; and Small Organizations.  In addition to the Work Groups and Expert Advisory Group, a Citizens Advisory Group will be advising the Panel as it develops its initial set of recommendations for the preliminary report to the Senate Finance Committee leadership.

“The Panel will be benefiting from the contributions of a very broad cross-section of leaders and experts through the outstanding and high-level work undertaken by members of the Work Groups and Expert Advisory Group, and the public comment period allows for broader input from the field. Even in the very brief time frame we have been given to develop an initial set of recommendations, the Panel felt it was important to invite broader comment as part of the process in this initial phase,” said Diana Aviv, executive director of the Panel on the Nonprofit Sector and president and CEO of Independent Sector. “We look forward to hearing from the many voices in the field that have a strong commitment to improving practice in the nonprofit sector.”

The Panel also invites the nonprofit community to participate in a national conference call on Wednesday, January 26, from 2:00 to 3:30 pm EST.  Staff and board members of public charities, corporate philanthropy programs, and private foundations who wish to join the call should RSVP through the on-line form.

The comment period will end Friday, February 18.