FPN Network News - July 2009

July 2009

A monthly e-newsletter for people interested in Florida philanthropy

Headlines

Jacksonville Community Foundation Honored for Arts Support
The Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville presented its 2009 Special Recognition Award to The Community Foundation in Jacksonville, which is celebrating the 20th Anniversary of its Art Ventures Fund. To date the fund has made grants totaling more than $1 million to individual artists and small and mid-sized arts organizations. View the YouTube video to learn more.

>	Palm Beach Safety Net Challenge Helps People in Need The four funders behind the Safety Net Challenge raised nearly $1.3 million in May to support more than 30 nonprofits working to help families and individuals affected by the economic crisis in the areas of food, shelter, health care and child care.

>	Gates Foundation Supports Remedial Education Efforts in Florida The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded more than $1 million to expand remedial education programs in Florida, including $743,000 over three years to Valencia Community College.

>	Knight Foundation Initiative seeks new models for investigative reporting on digital platforms, part of a growing trend of foundation-funded journalism and nonprofit investigative news.

>	Blue Foundation Strengthens Florida’s Medical Safety Net

>	Pinellas Community Foundation Receives National Certification of Excellence

>	Winter Park Health Foundation Supports Community Gardens

>	New Kellogg Foundation Project Seeks to Address “Unconscious” Racial Biases

>	Is the Popcorn Ready? Early Reviews of "The Philanthropist"

Focus On: Federal Stimulus Funding in Florida

Florida’s “Stimulus Czar” Reviews Recovery Act With State’s Foundations, Nonprofits
At a June 16 FPN Webinar, Florida Economic Stimulus Special Advisor Don Winstead described how Florida will receive $14.1 billion over the next three years from the Act, and identified several possible opportunities for private funders to help Florida maximize the federal stimulus dollars it receives. Download Winstead’s presentation.

Stimulus Funding News From Across Florida:

>	Arts: Brevard Art Museum, Northwest Florida Ballet and Young at Art of Broward were among 18 arts and cultural groups from across Florida to receive $25,000 each in federal stimulus money through the Florida Arts Recovery Program.

>	Housing: Florida hopes to stoke its real estate market by becoming one of the few states to offer $8,000 in down-payment assistance to qualified homebuyers so they can benefit upfront from a new federal tax credit, the Orlando Sentinel reports. The funds are being distributed through local government and nonprofit agencies that already provide down-payment help through the State Housing Initiatives Partnership.

>	Technology: With $7.2 billion of the Recovery Act allocated to provide broadband access to unserved and underserved populations across the nation, South Florida nonprofits have been strategizing for months on ways to bridge the digital divide and increase the region’s competitiveness by completing new projects and expanding existing ones.

>	Workforce: 1,100 Central Florida teens started six-week summer internships at government agencies and nonprofits through Workforce Central Florida, while another 100 young adults have 28-week internships with private businesses, thanks to $4.1 million in federal stimulus funds. In Jacksonville, Worksource will provide 1,500 students with the opportunity to develop workplace skills, up from 200 teens it employed last year, using $2.3 million in Recovery Act funds.

Economy Matters

Florida: An Economic Overview
This presentation from the Florida Legislature Office of Economic and Demographic Research offers many sobering details on the current state of Florida’s economy. One example: In 2008, Florida’s GDP ranked 48th in the nation in real growth with a decline of (-1.6%). In 2005, the state's GDP ranked 2nd.

>	Investing in Nonprofit M&A This issue brief from Arabella Advisors looks at nonprofit M&A - “mergers and alliances” - from a donor’s perspective. The brief explores successes, challenges, opportunities, trends and special considerations for those who may be interested in supporting nonprofit M&A activity.

>	2 New Surveys Confirm Charity Leaders' Perceptions: Recession's Impact Runs Deep

>	Central Florida Churches Feel Recession's Crunch

>	Campaign Keeps Brevard Food Pantries Stocked

>	Southwest Florida Nonprofits Facing Financial Pain Just When They're Needed Most

>	Tough Times Dim Appeal of Glitzy Charity Functions

>	Foundations Trim Staffs After Assets Slide Lower

FPN News

FPN’s Ensign Appointed to Florida Advisory Committee on Economic Security
FPN President Katie Ensign has been appointed to a state committee that advises the Florida Department of Children and Families on its provision of safety-net services to Florida citizens - services that have become all the more critical in today’s economic downtown.

Giving Trends

Foundations Increase Support for Women, Girls
Foundation giving targeted to benefit women and girls climbed 223% between 1990 and 2006, compared to an overall giving increase of 177%, according to this first-of-its kind report by the Foundation Center and the Women's Funding Network. The report also examines patterns of giving by women's funds and their role in spearheading social change. Download the report highlights or order the full report.

>	Charitable Donations See Sharpest Drop in 53 Years Donations to nearly every type of charity faltered in 2008, as contributions declined by 5.7% after adjusting for inflation, according to the new edition of Giving USA. It was the steepest decline in the history of the survey and the first drop in 21 years.

>	Most Health-Related Foundation Giving Benefits Underserved Groups A new study by The Philanthropic Collaborative estimates that 68% of health-related grant dollars by private and community foundations from 2005 to 2007 benefited minorities, the economically disadvantaged and other underserved groups.

>	Foundation Endowments Declined 26% Last Year, Study Finds

>	Majority of U.S. Companies Increased Giving in 2008, New Survey Shows

Legislative Update

National Community Service Initiative Launched, Leveraged by Foundations
The Corporation for National and Community Service has announced that it will lead a national, 12-week initiative developed by the Obama administration to stimulate economic growth and encourage community service through volunteerism. The initiative, United We Serve, will be leveraged by a number of foundations and other organizations around the country.

>	U.S. House Hikes Arts & Humanities Budgets The House of Representatives approved $170-million budgets for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities in 2010: a 9.7% increase for each over their current $155 million. The issue now moves to the Senate.

Tax & Legal Watch

The Private Inurement Prohibition, Excess Compensation, Intermediate Sanctions, and the IRS’s Rebuttable Presumption: A Basic Primer for Public Charities
The new Form 990 requires public charities to indicate how they established the compensation paid to certain officers, board members and employees, and there can be stiff penalties for allowing these “charity insiders” to benefit improperly from the organization (i.e. private inurement). In this timely paper from GuideStar, attorney Karl Emerson explains private inurement and provides the legal perspective on key nonprofit compensation issues.

>	New Form 990 Creates Strategic Opportunities, Risks for Nonprofits This new article from Guidestar explains how the new Form 990 offers nonprofits an opportunity to examine and retool their governance practices, and holds many risks for those that don’t.

>	Board Q&A: Can conflict of interest be an obstacle to board service? Read the answer at BoardSource.

New Resources

Looking Forward: Perspectives on Future Opportunities for Philanthropy
The Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities has compiled essays from leading thinkers in the movement for smarter growth policies and practices in which they challenge philanthropy to think about its role over the next 10 years.

>	2008 Nonprofit IT Staffing & Spending Report This new report from NTEN and The Nonprofit Times offers a closer look at the current state of nonprofit IT staffing in general, and gives organizations the information they need to evaluate and improve their own IT staffing (free registration required).

>	Managing Executive Transitions: A Guide for Nonprofits

Calendar

August 8-9, 2009
Lawton Chiles Leadership Corps
Orlando, FL

November 20-21, 2009
2009 BoardSource Leadership Forum
Orlando, FL

Jobs

New job postings on FPN's Jobs Board:

>	Public Relations Coordinator, Canine Companions for Independence

>	Senior Associate in Research & Capacity Building, Community Science

Welcome New FPN Members

>	Bank of America, Tampa

>	Lawton Chiles Foundation, Tallahassee

Florida Philanthropic Network is a statewide association of grantmakers working to strengthen philanthropy through research, education and public policy.

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