The NonProfit Times - March 1, 2008 - (Page 1)

The Leading Business Publication For Nonprofit Management • www.nptimes.com • $6.00 U.S. March 1, 2008 California Legislation Pushing Foundation Funding Diversity Data on staff, board, vendors mandated By Mark Hrywna Estate Tax Won’t Die Compromise sought for establishing government’s cut By Mark Hrywna F oundations are lining up against mandated diversity transparency legislation in California that could have ramifications beyond the Golden State. The Democrat-led California Assembly, by a 45-29 vote, approved a bill in late January that requires foundations with more than $250 million in assets to collect diversity-related data for their boards, staff, nonprofit grantees and clients served through their grantmaking, and publish it on the Web and in annual reports. The measure heads to the State’s Senate Judiciary Committee, which I The Community FoodBank of New Jersey might incur more trucking or fuel costs in hunting around for bargains on food purchases, but large trailers of food can guarantee a good supply at a particular price. Fuel Costs Eating Up Food Banks Cost of supplies also pumped up by high price of energy By Mark Hrywna f you’re planning on a couple of rich donors dying in the next few years,you might want to pencil in 2010 for keeping them alive if the goal is for them to avoid estate taxes. There will be no estate tax that year unless Congress takes action but it will return in 2011. Of course, if the estate is more modest, say, less than the $2 million exemption, it would be exempt from the tax and a donor living longer might be more in your best interest. Most observers see the estate tax as a good thing for charities. It provides additional revenues for the federal government, often a main revenue source for many nonprofits, and is an incentive for the wealthy to include John Gamboa T must release the bill before it can go to a vote of the full Senate, where Democrats have a 25-15 majority. If it clears the Senate, the bill then would require the signature of Republican Gov.Arnold Schwarzenegger. “This is not just a California issue. We’re recognizing it’s an increasingly important issue to policy makers across the nation and even in Congress,” said Steve Gunderson,president and CEO of the Council on Foundations (CoF).The Arlington, Va.-based membership association of more than 2,100 grantmaking foundations and corporations joined the Northern California Grantmakers, Southern California Grantmakers and San Diego Grantmakers in opposing the Assembly bill. California Legislation, page 8 he highest inflation rate in 17 years means higher prices for everyone, but food banks across the country in particular are facing tough choices as a result of skyrocketing costs coupled with rising demand for service. Consumer prices rose 4.1 percent in 2007, according to data released in January by the U.S. Department of Labor, but food prices specifically were up almost 5 percent -- including 36 percent for eggs and 29 percent for whole milk. The federal data only put into black and white what some food banks have already seen coming. The San Diego Food Bank had a staff of about 33 employees, which has been reduced to 20 during the past year, said Executive Director Jim Jackson.The food bank also has tried to contract out some of its publicity Even the price of boxes the food is shipped in has INCREASED work while staff reductions mean longer lines for people waiting to get food or recertification for eligibility. “We’re as lean as we can get,” said Jackson, whose food bank has an annual budget of about $6.5 million. “We’ve done all the internal cuts that we can, we’ve improved our operations significantly. Now we’ve really got to find sources of income,” he said, whether that’s private grants, corporations or individuals. “We’re scrambling.” One of the most important ingredients to food distribution is fuel, Jackson said. “That’s been driving the cost of food more than anything else. That’s not something you can turn around and say. ‘We need someone to pay for that;’ people just assume.” The past six months, Jackson said, there’s no question the biggest cost has been fuel, with the average price per gallon about $3.25, some 70 cents more than last year at the same time. That adds up with the food bank’s five trucks taking food to various distribution centers. Even the price of boxes the food is shipped in has increased, he said; no small price when 7,000 boxes are distributed monthly.“That’s a lot of cardboard,”he said,adding that Food Banks, page 6 charities in their estate planning.Some fear that charitable giving will plummet by several billion dollars a year with no estate tax. “Repeal of the estate tax would cost about $1 trillion in federal tax revenues in the first 10 years, once the added interest on the federal debt is taken into account,” said Patricia Read, senior vice president, public policy and government affairs for Independent Sector (IS), at a Senate Finance Committee (SFC) hearing last fall. Almost two-thirds of charitable bequests came from estates valued at more than $10 million in 2006, and three-quarters of bequests came from those valued at more than $5 million, she said. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), if the federal estate tax had not existed in 2000, charitable donations would have been reduced by $13 billion to $25 billion Estate Tax, page 9 http://www.nptimes.com

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The NonProfit Times - March 1, 2008 Fuel Costs Eating Up Food Banks California Legislation Pushing Foundation Funding Diversity Estate Tax Won't Die Contents Who...When...Where...How...What? Red Cross Cuts Jobs, Regional Support In $200 Million Deficit General Ramblings: What the....? Briefs Taxing Issues: New for 2008 Foundations: Rebooting At Gates Mail Drove Donors to Give Online Streetsmart Nonprofit Manager: The Power of the Founder Software: Technology Innovation Calendar Fundraising Guide NPT Jobs Resource Directory AFP International Conference Insert

The NonProfit Times - March 1, 2008

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