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Springtime During the End of the American Empire
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In this country, we talk about an "economic downturn." In the rest of the world it's called a global economic crisis. It's an important difference: one country can recover from a downturn in a few years, but a global economic crisis takes longer. And more importantly: a global crisis is like a shifting of the earth's plates resulting in a different landscape.
America's wealth was made in part by its companies operating all over the world. Our standard of living was invisibly (t0 us) supported by profits that Coca Cola made in Africa, that Chevron made in the Middle East, that Citibank made in Argentina. In every city and village across the world, there have been little American vacuum cleaner hoses sucking profits back here to the United States. But now the American century may be at the beginning of the end. We have gone from lender nation to borrower nation. While Daniel Webster believed that relative economic equality among the Pilgrims was the germ of democracy, we now have economic disparaties that rival the most corrupt, exploitive regimes in history.
In this great, global sweep of history, we cannot expect or hope for a return to the glory days of the empire. It helps to understand, though, that as empires decline, people become afraid, and are more susceptible to demagoguery; the implicit oligarchy strengthens its legal fortress walls.
And yet, the daffodils are pushing their heads up in the cold, wet soil, soon to bloom in golden glory. Pessimism is an assessment of the situation. Optimism, in contrast, is an orientation of the spirit. We are pessimistic about the future, but optimistically hopeful in outlook. Let the spring begin. --Jan Masaoka
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* This issue's practical piece: A Nonprofit Copyright Primer. Provocative piece: Robert Egger on organizing nonprofits for political action. Ask Rita in HR: Can you terminate an employee who's been out on sick leave for a year? Crash seminar: nonprofit research valentines. Mischievous piece: soliciting nominations for the upcoming Just Awards -- one for narcissism in philanthropy and one for bad media coverage of the nonprofit sector.
Nonprofits and Copyrights: What You Need to Know
There are two things to worry about with copyrights: protecting original material that your organization has created, and making sure that your organization isn't improperly using material that someone else owns. Blue Avocado asked copyright attorney Kate Spelman to help us with these issues, and she generously gave all of us her expertise and time.
Q: Should we be copyrighting things we publish in print, on our web site, in our music CD, and elsewhere? Is it enough to put a © (copyright symbol) on things?
Kate: It's a good idea to put the © symbol (a 'c' in a circle) on original materials, along with the year and the copyright owner. But a copyright can't be enforced unless the work has been registered. See the U.S. Copyright Office at www.copyright.gov for the official site.
Is it hard to register a work?
Not really. Works can be registered at the United States Copyright Office for $45 each, and the benefits include . . .
> Read moreMerging Nonprofit Voices into a Political Force
Robert Egger is mad [and so are we!] about the Supreme Court decision allowing corporations and unions -- but not nonprofits -- to spend unlimited monies on political campaigns. And he has some ideas about what to do about it:
For the last four years, I've been wondering what it would take to unite the nonprofit sector in America.
In 2007, at the start of the first Presidential election in almost 80 years in which there was no incumbent in the race, nonprofits could have used this competitive climate to develop a strategy that compelled all candidates to earn our collective votes. By pushing for a plan for America that included a defined role for our 1.4 million nonprofits, we could have repositioned the sector as a deep well of previously untapped, economic energy. We did not.
In 2008, when 29 states posted over $45 billion in deficits and legislators began to make deep budget cuts, the opportunity was again present. As funding for once sacrosanct programs -- from senior healthcare to education -- was slashed, nonprofits could have joined forces to ensure that vital services and critical needs were met. We remained divided.
And in 2009, when state budget deficits exploded by over 300% and lawmakers began to explore taxing the property of nonprofits or imposing other cash generating fees, I eagerly awaited the moment when enlightened self-interest would spur a sorely-needed, strategic dialogue among organizations in every community. It never came.
And now this: two weeks ago, the Supreme Court handed down a decision in the case of Citizens United v. FEC, which granted political free-speech rights to corporations and unions, but excluded groups granted 501 (c)(3) status by the Internal Revenue Service. This means . . .
> Read moreNonprofit Research that Gets to the Heart
We often suspect there's more useful nonprofit research than we can stand reading. For Valentine's Day the research librarians at IssueLab compare love and nonprofit research, finding unusually seductive research reports and blowing kisses where deserved:
Think about it: the folks producing nonprofit research aren't just talking about social problems, these are folks who are working to solve social problems! Their research is up-close, on-the-ground, and written expressly to move our collective thinking forward on some of the toughest social issues. No wonder "we heart nonprofit research" all year long, not just on Valentine's Day.
Sure, the nonprofit sector produces its fair share of incomprehensible and rarefied white papers -- but is there any research out there that can be truly loved?
Here we dangle in front of you a selection of work from the IssueLab collection to tempt you to dig deeper into the heart-shaped box of research on our site:
Certificates of merit for explaining a complex issue in a single glance:
> Read moreTerminate Employee After One Year of Sick Leave?
Dear Ask Rita: Our agency limits the maximum time an employee can be out on a medical leave of absence to one year. One employee who has been out with a medical condition is now approaching the one-year mark, but she hasn't been in contact with us for the past four months. I don't have the time to call every employee on leave. Am I OK just sending this employee a termination letter if she does not return at the end of the year? Signed, Overwhelmed in HR
Dear Overwhelmed: This common question -- Can an employer terminate an employee who exceeds the maximum medical leave? -- raises many complex issues. Employees are not infrequently out on extended medical leave for reasons such as stress, cancer treatments, chronic back pain, or other medical condition. What is clear, however, is that you want to tread carefully in this area. In September 2009 the largest Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) settlement in a single lawsuit was announced when . . .
> Read moreFall Winter Spring Summer in a 2-Minute Vacation
At this time of year when days are short we remember that spring is coming. Norwegian Eric Solheim took short videos from his porch over a year to create an evocative sense of a year going by, in just 120 seconds.
See it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdE38IbLTyA&hd=1 and think about how beautiful this world is.
Announcing the Just Awards
Nominations are coming in for the Just Awards! We are very pleased to be co-sponsoring this new prestigious, nonprofit sector award series created jointly by Blue Avocado and Nonprofit Online News.
The first "Justie" will be awarded to a foundation or funder for Narcissism in Philanthropy in 2009, and the second "Justie" to a newspaper, website or media outlet for Abominable Media Coverage of the Nonprofit Sector. Full information and nomination forms are available at the new Just Awards website: www.justawards.org.
I peeked at one of the nominations, which told the story of a foundation that gives out $5 million a year and is now building themselves an $8 million building. Keep the nominations coming!
Just Awards are inspired by the IgNobel Prizes, which aspire to "make people laugh, and then make people think." In that spirit, the Just Awards will highlight the irrational, the irresponsible, and the irrelevant organizational behaviors that most affect the work of social service and social change. With a particular emphasis on the world of philanthropy and with the support of respected judges, we will bestow awards each year to those organizations who best exemplify the foibles of our sector.
The "Justies" will be announced during the week of April 19, 2010, immediately preceding the annual conference of the Council on Foundations.
As of this writing, the judges' panel includes: Ami Dar (Idealist.org), Aaron Dorfman (National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy), Pablo Eisenberg (Georgetown University), Ruth McCambridge (Nonprofit Quarterly), and Omowale Satterwhite (National Community Development Institute). Newest judge: Pricilla Hung of GIFT.
Additional judges are still being confirmed and will be announced on the Just Awards website, where nominations forms, criteria and all other information can be found. Anyone can submit nominations, and their names will be held confidential.
Just Awards is a joint project of Blue Avocado and Nonprofit Online News. Jan Masaoka and Michael Gilbert are co-chairing the project. We look forward to your comments and nominations! Click here to nominate.
