This summer, several nonprofits alerted the Center of recent problems they have experienced with state agencies being late in issuing contracts or making payments. The Center has begun discussions with state legislators and state agency officials to identify the sources of the problem and to find solutions.

The Center plans to convene a group of nonprofits this winter to identify the scope of this problem and to work together to develop policy solutions. We hope that nonprofits, legislators, and state officials can collaborate in 2022 to limit state contracting and payment delays to nonprofits. Please let us know if your nonprofit has had challenges with late contracts or late payments from state agencies in the past two years.

In October 2021, the National Council of Nonprofits posted an online survey to gauge the scope of the workforce shortage problems for charitable organizations and determine the impact on their abilities to advance their missions. So far, only a few dozen North Carolina nonprofits have responded to the survey. It’s not too late for your nonprofit to take two minutes to complete the survey. Your response will help us have a better understanding of the scope of workforce shortage problems among North Carolina nonprofits so we can develop policy solutions to help improve the nonprofit workforce. 

A preliminary analysis of the national survey results finds the biggest sources of job vacancy challenges at nonprofits stem from salary competition (80%), inability to find adequate childcare (23%), and vaccination policies (21%).

The universal charitable (non-itemizer) deduction will expire at the end of the year unless Congress takes action to extend it. The giving incentive for individuals who take the standard deduction was created on a bipartisan basis in the early days of the pandemic to generate additional resources to support the work of charitable organizations. It was increased at the end of 2020 to the current level of $300 for individuals and $600 for married couples, but is set to expire on December 31, 2021. The Center has signed onto a letter from the Charitable Giving Coalition urging Congress to extend and expand the universal charitable deduction. We encourage you to take two minutes to sign your organization onto the letter by the December 2 deadline.

For the first time in nearly three years, North Carolina is operating under a new state budget. Last week, the NC Senate and NC House of Representatives approved the state budget for FY2021-23 (S.105), and Governor Roy Cooper signed it into law last Thursday. Based on the Center’s analysis, the state budget includes about $745 million in new funding for nonprofits, including $423 million in new investment in nonprofits’ operations and programs and $322 million in support for building projects at nonprofits. To help you digest the more than 1,400 pages of budget documents, the Center has prepared a chart comparing the nonprofit appropriations and provisions in the final budget with those included in the versions passed by the Senate and House earlier this year. We’ll continue to update this chart as we identify other appropriations or provisions affecting nonprofits, so let us know if you see something that we missed.

Yesterday, the Biden Administration filed a motion asking the federal court to allow the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to move forward with its Emergency Temporary Standard on COVID-19 vaccinations. The rule would require employers with 100 or more employees – including many large nonprofits – to require their employees to be vaccinated for COVID-19 or to be tested at least once a week. Last week, a three-judge panel in a federal appellate court ordered OSHA to “take no steps to implement or enforce” this rule. 

For now, OSHA has suspended implementation of the employer vaccination rule until it is decided by the courts. It is likely that federal courts will decide the rule’s fate in the coming weeks.

If it is ultimately allowed to take effect, the OSHA rule would apply to employers with 100 or more employees, regardless of whether some of these employees are part-time or work offsite. The rule would require unvaccinated employees (e.g., those with medical or religious exemptions) to wear masks in the workplace and to be tested weekly (if they are regularly in the workplace or in contact with others for work) or within seven days of returning to the workplace or being in contact with others for work (if they regularly work remotely). Yesterday, the White House encouraged large employers to follow the rule despite the court ruling and OSHA’s suspension of the rule’s implementation and enforcement.

Regardless of the ultimate fate of the OSHA rule, individual nonprofits can still require their employees to be vaccinated for COVID-19. To help your nonprofit answer questions about vaccination policies, the Center has published an analysis of vaccination considerations for nonprofits, which includes tips to help your organization develop a COVID-19 vaccination policy for your employees.

Yesterday, Governor Cooper signed into law a bill (H.B. 91) that sets standards for the governance and operations of the nonprofit organization that administers interscholastic high school athletic activities in North Carolina. Unlike previous versions of the bill, the final version does not require the state’s memorandum of understanding with the nonprofit to impose strict terms that limit the organization’s board governance, contracting, and fundraising ability and does not make the nonprofit a quasi-governmental entity that is subject to state open meeting laws and public records laws. 

As part of its policy agenda to support and strengthen North Carolina’s nonprofit sector, the Center opposes government policies that limit nonprofits’ governance as independent, nongovernmental corporations with control over their own organizational policies and practices. This summer, the Center expressed concerns that the original version of H.B. 91 would have created a precedent of the state limiting the ability of a nonprofit organization to operate as an independent organization. The Center is pleased that legislators and Governor Cooper were able to agree to an arrangement that does not compromise nonprofit independence.

The Center provides Nonprofit Policy Update each week as a benefit to its nonprofit members. However, to help all North Carolina nonprofits respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, we're temporarily providing this newsletter to non-member nonprofits. Don’t miss out – become a member to ensure you continue receiving these updates along with many other valuable benefits.