The Challenges Facing Today's Non-Profits

Steve Adubato is joined by Linda Czipo, President & CEO of the Center for Non-Profits, to discuss how non-profits are coping with the increasing demand for their services, while funding is decreasing.

5/25/19 #103

Excerpt:

"Think Tank is welcome... pleased to welcome Linda Czipo who is President and CEO, Center for Non-Profits. Good to see you Linda. Thank you. Glad to be here. You and I have had many conversations over the years... to disclose, the Caucus Educational Corporation, our production company, a non-profit. NJTV, our production partners, non-profits. You deal with all kinds of non-profits? You recently did a survey of not-for-profits. What are they telling you about the current environment we're in nationally? It's a challenging time for non-profits. What we're seeing is that demand for the services non-profits provide keeps going up, but the resources that non-profits need to meet that demand aren't keeping pace. And this is a gap that's been going on for years, and it's not getting any easier. Describe the need a little bit more. In what areas? A lot of human service organizations. Think about places... you know, building affordable homes or dealing with people with food insecurity. When the government shut down in January, non-profits stepped in in a big way. People turned to non-profits for all sorts of things, and they assumed that non-profits were going to be there to be able to meet those needs. Federal government through the president, President Trump and Republicans, made significant changes in tax policy. They have argued that it has fueled the economy, that there's more money in people's pockets than ever before. What impact does your survey tell you? And what do you hear from your not-for-profit organizations about the impact of federal tax changes on not-for-profits? I would say overall the tax changes have made an already challenging environment for non-profits even more difficult overall, because the biggest change that affects non-profits is the deductibility of charitable gifts. The tax law, by doubling the standard deduction, means fewer people can itemize on their tax returns, which… and the charitable deduction is only available if you itemize on your tax return. So instead of 33-35 percent of households taking that charitable deduction, because they could itemize only the top 10 percent, really have been available. Linda you seem to be saying that the pool of people who could potentially contribute to non-profits is getting smaller? At least the people who can get a tax deduction for doing it. It's more expensive now to give to charity unless you're in the top 10 percent. That's so interesting. Let me try this. For those who really question the role of not-for-profits...? I mean, put it this way. It's not about us, but we spend a lot of our time raising money, or we wouldn't be in this studio right now. And there are corporations and foundations and others who believe in what we're doing. That case... if..."