Investing in success
"If you look at the research, if a child enters kindergarten underprepared, what is going to happen by third grade?  Chances are, they are still going to be behind" said Amy Neal of United Way of Greater Cincinnati - Northern Kentucky (UWGC) in a recent interview with Steve Hirschberg of WNKU - 89.7 FM Public Radio. "Those are the kids that are at high risk for dropping out of school," said Neal.  

UWGC is distributing more than $413,000 in Newport and Covington, as well as in Campbell, Kenton and Grant Counties. The funding will support regional strategies designed to help young children prepare for kindergarten.

"That $400,000 is going to be invested in child care centers and on collecting data so that we can look at our investments, and intervene with children as early as possible," said Neal.  "We've found that children that have at least two years worth of high quality programming have a 21% better chance of showing up for kindergarten prepared."  Listen to the full interview here.

bornlearning™ Academy

Last year,  UWKY reported on UWGC's work with Kenton County Schools and Northern Kentucky University to develop the bornlearning™ Academy.  The workshop series teaches busy, overwhelmed parents and caregivers how to turn everyday moments into learning opportunities.  First year data shows promising results:

• Parent's belief that the 1st year is the best time to start reading to a child increased from 80% to 93%
• Upon completion of the workshops, the majority of parents (80%) felt very informed about supporting young children's learning and development
• Almost all parents increased their understanding of the importance of playing, talking, reading and singing with their children.  The majority of parents (93%-100%) indicated that they plan on conducting these types of activities more frequently.
• 100% of parents indicated that the bornlearning™ materials were helpful, that they had used the material with a child and found that it helped them understand how children learn.

If you feel like the IRS might be watching you a little bit more closely these days, a new report from the Exempt Organizations Division (EO) of the Tax Exempt and Government Entities of the IRS provides some basis for that observation. EO Director Lois Lerner outlines accomplishments in fiscal year (FY) 2010 and previews plans for FY 2011 in the 29-page report. It is worth reading the entire report to get an understanding of EO's priorities, but below are some highlights.

What Happened in FY 2010
Filed a 990EZ in the past?  You may no longer qualify.  Since 2008, the maximum gross receipts limit for filing a Form 990EZ has dropped from under $1M to under $200,000 in 2010.

Increased Monitoring. The statistics show that IRS has stepped up its efforts to check on charity compliance. For example: Audits of exempt organizations increased from 7,861 in FY 2008 to 10,187 in FY 2009 (a 30 percent rise) and to 11,449 in FY 2010 (another 12 percent).  Read more.

June 1-3, 2011

When Tennessee and Kentucky learned that the Carolinas were holding their 2011 conference in Asheville, NC, we said "Hey, our folks would probably drive to Asheville.  Maybe we should work together!"  So a plan is underway to combine our two excellent and successful conferencing/learning opportunities for an even bigger and better yet-to-be-named conference. 

So mark your calendars for the ______?_______ Conference, June 1 - 3, 2011 in Asheville, North Carolina.  We may not have a name, but we can promise you an affordable, fun and high quality experience!