|
Today the role of philanthropy is expanding and so are its
responsibilities. Philanthropy Link is published by San Diego
Grantmakers to help you meet the challenge. Our mission
is to connect, inform, develop, and inspire a diverse group
of foundations and corporations to stimulate effective philanthropy
in the San Diego region. For more information visit www.SDGrantmakers.org.
People...
SDG is indebted to the leadership of
Ruth Lyn Riedel, Ph.D., President and CEO of Alliance
Healthcare Foundation. Serving on the board since SDG's
inception in 1999, Ruth has chaired the board for the past
two years. Under her leadership SDG launched its first and
second Annual Conference and recently brought together the
San Diego Grantmakers working group on the homeless. Ruth
will continue to sit on the board of SDG. Thank you, Ruth,
for your service on behalf of San Diego Grantmakers! We look
forward to continuing our work with you in the community.
Bob Kelly, President and CEO, The San Diego Foundation,
takes the helm as Chair of the Board of San Diego Grantmakers.
Head of San Diego's largest foundation, Bob is a strong advocate
for increasing and strengthening philantropy in this community.
A longtime San Diegan, Bob built his career in philanthropy.
Prior to joining The Foundation, he was an assistant to the
President and senior VP and COO of Sharp Health Care Foundations.
He also enjoyed a distinguished 15-year career at the American
Cancer Society. Bob, we look forward to an exciting year!
Great
Grants
San Diego Foundation
for Change
In the winter of 2004, 38 groups received $73,000 in funding,
plus training and resources, from the San
Diego Foundation for Change. These groups work tirelessly
year-round to help create a community in which we all want
to live. Below are a few examples of SDFC's grantees in action:
Send
us your "Great Grants"
Funders
throughout San Diego want to hear about your great grants.
Send your Great Grants to info@sdgrantmakers.org.
Advocacy:
What You Can and Cannot Do
Today, people often relate the word
"advocacy" to "lobbying." The Alliance
for Justice indicates that lobbying is indeed an essential
part of advocacy work, but advocacy efforts perhaps are much
broader. Organizing, picketing, litigating, speaking to government
officials, and other methods of influencing policital, economic,
and social systems are all included in advocacy. In many cases,
lobbying and advocacy are both permittable and suitable actions
to fund.
Some examples of non-lobbying advocacy
given by the Alliance for Justice include public education
campaigns and the organization of key players to discuss policy
issues. The SDG Members have convened grantees and other stakeholders
for educational discussions about the state budget. This type
of activity is not considered lobbying, because it was not
preparing for or discussing strategy for influencing specific
legislation. Taining people on how to carry out advocacy activities
is not treated as lobbying if the training is not directed
at precise legislation. The private foundations cannot lobby
or allocate funds to support lobbying, but may provide funds
to public charities that lobby.
The Alliance for Justice notes the
exceptions to lobbying. Not all activites that might persuade
a legislative debate are considered lobbying. The Alliance
has defined four types of activity that are excluded from
the constitutional definition of lobbying. The four are: 1)
nonpartisan analysis, study, or research; 2) requests for
technical advice or assistance; 3) self-defense communications;
and 4) examinations of broad social, economic, and similar
problems.
Foundations and public charities are
forbidden from engaging in partisan electoral activity, but
they are allowed to engage in nonpartisan voter education
and registration activity. Permissible nonpartisan activites
include: voter education, get-out-the-Vote Activities, and
voter registration.
Though lobbying cannot be used by nonprofits,
the activity of advocacy can be utilized to influence certain
systems.
To get more information on what nonprofits
can do and not do in advocating, please refer to the Alliance
for Justice's "Investing in Change: A Funder's Guide
to Supporting Advocacy." To get this booklet, please
see the the Alliance for Justice website,
www.afj.org,
or contact San Diego Grantmakers.
IRS
Makes Changes with 990 and 990-PF Filing
While voluntary electronic filing of
the 990 form has been available since last year, only since
January 10th of this year has it been made available for Form
990-PF. While e-filing is an option for all, it is now
required for a few. The IRS requires that your 990 be submitted
electronically if your organization:
- is required to file at least 250
returns during the calendar year ending with or within the
organization's taxable year;
- was required to file Form 990 or
Form 990-PF the preceding taxable year;
- was in existence for at least one
calendar year prior to the due date of its Form 990 or Form
990-PF; and
- is either a public charity with
assets of $100 million or more or is a private foundation.
More information is available through
the IRS
or through EDIN
(Electronic Data Initiative for Nonprofits).
Grantmaking
Resources
The Due Diliegence Tool & Grantmaking Basics
Online
Grantmakers
for Effective Organizations recently released its newest
publication, The Due Diligence Tool: For Use in Pre-Grant
Assessment , by Liza Culick, Kristen Godard and Natasha
Terk of La Piana Associates. The publication is a research-based
tool for program officers that provides a methodology for
and orientation to thinking about due diligence.
The Due Diligence Tool is the product of a collaborative
effort. The authors pulled together the practices and materials
of a diverse group of foundations — private, family,
corporate and community foundations, both large and small
— and culled from them the best practices to integrate
into a basic guide for due diligence.
The publication is available for free online.
To download a PDF version of the tool, click
here.
Grantmaking
Basics Online is a web-based course that offers self-paced
learning in the basics of grantmaking from a desktop computer.
It can be used as a staff or board refresher course, an orientation
program for newcomers, or to complement an existing orientation
program. SDG members receive a special rate of $150.00, almost
half off the regular price of $295.00!
The $150 tuition includes:
- Two-year access to the online course
- A complimentary copy of "Grantmaking Basics: A Field
Guide for Funders"
- Electronic announcements of new chapters that are not
in print
- Council on Foundations technical staff report
For additional information, click
here to try one chapter for free. If you have questions
about the course or would like to subscribe, contact Sophie
Dunbar, Coordinator, Education Collaborations, Council on
Foundations, at education@cof.org or 202-467- 0423.
Upcoming
Programs
Mark
You Calendars:
Stewards
of the Future: An Institute in Strategic Nonprofit Board
Governance
February
5th, 9:00am-3:30pm
USD Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice
Commitment to Systemic
Change: Homeless Working Group
February 7th, 9:30am-11:30am
The San Diego
Foundation
We
continue to discuss the issue of homelessness in San Diego
and SDG's leadership role. A year ago a survey of member
foundations demonstrated an interest in working collaboratively
towards solving homelessness in our community. We all
recognize that the time is now to move forward with a
proactive initiative. Join this funder collaborative as
we address a community-wide solution.
The
Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College presents...
Evaluating Community Investment Programs
May 3rd, 11:00am-2:00pm
Union Bank of California
downtown offices
San Diego's Best and Brightest
Have Gotten In,
How Do We Help
Get Them Through?
Understanding the Scholarship Process
March 9th, 11:30am-1:30pm
San Diego Grantmakers'
offices
Join us for a lunch conversation as we begin to understand
the scholarship process. Vince De Anda, UCSD, Director of
the Financial Aid Office, and Valerie Attisha, The San Diego
Foundation, Director of Scholarships, join us as we hear
- how are financial aid packages crafted for individual
students?
- how is the expected family contribution developed?
- what are the trends in scholarships and what is the
future?
Clean
Water, Healthy Beaches & Bays: Mobilizing Citizens to
Monitor and Advocate for Improved Water Quality
March 30th, 2:00-4:00pm
Hornblower Cruises
Tour San Diego Bay, the 2nd most polluted of 18 bays nationwide.
Hear how local nonprofits teamed up with citizen monitors
to advocate for higher standards of water quality. As a
result of these efforts, San Diego County now leads the
nation with the highest standards for storm water runoff
regulations. Scientists are now joining activists and policymakers
to reverse the contaminated status of San Diego Bay and
ensure that all of our rivers, bays and beaches are swim-able,
fishable, and surf-able. Learn how these groups successfully
organized to attain such high standards for water quality
and what are the opportunities and the challenges to implementing
a comprehensive program to monitor and improve the region’s
water.
The
Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College presents...
Evaluating Community Investment Programs
May 3rd
11:00am-2:00pm
From the Badlands to
the Foothills of the Future
Forum 3: May 3: "Building
Organizational Capabilities for the Future"
Forum 4: June 6: "Envisioning
Our Future High Performing Sector
The San Diego Foundation,
San Diego Granmakers, and Sempra Energy
Attend these forums where you will
participate as a community in defining a regional vision
for a high performing nonprofit sector and to begin to identify
the steps needed to acheive this vision for San Diego. These
are full-day interactive programs where community leaders
will collectively discover San Diego's best opportunities.
Other Upcoming Events
International
Human Rights Funders Group Meeting
Building Human Rights Constituencies
January 10-11, 2005
San Francisco
Human rights and social justice leaders will discuss tools
and
strategies for reaching and mobilizing new communities to
claim their
human rights. On the second day, a panel of funders will share
their
insights into best practices for funding work to build broader
constituencies for social justice and human rights at home
and abroad.
For more information, contact Catherine Townsend, ctownsend@mertzgilmore.org.
Now What? Event to
Convene Nonprofit, Foundation,
and Government Leaders in Sacramento
March 8-9th
Sacramento
Nonprofit, foundation, and state government representatives
will convene in Sacramento to address nonprofit effectiveness
in working with government at the California Association of
Nonprofits' (CAN)
eighth annual Policy Days. San Diego Grantmakers, Southern
California Grantmakers, and Northern California Grantmakers
join to sponsor this event.
Confirmed speakers include Legislative Analyst Elizabeth
Hill and Michael Genest, Chief Deputy Director, Department
of Finance. Event-goers will participate in "hot topic"
issue briefings, attend workshops on current policy issues
impacting nonprofits, network with peers in nonprofits and
government, and devise strategies for demonstrating nonprofit
integrity.
Early bird registration is $69 for SDG members.
COF
56th Annual Conference
Building Strong and Ethical Foundations
April 10th-12th, 2005
San Diego, CA
For information on San Diego's Host Committee activities click
here!
For questions or comments about SDGrantmakers or our Philanthropy
Link visit www.SDGrantmakers.org
or contact Julie Holdaway, 619/744.2180
Julie@SDGrantmakers.org.
Feel free to comment, suggest article ideas, or submit news
items. Link@SDGrantmakers.org
-- We're always happy to hear from you. Philanthropy Link
is a service to San Diego Grantmakers members. Copies of past
editions are archived at News You Can Use.
If you do not wish to receive the monthly Philanthropy
Link, send an email to Link@SDGrantmakers.org
requesting to unsubscribe in the body of the email.
|
