Media and Nonprofits

     Media is used to promote everything from wrestling and baseball games to children's cereals and personal hygiene products.  Consumers are better educated and have more choices than ever before. Consumers also have choices when it comes to donating time and money to a cause. There are hundreds of organizations competing for support, so what makes a specific NPO stand out?

     Take the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as an example. Not only is the organization issuing press releases and writing stories to post on their web site, they make sure that the organization gets good press. The Foundation is out  there, in the community, actively helping others and encouraging others to follow their example. They have a Facebook page, Twitter, and enable anyone to embed videos from the web site into a web page.

  There are a variety of ways to increase the visibility of an NPO. The NPO can join the local chamber of commerce; maintain a web presence that includes social sites such as Facebook, My Space, and Twitter;  publish a newsletter regularly and maintain a distribution list; and make sure the NPO is included on organization and service lists and directories in the community and the field the NPO is working in.  NPOs should work together with other organizations in the community, especially ones that link in with the services provided by the nonprofit trying to be noticed. One the best ways to increase public awareness of an organization is to specialize in a niche where you can stand apart from other organizations providing the same type of service. Provide a superior service that is indispensable to the community or the world.

    In short, get your organization out there. Find a niche and excel at providing clients with the best services available. Make it easy to find your organization- many sites offer free hosting for blogs and web pages. Participate in the community. Work with NPOs that have complimentary services. Raise awareness of your organization and increase funding.


Information from "Improve Nonprofit Visibility" by kmbaenterprises.

Volunteerism: Life blood of the Nonprofit

Volunteers are the lifeblood of nonprofit organizations; they perform a myriad of tasks that need to be done. Jobs like processing paperwork, performing manual labor, teaching or tutoring, distributing literature, supervising clients (after school program) or other volunteers, administrative tasks, fund raising, securing venues for events, and advertising. There is always more work to be done, and not enough hands to finish it. Overall, volunteerism is down among all age and economic groups, and specifically among young people (Martha Irvine, Youth volunteering dips, first time since 9/11 Associated Press Financial Wire April 23, 2009, last accessed 11/08/2009), though the article did state that volunteerism has increased from previous generations.

The Nonprofit Times stated in a related article that more women than men volunteer (1/3 of women and 1/4 of men), with married couples volunteering more than  their single counterparts.The average time spent volunteering was 52 hours from September 2005 until September 2006, and that time was spent at one organization for most people. Baby boomers spend more time volunteering than the previous generation did at their age. Thirty-five percent of all volunteers give thier time to religious organizations, 26.4% of their time to youth/educational concerns, and 12.7 % to social and community service organizations.

Data from the  Census Bureau's Current Population Survey found that one in three teens, ages 16 to 18,  volunteered in 2005 and then dropped to 28% in 2007.  Project Sunshine, an organization founded by a college student in 1998, has more than 10,000 volunteers who visit hospitalized children. More than half of those are 22 or younger, and hundreds more have asked about volunteering in recent months, says executive director Beatrice Kernan. (Irvine)

Irvine goes on to say that many teens are not volunteering so that they can work or devote more time to studies. The current economy is forcing people to make a choice in how they mange their time.

Conversely, I found articles that asserted that more people are donating their time because the economy is floundering and they want to contribute to society. The Corporation for National and Community Service, a government corporation, asserts that volunteer numbers are up. This organization is responsible for the AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and Learn and Serve America programs. Alternative forms of community volunteering, such as attending a community meeting, up 17% or solving a community problem as group composed of neighbors, up 31%, are evidence of the increase. Utah has the highest rate of volunteers, at 43.5%. A John Hopkins Nonprofit Listening Post Project study cited on the site asserts that despite the economic downturn and increased demand for services, volunteers are holding steady or increasing as organizations strive to cut costs and still meet increasing need. Of course, an increase in the numbers of volunteers create an increase in the need for supervisors. Since NPOs are struggling to maintain staff hours, volunteers may have to be turned away.

Statistics aside, NPOs need volunteers to run. President Obama has challenged Americans to do their part and increase the rate of volunteerism and hours dedicated to volunteering across the country. Whether it is a community project, a research organization, a school-related activity, or just helping a neighbor, please consider giving your time and energy to a worthy cause. You will be happy you did.

History of Federal Law Regarding NPOs

      As I was doing my research for my weekly blog post, I found a reference to the history of federal law regarding  nonprofits as written by Kansas City, Missouri attorney  Bruce Hopkins. I found his testimony in front of the House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee intriguing. He wrote the original report in 2005, but the history and evolution of nonprofit law in the United States remains accurate. (His book about nonprofits, which is updated yearly, is available on Amazon.com.) Hopkins' work is cited on many of the websites I have found that address issues facing nonprofits and the regulation of that sector. I have summarized his history here.

    According to Hopkins, tax exemptions for nonprofits were originated with the Revenue Act of 1913, although an earlier law, the Tariff Act of 1894, provided  charitable, educational and religious organizations tax exemptions prior to its passage. Major changes were made in 1917, 1950, and 1969. The changes in 1969 gave directions for charitable giving and provided statutory structure for nonprofit tax law with practically every Congress since has added to. Hopkins contends that current law remains "unbalanced and uneven."

     The IRS and Treasury Department have issued decisions and promulgated rules about nonprofits and their tax-exempt status, including revenue acts passed in the 1930's that made it clear that nonprofits should not influence Congressional legislation as a "substantial part" (48 Stat. 700) of their mission. I wonder what would they think of ACORN and the political action committees we have today?

     In 1950, Congress passed legislation requiring tax exempt organizations to pay taxes on the portion of their business that did not directly relate to the mission of the nonprofit. This evolution in nonprofit law has accelerated in recent years. Later legislation, including the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, Revenue Code of 1987 and Omnibus Budget reconciliation Act of 1993,  taxed NPOs for lobbying and contributing to political campaigns as well as disallowing deductions for expenditures related to such activities. As I disclosed last week, NPOs must file tax returns and make the last three years' worth of returns available to the public.

    Recent changes includes the suspension of a charities tax exempt status for engaging in terrorist activities (Military Family Tax Relief of 2003), and regulation of computer and technology contributions for educational purposes (The Working Families Tax Relief Act of 2004). The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 gave rules for patents and other intellectual property. IRS  rules addressing how to help disaster victims through organizational donations and through employer-sponsored  donations were passed in response to 9-11 and Katrina.

      As society has changed in its perception of what defines a charity, which activities NPOs should engage in, and how those charities operate, the law regarding the taxation of nonprofits has changed. Early definitions were narrow, with the focus on organizations that addressed educational, charitable, or religious issues. Today organizations are created to serve a wider variety of purposes:  accomplish scientific research; provide disaster relief; increase access to, and subsidize, the creation of art and music; provide poor families technology access;  and establish after school sports programs to keep children out of trouble. Congress and governmental agencies will need to continue to define what activities benefit the general public enough to subsidize with tax exemptions, decide how to track and regulate these organizations, and provide the public with information about these entities.