Private Strategies
In addition to providing training and direct funding through grants and contracts, the FBCI supports nonprofit organizations through government policy changes and promotion of nongovernment sources of support, such as philanthropy and volunteerism. These comprehensive efforts demonstrate the foundational belief of the FBCI that government solves more of society’s toughest problems by engaging every willing partner, including faith-based and secular nonprofit organizations, corporations, foundations, individuals, and other private actors with the potential to help Americans address human services needs.
Charitable Giving
The FBCI has sought to increase private giving through Federal legislation that provides incentives for charitable contributions.
- IRA Rollover Exception—Congress adopted the IRA Rollover exception championed by President Bush and the FBCI in the Pension Protection Act of 2006. This provision allows tax-free donations from IRAs to charities as well as deductions for food and book donations to pantries and schools. In addition, it permits American taxpayers, starting at age 70 and a half, to make tax-free charitable gifts totaling $100,000 per year from their IRA directly to public charities without counting the distributions as taxable income.
- Adoption Tax Credit—President Bush championed a major expansion of the adoption tax credit in the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, which increased the credit from $5,000 per adoption to $10,000 per child for qualified adoption expenses. For special needs adoptions, it increased the credit from $6,000 to $10,000. Both the expense limit and the phase-out income limit are indexed for inflation. For 2008, the tax credit is valued at up to $11,650 per adoption.
- Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund—President Bush called on his two immediate predecessors—Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton—to raise support for groups working to rebuild communities devastated by hurricanes Katrina and Rita and restore lives affected by the storms and flooding. With the support of generous donors from around the world and many corporate contributions, the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund raised $130 million. According to the Fund leadership, "the grantees are rebuilding schools and libraries, rehabilitating housing, building new houses, helping people get back to work, providing mental and medical health services, educating youth and helping ensure that the region’s rich culture and heritage remain distinguishing characteristics of the Gulf region."
Public-Private Partnerships
American generosity does not stop at our nation’s borders. Public and private contributions to the developing world have steadily increased over the past several decades. While the overall dollars trend is moving upward, the proportion of taxpayer versus private source contributions has changed dramatically. Forty years ago, approximately 70% of U.S. capital flows to the developing world came in the form of U.S. official development assistance, compared with 30% from private funds. Today, the ratio is reversed: 80% of America’s support to developing nations comes from private sources and 20% comes from official governmental support. Many federal agencies are building on this trend by promoting public-private partnerships.
- U.S. Agency for International Development—The Global Development Alliance (GDA) draws resources from the private sector to form alliances as quickly as needs emerge. More than 600 active alliances exist today as a result of nearly $7.9 billion in combined public-private funds. These partnerships harness the fundamental forces now shaping the development landscape, such as the spread of globalization, the rise of private giving, and the need for cooperative solutions to the most significant development problems.
- U.S. Department of Commerce—The Economic Development Administration (EDA) restores and revitalizes distressed American neighborhoods through public-private investment in nonprofit solutions. EDA targets its investment assistance to attract private capital investment and to create higher skill, higher wage jobs in communities and regions suffering from economic distress. In 2007 EDA invested more than $28 million in 41 projects, with an anticipated benefit of more than 6,000 created jobs and more than $229 million in private-sector investment.
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—DHS has designed a system that facilitates goods and services necessary to recover from natural disasters. At the start of the 2007 hurricane season, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) expanded its online donation management system through a collaborative venture with Aidmatrix, which connects donors to America’s 50 largest disaster charities, many of which serve as umbrella organizations for smaller faith-based and community-based nonprofit organizations. Some states are expanding this network to include grassroots nonprofits directly, and local governments are increasingly making connections to their state’s network. This system was implemented in California just prior to the catastrophic wildfires in 2007, enabling emergency relief workers to use a common platform to access available resources on a 24/7 basis. It has also proven successful in other recent disasters, such as Oklahoma’s ice storms to Alabama's tornado catastrophes.
Volunteerism
Following the tragedies of September 11, 2001, President Bush highlighted how ordinary citizens contribute to the country in significant ways. In his 2002 State of the Union Address, the President called on all Americans to serve a cause greater than self and to build on the countless acts of service, sacrifice, and generosity the American people have shown in times of devastation and in times of peace. Two of the President’s signature initiatives—WHOFBCI and the USA Freedom Corps (USAFC)—joined with the Corporation for National and Community Service to help Americans answer that call and foster a culture of service, citizenship, and responsibility.
Volunteers are the lifeblood of the nonprofit sector. For example, four out of five charities registered with the IRS—an estimated 174,000 organizations—rely on the helping hands of volunteers. And that number does not include the nearly 400,000 U.S. small charities, virtually all of which run entirely on volunteerism. In addition, an estimated 83% of the nation's 380,000 religious congregations manage social service community development and neighborhood organizing projects.
Organizations value their volunteers for several important reasons:
- they are instrumental in reducing costs,
- they improve the quality of services provided, and
- they raise awareness of the organization in the community.1
Volunteers provide many hours of service and financial support that allow faith-based and community-based organizations to meet their constituents’ needs. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 60.8 million Americans volunteered in 2007, with each typically serving an average of 52 hours of volunteer activity. Nearly 36% of volunteers served through faith-based organizations, followed by 26% with educational or youth-service organizations, and 13% with social and community service organizations.
1Corporation for National and Community Service
http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/volunteering/nonprofit.asp
