CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: 2010 Michael H. Urbach, CPA, Community Builder's Award

Sponsored by the New York Council of Nonprofits (NYCON) and the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants (NYSSCPA)

In recognition of the important role, talents and leadership that a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in New York State can provide as a board member for community-based charities, NYCON and NYSSCPA are pleased to announce the 7th Annual Michael H. Urbach, CPA, Community Builder's Award.

The award is named in honor of the late Michael H. Urbach, CPA, former partner of Urbach, Kahn and Werlin, former NYS Commissioner of Tax and Finance and Chair of the State Employees federated Appeal, and board leader of a number of charities.


Award Criteria & Submission
Candidates must:

• Be a CPA in good standing and a member of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants;
• Have served as an Officer on at least 3 different charitable 501(c)(3) community-based nonprofits with service as President/Chair at least once;
• Have demonstrated exemplary board leadership resulting in significant and positive organizational impact including, but not limited to, financial turn-around, growth, and/or organizational re-structuring; and
• Preference will be given to nominees whose board leadership accomplishments have been with community-based charities.

Deadline - August 30th, 2010
Nominations addressing the candidate's qualifications must be submitted in writing and received by August 30th, 2010. Nominators are strongly encouraged to include letters of support from the charities who have benefited from the candidate's volunteer leadership.

Send six (6) packets of nomination materials to:
Urbach Community Builder's Award Committee
New York Council of Nonprofits
272 Broadway
Albany NY 12204

Announcement & Presentation
The 2010 award will be formally presented at the Annual Member Meeting of NYCON slated for the afternoon of September 30th at Mohonk Mountain House, New Paltz, New York.

The Luncheon will take place during CAMP FINANCE, a two-day retreat that provides the very best in knowledge and skill development sessions for fiscal and management staff, as well as board members. New this year, it has expanded to include the popular "Money for Mission" tracks that will focus on fundraising, marketing, social media, grant making (both government and philanthropic) and more!

In honor of the late Harold Mandel, a certified public accountant who worked for Urbach, Kahn & Werlin in Albany, NY and retired in West Palm Beach, FL, the 2010 Urbach Honoree has the privilege to award three (3) nonprofit executives of their choice Camp Finance scholarships in Hal's name. In 2009, Mr. Mandel's family accepted a posthumous Michael H. Urbach, CPA Community Builder's Award in his tribute.

Security and Risk Management Training for Museums

Theft of historical documents plagues records repositories. With careful planning, awareness of warning signs and proactive security solutions, organizations can reduce the window of opportunity for historical record theft. Archival security expert Mimi Bowling will provide an interactive curriculum on archival security, preparing participants to take immediate action to strengthen their local security programs. Participants will receive a certificate upon completion. There is no cost.

Topics include risk awareness; insider theft; facility design and security technology; security of information systems; working with vendors and contractors; research room management and design; developing institutional security policies; procedures and post-theft response; additional topics as requested by participants.

Representatives of NY¹s historical records community, including archives, governments, libraries, museums, historical societies, schools and non-profits will be given first priority. Additional seats are available for security personnel and law enforcement representatives working with these organizations. Out-of-state representatives and others interested in the
topic are also encouraged to register.

September 13, 2010 (Monday)
Ontario County Safety Training Center
Canandaigua, Ontario, NY

September 14, 2010 (Tuesday)
Erie 1 BOCES
West Seneca, Erie, NY

October 4, 2010 (Monday)
Utica Public Library
Utica, Oneida, NY

October 5, 2010 (Tuesday)
Roberson Museum and Science Center
Binghamton, Broome, NY

March 7, 2011 (Monday)
Historic Huguenot Street
New Paltz, Ulster, NY

April 11, 2011 (Monday)
Crandall Public Library
Glens Falls, Warren, NY

April 18, 2011 (Monday)
Town of Massena
Massena, St. Lawrence, NY

Metro NYC Region and
Long Island Region
Spring 2011
TBA

To register, please email Bturner@mail.nysed.gov or call 518-473-0130. Early registration is encouraged and appreciated; only 25 seats available.

Workshop have been made possible by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the New York State Historical Records Advisory Board, and the New York State Archives.


Brittany Turner
Project Assistant
"Lessons from a Theft: Bringing Security Tools and Knowledge to New York's
Historical Records Community"

NYS Archives
CEC, Room 9D58
Albany, NY 12230
(PH) 518-473-0130\
(FX) 518-486-1647

Rural Health Network of South Central NY presents Growing Healthy 2010: October 5

Common Ground: Farms, Food & Health
An Inaugural Conference for Interdisciplinary Learning and Dialogue

An Evening Celebration Offering a Sumptuous Selection of Locally Grown Food, Wine & Beer

Date: Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Conference: 8:30 AM-5:30 PM
Evening Tasting Event: 5:30 - 9:00

Location:
Binghamton Regency Hotel and Conference Center
225 Water Street
Binghamton, NY 13901-2704

Every Growing Health event gets bigger and better. In 2006, over 200 people sampled dishes prepared with local fresh food by some of the area’s most popular chefs. In 2008, over 250 people came, more local restaurants, wineries and breweries were featured, and we offered information about where to purchase food from farms in the region.

In 2010, we are back by popular demand! Our evening food, wine and beer tasting event will be truly sumptuous! And for the first time, due to tremendous interest, Growing Health 2010 features a full day Farms, Food and Health Conference. Attend the conference, the evening local foods tasting, or both. But please register early because tickets are limited.

Conference and Registration Info

SCNY ED Group September 14th Program: Partnerships, Mergers and Acquisitions

Presented by Doug Sauer, CEO, NY Council of Nonprofits

Doug Sauer, CEO of the New York Council of Nonprofits, will speak about Partnerships, Mergers and Acquisitions. With nonprofit resources getting tighter and expenses increasing, concerns growing about more regulations and accountability demands, and the search for solutions other than belt-tightening, service cut backs, and ramping up fundraising efforts, nonprofits are looking for new opportunities. Mr. Sauer will discuss partnerships, mergers and acquisitions as solutions and ideas for nonprofits during these challenging times.

Date: Tuesday, September 14th
Time:
8:30 am- General meeting
9:00am to 10:30pm- Program
Cost: FREE to nonprofit directors
Location:
American Red Cross, Southern Tier Chapter
620 East Main Street
Endicott, NY 13760

REGISTER HERE

Free workshop on social media for nonprofit groups

A half-day workshop for nonprofit organizations will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sept. 15 at the Broome County Public Library.

Called “Cutting Edge Technologies to Grow Your Non-Profit Organization,” the workshop will look at social media and its ability to transform nonprofits. Other technologies to help recruit and retain volunteers will also be discussed.
The Broome Leadership Institute Alumni Association, RSVP, Southern Tier Young Professionals, United Way of Broome County, Binghamton University College of Community and Public Affairs and BU’s Department of Human Development have joined together to hold this free workshop.

For more information or to sign up, contact Amy Shaw at (607) 722-8863 ext. 313.

Arts group plans to restore landmark Binghamton theater

The Press & Sun-Bulletin reported on new plans for the Strand Theater on Chenango Street.

The lights went out, and the long run ended, in the late 1970s when the theater went out of business.

Now, a local nonprofit arts group has plans to reopen and restore the building as a multi-screen theater and community arts center.

The Art Mission and Theater has applied for a $160,000 Environmental Protection Fund Grant from the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to buy the 27 Chenango St. building from its current owner, Riviera Theater Inc.

The acquisition would be the first step toward moving the theater and art gallery from its current location at 61 Prospect Ave. to the old Strand Theater location, which has been vacant for about four years since the closing of the Parlor City Café, said Matthew Thorn, executive director of the Art Mission and Theater.

"We want to expand and offer more programs. Our goal is to turn the building into a cultural center," Thorn said.

The Art Mission and Theater opened at 61 Prospect Ave. in 2007 to show first-run independent and foreign films that generally don't show up at the Regal Cinemas and Town Square Mall multiplexes. Read more here.

National Council of Nonprofits' Nonprofit Advocacy Update

Five Worst Government Contracting Abuses
Late payments for contracted services is only one of many ways that governments shortchange nonprofits and exploit the contracting relationship. See the five worst government contracting abuses and let us know if you can add further documentation, if you've seen worse, or if you know of solutions in your state that help prevent these and other abuses.

Hearing to Consider Gulf Coast Need for Charitable Assistance
Viewing the impact of the Gulf oil spill on people in the region, Congress is asking "what needs to be done and how the charitable sector and others can reach out to these communities and help." The Oversight Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee has scheduled a hearing for Tuesday, July 20, to consider these questions and examine how donations contributed to charities are being used. In announcing the hearing, Chairman John Lewis (D-GA) stated, "This is the moment when government must rely on charitable organizations to fulfill their missions and address these urgent needs."

Rival Estate Tax Revisions Proposed
The estate tax expired at the end of 2009, but will snap back automatically in 2011 to a 55 percent tax rate with a $1 million exemption unless changes are made. Senators are proposing rival plans to weaken or strengthen the federal tax on estates. Sens. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ) introduced a measure last week to set the estate tax rate at 35 percent, with a $5 million exemption phased in over 10 years and indexed for inflation. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) recently introduced the Responsible Estate Tax Act, S.3533 to set an exemption of $3.5 million and impose tax rates from between 35 percent and 55 percent based on the size of the estate above the exemption level. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has said that he does not intend to allow any estate tax votes in the coming weeks, but he continues to negotiate with the Republican Leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), on the Senate schedule and amendments.

Financial Regulatory Reform Enacted, Cuts Debit Card Fees
Last week the Senate passed and sent to President Obama the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (H.R.4173). The measure imposes new restrictions on risky financial investments, creates a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau within the Federal Reserve, and allows the Federal Reserve to regulate the amount of fees that nonprofits and merchants can be charged for debit card transactions. President Obama is expected to sign the bill this week.

Nonprofit Sector Act
Federal Data of "Uncertain Quality"
The case for the Nonprofit Sector and Community Solutions Act, H.R. 5533, was made recently by SubsidyScope, a program of Pew Charitable Trusts. In seeking to analyze the effects of tax subsidies and federal grants, the authors reached the following conclusions:

"It is challenging to assemble and present spending and subsidy data regarding the nonprofit sector because the federal government does not identify nonprofits as a distinct budget category. Further, federal budget data are of uncertain quality; specifically, the data available through USAspending.gov are incomplete because certain program information is missing for a number of records, making it difficult to discern which specific agencies and programs may be awarding funds to nonprofits."

A key component of H.R. 5533 is to overcome the data challenges that SubsidyScope, and many other nonprofit researchers, have identified.

IRS Seeks Comments on New Disclosure Requirement
The health care reform law enacted earlier this year requires nonprofits and businesses, starting in 2012, to report aggregate payments to vendors in excess of $600 for goods and other property. The requirement applies for payments to all vendors, not just those related to health care. Currently, nonprofits and others are required to file Form 1099s for payment of services by independent contractors, but not for goods from vendors. The IRS is seeking public comment on how to most effectively carry out the law change, with the stated goal of minimizing burdens and avoiding duplicate reporting. The deadline for comments is Sept. 29, 2010. Please share this information with your accounting and operations personnel and send the National Council your ideas on how best to limit the impact of this new reporting requirement.