The Foraker Group

It is with the greatest sadness that we learned about the passing of Bernie Washington. As many of you know, Bernie has been with Foraker since the very beginning. He was a board member at the United Way of Anchorage when the idea emerged of “shared services for nonprofits,” which became the seed that grew into The Foraker Group. Bernie did not leave our side since that brilliant idea. He was a champion for us and for nonprofits at every turn. When he had to leave our board because of term limits after the first nine years, he stayed on the finance committee and on the board of our fiscal sponsorship program, Sultana. When we asked him to return to the board, he never hesitated in saying yes.

Bernie was not just a champion of Foraker, he held a deep commitment for Bean’s Café where he served on the board for more than 25 years. He was also a current board member of Cyrano’s Theater, and he was the founder and consistent board member of Shiloh Community Housing. After retiring the first time, Bernie went on to serve Alaska Public Media as their CFO. He was also a teacher for blooming accountants at Alaska Charter College, and he never hesitated to help and guide so many around him. He surely experienced no dull moments in his very busy and meaningful life.

To me Bernie was a gifted teacher, a thoughtful colleague, a wise advisor, and a trusted friend. He made me laugh and think and trust myself because he trusted me. These priceless gifts I will always treasure. I truly can’t imagine a Foraker day without him, but I know his lessons will stick with us all as we continue our service to nonprofits. He will be deeply missed.

We send our condolences to all of Bernie’s family, with special thoughts to his daughter, Tricia, who was also part of the Foraker family, working with us as a valued consultant.

You will find Bernie’s obituary here. And we also share this photo that was provided by his family.

Laurie

We are closing our operations the week of November 22-26 to give our staff time to rest and rejuvenate. You can expect our pre-scheduled programs to run (Certificate in Nonprofit Management and Lead Up both have sessions) and for those of you partnering with us for your financial needs, essentials services like payroll will still take place. For all new inquiries, we look forward to connecting with you the week of November 29.

On November 4, 2021, OSHA released Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS) regarding vaccine mandates for employers with 100 or more employees. Since last week’s release, the ETS has been challenged. Although a federal appeals court issued an order to stop the ETS, we encourage nonprofits with 100 or more employees to prepare to implement the ETS by its first deadline on January 4, 2022. The National Council of Nonprofits prepared a summary intended to answer most questions and provide assistance to nonprofit employers seeking to determine whether their organization is covered by the mandate and if so, to comply with the standard.

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) is directing significant funds to Alaska. There may be an opportunity for your nonprofit to apply for federal funds. In this video, Foraker’s Rachel Morse will walk you through how to find details about the funds in order to determine if your organization is eligible. You can contact Rachel directly at rmorse@forakergroup.org for specific questions on ARPA funds. We also encourage you to sign up for the Alaska ARPA email alerts and updates to stay in the know.

As a reminder, one of the funding opportunities currently available is through a partnership with the State of Alaska and The Alaska Community Foundation. The ARPA Nonprofit Recovery Fund will have two rounds of applications – the first round is due November 19.

Oh, November!

You sneak up on me every time. November is that month when the rush takes full hold of me as I frantically try to finish all my projects for the year. It is also the time when I want to savor the new snow and the impending joy (and, yes, bustle) of the upcoming holidays. Here at Foraker, we have some exciting projects on the verge of launching this month and next. We’re putting the finishing touches on them and look forward to sharing them with you.

For now, though, I want to get a jumpstart on the season by sharing the top five reasons I’m grateful for the nonprofit sector. Let’s call this the Nonprofit Gratitude List.

1. No nonprofit gratitude list would be complete without starting with – well – the whole sector. A significant hallmark of a democracy in action is the strength of the nonprofit sector. We play a vital role in the U.S. and across Alaska – every day in every way.
2. While we couldn’t exist without our volunteer boards, that doesn’t mean we should ever, ever take them for granted. Board members, thank you. You could be doing so many other things with your free time, but you have chosen to step up for missions and causes that matter. Bravo!
3. Three cheers for nonprofit staff. You persevere. You are creative and thoughtful. You get it all done in ways most other humans would never understand. Your commitment to the sector and to your own nonprofit is powerful and inspiring.
4. And thanks to all who engage in philanthropy, which literally means love of human kind. What a powerful word to use when we are talking about all the ways that humans show they are deeply invested in missions and causes that matter. We show our love by sharing our time, our talent, and our treasure. November is when we celebrate National Philanthropy Day. I hope you will all give what you can this year. Every gift makes a true difference.
5. My list would not be complete without celebrating the power of support, with a special shout out to our team in particular. The Foraker team of staff, consultants, and board members have not missed one step since the pandemic began. Extra time – all the time – our hearts and our heads are in this work. We are honored to walk alongside so many nonprofits and people, especially during these last few years. We could never have imagined this path, but we are thankful to be on it with you.

To that end, for the first time in 20 years we will take off the week of Thanksgiving to refresh and feel renewed to our service. I ask that each of you practice grace with us as we give ourselves space to replenish our energy reserves.

This list is just the beginning. I hope you can carve out a few moments this month to start your own gratitude list. Let’s keep the list going together on Foraker’s social media feeds. We could all use the extra joy about now that comes from allowing ourselves that moment of gratitude.

-Laurie