Philanthropy Front and Center - New York

Call for Applications: 2012-13 NYC Combined Federal Campaign

Each year, the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), the only authorized fundraising drive in the federal workplace, solicits contributions from federal employees to help support a broad variety of charitable organizations. Participating employees are able to choose which voluntary organizations they would like to fund, and throughout the year, their charitable contributions are collected automatically through payroll deduction.

In 2010, New York City’s fundraising drive raised more than $2.588 million to help local, national, and international nonprofits. The 2011-12 campaign is currently underway, and CFC has just announced that it will soon be taking applications from local federations and independent charitable agencies interested in being a part of the New York City campaign for 2012-13.

If your organization would like to be among the charitable groups supported through the Combined Federal Campaign for 2012-13, you must submit a written application between Monday February 6, 2012 and Tuesday, March 6, 2012. Application information can be found on the CFC-NYC web site, and you can read more about how the campaign works here. When your application is completed and signed, mail it to:

NYC Combined Federal Campaign
c/o United Way of NYC
2 Park Avenue, 2nd floor
New York, NY 10016
Attn: Mary Ann Sallas

If you have any questions during the application process, contact Mary Ann Sallas, CFC Director, at msallas@uwnyc.org or 212-251-4015.

Tracy Kaufman
Foundation Center-New York

Next Week at the Foundation Center: January 31-February 4

Grantseeker Training 
Proposal Writing Seminar
Thursday, February 2
Cost: $195

Scholarships to attend our Grantseeker Training Seminars are available for staff of New York City-based nonprofit organizations. Learn more here.

Free Programs
Ready, Get Set, Raise! Preparing For Your First Campaign
Wednesday, February 1, 5:30-7:30 pm
Are you thinking that your nonprofit is not ready to launch a major campaign? It probably is more ready than you think! This presentation will let you see how you can build on that readiness and how successful organizations prepared their campaigns.

Free Classes
Introduction to Corporate Giving
Tuesday, January 31, 1:00-2:00 pm

You Got the Grant! Now What?
Tuesday, January 31, 3:00-4:00 pm

Grantseeking Basics
Wednesday, February 1, 1:00-2:30 pm

Introduction to Finding Funders and Guide to Philanthropy In/Sight®
Wednesday, February 1, 3:00-4:30 pm

Proposal Writing Basics in Spanish: Principios de la redacción de propuestas
Saturday, February 4, 11:00 am-12:30 pm

Proposal Budgeting Basics in Spanish: Elementos básicos del presupuesto de un proyecto
Saturday, February 4, 2:00-3:30 pm

Additional seminars, classes, and events through March are posted on the library's web calendar on GrantSpace.

New York Library/Learning Center
Our library/learning center is open to all; appointments are not necessary. We offer access free of charge to:

• Foundation Directory Online Professional 
  
• Foundation Grants to Individuals Online
• Other funding databases (including WealthEngine)
• A specialized book and periodicals collection for nonprofit and individual grantseekers
• Expert help in using these resources

Hours
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday
10:00 am-5:00 pm

Wednesday
10:00 am-8:00 pm

See our web site for directions and library policies. Learn more about us at New York Library News.

The IRS Releases New Search Engine for Charities and Other News

Revocation of tax-exempt status and reinstatement... a revised Form 990 for 2011... a new Search Charities tool! There is a lot happening in the Exempt Organizations Division of the Internal Revenue Service, and Lois G. Lerner, director of the division, explained some of it during her January 26 webinar, A Conversation with Lois Lerner. The program was hosted by the department of Public Policy and Government Affairs of Independent Sector and featured a brief presentation and an extended Q&A.

Here is what we learned:

2011 Form 990
The 2011 Form 990 and instructions have been released online. They contain changes to several schedules - find out what the re-designs are here. (Use "Revision Date" to toggle to 2011 changes.)

Ms. Lerner urged listeners to provide comments on the new 990 and let us know that the Form 990 will continue to evolve. Send an e-mail to form990revisions@irs.gov or comment online.

Where Is Search Charities?
If you've been wondering what happened to Search Charities on the IRS web site, Ms. Lerner explained. That quick look-up tool has been replaced with Exempt Organizations Select Check, a more flexible and efficient search engine released a few days ago. Select Check allows users to choose among three databases of organizations -- that 1) "are eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions", or 2) "were automatically revoked", or 3) "have filed Form 990-N (e-Postcard)".

The three databases allow for searching by EIN (an added search field), name, city, state, ZIP code, country, and revocation posting date (in the case of organizations on the automatic revocations list). Use the Exempt Organizations Select Check – Search Tips page for good advice on finding the data you need.

Backlog on Determination Applications
For those that use the IRS web site to gage when their application for tax-exempt status will be reviewed, there's good news, at least for some.

If you look on the site today, you'll see, "Currently, we are assigning applications received in June 2011." June?! Ms. Lerner explained that to be absolutely accurate, the IRS chooses to post the longest "wait time" for the assignment of applications instead of the shortest. The longest corresponds to problematic applications; the shortest to complete and accurate ones. To find out for sure where your application is in the review process, Ms. Lerner suggested that you contact the IRS directly.

Revocations
The push to clean up the IRS master file of tax exempt organizations appears to have worked, according to Ms. Lerner. As you probably know, in mid 2011, after alerting nonprofits since May 2010 that they would lose their tax-exempt status if they did not file their required annual information returns, the IRS published an initial automatic revocation of exemption list. We learned today that of the close to 400,000 organizations that lost their tax-exempt status, only about 9,500 of them applied for reinstatement.

To keep nonprofits in the loop about tax policy and other important information, the Exempt Organizations Division puts out a newsletter, EO Update, which also gives updates on new forms, guidance, and training opportunities. Subscribe here.

Inés Sucre
Foundation Center-New York

Finding Support for Your Project with Foundation Grants to Individuals Online

The following is a guest post by George Ford of the Foundation Center and was originally posted on the Small Act blog. George will be presenting a webinar on this newly-launched grant tool on 1/26/2012.

The Foundation Center recently completed a comprehensive redesign of our online database for individual grantseekers, Foundation Grants to Individuals Online, a source for detailed descriptions of nearly 10,000 foundation programs that fund students, artists, researchers, and others.

Foundation grants to individuals can be tough to come by. After all, foundation support overwhelmingly goes to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. However, support is available in the form of scholarships, fellowships, arts and research grants, support for attending conferences and seminars, and fiscal sponsorship, among others. With Foundation Grants to Individuals Online, you can customize a search based on 15 different search fields including types of support, plus geographic criteria, fields of interest, and keywords.

How can this help you? By conducting a targeted search you'll find detailed funder profiles including valuable information such as program areas, limitations, application information, financial data, links to social media, and more. What you learn about these funding prospects will help you throughout your proposal development process, from choosing your best matches, to making an initial approach, to the formal application or proposal, and beyond to maintaining a relationship with that funder after the grant.

(If you're reading this in an e-mail, click to view Introducing the New & Improved Foundation Grants to Individuals Online.)

 
An example: Let's say you're researching gender issues and financial access in the developing world, and you're interested in finding financial support for writing a book on these issues. You could enter women, economics, developing countries, and other similar terms from the fields of interest search index, and research, publications, travel grants, and project support from the types of support index. There are a lot of options that allow you to find a substantive list of potential funders, and more options to narrow your search further to those foundations that are accepting applications or those that have given more or less than a certain dollar amount.

And about that redesign? We've made Foundation Grants to Individuals Online faster and easier to use, adding information like social media links and more funder background information, and we've begun updating the database weekly instead of once per quarter, among other enhancements.

In addition to Foundation Grants to Individuals Online, the Foundation Center has many other offerings for individual grantseekers available at grantspace.org, including webinars and in-person training and a grantseeking knowledge base with lists of FAQs. Keep up to date with these events and courses and check out Foundation Grants to Individuals Online at gtionline.foundationcenter.org. The Foundation Center has a lot of resources to offer; call or email us to find out more!

info@foundationcenter.org
(800) 424-9836

Next Week at the Foundation Center: January 24-28

Grantseeker Training 
Foundation Funding Research: Strategies for Finding and Evaluating Prospects
Wednesday and Thursday, January 25-26
Cost: $295

Scholarships to attend our Grantseeker Training Seminars are available for staff of New York City-based nonprofit organizations. Learn more here.

Free Programs
Brandraising: Raise Visibility and Money Through Smart Communications
Wednesday, January 25, 5:30-7:30 pm
Join Sarah Durham, author of Brandraising: How Nonprofits Raise Visibility and Money Through Smart Communications*, to learn about tools to improve your organization's communications.

Top 10 Fundraising Tips, as Featured in Nonprofit Management 101
Friday, January 27, 2:00-4:00 pm
Come hear Darian Rodriguez Heyman, former executive director of the Craigslist Foundation and editor of Nonprofit Management 101: A Complete and Practical Guide for Leaders and Professionals*, as he shares concrete tips to help make your fundraising efforts more effective.

* Find it in the library's lending collection.

Free Classes
Proposal Writing Basics
Tuesday, January 24
1:00-2:00 pm

Proposal Budgeting Basics
Tuesday, January 24
3:00-4:00 pm

Your Board and Fundraising: An Introductory Class
Wednesday, January 25
1:00-2:15 pm

Introduction to Fundraising Planning
Wednesday, January 25
3:00-4:15 pm

Finding Foundation Support for Your Education
Thursday, January 26
1:00-2:00 pm

Additional seminars, classes, and events through March are posted on the library's web calendar on GrantSpace.

New York Library/Learning Center
Our library/learning center is open to all; appointments are not necessary. We offer access free of charge to:

• Foundation Directory Online Professional 
  
• Foundation Grants to Individuals Online
• Other funding databases (including WealthEngine)
• A specialized book and periodicals collection for nonprofit and individual grantseekers
• Expert help in using these resources

Hours
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday
10:00 am-5:00 pm

Wednesday
10:00 am-8:00 pm

See our web site for directions and library policies. Learn more about us at New York Library News.

Cuomo to Restrict Administrative Spending for State-Funded Projects

Service providers take note, as efforts are now underway to limit executive pay and administrative spending for organizations that receive state funding. On January 18, Governor Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order asserting that for any state-funded service providers (whether nonprofit or for-profit), reimbursable costs will be restricted to ensure that government funds will be largely devoted to programs, rather than to operational costs and executive salaries.

The order will cap state-funded executive pay at $199,000, and will also dictate that at least 75% of state-authorized assistance must be applied toward direct care and services. By April 1, 2015, that percentage will rise to 85%.

The new measure was quickly put into action following the January 17 budget address. In his talk, Cuomo noted that approximately one third of the New York budget goes toward service providers. He elaborated, "In certain instances, providers of services that receive state funds or state-authorized payments have used such funds to pay for excessive administrative costs and outsized compensation for their senior executives, rather than devoting a greater proportion of such funds to providing direct care or services to their clients." In an effort to control state spending and ascertain that government dollars are being spent responsibly, commissioners at the affected state agencies will have 90 days to fully implement these new regulations, amending any agreements with organizations as necessary.

Agencies that will be affected include the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, Office of Mental Health, Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, Office of Children and Family Services, Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, Department of Health, Office for the Aging, Division of Criminal Justice Services and the Office of Victim Services.

Some large organizations, such as hospitals, receive the most significant portion of their funding from the federal government and from private donors, and therefore their executive compensation levels may not be impacted by Cuomo's order. However, nonprofits that receive the bulk of their funding from the state will need to act swiftly to ensure that they abide by the new regulations.

Read Governor Cuomo's full executive order, as well as coverage provided by CBS News and The New York Times.

Tracy Kaufman
Library Assistant
Foundation Center-New York

LIVE CHAT: How To Approach a Fiscal Sponsor

Monday, January 30
2:00-3:00 pm (ET)
Live Chat. Free.

Fiscal sponsorship offers potential benefits for charitable projects without tax-exempt status of their own. But you need to have more than just a great idea before an organization will agree to be your fiscal sponsor. Learn what else you need to have in place in order to be considered seriously, and when not to approach a sponsor, at this live-chat session. We will devote most of the hour to your questions!

Panelists:
Nikki Carpenter, Program Manager
FJC Fiscal Sponsorship Program

Katie Kern, Director of Program Administration
United Charitable Programs

You do not need to pre-register for this session, but you might want to use the reminder function (scroll down) to schedule an e-mail reminder.

Preparing Your Organization for a Major Campaign

When considering major new endeavors, the questions (and doubts) that occur to us often help us assess our capacities and define our understanding of the work ahead. Contemplating a first major fundraising campaign is no different, and most organizations new to this kind of work will have serious questions, including:

• Have our previous smaller-scale efforts taught us anything about running a major fundraising campaign?
• How can we use what we learned about our organization, audience, and community impact to fuel this upcoming major effort?
• When should we begin the campaign and how long should it last?
• What will a major campaign cost in terms of staff and board time and dedication, and is it worth pursuing?
• How do we best set fundraising goals for this first major effort?
• Who are our potential donors and how should we approach them?
• How can we improve our organization's self-assessment strategies to better understand and communicate our impact?

On more practical terms, most organizations will want to take stock of a few critical elements:

* What is the main purpose of raising money? A new building? An endowment for new programs? Define these goals clearly, so that they make a compelling case to your audience of prospective donors.

* How is your organization doing with what it already has? Is it operating in the red? Is it producing quality outputs in line with its mission and with its current income? An organization may be judged on these measures, and they may be key to the success of any new campaign.

To answer some of these questions and help you get a clearer idea of how to plan and run a major campaign, the New York library/learning center is pleased to present Ready, Get Set, Raise! Preparing For Your First Campaign on Wednesday, February 1. The program will be moderated by Laurence A. Pagnoni, chairman of LAPA, Inc., and will include guest speakers, Sara Gillen, of Harlem United Community AIDS Center, and Jesse Ramos, of Miracle House, who will share their recent experiences with their organizations' own major campaigns.

Register today and join us!

Marie DeAeth
Nonprofit Services Associate

Next Week at the Foundation Center: January 17-21

Holiday Closings
The library/learning center will be closed today, Saturday, January 14, and Monday, January 16, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Grantseeker Training 
Proposal Writers Boot Camp
Wednesday, January 18-Friday, January 20
9:00 am-4:00 pm
Cost: $495
Three full-day seminars for grantwriters in one.

Scholarships to attend our Grantseeker Training Seminars are available for staff of New York City-based nonprofit organizations. Learn more here.

Free Program
How To Inspire Action and Build Movements Through Video Storytelling
Wednesday, January 18, 5:45-7:30 pm
One of the most effective ways to raise funds and motivate people online is to tell great stories through video. Learn how to create and use videos to boost your online fundraising.

Free Classes
How To Approach a Foundation
Tuesday, January 17
11:00 am-12:00 pm

Grantseeking Basics
Tuesday, January 17
1:00-2:30 pm

Introduction to Finding Funders and Guide to Philanthropy In/Sight®
Tuesday, January 17
3:00-4:30 pm

Additional seminars, classes, and events through March are posted on the library's web calendar on GrantSpace.

New York Library/Learning Center
Our library/learning center is open to all; appointments are not necessary. We offer access free of charge to:

• Foundation Directory Online Professional 
  
• Foundation Grants to Individuals Online
• Other funding databases (including WealthEngine)
• A specialized book and periodicals collection for nonprofit and individual grantseekers
• Expert help in using these resources

Hours
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday
10:00 am-5:00 pm

Wednesday
10:00 am-8:00 pm

See our web site for directions, holiday hours, and our library policies. Learn more about us at New York Library News.

Martin Luther King, Jr., National Day of Service

"Dr. King devoted his life to advancing equality, social justice, and economic opportunity for all, and taught us that everyone has a role to play in making America what it ought to be," said Robert Velasco II, acting CEO of CNCS [Corporation for National and Community Service]. "Now more than ever, we need to take heed of Dr. King's teachings and work together to achieve his dream. Volunteer service is a powerful way to strengthen economic opportunity. And when better to start than on the day we honor Dr. King?"

Press release from the Corporation for National and Community Service.

On Monday, January 16, we celebrate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And unlike any other federal holiday,this one is observed as a national day for service. There are projects taking place across the city that commemorate the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service; they address the harsh challenges facing many families, from hunger and homelessness to poverty and education inequality.

Use the widget below (don't see it? look for a project here) or the many dedicated web tools that match people with volunteer positions to find meaningful service opportunities. What better way is there to start the new year than by serving your community and city.

The MLK Day of Service is a part of United We Serve, President Obama's service initiative that asks Americans to work together to provide solutions to the country's most pressing problems.