The document discusses developing a network resourcing strategy for raising funds in the USA. It introduces Youth Business America, a pilot program starting in San Francisco to provide funding to 50 young entrepreneurs. Key issues around raising tax-deductible donations from individuals, corporations, and foundations in the US are discussed. Operational requirements for receiving donations and the process of making grants to foreign organizations are also covered. Developing a coordinated strategy between Youth Business America and Youth Business International for fundraising is addressed.
TUESDAY. Resource Raising: Developing a YBI Network US resource raising strategy.
1. 26 May 2010
Resource raising
Developing a Network Resourcing
Strategy for the USA
2. Network Resourcing Strategy for the USA
The aims of this session are,
The opportunity of the USA
⢠The resourcing opportunity
⢠Introducing Youth Business America
The mechanics of making and receiving USA originated donations
⢠Key issues of raising tax deductable donations
⢠Operational requirements
Developing the networkâs USA resourcing strategy
4. YOUTH BUSINESS AMERICA
ADDRESSING A CRITICAL NEED
ď Young Americans impacted more than others by unemployment
ď San Francisco Bay Area has almost 1 in 5 families below poverty level
ď USA micro-enterprise development doesnât focus on youth
ď Micro-finance in USA has scaling issues
5. YOUTH BUSINESS AMERICA IS:
⢠A San Francisco Bay Area Pilot, commencing operations during the Fall
of 2010
⢠Goal is 50 Entrepreneurs funded during first twelve months
⢠Starting in late 2011, roll out program to other major metropolitan
areas of the United States
⢠Initial funding from the Arthur Guinness Fund, Ewing Marion Kauffman
Foundation and Barclays Capital
⢠Highly regulated as a lender; licensing in every state, subject to
federal regulations on Equal Opportunity and Fair Credit
6. YOUTH BUSINESS AMERICA (2008,2009)
2008
Invited to attend the Clinton Global Initiative, Youth Business
International commits to starting a Youth Business Program in the
United States.
2009: February Youth Business America, Inc. forms as a 501(c )3
2009: September
Diageoâs Arthur Guinness Fund commits $750,000 to launch Youth
Business America at the 2009 Clinton Global Initiative
2009: December
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation commits $100,000 to
fund Youth Business Americaâs Pilot Program.
7. YOUTH BUSINESS AMERICA (2010)
2010: January Office opens in Oakland with Volunteer Staff developing
program
2010: February
Pro-Bono Grants from Salesforce.com (CRM), Greene Radovsky
and DLA Piper (Legal Advisors for Contracts and Human
Resources)
Deloitte provides in-kind services for Tax Advice and begins
planning grant for infrastructure development
2010: April
Pro-Bono Grant approved by Manatt, Phelps & Phillips for
Financial Regulatory Advice; Licensing Application process
commences.
8. ⢠US Tax Code: Politics versus Policy
⢠Variety of Tax-exempt Organizations
⢠Tax- Exempt Activities vs. Tax Deductible Donations
⢠Individuals, Companies (tax payers) and some Private
Foundations need to make donations to 501 (c) (3)
⢠Other Public Charities can make donations directly to foreign
charities
The mechanics of making and receiving USA
originated donations
9. Fundamentals of Foreign Grant Making Process
ďź Goal is to preserve donorâs Tax Deduction
ďźIf donations are âearmarkedâ or charity a pass-thru, deduction
denied, your donor is unhappy
ďźYBA must exercise appropriate Control & Oversight
ďź Donor may âdesignateâ but understand YBA board has final say
The mechanics of making and receiving USA
originated donations
10. Operations between YBA and YBI for
fundraising.
⢠YBAâs constitution and the YBI/YBA MoU
⢠The approval process for a grant to your organisation
⢠YBI co-ordination role: The YBI âBuffetâ
⢠Specific multi-year grants possible, but a challenge
⢠Reporting and Communication not optional!
⢠Compliance: no me metieron en la cårcel!
12. Developing the USA Strategy
Breakout questions:
What advantages do you see
in working together for USA
fundraising ?
What is the best way to
realise those advantages ?
What resources can you
commit to support such activities?
Hinweis der Redaktion
5 mins
Introduction by AD to the session.
With particular focus on the goal of this session which is to initiate a process resulting in a strategy of how the members of the YBI Network can maximise the benefits of fundraising in the US.
10 mins
Andrew D and Henry R
Four key donor types: 1. Mass market, 2. Wealthy individuals, 3. Corporations, 4. Foundations
1. Mass market: difficult to capture, unsuitable for YBI network?
2. Wealthy individuals/High net worths: c.2.2m in the US, 1% of population but c.42% of total giving
3. Foundations: most giving from independent; historically only 6% of giving to international overseas recipients
4. Corporations: corporations and their foundations c. $10.9bn, mainly from fortune 100 companies ($6m per firm)
5. Public sector
* Based on 2003 US market research
Mass market: difficult to attract support without large scale presence, significant marketing investment and resources
Wealthy individuals/HNWs
Motivations:
Personal interest, relevant â NB Diaspora fundraising among wealthy individuals in the USA
US specific interest in ânamingâ or public philanthropy especially arts and culture
Opportunity:
Use networks to identify and approach e.g. Your Board, Diaspora network, local embassies, senior business networks
Needs the personal approach, not âcold callingâ
3. Foundations
Motivations:
Mission driven â very specific interests and remits
Country/region e.g. domestic, Africa; sector e.g. education, health; type of intervention e.g. disaster relief
Opportunity
Online resources
www.foundationsearch.com; www.fconline.fdncenter.org; www.guidestar.com;
Approach
Research, research, research!
Find those with 85%+ fit with your mission areas
4. Corporations
Motivations:
Corporate social responsibility, recognised as giving back to the community
Employee engagement
Opportunity
Corps with interests/links/operations in your country
YBI central point of coordination
Approach
Finding a corporate champion, preferably a senior person within the business
âBuffet approachâ of engagement opportunities and benefits including financial, pro bono, volunteer and employee engagement opportunities
5. Public sector
Motivations:
Tackling stated economic and social priorities
Can be political e.g. Recent change in government has influenced policy
Key factors for US donors:
uniqueness
constituency
capacity building
involvement with local community
demonstrating why it is valuable
American connection
Source: US market research
Youth Unemployment is a significant issue in the United States and on that is growing due to the prolonged economic downturn. Statistics show that in communities where unemployment is running around 10-13 %, young people have rates between 25% and 50%. Frustrated by the lack of economic opportunity, and the ability to participate in traditional pathways to success they often turn to gang membership and crime to meet their needs.
Though one of the wealthiest countries in the world, the United States has pockets of severe poverty in its cities existing side by side with great affluence. This is true of many of the communities that border the San Francisco Bay. Close to 1 million people live below the poverty level in an area where the cost of making ends meet is 2.5 times the official federal poverty level.
The differences in quality of life are staggering. Statistics show that families from the poorer neighborhoods in cities like Oakland, Richmond and others have a life expectancy that is 10 years lower than their wealthier neighbors.
It is surprising that micro-finance, while a concept growing in popularity in recent years in the Unites States, has had difficulty scaling in the United States. While ACCION is the most successful, it operates in a few only a few states. And of the 519 Micro-enterprise programs, none focus on helping youth start their own businesses.
Self Explanatory
10 mins
Philanthropy in the US is driven by Americans desire to give and get: give back to their communities and get back some of their tax dollars.
To understand US tax code, one must understand that it has little to do with policy and much to do with Politics: who pays, how much and what are the exceptions to taxation. This results in a confusing array of regulations and forms that make little sense but are so ingrained in our culture that everyone accepts the process as normal. YBA in 2009 had three grants and $1,500 in expenses and had to submit a 25 page tax return that was based on a questionnaire that was 40 pages long.
Tax regulations regarding charities impact two activities; rules on the reduction in taxes paid for donations by individual tax payers, and regulations governing the actiivities of charities that qualify for tax-exempt status. There are a variety of categories of Tax exempt charities including Public Charities supported by donations from the general public, Private Charities which are started by wealthy individuals (like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations). Each category has different regulations governing how they must operate to prevent abuse of the system. For Example, Private Charities in general must spend 5% of their endowment each year to maintain their exemption.
There are also a variety of allowable activities which the IRS will permit to operated under âExempt Purposesâ. For YBA, our exempt purposes include operating a youth lending and mentoring program, and providing support for the YBI network.
There is a differentiation between Tax-exempt Activities by YBA, and the tax-deductibility of donations to YBA and Charities.
Principle #1: Individual Tax Payers (including companies) and some Private Foundations (under Expenditure Responsibility) need to make donations to a 501(c) (3) to qualify for a deduction: they cannot make the donation directly to a foreing charity and claim a deduction.
Principle #2 Most other Public Charities, provided it is an âExempt Activityâ approved in their application to the IRS, may make donations to foreign Charities Directly.
10 mins
The IRS wants to make sure that funds raised from US sources are made to responsible and worthy causes overseas. Terrorism Financing is a major concern and focus of compliance.
Earmarking or Pass-thru imply a Public Charity that is passively collecting money on behalf of, or controlled by a foreign Charity. To discourage this activity, donors will be denied a deduction.
Public Charities, to preserve the deduction for their donors, must exercise and display Control and Oversight over grant funds flowing to foreign charities.
âDesignationâ, the donor indicating to what foreign charity the funds will go to, is OK PROVIDED that the donor understands explicitly that the Board of YBA has the discretion to not follow the donorâs designation if it believes the funds have or will be misused. The funds wonât be returned to the donor, but used according the the Boardâs discretion. The good news: the donor gets a tax-deduction.
Friends of the Princeâs Trust operates under similar principles; Donors designate that the funds should go the the Princeâs Trust, but the Friends of the Princeâs Trust is an independent charity that has a board independent from the Princeâs Trust and receives reporting back from the PT as to how the funds have been utilized and they vote on each grant to the PT>
10 mins
To simplify the process of collecting donations through YBA for the Network, the following will occur.
YBAâs by-laws and IRS registration permit grants to YBI as an âExempt Purposeâ.
MOU Between YBI and YBA provides for groundrules, including OFAC Terrorism Financing Laws compliance.
YBI prepares and presents a âYBI Buffetâ grant request to YBA which includes a range of projects/countries it would like to provide financing, with milestones, reporting requirements and other KPIâs
YBAâs Board approves the Buffet.
YBI and affiliates conduct marketing campaign with individuals and companies, directign them to YBA.
YBA receives funds from these sources, and confirms with donor what designaiton means and YBA Boardâs full discretion.
Quarterly, YBA Board will review grants, including performance of recipients provided by YBI. YBAâs Board will vote to approve grants, and YBA will remit funds to YBI.
YBI will act as administator of the grants, and collect required reporting and send back to YBA.
YBA will do periodic field audits of countries receiving grants.
This is the break -out and discussion phase.
70 mins (45mins group discussions, 20 mins group report back, 5 mins summary)
Suggest 5 groups separated by regions â because regional clusters may be the most relevant segregation .
Latin America
Caribbean
Europe, Canada
Middle East / Africa
Asia
Groups discuss the three questions, nominate a presenter to report back to the re-assembled group (in 5 x 4 min slots).
AD gives summing up and that following GF a working group will be established to take this and other feeback and with YBA and YBI develop strategy.
This is the break -out and discussion phase.
70 mins (45mins group discussions, 20 mins group report back, 5 mins summary)
Suggest 5 groups separated by regions â because regional clusters may be the most relevant segregation .
Latin America
Caribbean
Europe, Canada
Middle East / Africa
Asia
Groups discuss the three questions, nominate a presenter to report back to the re-assembled group (in 5 x 4 min slots).
AD gives summing up and that following GF a working group will be established to take this and other feeback and with YBA and YBI develop strategy.