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We invite you to read the letter below and sign on here.
TO:
Senator Lisa Murkowski
Senator Dan Sullivan
Representative Nick Begich
RE: An Invitation to Stand with Alaska’s Nonprofit Sector
DATE: April [11], 2025
As our Alaska representatives in federal policy we, the undersigned nonprofits, along with our partner The Foraker Group, request that you stand strongly with us as we endure an unprecedented amount of undoing of our vital programs and services that are designed to help all Alaskans.
Looking past the rhetoric being used to defund and dismantle our programs, we invite you to look around and see that no matter where you live or how you move through your day, Alaska’s nonprofits are providing essential services like medical care, housing, fisheries management, emergency services, and utilities. We also bring joy and purpose through art, religious and cultural expression, education, recreation, economic development, and more. Nonprofits sustain our way of life, ensure our quality of life, and attract and develop employees, volunteers, and donors to our state. Together, we foster healthier and more prosperous communities throughout Alaska.
Nonprofit organizations do essential, often life-saving work – in our neighborhoods, in red states and blue states, in rural and urban areas alike, and in every Alaska community. Alaska is home to 5,600 nonprofits, and the sector employs 35,000 Alaskans who collectively generate $3.8 billion into our economy. To put this in perspective, nonprofits account for 10% of Alaska’s workforce and up to 40% in some communities.[1] We are fifth in the nation for the number of Alaskans who volunteer.[2] In other words, we are your neighbors, your friends, and your family.
Make no mistake, nonprofits do not come from just one side of the political spectrum – by our very nature, we represent all facets of American and Alaskan life. Truly, for every organization you care deeply about there is a nonprofit working on opposite goals. This is how it is supposed to work in a democracy.
Our work today carries forward the longstanding American tradition of residents coming together at the local level to recognize community challenges and solve local problems.[3] We are the tool that separates government from opportunities to exercise freedom of association, freedom of speech, and freedom to provide for the greater good. Nonprofits embrace missions that governments either couldn’t or wouldn’t but are still necessary for a healthy society. Importantly, none of these services are viable in the for-profit marketplace – a litmus test for every nonprofit in this country.
Nonprofits are woven into the fabric of our lives. No industry in Alaska can prosper without the nonprofit sector, and every dollar invested in the sector, regardless of the source, results in lower government costs in the long run. We provide both a financial and social return on investment by leveraging public and private resources. That is what we call efficiency.
An attack on nonprofit organizations IS an attack on a fundamental principle of democracy. It is not harmless musings that we can just brush aside, we all are required to pay attention and take action.
If Alaskans want to have a conversation about how we pay for the essential services and quality of life offerings the nonprofit sector provides, then we should do that with you, our leaders and with each other. These conversations will require all Alaskans to engage and share what is important to them and their communities to thrive – and that will take time. Haphazard, unresearched, and indiscriminate cutting of funds don’t just hurt one group of people or another, or one community or another, they hurt all of us as Alaskans regardless of how we voted.[4]
We call on you, our federal delegation, and all Alaskans to stand with us.
Respectfully Submitted:
Laurie B. Wolf, CFRE, MNPL, President & CEO, The Foraker Group
(Your organization name) – Sign on.
The Foraker Group serves as the state nonprofit association and capacity-building organization for Alaska’s nonprofits and tribes. We work with policymakers, businesses, and other organizations to highlight the positive impacts of Alaska’s nonprofits. Foraker serves all nonprofits and tribes and is dedicated to increasing the leadership and management skills of their leaders, staff, and volunteers. Foraker recently published its seventh report documenting the impact of the sector on the state’s economy, which is available at forakergroup.org.
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[1] Alaska’s nonprofit Sector: Generating Impact Report, The Foraker Group, 2024