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Public Policy
Recent Funders Alliance Activities
Foundations
on the Hill On
February 4, 2004, a delegation from the Funders Alliance took part in
Foundations on the Hill, a day jointly sponsored by the Council on Foundations
and the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers.
All Funders Alliance members were invited to join the delegation. Delegates
from Upstate New York included: Mary
Eberl, Executive Director, Western New York Grantmakers Association Joanne
Florino, Executive Director, Triad Foundation and Chair of the Funders Alliance
governance team; Catherine
Gura, President, The Children’s Guild (Buffalo); Jennifer
Leonard, President and CEO, Rochester Area Community Foundation; Liz
Wilder, Executive Director, Funders Alliance of Upstate New York and Rochester
Grantmakers Forum. The
message delivered included: our thanks for supporting H.R. 7 and the CARE Act
which include a number of positive charitable provisions; our wish that that
legislation go to committee during this Congress for a compromise bill that can
be made law; a request to fully fund the IRS to perform the nonprofit sector
oversight which should be paid for by the private foundation excise tax.
We positioned Upstate New York funders as a source of knowledge for
legislators about philanthropy and the nonprofit sector in our region.
The attached information sheet was left at each meeting.
For more information about these issues, please consult our Fall 2003 and
Winter 2004 newsletters. The
delegates visited the offices of eight Representatives (out of a possible ten)
and Senator Clinton to build the Funders Alliance relationship with them and put
a “face” on philanthropy for Upstate New York.
Meetings were scheduled with Chiefs of Staff, Legislative Directors and
the members themselves. Visits
included: Rep.
Maurice Hinchey (Legislative Director & Counsel) Rep.
Amory Houghton (Sr. Advisor on Tax and Trade and legislative assistant) Rep.
Michael McNulty (Legislative Director) (Albany, Schenectady, Montgomery &
Schoharie) Rep.
Jack Quinn (Quinn and legislative assistant) Rep.
Thomas Reynolds (Legislative Director) Rep.
Louise Slaughter (Slaughter and Legislative Director) Rep.
John Sweeney (Sweeney and Chief of Staff) (eastern NY from Essex County to
Dutchess & west to Delaware) Rep.
James T. Walsh (Walsh, Chief of Staff and legislative asst.) Legislative
Breakfasts Funders
Alliance members will have an opportunity to deliver our message to legislators
in their districts this summer. Watch
for information about a series of legislative breakfasts which will be planned
this summer to meet our federal and state legislators in home territory. Policy
Conference Calls The
Funders Alliance Program Committee has scheduled a series of member update
conference calls on policy issues. These
calls are done jointly with NYRAG. We
schedule the speakers and NYRAG takes the registrations.
The first took place on September 18, 2003 (Michael Cooney on the NYS
proposal to implement Sarbanes/Oxley for nonprofits) and was attended by 65
individuals. The second call is
scheduled for March 23, 2004 (Ellen Dadisman, Council on Foundations Director of
Government Relations, speaking on H.R. 7 and the President’s 2005 budget
recommendations). These calls will
be offered from time to time to update members on key legislative issues. Building Public Trust for Private PhilanthropyThe
Funders Alliance is represented on a national committee to address issues of
accountability by Liz Wilder, Executive Director and Deborah Ellwood, Public
Policy Committee member and program office of Rochester Area Community
Foundation. This national
committee, hosted by the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers, is
working to create and deliver effective messages on ethics to foundation
trustees, legal and financial advisors, legislators and the public. Member Education WorkshopsThe
Funders Alliance has held sessions at the 2002 and 2003 annual conferences about
the value of public policy involvement for funders.
The 2003 conference included a keynote speech from Nan Aron, President,
Alliance for Justice on lobbying in the public interest and a subsequent
workshop with Ms. Aron and Cassie Schwerner, program officer of the Schott
Foundation which focuses its resources on advocacy for equity in education in
NYS. These two sessions were rated
4.6 and 4.8 out of 5 by attendees at the conference.
Many attendees indicated that they would take the information back to
their fellow trustees and staff to consider implementing a funding policy to
include organizations that lobby on behalf of the nonprofit sector.
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The Funders
Alliance
of Upstate New York is a pilot project of |