Stormy Weather Pushed Giving Higher for 2012

Stormy Weather Pushed Giving Higher for 2012

Charitable giving in the United States is estimated to have grown 1.7 percent on a year-over-year basis during 2012, with small organizations doing the best and large organizations losing ground. Had it not been for Super Storm Sandy last October, fundraising might have posted an overall loss.

Online giving is estimated to have made a rebound of 10.7 percent, with medium-sized organizations leading the way but all sizes showing gains.

This is some of the data from a new Charitable Giving Report, developed by financial and fundraising software firm Blackbaud in Charleston, S.C. The data is gathered from 3,144 nonprofits representing $7.9 billion to total fundraising. The online report involved 2,581 organizations, which brought in $512 million online.

Giving to faith-based organizations grew by 6.1 percent, according to the Blackbaud data. This gave a boost to overall giving since giving to religious organizations receives the greatest share of giving. Last year’s Giving USA report showed giving to religion was 32 percent of all giving by individuals during 2011.

Arts and culture, environment and animal welfare categories were the only other sectors to experience fsmaundraising growth in 2012 at 1.5 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively. Education was up 1.9 percent.

International affairs took the largest overall hit, declining 4.7 percent, followed by healthcare dropping 3.4 percent, human services down 1.2 percent, and public/society benefit down 0.5 percent.

The education number conflicts with a recent Council for Advancement and Support of Education report that showed fundraisers for colleges and universities estimated that giving to their institutions grew 5.5 percent during 2012 and predicting additional growth of 5.8 percent in 2013.

Small organizations in the Blackbaud report (less than $1 million) showed growth of 7.3 percent, with medium organizations ($1 million to $10 million) gaining 2.7 percent. Large organizations declined 0.3 percent. Overall, it was a 1.7 percent gain.

When it came to online giving, medium organizations led the way at 14.3 percent growth. Small organizations came in at an 11.8 percent gain and large organizations gained 7.2 percent. While online showed significant gain, at $512 million it remains less than 10 percent of all giving by individuals.

The last three months of every year shows an uptick in giving. There was a huge boost due to giving for Super Storm Sandy. Giving showed year-over-year improvement in each month, with December showing a 17.69 percent year-over-year gain. The slowest month was July, with year-over-year gain of 6.52 percent.

The same was true online, with December showing a 22.4 percent year-over-year gain. The next largest gain was 8.6 percent for October. The slowest month was January with a 5 percent year-over-year gain, according to the organizations in the Blackbaud study.

For the Online Article Click Here

NY Gov. Cuomo Submits Budget With $1.3 Billion Deficit

NY Gov. Cuomo Submits Budget With $1.3 Billion Deficit
By Kristen Meriwether

NEW YORK—During his third budget address as governor of New York state, Andrew Cuomo, showed just how important a decimal place is. The first slide in his presentation popped up showing a $13 billion budget deficit.

“I just wanted to make sure you guys were paying attention,” Cuomo quipped, to laughter from the crowd gathered at Hart Theatre, Center for the Performing Arts, Albany.

It made the $1.3 billion deficit seem not so bad.

After successfully passing two on-time and balanced budgets during his first two terms in office, Gov. Cuomo, submitted this year’s budget with promises for a historic third year in a row, something not done since 1977 in New York state.

“I wouldn’t say it is a Swiss watch, but it is working better than ever before,” Cuomo said.

Following his passionate State of the State speech two weeks ago, Cuomo aimed to answer the question on everyone’s mind when he rattled off new initiatives and ideas—how are we going to pay for that? While the governor showcased new spending, and cuts, all the while not raising taxes, he let municipalities know the days of reaching for a handout in Albany are over.

“There is no piggy bank in Albany anymore,” Cuomo said.

To alleviate the stress from struggling municipalities, Cuomo proposed a financial task force that would—much like a private company going through bankruptcy—restructure debt and fix the problem.

Much like the federal government, New York State is hoping to kick-start the shaky economy with economic development. Without a surplus of money, the state will have to be smart in how it does it.

“The state is no longer in a position to do this on its own so he is talking about a lot of partnerships,” said Bruce Berg, professor of political science at Fordham University. “The state will be the catalyst, the engine, but it will be the private sector that does much of the growth.”

Unlike in years past where large ambitious programs were announced, the allocations were modest, with things like grants, pilot programs, and tax credits.

To drive tech education, a growing sector in New York state, the governor put up $50 million in a venture capital fund in hopes of bringing tech leaders to partner up to fill vacant high-tech jobs. Money was allocated for partnerships with SUNY and CUNY to update higher education as well. Tax credits for the film industry were extended another five years.

Minimum Wage

Just like in his State of the State address, the governor mentioned raising the minimum wage by $1.50, saying it would increase total wages by an estimated $1.01 billion per year.

The measure drew cheers from the crowd, however, its placement in the budget address drew questions from the Citizen’s Budget Commission. “It is not a budget item. It does not have any effect on the state budget,” Carol Kellermann, president of Citizens Budget Commission. “It is a requirement for private sector employers.”

Kellermann was unsure where the $1.01 billion figure came from and did not believe the figure had any sort of budget impact, such as added revenue figured into the budget, especially since no measure had passed.

Sandy

The governor acknowledged the daunting task of recovering from Hurricane Sandy, one of the worst natural disasters the state has seen. A total of $21 billion in recovery, rebuilding, and mitigation was put in the budget. Cuomo expects $30 billion from the Hurricane Sandy Tax Relief Act, which has passed the United States House of Representative but not the United States Senate.

Cuomo said when the bill is passed he wants to give communities the opportunity to have input as to how that money is spent. “We can’t sit here in Albany and tell the Rockaways exactly what they need to do,” he said.

Ron Deutsch, executive director of New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness applauded the measure, but felt the governor could take it a step further.

“We want them to not only have a say in the rebuilding process, but we should also make sure the people in those communities get first shot at those jobs as well,” Deutsch said.

New Normal

For a state not known for passing on-time and balanced budgets, if the state Legislature can do it for a third straight year, the positive message it will send, will reach well beyond the New York state borders.

“It has a psychological value. It tells the credit markets this is not a short term blip in the way New York State does its budgeting. It shows this is really going to be the new normal,” Kellermann said. “I think it sends a good message to the investor community and I think it sends a good message to tax payers that their elected officials are trying to make sure their money is spent effectively and in a responsible way.”

For the online article click here.

Helpful Resources for Dealing with Sandy

To our NYC Members and all Members across New York State dealing with the aftermath of Sandy... Our thoughts are with you, your staff, and the community in this very difficult time. If there is anything we can do to assist, by posting notices, helping you connect with other nonprofit resources, etc. please let us know. ~NYCON staff and Board.

Some Helpful Resources:
Governor Cuomo Holds Storm Briefing 
CNN Impact
Disaster Distress Helpline
American Red Cross Greater NY Region