September 15, 2011, 6:10 pm
A new survey of foundation leaders underscores the strain many nonprofits are under because of state budget cuts.
About 95 percent of 75 leaders surveyed said some of their grantees had been affected by the cuts, and 58 percent said most or all of them had. One-quarter said some grantees had been forced to suspend operations either temporarily or permanently.
Almost half said they had awarded grants or provided other assistance in direct response to reductions in state aid, and one-third said that state fiscal crises had influenced their 2011 spending plans.
“Foundation budgets are dwarfed by government spending,” said Steven Lawrence, director of research at the Foundation Center, which conducted the survey among members of its Grantmaker Leadership Panel. “Nevertheless, many foundations are trying to help keep the doors open at nonprofits until the state budget crises pass….
August 19, 2011, 10:47 am
New Jersey regulators have decided not to pursue a proposal to require charities to tell donors they can earmark their contributions for specific programs, an idea that had drawn strong criticism from nonprofit leaders.
Thomas R. Calcagni, director of the state Division of Consumer Affairs, which drew up the proposal, said commenters had pointed out “the cost and difficulty in implementing such a concept.” He said his agency would work with nonprofits to explore alternative ways to educate donors about their right to designate how their money is spent.
The draft plan would have required charities with at least $250,000 in annual contributions to provide forms allowing donors to specify which programs their money should pay for—and to tell them that any undesignated money could go to administrative and fund-raising costs. The proposal would have applied to telephone or written …
July 20, 2011, 5:13 pm
New Jersey regulators have proposed a rule that would require charities to tell donors that they can earmark their money for specific programs.
The proposal aims to ensure that donors aren’t being misled by solicitations that highlight programs that may actually get little of the money that is raised.
But it is causing concern at nonprofits in the state, which say that it would be an administrative burden and curtail the ability of charities to decide how best to spend their money.
The proposal, which would apply to charities with at least $250,000 in annual contributions, would require groups to offer pledge or payment forms that allow donors to specify how their money should be spent.
Nonprofits would also have to disclose to donors that their money could be used to pay for administrative and fund-raising costs if they don’t make a choice. It would apply only to…
June 20, 2011, 10:01 pm
Nonprofits that receive federal money were relieved when Washington narrowly averted a government shutdown over a budget impasse last spring.
Nonprofits in Minnesota are now sweating out their own version of a budget showdown.
Minnesota’s state government could close if the Democratic governor, Mark Dayton, and Republican-led Legislature fail to reach a budget deal before July 1.
The two sides are so far apart that nonprofits are preparing for the worst. The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits has been holding a series of workshops across the state to give charities advice on issues like financial planning, emergency loans, and crisis communications in case their government money dries up.
The group is also pressing government officials to contain the damage.
Jon Pratt, the council’s executive director, sent a letter on Monday to a state district court judge who is considering…
June 2, 2011, 10:55 am
The federal government has told Indiana that its new law barring Planned Parenthood from getting Medicaid money violates federal rules, according to the Indianapolis Star.
The Department of Health and Human Services said in a letter to state officials that states cannot choose where recipients of Medicaid receive their care, it writes.
The decision could mean Indiana will lose federal Medicaid dollars if it does not change the law, the paper writes. A spokesman for the Indiana attorney general told the Star that his office would examine its options, “but we will continue to defend the statute.”
Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, called the letter “a strong rebuke to Indiana” and serves as a warning to other states, the newspaper reported. But Sue Swayze, legislative director at Indiana Right to Life, said the Obama administration was…
May 31, 2011, 1:50 pm
Gov. Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas, has eliminated the state’s Arts Commission as part of an effort to slash state spending by 6 percent, the Associated Press reports. That makes Kansas the only state without a unit to channel government money to arts and culture groups, says the advocacy group Americans for the Arts.
Mr. Brownback vetoed a line item in the Legislature’s state budget that had set aside $689,000 for the arts commission, saying: “The arts will continue to thrive in Kansas when funded by private donations, and I intend to personally involve myself in efforts to make this happen,” the Associated Press writes. He proposes to replace the state agency with a state-subsidized private foundation to promote the arts.
Robert Lynch, president of Americans for the Arts, said in a statement that Kansas will now be ineligible for matching grants from the National…
May 23, 2011, 10:37 am
The North Carolina House of Representatives has approved a bill that would require nonprofit organizations that receive government money to provide financial statements to anyone who makes a written request, says the Wilmington StarNews.
The bill—introduced by Rep. Carolyn Justice, a Republican—follows a controversy over a nonprofit group that received city and county money to plan the commissioning of a ship but was slow to say how it was spent. It would require nonprofits to give details about how much government money they received and how they used it.
A couple of legislators expressed concern that the bill did not address for-profit companies as well.
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March 24, 2011, 9:15 pm
To Steve Rothschild, a nonprofit leader in the Twin Cities, the writing is on the wall: As states face mounting health-care costs and lower tax revenue because the number of older Americans is growing so fast, they will have less and less money to spend on nonprofit groups that provide social services.
Philanthropy can’t fully cover the gap, he says, so that leaves one untapped revenue source—private investors.
With that in mind, Mr. Rothschild helped devise a plan, now being considered by the Minnesota Legislature, to raise money for state programs by issuing bonds that would offer investors a 4-percent return on investment.
The state would use the money to pay nonprofit providers that provide job training, help addicts kick their habits, or other such services—but only if they produced specific results that would save the state money. For example, helping people find…
March 8, 2011, 10:58 am
Nonprofits in North Carolina are breathing easier after a state lawmaker pulled a bill that would have barred them from getting state money if their administrative costs exceeded 15 percent of their budget, the Winston-Salem Journal writes.
However, the bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Larry Brown, a Republican, said the state would still seek more reporting and lower administrative costs from nonprofits that get government money, the newspaper says.
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March 7, 2011, 9:36 am
Most of the news from Wisconsin has focused on Gov. Scott Walker’s efforts to cut spending by curtailing the collective-bargaining rights of public employees.
But Mr. Walker’s new budget proposal also takes a bite out of the state’s arts budget, the Wisconsin State Journal reports.
The proposed budget would slash spending on the state arts board and end a program that sets aside a small percentage of the money spent to remodel or build certain state buildings for public art, the newspaper reports.
Tell us what’s going on in your state. Contact Suzanne Perry to share your story.
State Watch tracks how state and local budgets and policies affect the nonprofit world. Suzanne Perry, a senior editor at The Chronicle covering government issues, seeks ideas and examples for this blog from all 50 states. To share what’s happening in your state, e-mail her or connect with her on Twitter.
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