The Nonprofit FAQ

How does the US Patriot Act affect nonprofits?

Sandy Gill from NW Nonprofit Resources in Spokane, Washington (see http://www.nnr.org) asked on July 22, 2005: One of our members asked about the Impact of the Patriot Act on nonprofit organizations. They receive bits and pieces about confidenciality, funding and public access to computers and other equipment. They don't want to over-react and are concerned about what's accurate. Does anyone have a link to reliable, understandable info that an organization can use to guide any revisions in procedures, etc.? Natasha Lamoreux of the Colorado Association of Nonprofit Organizations (CANPO) (see http://www.canpo.org) replied: I like The Handbook on Counter-Terrorism Measures, which is a guide put together by Independent Sector, The Council on Foundations, among others. You can find it at http://www.usig.org/treasuryregs.asp I think it has a lot of useful information. Katherine Long of the Vermont Alliance of Nonprofits (see http://www.vanpo.org) added this link: OMB Watch just posted a summary of a conference on the impact of the war on terror on nonprofit organizations. Might be of interest: http://www.ombwatch.org/article/articleview/2887/1/49?TopicID=2. Posted 7/22/05 -- pb