By Chai Jindasurat, Policy Director at the Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York
May 15, 2019
When most people think about nonprofits, taxes aren’t the first thing that comes to mind. After all, nonprofits are tax-exempt organizations because they take care of communities.
We are thrilled to launch NPCC’s Declaration of Nonprofit Rights. The Declaration of Nonprofit Rights is NPCC’s bold vision for a powerful nonprofit sector. It is NPCC’s North Star, the guiding principles that form the basis of our worldview of the sector’s needs and potentials, and in turn, guide our day-to-day public policy work to meet those needs and potential.
The Declaration articulates NPCC’s understanding, through the four principles, of what nonprofits must have in order to be engaged and effective.
The rights-based language is intentional, and provides an aspirational vision that we will work to achieve.
The Declaration is not a call to action; it is action.
NPCC is now accepting applications for the 2019 Nonprofit Excellence Awards, the only nonprofit excellence awards program of its kind in New York State. It’s a unique opportunity for organizations to assess nonprofit management practices through NPCC’s newly-revised Key Areas of Nonprofit Excellence, which includes a best practice in advocacy and strategic alliances. Nonprofits receive a full 360-degree assessment of their management practices, along with insightful feedback from a knowledgeable team of experts. Finalists are eligible to win $50,000 in cash prizes and full scholarships to Columbia Business School leadership programs.
Read our press release about the 2019 Nonprofit Excellence Awards.
NPCC, Human Services Council for New York, and Lawyers Alliance for New York has an op-ed published by the Gotham Gazette regarding the Governor’s attempt to lower the dollar threshold for lobbyist filings. Read the op-ed:
Imagine two New Yorkers heading to Albany for a day of advocacy.
One is a lobbyist with multiple clients, traveling to the Capitol in Amtrak business class for the third time that week. She’s spent a career working behind the scenes with elected officials trying to influence legislation and get favorable treatment for her clients. The other is an entry-level employee at a homeless shelter, sitting in a coach bus filled with clients and nonprofit service providers. It will be his first-ever meeting with an elected official.
The average New Yorker understands that these two New Yorkers— a lobbyist and a nonprofit employee—have very different roles in our political system. Why is Governor Cuomo trying to treat them as the same?
I write on behalf of the nearly 1,600 members of the Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York (NPCC), a membership organization for 501(c)(3) nonprofits in and around New York City. NPCC represents nonprofits throughout New York City, Long Island, and Westchester. Our diverse membership includes small and large nonprofits working on issues important to all of our communities, such as human services, education, health, the environment, and more.
NPCC members have expressed grave concerns about subsection 512(a)(7) of the Internal Revenue Code. NPCC and our members urge the immediate repeal of Internal Revenue Code Section 512(a)(7), the new income tax on expenses incurred by nonprofits for providing employee transportation benefits, such as parking and transit passes. This new tax is forcing hundreds of thousands of charitable nonprofits, houses of worship, foundations, and other nonprofits to conduct extensive and costly assessments of their expenses related to parking, subway cards, and bus passes to determine whether and how much in tax payments they must submit to the IRS. Notably, these payments are coming due in a matter of weeks unless Congress acts immediately to repeal the tax. Please see the comments of the National Council of Nonprofits responding to recent rulemaking that explain the many challenges that the tax is imposing on community-based organizations and demonstrate the urgent need for congressional action.
Businesses and governments in New York and across the country rely on charitable nonprofits to help build the communities we want and address critical needs of all New Yorkers. These charitable organizations rely on steady funding and stable laws and policies to advance their missions and be the reliable partner that businesses and governments expect. This January, as nonprofits evaluate the past year while looking ahead to 2019, uncertainty and change are the only constants; the outcomes of public policy challenges in the coming months will tip the difference in whether nonprofits will have secure resources and sound policies that allow us to partner with the government and business sectors to create a healthy society in New York.
How do you make sure that your human resources —your people—are valued and developed at your organization? Come to our Human Resources Learning Lab starting in February 2019 to learn and develop tools that ensure that your organization’s employees are nurtured and developed to keep your mission moving forward.
December 12, 2018 - NPCC is supporting the Strong Nonprofits for a Better New York’s campaign to sign on to this letter encouraging the New York City Charter Revision Commission to include procurement reform as a key issue in their work this year. We encourage NPCC members, particularly those with government funding, to sign on.
December 10, 2018 - Congratulations NPCC members! You did it! Because of your advocacy, late Friday night, Governor Cuomo signed the law that decouples the state and federal tax law so that New York State will NOT tax nonprofits on commuter benefits.
Nov 28, 2018 - Thanks to your good work, the UBIT bill (S8831/A11051), which will eliminate the state Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT) on commuter benefits, including Buffalo NFTA Metro Pass, NYC Metrocard, Rochester RTS Pass, or employee parking, has been called up by the Governor.