At our leadership summit earlier this month, we launched a new tool to help you assess the financial health of your organization — it’s our “Indicators of Financial Crisis.” We all know that a stressed organization operating with the best of intentions can still make ill-advised decisions – especially in the financial arena – and the results can be damaging. We also know that sometimes seeing a financial crisis is difficult. Our new tool will help you spot if you’re in crisis or coming close to one. Once you know, you’ll be able to take the steps to recover. After you take the assessment outlined in this tool and if you believe action is needed you have several options. You can tap the expertise on your board or another outside resource. You may… Read more »

More than 660 Alaska nonprofits participated in Pick.Click.Give. this year, and we were very pleased when we learned the results of the 2017 campaign. By the end of the PFD filing period on March 31, 26,128 Alaskans pledged $2,702,450 — an amazing total from many generous donors. Congratulations to all the organizations who worked hard to let Alaskans know about their missions — and to the PCG staff, the Alaska Humanities Forum, and the United Way of Anchorage who supported their effort…. Read more »

The Internal Revenue Service is warning that a W-2 email phishing scam is moving beyond the corporate sector to school districts, tribal organizations, and nonprofits. According to the IRS, cybercriminals use various spoofing techniques to disguise an email to make it appear as if it is from an organization executive. The email is sent to an employee in the payroll or human resources departments, requesting a list of all employees and their Forms W-2. IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said “this is one of the most dangerous email phishing scams we’ve seen in a long time. It can result in the large-scale theft of sensitive data that criminals can use to commit various crimes, including filing fraudulent tax returns. We need everyone’s help to turn the tide against this scheme.” More information is available on the IRS website…. Read more »

First Lady Donna Walker has announced that nominations are open for the Volunteer of the Year Awards. Started by First Lady Bella Hammond in 1975, the awards recognize Alaska volunteers who have displayed an extraordinary personal commitment to volunteer service, and have made a major impact on their community or state. “Over the years, we have recognized many exceptional individuals who have done amazing things for Alaskans,” said First Lady Walker. “I am so pleased to continue this tradition, and encourage Alaskans to nominate those in their communities whose selfless efforts make Alaska an even better place to live.” Nominations will be accepted through close of business on March 6, 2017. The First Lady’s Volunteer of the Year Executive Committee will review the nominations, and recipients will be announced in late May…. Read more »

December 1, 2016 has been marked on the calendar of many nonprofit executives, human resources professionals, and payroll departments as the date that changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) were slated to go into effect. Those changes doubled the federal, annual minimum threshold for exempt positions to $47,476 ($913 per week) with automatic updates every three years. The rule was announced by the U.S. Labor Department in May. Today, however, a federal judge hit the pause button on the new changes. The judge agreed with arguments made in an emergency motion for a preliminary injunction filed by several states. The motion maintained that the Department of Labor overstepped its bounds with the significant increase made to the minimum threshold for exempt employees and the automatic updates. So, now… Read more »

As we’ve been reporting recently, the new Department of Labor overtime rules will take effect on December 1. The National Council of Nonprofits has been actively engaged in this issue for some months, and we’ve been sharing with you the information they’ve gathered. When the final rules were released in May, the Council surveyed organizations around the country, with a focus on those that receive government grants and contracts, to find out how the rules will affect them. Their findings include: Moral support exists for the new policy, coupled with concern over how to cover increased personnel costs while maintaining current levels of service. Organizations are concerned about the public. A third of respondents report that to comply they will have to reduce staff and service levels, likely leading to greater… Read more »

The Council has issued the following advice to organizations that face increased costs from the FLSA Overtime Final Rule. How is a nonprofit going to maintain the same level of services to the public pursuant to government grants and contracts when its costs are likely to go up when it implements the Overtime Final Rule but its reimbursement rate is not? The Labor Department, in its materials explaining the change in employment rules, seemed to acknowledge the challenge for “organizations for which some or a significant amount of funding comes from government or private grants of set amounts.” The Labor Department has offered assurances that future grants and contracts from that federal agency will adjust reimbursement rates to recognize the new overtime requirements. It was also revealed at a congressional hearing… Read more »

As has been expected, the U.S. Department of Labor issued its Overtime Final Rule yesterday. This new rule will go into effect on December 1, 2016, and will become part of DOL regulations. It will have an impact on many Alaska nonprofits. The National Council of Nonprofits, a Foraker national partner, has just launched a new page on its website that includes all the latest information on the rule and how it will apply to the nonprofit sector. We encourage you to click here and review the National Council’s summary. It should help you better understand how the rule could affect you. The National Council will update the page whenever new information becomes available, so we encourage you to check it frequently. Please note the section on Does this Regulation… Read more »

Foraker is experiencing technical difficulties.  Our phone lines are down – if you need immediate assistance please call Andrew at (907) 440-8519. Foraker staff  are still available via email, for general inquiries you may email info@forakergroup.org. We expect to have the issue fixed by Monday, May 16.    … Read more »

Our friend Kit Gillem, Program Director for the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, is retiring this spring. Over the years Kit  has elevated the work we do at Foraker in many ways. His thoughtfulness, critical eye, and big picture thinking has changed the way many organizations across the state do their work – and we’re all better for it. We thank you, Kit, for your friendship over the years…. Read more »