Sequestration's Damaging Effects on Nonprofits and Communities They Serve | Sequestration's Effects on Nonprofits and the Communities They Serve

Sequestration's Damaging Effects on Nonprofits and Communities They Serve | Sequestration's Effects on Nonprofits and the Communities They Serve: Sequestration's Damaging Effects on Nonprofits and Communities They Serve

The sequestration cuts will hurt the work of almost every charitable nonprofit in America – even nonprofits that do not receive any direct government funding. Here’s how:

Hoodwinked? As Nonprofits Focus on Charitable Deduction, Sequestration Cuts Inflict Pain - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly

Hoodwinked? As Nonprofits Focus on Charitable Deduction, Sequestration Cuts Inflict Pain - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly: if government extends the continuing resolution, as we expect it will, what effect might that have on the negotiations between the White House and Congress in relation to sequestration? President Barack Obama has indicated that he will still push for new revenues. Does that mean President Obama will revive his proposal to cap the deductibility of charitable donations (and other itemized deductions) at 28 percent even though the top tax rate is now 39.6 percent? If that proposal were to resurface, would it have a prayer of passage, having gone nowhere in Congress four times running?

And where will the charitable deduction fit into the larger issue of maintaining federal government funding for charities that address the basic needs of lower income Americans? Here is our analysis of the short-term future of the charitable deduction, pro and con, based on the surprising and perplexing House Ways and Means Committee hearings that were convened to get charities to speak out on their incentive in the federal tax code.

Erwin de Leon: Sequestration's Damaging Effects on Nonprofits and Needy Families

Erwin de Leon: Sequestration's Damaging Effects on Nonprofits and Needy Families: An Urban Institute national survey of human service organizations determined that in 2009, over 30,000 nonprofits had about 200,000 contracts and grants from federal, state, and local governments amounting to $100 billion. Government funding accounted for over 65 percent of the total revenue of organizations surveyed. Sixty percent of nonprofits said government contracts and grants were their largest funding source.

The AFP Blog

The AFP Blog: One of the chapter members wrote an article about my presentation (thank you, Norma), and it’s worth highlighting because public policy issues such as the charitable deduction continue to remain paramount now. With sequestration (automatic budget cuts) approaching in March, the deduction is still on the table, and the Ways and Means Committee is set to have a hearing on the deduction very soon, at which I’ll be appearing and testifying.

Watching the Charity Watchdogs: Vignettes from the NAASCO Annual Meeting - NPQ – Nonprofit Quarterly - Promoting an active and engaged democracy.

Watching the Charity Watchdogs: Vignettes from the NAASCO Annual Meeting - NPQ – Nonprofit Quarterly - Promoting an active and engaged democracy.:Regardless of which candidate wins on November 6th and no matter what Congress and the President decide to do or not do regarding sequestration, the unresolved question of how to bolster nonprofit accountability through sector self-regulation and governmental oversight will persist. Neither party has a bead on the issue. In fact, neither party nor their bevy of candidates for office seems to have anything to utter on the topic.

Whatever conversation there is on this topic occurs in meetings of the state charity officers located in attorney generals offices. These are the government officials for whom charity accountability is their bread and butter. The one-day public session of the National Association of State Charity Officials (NASCO) on October 1st didn’t include much commentary from the state charity officials themselves, who were relatively close-mouthed about their work (for fear of getting into specifics about ongoing investigations). But the various presentations and Q&As revealed much about the current debates in nonprofit accountability—and some issues that should be debated thoroughly in the sector. What follows is a series of vignettes documenting what we heard at the NASCO gathering.

Mark Rosenman: Nonprofits Missing From Big Battles

Mark Rosenman: Nonprofits Missing From Big Battles: Charities and foundations should be geared up to confront immediate and near-term policy battles of extraordinary consequence to them. Instead, they seem to be wearing blinders -- or simply fear controversy, no matter the stakes.

Congressional Republicans want a repeat of last summer's divisive struggle over raising the debt limit and are committed to pursuing new budget cuts. This comes after the House recently approved changes to last year's deficit-cutting sequestration agreement and shifted what was a shared annual burden of $109 billion entirely to domestic programs and actually raised the defense budget instead of cutting it.