Monday, May 10, 2004: Volume #2, Issue #29
The VERB Weekly Email Digest
Edited by Sophy Pich, VERB Project Associate

Note: Documents on this page or in this section may be in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. In order to read them, you require Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is downloadable free from Adobe.

In This Week's Issue

1. Announcements
• Empowering the Nonprofit Sector
• National Conference Call Series
• Board Chair Training June 15
2. Promising Practices
• Sarbanes Oxley and Nonprofits
3. News
• Hmong Immigrants Navigate Perplexing Legal System
• Appleton Plans to Absorb Refugee Students
• Asian Council Change Would Hurt Community
• New Neighbors Arrive Soon...
• Local Restaurant Answers Cry for Help in Vietnam
• Reward for Information Offered in Crimes Targeting Hmong
• Reward for Information Offered in Crimes Targeting Hmong
• Vietnamese Students Angry, May Protest Over Communist Flag
• Laos, Hmong Bill Passes U.S. Congress: Urges Stalinist Regime
• May Is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month
• The Near Extinction of Cambodian Classical Dance
• Inaugural Vietnamese Lions Club
• Hmong Family Learning to Live Without Parents
• Student Feels She Blends in at North
4. Funding Opportunities
• Fedex Corporation
• Lands' End Corporation
• Kraft Food Corporation
• Macromedia Inc.
• Grants Help Young Drug Offenders Return to Community
• New Grants Help Urban Homeless Veterans
5. Resources
• Network for Good

I. Announcements

The Alliance for Nonprofit Management's annual conference, "Empowering the Nonprofit Sector," offers an opportunity to explore ways in which the nonprofit sector can have its voice heard more effectively. The conference, scheduled for August 12-15, 2004, in Washington, DC, includes workshops and sessions focusing on nonprofit advocacy and power, nonprofit capacity building, information technology and financial management, and more. The conference also offers keynote addresses, networking opportunities and various other activities.

***

To ignite the dialogue between non-profit peers, DOL CFBCI will be hosting a National Conference Call Series open to faith-based and community organizations. The first conference call will be "The Keys to Beginning Successful Business Partnerships".

The first call will be held on Friday, May 14, 2004
from 2:00 - 3:00 pm EST.

To register for this conference call, please visit: http://doltlc.org/registration.shtml

Many small nonprofit organizations provide various employment services to those whom they serve -whether it is communication skills, interviewing skills, soft skills or technical training. However, some of these nonprofits have a hard time linking up with employers that provide the jobs for those they work with and do not know how to "market" their services to employers. In this conference call, we will be talking about how to partner with employers, including a model for financial partnerships. This is a great 101 for any organization looking to work with their local businesses or increase their effectiveness.

***

Board Chair Training June 15

Whether your board chair is new on the job, experienced, or a future board candidate, he or she will enjoy the June 15 MAP Board Chair Training. What's involved in chairing a nonprofit Board of Directors? What are the roles and responsibilities of the chair? What's the best way to run a meeting? How to handle conflict among board and/or staff. What's the chair's responsibility for fundraising? And more. Wednesday, June 15, 4-8:30 p.m. at MAP. Cost is $60 per person and includes dinner and materials. For more information, call (651) 647-1216. Or visit our website at www.mapfornonprofits.org and select "classes."

MAP For Nonprofits
2233 University Avenue West
Suite 360
St Paul, MN 55114-1629
Phone: (651) 647-1216
www.mapfornonprofits.org

[-back to list-]

II. Promising Practices

Sarbanes Oxley and Nonprofits

By Thomas Silk

The ten principles of governance are derived primarily from four sources: the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and three corporate governance codes published after the Act became effective -the Report of the Task Force on Corporate Responsibility of the American Bar Association; the Findings and Recommendations of the Commission on Public Trust and Private Enterprise of The Conference Board, and Principles of Corporate Governance of The Business Roundtable(4).

1. The board of directors of a nonprofit corporation must engage in active, independent, and informed oversight of the activities of the corporation, particularly those of senior management.
2. Directors with information and analysis relevant to the board's decision-making and oversight responsibilities are obligated to disclose that information and analysis to the board and not sit passively. Senior management should recognize and fulfill an obligation to disclose - to a supervising officer, to a committee of the board, or to the board of directors - information and analysis relevant to such person's decision making and oversight responsibilities.
3. Every nonprofit corporation should have a nominating/governance committee composed entirely of directors who are not part of the (staff) management team. The committee is responsible for nominating qualified candidates to the board, monitoring all matters involving corporate governance, overseeing compliance with ethical standards, and making recommendations to the full board for action in governance matters.
4. Every nonprofit corporation with substantial assets or annual revenues should develop and implement a three-tier annual board evaluation process whereby the performance of the board as a whole, each board committee, and each board member are evaluated annually. The board should also develop and implement a process for review and evaluation of the chief executive officer on an annual basis.
5. Each board of directors is responsible for overseeing corporate ethics, and consider the following actions:
1. communicate to all personnel a strong, ethical tone from the top,
2. adopt a Conflicts of Interest policy;
3. include ethics-related criteria in employee qualification standards and in employees' annual performance reviews.

This article is in digest form; the full text and other articles can be found at http://www.silklaw.com.

[-back to list-]

III. News

Hmong Immigrants Navigate Perplexing Legal System
May 1, 2004
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

***

Appleton Plans to Absorb Refugee Students
May 4, 2004
The Post-Crescent

***

Asian Council Change Would Hurt Community
May 4, 2004
Pioneer Press

***

New Neighbors Arrive Soon... Area Agencies Prepare to Welcome Hmong Refugees Slated for Resettlement
May 4, 2004
The Dunn County News

***

Local Restaurant Answers Cry for Help in Vietnam
May 5, 2004
The Oregonian

***

Reward for Information Offered in Crimes Targeting Hmong
May 6, 2004
Pioneer Press

***

Vietnamese Students Angry, May Protest Over Communist Flag
May 6, 2004
Monterey Herald

***

Laos, Hmong Bill Passes U.S. Congress: Urges Stalinist Regime to Address Crisis and Reform
May 6, 2004
U.S. Newswire

***

May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month
May 6, 2004
DCmilitary.com

***

The Near Extinction of Cambodian Classical Dance
May 7, 2004
UCLA International Institute

***

Inaugural Vietnamese Lions Club
May 7, 2004
Mercury News

***

Hmong family learning to live without parents
May 9, 2004
Pioneer Press

***

Student feels she blends in at North
May 9, 2004
Beacon Journal

[-back to list-]

IV. Grants

1. (National)
   FedEx Corporation

   FedEx strives to improve the quality of life in the communities the company serves when financial and human resources are available, and the donations reflect the FedEx philanthropic philosophy. In keeping with this commitment, FedEx offers support for charities that promote disaster relief, pedestrian and child safety, education, health and humanitarian assistance. The FedEx Global Community Relations department administers the Corporate Contributions program to ensure that evaluations are performed uniformly, and that corporate resources are distributed with consistency and balance. Corporate resources include financial contributions, in-kind shipping services, and volunteer services of company employees. Nonprofit organizations in communities served by FedEx throughout the United States are eligible to apply, and emphasis is given to organizations with which company employees are involved.

   Deadline: Open

2. (Wisconsin)
   Lands' End Corporation

   Lands' End primarily provides support to nonprofit organizations in Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York, with preference placed on the communities where company headquarters, distribution, phone operations, and retail stores are located. Remaining donations are awarded to charities across the United States. Lands' End provides support in the categories of education, community development, environment, health, and human services. Preference is given to organizations that interest Lands' End employees, customers and shareholders, or are actively supported by Lands' End employees through volunteer participation. Also, organizations that demonstrate the importance of the Lands' End contribution to the program's effectiveness, show efficient use of any past donations, use a majority of their funds for programming, and generate positive exposure for Lands' End will be given priority.

3. (Wisconsin)
   Kraft Food Corporation

   The Kraft Food Corporate Giving Program supports nonprofit organizations throughout the world. In the United States, the emphasis is on organizations located in areas of company facilities, and programs that have national scope. Key company communities include Chicago, IL; East Hanover, NJ; Westchester County, NY; and Madison, WI. A number of smaller facilities throughout the U.S also provide support to local nonprofit organizations. In the U.S., the majority of the company's national grants are concentrated in three focus areas - hunger, health lifestyles, and access to the arts. Support is also provided in Canada, where the focus areas are hunger, healthy lifestyles, and community, and other parts of the world, where the focus is on hunger and other areas of need including culture, domestic violence, education, and AIDS.

   Deadlines: Varies

4. (International)
   Macromedia Inc

   Macromedia Inc. provides software that empowers developers and designers to create effective user experiences on the Internet, fixed media, wireless, and digital devices. The company donates software to nonprofit organizations in the United States, Canada, and other international locations. The company supports organizations that focus on disadvantaged youth, the elderly, the homeless, people with disabilities, minorities, victims of abuse, disaster relief, meal service, medical and hospice care, education and literacy programs, human and animal rights, the arts, and the environment. Nonprofit organizations in the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Africa are eligible to apply.

   Deadline: Open

5. (National)
   Grants Help Young Drug Offenders Return to Community

   Agencies that oversee or provide services to sentenced juveniles and young adult offenders are eligible to apply for grants to assist youth in returning to the community.

   Up to 12 grants will be awarded under the $6-million grant program offered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT).

   The funding can be used to expand and/or enhance addiction treatment and related services that will ease the transition from prison or a juvenile facility to the community for young offenders.

   Applications and additional information are available online at the Request for Applications (RFA) for Grants to Provide Substance Abuse Treatment and Reentry Services to Sentenced Juveniles and Young Adult Offenders Returning to the Community from the Correctional System.

   If you have problems obtaining the document online, contact Ken Robertson, SAMHSA/CSAT, Division of Services Improvement at 301-443-7612 or e-mail kroberts@samhsa.gov.

   Deadline: June 15, 2004

6. (National)
   New Grants Help Urban Homeless Veterans

   The Department of Labor has announced the availability of 12 grants under its Urban Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Project. The project is designed to provide a wide range of employment and training services to assist urban homeless veterans in reintegrating into the community.

   Up to $3.6 million in funding is available, with the maximum grant size of $300,000. Nonprofits in urban areas are eligible to apply for the grants.

   For additional information, call Cassandra Mitchell at 202-693-4570.

   Deadline: May 13, 2004

[-back to list-]

V. Resources

Network for Good is a nonprofit collaboration to help nonprofit organizations increase capacity, reach new audiences, and build Internet strategies.

In addition to the Nonprofit Resources found here, we developed a Web site for citizens to donate, volunteer, and speak out on issues they care about. Your organization can use the Network for Good Nonprofit Resources to receive these online donations, recruit volunteers, and encourage online advocacy.

[-back to list-]

If you wish to contribute to the VERB Weekly e-Digest, please send all materials to sophy@searac.org