The Foraker Group

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…. Read more »

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…. Read more »

Thursday, October 21, 2021 (Anchorage, AK) – Today, the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development (DCCED) announced a partnership with the Alaska Community Foundation (ACF) to distribute $20 million to Alaska’s nonprofit sector. The Alaska Legislature appropriated $20 million from the State’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds towards a nonprofit grant program to be administered by DCCED, now known as the ARPA Nonprofit Recovery Fund. With the guidance of the DCCED, statewide funders, and regional leadership, the ACF will administer the program, including processing applications, distributing grant funds to eligible organizations, and managing grantee reporting. “COVID has had negative economic impacts on almost every industry sector and our nonprofits are no exception as they continue to persevere and provide services to Alaskans.  said DCCED Commissioner, Julie Anderson…. Read more »

Responding to a number of inquiries from Alaska nonprofits, Foraker has been in productive discussions with leadership of the Alaska Department of Health and Human Services to reduce the financial impact from a recent cyberattack. We commend department leaders who are working to navigate fallout from the incident, which has resulted in late disbursement of grant funding to many nonprofits, some of whom have been waiting for several months to receive their funds. Understandably, this has caused financial difficulty for them. Foraker is working with the department to identify organizations that are facing significant financial hardship and have had to or are considering actions such as tapping into dwindling reserves, accessing and/or pursuing a line of credit to cover payroll and other expenses, letting staff go, or at the most… Read more »

To be 100% clear, we believe that every person who can be vaccinated should get vaccinated. We stand with science and public health. We stand for health and the economy as one and the same. We stand with our whole community and say: “we care.” We also understand that health disparity is deeply rooted in our country and in our state. This means that while we all might be floating in the same ocean we were never sitting in the same boat. At our last advisory board meeting, nonprofit and philanthropic leaders from around the state engaged in conversation on this topic. We reminded ourselves that while some are choosing to be unvaccinated, many others want the shot but have difficulty accessing it. Let me share one example of thousands… Read more »

Returning to the workplace is the conversation we are all having both formally and informally with our friends, our peers, and our attorneys. Protocols, policies, and expectations abound, and in it all is a great amount of hesitation and uncertainty about what it looks like to do the right thing for the people on our team and the communities where we live. To be sure, we are not “just going back to work” ever again. Our collective conscience has shifted and individuals feel different about the workplace. So pretending that it will all just “be normal” or “as it was” is likely an unhelpful place to start when it comes to meeting your whole team where they are. The recent decision by the CDC, which is largely based on trusting… Read more »

As organizations reopen their offices, many questions have come up about how to safely resume on-site operations. Foraker recently gathered some experts who shared insights and resources on how to communicate with employees about vaccinations and what to consider when developing in-person programming. You can view the webinar here. More resources are available on the COVID page of our website under the heading Returning to the Workplace. If you have additional questions or insights to share with us, please let us know…. Read more »

Thanks to the advocacy of the National Council of Nonprofits and its state association members, including Foraker, recently released guidance confirms that nonprofits will have access to American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. This includes funds coming directly from the federal government, as well as dollars flowing into state, local, and tribal governments. To help organizations interested in applying for funds, we are pleased to announce a new website that describes ARPA and highlights points of access for nonprofits. Foraker is proud to be a partner in this effort, along with other Alaska organizations listed on the website. We especially thank the Alaska Municipal League for developing and hosting the site. We encourage you to visit the site – share it with others – and help us update it if… Read more »

Dear Alaska Nonprofit Leader: We care deeply about you, the people and communities you serve, and the overall welfare of every Alaskan. We are all still in the midst of unprecedented times, and we know that you are doing your best to navigate with every new piece of information on COVID19 and resulting economic challenges. We are proud to stand with you as together we navigate the path forward – from relief, to recovery, to resilience, and beyond. Today we need your help to better understand where you stand after 2020 and what you may need in financial assistance or other relief to move ahead.   Just as in 2020, the information in this survey will help us support you and will be provided to the Alaska funding community and policy… Read more »

On March 11, 2021 President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) into law – it’s the latest federal COVID relief package.  The far-reaching ARPA is packed with financial assistance for nonprofits, individuals, local governments, states, and small businesses.  Thanks to the tireless advocacy of the National Council of Nonprofits for ensuring nonprofits are included in the law.  We know Alaska nonprofits are wanting to learn more about specific parts of the ARPA that affect their organizations, their staff and volunteers, their clients and customers, their communities. 2020 was a tough year, and 2021 presents even more pressing challenges in responding to the global pandemic, and charting a solid, strategic path to long-term recovery.  The ARPA is a significant part of relief and recovery. In the summary below we identify… Read more »