[xtypo_dropcap]I[/xtypo_dropcap]n the wake of the 2010 midterm elections, the impact on foundations and the nonprofit sector is being scrutinized. The Hudson Institute recently hosted a forum of four panelists with a detailed analysis of how to move forward in what one presenter called “bleak times.” A recording of the panel was posted on the Institute’s website.
Moderator William Schambra, director of the Institute’s Bradley Center, opened the discussion with a recent quote from Rick Cohen in the Nonprofit Quarterly who opined that the recent election was “brutal. ... Not just for the Democrats who took it on the chin, but for the whole nonprofit sector. The incoming freshman class of Congress represents a sea change for nonprofit—the election of dozens of policymakers with scant experience of the nonprofit sector they will be charged with governing.”
The fast-talking Dean Zerbe, director of the specialty tax service provider alliantgroup, remarked that in the environment of a new Congress eager to save money, a lot could be done by forcing accountability.
Zerbe noted several institutions that received government money and tax breaks consistently failed to deliver on their promise. However, he seemed to have little faith that this would actually happen.
“We will continue to have money for orphans stolen to pay for golf courses. We will continue to have charities pay for officials to go to the Harvard Club. We will continue to provide tax free luxury housing. Small colleges will continue to pay their presidents over $2 million in salary,” joked Zerbe.
He suggested what he called a “bold concept” that charities act charitable, such as “requiring hospitals to require care commensurate with their tax benefits.”
“If we don’t look at what we are already spending our money on through tax expenditures and ask, ‘What are we getting for that?’ I think we’re in for a very bad time,” Zerbe stated. “It would be like if the Feds told Boeing, ‘Just send us the bill and whatever it is and we’ll pay it.’”
Patricia Reid, senior vice president at the Independent Sector, explained that in an environment where voters were most concerned with jobs and the economy, it was critical for nonprofits to educate the incoming Congress about what they do.
“We have to tell them what we’d like to see,” she said, adding that nonprofits had to realize that it was critical to work both sides of the aisle at all times.
“This was an election where there was a huge swing in one direction. In two years, who knows? Voters could be angry that things didn’t get fixed as quickly as they wanted to, and things could swing back. We have to be working and have friends on both sides of the aisle,” said Reid.
Listing 10 key lessons from the recent election, Sandra Swirski, executive director of the Alliance for Charitable Reform, remarked that Congress now had “the largest freshman class in decades.” She echoed the concerns of Reid to make sure that “nonprofits hit the ground running to educate the new members.”
She called “for an increased interaction with our members of Congress to make [sure] voices and perspectives are heard.”
“Welcome to the nightmare,” exclaimed founder and Executive Director OMB Watch Gary Bass, who warned that the incoming conservative Congress was most likely to result in gridlock.
Although Bass described what he called a “daydream” where officials would “work civilly to come up with reasonable compromise,” he noted that it was incredibly unlikely.
“There is no way that an ultra conservative House of Representatives is going to be able to amass 60 votes for anything. That puts in jeopardy all legislation over the next two years,” he said.
“If you run a nonprofit out there and you really don’t know what the government is going to come up with, you can’t really do any planning. You can’t predict what to do,” added Bass.
Like other presenters, he stressed that “the people that are coming in don’t really understand the nonprofit sector.”
“Unless all of us come together, regardless of our ideology, and start talking about the need for a responsive government in reasonable ways, we’re going to face very, very bleak times for the nonprofit sector.”
Moderator William Schambra, director of the Institute’s Bradley Center, opened the discussion with a recent quote from Rick Cohen in the Nonprofit Quarterly who opined that the recent election was “brutal. ... Not just for the Democrats who took it on the chin, but for the whole nonprofit sector. The incoming freshman class of Congress represents a sea change for nonprofit—the election of dozens of policymakers with scant experience of the nonprofit sector they will be charged with governing.”
The fast-talking Dean Zerbe, director of the specialty tax service provider alliantgroup, remarked that in the environment of a new Congress eager to save money, a lot could be done by forcing accountability.
Zerbe noted several institutions that received government money and tax breaks consistently failed to deliver on their promise. However, he seemed to have little faith that this would actually happen.
“We will continue to have money for orphans stolen to pay for golf courses. We will continue to have charities pay for officials to go to the Harvard Club. We will continue to provide tax free luxury housing. Small colleges will continue to pay their presidents over $2 million in salary,” joked Zerbe.
He suggested what he called a “bold concept” that charities act charitable, such as “requiring hospitals to require care commensurate with their tax benefits.”
“If we don’t look at what we are already spending our money on through tax expenditures and ask, ‘What are we getting for that?’ I think we’re in for a very bad time,” Zerbe stated. “It would be like if the Feds told Boeing, ‘Just send us the bill and whatever it is and we’ll pay it.’”
Patricia Reid, senior vice president at the Independent Sector, explained that in an environment where voters were most concerned with jobs and the economy, it was critical for nonprofits to educate the incoming Congress about what they do.
“We have to tell them what we’d like to see,” she said, adding that nonprofits had to realize that it was critical to work both sides of the aisle at all times.
“This was an election where there was a huge swing in one direction. In two years, who knows? Voters could be angry that things didn’t get fixed as quickly as they wanted to, and things could swing back. We have to be working and have friends on both sides of the aisle,” said Reid.
Listing 10 key lessons from the recent election, Sandra Swirski, executive director of the Alliance for Charitable Reform, remarked that Congress now had “the largest freshman class in decades.” She echoed the concerns of Reid to make sure that “nonprofits hit the ground running to educate the new members.”
She called “for an increased interaction with our members of Congress to make [sure] voices and perspectives are heard.”
“Welcome to the nightmare,” exclaimed founder and Executive Director OMB Watch Gary Bass, who warned that the incoming conservative Congress was most likely to result in gridlock.
Although Bass described what he called a “daydream” where officials would “work civilly to come up with reasonable compromise,” he noted that it was incredibly unlikely.
“There is no way that an ultra conservative House of Representatives is going to be able to amass 60 votes for anything. That puts in jeopardy all legislation over the next two years,” he said.
“If you run a nonprofit out there and you really don’t know what the government is going to come up with, you can’t really do any planning. You can’t predict what to do,” added Bass.
Like other presenters, he stressed that “the people that are coming in don’t really understand the nonprofit sector.”
“Unless all of us come together, regardless of our ideology, and start talking about the need for a responsive government in reasonable ways, we’re going to face very, very bleak times for the nonprofit sector.”
