Regional Economic Development Council Awards

Regional Economic Development Council Awards

A list with descriptions of 2012's council awards.

Click Here

Data Are Transforming Philanthropy and the Social Economy

Data Are Transforming Philanthropy and the Social Economy

Lucy Bernholz Joins Forces With GrantCraft, Predicts Big Shifts in 2013

New York, NY — January 7, 2013. A GrantCraft publication released today,Philanthropy and the Social Economy: Blueprint 2013, written by leading philanthropy scholar Lucy Bernholz, captures the changing landscape of what it means to use private resources for the public good. No longer the purview of foundations and nonprofits alone, philanthropy is now defined by an array of increasingly diverse activities, such as impact investing, social businesses, peer networks, and crowdfunding. The Blueprint outlines how these and other innovations are transforming the "social economy."

The fourth edition of the Blueprint has joined the suite of materials in GrantCraft — a joint project of the New York-based Foundation Center and Brussels-based European Foundation Centre — which taps the collective knowledge of funders to share insights to help them hone their craft. The analysis and forecasting showcased in the Blueprint provides the GrantCraft community with keen observations about the current landscape, emerging trends, and important breakthroughs likely in the year ahead.

Bernholz notes that the big shifts that matter for donors and "doers" are data-related, and she provides more than a dozen examples of foundations embracing data. Looking into the future, she sees data as transformative for philanthropy, in terms of both practice and policy. Indeed, Bernholz asserts that the use, ownership, and access rules of data will be as definitional for the social economy in the 21st century as the charitable tax deduction was for nonprofits in the 20th century.

"I’m hopeful the Blueprint can contribute to a global discussion about philanthropy, nonprofits, and how we use our private resources for public benefit," said Lucy Bernholz, visiting scholar at Stanford University’s Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society and author of Blueprint 2013. "There are big changes ahead, and theBlueprint gives readers a heads-up on the most meaningful trends."

In this year’s report, Bernholz includes a scorecard for the previous year’s predictions and a list of 2013 forecasts covering crowdfunding, social impact bonds, and political advocacy. She also points out the catchiest philanthropy-related buzzwords of the year and lists possible "wildcard" world events — legislation, scandals, or disasters — that have the potential to mitigate or accelerate the timing of big shifts in the social economy.

"The Blueprint serves as a finger on the pulse of the social economy," said Lisa Philp, vice president for strategic philanthropy at the Foundation Center. "Lucy’s insights about the changing nature of philanthropy have become required reading for funders and anyone concerned with aligning resources toward the greater good."

Throughout 2013, Bernholz will explore the ideas in the Blueprint, as well as trends in Europe and other regions of the world, in an ongoing conversation atField Notes, the GrantCraft blog, as well as on her own blog, Philanthropy2173.

Philanthropy and the Social Economy: Blueprint 2013 can be downloaded for free at www.grantcraft.org.

About the Foundation Center
Established in 1956, the Foundation Center is the leading source of information about philanthropy worldwide. Through data, analysis, and training, it connects people who want to change the world to the resources they need to succeed. The Center maintains the most comprehensive database on U.S. and, increasingly, global grantmakers and their grants — a robust, accessible knowledge bank for the sector. It also operates research, education, and training programs designed to advance knowledge of philanthropy at every level. Thousands of people visit the Center's web site each day and are served in its five regional library/learning centers and its network of more than 470 funding information centers located in public libraries, community foundations, and educational institutions nationwide and around the world. For more information, please visit foundationcenter.org or call  (212) 620-4230.

About the European Foundation Centre
The European Foundation Centre, founded in 1989, is an international membership association representing public-benefit foundations and corporate funders active in philanthropy in Europe, and beyond. The Centre develops and pursues activities in line with its four key objectives: creating an enabling legal and fiscal environment; documenting the foundation landscape; building the capacity of foundation professionals; and promoting collaboration, both among foundations and between foundations and other actors. Emphasising transparency and best practice, all members sign up to and uphold the European Foundation Centre Principles of Good Practice. For more information, please visit www.efc.be.

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For the Full Online Article Click Here

Statement on Fiscal Cliff Deal

NYCON's Statement on the "Fiscal Cliff" Deal and Implications for New York State's Nonprofits  

The New York Council of Nonprofits, along with colleagues nationwide, expresses mixed views about the passage of the "American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012" (H.R.8, as amended).

NYCON applauds Congress for the strong bipartisan vote in passing a compromise bill to avert certain immediate threats posed by the fiscal cliff. We thank those elected officials and staff members on Capitol Hill and at the White House who worked around the clock to make this compromise possible and for maintaining incentives for charitable giving for most Americans. As negotiations continue on the now-postponed sequestration cuts and on the debt ceiling, we encourage Congress and the President to recognize how essential these incentives are for the work charitable nonprofits perform in every community throughout the country.

However, the New York Council of Nonprofits also would like to express deep concern that Congress and the President have failed to resolve the pending across-the-board cuts of $54.6 billion from domestic spending programs that will touch virtually every person and every community in America.  

Federal policymakers have failed to recognize that the arbitrary sequestration cuts to domestic programs will reduce funding without reducing the underlying human needs, thereby increasing demands on states, local governments, and nonprofits in local communities while also decreasing resources to provide needed services. Too many policymakers apparently are unaware that federal funding actually flows to the states and localities to deliver basic human services. Often these services are delivered through contracts with nonprofits because governments have found charitable nonprofits to be more efficient and effective, in part because they are mission-driven rather than profit-driven. After five years of serving so many more for so much longer with so much less, America's charitable nonprofits are past the breaking point. 

 

Kicking the can down the road means kicking those who are already down and struggling to get back up. We must keep up the pressure on Congress and the President to stop the punitive and arbitrary cuts and get to work on continuing our economic recovery.

To learn and do more, NYCON encourages our members to visit the National Council of Nonprofits website at www.councilofnonprofits.org.

For the full article click here.

The State of the Nonprofit Sector Survey

Participate Now: The Nonprofit Finance Fund Releases
"2013 State of the Sector Survey"

Beginning today, the Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF)is conducting its 5th Annual National Survey examining the current state of the nonprofit sector from a financial perspective and we hope that you will add your voice.  

The survey is anonymous and takes only 10 to 15 minutes to fill out.  

It will collect data on important financial and management issues facing the nonprofit sector. (Take a look at the 2012 results, an interactive survey analyzer, and media attention here.)

To take the 2013 survey, please click

HERE before February 15^th.

Also, please do pass on the link above to other nonprofit managers you know-the more survey respondents, the more representative and accurate the findings will be.

NFF will analyze the results and provide them to everyone in late March.

Also, all survey respondents who choose to give their contact information will receive the results directly. The findings, and the comparison to previous years' findings, will help identify the most critical areas of need in the sector.

If you have already filled out the 2013 survey, thank you for supporting this data gathering effort!

2012 Nonprofit Organizations Salary and Benefits Report

The information in this report will give you the non-profit salary range for nearly 254 positions in the nonprofit sector across the country.   PURCHASE NOW  NYCON Members can use discount code ny25offny. Take advantage of NYCON's NEW Membership Benefit: "Budgeting & Cash Flow Toolkits" Designed with the needs of the small to medium sized nonprofit in mind, this is a "fool proof" tool to develop a streamlined, compliant and easy to understand budget. For more information just click here.

Idealware: Helping Nonprofits Make Smart Software Decisions

Nonprofit Technology Survey

How much do nonprofits budget for technology annually? How effectively do nonprofits feel they are applying technology to fundraising for their cause? To find out the answers to these and other key questions about nonprofit technology practices, we're helping to distribute a  survey created by NTEN, a membership organization of nonprofit technology professionals. 

Please participate in the survey here.

The survey will take about 10-15 minutes to complete.

Everyone who takes the survey before December 21st will be invited to enter a drawing for a $500 Amazon Gift Card.

This survey is intended for the person at your nonprofit organization most likely to manage technology and/or staffing decisions. Not you? Please forward the survey to the person who is.

If you are a consultant or provider who works with nonprofits, please forward this invitation on to your nonprofit clients.

Please take the survey online here.

NTEN is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides education and resources regarding effective technology management in the nonprofit sector. All responses will remain anonymous and only be reported in aggregate. A report based on the findings from this survey will be made available in the first half of 2013, as a free resource for the nonprofit sector.

Donors behind front groups would face new rules under attorney general's plan

Lifting veil of big givers

By Jimmy Vielkind

ALBANY — Hoping to prevent the spread of front groups in New York elections, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman will begin requiring some nonprofit groups that spend in state races to disclose their donors.
Since the Supreme Court's 2009 Citizens United ruling, elections at the state and federal levels have featured more spending by outside groups boosting or attacking candidates in television advertisements. The court said this spending, often fueled by wealthy individuals and corporations, couldn't be limited.
But various state entities and officials in New York and elsewhere have been hunting for ways to beef up disclosure requirements, hoping some donors would be more reluctant to give.
Schneiderman's spokesman, James Freedland, said the move would "bring much-needed transparency and accountability to protect the integrity of New York's democracy."
The attorney general is targeting 501-c-4 nonprofit groups, including federally active groups like Americans for Prosperity, which are already regulated by his office if they have substantial operations in the state. The first-term Democrat sent letters to several groups earlier this summer inquiring about their activities.
According to a proposed rule change filed Tuesday, the attorney general's office would expand annual filing requirements to include the amount of money used for elections, and what percentage of a organization's overall budget it represents.
Groups like AFP that are active in federal races already disclose their spending to the Federal Election Commission, and the new rule does not require that they reveal their donors.
A group spending over $10,000 in a given year on elections for state and local offices or on a local ballot issue, such as a constitutional amendment to legalize casino gambling or an override vote for a property tax cap would have to reveal anyone who gives more than $100.
The proposed rule also defines election spending more broadly than recent rules adopted by the State Board of Elections, which principally governs candidates and political committees, or the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, which covers lobbying activity.
The BOE only forces disclosure if 501-c-4 groups explicitly support or oppose a given candidate. A Virginia-based group called Common Sense Principles skirted this definition by spending thousands of dollars attacking Democratic candidates for the state Senate while avoiding so-called "magic words." The proposed rule would govern any advertising within six months of an election where a candidate, party or issue is clearly defined.
JCOPE's regulations, adopted last month, only apply to people who donated more than $5,000 a year. It oversees many 501-c-4 groups that principally spend money to support or oppose pending legislation.
The new rules could capture several organizations that may be active supporting or opposing the state's expansion of Las Vegas-style casino gambling, which if approved by the Legislature could end up on the ballot in November 2013. That includes the Committee to Save New York, an alliance of real estate and business groups as well as a private sector labor coalition formed in 2010 to support Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as well as other interests funded by casino developers or Indian tribes.
Michael McKeon, a CSNY spokesman, said his group would comply with the regulations but it was "too hypothetical" to say how it might affect its activities.
James Featherstonhaugh, a stalwart lobbyist and part owner of the Saratoga Casino, said he welcomed the new rules. They would not apply to his New York Gaming Association, which represents already-legal slot parlors and is pushing for the state to grant them expanded gaming.
"We like to know who's on the other side of the court," he said.
Schneiderman's proposal comes as Democrats, including Cuomo, push for reforms to state campaign finance laws. Several legislators held a news conference Tuesday to say these changes should include a system for taxpayer matching funds for campaigns. Republicans have opposed that idea, but a new bipartisan coalition poised to assume control of the state Senate has improved its political chances at the same time it has stoked fears that lawmakers might settle for a half-loaf measure without the public financing component.
"We've got to have a robust and comprehensive reform, and any partial reform is not going to change the way Albany operates," said Karen Scharff, executive director of Citizen Action, a left-leaning advocacy group.
Schneiderman's proposed rules will be officially published Dec. 26 and are subject to public comment through March. They do not require a vote of the Legislature, Schneiderman's aides contend, because they fall within the attorney general's existing regulatory authority.
Michael West, a legal adviser to the New York Council of Nonprofits, said the new rules were well-intentioned, but might end up hurting smaller organizations.
"If you're a little advocacy organization, you might not be thinking about every expenditure and whether it needs to be covered," he said. "And it borders on an abuse of privacy. ... I understand why you might want that information ... but there are donors out there who just happen to work for somebody, care about a cause and write a check — it makes me a bit uncomfortable."
Good-government groups, though, will likely embrace the measure.
"It basically prevents wealthy donors from hiding behind these placid names," said Common Cause Executive Director Susan Lerner.

To see the online article as well as images from the conference that took place Tue. Dec. 11 click here.

Nonprofits and the ‘Fiscal Cliff’: What Lies Ahead?

A Chronicle Live Discussion

Nonprofits are scrambling to persuade Congress to avoid making spending cuts and tax changes that would hurt donors and the people charities serve.

But how can your organization make its voice heard during the debate surrounding the fiscal cliff? 

View this live discussion that explains what might happen over the next few weeks and months and show you step by step how to influence budget debates on Capitol Hill and in state capitols across the country.

Click Here for the Discussion

The Guests:

Tim Delaney, is chief executive of the National Council of Nonprofits.

Patrick Lester is director of federal fiscal policy for OMB Watch. Read Mr. Lester's analysis,Mitigating the Impact of a Temporary Sequester.