Recovery.gov

In a video on President Obama’s Web site Recovery.gov (http://www.recovery.gov/) the president promises that “The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will be carried out with full transparency and accountability.” This new Web site will be the centerpiece of that effort. President Obama describes how we can track the Recovery Act's progress. He promises to disclose full details in a “timely, targeted and transparent manner.” Once the money starts to flow we will be able to see how that money is spent. Here is an overall breakdown of the budget:

According to the timeline, Federal Agencies will begin reporting their use of the funds beginning today, March 3, 2009. By May 3rd, Federal Agencies will make their performance plans publicly available and will report allocations for entitlement programs.

The site encourages citizens to tell their stories about how the investments are working. They also want to know what is not working. As soon as the money begins to flow into the veins of the economic machine, we will be able to communicate our perceptions of how well it is really working. Obama has told us that he will try new things and get rid of ideas that are not working so this is our chance to really get involved in our democracy directly.

During his run for president, Obama used the web and technology to reach out to his constituents and raise an unprecedented about of funding for his campaign. This use of technology in his administrations has put information directly in the hands of the people and at an incredible pace. This kind of transparency is only possible because of the Internet.

There is an interactive map under the “Impact,” “Jobs” tab that allows you look at your own state to see how much money will be used to create new jobs. In the “FAQ” section they answer commonly asked questions with links to the actual “Recovery Act” documents.

Take a look at the site. Let us know how you believe this Web site will affect nonprofits like yours. Has the recovery program had adverse or positive effects on your organization? Let us know.

Obama Signs Stimulus Bill

Denver, Colorado - President Barack Obama signed the $787 billion economic stimulus package in Denver today after the Senate passed its version of the bill late Friday. We have been waiting, what seems like ages, for news of the plan passing meanwhile each day brought news of further job cuts and business failures.

In his weekly radio and Internet broadcast, Obama said, "I will sign this legislation into law shortly, and we'll begin making the immediate investments necessary to put people back to work doing the work America needs done."

He reminded us that, "The problems that led us into this crisis are deep and widespread, and our response must be equal to the task."

The struggle in the Senate lasted weeks, with lawmakers on both Democrat and Republican sides desiring to warm up the frozen credit markets and get lending going again. There are those who have begun to call some of the failing banks “zombies” because they seem lifeless and unable to get back to lending. It is everyone’s hope that this stimulus money will get the banks’ lending again.

The question is, what will it really take to get people spending? Opinions differ widely. However, this bill's tax cuts will come in the form of relief for 95% of Americans. The amount of $400 for individuals and $800 for couples will come in the form of diminishing payroll taxes by a small amount over time. Lawmakers believe that people will be more willing to spend the small addition to their paychecks rather than hold onto such small sums.

Also included in the stimulus was $70 billion to shelter upper middle-class and wealthier taxpayers from an income tax increase and two of Obama's initiatives; the expansion of computerized information technology in the health care industry and billions to create green jobs that will hopefully, begin to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

The nonprofit sector will see billions infused into schools and local governments to help prop up jobs. Will this stimulus package restore our faith in the financial system? We wait with expectation to see if this new administration can begin to defrost the frozen economy. What are your thoughts?

On the Brink of Change

It is difficult to spend much timing musing over the year 2008. At this time of year many of us look back on the year that has passed and try to make sense of it. Our mistakes, hopefully, will teach us what not to do or guide us toward trying things that worked for others. We reminisce over the fun and exciting events of the year with plans and goals freshly laid for the coming year. The last quarter of 2008 was fraught with daily upheaval and financial losses that caused many people to despair. I needn’t list everything that went wrong (it is a long, long list). I have had enough doom and gloom and 2008 can be summed up as a financial mess. So let’s step back to look only at those things that stand out as hopeful against this grim backdrop.

Most prominent was the election of a new President and the excitement, swelling around the globe, of his upcoming inauguration on January 20th. Obama has wasted no time organizing his transition and making appointments to his cabinet. All of Obama’s picks appear to have substantial experience and come from diverse backgrounds, they are:

• Senator Hillary Clinton as secretary of state - Clinton seems to be uniquely qualified to be secretary of state bringing her years as a senator and first lady in her husband's administration as important experience.
• Timothy Geithner as Secretary of the Treasury – has been the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York since 2003
• Larry Summers as Director of the National Economic council – served as The World Bank’s chief economist and treasury secretary under Bill Clinton.
• David Axelrod as Chief Advisor – served as Obama’s chief strategist during his campaign.
• Eric Holder as Attorney General – served as Bill Clinton’s deputy attorney general and as Obama’s legal advisor during his campaign
• Harry Reid as Senate Majority Leader – served in the house from Las Vegas and then moved to the senate in 1987.
• Tom Daschle as Secretary of Health and Human Services – was a congressman from South Dakota and minority leader in the senate until he lost his seat in 2004.
• Bill Richardson as Secretary of Commerce – has served as governor of New Mexico and as energy secretary.
• Robert Gibbs as Press Secretary – lead Obama’s communications team during his campaign.
• Paul Volcker as Chairman of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board – served as chairman of the Federal Reserve under Jimmy Carter.
• Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense – is currently serving as secretary of defense under George Bush.
• Rahm Emmanuel as Chief of Staff – is an Illinois congressman and was an aide to Bill Clinton.
• James L Jones as National Security Advisor – was a four-star general who served in the Marine Corps for four decades.
• Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the House and is the congresswoman from San Francisco.
• Henry Waxman as Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee – is a representative in the house for Los Angeles and chairman of the committee on oversight of government reform.
• Janet Napolitano as Secretary of Homeland Security – served as Arizona’s attorney general and became governor of that state in 2002.
• Susan Rice as US Ambassador to the United Nations – was a Rhodes Scholar with a doctorate in philosophy, and held several positions during the Clinton administration including assistant secretary of state under Madeline Albright.
• Arne Dunkan as Secretary of Education – is the head of education in Chicago, the third largest education system in the US.
• Steve Chu as Head of the US Energy Department – is the Nobel-prize winning physicist from the University of California Berkeley.

Generally, Americans are looking forward to the change in government with anticipation. The nonprofit sector has suffered recent setbacks along with the rest of America but a reason for optimism shines as a beacon of hope for all of us. What do you think of Obama’s picks? How do you think these choices will affect your nonprofit?

Has the Money from Wall Street Dried up?

With the severe complexion of the financial industries’ bankruptcies, cutbacks, bailouts, and takeovers sweeping through financial markets, donations from highly paid financial professionals are expected to slump. Wall Street professionals have been a part of the richest 1% of the U.S. population. Some 51 percent of individual giving comes from the 10% of households in the highest income groups and slightly less coming from the 90% with income less than $100,000, according to Giving USA. “While higher-income families are major donors to many important institutions, ordinary-income donors are vital, too, for the health of the nonprofit sector in this country,” according to Del Martin, chair of Giving USA Foundation.

It is natural that as the economy slumps people will have less money to give to charity, however, “the trend of total giving of about 2% of income has remained about the same for the past 50 years”, according to Elizabeth Boris, director of the Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C.

The effect of the financial crisis on giving is expected to be significant. Will it really? What will nonprofits do to make up for the shortfall? Perhaps the American middle-class will step in to shoulder the burden of bank bailouts and maintain the healthy philanthropic giving that has been our nature for so long. Though trickle-down hasn’t exactly worked, the question is, has it left charities out to dry?