Action alert – Washington Nonprofits

Action Alert: Tell Congress to Repeal New Nonprofit Transit Tax

December 10, 2018 David Streeter

Repeal of New Nonprofit Transportation Tax Is Possible — But Members of Congress Need to Hear from Nonprofits Now! Leaders in Washington, DC representing charitable, religious, and philanthropic organizations have convinced most lawmakers that the new 21-percent unrelated business income tax (UBIT) on nonprofits for transportation benefits expenses, like transit passes and parking, should be repealed. Indeed, even the House tax-writing committee chair who put this new unfair and burdensome tax into the 2017 law is now saying it ought to be eliminated. BUT, that’s not enough. Your Representatives and Senators need to hear from you and other nonprofits – immediately – if […]

Comment on WA Overtime Pay Policy Options

July 30, 2018 David Streeter

Washington State’s Department of Labor and Industries is currently engaged in rulemaking to update our state’s overtime pay exemption threshold. The likely effect of this process is that more workers will be eligible for overtime pay, which will undoubtedly impact your nonprofit organization. Because of this, we strongly encourage your organization to join Washington Nonprofits in responding to the latest Draft Rule Concepts released by the Department before September 5th. Comments from Washington Nonprofits are available here. The full set of draft concepts is available here. It contains a menu of policy options for your organization to consider and comment […]

Advocacy Update: Nonprofit Nonpartisanship Preserved in Federal Spending Bill

March 22, 2018 David Streeter

Last night, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees released their omnibus spending bill to keep the government funded for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends September 30, 2018. Absent from the 2,200+ page spending bill is a provision that would have repealed or weakend the Johnson Amendment, the part of the Internal Revenue Code that requires tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations to be nonpartisan. This is a significant victory for nonprofit organizations. Your advocacy helped make the difference! Thank you to everyone who took action to preserve the Johnson Amendment. Your phone calls, emails, and tweets to Congress made […]

ACTION ALERT: Urge a NO Vote on the House Tax Bill And Shape the Senate Bill

November 13, 2017 Laura Pierce

This week is a crucial week for tax reform. The House version of the bill cleared the Ways and Means Committee last week and the Senate version is currently being debated in the Senate Finance Committee. Before it’s too late, please take the following actions. 1. Please review the comparison of the two tax reform bills and contact Senator Maria Cantwell at (202) 224-3441 to let her know how tax reform impacts your organization and the people you serve. You can also use the script and tweet below: “I am calling to urge Senator Cantwell to protect charitable giving in the Senate tax […]

ACTION ALERT: House Tax Reform Bill Could Dramatically Alter Nonprofit Operations, Missions

November 6, 2017 Laura Pierce

Some of the proposed tax changes in the just-introduced House tax reform bill are bad for nonprofits. Very bad. And there’s very little time to do something about it. Call your Representative now and tell them not to undermine the work of charitable nonprofits through tax reform. The House tax reform bill is moving fast. The Tax Cuts & Jobs Act (H.R. 1) was introduced last Thursday, the tax committee starts working on it today, and the full House is expected to vote on it next week without amendments. Today and tomorrow may be the last best chance for nonprofits […]

Take 3 Minutes TODAY to Tell Congress Not to Make Nonprofits Political Tools

October 30, 2017 Laura Pierce

Congress is finally serious about federal tax reform, and the ability of charitable nonprofits, houses of worship, and foundations to stay out of partisan politics is under attack. Please take three minutes today to call your U.S. Representative and deliver this simple message: “Don’t use tax reform to weaken or repeal the Johnson Amendment, which keeps partisan politics out of Washington State’s nonprofits, houses of worship, and foundations. I am concerned that efforts to repeal or weaken the Johnson Amendment would harm my community and damage the public’s trust in my organization and many other Washington State nonprofits and churches. Thank […]

Planning for Action Will Help Your Board Members Forget to Be Forgetful

August 14, 2017 Nancy Bacon

You will remember about 58 percent of this after 20 minutes, 33 percent after a day. That’s according to one study, with other studies showing varying levels of forgetting after you learn new information. The “forgetting curve” plots memory against time with a deep concave decline as soon as information is shared. You will forget most of what you read here in little time at all. I think about forgetting as I deliver the “Boards in Gear” trainings across Washington State. Typically, 50 to 80 board leaders attend these trainings to learn the secret sauce to having an awesome board. […]