In This Issue:
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$500,000 Federal Grant for Distance Learning & Telemedicine |
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CARE Act Stalled in Conference Committee |
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Nonprofit Mergers (Part 2 of 2) |
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Corporate Scandals and Nonprofits -- A Changing Landscape |
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Featured Links:
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$500,000 Federal Grant for Distance Learning & Telemedicine
Congratulations to the Southeast Interactive Long Distance Learning (SILDL) consortium and the Southeast Area Cooperative in South Dakota! This collaborative group of 16 rural school districts, the University of South Dakota, and Children's Care Hospital and School received funding to add consortium members and update distance learning equipment. We were pleased to work with them to secure needed funding to assure the future of a very successful program!
CARE Act Stalled in Conference Committee
For two years, Congress has attempted to address tax and legal issues of importance to charities and donors.
Deductibility of charitable gifts by non-itemizing taxpayers, the ability to "roll over" IRA assets for charity on a tax-favorable basis, and Federal support for small, community-based nonprofits are just a few of the issues addressed in bills passed by the House and Senate.
We've followed the progress and the setbacks of the proposed CARE Act for over two years. Check out our update page on our web site for the issues that may again derail the legislation. We've also included links to professional association resources as well as links to our analysis of the history and the background issues.
Nonprofit Mergers (Part 2 of 2)
In difficult times, nonprofit organizations are urged to consider merger as a way to combine strengths, achieve operational efficiencies, and become more effective.
Unfortunately, mergers rarely achieve "defensive" goals. According to one author, a merger of nonprofit organizations
results in only a 4% savings in operational overhead expenses. Moreover, these meager savings are gained at the cost of 12-24 months of upheaval in staff, volunteers, and programs. Successful mergers key on magnifying organizational strengths and leveraging access to new markets and new revenue sources.
Last month, we explored the variety of ways nonprofit organizations may work together and grow stronger without merging.
When these other strategies are insufficient, when irresistible forces propel nonprofits toward merger, or when mergers are attractive for mission-related, proactive reasons, there are successful strategies to minimize the upheaval and maximize the productivity and success of the merger process and the merged nonprofit.
Our book reviews page includes a review of Nonprofit Mergers: The Power of Successful Partnerships by Dan H. McCormick. Our work in
facilitating nonprofit mergers has been helped immensely by the advice and perspectives in this book. We have experienced with our clients first-hand the value of an open, inclusive nonprofit merger process that runs contrary to the popular perceptions of for-profit merger negotiations as secret, closed affairs.
Nonprofit mergers should never be a first reaction to a crisis, but they have the potential to improve services and change lives in communities when performed appropriately.
Corporate Scandals and Nonprofits -- A Changing Landscape
Last year, Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, strengthening the public accountability of executives and directors of corporations.
What is less well-known is that certain provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley also apply to executives and directors of nonprofits. These provisions, coupled with existing nonprofit governance standards and evolving IRS regulations ("intermediate sanctions") governing conflicts of interest and private benefit, signal
significant changes in the legal, financial, and ethical responsibilities of board members and nonprofit managers.
We recommend strongly that all nonprofit organizations review their board recruitment & training, their conflict of interest policies, and related areas to assure donors, regulators, and the media & public that the nonprofit is acting responsibly in the public interest.
Our board training and executive consulting services are designed to help your organization develop the systems, policies, and practices to respond to the changing accountability landscape.
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