Newspapers / Philanthropy Journal of North … / March 1, 1997, edition 1 / Page 6
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Nonprofits Philanthn^y Journal of North Carolina How much for AIDS? The average state spends 65 cents per capita on AIDS prevention and treatment, while North Carolina spends 9 cents, The Common Sense Foundation reports. March 1997 Speaking up Nonprofits seek to influence legislative agenda At a recent legislative seminar for nonprofits sponsored by the North Carolina Council of Churches, advocates urged sec tor leaders to speak up on issues ranging from campaign finance reform to criminal justice. By Barbara Solow Cary North Carolina nonprofit leaders are gearing up for a legislative ses sion expected to touch on everything from welfare reform to regulation of the state’s pork industry With the General Assembly back in session, nonprofit staff members. LOBBYING board members and volunteers are looking for ways to make their voices heard on measures that will affect their organizations’ missions. At a legislative seminar in February sponsored by the North Carolina Council of Churches, nearly 120 nonprofit leaders from through out the state met in Cary to share information on the status of particu lar bills and issues. Many of those Issues - such as the environment and early childhood education - are on Gov. Jim Hunt’s “top 10” hst of legislative priorities. But others - such as health care and gun control - have so far failed to appear on the radar screens of state policymakers. TTie overall message of the day long gathering was that nonprofits have to speak up on issues they care about. “It’s really up to people to say that issues like health care cannot go on the back burner,” said workshop pre senter Lynice Williams, who is execu tive director of North Carolina Fair Share, a statewide consumer group. “The more stories legislators hear from folks, the better. 'They’ve really got to put faces to some of these prob lems.” One major challenge facing non profits is to avoid pitting issues or causes against one another in a legislative ch- mate marked by fiscal con servatism. For exam ple, leaders of a workshop on children and families said the price tag for expanding the state’s Smart Start program and improving teacher pay - two items Hunt has promised to pur sue - is $600 million. “That doesn’t leave very much in the budget for other, very good things,” said Paula Wolf, chief lobby Collins Kilburn ist for the newly-formed Covenant for North Carolina Children. The North Carolina Council of Churches has chosen four issues as priorities for the current legislative session: welfare reform, health care reform, issues affecting children and young people’s access to tobacco. The recent legislative seminar also featured workshops on cam paign finance reform, criminal jus tice, rehgion and politics, gun vio lence, the environment and state- sponsored gambling. Specific measures for which non profit advocates plan to lobby in the area of children and families include: Look for AGENDA, page 5 In search of support Some Durham leaders seek payments from Duke Recent moves by some Durham municipal leaders to pursue payments in lieu of taxes from Duke University are not likely to succeed or to be repli cated across the state, university officials say. But some observers wony that as local governments become increasingly strapped for funds, they will be more likely to seek revenues from large non profits. By Barbara Solow Durham John Burness is not worried about Duke University’s tax-exempt status. Despite recent moves by a city councilman to seek pay ments from Duke in Ueu of taxes, the university’s senior vice president says the balance sheet is clearly on the uni versity’s side. “Duke provides all of its own services - we do our own roads, our own police,” Burness says. “And we provide somewhere between S8 million and $12 million worth of indigent care out of the hospital - which if we did not, the county or the municipalities would have to pick up.” City Councilman Floyd McKissick’s proposals for pay ments from Duke so tar have failed to gain widespread support among his colleagues - many' of whom dismiss them as little more than mayoral-election-year posturing. But nonprofit leaders are mindful that such attempts may become more common in North Carolina as local gov ernments feel the loss of federal funding for social ser vices and the continued effects of corporate downsizing. “I think it’s a growing trend,” says Dan Gerlach, an economist with the North Carolina Budget and 'Tax Center in Raleigh. “You see reports of [nonprofit] salaries that people think are out of range and that leads them to think, ‘Well, why shouldn’t those organizations pay taxes?’ “'The trend here is going to be to say ‘Is Duke a mem ber of the community? Is Chapel Hill a member of the com munity? And shouldn’t they pay something hack?”’ Putting a tax value on Duke Chapel is one of the challenges university leaders say they would face if they were to make payments in lieu of taxes. Throu^out the U.S., a growing number of municipal leaders are turning to large nonprofits as sources of untapped revenue. In Nashville, for example, six nonprof it hospitals were sent tax bills of $5.4 million after county tax assessors decided they did not deserve full property tax exemptions. The city of Philadelphia began a drive in 1994 to encourage nonprofits to make payments or provide ser vices in Ueu of taxes - an effort officials say could result in Look for DURHAM, page 5 Preserving the family farm Nonprofit cultivates agriculture W The scope of RAFI's work ranges from helping isolated contract poultry farmers build a support network to presenting the issue of life patenting before the International Court of Justice at The Hague. By Kelly Prelipp Lojk Pittsboro When Mary Clouse’s contract to raise poultry was terminated in 1989 by the corporation that controUed her family’s farm, she and her husband sought to sign on with one of the other poultry firms that contracted with farmers in their area. To the Clouses’ dismay, they soon discovered they had been blacklist ed in the poultry industry, Mary Clouse says. The Clouses established their Chatham County farm in 1977 speclfi- caUy for the purpose of hatching eggs with the promise of a lucrative family business. The Clouses enjoyed raising poul try and did so successfully; Theirs was the largest egg hatching opera tion in the state. However, they con cluded that the agreement they had signed with a large poultry firm was one-sided and offered poultry farmers e're committed to biodeversiiy of plant life, but also diversity of people who nurture those plants. We're working to help sustain small family farmers, who are really the geniuses of agricul- . ture. John Justice Director of Development RAH little if any recourse when grievances arose. When they questioned some of the corporation’s practices, their contract was pulled. Because the Clouses had discussed their troubles pubhcly - with the media and in research done by the Institute for Southern Studies - they had been labeled “troublemak ers,” Mary Clouse says. Never ones to give up easily the Clouses were determined to make their family farm a success. John Clouse quickly set up a cattle farm, which he still operates. Meanwhile, Mary Clouse refocused her energies, becoming a full time advocate for contract poultry growers. .Through Clouse’s work at the Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA, she seeks to change the dynamics among growers and the large corpora tions with which they contract. “When we lost our contract, this became a personal issue at RAFI,” says Clouse, who had been working at RAFI part-time while helping to run the family farm. “People there said, ‘We can’t let this happen, what can we do?’ 1 toid them we’ve got to do two things. Growers have got to get oiga- nized, and they need information badly.” Look for AGRICULTURE, page 5 Congressman eyes nonprofit salaries U.S. Rep. Robert Menendez of New Jersey has introduced a bill to impose salary caps on some nonprofit employees and create a national clear inghouse to offer copies of nonprofit 990 tax forms for a fee. H.R. 239 would limit compensation for nonprofit officers and directors to the level of "cabinet members." Smart Start moving offices The North Carolina Partnership for Children - which oversees Smart Start - has moved its offices to 1100 Woke Forest Rd., Suite 300, Raleigh, N.C. 27604. The organization's telephone and fax numbers, respectively, will remain (919) 822-7999 and (919) 821-8050. Help offered to grandparents The Orange County Commission for Women is distributing a Grandparenting Packet at libraries, family resource centers and senior centers. It offers grandparents living with children advice on legal, financial, medical and educational issues. Call (919) 732-1524. Substance abusers to get help The Bridges Pilot Program offers care for people in Wayne County who have undergone hospital treatment for substance abuse. The ser vice is offered by the Child & Family Services division of the Methodist Home for Children in Raleigh. Call (919) 735- 3028. Governor lauds Work First In its first 18 months. North Carolina's Work First welfare reform program has moved almost 30,000 welfare recipi ents into the workforce and has saved taxpayers $75 mil lion, says Gov. Jim Hunt. Work First sets limits on the length of time clients can receive welfare benefits. National coalition measures impact Independent Sector, a nation al coalition of nonprofits, has launched a Measures Project to gauge the roles and impact of nonprofits in the U.S. The research effort will also focus on how the sector is filling gaps not being met by for-profit or government sectors.
Philanthropy Journal of North Carolina (Raleigh, N.C.)
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March 1, 1997, edition 1
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