from Nonprofit Newswire:

New Study Finds Non-reporting of Fundraising Expense Widespread: But Some States Much Worse Than Others

A new study using the most recent IRS data available through GuideStar and performed by the Scripps Howard News Service has found that 15,389 nonprofit groups, or 41 percent of all United States nonprofits with annual budgets of $1 million or more, represent on their 990s that they spend exactly nothing on fundraising. While there are some situations in which this might actually be the truth, Scripps Howard followed up with further investigation and interviews which revealed that a number of the organizations reporting zero fundraising costs do spend money to raise money but simply do not report it.

In an article by Scripps Howard’s Thomas Hargrove, one woman leading a $1.4 million Rhode Island nonprofit baldly admits to a reporter that she does not categorize certain costs as fundraising or administrative because she is concerned about keeping her organization’s overhead rate (at least as far as the public can see) down…