Crusading Against Cutbacks in a Rocky Economy

May 04, 2008

Crusading Against Cutbacks in a Rocky Economy

As local governments face increasingly tight budgets, many nonprofit groups are scrambling to keep money they receive from government agencies.

In California, charities in Santa Clara last year managed to stave off a major budget cut in the money that the county provides for services to the needy.

The Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits formed an unusual alliance with a local union that represents about 1,000 county workers who could have lost their jobs if the government cut spending. They argued to county supervisors that the cuts would cause “major disruption to our community systems of care that will force clients to more expensive inpatient, emergency, and other institutional care.”

Over nine months, the charities and workers attended more than 50 strategy sessions, public hearings, and one-on-one meetings with policy makers, county department heads, and elected officials, according to Patricia Gardner, the nonprofit council’s executive director. In the end, they persuaded the county to restore $18-million of the $20-million that it initially planned to cut

Ms. Gardner says the grass-roots effort never would never have worked if the council hadn’t spent the past few years building strong relations with county agencies and government officials. What’s more, she say, the charities and labor union all agreed on a list of programs it consider most in need of money.

“We weren’t saying ‘Choose me, choose me,’ but this was tricky because each organization was used to advocating for themselves,” Ms. Gardner says. “But if we did that, we would be fighting over the same dollar, when what we really need is $2.”

— Holly Hall

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