Last week I sat in on a teleconference sponsored by the Texas Association of Nonprofit Organizations (TANO) regarding state and federal legislative updates. I work as a policy analyst for a nonprofit organization that exists to end family violence, and a part of my role is to track funding trends that could impact the populations we represent.
One presenter on the TANO call, David Thompson of the National Council of Nonprofits, covered the federal budget and the proposed cuts impacting charitable organizations. Mr. Thompson emphasized the need for nonprofits to communicate to Congress about who they are as community agencies and why money is needed to provide direct services to their target populations; he stated that many members of Congress continue to express beliefs that nonprofits are run by volunteers and do not need funds for staff salaries and employee benefits such as health insurance. Currently, a $1 billion dollar cut has been proposed to the Corporation for National Community Service, which funds programs like Americorps. Congress is likely to approve this deep cut if they are not educated on the fiscal necessities of nonprofit organizations.
In the past I have served as a direct service advocate in various capacities at local nonprofits, including a homeless shelter, family violence shelter, and homeless youth outreach program. I can testify to the fact that social services cannot be consistently provided to the community through a volunteer base. Volunteers are an insufficient source of manpower, essentially because they are unpaid for their offered services. Volunteerism is typically something that Americans participate in after the work day is done and the bills are paid; the average American with a passion for giving may have 3 or 4 hours left in the week to spend in a volunteer position. With the recent Recession, many Americans have taken on a second job, leaving little or no time left for volunteering. Full-time, paid staff positions are the only means by which an agency can consistently provide essential services to clients.
Volunteer programs such as Americorps fill the gap for nonprofits in need of volunteer power; Americorps members are placed in communities in volunteer positions, and they receive a federally subsidized living allowance to sustain them through their term of service. I was introduced to social work by joining Americorps and taking my first position in social services at a homeless shelter in Austin. Without a living allowance, I would not have been able to commit to the 40 hour a week volunteer position, and I may not have continued on to where I am today without the experience I gained from Americorps.
It is hard to believe that members of Congress could be so lacking in comprehension regarding what it takes fiscally to run a nonprofit. Who are we electing into office, and what is their level of real life experience?? If this is any indication of how ill-informed Congress is, I question their ability to manage a budget at all.
If you would like to find out who represents you in Congress and contact them about why nonprofits in your area need and deserve federal funding in order to keep their doors open, follow the link below:
http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/
Although I too, believe that many elected officials have little to no understanding over many of the topics they have the duty to make decisions over, at the same time it is hard to stay informed of all the issues at hand. Often it takes lobbyists to bring attention to many issues like this since it is so out of the line of sight for many in their positions. Sometimes representatives are faced by issues they may not have even known existed before they are proposed. When a stubborn belief such as how members of congress view nonprofits as run by volunteers which means funding is unneeded is a real shame but hopefully something easy to enlighten someone about. Maybe since it is such a simple thing to learn, there are other reasons behind their reasoning and this belief is just something simple to go by. If anything, it would seem like more funding is needed since the recession with more needing help while more have less time to volunteer because of the need to work more hours. I realize that this goes against the very definiton of a nonprofit, but it seems like without funding, they may have to adapt and find a way to make money (selling arts and crafts, ect.) as well as rely on voluntters without benefits. It would really be a shame if it came down to that though.
ReplyDeleteI strongly believe and know that non-profit organizations need adequate funding. My mother is a chief financial officer for a non-profit organization. That is her full-time, 40 (more like 60) hours a week job. Those are hours she spends creating, analyzing and maintaining a budget. It upsets me to think that members of Congress are not aware of the importance and necessity of financing non-profit organizations. Manpower, time, and money are only a few of the requirements needed to have a functioning agency or corporation. Non-profit organizations are not an exception. Without paid, full-time staff on hand, like you and my mom, non-profits would cease to function. Irrelevant this may be to some people, recovering drug addicts, abused family members, those living in poverty, those affected by natural disasters and many other members of society would beg to differ. I would like to point out that these citizens could fall into any social class, which I am of the opinion some people don't realize.
ReplyDeleteIf our officials do lack the education on the issue, then the non-profits need to take big steps to enlighten the policy makers of our country. I know response to the cuts of federal support has not been taken lying down. AmeriCorps has an online petition to the U.S. Senate with over 117,000 signatures (one of them is mine) since February 19, 2011. I also read on the Corporation for National & Community Services website that President Obama proposed a $109 million budget increase for CNCS. It is comforting to know that funding cuts for non-profits does not seem to be too trendy in national politics.
For those interested, here is the link to the AmeriCorps petition:
http://www.change.org/petitions/save-americorps#?opt_new=t&opt_fb=t