The Foraker Group

The National Council of Nonprofits provided the following information on the executive order that was issued by the President on August 8.

“The Department of Treasury and Internal Revenue Service has issued a three-page guidance implementing the Presidential Memorandum allowing employers to defer withholding and payment of the employee’s portion of the Social Security tax. Notice 2020-65, posted on August 31 on IRS.gov, makes relief available for employers and generally applies to wages paid starting Sept. 1, 2020, through Dec. 31, 2020. The employee Social Security tax deferral may apply to payments of taxable wages to an employee that are less than $4,000 during a bi-weekly pay period, with each pay period considered separately. No deferral is available for any payment to an employee of taxable wages of $4,000 or above for a bi-weekly pay period. See the IRS news release.”

The Council also provided this information from a law firm further describing the IRS guidance.

Foraker and the Council will continue to follow this issue and share additional information when we receive it.

The state has made important changes to the AK CARES grant program. Starting on August 31, 2020, 501(c)3, 501(c)6, and 501(c)19 nonprofits that received any amount of PPP/EIDL funding will become eligible. 

AIDEA has developed an online application portal that is available at www.akcaresonline.org. All applications must now be made through the portal. Please note, there is no option to save and come back to the grant application. Do not start the application until you have reviewed the FAQs/Checklist and have all supporting documents ready for upload.

The funds will go quick – so if you plan to apply you’ll need to prepare now. Join us on Monday at 1:00 to learn more.

A note from Laurie:

We are thrilled that our latest gender pay equity report was highlighted in The Nonprofit Quarterly.

As you know we are strongly committed to the goal of achieving pay equity and have been working on that commitment in a variety of ways for many years. We’ve published several reports in the past as part of our Salary and Benefits Survey. However, this year we are bringing a new level of data and resources to understanding the issue, and we’ve been able to take advantage of information that’s only available in Alaska. This work could not be more important right now as COVID is taking an additional toll on women in the workplace.  I am sure many of you understand this first hand and I ask that we all be mindful of its impacts across Alaska and across our sector.

In Alaska we can be led not just by our experience but by hard data.  As I explain in this newsletter article, we in Alaska have what no one else has when it comes to data on gender – the Permanent Fund Dividend application. Alaska residents pick a gender when they fill out their form each year. Thanks to the amazing work of Karinne Weibold at the Department of Labor and with great assistance from the University of Alaska Center for Economic Development, we were able to segment employment data from the Alaska Department of Labor by using EIN numbers to identify nonprofit employees, and then applying gender information from the PFD application. This gives us excellent information that we can use in our efforts to promote gender pay equity.

You can see at the bottom of our report that we’ve suggested eight proven actions that leaders can take now to promote an equitable pay environment in their organizations.  We have also provided important conversation starters for nonprofits and provided a number of other key resources to understand the issue even more depth.  Our goal is always to turn data to action.  Join us in using these tools and sharing these resources.

If it is not already on your calendar, I hope you will join us for a conversation on August 25 from 10:30 – 12:00 to learn more about the data and next steps. I also hope you will use and share this report and next steps document widely with your network.

Are you uncertain about how and when to reach out to your donors during this pandemic? Do you need help taking the next step forward and being held accountable to reaching out and asking your donors? Are you starting to panic about how to launch your end-of-year campaign?

If so, our fund development team is here to help! The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on the fundraising efforts of many Alaska nonprofits. That’s why we are offering a new, short-term Fundraising Action Plan cohort that specifically guides you through the steps you need to take NOW to get you the funding results you want.

This is a hands-on experience that will require you to do homework and real-time work with your donors – with the support of your team, a cohort of peers, and Foraker’s fund development experts. You will walk away with specific tools customized for your organization to use immediately (including organized donor data, a calendar action plan and COVID-specific ask language).

Launching on September 21, the cohort will consist of four, 2-hour webinars of interactive instruction, as well as up to four hours of individual consultation and coaching time with the instructors.

This class is for Executive Directors. Up to 2 additional members of your staff and/or board are encouraged to participate and a board member is required to attend at least the first class. The total cost for each organization to participate is $1,350 or $1,100 for Partners.

Take a step toward putting your organization on healthier financial footing. APPLY TODAY. Applications are due August 21.

PROGRAM SCHEDULE

The AK CARES grant application is live and has received 800 applications totaling $37 million in its first week. Credit Union 1 continues to process the applications they received before the portal went live. If your organization applied to CU1, there is no need to reapply. CU1 has approved 500 applications for a total of $24 million.

A few tips for filling out the application:

• Gather all your documents before beginning the application. Once the portal application has been started, you cannot save your application and return later. The portal will not time out, so you can leave it open as long as you need.
• When a supporting document is uploaded, there is a text box allowing the applicant to leave a note regarding the document if explanation is needed.
• If you have questions, call the AIDEA call center at 907 721-3019 or email grants@akcaresonline.org

The State of Alaska will report the grant funds awarded to the IRS. There is not yet clarity whether or not the grant funds will be taxable.

You can learn more about the grant here or watch the Alaska Small Business Development Center Q&A here.