Charitable Purposes Research Articles

ZAKLADA KAO (VEĆINSKI) ČLAN TRGOVAČKOG DRUŠTVA

There is a new phenomenon in corporate governance of companies – foundations as shareholders. Foundations are traditionally held as legal entities which strive to accomplish a public or charitable purpose. However, modern practice highlights foundations which control companies (foundation-owned companies) or invest in them, thus becoming shareholders. Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany and many other countries both in the European Union and outside are a home to big successful companies under the control of foundations. In this new form of corporate governance, relation between management of foundations and companies becomes crucial, especially the extent to which a foundation is actively involved in operating the company, and possible overlapping between managers of the foundation and the company. The goal of this article is to analyze corporate governance of companies which have foundations as their major or minority members/shareholders. This article shall also research into the Croatian foundations and their involvement in companies. The research is based on the publicly available data on portfolio of foundations, which shows if Croatian foundations invest in companies, and thus act as shareholders. This article contributes to the discussion on the importance of foundations in economic development of countries through both corporate and charitable activism.

Zapisy mieszczan wołyńskich na rzecz dobroczynności i świątyń różnych wyznań według testamentów z XVII wieku

Volhynian testaments from the 17th c. are a valuable source for research on burghers’ re-ligiousness and piety. In the 140 available last wills that were analysed for the purpose of the present article only 50 (i.e. 36%) included charitable and religious bequests, which means that almost 2/3 of the testators did not make any such bequests. The analysed documents suggest that this happened when testators were not rich, had numerous heirs (especially young children) or left many debts to be settled. Many testators (especially those belonging to the Orthodox Church) expressed their certainty that the heirs would take care of their funeral and salvation, and would donate some funds for charitable purposes at their own discretion. Volhynian burghers were mostly attached to local churches and made bequests to those in which they wanted to be buried and have masses said for their salvation. The bequests were usually small sums (5–10 Polish zloties), debts collectable from third parties, or money that was to be paid by heirs in exchange for some property transferred to them. The largest bequests (200–300 Polish zloties) were made by rich Catholic women. The most common forms were egacies in kind (wheat, food, livestock), movables (valuable vessels, paintings, books, tapestries, garments) and immovables (houses, farmland, meadows, orchards). Testators followed the assumption that their support of religious institutions might help their salvation. With the same intention they bequeathed money for masses for their souls, asking heirs or executors to make sure they would be said. They also left legacies to hospitals run by Catholic or Orthodox churches, supported the poor, or gave alms at funerals, thus fulfilling the Christian duty to help others and deserving their prayers. Such bequests were significant for the functioning of local religious institutions. The bequests discussed in this article are symptomatic of both testamentary and religious customs of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

The Taxation of Industrial Foundations in Sweden (1862–2018)

Abstract It has been argued that the Swedish tax system has favored firm control through industrial foundations, which should have inhibited entrepreneurship and economic growth. However, research has been hampered because of a lack of systematic historical tax data. The purpose of this study is to describe the evolution of tax rules for industrial foundations in Sweden between 1862 and 2018 and to calculate the marginal effective tax rate (METR) on capital income. The results show that the METR for an equity-financed investment is typically below 20% and occasionally peaks at approximately 40%. When the requirement that industrial foundations have to donate the bulk of capital income (less capital gains) for charitable purposes is treated as a tax, the METR is seldom below 50% when financing investments with new share issues and often exceeds 100%.

Ulgi podatkowe z tytułu darowizn na kościelną działalność charytatywno-opiekuńczą

Związki wyznaniowe w Polsce mogą być finansowane m.in. poprzez przekazywanie na ich rzecz darowizn. Darczyńca z tytułu dokonania darowizny może skorzystać z ulgi podatkowej. W sposób szczególny darczyńca może skorzystać z ulgi podatkowej z tytułu dokonania darowizny na kościelną działalność charytatywno-opiekuńczą prowadzoną przez kościelne osoby prawne. Podstawę normatywną tej ulgi podatkowej stanowią właściwe przepisy ustaw, które regulują sytuację prawną poszczególnych związków wyznaniowych, a nie ustawy podatkowe. Jednak przepisy wskazanych ustaw możliwość skorzystania z tej ulgi podatkowej uzależniają od spełnienia kilku warunków. Kościelna osoba prawna, na rzecz której dokonano darowizny, powinna wystawić darczyńcy pokwitowanie odbioru darowanej kwoty oraz w ciągu dwóch lat od jej uzyskania jest zobowiązana złożyć sprawozdanie z przeznaczenia wskazanej kwoty na działalność charytatywno-opiekuńczą. Ponadto, zgodnie z przepisami podatkowymi, potwierdzeniem wysokości darowanej kwoty powinien być dowód wpłaty darowizny na rachunek bankowy osoby obdarowanej. W praktyce spełnienie wskazanych warunków wywołuje wiele trudności. Świadczy o tym bogate orzecznictwo Naczelnego Sądu Administracyjnego, zwłaszcza dotyczące zagadnienia sprawozdania z przeznaczenia darowizny na działalność charytatywno-opiekuńczą kościelnej osoby prawnej.
 Naczelny Sąd Administracyjny w swoim orzecznictwie doprecyzowuje pojęcie sprawozdania z przeznaczenia darowizny na działalność charytatywno-opiekuńczą kościelnej osoby prawnej. Jednak, jak pokazuje praktyka, wyjaśnienia te są nadal niewystarczające.

ECONOMIC AND ALTRUISTIC MOTIVES IN PHILANTHROPIC WORK OF THE CARNIOLAN SAVING BANK 1844–1908

The article discusses the different reasons for very enthusiastic philanthropic work of the Carniolan Savings Bank. During the second half of the 19th century the social issue appeared in a changed form as an urgent question of improving the financial position of an increased number of poorer strata of the society. The management of the Carniolan Savings Bank was aware that the financial resources they collected could help with overcoming hardship and contribute to the general good. The board of the Carniolan Savings Bank donated a part of its net income for charity purposes every year. The paper deals with the period from 1844, the year of the proclamation of the Savings bank regulation, which allowed the use of surpluses for charitable and non-profit purposes. The period under scrutiny ends with the year 1908, when the Carniolan Savings Bank changed its policy of philanthropic activities because of the consequences that it faced after the “run” and boycott of the Slovenian part of the population in the Carniola province.

Community-Based Homestay Service: A Proposed Livelihood Project for the Dumagats

The study is founded on a sustainable eco-tourism built on indigenous peoples’ economic empowerment without compromising their cultural heritage. The main objective of the study was to assess the economic viability of the community-based homestay service as a livelihood project to help improve the quality of life of the Dumagats who are native residents of Daraitan. The main service of the project is to provide accommodation and campsite for tourists who usually go for trekking at Mt. Daraitan. The descriptive survey method was employed in this study. Validated survey questionnaires were given out to 430 local and foreign tourists who visited the nature reserve. Data were tabulated and analyzed using the descriptive statistics and financial ratios; such as liquidity ratios, test of return on sales, gross profit ratio, and return on capital. The financial assessment of the homestay service yielded an average of 21.7% return on sales; 83.47% gross profit ratio, and 79.37% return on capital. A portion of the profit will be appropriated for charitable purposes. Mt. Daraitan is one of the to-go-to spots in the Philippines, where nature still can be seen at its most pristine state. Results of financial estimates showed that the economic viability of the project, through development, preservation of the natural architecture of the park, and a livelihood program for the natives that inhabit the area, are very strong reasons to push through with the proposal.

Sustainable Issues in Building Operations and Maintenance of Religious Schools in Malaysia

In Malaysia, Sekolah Agama Rakyat (SAR) (Community Religious Schools), Sekolah Agama Negeri (SAN) (State Religious Schools), Madrasahs and Pondoks are the Islamic Education Institutions that were established since the arrival of Islam in Tanah Melayu. Normally, these schools are built on lands donated in a perpetual manner for charitable purposes under the administration of State Islamic Religious Councils (SIRCs). The establishment of these institutions has played significant roles in the socio-economic development of the Muslim community in Malaysia. Unfortunately, numerous studies have highlighted various issues including on the maintenance management practices towards the sustainable aspects of these school buildings. Large numbers of school buildings are ill-managed and are deprived of basic repairs or maintenance. This research first identified the related factors through a review of current literature in established journals, articles and books in order to interpret the sustainable issues from a global perspective. The literature identifies five issues that impede the effective and efficient maintenance management of religious schools towards sustainable practices including the aspects of financial, information management, specialists, administration and marketing. Questionnaire surveys were distributed to relevant respondents involved in the administration and management of religious school buildings in Malaysia. Frequency and criticality index calculations were carried out to rank the factors according to levels of criticality. The findings indicate that managerial problems, especially on knowledge and expertise among school administrators, are the main barriers hindering effective and efficient management of these religious schools. The authorities ought to prioritize these issues to ensure the sustainability of the delivery of the waqf educational system. Success in overcoming this problem is crucial in supporting the Transformation Plan for Waqf Property Development set out by the government.

Charity Law Reform in Canada: Moving from Patchwork to Substantive Reform

This article explores the history of charity law reform in Canada, focusing on calls for a legislative definition of charitable purposes and changes to the political activity rules. It traces the trajectory of three periods of charity law reform advocacy in Canada since 1978, during which advocates have called not only for reform to the political activity rules but also more broadly for the modernization of Canadian charity law. Despite decades of charity law reform proposals, most charity law reform in Canada to date has constituted a patchwork of administrative and legal changes. Canadian charity law is at a crossroads after the broad recommendations of the 2017 Report of the Consultation Panel on the Political Activities of Charities and the 2018 legislative changes eliminating certain restrictions on charities’ political activities. It is time for more substantive charity law reform, drawing from multiple law reform proposals presented over the last forty years, and from charity law reform in other jurisdictions.

Golf Course Operation Held for Profit, Despite Original Charitable Purposes

The IRS has a policy of treating a nonprofit entity that is the successor to a for‐profit organization as ineligible for tax exemption, based largely on application of the private inurement doctrine. The most recent illustration of this policy can be found in a private letter ruling summarized in the April 2019 issue. As was written then, “[t]here is nothing inherently inappropriate about the management of a for‐profit company deciding that the entity's operations are preferably housed in a nonprofit, tax‐exempt organization.” When that happens, the issue then becomes whether the successor entity qualifies for tax exemption on the basis of the applicable operational test.

Review on success factors of waqf information management system in Malaysia

Waqf is one of the important economic instruments in Islam. Waqf is known as an endowment consist of donating a building, a sum of money or plot of land for charitable purposes. Various relevant aspects with the field of waqf have been studied and debated by scholars in the area of socio-political studies, economic, accounting as well as waqf information management system development. Current research findings have shown few glaring issues in terms of the difficulty to distribute waqf benefits caused by incomplete file information, transparency of waqf documentation, lack of detailed information about waqf assets and the requirements to provide timely and sufficient information to the related stakeholders. Thus, this study explores conceptual model of integrated success factors of Waqf information management system from few literature analysis. The conceptual success model that consists of activities, relationships, relative advantage, compatability, triability, image, visibility, result demonstrability, voluntariness, complexity and trust have been used to demonstrate the Islamic and technology concepts of waqf information system. Thorough review from several research works will help to understand the gaps in the information system management related to the state waqf agencies in Malaysia. The findings of the above issues prove on the need to identify the success factors of waqf information system management thus, helps to ensure the success development of the system. The findings should be of great interest to both researchers and practitioners.

The Basics of Private and Public Data Trusts

The term “data trust” has recently come into circulation to denote some kind of legal governance structure for the management of data, in particular digital databases, but there is much uncertainty and confusion about what a data trust is supposed to be, legally speaking. This paper examines the nature of data as a possible trust asset, and concludes that the traditional trust, the historical creation of English Equity jurisprudence and now found around the world, is a perfectly sensible vehicle for the management of data, in particular the management of combined datasets for both private and charitable purposes, especially educational purposes. The paper also considers the data protection issues that arise in relation to data trusts.

Gambling’s community contributions: does the community benefit?

Background: Harms from gambling are considerable and widespread, impacting beyond the individual gambler. Asserting benefits, including supporting ‘good causes’ outweighs this harm, is a common legitimization tactic of commercial gambling. Identified as problematic on many levels, this is a global phenomenon. Using unusually transparent data, this research assesses the extent to which such contributions offset gambling harms.Methods: Commonly in Australian jurisdictions, not-for-profit gambling operators (clubs) qualify for gambling tax reductions. To qualify in the state of Victoria, clubs submit annual statements documenting that at least 8.33% of their net gambling revenue (NGR) supports community purposes. We examined community benefit records from three consecutive annual reporting periods (2012–2015). Results are presented in aggregate, and via specific case studies.Results: We identified significant over-valuation of 'community benefits'. Gambling tax deductions overwhelmingly (82%) went to operational expenses including wages, venue maintenance, capital costs and utilities. Contributions to charitable and philanthropic purposes represented 4.5% of all community benefit claims (1.5% of club NGR).Conclusions: Similar to other jurisdictions, Victoria’s community contribution arrangements provide limited actual community benefit. Doing little to offset gambling harm, demonstrated benefits largely accrue to specific sectional interests. Greater transparency and improved governance is required. This includes, reviewing tax exemptions, reviewing allowable claims, and greater compliance oversight.This research identifies multiple failings with a community benefit scheme operating in a relatively transparent manner. Research lessons may be of interest to policy makers and others wanting to ensure that gambling’s demonstrable harms are, indeed, offset by clear benefits to community, and to preventing gambling harm.

Sharīʿah issues on taʿwidh in Malaysia

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the current mechanism of taʿwidh (compensation) from the perspective of Shariīʿah, which is used by Islamic banking in Malaysia to deal with the issue of late payment. Design/methodology/approach This study is qualitative in nature, using semi-structured interviews carried out with two types of informant – members of the National Sharīʿah Advisory Council (SAC) and the Internal Sharīʿah committee (SC) – with regard to practicing taʿwidh. Findings The findings reveal taʿwidh is an alternative to the interest-based late payment penalty, which is prohibited in Islam. While taʿwidh finds justification in the hadith and maʿlaʿah, in respect of sustaining the competitiveness of the Islamic banking operation, its practice is still debatable because it is determined by a special rate instead of the actual loss. This paper addresses this issue by suggesting that even though the central bank has allowed Islamic banks to regard 1 per cent as their income, they should review that amount, and claim only the actual loss. The remaining money could be used for charitable purposes, which can be conducted by Islamic banks themselves. Research limitations/implications This study is limited because it focusses on the extent to which the current practice of taʿwidh in Malaysia has complied with Shariīʿah principles. It does not focus on gharamah (penalty), which is considered to be the second late payment penalty mechanism. Moreover, data are collected from nine interviewees from SAC and SC from different Islamic banks. Thus, the results cannot be generalised to other countries. Originality/value This paper highlights Shariīʿah concerns regarding the current application of taʿwidh. Moreover, as it uses primary data, it provides a fresh discussion of taʿwidh, from both the perspective of regulators in Malaysia and the experience of practitioners, particularly in terms of Shariīʿah compliance.

Publicness and the Identity of Public Foundations

Australian foundations have traditionally sought and received high levels of privacy and are often reluctant to disclose information publicly (McGregor-Lowndes & Williamson, 2018). This article explores how perceptions of publicness within Public Ancillary Funds (PubAFs) inform and shape their practice, conduct and identity. PubAFs are a diverse foundation group with little homogeneity in their operating models. They include community and corporate foundations, fundraising foundations for single organisations such as hospitals or schools, and those established by wealth advisory firms. PubAFs must encourage public donations, and may offer sub-funds or donor-advised funds to larger donors. As part of a broader study on perceptions of accountability and identity in Australian foundations, in-depth interviews were undertaken in late 2017 and early 2018, capturing detailed perspectives from 28 PubAFs. Findings suggest that despite PubAFs’ diversity, understandings and applications of publicness were significant to PubAF managers and trustees. The two dimensions of publicness were donations (public money) and grantmaking (public benefit). From a donor perspective, ‘public’ connotes that PubAFs are available to anybody wishing to donate, although in practice, application of this concept varied. In the grantmaking dimension, ‘public’ connotes a pro bono or charitable purpose, such that in an Australian or global context, ordinary people and the general community benefit from the foundation’s work. Further elements of publicness were expressed around foundations’ visibility and the transparency of their operations. This article discusses perceptions and dimensions of publicness in public foundations from an internal perspective, sharing learnings from managers and trustees. It provides valuable insights for external stakeholders including donors, beneficiaries and regulators.

Governing Commercial Access to Health Data for Public Benefit: Charity Law Solutions.

There is a growing body of evidence that supports the view that research participants and the public are concerned about commercial access to health data. Evidence also suggests that attitudes are ameliorated when charity organisations are involved and where research promises to deliver 'public benefit'. To a significant extent, therefore, mechanisms that ensure the public benefit are key to sustaining public and participant support for research access to health data. As a regime founded on the concept of public benefit, charity law provides regulatory and governance mechanisms through which the public benefit of a charity is protected and promoted. This article examines the merits of charity law mechanisms and analyses their significance for governance of commercial access to health data for public benefit, using UK Biobank Ltd, a charitable company limited by guarantee, as an example. The article critically analyses three charity law mechanisms that operate to ensure that an organization providing access to data meets its public benefit requirements: charitable purposes; members' and directors' powers and duties; and accountability via the oversight powers of the Charity Commission and charity proceedings in court. The article concludes that there is potential for the charity model to be the benchmark for governing commercial access to health data for public benefit research, but notes the limitations of the model and recommends the appointment of independent data governance committees to further bolster the charity law framework.

Operational Transparency on Crowdfunding Platforms: Effect on Donations for Emergency Response

Online crowdfunding has emerged as a powerful tool to raise funds for emergency response. Crowdfunding campaigns can use two transparency tools to attract donors: updates and certification. Updates are additional messages that the organizer issues after launching the campaign and are a form of operational transparency when they communicate the campaign’s work to donors. Alternatively, certification is a form of conventional transparency that ensures the campaign truly benefits a charitable purpose. Using an econometric analysis, we investigate the effects of transparency on donations. We study the direction of causality and mechanisms behind work‐related updates by conducting an experiment. Results from the econometric analysis using over 100,000 campaigns benefiting victims of emergencies reveal that both updates and certification have positive effects on donations. Each additional work‐related word in an update (operational transparency) increases donations on average by $65 per month, while certification (conventional transparency) raises funds on average by $22 per month. Results from the experiment confirm the direction of causality; posting work‐related updates in crowdfunding campaigns increases donations. Two mechanisms explain this effect: donors’ enhanced perceptions of effort and perceptions of trust.

What's the Government's Problem With the Panera Bread Foundation?

When Priv. Ltr. Rul. 201911010 was reviewed, the initial decision here was that it was not worth summarizing. The ruling held that “[p]roviding food and drink to members of the general public absent a showing of need is not a charitable purpose.” That appears obviously correct. It was no surprise to see the IRS invoke the commerciality doctrine in this case. It was annoying to read that the IRS faulted the organization for being “funded primarily through support by a related for‐profit entity.” Corporate foundations are nearly always funded that way, although the support from the for‐profit company is usually the sole support. This ruling by the IRS on this latter point seemed so preposterous as to not merit comment.

РОЛЬ ТЕАТРАЛЬНОГО ИСКУССТВА В СОЦИАЛЬНОЙ ЖИЗНИ КРЫМА НА ПРИМЕРЕ БЛАГОТВОРИТЕЛЬНОСТИ (КОНЕЦ XIX - НАЧАЛО XX В.)

The purpose of this scientific publication is the analysis of charitable activity in the Russian Empire illustrated by amateur and professional theatrical performances in Crimea. The retrospective of theatrical performances and cultural events with charitable purposes in pre-revolutionary Crimea is given on the basis of archival documents and materials from periodicals. The author cites the organisations, amount of donations, repertoire of theatrical parties, mechanisms of charitable contributions in order to use the historical experience in the context of the modern Russian reality.

Source effects and cause involvement in prosocial online crowdfunding: A collective action perspective

This study investigates individual motivations to contribute to charitable crowdfunding campaigns from the collective action perspective. A three-group post-test with control experiment (personal source: close friends, family v. impersonal: organizational source v. control: no known source) accounting for individual predispositions (cause involvement, altruism, attitude toward crowdfunding, prior experience) was done. No significant effect of source personalness was found. Instead, a main effect on likelihood to donate to a charitable crowdfunding campaign depends on whether there was a source or not to begin with — with no known source being less influential than a personal and an impersonal source. Post-hoc analysis revealed a moderation effect of cause involvement to motivate greater donation likelihood when the source is perceived to be more personal. Theoretical implications for future research and practical suggestions for prosocial online crowdfunding for charitable purposes are discussed.

Evaluation of Smart Portable Device for Food Diagnostics: A Preliminary Study on Cape Hake Fillets (M. capensis and M. paradoxus)

The new smartphone-based food diagnostic technologies offer significant advantages over traditional methods as they can be easily applied in various steps of the agrifood supply chain including household use and also in the food recovery field for charitable purposes, aimed at helping to reduce food waste. Further advantages include the low cost, the minimal equipment, and nonspecialized personnel required. This study evaluated the performance of two instrumental measurements of the sensors: an electronic nose (PEN3; WinMuster Airsense Analytics) and a smart portable device (FOODsniffer; ARS LAB US). The preliminary study was conducted on cape hake fillets. In order to test the performance of PEN3 and FOODsniffer, total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) values were considered as the reference. Principal component analysis (PCA) and Pearson’s correlation were performed in order to compare PEN3 with TVB-N, and for the FOODsniffer evaluation, a one-way ANOVA was carried out. A significant correlation was shown between PEN3, first component, and TVB-N (r = 0.92, P=0.01). The ANOVA results also confirmed a good agreement between FOODsniffer, TVB-N (F = 519.9, P=0.01), and PEN3 (F = 143.17, P=0.01). Our simulation results confirmed good performance in both methods.