IRS set to deactivate foundations’ electronic payment accounts

The NonProfit Times recently reported that the IRS is shutting down the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) accounts of certain private foundations. Private foundations with more than $500 in excise tax liability are required to use the EFTPS to make their tax payments. But for security purposes, the agency is deactivating accounts that haven’t been used for 18 months. According to the Times, the IRS hasn’t alerted any foundations at risk of having their accounts deactivated before doing so.

Private foundations should verify that their EFTPS accounts are active sooner rather than later. Deactivated accounts require re-enrollment as the prior accounts won’t be re-opened — they’ve been purged from the system. On re-enrollment, organizations will be mailed personal identification numbers (PINs). Those that wait until their payment deadlines to re-enroll may find they don’t receive their PINs in time to submit their payments via EFTPS by the applicable due date.  

How Microsoft is expanding support for nonprofits

Microsoft is expanding its nonprofit technology offerings to public libraries and public museums. Eligible organizations can obtain discounts for cloud solutions like Microsoft 365 and Office 365 (including Teams, Outlook, Excel and PowerPoint), Azure (for project management), Dynamics 365 (for relationship management), Power Apps (for building and sharing apps) and Surface devices. They’ll have access to on-premises licenses for computer labs and other public access devices, too.

Libraries and museums will also be eligible for grants that cover the cost of Microsoft 365, Azure and Dynamics. In addition, Microsoft Advertising is offering a $3,000 monthly grant to help all nonprofits reach new visitors, donors and volunteers. The grants apply to the company’s owned-and-operated digital search and native advertising platforms such as Bing. 

Donation option at checkout stresses retail purchasers

A study published in the Journal of Business Research calls into question the common belief that consumers feel good about making charitable donations as they pay at stores or restaurants. The study finds that many people experience negative feelings in these situations — including feeling “pressured,” “annoyed” and “concerned about being judged.” Only about 20% of the words participants in the study chose to describe their feelings about so-called “checkout charity” were positive, such as “nice” or “compassionate.” 



The researchers found that checkout solicitations induce customer anxiety, in part due to the pressure to make a hasty decision. Although the anxiety can drop in “solicitation episodes” where customers agree to donate, this occurs only when the request is made by an employee, as opposed to requests from self-checkout technologies like kiosks. While the study was intended to caution retailers, nonprofits also should consider the potential negative consequences of checkout solicitations.