The Cohen Report - Part 3

Stolid Nonprofit Associations Not Recession-Proof

April 15, 2009

Is the recession that is currently whacking 501(c)(3) nonprofits hitting tax exempt “associations” such as the Chamber of Commerce? The front page story in the April 11-12, 2009 Wall Street Journal on the impact of the recession in Loganville, Georgia (population 9,500)[i] noted that the number of dues-paying members in the small town’s Chamber of [...]

Read the full article →

The Worst Thing We Can Do for the Obama Administration: Be Quiet

April 15, 2009

Here’s the worst thing we can do for the Obama Administration and the 111th Congress: Be quiet. No, there’s even something worse: We can transform into an uncritical handmaiden of the handful of insiders who have grabbed the “nonprofit expert” roles in the new administration rather than doing what the nonprofit sector should always do, [...]

Read the full article →

Reports on the Impact of the Economy on Nonprofits and Foundations: Make the Data Publicly Accessible

March 23, 2009

Readers who are used to the extensive footnotes in Cohen Report postings wondered why the recent posts on the conditions of funders and nonprofits during the current economic downturn (Foundation Grantmaking during Economic Collapse: Pollyanna or Cassandra at the Helm? and Nonprofits Speaking for Themselves: The Impact of the National Economic Tailspin) had lots of [...]

Read the full article →

Foundation Payout Depends on How You Average

March 19, 2009

Have you ever wondered how foundations determine how much they can and should spend in a particular year in grants, loans, and administrative costs? The current economic crisis is a case study on the intersection of endowment management practices, Internal Revenue Service Code requirements, and navigating potential penalties and excise taxes. When the James Irvine [...]

Read the full article →

Foundation Grantmaking during Economic Collapse: Pollyanna or Cassandra at the Helm?

March 19, 2009

What will happen to foundation grantmaking in 2009 and 2010? The roots of the story are in the vicissitudes of the stock market, where foundations invest the bulk of their tax exempt assets. At 1:00 p.m. on February 23, 2009, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell to an 11-year low, to 7,190.72, the lowest since [...]

Read the full article →

Nonprofits Speaking for Themselves: The Impact of the National Economic Tailspin

March 19, 2009

What do we know statistically about the impact of the economy on the nonprofit sector? With nearly two million registered tax exempt organizations ranging from mammoth universities to tiny neighborhood associations, their diversity makes generalizations nearly impossible. But there are some clear trends. Budgets are dipping into the red, reserves are being depleted, reductions in [...]

Read the full article →

How Corporate Giving Will Fare in This Recession

March 19, 2009

Many nonprofits depend on corporate donors for critical philanthropic support. Can they depend on corporate donors through this economic turmoil? That is the question we explore here. There has always been something counterintuitive about corporate philanthropic grantmaking during recessions. Although one would think that shrinking corporate bottom line would dampen their philanthropic spirits, the data [...]

Read the full article →

Sector Can Avoid Bad Investments and Fulfill Obligations

March 17, 2009

None of us are experts on investments in the stock market, not even the stock market experts. Every day, foundation endowments, public pension plans, and your 401(k)s sink further toward oblivion. As a run-of-the-mill investor, what you lose in the markets is your responsibility, the result of your risk-return calculus. But as a nonprofit manager [...]

Read the full article →

Nonprofit Jobs Need Better Pay

February 26, 2009

The current wave of enthusiasm for service and volunteerism in the nonprofit sector — key components of the Obama-Biden campaign platform that are likely to come to pass with the enactment of Serve America Act co-sponsored by Senators Orrin Hatch and Ted Kennedy — risks distorting the American public’s perception of what constitutes good nonprofit [...]

Read the full article →

Update on Greenlining Foundation Grantmaking in California: Big Progress or only the Appearance of Progress?

February 24, 2009

Remember the debate in California regarding getting large foundations in that state to report on their grantmaking to racial/ethnic communities and to people of color-led organizations? In several postings (available under the “racial equity” category here), the Cohen Report covered the foundations’ visceral, furious reaction against the legislation that the California state legislature was considering. [...]

Read the full article →

Reading an Early Draft of the Stimulus Bill Conference Report: Compromise Provisions (Part II)–Safety Net Tax Relief

February 15, 2009

By the time most people read this, they’ll have seen summaries of the conference report on what the House and Senate conferees finally agreed to. Here’s Part II of what may be in store for nonprofits, based on a reading of the pre-publication draft of the report that will accompany the final bill through the [...]

Read the full article →

Reading an Early Draft of the Stimulus Bill Conference Report: Compromise Provisions (Part I)–Spending

February 14, 2009

The spending provisions of the compromise stimulus bill are a bit easier to track and understand than the more arcane tax provisions (see Part II of CR’s review of the conference report on the compromise House/Senate stimulus bill). This review covers some of the provisions with pertinent direct and indirect implications for nonprofits.

Read the full article →

Social Entrepreneurialism at the Public Trough

February 13, 2009

To most small, local nonprofits–and nearly all operating 501(c)(3)s are small and local–the concept of “social entrepreneurialism” that they hear touted by their funders implies earning income from business-related activities. But some of the most highly publicized nonprofit social entrepreneurs promoted as models for the nonprofit sector-and frequently mentioned by sector leaders influential with the [...]

Read the full article →

NPQ’s First Hundred Days Update: Nonprofits and the new Feds

February 12, 2009

It is clear that the Obama Administration has more interest in and knowledge of the nonprofit sector and its important role in communities than we have seen from a president in a very very long time. What will this mean for your work? NPQ will help you answer that question by tracking the evolution of [...]

Read the full article →

STIMULUS: The Compromise Between House and Senate

February 12, 2009

Details are beginning to emerge as to what the two chambers have done to meld their versions of an economic stimulus package. It’s still a moving target, but here are some of the items that seem to be emerging from the conference committee of relevance to nonprofits, drawn from a document released just moments ago [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →

Spring 2010 Cover

Subscribe to NPQ