Revising Financial Policies and Practices to Support the Nonprofit Human Services Sector

• Author: Katy Lederer,Phil Basso,Barbara Armstrong
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nba.30888
• Date: 01 December 2020
• Published date: 01 December 2020

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Vol. 375 December 2020

Revising Financial Policies and Practices

to Support the Nonprot Human Services Sector

By Phil Basso, Katy Lederer, Barbara Armstrong

The nonprot human services sector has long

recognized the need to strengthen overall human

services capacity and promote social and economic

mobility for the people and communities they serve,

especially for people of color. Yet many communi-

ty-based organizations (CBOs), which comprise a

key component of the human services ecosystem

and whose proximity to community is the closest,

have themselves been caught in a cycle of poverty.

Before the pandemic, more than 40% of human

services CBOs lacked liquidity to meet their short-

term obligations and 30% had cash reserves cover-

ing less than 1 month of expenses, according to a

report released by the Alliance for Strong Families

and Communities and American Public Human

Services Association.1 Since the pandemic, that

situation has only worsened. A report just released

from Independent Sector shows how many nonprof-

its are struggling to survive, with 7% of nonprots

Also in this issue

Conferences & Events: The Future of Tech in

Philanthropy workshop; Making the Most of

Organizational Assessments workshop; Leadership

Circle for Fundraisers of Color workshop ...........4

Nonprot Research: Nonprot CEO salaries on the

uptick .......................................5

Industry News: Charity Navigator launches new

system for rating nonprot efciency, effectiveness ....6

Industry News: Take steps to avoid ‘Zoom fatigue’

among board members ..........................7

Research shows charity watchdogs used by sizeable

portion of donors .............................. 8

Resources: Charityhowto.com webinar offers tips for

running virtual events; Webinar explores ins and outs

of thank-you videos; Webinar looks at fundraising

planning for 2021; Candid webinar offers corporate

giving intro ...................................9

Employment Law: Legal cases that impact nonprots . 10

News: Briefs from around the sector .............. 12

USPS proposes price increases

for 2021

The United States Postal Service has led

notice with the Postal Regulatory Commission

announcing its intent to raise its prices effective

Jan. 24, 2021.

The proposed prices, if approved by the PRC,

would raise USPS mailing services product

prices approximately 1.8% for First-Class Mail

and 1.5% for other categories, the agency said.

There would be no increase in the price of a

First-Class Mail Forever stamp, which would

remain at 55 cents. The single-piece letter addi-

tional ounce price would increase to 20 cents, the

metered mail 1-ounce price would increase to 51

cents and the price of postcard stamps would

increase to 36 cents, the USPS said. Single-piece

1-ounce at prices will remain unchanged at $1.

The agency said these new rates will keep the

USPS competitive with other mail carriers, while

providing the agency with needed revenue.

For more information, the proposed price change

tables are available on the UPSP Postal Explorer

website at https://bit.ly/3kDixAq. ■

estimated to close due to the pandemic and one

million nonprot jobs lost.2

As CBOs face increased demand for services,

strengthening CBO nancial capacity is critical.

Public agencies are often a primary contractor

to CBOs.3 Burdened by nancial constraints and

(See POLICIES on page 2)

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