The Foraker Group

We spend a lot of time in meetings. As seen by the thousands of articles written about meetings, we all know they can be better. Well, here is one more article because, let’s face it, meetings could be better. While all of the following ideas can be applied to all kinds of meetings, I am a true believer that it’s critical that board meetings, in particular, get as close to right as possible. Notice I don’t say perfect, since we are talking about a meeting of people and well, you get the point. There are so many components to a great meeting, however, we have to be motivated to change, which for most of us means we need to find the urgency to make a shift. Hopefully, urgency and crisis… Read more »

Join our team! Foraker is looking to fill two positions – an Administrative Assistant and a Program Director for our Pre-Development Program. The right candidates will have a passion for strengthening Alaska’s nonprofits. Check out the position descriptions to see if the job is a good fit for you or someone you know…. Read more »

Alaska law requires charitable organizations to register with the Department of Law prior to soliciting contributions of money or property in Alaska. Register your organization here to make sure you are compliant. For other areas of legal compliance, use this checklist to help keep your organization on track…. Read more »

Last night was one of many tense nights in the ongoing debate about healthcare in our country. There is a lot at stake for getting it right, and no easy solution for Alaskans. One sliver of hope was the impact that many individuals and organizations in our state had when they raised their voices to engage in a way forward to a healthcare solution. I am proud to see so many Alaska nonprofits urge the U.S. Senate to engage in a clear, bipartisan process. We all need to unite in the goal of providing access to quality, affordable healthcare coverage to more Americans. If your organization has been on the sidelines so far, there are still many opportunities in the coming weeks and months to engage. Here are 3 reasons… Read more »

Over the past several months we have explored the possibilities of changing the delivery model for our human resources shared services. The model we now use has been effective and well received, but we also want to improve and ensure we are meeting the needs of our Partners. In mid-May we held several focus group meetings on HR shared services and received excellent feedback. We are quite excited about the potential opportunities. We are now conducting a short online survey that builds on the insights from the focus groups and will further refine them. To assure that we have a broad range of feedback, we ask that you, as a Foraker Partner, provide your thoughts by participating in this survey. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to… Read more »

Take Action: Sign the National Council letter to protect the Johnson Amendment Over the past several months we’ve shared information with you about the impact of an administration move to repeal the Johnson Amendment. This provision in the tax code, named after President Lyndon Johnson, is intended to keep politics and the money that flows to political candidates out of charitable nonprofits. In March, the Foraker Governance Board issued a statement calling for support for nonprofit partisanship, and we joined over 4,500 nonprofits across the country, including organizations from Alaska, who submitted a similar call through a letter to Congress (join us and sign your organization on today!). In May President Trump signed an executive order that essentially instructed the IRS to look the other way when it finds that a nonprofit or religious organization violates the Johnson… Read more »

Last month we wrote about several issues related to the 2020 Census. This month we want to emphasize that the time is now to let your voice be heard. Even though the major census (the Decennial Census) occurs in 2020, each year the American Community Survey (ACS) is conducted. And an accurate count in this survey is critically important to Alaska. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, “when Americans respond to the ACS, they are doing their part to help the community plan hospitals and schools, support school lunch programs, improve emergency services, build bridges, and inform businesses looking to add jobs and expand to new markets, and more.” The bureau points out that the ACS generates data that is used to distribute more than $400 billion in federal and state… Read more »

Do you wonder why some decisions seem better timed than others? Or why the expectations of some board members about their service do not fit with the discussions and activities the team needs today? Do you wish your board or staff would see why your line of questioning makes so much sense right NOW in your organization? When you are in a planning session do you struggle to find the balance between internal and external focus in your goals, or find that the board is holding you and your staff back from taking on new goals that would propel the mission forward? We hear about these tension-filled scenarios a lot, but unfortunately there is little science to give us the answers to eliminate the tension. More often, the gift instead… Read more »

Here at Foraker we are following the current healthcare debate in Congress with concern about its impact on the nonprofit sector and the Alaskans we serve. Foraker’s President/CEO Laurie Wolf summarized those concerns in an email she sent earlier this week to Senator Murkowski, Senator Sullivan, and Congressman Young. Laurie wrote: As you know, The Foraker Group is the nonprofit voice for Alaska. In that role, I am strongly urging you to do what is necessary to take the appropriate amount of time to consider healthcare for all Alaskans. The charitable and philanthropic communities have a major stake in what the ultimate law says and does. Charitable nonprofits make up twelve percent of the private workforce in urban Alaska and more than fifty percent of the workforce in rural Alaska…. Read more »

Failure by the Alaska Legislature to pass a budget presents a grave risk to communities and individuals served by the nonprofit sector. We make a strong call to all legislators to break through the political gridlock and get the job done for Alaskans – pass a state budget that protects Alaska’s most vulnerable populations, our environment, education, and cultural life. Without a budget, many state operations will shut down on July 1. That’s something we haven’t seen in Alaska. And the lack of action by the legislature that is leading to this dire consequence is both irresponsible and unacceptable. Our message is simple: Get to work, stop the infighting, compromise, and pass a budget. As an organization that supports the work of nonprofits in communities around the state, we are profoundly… Read more »