Mad for Camp Finance

March Madness! At NYCON, March Madness starts us thinking about our own Big Event...Camp Finance 2017! This year is our 16th Annual Camp Finance and we look forward to seeing you at Mohonk Mountain House on October 5th & 6th.  To capture the excitement of both events, we're offering you our March Madness Camp Finance Discount from now until Midnight on April 3rd.  You can  save $30 on Full Conference Camp Finance rates. While we are finalizing themes, workshops and speakers for 2017 we want to make sure you - the people who are "mad" about  Camp Finance- can save money! From March 27th until April 3rd receive a $30 discount on Full Conference registration for Camp Finance. Just click here and enter discount code 17MADNESS. This all inclusive Full Conference rate covers the workshops, meals and your overnight stay at the lovely  Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, NY on October 5th & 6th.  The historic and majestic Mohonk Mountain House, site of Camp Finance. This is just a little Thank You to all of you who are as fond of Camp Finance as we are.  We love seeing you on the mountain and are looking forward to a great conference again this year. Sincerely, The Camp Finance Team New York Council of Nonprofits, Inc. (NYCON), 272 Broadway, Albany, NY 12204

Minimum Wage Increase Pinches Nonprofits

Small businesses across upstate are cutting hours, reducing staff and taking other measures to cope with the costs of a higher minimum wage.

Nonprofit administrators, already pinched by tight budgets, are finding the minimum wage increase is adding to the daily turmoil of operating an organization dependent on dwindling government grants, donations and a pushback from clients as they try to raise fees to cover the higher wage expense.

Most community-based nonprofits are locked into federal, state and local contracts that will not honor the increased employee costs that the wage increase brings, meaning that nonprofits would have to use or raise charitable dollars to subsidize the increase, said Doug Sauer, chief executive of the New York Council of Nonprofits. Most don’t have these funds to allocate so they cut back on staffing and services.

“It should be noted that this wage increase is also alongside increases in workers comp and unemployment rates, and raises at the state level of what constitutes an exempt employee,” Sauer said. “There is a triple if not quadruple whammy on mandated employer costs.”

As of now, the state government does not fully compensate nonprofits that they contract with for additional mandated costs of doing business, and most government contracts with nonprofits also do not pay the full cost of nonprofits’ services, Sauer said. There is a significant effort underway to see that the state does compensate the additional cost.

Because of undercompensation, nonprofits either lose money on state contracts or they have to find other sources to subsidize the services the government is contracting for, Sauer said.

►Wage hike may stymie small business

“A vast majority of local nonprofits operate on a shoestring and try to make do with what little they have,” Sauer said. “We may be approaching a time where more and more nonprofits simply refuse to do business with the state because they can’t afford to.”

Some nonprofits may choose to raise fees for their services.

“But not all are fee-based and raising fees means that there will be more people not being able to access their services,” Sauer said. “So, more human needs go unmet, or for arts and cultural organizations, less people benefit from what they offer.”

Ultimately, the increase in minimum wage harms the nonprofit industry, Sauer said.

“From nonprofits being a business that needs to be solvent, it threatens the viability and sustainability of many unless government, philanthropy and donors are willing to invest in the nonprofit workforce,” Sauer said. “Nonprofits already have a problem with recruiting and keeping qualified staff, who easily go to work for government, schools and the private sector to better support themselves and their families.”

Matthew Steecker is Southern Tier regional business reporter for the USA TODAY Network.

Matthew Steecker, @MSteecker Published 6:22 a.m. ET Feb. 16, 2017 

http://www.democratandchronicle.com

NYS Grants Gateway Announces Changes

NYS Grants Reform Team and Newly Formed Nonprofit Coordination Unit Announce Change to the Grants Gateway In response to feedback from nonprofit organizations, nonprofit advisory groups, and State agencies, the Grants Reform Team and Nonprofit Coordination Unit are pleased to announce enhancements to the Grants Gateway. These changes are effective March 19, 2015. Changes to Prequalification Status   Expired documents are the leading cause of nonprofits losing their prequalification status in Grants Gateway. Until now, nonprofit organizations temporarily forfeited their prequalification status if they proactively opened their Document Vault to upload new versions of their IRS990, CHAR500, and Audit Report before the existing documents expired. The new updates to Grants Gateway will make it easier for nonprofit organizations to proactively update their documents and to know when their documents are going to expire.  Moving forward, prequalified nonprofits will not lose their Prequalified status when they proactively update their documents. To make this possible, two new statuses have been added to Grants Gateway: Prequalified/Open  If a prequalified organization opens their document vault to proactively upload new documents before the old ones expire, they will be placed in the "Prequalified/Open" status Prequalified/In Review    Once the new documents are submitted and under review, the organization will be in the "Prequalified/In Review" status.   Grant applications received from nonprofit organizations in either of the new statuses at the application due date and time will be eligiblefor State agency review. Upcoming Training Training related to these changes will be available on a regular basis. Visit the Grants Gateway training calendar for more informationclick here.  More Information and Assistance  For additional assistance, please contact the Grants Reform Team. Email: grantsreform@budget.ny.gov  Phone: (518) 474-5595 What if Our Documents Expire? Nonprofits that allow the documents in their vault to expire will continue to lose their Prequalified status. These nonprofits will be placed in a new "Document Vault Expired" status. State agencies will not review grant applications submitted by nonprofits in this status. New Email Reminder Schedule          The Grants Gateway updates also include changes to pre and post expiration emails. These emails will contain a new informative subject line and stronger language to warn of an upcoming loss of prequalification status. These emails will be sent 30, 20, and 10 days prior to expiration. If a nonprofit does lose its Prequalified status, post-expiration emails will be sent with a new informative subject line and stronger language to ensure that the nonprofit is aware of the loss of its prequalification status. These emails will be sent 1, 15, 30, and 60 days after expiration.

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Updated Revitalization Act Compliance Resource Available

New York State Nonprofit Revitalization Act:  Remedial Action Plan for Compliance  [Updated] $300 for Nonprofit Members of NYCON.  Purchase includes one hour of implementation assistance. In December 2014, the Governor signed the Nonprofit Revitalization Actinto law. It is the first major revision of New York State Not-for-Profit Corporation Law (NFPCL) in over 40 years and most of its provisions took effect July 1, 2014. The Act comprehensively reformed the NFPCL and had a significant impact on the governance policies and practices of the state's nonprofits. In order to comply with the new laws, the vast majority of nonprofits still need to amend their bylaws and/or revise or adopt new policies. What is Included in the Remedial Action Plan for Compliance and How Can it Help Our Nonprofit? In order to help ensure that member nonprofits are in statutory compliance in an expedient way, NYCON prepared the Remedial Action Plan for Corporate Compliance. The Plan provides a Resolution for the Board of Directors to adopt a "Statutory Compliance Article" as a bylaw amendment along with five accompanying policy documents to be attached as Appendices to the Bylaws. The Action Plan purchase also comes with one (1) free hour of implementation assistance (via phone) with a NYCON staff member. Appendices Included in the Plan: Bylaws and Corporate Policy Definitions Board of Directors Conflict of Interest Policy Code of Ethical Conduct and Annual Potential Conflicts Disclosure Statement Whistleblower Protection Policy Audit Oversight Policy This resource is available to current nonprofit members of NYCON. If you would like to renew your membership, please click here. If you are unsure of your membership status, please contact us.  Update on Bylaw Review Services: NYCON Members can now have their bylaws reviewed and revised for compliance with the new Nonprofit Revitalization Act as well as for other areas of improvement, including best practices. Learn More.   If you are interested in receiving a bylaw review, we encourage you to please inquire soon as our volume of requests is very high. We will prepare a quote at no charge. To do so, we will need to ask you a few questions about your existing policies and procedures -- as well as take a look at your current set of bylaws.To receive a quote for a Bylaw Review please click here and fill out our questionnaire. Legal Reminder and Disclaimer:   The documents provided in the Remedial Action Plan for Corporate Compliance are aimed at assisting not-for-profits to be minimally compliant to the Act in bylaw and policy statements. Please be reminded that every Board of Directors has a fiduciary obligation to ensure that bylaw and policy statements are properly and consistently carried out in practice.  We encourage all users of this material to obtain qualified legal counsel and, where appropriate, guidance from a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) to advise in any modification and to specifically identify what other provisions in the Act may mean for your organization.   Please read the NYCONEnd User License Agreement before completing your purchase.

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