The NonProfit Times - December 1, 2008 - (Page 18)

2008 IN REVIEW Continued from page 17 3SILLY THINGS in taxes. Obama wants to return that to 39.5 percent, as it was during the Clinton administration eight years ago,Williams said. Since a higher tax rate decreases the cost of giving to a donor, he estimated that move could boost charitable giving by 4 to 8 percent. Paul C. Light, the Paulette Goddard Professor of Public Service at New York University’s Robert Wagner School of Public Service, sees three possible scenarios for the sector. First, significant withering of existing nonprofits is possible. While most organizations will remain, they will survive “on the edge,” with cuts in discretionary spending and more expectations on their workforce, but no real net reduction in their numbers. Another possibility is winnowing of nonprofits, with more deliberate efforts to decide which distressed nonprofits should be allowed to go under and which should be propped up. “Like the banking bailout, in theory,” Light said, determining which organizations should go or not.“I’m not sure that worked very well…lending actually has gotten tighter among surviving banks,”he said, estimating a 70 percent probability for these two scenarios. The third and final scenario in Light’s vision is an “awakening” among nonprofits, with the sector finding a voice of engagement during the transition of the new administration.“That might produce a greater sense that the sector needs to be supported aggressively,” he said, “just as we’re supporting other industries. Everyone’s getting bailed out except for the sector…One thing we’re not talking about is what we’re doing to help distressed nonprofits.” But that’s not what Light is hearing from foundations. Instead, it’s about getting rid of poorly performing nonprofits. Which scenario will come to pass depends on three things, according to Light: the level of trust in nonprofits to spend money wisely; how much willingness there is to invest in capacity building; and, whether this is seen as a period of opportunity or crisis. Light said he is hopeful of a realization, similar to one at the beginning of the 2001 recession after the Sept. 11 attacks, that nonprofits play an important role in society. He views an opportunity for the charitable sector to influence the course of history over the next year.“I think that’s an important opportunity to be taken advantage of. Often the sector is done to as an afterthought. I think we can be Goodwill Industries International has added donation centers to new stores to reduce the expenses involved in picking up donations. proactive,” he said. Robert Egger, founder of DC Central Kitchen and a co-founder of the Nonprofit Congress, calls 2008 the beginning of the end of an era. “We’re coming into what’s known as the end of an era of extra,” he said, and the entire nonprofit sector has been built on the idea of extra, whether it’s “extra” money or “extra food.” A SERVICENATION SUMMIT Despite what seemed like nothing but bad news in the latter part of 2008, the sector took center stage on a national level, and not because a charity was getting ripped off. The ServiceNation Summit convened in New York City on Sept. 11-12, bringing together both major-party candidates, along with leaders from more than 100 nonprofits, both national and local, to push the issue of national service.A town hall-style forum featured Obama and Sen. John McCain, interviewed by Judy Woodruff of the News Hour and TIME’s Richard Stengel, about topics related to service and nonprofits. The summit was organized by Be The Change, Inc., City Year, Civic Enterprises and the Points of Light Institute. The goals of the summit were to push legislation through Congress by next September and establish a national day of action on Sept. 27. The Voluntary National Service Act would boost the roughly 70,000 staff who receive stipends through AmeriCorps to 1 million by 2020. The ServiceNation Summit was but one stop for Republican McCain and Democrat Obama in the longest presidential campaign in history. With no incumbent president or vice president on the ballot Volunteers help unload a truck at the Community FoodBank of New Jersey. for the first time in 80 years, even the nonprofit sector paused to keep an eye on the race, which featured two senators: one, a former prisoner of war who served in Vietnam, and another, a community organizer from Chicago. NEW LEADERS FOR SOME OF THE BIG BOYS Four of the largest nonprofit organizations in the country selected new leaders in 2008.The American Red Cross,The Nature Conservancy,The Smithsonian Institution and the American Heart Association (AHA) are regulars in the NPT 100, an annual study of the largest nonprofits in the nation. Jeff Raikes was appointed to succeed Patty Stonesifer as president and CEO of the largest foundation on the planet, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Raikes was appointed in May and started on the job in September. Also, Bradford Smith replaced Sarah Engelhardt as president of The Foundation Center in October. The Smithsonian Institution, which saw its previous secretary resign in March 2007 amidst a scandal regarding expenses and executive compensation, appointed a college president in March. The 17-member Board of Regents elected G. Wayne Clough, president of the Georgia Institute of Technology, as the 12th secretary of the Smithsonian.The 66-year-old, who had led Georgia Tech since 1994 and oversaw two capital campaigns that raised almost $1.5 billion, assumed his duties as of July 1. A former marketing executive at AT&T and professor at Harvard Business School, Gail McGovern inherited one of the toughest jobs in the nonprofit sector.The newest president and CEO of the American Red Cross was appointed in April to succeed former IRS Commissioner Mark Everson. He resigned after just six months 2008 18 You often need a sense of humor when it comes to running a nonprofit. But, sometimes you just have to shake your head and ask, “What were they thinking?” DECEMBER 1, 2008 THE NONPROFIT TIMES www.nptimes.com 1 More than 200,000 ringtones that chant “condom condom!” have been downloaded at www.condomcondom.org, which has received more than 3.5 million hits, with over 65,000 every day. The campaign, funded with $6 million over 30 months from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and released by BBC World Service Trust, targets Indian men between 15 and 49 years old and is designed to break down their reluctance to discuss condom use and make it more acceptable to wear a condom. http://www.condomcondom.org http://www.nptimes.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The NonProfit Times - December 1, 2008

The NonProfit Times - December 1, 2008 Contents A Nation of Volunteers Nonprofits Start Franchising Page 4 Tidings Of Good Cheer Donor-Restricted Endowments Membership Revenue Isn’t Free Divining A Skills Set Special Report: 2008 The Year in Review The Revised 990 Giving And The Economy Annual Buyers Guide Advertiser Index NPT Jobs Resource Directory

The NonProfit Times - December 1, 2008

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