On Wednesday, the National Council of Nonprofits and 54 other national nonprofits sent a letter to the White House and to congressional leaders asking the federal government for assistance with nonprofit job recovery and with ensuring that nonprofits have adequate resources to provide services for communities. Specifically, the letter asks President Biden and Congress to:

The Center supports the policy solutions recommended in this letter and plans to share the letter with North Carolina’s congressional delegation. Look for a call to action in the near future asking your nonprofit to sign on to the letter.

The NC House of Representatives is planning to begin the formal process of developing its version of the state budget for FY2021-23 next month. With the House budget still a blank slate, next week is a great time to find your state House member and write to let them know what types of state funding would help your organization and your community. With billions of dollars available in unspent state revenue and ARP funding, the NC House of Representatives has the resources to address many important needs in this year’s state budget. The NC Senate passed its version of the budget last month, and the Center has prepared a chart highlighting the appropriations and provisions in the Senate budget that affect nonprofits. The Center will update this chart once the House approves its version of the budget and once legislators agree on a final version of the budget to send to Governor Cooper.

Before you get started writing to your NC House member, take a few minutes to read this blog post with tips on how to write an effective letter to your elected officials – complete with an easy-to-use worksheet and samples of effective letters.

Cities and counties throughout North Carolina are receiving (or in some cases, have recently received) ARP funding to help respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the ARP, local governments can use this funding to provide relief to nonprofits that have suffered economic harm during the pandemic and can work in partnership with nonprofits to provide help to their communities.

Now is a great time for your nonprofit to reach out to your local elected officials (i.e. city council and county board of commissioners) with suggestions on how to make best use of their ARP funds. This could include creation of a local nonprofit relief fund (see the Center’s suggested criteria for a statewide fund as an example) or through investment in particular types of programs and services (or specific organizations) in your community.

To help you make your case to local officials, a new report from the National Council of Nonprofits provides insights into ways that local governments can use ARP funds to support communities in partnership with nonprofits. The report includes examples of successful models of nonprofit COVID-19 relief from around the country.

Over the past six months, these weekly policy updates have mentioned a variety of state bills that could affect the operations of nonprofits. We know that many nonprofits are interested in some or all of these bills, so the Center has posted an update on the status of legislation affecting nonprofits. If you have questions about the status of these or other bills – or about advocacy strategies on legislation that your nonprofit supports or opposes – feel free to reach out to us for additional information or assistance.

On Wednesday, the NC House Banking Committee approved a bill (H.B. 707) that would establish a Student Borrowers' Bill of Rights. This proposal would create several new protections for student borrowers and add new regulation for student lenders. This could help more North Carolinians - including many nonprofit workers - access the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program by requiring lenders to provide more accurate information to borrowers about the steps they need to take to access the PSLF Program. The PSLF Program helps make nonprofit careers sustainable for many workers with college debt. A recent report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that a high percentage of borrowers – including many nonprofit employees – are losing access to PSLF loan forgiveness because loan servicers are providing them with misinformation about the program. The bill still needs approval from two more House committees before the full House votes on it.

Starting this month, and continuing through the end of this year, the Internal Revenue Service will send payments of up to $300 per child each month to the parents or guardians of the 65 million eligible children under 18 years of age. Those parents and guardians include people nonprofits serve and nonprofit employees. A major strength of the new advance Child Tax Credit program is that payments will happen automatically without people having to fill out any paperwork. While the IRS expects that 88% of households will receive these automatic payments, nonprofits can help ensure that other families also receive them. The National Council of Nonprofits has shared some useful tips for ways nonprofits can help ensure that everyone in their community has access to this important new tool in fighting child poverty.

The Center provides Nonprofit Policy Update each week as a benefit to its nonprofit members. However, to help all North Carolina nonprofits respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, we're temporarily providing this newsletter to non-member nonprofits. Don’t miss out – become a member to ensure you continue receiving these updates along with many other valuable benefits.