Well, the elections are over and the people have spoken. This was an historic election in the number of voters who turned out, even in the face of the restrictions from COVID, to make their votes count. Nonprofits played a big role in getting out the vote. Thank you all for doing this important work!
Congratulations to President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. Congratulations to Senator Jeff Merkley, Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, Congressman Earl Blumenauer, Congressman Peter DeFazio, and Congressman Kurt Schrader on their re-elections. Also, congratulations go to Congressman-elect Cliff Bentz on his election to replace Congressman Greg Walden to represent Oregon’s 2nd District.
In Oregon’s legislative and executive branches there are some new, committed, and thoughtful people joining public service to build a better Oregon. Together, we have much work ahead of us. Oregon, like our country, remains divided with competing ideas on the best paths to move forward. As in any election, it will be the responsibility of the majority party to lead with their agenda and to bring along and work with the minority party. It will be the minority party’s role to assert its influence without derailing and obstructing progress on behalf of the people.
In all of this, nonprofits play an enormous role. 2020 has seen issue after issue and problem after problem compound on the people we serve. As nonprofits are governed by volunteer boards of community members, we are the people, having both their trust and respect. At no time in our history have nonprofits been in a stronger position of power to influence the path forward through our advocacy and connections to community. We must use it wisely and courageously. Now is our time to shine.
As we move forward following the elections, it is fitting that in observation of Veterans Day tomorrow, we honor and give thanks to all who have served and continue to serve our country. The sacrifice and dedication of the thousands of women and men who have gone before us and who currently serve are immeasurable – and we sincerely thank them.
I hope that you all stay safe and healthy!
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Jim White
NAO Executive Director
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In Oregon
Last Friday, November 6, Governor Brown announced new measures and restrictions for businesses and nonprofits due to the significant increase in COVID-19 rates across Oregon. The new measures go into effect November 11 and will remain until November 25 for the following counties: Baker, Clackamas, Jackson, Malheur, Marion, Multnomah, Umatilla, Union, and Washington counties. Specific restrictions in the pause that impact nonprofits include:
- Urges all businesses and nonprofits to mandate work from home as much as possible.
- Pauses long-term care facility visits that take place indoors to protect staff and residents.
- Reduces the maximum capacity of other indoor activities to 50 people.
- This includes gyms, fitness organizations/studios, bowling alleys, ice rinks, indoor sports, pools, and museums.
- Limits social gatherings to individual’s own household, or no more than six people if the gathering includes individuals from outside one’s own household.
- Individuals should reduce the frequency of those social gatherings significantly in the two-week period, and keep the same six people within individual’s social gathering circle.
The threshold for the pause is based on a COVID-19 case rate above 200 per 100,000 people over a two-week period, or more than 60 cases over a two-week period for counties with less than 30,000 people.
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At the Federal Level
Congratulating the Congressional Victors: Both of our Senators are returning to D.C. this week and Representatives are going back next week to commence the lame-duck session. It’s appropriate and useful for your advocacy to congratulate those who won re-election AND tell them what we want done in the coming weeks. Specifically, we need them to act on the COVID relief legislation. As you know, COVID relief is on the table for lame-duck action, but the leaders are still arguing over the size of a package. We all need to raise awareness and pressure in support of our policy priorities, including extending the deadline for the Coronavirus Relief Fund, while reiterating the bipartisan and stimulus nature of our policy proposals. Please send a message to our U.S. Congressional Delegation and Senators to promote action on the needs of our communities, workers, businesses, and nonprofits.
As a reminder, here are the main talking points for your messages:
1. Continue Emergency Funding Programs that provide nonprofits with financial support enabling them to continue and expand services protecting vulnerable families and frontline responders. Charitable organizations must have additional resources to provide vital services essential to individual and community wellbeing, both during the pandemic and to support recovery and rebuilding efforts. At a minimum, the current expiring deadlines of December 30th for CARES Act supports must be extended.
Our requests: (1) Extend and expand the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) by enabling a second round of funding for all nonprofits and modifying the eligibility criteria pertaining to 500 employees; (2) Enact and expand grant and funding programs, such as the proposed WORK NOW Act or the Employee Retention Tax Credit, to help nonprofits retain employees, scale service delivery, and create new jobs; and (3) Appropriate funds for federal grant programs that enable nonprofits to advance their missions of serving communities.
2. Provide Low-Cost Loans to Mid-Size and Larger Nonprofits which have not been able to access government funding. Nonprofits with 500 or more employees are currently completely shut out of the two most important sources of COVID-19 financial support: the PPP and the Federal Reserve Main Street Lending Program (“MSLP”). The recently proposed “nonprofit” MSLP contains numerous financial restrictions and lacks the forgivable feature of PPP that make it unattractive to most organizations that are targeted for the support.
Our requests: (1) Authorize and require the Federal Reserve to quickly finalize a nonprofit lending facility under MSLP that is tailored to accommodate mid-size nonprofits including language similar to H.R. 6800 Nonprofit Community Letter Page 2 of 37 that offers a loan forgiveness option; and (2) Extend eligibility of PPP to all nonprofits of all sizes similar to H.R. 6800 and lift the loan cap to appropriately reflect the operational needs of these nonprofits.
3. Strengthen Charitable Giving Incentives to encourage all Americans to help their communities during these challenging times through charitable donations. Donations are especially needed today as nonprofits respond to the current health and economic crisis and will be critical in the future as nonprofits play an essential role in recovery efforts when the pandemic ends.
Our requests: (1) Expand the above-the-line or universal charitable deduction in the CARES Act by enacting the provisions in S. 4032/H.R. 7324 increasing the amount to one-third of the standard deduction; and (2) Extend this and the giving incentives enacted in the CARES Act through 2021.
4. Provide Full Unemployment Benefit Reimbursement to nonprofits that self-insure these benefits. Federal and state laws give nonprofits the option of operating as self-insured (“reimbursing”) employers that make payments to their state unemployment insurance systems for benefits attributable to them in lieu of advance contributions. Shut-down orders by government officials and program cancellations have forced nonprofits to furlough or layoff staff, triggering immediate, catastrophic unemployment payment bills that are due this month in most states. Compounding the problem has been a Labor Department ruling that requires nonprofits to pay 100% of unemployment costs upfront. These challenges are exacerbating cash flow difficulties at a time when other employers will likely experience little or no additional costs resulting from COVID-19-related layoffs and are diverting valuable funds from mission services.
Our request: Increase the federal unemployment insurance reimbursement for self-insured (reimbursing) nonprofits to 100% of costs.
5. Support All-Volunteer Organizations that have been hit hard by the impacts of COVID-19 and economic downturn. The packages of aid that have been prioritized for support by Congress center on employment, which is important. There are thousands of nonprofits that are made up of our neighbors and friends who volunteer and do not have staff but still are critical to a healthy and vibrant communities. These organizations still have expenses for buildings, maintenance and programs that need federal relief as well.
Our request: Include in the next Coronavirus relief bill some supports for rental or building maintenance assistance for all-volunteer organizations.
The Big Picture
Relief 4 Charities: The nonprofit coalition sent a letter signed by 41 national nonprofits to President-Elect Biden today. The letter encourages Biden to “address both the vital services provided by nonprofits and the need for targeted relief as soon as possible.” It attaches an updated (as of today) version of the Nonprofit Community Letter on which we’ve attached the logos page for greater pop.
Appropriations: Today, the Republican-controlled Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to release all 12 draft spending bills for FY 2021. The bills won’t go through the committee process or receive individual consideration; the release is intended as the Senate Republican counteroffer to the House spending bills (10 of 12 have passed in the House). Leaders of the two appropriations committees are expected to hash out a deal that combines all of the provisions into one omnibus spending bill to be enacted prior to a December 11 deadline. Reaching agreement should be relatively straightforward because the previously agreed to fiscal 2021 budget caps don’t allow for huge increases in spending. Defense funding this fiscal year is capped at $740.5 billion, while overall funding for non-defense programs is capped at $634.5 billion.
State and Local Aid: State and local officials continue to sound the alarm about budgets, according to an article today in Governing. Collectively, they face shortfalls through 2022 in the neighborhood of $1 trillion – an estimated $434 billion among states; $360 billion for cities; and $202 billion for counties. This is one of the most contentious issues in the COVID relief negotiations. The House-passed HEROES Act called for $ 1 trillion in aid and the House-passed Heroes 2 bill would have provided about $500 billion in additional funds. Senate Republican bills offer no new money for state and local governments, although dollars for healthcare and schools are on the table. You can read more in States and Localities Shouldn't Count on More Federal Aid.
Safe and Healthy Workplaces: Here’s a helpful data point that may support passage of a new Safe and Healthy Workplace Tax Credit (bipartisan proposal in House and Senate bills) to help employers cover personal protective equipment and the costs of safely reopening. A new report from National Safety Council, State of the Response: Employer Actions to Address the Pandemic, provides a snapshot of how employers have been responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on a survey of hundreds of employers, organizations spent $5,208 per employee on various safety practices – from making remote work possible to providing PPE and hand sanitizer. Check out this infographic for a summary of the findings.
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NAO thanks all of you who are responding to so many crises and disasters in our communities. We have curated a set of resources and links with our COVID-19 resources and Oregon Wildfire Response Resources pages that we’ve created to help you and your organizations navigate these difficult times.
If your nonprofit is responding to communities impacted by the fires, please be sure to connect with your FEMA coordinators (called VALs), Regional Solutions, local Office of Emergency Management, United Ways and County/Community Organizations Active in Disaster (COADs). A coordinated disaster and recovery response is imperative! Please be part of the solution by sharing what you’re doing. You can connect to the Oregon Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters (ORVOAD) by clicking this link and connecting to these other groups.
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Other News
AFP Oregon & SW Washington recently announced its 2020 Philanthropy Awards – congratulations to all the winners! National Philanthropy Day is celebrated in November to recognize individuals, companies, foundations, and nonprofits who work year-round to make a difference for others. For a list of the winners, click here.
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Upcoming Online Sessions
QuickBooks Made Easy Webinar: Desktop, November 10, 11, and 12, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. PT: Gregg S. Bossen, CPA of QuickBooks Made Easy, is partnering with NAO to offer an updated three-part QuickBooks® training webinar for nonprofits. This webinar is for the Desktop edition of QuickBooks. Details and registration information here.
Effective Supervision Practices for Advancing Equity and Inclusion (two sessions), Wednesdays, November 11 and 18, 2:30 – 4 p.m. PT: A two-part series with Cliff Jones, Consultant Partner at Capacity Building Partnerships. In this two-part series, we will explore the most essential elements of a supervisor’s role with a diversity, equity and inclusion lens. Details and registration information here.
Telling Your Best Story – The Key to Successful Fundraising, Thursday, November 12, 9 – 11 a.m. PT: This webinar is intended for organizations that serve and are located in rural communities. Ron Frey, Principal at Frey Resource Group will help you tell your best fundraising story in a way that touches the mind and heart, and open the door to significant gifts. Details and registration information here.
Maintaining Internal Controls in the Remote Work Environment, Monday, November 16, 10 – 11 a.m. PT: Join Jessica Yoder, Shareholder at McDonald Jacobs and Erin Zollenkopf, CEO at Susan Matlack Jones & Associates to learn more about how you can maintain strong controls to keep pace with the current ever-shifting environment. Details and registration information here.
QuickBooks Made Easy Webinar: Online, November 17, 18, and 19, 11 a.m. – 1 pm. PT: Gregg S. Bossen, CPA of QuickBooks Made Easy, is partnering with NAO to offer an updated three-part QuickBooks® training webinar for nonprofits. This webinar is for the Online edition of QuickBooks. Details and registration information here.
How to Communicate Your Impact: Four ways to Measure and Communicate Your Impact, Thursday, November 19, Noon – 1 p.m. PT: Steve Patty, Founder of Dialogues in Action, will explore four ways to evaluate your impact and four ways to communicate your impact. Details and registration information here.
How to Read Financial Statements, Wednesday, December 2, 3 – 4:30 p.m. PT: Erin Zollenkopf, CEO at Susan Matlack Jones & Associates presents this session on how to read financial statements. More details and registration information here.
Revenue Recognition: Topic ASC 606, Wednesday, December 9, 10 – 11 a.m. PT: Join Jessica Yoder, Shareholder and Jeffrey Lester, Senior Assurance Manager, both at McDonald Jacobs for a webinar on reviewing examples and best practices for implementing new revenue recognition standards on topic ASC 606. More details and registration information here.
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