American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: What Nonprofits Need to Know

On February 17 Barack Obama made his first big move as the President of the Unites States, he signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Once intact, this hefty piece of legislation will provide more than $787 billion in spending and tax cuts that are intended to stimulate the economy. The act includes new or expanded government grant programs designed to provide assistance to communities or individuals affected by the economic crisis. While such a movement is designed for lifting America out of the recession, the stimulus package also is designed to create renewable energy, improve infrastructure, adopt universal healthcare coverage, and make college more affordable for students. Such a change will require a new philanthropic frontier to prevail with new modes of soliciting donations, new demographic of volunteers, and new organizations to sprout to support the reborn again nation. The act will do more then provide a short-term solution- it will lay the foundation for a robust and sustainable 21st century. With such a lofty agenda nonprofits need to be informed about what anticipated changes will result and affect them in such a rapidly evolving economic climate.

The Foundation Center has compiled a great collection of resources about how nonprofits may be able to access stimulus package funding. A very interaction new website called MapShot: Best ARRA Funding resources by State connects philanthropists to information about funding and other opportunities in each state.

Once on the website the viewer can select a state in order to peruse how money from the Recovery and Reinvestment Act is being allocated and specifically to what organizations. Furthermore on the site you can click a news or blogging tab to hear what is happening and how citizens are reacting to current fundraising events. For example a survey conducted by the Alliance for Children and Families and the United Neighborhood Centers of America released information describing how some states are delaying payments to nonprofits. The tardiness of payments for 19 states have negatively impacted cash flow, which has lead to job cuts and reductions in services, causing organizations to be reliant on lines of credit to make up for cash shortfalls. Moreover the study shows which states are struggling more then others and in what way. Late payments in Michigan, for instance, paired with decline in donations and an increase in demand for services have created an ideal climate for nonprofits branch out and create new grants and funding strategies to survive. Contrastingly Wisconsin has been having problems with the Medicare resulting from the computer systems and poor software implementation that has moved citizens to instate new legislation and create nonprofit organizations to help develop a more efficient record keeping system.

Other State and Agency Recovery sites have provided nonprofiteers information about how to seek applying for grants and how for-profit organizations can find recovery procurement and contracting opportunities. A particularly interesting site was the National Council of Nonprofits report on tips and thoughts on the stimulus grant.

The site discusses new ways to fundraise and different demographic of donors to reach and recruit as volunteers. The most needed change the website states is for young students to become involved in philanthropy. By understanding the politics and the current events that come with being involved in a nonprofit, the President of the National Council of Nonprofits believes a new generation of informed and active youth will emerge and thereby create a more sustainable and educated America. Moreover the site explains that volunteering for college students is a double reward, first, students gain the experience and knowledge of running a service by helping an organization, and then it benefits them later as they have more edge in the work force and will provide more vitality in a career which can potentially produce brilliant and socially sensitive minds that can change America. Especially concerning the Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the youth of the nation is encouraged to participate so as to benefit the country now and themselves later.