by Elisa Klein | Jun 21, 2020 | News
Atlanta, GA. On June 9th, the leading international humanitarian and development organization CARE hosted its first-ever Virtual Advocacy Summit. Amanda Gorman, Youth Poet Laureate of the United States pictured above, was a featured speaker. CARE transformed its annual CARE National Conference, which has been held in Washington, DC for the past 17 years, into a digital gathering.
CARE Action advocates are calling on the U.S. government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic to include additional funding — no less than $12 billion for the global response — for prevention and response in the poorest and most vulnerable communities around the world.
In this screengrab, President and CEO of CARE Michelle Nunn and Hillary Clinton speak.
The event included high-caliber speakers, in-depth conversation, and plenty of inspiration about how we can all do our part in the global fight for gender equality, even during times of crisis. The Virtual Summit focused on the unprecedented challenge presented by COVID-19 that threatens to reverse decades of progress toward ending global poverty and hunger. Speakers and participants discussed how with economies shuttered, there is a very real possibility that more than 500 million people will slip back into poverty.
CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty and places a special focus on supporting women and girls. (Photo by Getty Images/Getty Images for CARE)
In this screengrab, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi speaks as Hillary Clinton, Stacey Abrams, Iman, Bellamy Young, and more joined the CARE Virtual Summit. (Photo by Getty Images/Getty Images for CARE)
The event was streamed live on https://www.facebook.com/carefans/live/, NowThisNews, NowThis Politics and NowThis Her. For more information, visit CARE.org.
The event provided people interested in speaking out about injustice, especially gender injustice, the avenue and tools to do just that. “The pandemic is having a profound impact on vulnerable people around the world from New York City to Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. In the struggle for lives and livelihoods in the face of COVID-19, women and girls – especially those living in poverty, in countries experiencing conflict, and in refugee and displacement settings – face unique challenges. As a global community, it is our responsibility to do everything in our power to ensure that women are not overlooked and underserved as the world recovers and rebuilds,” said Michelle Nunn, President & CEO of CARE. “CARE is working tirelessly to help struggling communities around the world respond to this pandemic equitably and justly so that all of us come out of it stronger. We invited people from all walks of life to join the CARE Virtual Summit to learn about these challenges and how they can become part of the solution.”
As we face the challenges of both a global pandemic and systemic racism in the U.S., CARE is standing in solidarity with the most marginalized populations fighting to build a more just and equal world. While the focus of the Summit remained largely on the global COVID response, the event also addressed the moment that we are in and the intersection between racial justice and social justice.
Key speakers included: Michelle Nunn, President & CEO, CARE; Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; Stacey Abrams, founder of Fair Fight Action; Representative Susan Brooks; Sylvia M. Burwell, President, American University; Ambassador Mark Green; Honorable Mark Dybul, Former United States Global AIDS Coordinator; Helene Gayle, President and CEO, Chicago Community Trust; Iman, CARE’s Global Advocate; Valerie Jarrett, Former Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama; Anja Manuel, Co-founder and Partner, Rice, Hadley, Gates, and Manuel LLC; Representative Grace Meng; Bellamy Young, Actress, Singer and CARE Ambassador; Senator Cory Booker; Sofia Sprechmann, Secretary General, CARE International, Amanda Gorman, Youth Poet Laureate of the United States, and more.
The CARE Virtual Summit was open to anyone interested in these issues to meet other passionate advocates, learn about the latest policy issues affecting women and girls around the world, and meet members of Congress to speak up and stand in solidarity. CARE encouraged conference participants to sign the petition asking to Congress to put women and girls at the center of the COVID-19 response.
The CARE Virtual Summit was generously supported by Delta, The UPS Foundation, Cargill, and P&G. In a virtual invite-only gathering prior to the Summit, CARE hosted members of its Global Leaders Network (GLN) to hear from US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi as well as Admiral Mike Mullen (USN, Ret.), Senator Richard Shelby, Senator Patrick Leahy, Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Michèle Flournoy, Former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, and Vice Chair, CARE Board of Directors on the future of U.S. National Security. The GLN also hosted a conversation on First Families and Humanitarian Leadership with Neil Bush, Chairman of the Board, Points of Light Founder, George H.W. Bush Foundation for China-U.S. Relations, Jason Carter, Partner, Bondurant Mixson & Elmore LLP, Chair, The Carter Center , Susan Eisenhower, Chair, The Eisenhower Group, and author, How Ike Led (Thomas Dunne Books, 2020) and Lynda Johnson Robb and Lucinda Robb Board Member, Library of Congress Rubenstein Awards Board member, Nat’l Archives Foundation.
ABOUT CARE:
Founded in 1945 with the creation of the CARE Package®, CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. CARE places special focus on working alongside women and girls because, equipped with the proper resources, they have the power to lift whole families and entire communities out of poverty. That’s why women and girls are at the heart of CARE’s community-based efforts to confront hunger, ensure nutrition and food security for all, improve education and health, create economic opportunity and respond to emergencies. In 2019, CARE worked in 100 countries and reached more than 68 million people around the world.
MEDIA CONTACT: [email protected]
by Elisa Klein | Jun 14, 2020 | Coming Up, News
Los Angeles, CA. The California Department of Justice Charitable Trusts has issued new guidelines during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic and State’s shelter-in-place order.
Right now charitable organizations are called upon more than ever to meet the critical needs of communities. In California, Attorney General Becerra (pictured above) is conducting outreach to nonprofits with the new information.
Here are a few of the modified details:
Unless prohibited by the nonprofit’s emergency bylaws, the following actions can be taken to conduct the corporation’s ordinary business operations and affairs during an emergency: Directors may participate in the board meeting through telephone conference calls, video conference calls, or through electronic transmission provided that each director can communicate with other directors concurrently and has means of participating in all matters before the board.
Directors of public benefit corporations can take action without a board meeting if all directors consent in writing and the quorum requirement is met. (Corp. Code, § 5211, subd. (b).) The written consent of the directors must be kept with the minutes of the proceedings of the board. (Id.) Note that directors cannot vote by proxy.
Many nonprofit organizations have endowment funds, which are donor-restricted funds that are intended to be invested and used in perpetuity to support the nonprofit’s charitable programs. Endowments are subject to the requirements of the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (UPMIFA). Nonprofits need to be cautious on how much they spend from their endowment funds. Spending more than 7 percent of the fair market value of an endowment fund may create a presumption of imprudence. While your organization may be tempted to look to endowments as a means of addressing unanticipated costs and budget shortfalls, before your organization decides to invade principal or borrow against the principal, which is not permitted, the board should contact the donors to inquire whether they are willing to release or modify restrictions to allow for more spending authority.
For more information, here’s a link with all the information:
https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/charities/publications/charities-covid19-governance.pdf
by Elisa Klein | Jun 9, 2020 | News
Los Angeles, CA. #UnitedforLA and #ChipinLAOn are the social hashtags for the United Way of Greater LA as it promotes its Pandemic Relief Fund. Leaders say thousands of workers in L.A. County are losing wages and jobs due to the pandemic and thousands more do not qualify for government assistance. The Pandemic Relief Fund is providing immediate assistance and daily necessities to people living on the streets, people at risk of homelessness, students, individuals, and families.
The fund also offers financial assistance to low-income entrepreneurs such as food truck vendors, day-laborers, and domestic workers.
From United Way of Greater Los Angeles:
We’re experts in fighting and preventing homelessness and poverty.
Across Los Angeles County, 52,765 residents are experiencing homelessness, 5 out of 10 students are graduating poorly prepared for college or careers, and 1.63M are living in poverty.
We’re attacking these issues at their roots, championing for systemic change and supporting more than 100 community-based organizations. It takes a village but Los Angeles is the strongest one we know.
We can’t do it without you. Your donations and support made it possible to house 45,000 people, to provide 30,000 high school students with real-life work experience, and place nearly 1,300 veterans in stable employment.
https://pandemicrelief.unitedwayla.org/
#UnitedforLA #ChipinLA
by Elisa Klein | May 19, 2020 | Coming Up, News
Los Angeles, CA. While December continues to be the largest month for charitable giving, 2018 gave way to the biggest shift in distribution across other months. In 2017, approximately 18.2% of giving took place in December and this shifted to just 17% in 2018, according to a report by Blackbaud. June has continued to be the second-largest giving month of the year, which aligns with the end of the fiscal year for many nonprofit organizations.
The digital marketing firm for nonprofits, Blackbaud, released this finding in its 2018 Charitable Giving Report.
In 2018, overall charitable giving in the United States increased by 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Large organizations grew by 2.3%; medium organizations increased 2%; and small nonprofits experienced a decrease of 2.3% compared to the same time period in 2017. Since 2016, overall giving has grown 9% and giving to Foundations grew 5% over the same three year time period.
Online giving grew 1.2% in 2018 compared to 2017. Large organizations had a decrease of 0.5%; medium-sized organizations grew 3.7%; and small nonprofits grew 0.7% on a year-over-year basis. Since 2016, online giving has grown 17%, and average online gift amounts have continued to increase. The percentage of total fundraising that came from online giving once again reached another record high in 2018. Approximately 8.5% of overall fundraising revenue, excluding grants, was raised online. In 2018, 24% of online transactions were made using a mobile device.
This is the continuation of a growing trend we have measured over many years now. Arts and Culture organizations had the largest growth in both overall and online giving during 2018. Animal Welfare, International Affairs, Higher Education, and Public and Society Benefit organizations also experienced significant growth in overall giving compared to 2017. Public and Society Benefit, Healthcare, and Faith Communities also had growth in online giving in 2018. 2018 continued the longest sustained period of charitable giving growth since the last recession.
There are several key trends shaping charitable giving that are highlighted here. First, charitable giving in the United States is returning to normal levels following two years of significant growth. Second, online giving is entering a new phase where mobile and other digital channels continue to change how donors engage with nonprofit organizations. Finally, giving to Foundations and Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) continues to grow in response to supporter preferences and changes in incentives. A 36-month view of fundraising from the same organizations reveals a 9% growth in overall giving and a 17% increase in online giving. When we take a broader view, spikes in giving during 2017 gave way to more normal growth rates in 2018. There is a tendency to want to identify a single reason for shifts in giving, but that is not how the philanthropic ecosystem works.
by Elisa Klein | Jan 26, 2020 | General, News
Portland, OR. The Northwest Film Center and the Portland Art Museum (PAM) continue their virtual offerings like the YouTube viewing of the film Monsters and Men, (pictured above) directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green.
PAM leaders say they’re also creating a plan to reopen. For the past three months, the Portland Art Museum has been closed due to COVID-19. Now head of visitor services, Lisa Hoffman is announcing a plan to reopen. Beginning July 16th, the Museum will reopen some of its galleries and welcome a limited number of visitors. The popular Volcano! and Art and Race Matters exhibitions will now be extended through the end of the year. Exhibits that were slated for the summer and fall, including Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Mexican Modernism and Ansel Adams in Our Time, will open at later dates.
Over the summer, more galleries in the museum will be reopened as conditions allow.
The museum still has many virtual options in the meantime:
Here’s more information about The Northwest Film Center’s virtual screening of Monsters and Men, directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green. The film, Monsters and Men is screening for free on YouTube via NEON. Monsters and Men is an important cinematic attempt to reckon with one of the central challenges of our moment and it’s free.
Portland Art Museum:
The mission of the Portland Art Museum is to engage diverse communities through art and film of enduring quality, and to collect, preserve, and educate for the enrichment of present and future generations.
