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Thursday, April 4, 2013
Fundraising Software Discount for NYCON Members
More cuts coming for state's ARCs
By: James M. Odato
If you work for one of the 49 organizations within the New York ARC network, the state budget adopted last week will affect your job. And it could result in the freezing or cutting of salaries of ARC executives, many of whom are compensated beyond Gov. Andrew Cuomo's comfort level.
Indeed, several executives of ARCs, formerly known as Association for Retarded Citizens, are paid well above the $199,000 threshold Cuomo has set under restrictions that take effect in July, according to new regulations posted on the Division of Criminal Justice Services website a few days before the budget was passed. Many more are paid a salary above the $136,000 earned by Office for People With Developmental Disabilities Commissioner Courtney Burke.
The governor's order calls on the Budget Division to oversee nonprofit administrative expenses. Penalties such as suspension or denial of funds could be levied if nonprofits overpay their executives, although waivers will be considered.
The governor's limits on administrative expenses arrive as the new budget takes effect. It calls for $90 million in reduced state funding for ARCs and other service providers who help developmentally disabled people. (The cut is matched by another $90 million lost from the federal government.) The Cuomo administration pared funding because of sharply reduce reimbursement rates set by the federal government.
Asked how these nonprofits are to manage with $180 million less, the Budget Division's spokesman Morris Peters said the organizations will need to look at their expenses.
"The savings will be implemented following consultation with a workgroup of relevant parties," he said. The goal is "to generate savings via reduced administrative costs, enhanced audit recoveries, and improved program efficiencies."
Ben Golden, director of government affairs for NYSARC Inc., the parent company of the statewide string of ARCs, said most chapters — whose combined budgets total $1.7 billion— have cut all they can: "The money's just not there anymore."
State expectations of further retrenchment also follow Cuomo's push for consolidation of governments and school districts.
Golden said the ARCs are investigating ways to share services, particularly backroom operations, and some mergers could be explored to reduce administrative overhead.
His organization, he said, will cooperate. NYSARC head Mark Brandt, whose compensation included $220,171 in base pay and another $67,773 in additional income for 2011, has supported Cuomo's executive salary initiative.
Many countywide ARC chapters' executives are approaching the Cuomo limit. Others have blown through it: New York City's chapter paid top officer Michael Goldfarb $664,157 (including $498,779 in base pay) and Associate Executive Director Robert C. Gundersen $666,444 (including $489,434 in supplemental retirement benefits) in 2011. Eight others at the chapter exceeded Cuomo's cap that year by more than $150,000 each.
"We understand this is a sensitive issue," said Golden. "When it comes time to ask for a waiver or comply with that, we will certainly do that."
Some mergers have been accomplished. Ulster and Greene counties now have one chapter, and the Warren-Washington ARC merged with Albany's.
Longtime administrator of the Saratoga chapter of ARC Valerie Muratori said the organizations need top-notch managers to create and implement programs with receding revenues. And the groups need good fund-raisers to tap charitable donors as well.
In the past year, Muratori said, she has had to eliminate 40 positions, from maintenance workers to managers, because of shrinking public aid. She manages 550 workers who provide services to 800 people. Her pay, after beginning at the organization at the ground level in 1983, is $150,669, plus $15,210 for the use of a car. "I do believe there is a feeling on the part of certain state officials that there should be fewer providers in our field and there should be some evaluation on the numbers of organizations providing our services," she said.
All of the organizations will receive 4.5 percent less than last year. For Saratoga's ARC, that is about a $1 million cut.
"One of my concerns is that you really want people to work in this field," Muratori said. "You want people who enjoy working directly with people with developmental disabilities, and you also want people who have the skill sets to create services, design services and manage them and come into the field and be leaders."
Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/More-cuts-coming-for-state-s-ARCs-4398671.php#ixzz2PWlH7YNs
National Volunteer Week Funds Available
The Institute for Human Services Brings You:National Volunteer Week Mini Grants
National Volunteer Week: April 21-27, 2013
Are you planning a volunteer event as part of National Volunteer Week during April 21-27th? Could you use some additional funds to enhance your project's impact?
If you have answered "YES" to either of these questions then consider applying for a mini-grant from 2-1-1 HELPLINE Give Help and the Regional Volunteer Center of the Southern Tier!
Because of this partnership, we are to be able to offer mini-grants to support local volunteer efforts in Chemung, Steuben and Schuyler Counties during National Volunteer Week. If your organization is currently planning an event for that week and could use some additional funding to enhance your efforts we encourage you to request a mini-grant of up to $350. If you are interested in applying for a mini-grant, simply fill out our online application by going to the link below. Please complete the survey by Friday March 29th. Decisions regarding project funding will be made by Friday April 5th, 2013.
If you have any questions, please contact Tess McKinley at mckinleyt@ihsnet.
2-1-1 HELPLINE Give Help coordinates volunteer support services, by serving as a volunteer clearinghouse and resource center that is supported by United Way of the Southern Tier to increase civic engagement in our area. Interested in volunteering? Want to add your volunteer opportunities to our database? Learn more here.
The Regional Volunteer Center of the Southern Tier is a collaboration designed to promote and enhance local volunteer efforts in our community. Under the leadership of the Institute for Human Services, United Way of Broome County, and United Way of Tompkins County, local non-profits are coming together to create a dynamic regional partnership to enhance and strengthen local volunteer efforts. The Regional Volunteer Center of the Southern Tier is one of ten regional volunteer centers in New York State.
Your March Madness Camp Finance Discount Offer
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Nonprofit Salary & Benefits Survey Order Form
The 2012 Nonprofit Organizations Salary & Benefits Report For New York State
NYCON Members Receive 40 off Listed Price!
(Only $150 for Members; $250 for Non-members)
Many members have been asking how to order this comprehensive, affordable report. Below is the new link from the Nonprofit Times.
(Only $150 for Members; $250 for Non-members)
Many members have been asking how to order this comprehensive, affordable report. Below is the new link from the Nonprofit Times.
Are you a NYCON Member? Click here
to Verify your Membership Status & to Request your Members Only Discount Code worth $100 off!
________________________________________
Get the most current information available about nonprofit salaries and benefits in the state of New York. This report provides the latest and most complete salary information available on 170 nonprofit positions from entry level to the executive office including base salary, bonus practices, total cash compensation, salary increases, employee turnover, and more. The salary data is presented at three different levels (by Position, by Job Family and by Organization) to provide a comprehensive view of pay practices at all levels of a nonprofit organization.
Key Benchmarking Data provided on:
- Base Salary and Total Cash Compensation data with percentile rankings for each position
- Annual Salary Increases (executive and non-executive)
- Employee Turnover and Average Tenure by position
- Total compensation costs as a percentage of operating expenses
- Employee profile data: number of full/part time; exempt vs. nonexempt
- Executive Perks and Benefits (organizations offering, special benefits offered)
- Medical, Dental and Vision (costs paid by organization, eligibility, plan offerings, participation rates)
- Retirement Plans (maximum contributions, eligibility, plan offerings, participation rates)
- Employee Leave (vacation, sick, paid time off, personal, holidays, bereavement, FMLA)
- Overtime Practices - exempt vs. non-exempt staff
- And more!
To see the article online click here.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
HEALTH BENEFIT EXCHANGE COUNTDOWN SEMINAR
Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce
Seminar will be held at Templeton Hall
SIGN UP NOW FOR THIS SEMINAR, SEATING IS LIMITED
SIGN UP NOW FOR THIS SEMINAR, SEATING IS LIMITED
We all know that this year will be a challenging one for not just small businesses and sole proprietors but individuals as well when it comes to selecting health insurance. With the advent of the New York State Health Benefit Exchange, the way that New Yorkers select their health insurance coverage will change. To assist you in better understanding how New York’s Health Benefit Exchange (HBX) will affect you, your family, your business, and your employees, the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce is partnering with Benefit Specialists of NY and Excellus to provide an educational program entitled, “ Health Benefit Exchange Countdown ”. This program will answer many of your questions regarding the new Exchange. This program will answer questions such as:
• What exactly is the Exchange?
• Where do you find information on the exchange?
• Have the penalties for not obtaining health insurance increased?
• When can someone enroll in an Exchange plan?
• Will there be any subsidies available to individuals?
• How will this all affect my business?
Please join us on Thursday, April 18 from 8-10:30am, to find out the answers to these questions and more. Please contact the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce at 607-547-9983 ext 4, or e-mailbecky@cooperstownchamber.org to register for the program. The program is free and open to the public so bring your friends and family, however registration is required.
On Pay, Some Nonprofit Health Insurers Are Tone Deaf and Wrong
Brought to you by the NonProfit Quarterly:
On Pay, Some Nonprofit Health Insurers Are Tone Deaf and Wrong
The mantra of the nonprofit sector right now is “one big tent”—no winners or losers, everyone pledged to everyone else. But it is hard to maintain that mentality when some nonprofits pay so much better than others. Those that seem to be drawing the most attention in an era of national health insurance reform are nonprofit health insurers, some of which are paying very big salaries and earning healthy profits while much of the nation, pre-Affordable Care Act, is underinsured or uninsured (and those who are covered face often escalating policy costs and co-pays).
For example, at the nonprofit Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, serving two million ratepayers in the Rochester, Syracuse, and Utica areas of New York State, the chief financial officer, Zeke Duda, got a $10.9 million payout when he retired at the end of 2011. The salary of the CEO, David Klein, somehow dropped from $5.2 million in 2011 to a not too shabby $3.8 million in 2012 when he retired. The new CEO, Christopher Booth, was the $1.6 million a year president and chief operating officer prior to Klein’s retirement. Excellus is no small operator, with revenues of $6 billion in 2012 and net income of $106 million (compared to $223 million in 2011).
Moving across the state line to Massachusetts, we note that, two years ago, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley tried to stop Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) of Massachusetts from paying its board members. At the time, BCBS voluntarily suspended the payments, but now it has announced plans to reinstate the practice. The new plan is to pay board members who chair committees as much as $54,500 annually (down from the maximum of $78,600 proposed two years ago) while other directors can receive up to $47,000 (down from a max of $58,600 proposed two years ago). The plan is also to try to reduce the number of directors from 17 to 14.
Mark Rogers, who runs a “startup online professional community for board members,” ripped Blue Cross for the decision in a Globe op-ed. He contrasts the image of the Blue Cross board meetings with the “overwhelming majority of the nearly 1.6 million nonprofit organizations in America today…governed by boards composed of compassionate, intelligent, and selfless individuals who are dedicated to stewarding their organizations to [a] level of excellence that befits their mission without monetary compensation for their efforts.” His explanation of Blue Cross’s thinking? “It looks like arrogance.”
During the two years of the BCBS suspension of board payments, did Blue Cross find itself just about unable to function? Were board members, such as an executive vice president for Liberty Mutual Insurance and a senior advisor of Bain & Company, finding themselves too financially strapped to provide appropriate board service for Blue Cross? Deidre Cummings, the legislative director of the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group, raised a similar query: “One would question why they were able to run their business for the last few years without paying people and why they have decided they have to start doing it again now.”
Perhaps BCBS survived due to the $1,500 payment for attending each board meeting and strategic planning meeting and the $1,200 payment for attending committee meetings. The latter is being reduced to $1,000 in the new structure. All of this is happening, of course, because Coakley’s vision of legislation to control board compensation didn’t come to pass.
Tone deaf? Multi-million dollar salaries to top executives? Five-figure compensation deals for otherwise voluntary board members? When poor people are facing higher costs for health care? Tone deaf and wrong.
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