The mission of our blog is to promote the
value of nonprofit organizations and nonprofit leaders, and to
strengthen the sense of nonprofit community in our region. We envision
that Roundtable staff will regularly post their thoughts, but we
envision this blog as a forum for nonprofit leaders to speak out!
Share your ideas, thoughts, frustrations, and visions with other
nonprofit leaders in our region.
- Chuck Bean
Virginia Assembly HB439
Written by Chuck Bean & Kerrie Wilson, on January 30, 2008
I am Chuck Bean of the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington…and, I am Kerrie Wilson of Reston Interfaith… and we’re writing with some serious concerns about a piece of onerous legislation currently before the Virginia Assembly. HB439, a bill filed by Delegate Jackson Miller would be bad for nonprofits – and the people we serve – in Virginia. These regulations, if enacted would greatly limit our ability to help those in need.
Today: Email or Phone the Chairman of the House Rules Committee - House Speaker William Howell, and members of the special subcommittee and tell them why HB439 is harmful and imposes unnecessary cost and burden on nonprofit organizations.
2. House Rules Subcommittee Hearing (Thursday, January 31, 3pm): Travel to Richmond on Thursday to meet with lawmakers and attend the hearing and speak out against HB439. Contact Kerrie.wilson@restoninterfaith.org or cgg@cg2consulting.com if you plan to be in Richmond and are willing to make visits or speak at the public hearing.
3. Contact State Nonprofit/Faith Affiliates: Share the HB439 briefing paper and alert and ask affiliate organizations - particularly those in districts with members who serve on the House Rules Committee or special subcommittee - to email, phone and fax members expressing opposition to HB439.
4. Ongoing: Communicate with your elected representatives (House and Senate), particularly newly-elected delegates and Northern Virginia about the harmful impact of HB439 and related services bills. Ask them to contact the sponsor, Delegate Jackson Miller and House Rules Committee and urge that HB439 and related bills that impact services by nonprofits be defeated in committee.
Background: Last year, Delegate Miller introduced similar legislation - HB2937 - a bill that would have required private organizations to verify legal presence of participants
Last month, I attended a nonprofit accounting class at the Center for Nonprofit Advancement in an attempt to forge a stronger connection between the numbers I work with everyday and the theories and larger-picture-ness behind accounting, a daunting task for someone who considers herself rooted in the idealism of liberal arts. But through my work at the Roundtable, and external experiences like this class, I have come to realize the importance of the almighty dollar – much as we’d like to ignore it. Luckily, my reluctant recognition of the dollar has come early in my foray into the nonprofit sector as finances and their impact are beginning to form the heart of my nonprofit understanding.
In a December exit interview, Ford Foundation’s Susan Berresford said nonprofits “need to do a much better job than we have done so far talking about what our sector does, what its shape and size is, what its issues are, and what its value is,” according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Though some are better communicators than others, nonprofit leaders individually and collectively have to constantly improve our communications skill set.
Communication is a vital part of the Roundtable’s work: how well we communicate with Members, among staff, with the media, with policy makers determines the success of our work. This is nothing new to any nonprofit – effective communication with Boards, clients, volunteers, and of course, those ever present funders, is a daily demand. How nonprofits could/should do this has generated a maze of books, organizations, and, of course, blogs.
The most interesting idea mentioned is that of “mutual accountability”. It seems to me that more often than not government, business funders, and, yes, sometimes even foundations- focus so intensely on making sure that the grant recipients are accountable that they forget to evaluate and hold themselves to equal standards in relation to their grantees. Granting and receiving funds should be a two-way conversation. Excessive paperwork, unrealistic expectations, and limitations that effect a nonprofit’s ability to carry out their mission or project goal are symptoms of a communications breakdown.
Last week, I was a guest on NBC4’s Viewpoint program to participate in a panel discussion on disability. This was a good opportunity to let a broad audience knows about Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind’s efforts in creating employment opportunities for the almost 12,000 blind and visually impaired individuals of working age in our metro region.
There are approximately 10 million blind and visually impaired individuals in the USA and about 3 million are working age (18-69). Only 4% are employed. In the our metropolitan area the number of blind and visually impaired individuals of working age is 11,794, an untapped resource of people with the desire to join the workforce.
The Roundtable was founded in 2002 with a vision that the nonprofit community would emerge as an equal partner with government and business in shaping regional priorities. I appreciated the founders’ vision and am grateful that they hired me to serve as executive director. Working together, we have made progress.
Question: But what is it going to take for nonprofit leaders to be present, active, and heard at every regional table? For nonprofit leaders to be members of every regional “blue-ribbon commission”? To be leaders within every chamber of commerce? To have sustained media coverage? To be influential in policy circles from Upper Marlboro to Manassas?
In a December exit interview,