The Washington Post reports that over $500 million has been made available from private foundations for education grants, some of which is for matching funds for government education grants.
An excerpt.
“SEATTLE -- A coalition of wealthy foundations is offering up to half a billion dollars to match federal grants meant to encourage education reform, taking the pressure off schools scrambling to find the matching dollars they need to get the money.
“A dozen foundations plan to announce this week that they are investing $506 million, a portion of which is for a matching fund for the $650 million federal government grant program, called Investing in Innovation.
“The foundations also set up an Internet portal for applying for matching funds from all the foundations in one step, streamlining the task of seeking money from multiple sources. School districts, schools and other nonprofits have until May 12 to apply for the money, which will be paid out by the end of September.”
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
L.A. Arts Turmoil
Shrinking public budgets create tension—and often chaos—in the nonprofit sector as the traditional stability of government funding for nonprofits disappears, and political favorites find a more welcoming audience; all of which may or may not be good for the nonprofit and arts community, as reported in this story from the Los Angeles Times.
An excerpt.
“L.A. arts advocates are girding for two more battles at City Hall.
“One is fighting Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's plan to take away $415,000 in arts grants from groups that qualified under the standard competitive application process, in favor of four that he chose.
“The other is preserving rent-free use of city buildings by nonprofit organizations, including leases on 245,000 square feet devoted to the arts. The city council's budget and finance committee voted last week to require nonprofits to pay at least half the market rate in rent, plus utilities and maintenance — potentially costing arts tenants several hundred thousand dollars a year.
“The controversies spring from the city's most tumultuous budget season in memory — a season in which L.A.'s arts community already has had to defend its turf repeatedly. In February, arts advocates filled the city council's hearing room and e-mail in-boxes, successfully fighting off a plan to eliminate the Department of Cultural Affairs' main revenue source, a guaranteed share of hotel taxes. In March, the issue was funding for neighborhood arts centers.
“Now comes Villaraigosa's plan to divert money to his four handpicked programs — part of a budget proposal that calls for a 24.8% reduction in arts spending. It has some wondering whether being well-connected at City Hall could become key to getting a city arts grant. And a the plan to end free use of city facilities by nonprofits — including at least 19 arts groups — has raised concerns that the added cost could put some out of business.
“In light of these continuing struggles, which she calls the "five firestorms," Danielle Brazell, head of the Arts for L.A. advocacy group, wonders whether elected leaders have lost sight of the social and economic benefits that underlie having a municipal arts policy.
"Are city leaders looking five feet in front of them, or are they looking to the horizon? Are we trying to build a greater Los Angeles, or are we trying to get through the day? Based on the behavior I'm seeing, it's the latter," Brazell said Monday. She wonders why, out of nearly $7 billion in city spending, arts items pegged at $10.9 million in the mayor's budget proposal — down from $14.5 million — are coming in for such scrutiny. "It doesn't make sense to me."
“The plan to tighten the city's policy on the 900,000 square feet it leases to nonprofit groups has been in the works for several years and is not driven by the budget crisis, said councilman Bernard Parks, chair of the budget and finance committee. The point, he says, is to make sure such leases go only to groups that are effective and on sound financial footing. They could receive a 50% discount from fair-market rents, but only if council members agreed to cover the cost of rent breaks out of their district's discretionary spending account.”
An excerpt.
“L.A. arts advocates are girding for two more battles at City Hall.
“One is fighting Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's plan to take away $415,000 in arts grants from groups that qualified under the standard competitive application process, in favor of four that he chose.
“The other is preserving rent-free use of city buildings by nonprofit organizations, including leases on 245,000 square feet devoted to the arts. The city council's budget and finance committee voted last week to require nonprofits to pay at least half the market rate in rent, plus utilities and maintenance — potentially costing arts tenants several hundred thousand dollars a year.
“The controversies spring from the city's most tumultuous budget season in memory — a season in which L.A.'s arts community already has had to defend its turf repeatedly. In February, arts advocates filled the city council's hearing room and e-mail in-boxes, successfully fighting off a plan to eliminate the Department of Cultural Affairs' main revenue source, a guaranteed share of hotel taxes. In March, the issue was funding for neighborhood arts centers.
“Now comes Villaraigosa's plan to divert money to his four handpicked programs — part of a budget proposal that calls for a 24.8% reduction in arts spending. It has some wondering whether being well-connected at City Hall could become key to getting a city arts grant. And a the plan to end free use of city facilities by nonprofits — including at least 19 arts groups — has raised concerns that the added cost could put some out of business.
“In light of these continuing struggles, which she calls the "five firestorms," Danielle Brazell, head of the Arts for L.A. advocacy group, wonders whether elected leaders have lost sight of the social and economic benefits that underlie having a municipal arts policy.
"Are city leaders looking five feet in front of them, or are they looking to the horizon? Are we trying to build a greater Los Angeles, or are we trying to get through the day? Based on the behavior I'm seeing, it's the latter," Brazell said Monday. She wonders why, out of nearly $7 billion in city spending, arts items pegged at $10.9 million in the mayor's budget proposal — down from $14.5 million — are coming in for such scrutiny. "It doesn't make sense to me."
“The plan to tighten the city's policy on the 900,000 square feet it leases to nonprofit groups has been in the works for several years and is not driven by the budget crisis, said councilman Bernard Parks, chair of the budget and finance committee. The point, he says, is to make sure such leases go only to groups that are effective and on sound financial footing. They could receive a 50% discount from fair-market rents, but only if council members agreed to cover the cost of rent breaks out of their district's discretionary spending account.”
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
IRS 501 c 3 Information
The new IRS Data Book for fiscal year 2009 is out, and it reveals that 70,263 new 501 c 3’s applied for tax exemption during their fiscal year, and 42,484 were approved, (p. 55) and there are now 1,238,201 total 501 c 3s in the country. (p. 56)
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Venture Philanthropy
A trend in philanthropy that started several years ago when the wealthy coming out of Silicon Valley brought their entrepreneurial strategies to charity work—Venture Philanthropy Partners being one of the first firms—has taken hold in Sacramento, noted in a Bob Shallit column.
An excerpt.
“Venture capitalist Jack Crawford Jr. has two business passions: Helping startups become profitable and making nonprofits more efficient.
“Now he's combining those interests in what may be a novel program: putting University of the Pacific business-school students to work at local startups and nonprofits.
"I've never seen anything like this before. Not just in Sacramento, but anywhere across the country," says Crawford, who heads Velocity Venture Capital and a year-old group, Social Venture Philanthropy of Sacramento.
“What's unusual is the use of student teams working in two areas that often are considered worlds apart.
“Crawford, who serves on the board of UOP's Global Center for Social Entrepreneurship, says 20 to 30 students will be given unpaid part-time assignments at various firms and nonprofits, starting this fall.”
An excerpt.
“Venture capitalist Jack Crawford Jr. has two business passions: Helping startups become profitable and making nonprofits more efficient.
“Now he's combining those interests in what may be a novel program: putting University of the Pacific business-school students to work at local startups and nonprofits.
"I've never seen anything like this before. Not just in Sacramento, but anywhere across the country," says Crawford, who heads Velocity Venture Capital and a year-old group, Social Venture Philanthropy of Sacramento.
“What's unusual is the use of student teams working in two areas that often are considered worlds apart.
“Crawford, who serves on the board of UOP's Global Center for Social Entrepreneurship, says 20 to 30 students will be given unpaid part-time assignments at various firms and nonprofits, starting this fall.”
Monday, April 26, 2010
Taxing Nonprofits Update
Even small towns are considering joining this effort to tax nonprofits, as this story from the Martha's Vineyard Gazette notes.
An excerpt.
“Mimi Davisson, chairman of the finance committee, said she too heard the grumbling, but she defended the work of her board. “We presented voters with a balanced budget, let’s not forget that. And that was the result of a lot of hard work, deep thought and public input,” Ms. Davisson said.
“She too was not surprised when voters rejected most of the override questions. “All you had to do was sit there for the first 30 minutes of town meeting to get an idea of the mood people were in. We knew it was possible the overrides could fail, so we took the attitude of: if they pass, that’s fine. If they fail, we will do without,” she said, adding:
“As a finance committee that’s the best you can do — give people options.”
“Looking ahead, Ms. Davisson said she would like to see the town explore a payment in lieu of taxes program for large nonprofit institutions located in town such as the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. She also said the town should look seriously into joining with other towns to regionalize services and departments.”
An excerpt.
“Mimi Davisson, chairman of the finance committee, said she too heard the grumbling, but she defended the work of her board. “We presented voters with a balanced budget, let’s not forget that. And that was the result of a lot of hard work, deep thought and public input,” Ms. Davisson said.
“She too was not surprised when voters rejected most of the override questions. “All you had to do was sit there for the first 30 minutes of town meeting to get an idea of the mood people were in. We knew it was possible the overrides could fail, so we took the attitude of: if they pass, that’s fine. If they fail, we will do without,” she said, adding:
“As a finance committee that’s the best you can do — give people options.”
“Looking ahead, Ms. Davisson said she would like to see the town explore a payment in lieu of taxes program for large nonprofit institutions located in town such as the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. She also said the town should look seriously into joining with other towns to regionalize services and departments.”
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Innovative Social Enterprise
A story from Springwise about a company that has found a creative way to use old fire hoses and make some money for nonprofits in the process.
An excerpt.
“Back in 2006 we covered German Feuerwear, which creates bags and belts from used fire hose. Feuerwear is still going strong, but we couldn't resist mentioning a similar venture we recently came across in the UK that expands the notion and adds a charitable twist.
“Much like Feuerwear, Elvis & Kresse crafts high-fashion bags, belts and other accessories from used fire hose collected across the UK. The company also goes beyond fire hose, however, and reclaims various types of other industrial waste materials as well, including coffee sacks, sail cloth, air traffic control flight strips, optician's boxes, parachute silk and office furniture textiles. Fabrics including the parachute silk, for example, are used to line Elvis & Kresse's wallets and bags; many of the other materials are used in its packaging. The company has reclaimed some 45 tons of waste materials so far, it says. Elvis & Kresse donates 50 percent of the profits from its fire-hose line to the Fire Fighters Charity. It's also supporting two separate coffee grower initiatives in Nicaragua and Guatemala. Elvis & Kresse items are available both online and from select retailers in England, Wales, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Hong Kong and Australia; pricing begins at GBP 18.50 for a fire hose-based key ring.”
An excerpt.
“Back in 2006 we covered German Feuerwear, which creates bags and belts from used fire hose. Feuerwear is still going strong, but we couldn't resist mentioning a similar venture we recently came across in the UK that expands the notion and adds a charitable twist.
“Much like Feuerwear, Elvis & Kresse crafts high-fashion bags, belts and other accessories from used fire hose collected across the UK. The company also goes beyond fire hose, however, and reclaims various types of other industrial waste materials as well, including coffee sacks, sail cloth, air traffic control flight strips, optician's boxes, parachute silk and office furniture textiles. Fabrics including the parachute silk, for example, are used to line Elvis & Kresse's wallets and bags; many of the other materials are used in its packaging. The company has reclaimed some 45 tons of waste materials so far, it says. Elvis & Kresse donates 50 percent of the profits from its fire-hose line to the Fire Fighters Charity. It's also supporting two separate coffee grower initiatives in Nicaragua and Guatemala. Elvis & Kresse items are available both online and from select retailers in England, Wales, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Hong Kong and Australia; pricing begins at GBP 18.50 for a fire hose-based key ring.”
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Government & Nonprofits
Another cautionary tale about nonprofits relying too much on government funding, which seems to be permanent, until it isn’t, from the Miami Herald Tribune.
The most stable form of funding is still individual donations, though it is difficult to format a regular system for generating and sustaining them, the effort is well worth it.
An excerpt.
“SARASOTA - During one of the state's worst job markets on record, Alexa Fernandez, 22, walked from social work classes at the University of South Florida into a full-time counseling position in December.
“As a case worker for Jewish Family and Children's Service of Sarasota-Manatee, she helped clear a waiting list of hundreds of people seeking financial help.
“Federal stimulus dollars and private funds have allowed some nonprofit groups providing social services to hire and expand. JFCS, the Salvation Army and Catholic Charities have become conduits of economic relief in this recession.
“But there are concerns that much of the additional cash will soon run out, even as demand for social services remains high.
"I know I'm pretty lucky I found a job before I even graduated," said Fernandez, whose job is funded through a federal stimulus grant. "I'm worried though because I don't know what's going to happen. This money is ending soon."
“The budget at JFCS expanded to $3.8 million this year, up $1.2 million from five years ago. One program targeted at homelessness prevention more than doubled in funding to $800,000. The agency has added about 15 positions in the last two years.
“That growth partly reflects a shift in charitable giving during the recession, toward basic needs such as food and shelter.
“The growth may seem counterintuitive, but experts say it is not unprecedented.
"It's something we've seen in past recessions as well," said David Biemesderfer with the Florida Philanthropic Network. "Those leading social service agencies may see a temporary swell in donations in down times because there is greater need for their services."
"But much of the money is coming from government programs that have a limited life-span.
“So even as unemployment remains high, social service agencies that are ramping up and getting a handle on the community's economic problems may soon be cutting back.
“The long-term challenge is for the groups to adapt as the economy improves and the demand for help shifts.
“Sleepless nights
“Federal stimulus money may not last beyond this year. State leaders are proposing big social service cuts, including completely eliminating the state Office on Homelessness.
“And while big foundations, corporations and individual donors have funneled a greater percentage of their charitable donations to social service groups, it is unclear how long that will last.
“At Jewish and Family Children's Service, CEO Rose Chapman is asking donors to make long-term pledges to replace some of the stimulus funding.
"It's a challenge because it's a lot of money," Chapman said. "I have sleepless nights."
The most stable form of funding is still individual donations, though it is difficult to format a regular system for generating and sustaining them, the effort is well worth it.
An excerpt.
“SARASOTA - During one of the state's worst job markets on record, Alexa Fernandez, 22, walked from social work classes at the University of South Florida into a full-time counseling position in December.
“As a case worker for Jewish Family and Children's Service of Sarasota-Manatee, she helped clear a waiting list of hundreds of people seeking financial help.
“Federal stimulus dollars and private funds have allowed some nonprofit groups providing social services to hire and expand. JFCS, the Salvation Army and Catholic Charities have become conduits of economic relief in this recession.
“But there are concerns that much of the additional cash will soon run out, even as demand for social services remains high.
"I know I'm pretty lucky I found a job before I even graduated," said Fernandez, whose job is funded through a federal stimulus grant. "I'm worried though because I don't know what's going to happen. This money is ending soon."
“The budget at JFCS expanded to $3.8 million this year, up $1.2 million from five years ago. One program targeted at homelessness prevention more than doubled in funding to $800,000. The agency has added about 15 positions in the last two years.
“That growth partly reflects a shift in charitable giving during the recession, toward basic needs such as food and shelter.
“The growth may seem counterintuitive, but experts say it is not unprecedented.
"It's something we've seen in past recessions as well," said David Biemesderfer with the Florida Philanthropic Network. "Those leading social service agencies may see a temporary swell in donations in down times because there is greater need for their services."
"But much of the money is coming from government programs that have a limited life-span.
“So even as unemployment remains high, social service agencies that are ramping up and getting a handle on the community's economic problems may soon be cutting back.
“The long-term challenge is for the groups to adapt as the economy improves and the demand for help shifts.
“Sleepless nights
“Federal stimulus money may not last beyond this year. State leaders are proposing big social service cuts, including completely eliminating the state Office on Homelessness.
“And while big foundations, corporations and individual donors have funneled a greater percentage of their charitable donations to social service groups, it is unclear how long that will last.
“At Jewish and Family Children's Service, CEO Rose Chapman is asking donors to make long-term pledges to replace some of the stimulus funding.
"It's a challenge because it's a lot of money," Chapman said. "I have sleepless nights."
Friday, April 23, 2010
Vocation
Working in the nonprofit sector, especially as the founding leader of an organization, generally implies a sense of vocation that really is a calling to mission, and the modern Catholic expression of this is through the 1988 Apostolic Exhortation by Pope John Paul II, Christifideles Laici: (On the Vocation and Mission of the Lay Faithful in the Church and in the World)
Dr. William E. May reflected on personal vocation in the Culture of Life Foundation Briefs.
An excerpt.
“Introduction
My question is whether everyone has a unique, personal vocation. To prepare the way for answering this question I will first summarize what Christians believe about their personal vocation to follow Christ. It is likely that a majority of our readers are Christians, but I apologize to our non-Christian allies in the struggle to make ours a culture of life for some specifically Christian reflections at the beginning of this essay. I do so because as I hope then to show we can speak meaningfully of a unique personal vocation for everyone, including non-Christians.
“Baptism and the vocation to “holiness”
Most of us were baptized as infants when we were unable to make free choices for ourselves. But others, our godparents, stood as our proxies, responding in our name to the call to die to sin and to live in a way worthy of God's own children, to be holy. And, as we grew in the household of the faith, we renewed our baptismal commitment when we received the sacrament of confirmation; and we are given the opportunity to reaffirm this commitment throughout our lives, particularly during the liturgy of the Easter vigil. Christians believe that in choosing to be baptized they have, through their faith and the redemptive work of Christ, “died” to sin and been raised to a new kind of life. They have now become truly “children of God,” members of the divine family and called to be "perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matt 5.48). Baptized persons, like Jesus to whom they are united, are now those whose "food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work" (Jn 4.34). They have the God-given vocation to become holy, to become saints.
“This was a central theme of Vatican Council II, whose dogmatic constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, insists that "all in the Church, whether they belong to the hierarchy or are cared for by it, are called to holiness, according to the apostle's saying: 'For this is the will of God, your sanctification' (1 Thes 4.3; cf. Eph 1.4)” (no. 39). In this document the Council also affirmed: “The followers of Christ... must hold on to and perfect in their lives that sanctification which they have received from God” (no. 40). Moreover, the way lay people are to pursue holiness, the Council insisted in its pastoral constitution on the Church in the modern world, Gaudium et Spes, is in and through the commitments and ordinary activities of everyday life (see no. 43).”
Dr. William E. May reflected on personal vocation in the Culture of Life Foundation Briefs.
An excerpt.
“Introduction
My question is whether everyone has a unique, personal vocation. To prepare the way for answering this question I will first summarize what Christians believe about their personal vocation to follow Christ. It is likely that a majority of our readers are Christians, but I apologize to our non-Christian allies in the struggle to make ours a culture of life for some specifically Christian reflections at the beginning of this essay. I do so because as I hope then to show we can speak meaningfully of a unique personal vocation for everyone, including non-Christians.
“Baptism and the vocation to “holiness”
Most of us were baptized as infants when we were unable to make free choices for ourselves. But others, our godparents, stood as our proxies, responding in our name to the call to die to sin and to live in a way worthy of God's own children, to be holy. And, as we grew in the household of the faith, we renewed our baptismal commitment when we received the sacrament of confirmation; and we are given the opportunity to reaffirm this commitment throughout our lives, particularly during the liturgy of the Easter vigil. Christians believe that in choosing to be baptized they have, through their faith and the redemptive work of Christ, “died” to sin and been raised to a new kind of life. They have now become truly “children of God,” members of the divine family and called to be "perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matt 5.48). Baptized persons, like Jesus to whom they are united, are now those whose "food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work" (Jn 4.34). They have the God-given vocation to become holy, to become saints.
“This was a central theme of Vatican Council II, whose dogmatic constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, insists that "all in the Church, whether they belong to the hierarchy or are cared for by it, are called to holiness, according to the apostle's saying: 'For this is the will of God, your sanctification' (1 Thes 4.3; cf. Eph 1.4)” (no. 39). In this document the Council also affirmed: “The followers of Christ... must hold on to and perfect in their lives that sanctification which they have received from God” (no. 40). Moreover, the way lay people are to pursue holiness, the Council insisted in its pastoral constitution on the Church in the modern world, Gaudium et Spes, is in and through the commitments and ordinary activities of everyday life (see no. 43).”
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Resilient Nonprofits
Nonprofits by their nature are resilient, especially those working in human services as resiliency is a large part of what they bring to help their clients, and organizations in Modesto—as reported by the Modesto Bee—are revealing their organizational resilency during these tough times.
An excerpt.
“Women who have been beaten or abused by their husbands may have to wait two weeks before they can see a counselor at Haven Women's Center in Modesto.
“Waiting lists are just one of the painful choices that nonprofit agencies have made as they cope with the recession that has buffeted the Northern San Joaquin Valley for nearly three years.
“Agencies that feed, clothe and shelter people and counsel them when they are in crisis have laid off staff, not filled vacant positions, relied more on volunteers, and reduced hours and services to make ends meet -- despite a steady increase in demand.
“They have had to work harder to raise money as government, foundations and donors have been slammed by the downturn and reduced their support.
"We've dropped ... staffing and moved to a smaller office," said Belinda Rolicheck, executive director of Haven, whose services include a shelter for women and children and a clinic for domestic violence restraining orders. "We're in about half the space and paying about half the rent."
“Haven had 45 to 50 full- and part-time employees in 2006 and is down to about 25, Rolicheck said.
“She said there has always been a waiting list to see a counselor, but before the recession a client could typically see someone within a few days.
"We know that counseling makes a big difference in the healing process," Rolicheck said, "especially with sexual assault victims."
“But as much pain as the recession has inflicted across the region, nonprofit leaders say there are some bright spots.
“Many say they have been overwhelmed by the generosity of people who give what they can despite their own hardships. And the economic downturn has pushed nonprofits to rethink how they deliver services and raise money.”
An excerpt.
“Women who have been beaten or abused by their husbands may have to wait two weeks before they can see a counselor at Haven Women's Center in Modesto.
“Waiting lists are just one of the painful choices that nonprofit agencies have made as they cope with the recession that has buffeted the Northern San Joaquin Valley for nearly three years.
“Agencies that feed, clothe and shelter people and counsel them when they are in crisis have laid off staff, not filled vacant positions, relied more on volunteers, and reduced hours and services to make ends meet -- despite a steady increase in demand.
“They have had to work harder to raise money as government, foundations and donors have been slammed by the downturn and reduced their support.
"We've dropped ... staffing and moved to a smaller office," said Belinda Rolicheck, executive director of Haven, whose services include a shelter for women and children and a clinic for domestic violence restraining orders. "We're in about half the space and paying about half the rent."
“Haven had 45 to 50 full- and part-time employees in 2006 and is down to about 25, Rolicheck said.
“She said there has always been a waiting list to see a counselor, but before the recession a client could typically see someone within a few days.
"We know that counseling makes a big difference in the healing process," Rolicheck said, "especially with sexual assault victims."
“But as much pain as the recession has inflicted across the region, nonprofit leaders say there are some bright spots.
“Many say they have been overwhelmed by the generosity of people who give what they can despite their own hardships. And the economic downturn has pushed nonprofits to rethink how they deliver services and raise money.”
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Nonprofit Business Statements
A very good reminder that there is a lot about our work in the nonprofit sector that often relys on thinking like a business, from Blue Avacado.
An excerpt.
“Although every nonprofit has a mission statement that defines the organization's core purpose and work, many are unaware of its useful companion, the business model statement: a brief summary that spells out the organization's economic drivers. Like a mission statement, a business model statement acts as a touchstone: a reminder and a guide for the organization's focus and strategies.
“Nonprofit executives and board members usually have a good sense of the various types of funding that support the organization, but they may have a harder time explaining the organization's business model. Let's imagine a childcare center with the following mission statement: "We provide high quality child care in a cross-cultural setting." A first draft of their business model statement might read: "Our funding comes from government, parent fees, and fundraising."
“This statement lists all the types of funding, but doesn't speak to the strategy for financial sustainability of the center. A second draft may come out this way: "We provide high quality child care for children with diverse racial, cultural and economic backgrounds, by combining government subsidies for low-income children with full-pay tuitions, supplemented with some parent fundraising."
“Although this statement lacks graceful wording, it does explain the organization's strategy for financial sustainability, and it links that financial strategy with its program strategy. While mission statements are meant to be external messages as well as internal guides, a business model statement is primarily for internal use.
“A Latino theater offers another example of a business model statement: Their first draft stated, "We produce plays and conduct youth workshops, sustained through a mixture of ticket sales, foundation grants, workshop fees, and an annual benefit."
“Similar to the childcare center's model, this descriptive statement contains all the elements of the business model -- the methods by which the organization accomplishes its mission and generates revenue. But while it lists the programs and revenue streams, it's not specific about the drivers for either the programs or finances. The business model statement should help focus the leadership's attention on what keeps this organization sustainable. A more focused business model statement was developed: "We produce Spanish and English plays supported by ticket sales and foundation grants, and supplemented by net income from youth workshops and an annual gala."
An excerpt.
“Although every nonprofit has a mission statement that defines the organization's core purpose and work, many are unaware of its useful companion, the business model statement: a brief summary that spells out the organization's economic drivers. Like a mission statement, a business model statement acts as a touchstone: a reminder and a guide for the organization's focus and strategies.
“Nonprofit executives and board members usually have a good sense of the various types of funding that support the organization, but they may have a harder time explaining the organization's business model. Let's imagine a childcare center with the following mission statement: "We provide high quality child care in a cross-cultural setting." A first draft of their business model statement might read: "Our funding comes from government, parent fees, and fundraising."
“This statement lists all the types of funding, but doesn't speak to the strategy for financial sustainability of the center. A second draft may come out this way: "We provide high quality child care for children with diverse racial, cultural and economic backgrounds, by combining government subsidies for low-income children with full-pay tuitions, supplemented with some parent fundraising."
“Although this statement lacks graceful wording, it does explain the organization's strategy for financial sustainability, and it links that financial strategy with its program strategy. While mission statements are meant to be external messages as well as internal guides, a business model statement is primarily for internal use.
“A Latino theater offers another example of a business model statement: Their first draft stated, "We produce plays and conduct youth workshops, sustained through a mixture of ticket sales, foundation grants, workshop fees, and an annual benefit."
“Similar to the childcare center's model, this descriptive statement contains all the elements of the business model -- the methods by which the organization accomplishes its mission and generates revenue. But while it lists the programs and revenue streams, it's not specific about the drivers for either the programs or finances. The business model statement should help focus the leadership's attention on what keeps this organization sustainable. A more focused business model statement was developed: "We produce Spanish and English plays supported by ticket sales and foundation grants, and supplemented by net income from youth workshops and an annual gala."
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Fundraising & Volunteers
An excellent post by Penelope Burk—author of the great book, Donor Centered Fundraising: How to hold on to your donors and raise more money—on her blog.
An excerpt.
“Do Volunteers Know What Their Role Is In Fundraising?
“I am convinced they do not.
“I am also convinced that this is not deliberate avoidance of responsibility but genuine confusion over who is best positioned to do what.
“This is the second of a two-part blog on the discrete fundraising responsibilities of professional staff and leadership volunteers. Previously I reported findings that showed fundraisers believed they, not their leadership volunteers, were responsible for almost every fundraising task. However, they also strongly suggested that leadership volunteers would actually be more effective in some functions.
“What Volunteers Feel Are Their Responsibilities in Fundraising
“The following tables show the views of 854 American and 217 Canadian leadership volunteers. Qualified respondents were serving on Boards of Directors of not-for-profit organizations that employ professional fundraising staff and which do not have a separate Foundation Board for fundraising purposes.”
An excerpt.
“Do Volunteers Know What Their Role Is In Fundraising?
“I am convinced they do not.
“I am also convinced that this is not deliberate avoidance of responsibility but genuine confusion over who is best positioned to do what.
“This is the second of a two-part blog on the discrete fundraising responsibilities of professional staff and leadership volunteers. Previously I reported findings that showed fundraisers believed they, not their leadership volunteers, were responsible for almost every fundraising task. However, they also strongly suggested that leadership volunteers would actually be more effective in some functions.
“What Volunteers Feel Are Their Responsibilities in Fundraising
“The following tables show the views of 854 American and 217 Canadian leadership volunteers. Qualified respondents were serving on Boards of Directors of not-for-profit organizations that employ professional fundraising staff and which do not have a separate Foundation Board for fundraising purposes.”
Monday, April 19, 2010
Innovative Nonprofit & Deep Salvage
A nice story from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about a nonprofit that has found a way to make money from selling construction salvage, not necessarily a new idea, but one this group is planning to take deeper.
An excerpt.
“One recent day along Forbes Avenue in Squirrel Hill, two workers for Construction Junction fed wavy ceramic roofing tiles down a makeshift chute from a porch roof into a box in a truck bed. Cardboard and other cushioning absorbed the tiles' landing.
“Original to the 1920s house, the tiles are "an excellent product" that could take another 50 years of wear, said Brian Swearingen, Construction Junction's crew chief on the job. It was the first "deep salvage" project Construction Junction has been able to do after years of lobbying private and public property owners.
“Terradime Development gave its approval to the crew, whose mission was to rid five properties of as much usable material as was financially practical to take. The Urban Redevelopment Authority granted $5,000 toward the effort. The properties -- a former beauty salon and four homes of similar vintage -- will be razed this spring to make way for a 14-unit condominium.
“Deep salvage, as opposed to the typical salvage CJ's crews do, can gut a house if everything is in good shape and salable, from floors and subfloors to floor joists and molding. The depth of the salvage depends on whether the expected return is worth the labor. Some houses yielded good sub-flooring, some didn't.
"You can only go so high on [pricing] used stuff," said Mr. Swearingen, adding that some materials aren't in demand.
"It's always a gamble. People in our company believe strongly in the mission, but we have to keep the doors open."
“Typically, Construction Junction takes what demolition contractors don't want and what it can sell to the public. Other contributions come from individuals who are renovating or clearing out their homes.
“Pittsburgh's 11-year-old nonprofit used-building-materials superstore in North Point Breeze has been trying to dig deeper in the salvage game, but it's tricky business, said director Mike Gable. Many properties are too ravaged to yield decent material.”
An excerpt.
“One recent day along Forbes Avenue in Squirrel Hill, two workers for Construction Junction fed wavy ceramic roofing tiles down a makeshift chute from a porch roof into a box in a truck bed. Cardboard and other cushioning absorbed the tiles' landing.
“Original to the 1920s house, the tiles are "an excellent product" that could take another 50 years of wear, said Brian Swearingen, Construction Junction's crew chief on the job. It was the first "deep salvage" project Construction Junction has been able to do after years of lobbying private and public property owners.
“Terradime Development gave its approval to the crew, whose mission was to rid five properties of as much usable material as was financially practical to take. The Urban Redevelopment Authority granted $5,000 toward the effort. The properties -- a former beauty salon and four homes of similar vintage -- will be razed this spring to make way for a 14-unit condominium.
“Deep salvage, as opposed to the typical salvage CJ's crews do, can gut a house if everything is in good shape and salable, from floors and subfloors to floor joists and molding. The depth of the salvage depends on whether the expected return is worth the labor. Some houses yielded good sub-flooring, some didn't.
"You can only go so high on [pricing] used stuff," said Mr. Swearingen, adding that some materials aren't in demand.
"It's always a gamble. People in our company believe strongly in the mission, but we have to keep the doors open."
“Typically, Construction Junction takes what demolition contractors don't want and what it can sell to the public. Other contributions come from individuals who are renovating or clearing out their homes.
“Pittsburgh's 11-year-old nonprofit used-building-materials superstore in North Point Breeze has been trying to dig deeper in the salvage game, but it's tricky business, said director Mike Gable. Many properties are too ravaged to yield decent material.”
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Planned Giving
It is the type of strategic philanthropy that visionary nonprofits engage in and can ensure a sustainable transition from the founding into succeeding generations.
An excellent local group to become part of to learn about this most wonderful form of donor support is the Planned Giving Forum of Sacramento and they are having a roundtable on April 22nd .
Announcement.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Planned Giving Brainstorming Roundtable
Bring your questions and be ready to share your experiences (both good and bad!)… This open brainstorming session will provide a chance to address some of the questions you have about improving your Planned Giving Program and the opportunity to share your experiences – what’s worked for your organization or maybe something you’d do differently.
Possible topics of discussion: Thinking about trying something new with your Planned Giving Program? What’s working for your program? What’s not working? Is your Board actively involved? Should my organization have a Planned Giving Advisory Committee? Planned Giving newsletter? Planned Giving website?
Facilitator: Kevin Smith-Fagan, Director of Major Giving, KVIE Public Television
Format: Roundtable – Lunch will be provided
Date: Thursday, April 22, 2010
Time: Registration/networking: 12:00 pm to 12:15 pm
Roundtable discussion: 12:15 pm to 1:15 pm
Location: KVIE Public Television; 2030 W. El Camino Avenue; Sacramento, CA 95833
Cost: Members - $10; Non-members - $25
An excellent local group to become part of to learn about this most wonderful form of donor support is the Planned Giving Forum of Sacramento and they are having a roundtable on April 22nd .
Announcement.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Planned Giving Brainstorming Roundtable
Bring your questions and be ready to share your experiences (both good and bad!)… This open brainstorming session will provide a chance to address some of the questions you have about improving your Planned Giving Program and the opportunity to share your experiences – what’s worked for your organization or maybe something you’d do differently.
Possible topics of discussion: Thinking about trying something new with your Planned Giving Program? What’s working for your program? What’s not working? Is your Board actively involved? Should my organization have a Planned Giving Advisory Committee? Planned Giving newsletter? Planned Giving website?
Facilitator: Kevin Smith-Fagan, Director of Major Giving, KVIE Public Television
Format: Roundtable – Lunch will be provided
Date: Thursday, April 22, 2010
Time: Registration/networking: 12:00 pm to 12:15 pm
Roundtable discussion: 12:15 pm to 1:15 pm
Location: KVIE Public Television; 2030 W. El Camino Avenue; Sacramento, CA 95833
Cost: Members - $10; Non-members - $25
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Cool During Crisis
Nonprofits suffer through crisis on a regular basis and this management tip, from Harvard Business Review, about getting through it is excellent.
An excerpt.
“While the earthquake in Haiti has brought indescribable devastation and horror, it has also reminded us of the incredible ability and willingness of individuals and organizations to respond to a crisis. What is it about a crisis that causes people and organizations to step up to new levels of performance?
“Having looked at crisis situations for many years, there are three factors that are always present in the human response to them: Urgency, empathy, and innovation. Urgency is the realization that time matters — that there are clear goals and even clearer consequences if they are not achieved quickly. Empathy is the identification that people feel with the crisis, the sense that we are connected and that one day we could be in the same situation and would want others to help us too. Innovation, of course, is the freedom to respond in ways that are out of the ordinary, that don't get caught up in red tape, approvals, and complex decision-making.
“Whenever these three factors are present, individuals and organizations tend to raise their game — as we are seeing with Haiti and as we've seen in past natural disasters. But when the crisis passes, these three factors also fade. We're already seeing bickering among state and federal agencies in the U.S. about who is going to pay for airlifts and medical support; red tape reappearing in regard to orphan adoption; and a general waning of interest on the part of the general public. Eventually, the focus on Haiti will go back to "normal" even though the needs of the country and its people will still be far beyond ordinary.
“You have probably seen similar responses to crises in your organization, even though the scale and cost may be vastly different than the sort of massive humanitarian challenge that happens after a natural disaster.”
An excerpt.
“While the earthquake in Haiti has brought indescribable devastation and horror, it has also reminded us of the incredible ability and willingness of individuals and organizations to respond to a crisis. What is it about a crisis that causes people and organizations to step up to new levels of performance?
“Having looked at crisis situations for many years, there are three factors that are always present in the human response to them: Urgency, empathy, and innovation. Urgency is the realization that time matters — that there are clear goals and even clearer consequences if they are not achieved quickly. Empathy is the identification that people feel with the crisis, the sense that we are connected and that one day we could be in the same situation and would want others to help us too. Innovation, of course, is the freedom to respond in ways that are out of the ordinary, that don't get caught up in red tape, approvals, and complex decision-making.
“Whenever these three factors are present, individuals and organizations tend to raise their game — as we are seeing with Haiti and as we've seen in past natural disasters. But when the crisis passes, these three factors also fade. We're already seeing bickering among state and federal agencies in the U.S. about who is going to pay for airlifts and medical support; red tape reappearing in regard to orphan adoption; and a general waning of interest on the part of the general public. Eventually, the focus on Haiti will go back to "normal" even though the needs of the country and its people will still be far beyond ordinary.
“You have probably seen similar responses to crises in your organization, even though the scale and cost may be vastly different than the sort of massive humanitarian challenge that happens after a natural disaster.”
Friday, April 16, 2010
Collaboration Can be a good Thing II
Following up on yesterday’s post, here is another excellent strategy, from Third Sector Resources about organizational collaboration—developed and sustained by weavers—and how it can enhance advocacy.
An excerpt.
“One of the many insights gleaned from Third Sector New England’s Capacity Building Fund (CBF) is just how vital building relationships and developing trust are to successful cross-organizational work within and across nonprofits. Begun in 2004, CBF provides funding, technical assistance and peer-to-peer support to 5 or more groups to help them learn effective ways to collaborate around a common cause. By supporting the formation of these networks, CBF seeks to strengthen the organizations’ ability to confront challenges and maximize opportunities more effectively than the groups could individually.
“In network theory, people who hold and develop relationships are called weavers. Weavers are people who span boundaries either within non-profit and other organizations or externally with other groups. They are the folks that people describe as “natural networkers” – they span both internal and external organizational boundaries….”
An excerpt.
“One of the many insights gleaned from Third Sector New England’s Capacity Building Fund (CBF) is just how vital building relationships and developing trust are to successful cross-organizational work within and across nonprofits. Begun in 2004, CBF provides funding, technical assistance and peer-to-peer support to 5 or more groups to help them learn effective ways to collaborate around a common cause. By supporting the formation of these networks, CBF seeks to strengthen the organizations’ ability to confront challenges and maximize opportunities more effectively than the groups could individually.
“In network theory, people who hold and develop relationships are called weavers. Weavers are people who span boundaries either within non-profit and other organizations or externally with other groups. They are the folks that people describe as “natural networkers” – they span both internal and external organizational boundaries….”
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Collaboration can be a Good Thing
Working with other nonprofits—even those you might normally compete with for funding and contacts—can be, especially during tough economic times, a very good strategy, as this article from Venture Philanthropy News notes.
An excerpt.
“It seems that almost everywhere you go these days, nonprofit and foundation leaders alike are talking about ways to foster and increase collaboration. In these difficult times, when resources seem to be vanishing while the demand for services continues to increase, it makes sense that organizations consider working together to make available resources go further and perhaps achieve greater results.
“In principle, everyone wants to collaborate, but the reality of making it happen is extremely tough. Collaboration can be a loaded word. Today, when funders talk about “collaborating,” nonprofits sometimes hear the term as code for “merger.” The truth is, the nonprofit sector has been talking about collaboration for a long, long time, and for many, the word has become hollow because so often, the “collaborations” are forced, inefficient, for show only, or fail to result in any meaningful action or results.
“The reality of the current funding system for nonprofits is that these organizations find themselves competing against the very organizations with whom they might collaborate. To consider teaming up with a competitor requires a whole new way of thinking and behaving. It requires developing trust, which takes time, and additional organizational capacity, and time and capacity are as scarce to nonprofit leaders as capital. It also means breaking down the silos and “turf” that a competitive funding environment creates. Nonprofit leaders rarely have the luxury to step back and think through the “sweet spots” of potential collaboration – areas where time and effort put into coordinating with others in a strategic way could result in concrete “returns” for the organization and the population served.
“Yet research in the last few years shows that collaborating, and more specifically, partnering with more than one organization to create a network for change, can allow nonprofits to have much greater impact than they could ever have on their own….”
An excerpt.
“It seems that almost everywhere you go these days, nonprofit and foundation leaders alike are talking about ways to foster and increase collaboration. In these difficult times, when resources seem to be vanishing while the demand for services continues to increase, it makes sense that organizations consider working together to make available resources go further and perhaps achieve greater results.
“In principle, everyone wants to collaborate, but the reality of making it happen is extremely tough. Collaboration can be a loaded word. Today, when funders talk about “collaborating,” nonprofits sometimes hear the term as code for “merger.” The truth is, the nonprofit sector has been talking about collaboration for a long, long time, and for many, the word has become hollow because so often, the “collaborations” are forced, inefficient, for show only, or fail to result in any meaningful action or results.
“The reality of the current funding system for nonprofits is that these organizations find themselves competing against the very organizations with whom they might collaborate. To consider teaming up with a competitor requires a whole new way of thinking and behaving. It requires developing trust, which takes time, and additional organizational capacity, and time and capacity are as scarce to nonprofit leaders as capital. It also means breaking down the silos and “turf” that a competitive funding environment creates. Nonprofit leaders rarely have the luxury to step back and think through the “sweet spots” of potential collaboration – areas where time and effort put into coordinating with others in a strategic way could result in concrete “returns” for the organization and the population served.
“Yet research in the last few years shows that collaborating, and more specifically, partnering with more than one organization to create a network for change, can allow nonprofits to have much greater impact than they could ever have on their own….”
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Catholic Schools Work
Which is why they are often funded very well, even by atheists, as this story from the Philanthropy Roundtable magazine notes.
An excerpt.
“Robert W. Wilson speaks with a calm, almost gentle, voice. With his wire rim glasses and closely cropped gray beard, Wilson could easily be mistaken for a senior professor at a small liberal arts college. But Wilson is not an academic. He is a legendarily successful Wall Street investor. Retired since 1986, the 83-year-old Wilson now devotes much of his time to philanthropy.
“Among his many achievements, Wilson is the single largest benefactor of Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of New York. Since 2007, he has donated over $30 million to inner-city Catholic education.
“He is also an atheist.
“I remember the first time I had lunch with Cardinal Egan,” says Wilson, a touch impishly. “We were finishing up, and he said, ‘Well, now that you’ve given all this money to our schools, I should try to convert you.’ I said to him, ‘Well, Cardinal, if you do, I suppose I should try to convert you. The only problem is that if I succeed, you’ll lose your job.’”
“Wilson belongs to an elite order: non-Catholic donors who are the patron saints of inner-city Catholic schools.
“It Was Just a Form Letter”
“I never gave money to educational institutions until 2007,” says Wilson. “Most of the rich people I know were already giving a lot of money to education—charter schools, private schools, colleges, universities. I decided that there were plenty of people in this field. I chose to direct my resources elsewhere.”
“Wilson plans to give away 70 percent of his net worth before he dies. “My primary interest has been conservation,” Wilson told Portfolio.com in December 2007. He is drawn to “the idea that but for my money, this building or piece of land or that animal would be gone.” Wilson describes himself as a “substantial donor” to the World Monuments Fund, the Nature Conservancy, and the Wildlife Conservation Society. Over the last 10 years, his contributions to charity have totaled about $500 million; to reach his goal, he believes he will need to give away another $100 million or so.
“Wilson’s philanthropy is born of a fortune he earned in a long and storied career on Wall Street. He started investing in 1949 with a $15,000 loan from his parents. Middling returns marred his first years. Around 1963, he began investing in jet aircraft technology and commercial carriers. From there, he enjoyed a series of spectacular successes. By the time he retired at age 59, he was worth $225 million.
“Wilson was a masterful hedger whose career has been compared to those of George Soros and Warren Buffett. “Wilson’s investment strategy was to go both long and short,” notes financial author Brett Fromson. “Long because he believed in the long-term future of America, and short because he never wanted to be wiped out in a downturn.” “I was always net long,” adds Wilson, “because I never wanted to get up in the morning hoping that things would be getting worse.”
“Catholic schools were brought to Wilson’s attention by what must be history’s most outrageously successful direct-mail fundraising letter. “I got this letter from Susan George, the executive director of the Inner-City Scholarship Fund,” Wilson explains. “It was just a form letter from a mass mailing. It pointed out how little Catholic schools cost per student—and how superior their results are.”
An excerpt.
“Robert W. Wilson speaks with a calm, almost gentle, voice. With his wire rim glasses and closely cropped gray beard, Wilson could easily be mistaken for a senior professor at a small liberal arts college. But Wilson is not an academic. He is a legendarily successful Wall Street investor. Retired since 1986, the 83-year-old Wilson now devotes much of his time to philanthropy.
“Among his many achievements, Wilson is the single largest benefactor of Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of New York. Since 2007, he has donated over $30 million to inner-city Catholic education.
“He is also an atheist.
“I remember the first time I had lunch with Cardinal Egan,” says Wilson, a touch impishly. “We were finishing up, and he said, ‘Well, now that you’ve given all this money to our schools, I should try to convert you.’ I said to him, ‘Well, Cardinal, if you do, I suppose I should try to convert you. The only problem is that if I succeed, you’ll lose your job.’”
“Wilson belongs to an elite order: non-Catholic donors who are the patron saints of inner-city Catholic schools.
“It Was Just a Form Letter”
“I never gave money to educational institutions until 2007,” says Wilson. “Most of the rich people I know were already giving a lot of money to education—charter schools, private schools, colleges, universities. I decided that there were plenty of people in this field. I chose to direct my resources elsewhere.”
“Wilson plans to give away 70 percent of his net worth before he dies. “My primary interest has been conservation,” Wilson told Portfolio.com in December 2007. He is drawn to “the idea that but for my money, this building or piece of land or that animal would be gone.” Wilson describes himself as a “substantial donor” to the World Monuments Fund, the Nature Conservancy, and the Wildlife Conservation Society. Over the last 10 years, his contributions to charity have totaled about $500 million; to reach his goal, he believes he will need to give away another $100 million or so.
“Wilson’s philanthropy is born of a fortune he earned in a long and storied career on Wall Street. He started investing in 1949 with a $15,000 loan from his parents. Middling returns marred his first years. Around 1963, he began investing in jet aircraft technology and commercial carriers. From there, he enjoyed a series of spectacular successes. By the time he retired at age 59, he was worth $225 million.
“Wilson was a masterful hedger whose career has been compared to those of George Soros and Warren Buffett. “Wilson’s investment strategy was to go both long and short,” notes financial author Brett Fromson. “Long because he believed in the long-term future of America, and short because he never wanted to be wiped out in a downturn.” “I was always net long,” adds Wilson, “because I never wanted to get up in the morning hoping that things would be getting worse.”
“Catholic schools were brought to Wilson’s attention by what must be history’s most outrageously successful direct-mail fundraising letter. “I got this letter from Susan George, the executive director of the Inner-City Scholarship Fund,” Wilson explains. “It was just a form letter from a mass mailing. It pointed out how little Catholic schools cost per student—and how superior their results are.”
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Nonprofit News
As the for profit model for news organizations struggles, the nonprofit model becomes more viable; and this report by the Los Angeles Times, that a nonprofit news organization has won a Pulitzer Prize, signifies the steady advancement of the nonprofit model.
An excerpt.
“The nonprofit investigative news organization ProPublica won a Pulitzer Prize on Monday for its detailed look at the actions of an overwhelmed staff at a New Orleans hospital during Hurricane Katrina, underscoring the growing impact of nontraditional business models in the struggling newspaper industry.
“The majority of Pulitzers went to mainstream newspapers -- the Washington Post won four and the New York Times won three.
“ProPublica's investigative reporting win for a story by Sheri Fink was co-published by the New York Times Magazine. ProPublica, which began publishing in June 2008, produces material free of charge to news organizations, many that have slashed their own investigative staff in the face of declining ad revenue and newsroom cuts.
“ProPublica also was a finalist for a project done with the Los Angeles Times that exposed gaps in California's oversight of dangerous and incompetent nurses.”
An excerpt.
“The nonprofit investigative news organization ProPublica won a Pulitzer Prize on Monday for its detailed look at the actions of an overwhelmed staff at a New Orleans hospital during Hurricane Katrina, underscoring the growing impact of nontraditional business models in the struggling newspaper industry.
“The majority of Pulitzers went to mainstream newspapers -- the Washington Post won four and the New York Times won three.
“ProPublica's investigative reporting win for a story by Sheri Fink was co-published by the New York Times Magazine. ProPublica, which began publishing in June 2008, produces material free of charge to news organizations, many that have slashed their own investigative staff in the face of declining ad revenue and newsroom cuts.
“ProPublica also was a finalist for a project done with the Los Angeles Times that exposed gaps in California's oversight of dangerous and incompetent nurses.”
Monday, April 12, 2010
Open Government
An open and transparent government is a dream for many, and the Sunlight Foundation’s mission is to encourage that, but lately, they are having some disappointments regarding transparency from the new administration, as this recent post from their blog indicates.
An excerpt.
“Sigh. I feel like a disappointed parent.
“When the details of the Open Government Directive were announced early last December I was unbelievably excited. Seriously. My long time hope that one day government would get “it” about the importance of putting public information online appeared to have arrived. Government data was going to become available as a default and that was going to start with an “inventory” (government’s word) of the “high value information” (also their words, though less than ideal because who would ever agree what that means?).
“Agencies were supposed to do two things with respect to releasing data: create an inventory of the “high-value information” currently available for download and identify high value information not yet available along with establishing a reasonable timeline for publication of that data online. It was that latter requirement that I salivated over. Certainly there are other important aspects of Open Government — participation and collaboration are values we hold dear at the Sunlight Foundation.
“But yesterday was the day when the rubber was supposed to hit the road on data. For many agencies, they didn’t even get out of the garage.”
An excerpt.
“Sigh. I feel like a disappointed parent.
“When the details of the Open Government Directive were announced early last December I was unbelievably excited. Seriously. My long time hope that one day government would get “it” about the importance of putting public information online appeared to have arrived. Government data was going to become available as a default and that was going to start with an “inventory” (government’s word) of the “high value information” (also their words, though less than ideal because who would ever agree what that means?).
“Agencies were supposed to do two things with respect to releasing data: create an inventory of the “high-value information” currently available for download and identify high value information not yet available along with establishing a reasonable timeline for publication of that data online. It was that latter requirement that I salivated over. Certainly there are other important aspects of Open Government — participation and collaboration are values we hold dear at the Sunlight Foundation.
“But yesterday was the day when the rubber was supposed to hit the road on data. For many agencies, they didn’t even get out of the garage.”
Sunday, April 11, 2010
New Generation of Philanthropists
A look at their environment, from the Wall Street Journal.
An excerpt.
“Her grandfather, Max M. Fisher, founded the Speedway gasoline station chain and gave millions to big causes like the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the United Jewish Appeal.
“Caroline Cummings Rafferty, 29 years old, is being groomed to help run the $235 million Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation in Southfield, Mich. But for now, she is running a tiny $1 million foundation and making gifts of a few thousand dollars to charitable organizations.
“Ms. Cummings Rafferty reflects the struggles facing family philanthropists—one old problem and one new: How do parents foster proper stewardship of family foundations among their children? And with an economic downturn racking charitable giving, how do heirs manage to do more with less?
“U.S. foundations lost nearly $150 billion in assets in 2008, or almost as much as they had given away during the four years prior, according to the Foundation Center, which tracks information. Nearly one in five foundations cut back their funding in 2009 and expects to give less in the next few years.
“Facing a brutal environment, parents have to be especially diligent in imparting skills their children need to carry on the philanthropic tradition. Some, like Ms. Cummings Rafferty's family, set up minifoundations with smaller amounts of money for their heirs to manage. Some parents direct 70% of foundation grants while the remaining 30% go to charities the kids choose. Other families are forming junior boards of directors or foundation committees, where children are put in charge of individual tasks such as developing a foundation Web site.”
An excerpt.
“Her grandfather, Max M. Fisher, founded the Speedway gasoline station chain and gave millions to big causes like the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the United Jewish Appeal.
“Caroline Cummings Rafferty, 29 years old, is being groomed to help run the $235 million Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation in Southfield, Mich. But for now, she is running a tiny $1 million foundation and making gifts of a few thousand dollars to charitable organizations.
“Ms. Cummings Rafferty reflects the struggles facing family philanthropists—one old problem and one new: How do parents foster proper stewardship of family foundations among their children? And with an economic downturn racking charitable giving, how do heirs manage to do more with less?
“U.S. foundations lost nearly $150 billion in assets in 2008, or almost as much as they had given away during the four years prior, according to the Foundation Center, which tracks information. Nearly one in five foundations cut back their funding in 2009 and expects to give less in the next few years.
“Facing a brutal environment, parents have to be especially diligent in imparting skills their children need to carry on the philanthropic tradition. Some, like Ms. Cummings Rafferty's family, set up minifoundations with smaller amounts of money for their heirs to manage. Some parents direct 70% of foundation grants while the remaining 30% go to charities the kids choose. Other families are forming junior boards of directors or foundation committees, where children are put in charge of individual tasks such as developing a foundation Web site.”
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Sacramento’s Nonprofits, Challenges
The economic downturn and the reduction in government funding has created troubles for local nonprofits, as reported by the Sacramento Business Journal.
An excerpt.
“The region’s nonprofits are in greater demand than they have been in many years, but cuts in government funding, high unemployment and companies going out of business have challenged their funding networks.
“At the same time, this crisis is creating opportunities for nonprofits to reinvent how they operate, find funding and appeal to donors.
“We asked 13 local leaders about the impact of the economy and changing dynamics in the philanthropy sector as part of a recent informal discussion hosted and moderated by the Business Journal. The group also talked about how companies are missing marketing opportunities associated with their philanthropy and how nonprofit organizations are having trouble finding good executives and board members.”
An excerpt.
“The region’s nonprofits are in greater demand than they have been in many years, but cuts in government funding, high unemployment and companies going out of business have challenged their funding networks.
“At the same time, this crisis is creating opportunities for nonprofits to reinvent how they operate, find funding and appeal to donors.
“We asked 13 local leaders about the impact of the economy and changing dynamics in the philanthropy sector as part of a recent informal discussion hosted and moderated by the Business Journal. The group also talked about how companies are missing marketing opportunities associated with their philanthropy and how nonprofit organizations are having trouble finding good executives and board members.”
Friday, April 9, 2010
Sacramento’s Giving
According to this story in the Sacramento Business Journal, Sacramento County residents are pretty generous donors, those in the city of Sacramento, less so.
An excerpt.
“There’s been a lengthy debate for years about how generous folks are on the West Coast and, more specifically, in the Sacramento region. Many say the Far West region’s residents would rather spend than donate, compared to the well-chronicled philanthropic efforts on the East Coast and the Midwest.
“Well, guess what? Pacific Coast residents — think California to Washington, along with a few states such as Arizona and Nevada — donated 7.25 percent of their discretionary income in 2004, the most recent information available, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy. That’s one-hundredth of a percentage point less than the Central region, the national leader. The Mountain and East Coast regions gave 6.97 percent and 6.9 percent, respectively.
“However, Sacramentans are a bit more tightfisted when it comes to philanthropy, donating 6.85 percent of their discretionary income in 2004, or $2,431.
“Sacramento County residents were the biggest donors, based on percentage, at 7.18 percent, followed by Yolo, Placer and El Dorado counties. Yolo County residents donated the most at $2,614.”
An excerpt.
“There’s been a lengthy debate for years about how generous folks are on the West Coast and, more specifically, in the Sacramento region. Many say the Far West region’s residents would rather spend than donate, compared to the well-chronicled philanthropic efforts on the East Coast and the Midwest.
“Well, guess what? Pacific Coast residents — think California to Washington, along with a few states such as Arizona and Nevada — donated 7.25 percent of their discretionary income in 2004, the most recent information available, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy. That’s one-hundredth of a percentage point less than the Central region, the national leader. The Mountain and East Coast regions gave 6.97 percent and 6.9 percent, respectively.
“However, Sacramentans are a bit more tightfisted when it comes to philanthropy, donating 6.85 percent of their discretionary income in 2004, or $2,431.
“Sacramento County residents were the biggest donors, based on percentage, at 7.18 percent, followed by Yolo, Placer and El Dorado counties. Yolo County residents donated the most at $2,614.”
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Losing Tax Exemption
The reason the IRS provides a tax exemption to nonprofit organizations is because they provide a public service.
To take away any part of that tax exemption, as might be happening in Boston—along with other cities, like Albany and Baltimore, considering similar policies—unless a case can be made that the nonprofits in question are no longer providing the publics service which earned them nonprofit status, is wrong.
An excerpt from the Boston Globe.
“Boston’s hospitals, universities, and other tax-exempt nonprofits may be asked to contribute tens of millions of dollars more to city coffers to help pay for basic municipal services such as police and public works.
“After 14 months, a mayoral task force has nearly completed its work examining the city’s uneven system of individual agreements with such institutions, under which they voluntarily pay cash and provide services in lieu of property taxes. Some pay millions; others pay significantly less.
“The city is pushing institutions to gradually increase contributions to 25 percent of what they would owe in taxes if they were not exempt, a change that would more than triple the current amounts paid by some of the city’s biggest landowners.
“Hospitals and universities say that higher payments in lieu of property taxes would force them to lay off workers and pass on to students and patients higher tuition and medical costs.
“The new formula, which the city panel will begin finalizing at a meeting today, would seek to increase payments among hospitals and universities alone by almost $25 million over five or more years, according to preliminary figures.
“To soften the blow, officials have suggested that institutions could cover up to 50 percent of their payments by offering community programs such as free prostate cancer screenings in public housing and scholarships for Boston students.”
To take away any part of that tax exemption, as might be happening in Boston—along with other cities, like Albany and Baltimore, considering similar policies—unless a case can be made that the nonprofits in question are no longer providing the publics service which earned them nonprofit status, is wrong.
An excerpt from the Boston Globe.
“Boston’s hospitals, universities, and other tax-exempt nonprofits may be asked to contribute tens of millions of dollars more to city coffers to help pay for basic municipal services such as police and public works.
“After 14 months, a mayoral task force has nearly completed its work examining the city’s uneven system of individual agreements with such institutions, under which they voluntarily pay cash and provide services in lieu of property taxes. Some pay millions; others pay significantly less.
“The city is pushing institutions to gradually increase contributions to 25 percent of what they would owe in taxes if they were not exempt, a change that would more than triple the current amounts paid by some of the city’s biggest landowners.
“Hospitals and universities say that higher payments in lieu of property taxes would force them to lay off workers and pass on to students and patients higher tuition and medical costs.
“The new formula, which the city panel will begin finalizing at a meeting today, would seek to increase payments among hospitals and universities alone by almost $25 million over five or more years, according to preliminary figures.
“To soften the blow, officials have suggested that institutions could cover up to 50 percent of their payments by offering community programs such as free prostate cancer screenings in public housing and scholarships for Boston students.”
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Words and the Work
The work of mission, reaching into yourself and discovering a truth you care enough about to put the rest of your life into bringing it to realization in the public square, is a wonderful way to live--the only way for many of us to live--and using words well in the support of your work, is crucial.
This essay from Public Discourse is about using words well.
An excerpt.
“Marilyn Chandler McEntyre’s new book, Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies, is a warning against industrialized language prevalent in contemporary America, where words “come to us processed like cheese, depleted of nutrients, flattened and packaged, artificially colored and mass marketed.” To combat this, she advocates a strenuous connoisseurship that insists on “useable, flexible, precise, enlivening language.”
“While the author’s Christian commitment is clear throughout—Caring for Words grew out of her 2004 Stone Lectures at Princeton Theological Seminary—the book is focused on the “horizontal” dimension of language, on its primary role as man’s chief social tool. As she puts it, “caring for one another is not entirely separable from caring for words.” The state of English therefore concerns everyone—not just poets and English teachers like herself.
“McEntrye forthrightly identifies the villains: biased journalists and cynical advertisers, entertainers, and politicians. These usual suspects, she says, are the titans of the word industry who have inundated us with cheap language designed not to tell the truth, but to manipulate, evade, or sell. Public language is thus (to adopt McEntyre’s preferred, ecological metaphor) polluted and depleted by “thoughtless hyperbole, unexamined metaphors, slogans and sound bites, grammatical confusion, ungrounded abstractions, overstatement, and blather” which seep malignantly into ordinary speech and thought.
“Polluted and depleted language is obviously an inadequate medium for proper public debate. McEntyre agrees with George Orwell that last use of language leads to foolish thoughts, including foolish thoughts about urgent questions of the common good. When we lose the “subtlety, clarity, and reliability of language, we become more vulnerable to crude exercises of power.”
“McEntyre worries that the prevalence of bad English not only deadens our sensitivity to truth and falsehood but also spoils our taste for language as language, thereby denying us a pleasure “akin to the pleasures of music.” She wants us to be sensitive to euphony, layered meaning and double reference, allusion, ambiguity, and association, to relish words that are “not just meaning or reporting or chronicling or marching in syntactic formation, but performing themselves, sounding, echoing….”
This essay from Public Discourse is about using words well.
An excerpt.
“Marilyn Chandler McEntyre’s new book, Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies, is a warning against industrialized language prevalent in contemporary America, where words “come to us processed like cheese, depleted of nutrients, flattened and packaged, artificially colored and mass marketed.” To combat this, she advocates a strenuous connoisseurship that insists on “useable, flexible, precise, enlivening language.”
“While the author’s Christian commitment is clear throughout—Caring for Words grew out of her 2004 Stone Lectures at Princeton Theological Seminary—the book is focused on the “horizontal” dimension of language, on its primary role as man’s chief social tool. As she puts it, “caring for one another is not entirely separable from caring for words.” The state of English therefore concerns everyone—not just poets and English teachers like herself.
“McEntrye forthrightly identifies the villains: biased journalists and cynical advertisers, entertainers, and politicians. These usual suspects, she says, are the titans of the word industry who have inundated us with cheap language designed not to tell the truth, but to manipulate, evade, or sell. Public language is thus (to adopt McEntyre’s preferred, ecological metaphor) polluted and depleted by “thoughtless hyperbole, unexamined metaphors, slogans and sound bites, grammatical confusion, ungrounded abstractions, overstatement, and blather” which seep malignantly into ordinary speech and thought.
“Polluted and depleted language is obviously an inadequate medium for proper public debate. McEntyre agrees with George Orwell that last use of language leads to foolish thoughts, including foolish thoughts about urgent questions of the common good. When we lose the “subtlety, clarity, and reliability of language, we become more vulnerable to crude exercises of power.”
“McEntyre worries that the prevalence of bad English not only deadens our sensitivity to truth and falsehood but also spoils our taste for language as language, thereby denying us a pleasure “akin to the pleasures of music.” She wants us to be sensitive to euphony, layered meaning and double reference, allusion, ambiguity, and association, to relish words that are “not just meaning or reporting or chronicling or marching in syntactic formation, but performing themselves, sounding, echoing….”
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
American Philanthropy & Government
As government spends more money and creates ever larger deficits, the search for new tax money intensifies and one of the places being looked at is the nonprofit sector, which currently enjoys a tax exemption in most of its formulations, but that tax exemption is being challenged.
Reason Magazine published an interview with Adam Meyerson, of Philanthropy Roundtable, that is illuminating.
An excerpt.
“Americans love to give away money. In 2008, as the economy flailed and the government bailed, we still donated $300 billion to charity, or about $1,000 per person. That figure includes everything from the Bill Gates/Warren Buffett charitable colossus to a bus driver at church dropping a $5 bill in the collection plate.
“One reason for the ongoing frenzy of giving is the fact that Americans do not have to pay federal income taxes on money they hand over to philanthropic organizations. But as budgets get ever tighter, state and federal governments have started scrounging for change in the sofa cushions. In March 2009, spitballing about ways to pay for his health care overhaul, President Barack Obama suggested reducing rich people’s tax deduction for charitable giving.
“The response from the nation’s schools, churches, museums, soup kitchens, and thrift shops was swift and angry. A coalition of charities and other groups concerned with giving—including the Philanthropy Roundtable, an association of foundations and other charitable organizations—sent a strongly worded letter to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) declaring that “with so many Americans relying on the charitable sector, now is simply not the time to jeopardize the charitable gifts that are so important to its strength.
"Obama defended his proposal, arguing that if a donation is “really a charitable contribution, I’m assuming [the tax rate] shouldn’t be a determining factor as to whether you’re giving that $100 to the homeless shelter down the street.” The president also pulled out one of his favorite lines, noting that the tax hike would affect “only 1 percent of the American people,” but then he revealed perhaps more than he intended: “I think it is a realistic way for us to raise some revenue from people who’ve benefited enormously over the last several years. And, you know, ultimately, if we’re going to tackle the serious problems that we’ve got, then, in some cases, those who are more fortunate are going to have to pay a little bit more.”
"If you think that’s just ordinary political boilerplate, remember that Obama wasn’t talking about an income tax or a capital gains tax. He was talking about a tax on money going to charities. The people he wanted to hit with a bigger tax bill are already “paying a little bit more.” They just don’t happen to be sending their money via the White House and Congress.
"The proposal died, but the attitude behind the remarks continues to hover over American philanthropy. Comprehensive tax legislation is expected in 2010, and the revised rules may include new requirements for organizations with tax-exempt status.
The Internal Revenue Service has already been gaining greater oversight of nonprofits in recent years, both by collecting more information about the groups and by increasing application fees.
"At the state level, activists are agitating for laws mandating more diversity on foundation boards and more government control over how and where private philan- thropic dollars are spent. Even when the bills don’t pass, they often scare charities into making accommodations. In California, for example, the Greenlining Institute persuaded the State Assembly to consider the Foundation Diversity and Transparency Act, which would have mandated disclosure about the number of ethnic, sexual, and other minorities on the boards of large foundations and their grant recipients—an explicit step toward mandating quotas. After intense negotiations, the bill was withdrawn, and the state’s 10 largest foundations not coincidentally agreed to spend $20 million through minority-led groups serving minority communities, $10 million on leadership training and technical assistance to minority-led organizations, and additional cash for ongoing research and analysis about the role of minority organizations in the Golden State.
"Adam Meyerson, president of the Philanthropy Roundtable since 2001, writes and speaks frequently about philanthropic freedom, donor intent, and the role of charitable giving in a free society. Senior Editor Katherine Mangu-Ward interviewed Meyerson at the Philanthropy Roundtable’s Washington, D.C., offices in November.
"reason: What do you say to people who object to the fact that tax-exempt donations are going to the opera or to Harvard when there are genuinely needy people in the world?
"Adam Meyerson: We’ve had a long tradition where, so long as they make contributions to genuinely charitable causes, Americans can decide where and how to give away their money voluntarily. We’re talking about voluntary action here. They could spend it on their yachts, but they want to give their money to other institutions.
"Philanthropy and charitable giving are central to American life and have been since the beginning of the republic. Philanthropy supports our churches and synagogues, medical research, health care, the arts, the environment. Our colleges and universities are the best in the world thanks to philanthropy. If you look at almost every major controversial issue, whether that be abortion or gay marriage or stem cell research or marijuana legalization, the philanthropists are on both sides of those issues helping to promote and advance a really robust debate.”
Reason Magazine published an interview with Adam Meyerson, of Philanthropy Roundtable, that is illuminating.
An excerpt.
“Americans love to give away money. In 2008, as the economy flailed and the government bailed, we still donated $300 billion to charity, or about $1,000 per person. That figure includes everything from the Bill Gates/Warren Buffett charitable colossus to a bus driver at church dropping a $5 bill in the collection plate.
“One reason for the ongoing frenzy of giving is the fact that Americans do not have to pay federal income taxes on money they hand over to philanthropic organizations. But as budgets get ever tighter, state and federal governments have started scrounging for change in the sofa cushions. In March 2009, spitballing about ways to pay for his health care overhaul, President Barack Obama suggested reducing rich people’s tax deduction for charitable giving.
“The response from the nation’s schools, churches, museums, soup kitchens, and thrift shops was swift and angry. A coalition of charities and other groups concerned with giving—including the Philanthropy Roundtable, an association of foundations and other charitable organizations—sent a strongly worded letter to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) declaring that “with so many Americans relying on the charitable sector, now is simply not the time to jeopardize the charitable gifts that are so important to its strength.
"Obama defended his proposal, arguing that if a donation is “really a charitable contribution, I’m assuming [the tax rate] shouldn’t be a determining factor as to whether you’re giving that $100 to the homeless shelter down the street.” The president also pulled out one of his favorite lines, noting that the tax hike would affect “only 1 percent of the American people,” but then he revealed perhaps more than he intended: “I think it is a realistic way for us to raise some revenue from people who’ve benefited enormously over the last several years. And, you know, ultimately, if we’re going to tackle the serious problems that we’ve got, then, in some cases, those who are more fortunate are going to have to pay a little bit more.”
"If you think that’s just ordinary political boilerplate, remember that Obama wasn’t talking about an income tax or a capital gains tax. He was talking about a tax on money going to charities. The people he wanted to hit with a bigger tax bill are already “paying a little bit more.” They just don’t happen to be sending their money via the White House and Congress.
"The proposal died, but the attitude behind the remarks continues to hover over American philanthropy. Comprehensive tax legislation is expected in 2010, and the revised rules may include new requirements for organizations with tax-exempt status.
The Internal Revenue Service has already been gaining greater oversight of nonprofits in recent years, both by collecting more information about the groups and by increasing application fees.
"At the state level, activists are agitating for laws mandating more diversity on foundation boards and more government control over how and where private philan- thropic dollars are spent. Even when the bills don’t pass, they often scare charities into making accommodations. In California, for example, the Greenlining Institute persuaded the State Assembly to consider the Foundation Diversity and Transparency Act, which would have mandated disclosure about the number of ethnic, sexual, and other minorities on the boards of large foundations and their grant recipients—an explicit step toward mandating quotas. After intense negotiations, the bill was withdrawn, and the state’s 10 largest foundations not coincidentally agreed to spend $20 million through minority-led groups serving minority communities, $10 million on leadership training and technical assistance to minority-led organizations, and additional cash for ongoing research and analysis about the role of minority organizations in the Golden State.
"Adam Meyerson, president of the Philanthropy Roundtable since 2001, writes and speaks frequently about philanthropic freedom, donor intent, and the role of charitable giving in a free society. Senior Editor Katherine Mangu-Ward interviewed Meyerson at the Philanthropy Roundtable’s Washington, D.C., offices in November.
"reason: What do you say to people who object to the fact that tax-exempt donations are going to the opera or to Harvard when there are genuinely needy people in the world?
"Adam Meyerson: We’ve had a long tradition where, so long as they make contributions to genuinely charitable causes, Americans can decide where and how to give away their money voluntarily. We’re talking about voluntary action here. They could spend it on their yachts, but they want to give their money to other institutions.
"Philanthropy and charitable giving are central to American life and have been since the beginning of the republic. Philanthropy supports our churches and synagogues, medical research, health care, the arts, the environment. Our colleges and universities are the best in the world thanks to philanthropy. If you look at almost every major controversial issue, whether that be abortion or gay marriage or stem cell research or marijuana legalization, the philanthropists are on both sides of those issues helping to promote and advance a really robust debate.”
Monday, April 5, 2010
Tax Exemption & Donations
There are several items a donor should know about the nonprofit organization they choose to support and this link to the IRS Nonprofit site is a good resource.
An excerpt.
IRS Tax Tip 2010-59
Every year, millions of taxpayers donate money to charitable organizations. The IRS has put together the following list of six things you should know about the tax treatment of tax-exempt organizations.
1. Annual returns are made available to the public. Exempt organizations generally must make their annual returns available for public inspection. This also includes the organization’s application for exemption. In addition, an organization exempt under 501(c)(3) must make available any Form 990-T, Exempt Organization Business Income Tax Return. These documents must be made available to any individual who requests them, and must be made available immediately when the request is made in person. If the request is made in writing, an organization has 30 days to provide a copy of the information, unless it makes the information widely available.
2. Donor lists generally are not public information. The list of donors filed with Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax, is specifically excluded from the information required to be made available for public inspection by the exempt organization. There is an exception, private foundations and political organizations must make their donor list available to the public.
3. How to find tax-exempt organizations. The easiest way to find out whether an organization is qualified to receive deductible contributions is to ask them. You can ask to see an organization's exemption letter, which states the Code section that describes the organization and whether contributions made to the organization are deductible. You can also search for organizations qualified to accept deductible contributions in IRS Publication 78, Cumulative List of Organizations and its Addendum, available at IRS.gov. Taxpayers can also confirm an organization’s status by calling the IRS at 877-829-5500.
4. Which organizations may accept charitable contributions. Not all exempt organizations are eligible to receive tax-deductible charitable contributions. Organizations that are eligible to receive deductible contributions include most charities described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and, in some circumstances, fraternal organizations described in section 501(c)(8) or section 501(c)(10), cemetery companies described in section 501(c)(13), volunteer fire departments described in section 501(c)(4), and veterans organizations described in section 501(c)(4) or 501(c)(19).
5. Requirement for organizations not able to accept deductible contributions. If an exempt organization is ineligible to receive tax-deductible contributions, it must disclose that fact when soliciting contributions.
6. How to report inappropriate activities by an exempt organization. If you believe that the activities or operations of a tax-exempt organization are inconsistent with its tax-exempt status, you may file a complaint with the Exempt Organizations Examination Division by completing Form 13909, Tax-Exempt Organization Complaint (Referral) Form. The complaint should contain all relevant facts concerning the alleged violation of tax law. Form 13909 is available at IRS.gov or by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).
An excerpt.
IRS Tax Tip 2010-59
Every year, millions of taxpayers donate money to charitable organizations. The IRS has put together the following list of six things you should know about the tax treatment of tax-exempt organizations.
1. Annual returns are made available to the public. Exempt organizations generally must make their annual returns available for public inspection. This also includes the organization’s application for exemption. In addition, an organization exempt under 501(c)(3) must make available any Form 990-T, Exempt Organization Business Income Tax Return. These documents must be made available to any individual who requests them, and must be made available immediately when the request is made in person. If the request is made in writing, an organization has 30 days to provide a copy of the information, unless it makes the information widely available.
2. Donor lists generally are not public information. The list of donors filed with Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax, is specifically excluded from the information required to be made available for public inspection by the exempt organization. There is an exception, private foundations and political organizations must make their donor list available to the public.
3. How to find tax-exempt organizations. The easiest way to find out whether an organization is qualified to receive deductible contributions is to ask them. You can ask to see an organization's exemption letter, which states the Code section that describes the organization and whether contributions made to the organization are deductible. You can also search for organizations qualified to accept deductible contributions in IRS Publication 78, Cumulative List of Organizations and its Addendum, available at IRS.gov. Taxpayers can also confirm an organization’s status by calling the IRS at 877-829-5500.
4. Which organizations may accept charitable contributions. Not all exempt organizations are eligible to receive tax-deductible charitable contributions. Organizations that are eligible to receive deductible contributions include most charities described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and, in some circumstances, fraternal organizations described in section 501(c)(8) or section 501(c)(10), cemetery companies described in section 501(c)(13), volunteer fire departments described in section 501(c)(4), and veterans organizations described in section 501(c)(4) or 501(c)(19).
5. Requirement for organizations not able to accept deductible contributions. If an exempt organization is ineligible to receive tax-deductible contributions, it must disclose that fact when soliciting contributions.
6. How to report inappropriate activities by an exempt organization. If you believe that the activities or operations of a tax-exempt organization are inconsistent with its tax-exempt status, you may file a complaint with the Exempt Organizations Examination Division by completing Form 13909, Tax-Exempt Organization Complaint (Referral) Form. The complaint should contain all relevant facts concerning the alleged violation of tax law. Form 13909 is available at IRS.gov or by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Great Funding Idea
This article from The Naperville Sun reports on a really great idea—by sharing unused event tickets—for creating some funding for charities.
An excerpt.
“With the professional basketball and hockey seasons reaching their apex, and Chicago's two professional baseball teams poised for 2010, the timing for a new online ticket service couldn't be better. And for those of us who never seem to get the cool seats, a new Naperville-based business is ready to help folks get in the game.
“In mid-February, veteran businessman Kevin Nemetz launched Tix 4 Cause, an online ticket-buying service that he said he once called, "Stub-Hub for the heart."
“Nemetz said he has watched unused tickets go to waste at venues throughout the area, and figured they could be put to a better use.
"Since 2003, I have had the goal and desire to assist charities by creating a Web site that served as a ticket exchange for the donation and sale of unwanted or unused season tickets in sports, music, theater and other entertainment activities," Nemetz said. "You have these corporations and season ticket holders that use about 40 percent of the tickets themselves. The other 40 percent they either give away, sell or eat. And it seemed to me charities could benefit."
“Tix 4 Cause now means those $200 scout seats that may be vacant at U.S. Cellular Field can be filled on a summer's night and a local non-for-profit group or charity can reap the benefits. Nemetz said for a $349 annual membership fee, organizations can join a growing list of other members who will benefit from ticket sales. Early membership and ticket sale action, Nemetz said, has been brisk.
"We already have 35 organizations who are members on the Web site, and about 200 others that are in the pipeline," he said. "We just completed a trip to New York and have a number of groups there we think are going to be interested. In just the five or six weeks we've been up and running, we've moved a total of 58 tickets and only had four that expired. People are already finding out about this, and usually within the first day they are posted, they're gone."
An excerpt.
“With the professional basketball and hockey seasons reaching their apex, and Chicago's two professional baseball teams poised for 2010, the timing for a new online ticket service couldn't be better. And for those of us who never seem to get the cool seats, a new Naperville-based business is ready to help folks get in the game.
“In mid-February, veteran businessman Kevin Nemetz launched Tix 4 Cause, an online ticket-buying service that he said he once called, "Stub-Hub for the heart."
“Nemetz said he has watched unused tickets go to waste at venues throughout the area, and figured they could be put to a better use.
"Since 2003, I have had the goal and desire to assist charities by creating a Web site that served as a ticket exchange for the donation and sale of unwanted or unused season tickets in sports, music, theater and other entertainment activities," Nemetz said. "You have these corporations and season ticket holders that use about 40 percent of the tickets themselves. The other 40 percent they either give away, sell or eat. And it seemed to me charities could benefit."
“Tix 4 Cause now means those $200 scout seats that may be vacant at U.S. Cellular Field can be filled on a summer's night and a local non-for-profit group or charity can reap the benefits. Nemetz said for a $349 annual membership fee, organizations can join a growing list of other members who will benefit from ticket sales. Early membership and ticket sale action, Nemetz said, has been brisk.
"We already have 35 organizations who are members on the Web site, and about 200 others that are in the pipeline," he said. "We just completed a trip to New York and have a number of groups there we think are going to be interested. In just the five or six weeks we've been up and running, we've moved a total of 58 tickets and only had four that expired. People are already finding out about this, and usually within the first day they are posted, they're gone."
Friday, April 2, 2010
Arts Funding
This has traditionally been a difficult area, and the funding from the National Endowment of the Arts was always a blessing, but it has been in a swan dive for awhile and the impact of that, and arts funding in general, has been substantial in Pennsylvania, as reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer.
An excerpt.
“When Rocco Landesman, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, breezed through town early this month ("to learn," as an endowment press official put it), he heard a great deal about "siloing."
“The arts can't "be siloed," said Jane Golden, head of the city's Mural Arts Program. It's important "to eliminate all the silos" that constrain thinking about arts funding, said Jeremy Nowak, head of the Reinvestment Fund, the nonprofit development organization that was one of Landesman's hosts.
“There was not, however, much talk about art making, or those who make it. Art for art's sake? Not at the moment - a time when public funding for individual artists has virtually vanished from Pennsylvania, for the first time in nearly half a century.
“For much of one afternoon, the booted, bearded Landesman toured the Crane Arts building on North American Street - home to dozens of artists and arts organizations - and listened attentively to talk of the arts as an economic engine, the arts as a tool of neighborhood revitalization, the arts as a key to tourism, the arts as linchpin of economic development.
“But none of the city or tourism or development officials at that day's roundtable discussion mentioned the absence of direct federal support for artists. No one brought up the dissolution of Pennsylvania's individual artist fellowships, victims of the fiscal meltdown of 2008.
“Rachel Zimmerman, founder of InLiquid, a visual-artist collective headquartered in the Crane Arts building, did not attend the roundtable but said after Landesman's visit that she finds the absence of fellowships and discussion of them unsettling.
"It seems that culture and art are important as long as they redevelop neighborhoods or have some quantifiable measure," Zimmerman said. "We're continually losing sight of the value of what's created, not just as a means of social or economic change, but as art. It becomes a Band-Aid to fix the ills of society and is not about the art or the artists anymore."
“This has compounded a chronic problem for artists, she said. "We're really struggling."
An excerpt.
“When Rocco Landesman, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, breezed through town early this month ("to learn," as an endowment press official put it), he heard a great deal about "siloing."
“The arts can't "be siloed," said Jane Golden, head of the city's Mural Arts Program. It's important "to eliminate all the silos" that constrain thinking about arts funding, said Jeremy Nowak, head of the Reinvestment Fund, the nonprofit development organization that was one of Landesman's hosts.
“There was not, however, much talk about art making, or those who make it. Art for art's sake? Not at the moment - a time when public funding for individual artists has virtually vanished from Pennsylvania, for the first time in nearly half a century.
“For much of one afternoon, the booted, bearded Landesman toured the Crane Arts building on North American Street - home to dozens of artists and arts organizations - and listened attentively to talk of the arts as an economic engine, the arts as a tool of neighborhood revitalization, the arts as a key to tourism, the arts as linchpin of economic development.
“But none of the city or tourism or development officials at that day's roundtable discussion mentioned the absence of direct federal support for artists. No one brought up the dissolution of Pennsylvania's individual artist fellowships, victims of the fiscal meltdown of 2008.
“Rachel Zimmerman, founder of InLiquid, a visual-artist collective headquartered in the Crane Arts building, did not attend the roundtable but said after Landesman's visit that she finds the absence of fellowships and discussion of them unsettling.
"It seems that culture and art are important as long as they redevelop neighborhoods or have some quantifiable measure," Zimmerman said. "We're continually losing sight of the value of what's created, not just as a means of social or economic change, but as art. It becomes a Band-Aid to fix the ills of society and is not about the art or the artists anymore."
“This has compounded a chronic problem for artists, she said. "We're really struggling."
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Giving Through Others
In a model of reflective and serious philanthropy, Marion Rockefeller Weber shows how giving can be done simply and elegantly, as reported in the Christian Science Monitor.
An excerpt.
“Marion Rockefeller Weber makes many of her philanthropic decisions accompanied by the music of two singing finches, the becalming presence of her Blue Heeler dog, and a cat named Hermione.
“Not exactly the office décor of most philanthropic institutions. Then again, Ms. Weber is not your standard philanthropist.
“Her minor menagerie is housed in her home office, a cottage on a wooded hillside overlooking the Pacific north of San Francisco.
“Her journey here has been one of personal transformation. In the process, she has established a kind of outpost on the frontiers of philanthropic giving, one that puts a premium on intuition, relationships, trust, and discovery.
“Born into wealth, Weber says she has been a philanthropist since age 21, deciding which worthy causes to support among the many that would come her way.
"The table would be like this," she says lifting both hands shoulder high to indicate the stacks of proposals piled high on her living room table.
“It wasn't a pleasant process for her. Later, she took a one-year sabbatical, a time of self-reflection, in which she also made out her will. In the will, she gives her money to "visionary friends and associates" so they can, in turn, give it away.
“And so the idea of giving money with the stipulation that it, in turn, be given away, took root.
“Weber's brand of philanthropic giving has no offices, staff, or bureaucracy. It's called the Flow Fund Circle. Since its inception in 1991, Flow Funders have identified and supported projects all over the world, from orphanages in Uganda to reforestation in Sumatra to organic farming in Ecuador.
“Some 500 projects have been funded, nearly 80 percent of the money flowing outside the United States.”
An excerpt.
“Marion Rockefeller Weber makes many of her philanthropic decisions accompanied by the music of two singing finches, the becalming presence of her Blue Heeler dog, and a cat named Hermione.
“Not exactly the office décor of most philanthropic institutions. Then again, Ms. Weber is not your standard philanthropist.
“Her minor menagerie is housed in her home office, a cottage on a wooded hillside overlooking the Pacific north of San Francisco.
“Her journey here has been one of personal transformation. In the process, she has established a kind of outpost on the frontiers of philanthropic giving, one that puts a premium on intuition, relationships, trust, and discovery.
“Born into wealth, Weber says she has been a philanthropist since age 21, deciding which worthy causes to support among the many that would come her way.
"The table would be like this," she says lifting both hands shoulder high to indicate the stacks of proposals piled high on her living room table.
“It wasn't a pleasant process for her. Later, she took a one-year sabbatical, a time of self-reflection, in which she also made out her will. In the will, she gives her money to "visionary friends and associates" so they can, in turn, give it away.
“And so the idea of giving money with the stipulation that it, in turn, be given away, took root.
“Weber's brand of philanthropic giving has no offices, staff, or bureaucracy. It's called the Flow Fund Circle. Since its inception in 1991, Flow Funders have identified and supported projects all over the world, from orphanages in Uganda to reforestation in Sumatra to organic farming in Ecuador.
“Some 500 projects have been funded, nearly 80 percent of the money flowing outside the United States.”
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