>>
Coming up on need to know giving our money and team seemed
our only response to the attacks of 9-11.-
Two years later agencies that rely on raising funds through
corporate, individual and government giving are struggling.-
We will look at what has happened, how they are coping.-
We will have mother edition of the business section with the
Delaware on the way on need to know.-
-
>> We have had to reduce some programs, eliminate several
programs.-
However, and we are looking at further reductions.-
-
[Captioning Made Possible by the U.S. Department of Education]-
(For "Need to Know")-
-
>> We are glad you could join us.-
I'm Michael Caputo.-
Think of fund-raising and you might think of pledge drifles.-
Probably you cop Jennifer up visions of the united way.-
But in Rochester area thousands of organizations ask for
donations to thrive.-
Libraries, rehab centers, nursing homes, private schools,
unlike the message used by united way, blanket requests, these
agencies try to build long-term relationships with donors.-
But times are hard.-
Some would say that the ability to raise money these days is
more difficult.-
They would say perhaps that this is the toughest climate to
raise money in a discrimination.-
We might get an argument later from the panel.-
But the economy has indeed floundered.-
The stock market has dipped.-
People give less when their perform finances take a hit not
to
mention the loss of donations from people who have lost jobs.-
Government giving is drying up because they face their own
budget problems.-
9-11 prompted a surge in giving two years ago but it diverted
a
lot of money from the finite fund-raising pool to emergency
service programs or disaster relief.-
Those who might have been inclined to give are hanging on to
their money waiting to see how the U.S. response to the 9-11
attacks, mainly the actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, might rock
the company.-
Need to know's Alicia Claussell gives us a look at how
nonprofit agencies are dealing with the current state of
affairs.-
-
>> We are talking about the tools of recovery and we are
talking about planning and the things that keep you from
achieving it.-
-
>> One day state.-
A common philosophy for those recovering from drug and alcohol
abuse.-
It is an attitude Hutler-Doyle, a not for profit agency that
provides addiction services in Rochester has adopted to deal
with the rising cost and dwindling funds.-
Bob Lebman, chief executive officer of Hutler-Doyle, says the
hits have come from private and public funders.-
-
>> First impact has been the reduction in Medicaid.-
Not only in terms of the number of people who are receiving
Medicaid but also last year the office of alcoholism and
substance abuse services agreed to a reduction in reimbursement
rate for outpatient chemical dependency services for people
who
are paid for by Medicaid so we are sustaining a 30% cut.-
In addition, there have been state and county cuts in funding
to help offset the deficit incurred by serving an uninsured
or
otherwise population.-
So there is less government money and last the foundations
which have traditionally been very kind to this organization
and have helped bridge some of the gap have their money
invested in the same stock market as everybody else and they
have seen tremendous loss in reserves.-
So the amount of discretionary funds they have available to
fund is down and the number of requests they are receiving is
up.-
So we are getting squeezed from all end.-
-
>> Forgave something often about how well you can market
your
organization's mission and goals.-
Agencies like Hutler-Doyle have trouble here.-
How do you market a substance abuse rehabilitation and
prevention program?-
There's no positioner child, no cute animals, not even
testimonials with a face.-
-
>> One of the fundamentals of drug treatment and alcohol
treatment is anonymity.-
And we have ingrained in substance abusers that anonymity is
the key.-
Therefore, it becomes difficult to have a poster child,
period.-
But even if you had one, an adolescent who is a drug addict
is
viewed differently in our society from an adolescent who has
cancer or an adolescent who has diabetes.-
Many people say well, drug addicts are drug addicts because
of
their own choices.-
It is hard to sell supporting a drug addict.-
Even to recovering people.-
-
>> But do the hard times translate to having to turn people
in
need away?-
-
>> No, not yet.-
We are not turning people away.-
We have had to reduce some programs, eliminate several
programs.-
And we are looking at further reductions in order to continue
to meet the demand, which is ever increasing.-
-
>> Cuts in programs can lead to cuts in staff.-
Hutler-Doyle has already lost a coordinator of one of their
largest programs.-
The coordinator was supplied by Americorps, a federally funded
program that provides valuable and skilled workers to almost
40
nonprofit agencies in town, including big names like the
American red cross.-
The Rochester Americorps is at risk of losing 70 to 90% of its
funding this year.-
This how government is cut back.-
-
>> It impact the community particularly in difficult economic
times when you look at the amount of person power that 100
Americorps members provided in the community over the course
of
the year because it is probably well in excess of 150,,000
hours of community service that will be lost.-
For some of the smaller organizations, it leaves them in dire
straits.-
-
>> Marilyn says the events of September 11 brought on
a
different set of obstacles for the Rochester Americorps.-
-
>> The interesting thing about being part of Americorps
is we
are seeing the flip side of that.-
Some of the sentiments that arose after 9-11 and the
president's call for service really has meant that Americorps
has seen a very substantial upsomething swing in number of
people interested in enrolling in the program which makes it
harder for us to turn people way and say we won't be able to
if
I have you the opportunity.-
-
>> So the cycle continues.-
As difficult as it is on the agencies, it can be harder on
those receiving the services.-
A client of Hutler-Doyle, it can be a matter of life and
death.-
-
>> When I came here today I just wanted to kill myself
because
I don't care.-
And anyway, I was treated.-
So it is kind of hard.-
You can only give people so much and they keep taking and I
just couldn't take it no more.-
So I came here to straighten me out, you know?-
And I don't think that way.-
You can only take so much from people.-
Then you are going to hurt them and I don't want to hurt
nobody.-
I don't want to end up in prison and jail.-
-
>> Thanks, alish sa.-
Now at the table are three people involved in raising funds.-
Mark Peterson president of bishop Kearny and incoming president
of the local chapter of the association of fund-raising
professionals.-
Liz wilder, executive director of Rochester grant makers forum,
Steve Smith vice president of foundation and resources for St.
Ann's community and current president of the association of
fund-raising professionals the local chapter.-
We were talking off camera.-
I guess I will throw it at you and you may say I don't want
to
deal with you but these are tough economic times, admittedly
so.-
Is in the toughest climate in a generation, the last 10 years,
to raise money?-
-
>> I don't think so.-
It is more complex.-
It is more challenging for all of us to do our jobs.-
But we are always faced with the same challenges.-
It is developing a good relationship with our donors.-
And donors keep giving.-
They have not stopped giving in in spite of economic downturn.-
-
>> We have government telling us you have to raise tacks,
businesses are laying off people.-
You are not in the same boat?-
-
>> Sure we are to an extent.-
There's an impact of economic challenges to the community.-
We have to look very seriously at our programs.-
We have to be lean.-
I think that the bigger problem for nonprofits is they are
already lean.-
That isn't to say and I know jack Doyle and others wouldn't
like me to say it that government or the commercial sector
isn't lean, but the reality is that nonprofits work on very
tight budgets to begin with and there's almost no way to make
any changes unless you cut back on services.-
-
>> Right.-
And as we discussed before the camera started, nonprofits are
run like businesses.-
We convene 200 nonprofits last spring and they talked about
the
kinds of measures they have taken with management and
government to tighten their operations so that they can do a
better job in times of a tough economy.-
But you would have to admit, wouldn't you, that the public
perception is that not for profits are taking -- I mean we look
at Elliott Spitzer, the attorney general, made a big play, I
think, last year to talk about how he can deal with
foundations, made a number of suggestions about getting rid
of
smaller foundations, more transparency.-
This is the -- what does this do?-
-
>> It is interesting that you bring up his letter to the
federal government.-
In fact, this week they rescinded that letter and he no longer
is asking for a higher level of assets before an organization
can become a foundation.-
-
>> I think this is kind of reflective of the general
misunderstanding or lack of understanding of the public for
the
not for profit sector.-
We are like am some ways there's just as much diversity and
complexity as with within the for profit sector.-
You go from small businesses to large corporations.-
And people generally understand that there's a lot of different
dimensions to that world.-
But when you think of the nonprofit sector you have very
limited, very simple images of what's going on and as Liz said,
we operate like a business in so many ways.-
Market something a predominant tool.-
We have to operate under the same accounting standards that
other organizations do.-
-
>> What is the most difficult thing to get over, the biggest
hurdle of misperception out there?-
-
>> I think it is just to be able to get your message out
there
and clearly articulate what your case is, what you are doing,
be able to have the relationships and to have both people close
to your organization as well as far away under that it is a
--
understand that it is a process and an investment of
resources.-
We talked about forgave something really a relationship,
clearly articulating a mission and a case for support and being
able to keep in close contact with those people who support
you, whether they be individuals, foundation funders or
corporate support.-
That's the key, and that's also the challenge.-
Because those relationships don't build over short periods of
time yet we are called on for immediate results just lick the
corporate world and government.-
-
>> It is also true for foundations.-
When we talk about relationship building, the relationship
between a nonprofit that receives fwrants and a foundation is
important because the foundation needs to understand that the
money that they are investing in that nonprofit is being used
to meet goals in the community that they have prioritized.-
-
>> How do you communicate -- these are programs sometimes
that,
Hutler-Doyle for example, it is hard to track how well you are
doing.-
People like that might come back.-
How can you quabt phi what an agency, what a library does?-
How do you do it?-
-
>> Well, evaluation is a whole field of endeavor as a
profession, actually.-
And many funders, many private funders, will include money in
their grant for an organization to spend the time to do the
proper evaluation on the program that has been funded.-
-
>> I think that is true.-
But I think when you are dealing heavily with individual
donors, too, I think the way we do it and a lot of
organizations do it is to tell stories and to be able to say
here is an example of a typical, whether it be student or
resident of a nursing home and here is how their life has been
changed by the support that has been provided by private
funding.-
-
>> There's a real element of pearl experience in a lot
of
donations and fund-raising.-
I know in our experience working in a long-term care setting,
the donations we get, some of the most significant ones are
because of personal experiences.-
They know the outcome because they have seen it and felt it
themselves.-
The most generous individuals are those most personally
connected to the organization and they know the outcome in a
personal way.-
-
>> Government sent a signal at the turn of the century,
I have
to agree looking at the way they they were collecting taxes
and
the code and so forth, give us the money, give the government
the money or give it to charity.-
What signal is government sending now?-
-
>> I think government is sending -- great question.-
-
>> I will speak from my perspective.-
I think it is sending the signal that we still want to have
input, involvement, but we don't want to give you money.-
And I think that there's a greater burden on nonprofits to grow
and succeed and to pick up the ball on some of the social
issues that are going to need to be taken care of.-
The problem is government has to an good partner, not a weak
partner in that relationship.-
-
>> And the problem is that when we ask nonprofits where
their
sources of income are, 30% to 50% comes from the government.-
So, to ask the individual donors or private founders to pick
up
the slack is virtually impossible.-
-
>> Well, you brought this up earlier.-
He said he was facing a deficit, a fear deficit, something that
was thrust upon him primarily by the state.-
He had to make cuts.-
He said he laid out a bunch of cuts for county government.-
He also talked about what he was going to do for the nonprofit
sector.-
He made cuts this and said I don't want to do it, I have to
do
it.-
And by the way nonprofits need to tighten their belts, too.-
Is that fair?-
-
>> I think it is fair because I don't think we have any
other
options.-
A lot of the things that the county budget is being dealt with
as is it is Medicare costs and that is a cost that the whole
country is dealing with, not just the county and not just the
state.-
We are going to have to focus on those things and there are
some hard choices to be made.-
That's the problem of government and that's the problem of
leadership.-
But it is our problem because we will have to try to pick up
the slack on as many services as possible.-
-
>> That's the thing.-
You hear that on the one hand but when government pulls back
they turn to the nonprofit sector, they turn to the private
sector, don't they?-
-
>> I think they absolutely do.-
But as mark has said, it is about the community making
choices.-
And ultimately nonprofits are a part of providing some of
services.-
A lot of it is done in partnership with government support,
either direct or indirect.-
And it is not a case of one or the other.-
It is together we make choices about what we are going to be
able to do.-
We may not be able to provide all of the services that this
community is used to providing and experiencing.-
-
>> Right.-
And when united way asks their donors what their priorities
were in the community, the things that they want taken care
of
the most are unemployment, education, crime, and poverty.-
Now, there's only so much that the nonprofit sector does in
those areas.-
Those are traditionally, most of them, are traditionally
government funded areas.-
So, it leads to the issue of public policy.-
What are nonprofits doing in the public policy arena to help
government understand better what the implications are of the
decisions they are making about funding or not funding
programs?-
-
>> Does that mean more of a activism.-
Is that a you are talking about -
>> Not an activism.-
Perhaps education.-
-
>> That's what my members are asking for.-
-
>> What can you do?-
-
>> It is a two-pronged preach.-
You have to educate legislators to the issues in the community
and how their legislation affects nonprofits, affects private
funders.-
And you have to also, in my case I have to educate funders to
understand the benefits of the public policy, although with
the
down economy they are very eager to be more involved.-
-
>> The association of fund-raising professionals has a
similar
mission, we are here to advance giving through the practice
of
fund-raising, the ethical and to ensure that people are able
to
give money, that they are able to make charitable
contributions.-
Our role is to make that process work better.-
We want charitable giving loss that support the process that
allow for accountability.-
-
>> I think it is important the education function is important
but I think we will have to go beyond education funders and
nonprofit and government officials because those government
officials are there because we elected them and it is a broader
based population that needs to understand the important role
that this plays in our society and what the tough choices are
going to have to be, how they are going to have to be made.-
That is really a challenge.-
We all hear about the massive transfer of wealth that is about
to occur, but the fact is if that wealth transfer occurs over
the next 30 years and there has not been appropriate education
of the public and those who are involved in the fund-raising
process, it won't create any real benefit for society.-
-
>> Talk more about the massive transfer of wealth and
what do
you mean by that?-
-
>> It is the inner generational transfer of wealth from
the
generation that earned so much money during the boom times in
our economy to their children.-
Around the issue for philanthropy is what percentage of that
transfer of wealth will go to charity.-
And are charities prepared to do the right thing to bring
themselves to the attention of these newly wealthy donors.-
-
>> Are you worried?-
Well, I'm not worried, but they need to be prepared.-
And that transfer has started and will continue over the next
15 years.-
-
>> Worried is not the right word.-
We are working hard to capitalize on the opportunity.-
-
>> Let me throw out a statistic.-
I want to get your reaction to this.-
Over the last 15 years, this between 1986 around 2001, the
number of 501 c 3's have doubled.-
There's not been a -- likewise there's not been an amount of
giving to double that.-
Is there saturation?-
-
>> I don't think so.-
I think it is a matter of I think you let market conditions
control the nonprofit sector injuries as the for profit
sector.-
Those that come out and are aren't good at articulating and
proving that they are worthy of support will not survive.-
And that's OK.-
-
>> I agree.-
And I think that most funders, when they look at the nonprofit
community they don't make judgment about whether there are too
many nonprofits or not enough.-
That they look at is how the nonprofit that is asking them for
money is being run.-
And they are businesses.-
-
>> I have about 40 seconds.-
I have to ask you technology has changed, we have the web, the
internet.-
We have new laws, laws that are telling how you can telemarket,
getting lists -- what is all of this change meaning? are we
keeping up with the changes?-
-
>> We have to.-
I mean I think that the nonprofit sector needs to work
aggressively to use the tools available to capitalize on
technology.-
But it just makes it more challenging.-
-
>> Right.-
And I think that the use of technology is just an alternative
way to forgave.-
And as we fund raise.-
Things are not necessarily bad as we said.-
They are different.-
-
>> It still seems like a one to one relationship.-
-
>> It is great only to the extent it allows us to 10 to
bill
relationships.-
-
>> This discussion continues on the web.-
Write us at wxxi.org/ntk
or email us at needtoknow@wxxi.org.-
Now let's turn to the
business section with "THE
DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE."
>>
With us is Ellen Rosen business editor for the Democrat and
Chronicle.
Hello, Ellen.-
-
>> Hi, mike.-
-
>> So we have a replacement for Dr. Jay stein.-
Tell us about the person and if he will be a different style
or
have a different approach?-
-
>> He is really no vanger to U. of R.-
He is a graduate from thereing held various positions there.-
He was most recently before being named as the acting C.E.O.
was the C.E.O. of the Hershey Medical Center at Penn State so
he understands the mission of hospitals and trying to develop
research and things like that and grow this side of the
business.-
Will he be different from Dr. Stein?-
The university is apparently what they were looking for.-
While he retains the same competitive nature and move the
university in the same direction it is more collaborative than
Dr. Stein.-
-
>> But there are a lot of proponents and detractors of
the
methods of Dr. Stein.-
But there were proponents about his aggressiveness.-
They think they can balance this?-
-
>> A lot of people have said Dr. Stein was the right person
for
that time.-
The university needed a shakeup to get moving in this direction
and he had the right dynamics for the time.-
They now say that Mack ebb berths is the one to take them where
thepped to go.-
-
>> I want to -- I have to move on to north of the border.-
I have to ask you about the trip that was taken by about 100
or
so people from this area trying to convince Canadians to come
this way.-
Tell us more about what they were trying to do, what folks from
our region were trying to do in Toronto?-
-
>> There were about 18 groups who clipped in and hosted
a
reception for about 100 people in the economic development and
tourism businesses in Canada, Ontario motor coach and things
like that.-
They took them on a little boat ride, showed them where the
fast ferry will dock.-
-
>> A sign.-
-
>> Yes, future home and treated them to products, and
really
trying to get them interested in Rochester.-
What they found out that Canadians really are interested in
coming here.-
They want to ski.-
They want to see our museums, visit our wineries and they are
willing to pay for the ferry ride to do that.-
-
>> We had a program a couple of weeks ago talking about
how
this region should be talking about marketing itself, the
wineries and skiing.-
Is that going to happen?-
Is Rochester ready to make that happen, do you think, Ellen.-
-
>> Yes, I think they are.-
It is a task organization that will be the business that will
be operating the ferry has marketing arms on both sides of the
border and they intend to work with all of these different
kinds of businesses.-
You have to remember that tourism in Toronto is hurting now,
too as a result of SARS so they are looking for something to
pump up their economy.-
-
>> Does the grva want to sell us to the notion that we
can get
Canadians here?-
Because I think this, that there is skepticism.-
-
>> I think that was the thing.-
It would just be people from Rochester going over in and
nothing coming here.-
What they are saying now is the Canadians want to visit us,
want to do the things that are on this side of the border and
they will do it with the exchange difference in the Canadian
that are versus the American dollar.-
-
>> Explain to me a little bit about the new effort going
on
between zero rorks and Intel.-
-
>> They announced the partnership for the smart micro
chip.-
It is developed in such a way that it can adapt itself to a
changing task.-
Say the designer wants to have the machine do something
different, the micro chip can have that happen in mid
progress.-
What that really does is besides being neat is it will allow
Xerox to cut in half the amount of time it takes to get a new
machine to market.-
So instead of 18 months that it takes now to get a new copier
on line, they can do that in half the time.-
The company wants to license the mathematical formulas that
went into the chip and make money off that, possibly selling
to
competitors.-
-
>> But getting it to market has to be the big reason this
is
such -- -
>> That is huge.-
Technology is changing and offices are demanding.-
You want to be out there fast.-
-
>> Let us know what is coming up this Sunday in the business
section.-
-
>> We've got -- -
>> Power surge.-
-
>> We have a company profile liking at ultralight pat
resist
which was started a couple of decades ago, struggled and now
is
coming into its own largely in part due to the Iraq war.-
-
>> So we can look for that?-
-
>> Yes.-
-
>> Thank you for being here.-
If you are interested in learning about other issues you can
revisit past need to know broadcasts.-
You have to have video on demand through time warner cable.-
Go to channel 709 which is Rochester on demand and find back
need to know broadcasts.-
Next we can we will break down county finances and look at what
the candidates are saying about the future of taxation and
services in Monroe county.-
We will look at that who.-
Please join us then.-
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