Volume One Number Five

Commentary

How should I make the difficult choices when it's time for year-end gifts?

Is the board focused on achieving the mission?

If I don't believe in the mission, I have no business supporting the organization in the first place.

If I don't admire and respect the board (and other leadership) of the organization, I should think twice before entrusting them with my money.

But even an admirable and respectable board can be asleep at the switch.

[[[Read more of this commentary by Putnam Barber...click here]]]

Follow-up

Still more on the possible conversion of Premera Blue Cross to a for-profit

In December, Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler gave approval to a request from Premera Blue Cross for an opportunity to supplement its application to covert from nonprofit to for-profit status, and allowed the insurer 60 days to prepare further materials. 

As a result, the hearing scheduled for January has been postponed to March 29 and the final decision is now expected by June 7.

Links to background on this long-running proposal can be found in the December 2003 issue of Observing Nonprofits.

National Survey

Nonprofits and Tax Policy

Until the 4th of February, OMBWatch is conducting a survey to assess the views and interests of nonprofit organizations concerning national tax policies.

[[[Read the invitation from Gary Bass, OMBWatch President, and connect with the survey...click here]]]

Note

The crunch of year-end filings has created an overload in the Secretary of State's office and it is not possible to determine an up-to-date count of the number of registered nonprofit corporations.  The current total will be featured in future issues of Observing Nonprofits.

News about Nonprofits and Their Work

• WAACO (Washington Attorneys Assisting Community Organizations) is now ready to start accepting requests from nonprofits for pro bono (free) legal assistance with business matters. See www.waaco.org for detailed instructions on how to make a request.  WAACO staff and an attorney from the screening committee review requests. If the issue is appropriately within WAACO's scope, the request will be circulated to a list of volunteer attorneys across Washington.  If an attorney agrees to take on the matter, then the nonprofit and the attorney negotiate an agreement about how they will work together.  WAACO's volunteer attorneys can help with organizational and transactional matters ranging from general formation, governance and taxation to complex mergers and reorganizations.   They do not represent parties in lawsuits.
• Just east of Rainier Avenue and just south of I-90, the 2100 Building on 24th Avenue S is providing a new home for the New School Foundation that works with T.T.Minor and South Shore elementary schools, the NW Children's fund, Rainier Scholars, the adoption agency WACAP (World Association for Children and Parents), the Washington Women's Foundation, Youth in Focus and Treehouse.  In addition to providing office and program space for these nonprofit organization, the 2100 building has meeting rooms and other common facilities.According to an account by Carol Tice in the Puget Sound Business Journal, construction was financed in large measure by an anonymous donor.
• On December 21, the Seattle Times published several indepth reports on the local nonprofit scene.  A broad review of publicly available statistics was the focus of "Boom times are over, but giving survives" by Warren Cornwall, Beth Kaiman and Cheryl Phillips (see the archived story).  Four related stories reported on the difficulties at the Washington Wilderness Coalition; unexpected donations to the Humane Society; adaptations at the Seattle Foundation; and progress at Social Venture Partners. (There are links to these stories from the website referenced above; free registration may be required to open the archive pages.)
• The Central Washington Non-profit Resource Center in Yakima has reduced its operations while separating from its previous host organization.  According to the former Executive Director, its future will depend on whether local and regional fundraising is successful.
• Garry Schalliol of the Washington State Historical Society's Heritage Resource Center has announced that the next round of applications for Heritage Capital Project Fund grants is about to get underway. For information about the scheduled briefings or to get a copy of the application form itself, go to http://www.wshs.org/text/workshops.htm.
• Ray H. Taylor, the founding Executive Director of the Community Foundation of North Central Washington in Wenatchee, retired at the start of the year after 16 years with the organization. His successor is Beth Stipe, who was recruited from the Bohemian Foundation in Fort Collins, Colorado.
• The new president and CEO of Seattle Goodwill is Ken Colling, who came to the organization after working for Kaiser Permanente in San Diego.
• The Center for Creative Change at Antioch University will host an open house to introduce its curriculum to prospective students on January 28th at 6 p.m.  More information and directions to Antioch's Seatle campus can be found on the school's website.
• "Finding Hidden Constituents Through Values" is the title of a half-day workshop to be presented by The Center for Ethical Leadership on Saturday, February 7.  The workshop will be led by Paul Ray, author of Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People are Changing the World. (Order a copy from Amazon.Com.) The fee is $75; to register visit the website or call 206-328-3020.

News from The Evergreen State Society

• Put Barber, President of the Society, was quoted in the New York Times in a December 5 business-section article on a federal court ruling that requires the IRS to release the text of decisions denying or revoking tax-exempt status (but not the organization's identity).  Along with other observers of the nonprofit regulatory scene, he praised the ruling for its value in "helping people understand what exempt status should reflect."

Coming Soon

• Thursday, January 15 -- Pat Roley will present an introduction to directors and officers (D&O) insurance at the monthly BrownBag seminar.  Noon at Antioch University, Seattle; registration ($10 - free for members) required; see the website.
• Tuesday, January 20 -- Cecile Andrews will discuss how today's harried life-styles interfere with a health civic life at the Society's breakfast meeting in the Student Center at Seattle University.  8 to 9:30 am.
• Wednesday, January 28 -- Nonprofit Schmoozefest with Michael Bisesi introducing the Seattle University Master of Not-for-Profit Leadership program and Neighbornet as the featured nonprofit.  At the Wallingford Community Senior Center in the Good Shepherd Center from 5:30 to 7:30.
• Tuesday, February 17 -- Lucy Barber, author of Marching on Washington: The Forging of an American Political Tradition (U. Cal. Press, 2002), will draw on her research to discuss the evolution of mass political demonstrations in American politics.  (She is Putnam Barber's daughter; an archivist with the state of California.)  On the Seattle University Campus from 8 to 9:30 am.
• April 1 -- The Tenth Annual Nonprofit Leadership Conference at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue.  Jan Masaoka will give the keynote address; you can read more about her work at San Francisco's CompassPoint in this San Jose Mercury News article

Details about these and other events are online at http://www.tess.org

Observing Nonprofits

Observing Nonprofits is an occasional publication of The Evergreen State Society, sent by email to members and supporters. A few days after publication, it is also emailed to a wider audience of people interested in nonprofits in Washington state and simultaneously posted on the Society’s website at http://www.tess.org

Managing Editor: Marie Sauter, MNPL

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