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  • Why Taking Tax Rates Off the Table Threatens Non-Profits and Charitable Giving

    Posted by Aviva Aron-Dine and Jonathan Greenblatt on December 7, 2012 at 3:23 PM EDT

    Right now, America faces a series of critical fiscal choices that will affect the economy for years to come. One of the most critical steps we can take is to reduce the deficit in a balanced way in order to lay the foundation for long-term middle-class job growth. But we need to do that in a way that’s consistent with our values. 

    As part of his balanced approach to reduce the deficit by $4 trillion, President Obama proposes to raise $1.6 trillion in new revenue over 10 years for deficit reduction, including $1 trillion from the expiration of the Bush high-income and estate tax cuts. The President’s plan asks the wealthy to pay their fair share by raising tax rates for the wealthiest 2% to the level they were at under President Clinton—39.6%—which was a time when we created 23 million new jobs.  It also prevents an income tax increase for 98% of Americans and 97% of small businesses. 

    Some have suggested that, rather than raising tax rates for the most fortunate, policymakers should make up the revenue by cutting high-income tax benefits – in particular, by imposing a dollar cap on itemized deductions, including charitable contributions.

    But what is clear is that proposals that take tax rates off the table would threaten donations to universities, non-profit hospitals, social services providers, arts and cultural institutions and other nonprofit organizations.  This is because – to make the math work – these proposals rely on hundreds of billions of dollars of revenue that would result from drastically cutting or eliminating the charitable deduction as we now know it.

    Currently, the tax code encourages gifts to charity by allowing taxpayers to claim itemized deductions for charitable giving. But – as a new report by the National Economic Council (NEC) shows, the most prominent dollar cap proposals would effectively eliminate the charitable deduction for up to 13 million households and for as much as 60 percent of currently deductible giving.

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  • Serving to Honor the Memory of 9/11

    Posted by Jonathan Greenblatt on September 11, 2012 at 6:23 PM EDT

    America always rises to the challenges of the times.   We have a remarkable capacity for unity in the response to tragedy.  This was truly evident in the aftermath of September 11th, 2001. 

    As President Obama said in his weekly radio address this weekend:

    “Instead of turning inward with grief, we’ve honored the memory of those we lost by giving back to our communities, serving those in need, and reaffirming the values at the heart of who we are as a people.  That’s why we mark September 11th as a National Day of Service and Remembrance.  Because we are one American family.  And we look out for each other – not just on the difficult days, but every day.”

    Yesterday, President Obama spent time visiting wounded warriors at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He and First Lady Michelle Obama addressed9/11 Families and survivors at a session at the Pentagon. Vice President Biden and Interior Secretary Salazar visited the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, PA, where 40 passengers and crew heroically resisted a team of hijackers, losing their lives but averting an even greater calamity in the process.  And Secretary Napolitano traveled to New York City to attend a memorial service at the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan.

    In addition, in coordination with the Corporation for National and Community Service and The Mission Continues, Administration officials participated in a service activity in the Washington DC area, working alongside veterans, active-duty service members and military families.

    9/11 is seared into our national consciousness.   Yet, when we give our talent and time to help others, we honor the memories of those that were lost and preserve the spirit of solidarity that flourished in the aftermath of the attack.  Through service, we can maintain this flame and ensure that their legacy lives on indefinitely. 

    Jonathan Greenblatt is Special Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation.

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  • Mobilizing Capital in Places that Need it Most

    Posted by Anthony Reyes on August 16, 2012 at 4:18 PM EDT

    Ed. Note: This is cross-posted from Treasury Notes. 

    Access to capital is the lifeblood of a vibrant community.  In economically distressed areas, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) play a vital role in bringing much-needed capital to local businesses.  CDFI investments create jobs and spur economic development by connecting investors with opportunities. 

    CDFIs are a diverse and growing industry.  They come in many forms, including regulated banks and credit unions, venture capital firms, and microenterprise funds.  Some are nonprofit organizations, while others operate as conventional businesses.  Regardless of their form, CDFIs all share a common mission: to improve the lives of low-income people and communities by providing better access to capital. Recently, the Treasury Department announced $186 million in new CDFI investments to 210 organizations. This represents the largest single announcement of award dollars and award recipients in the history of the CDFI Fund.  These historic awards include $152 million through the CDFI Program and $23 million under the Healthy Food Financing Initiative(HFFI), a new Obama Administration initiative that increases access to low-cost healthy food in urban and rural neighborhoods that lack grocery stores, co-ops, or other affordable food options.  Under HFFI, the CDFI Fund has provided $48 million through 25 awards since its inauguration two years ago.

    CDFI Announcement

    (by U.S. Department of the Treasury)

    Certified and emerging Native CDFIs also received $11 million under the Native American CDFI Assistance Program.  These funds will be used to provide loans, investments, financial services and technical assistance to underserved populations and communities across the nation.  These funds scale companies and change lives.  For example, the Lakota Fund, a Native CDFI operating on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, used a CDFI award to provided growth capital to Murdock Electric, a Native American-owned company with 100 percent Native American employees.  This fast growing, family-owned business originally was launched in the back of its founder’s truck.  As a result of the loan from Lakota Fund, Murdock today is a thriving enterprise with a modern facility, 20 employees and 11 apprentices.  It is an important element of the economic health and social well-being of the Pine Ridge community.

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  • San Diego Center Gives Hope, Aid to Refugees

    Posted by Jonathan Greenblatt on August 7, 2012 at 6:52 PM EDT

    This story highlights the work of the Social Innovation Fund, established by the bipartisan Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act in 2009 and administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service.

    Arriving in the United States is just the start of the journey for refugees like Alaa, an engineer from Iraq. Unable to find a job, his first few months in America were a struggle, as he tried to cover his most basic needs. Alaa was eager for a job – any job – to become self-sufficient while he studied to resume work as an engineer in a new country.

    Generations of immigrants have faced similar challenges, but luckily Alaa found a public-private partnership that helps people like him gain financial stability: the San Diego International Rescue Committee (IRC) Financial Opportunity Center. The San Diego IRC received a $135,000 Social Innovation Fund (SIF) grant through the Local Initiatives Support Coalition (LISC), which developed the innovative “Financial Opportunity Center” model. This model combines financial services across three areas: employment placement and career improvement, financial education and coaching, and public benefits access. The IRC applies this model to integrate traditional refugee services with financial management support. 

    IRC Refugee

    Alaa, above, received financial management support from the San Diego International Rescue Committee (IRC).

    The Right Kind of Help

    The IRC Financial Opportunity Center provided Alaa with regular one-on-one job search assistance, helped get his University of Baghdad transcripts evaluated for equivalency in the United States, and assisted in his enrollment in community college courses on Microsoft Office and AutoCAD, an engineering software program. The organization also supplied him with a $100 loan to help him build his credit. A financial counselor even accompanied him to the bank to open his first account. 

    Alaa had his first taste of success in October 2011, eight months after his arrival in the U.S., when he secured a job as a sales associate at The Home Depot. He still needs more money to take additional classes in his field, but the IRC is committed to standing by Alaa both as an advocate and collaborator until he reaches his goal of financial independence. 

    Spreading Services that Work

    The IRC has been able to help nearly 200 refugees like Alaa thrive in their new homes, and it is just one of many organizations supported by LISC. Over two years, LISC has received $8.4 million from the SIF and commitments of another $8.4 million from philanthropic partners to set up Financial Opportunity Centers with 46 other community-based organizations.

    LISC has been able to expand its work to six new cities and, in the first year of operation, reach over 15,000 individuals and families. As LISC and its partners continue to spread this model across the country, thousands more Americans will gain new jobs and higher credit scores—not only making ends meet, but also establishing the foundation for stronger economic futures.

    Alaa’s story is part of our ongoing effort to highlight how social innovators are strengthening our communities and addressing social needs across the country. We hope stories like this inspire you to think creatively and take action in your own community.

    Jonathan Greenblatt is Director of the Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation.

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  • The Social Innovation Fund Adds Four New Intermediaries to its Portfolio

    Posted by Jonathan Greenblatt on July 31, 2012 at 3:13 PM EDT

    President Obama’s Administration is dedicated to elevating and scaling the most promising innovations that can tackle the toughest challenges.  We know that the most effective models for creating lasting change can be found not in Washington DC, but in communities across the country where entrepreneurs and innovators try new approaches, then evaluate and improve them based on outcomes.  

    The President understands that if we hope to create an economy built to last, we need to invest in what works and spread best practices wherever we can find them.  For this reason, he signed into law the bipartisan Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act in April 2009.  After its completion, the President directed the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) to launch a cornerstone initiative of the new law, the Social Innovation Fund (SIF).

    The SIF is elevating proven community solutions, helping build scale through philanthropic leverage and evaluation of results to fund programs that work. The first two funding rounds of the SIF leveraged a $95 million federal investment to catalyze additional private and nonfederal funding commitments totaling $250 million.  This investment impacts communities across the country through 16 philanthropic intermediaries and nearly 200 remarkable nonprofit organizations. 

    For example, the SIF grant-making intermediary Venture Philanthropy Partners is reaching thousands of disconnected teens in the lowest income neighborhoods of Washington, DC, with strategies that are resulting in success in high school, college admission, and success in college. Another SIF intermediary, AIDS United, is using mobile engagement teams and telemedicine technology to reach the most chronically ill with specialized interventions that improve quality of life.

     Today, the White House is happy to report that four new intermediaries have been awarded funding in the third round of the Social Innovation Fund. 

    The four new grantees are listed below:

    • GreenLight Fund will work to close the achievement and opportunity gaps for more youth in Boston, Philadelphia, and the San Francisco Bay Area.
    • Twin Cities Strive in partnership with the Greater Twin Cities United Waywill grow youth development programs for children in kindergarten through college in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.
    • John A. Hartford Foundation will expand an evidence-based program for treating depression into rural communities in Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho.
    • Capital Area United Way will address early childhood development, reaching young people in the Greater Baton Rouge Area.

    These organizations were selected through a rigorous competition from a pool of 31 applicants.  Each of the four awardees will receive $2 million over two years that will enable them to scale community-based solutions with strong evidence that their programs work. 

    I congratulate these four organizations on their awards.  Their work to support communities is already making a significant difference.  I look forward to seeing them expand their impact by growing dynamic nonprofits in the years ahead.

    Jonathan Greenblatt is the Director of the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation.

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  • Fighting HIV/AIDS in Washington, DC

    Posted by Jonathan Greenblatt on July 25, 2012 at 3:02 PM EDT

    Washington, DC is host to the 19th International AIDS Conference this week. As leaders from around the world gather to address this global crisis, we reflect on the role of the Social Innovation Fund and our partners in the fight here at home.The Social Innovation Fund was established by the bipartisan Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act in 2009 and is administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service.

    Sarah* had been living with HIV for 10 years when she discontinued her treatment. After witnessing a murder in her neighborhood, she was afraid to leave her house for care.  She was isolated, suffering from post-traumatic stress, and had to cope without HIV treatment for more than three years. 

    A Positive Pathways Community Health Worker discovered Sarah’s situation in July 2011 and reached out to her, calling her more than 10 times before she finally responded. With the support of the Health Worker and a medical case manager, Sarah began addressing her post-traumatic stress, secured safe and regular transportation to a treatment site, re-engaged in HIV care, and even received assistance with her housing needs. 

    Support from Within the Community

    Community Health Workers in Washington, DC

    A group of Community Health Workers with the Washington AIDS Partnership's Positive Pathways Program.

    In Washington, DC, Community Health Workers are frontline support for hard-to-reach women suffering from untreated HIV and AIDS. Washington AIDS Partnership’s innovative Positive Pathways program recruits Health Workers from the city’s high-risk communities and trains them to help their neighbors overcome barriers to treatment. 

    Through the Community Health Worker network, Positive Pathways identifies out-of-care women, builds peer-based trust, teaches them about living with HIV, provides personalized assistance to help them navigate service systems, and supports them throughout the early part of their medical care until they become independently engaged.

    Expanding Care to More People

    Because of this innovative model for connecting with hard-to-reach women, the Washington AIDS Partnership received a $320,000 Social Innovation Fund grant through AIDS United in 2011.  During the first eight months of implementation, the Washington AIDS Partnership contacted 2,367 individuals and enrolled 268 people who had been out of care. With additional funding from the Social Innovation Fund, the program aims to enroll 500 more people.

    Nearly 14,500 people live with HIV or AIDS in Washington, DC. For almost half of these people—around 42 percent—there is no evidence that they are in care. Community Health Workers are making critical strides to enhance their health, quality and length of life, while also strengthening our collective efforts toward prevention.

    Sarah’s story is part of our ongoing effort to highlight how social innovators are strengthening our communities and addressing social needs across the country. We hope stories like this inspire you to think creatively and take action in your own community.

    *Sarah’s name has been changed to protect her privacy.

     Jonathan Greenblatt is Director of the Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation

     

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