Tuesday, October 25, 2004: Volume #2, Issue #51
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
• APIA Women Vote Multilingual Audio PSAs!
• Conference Explores Younger Donors' Trends
• Georgetown University's Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership
• Touching Lives and Communities Technical Assistance Project
• The National Neighborhood Coalition Community Engagement Forum Series
2. Promising Practices
• Nonprofits and Taxes
3. News
• Fleeing the Killing Fields, But Not Escaping
• Lao Vets Honor the past, Comrades
• 15-Year-Old Attempts to Bridge Cultural Divide
• Hmong Charter School Operating in Milwaukee
• Tax Write-Offs
• Davenport Could Help Teach Refugees
• Top Cancer Doctor to Discuss Latest Asian American Cancer Trends
• Vietnamese-Owned Bank to Open in Socal's 'Little Saigon'
• Homesick and Stalled
• Wis. Credit Unions Reach Out to 'Predatory Lending' Victims
• A Farewell from Friends
• Vietnamese Women Stake Claim on Male Custom
• More Than 1,400 Hmong Refugees Arrive to Twin Cities
• Latest Asian-American Tobacco Use Data Reported
• Contact: Letisia Marquez
• Hmong Achievement Gap Has Grave Consequences
• Bush Tax Bill Limits Deductions
• Cable Rate Increases Draws Mixed Reactions
• Babes in Arms
• About the Hmong
• Vietnamese Seance in California
• Vietnamese Want War Exhibit in Calif. to Include Their Voice
• Cancer Leading Cause of Death for State's Asian-American Women
• Travel on the Tube
4. Funding Opportunities
• Northrop Grumman Health Solutions
• Youth Service America
• The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
5. Resources
• New Southeast Asian American Directory and Search Engine
• Ensuring Asian American Political Participation

I. Announcements

APIA Women Vote Multilingual Audio PSAs!

A collaboration of four non-partisan organizations: APIA Vote, National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, sheVotes.org and The Asian Pacific American Women's Leadership Institute got together to develop radio PSAs in English and nine APIA languages: Cambodian, Cantonese, Hindi, Hmong, Korean, Lao, Mandarin, Tagalog, and Vietnamese, to encourage APIAs to register to vote, and turn out to vote in the November 2 election.

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Conference Explores Younger Donors' Trends

"Marketing Your Fundraising to Post WWII Donors: Boomers, Busters, Boomlets (Oh my!)" will help fundraisers learn about younger donors -- where to find them and how to talk to them about donating to their cause...

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Georgetown University's Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership offers Spring and Summer sessions of the Nonprofit Management Executive Certificate Program. The program, which was recently featured in the Washington Post, strengthens leadership and management skills of nonprofit practitioners and transitioning professionals. Unique scheduling options which cater to non-local participants available. We will host an Open House on November 10, 2004 from 5:00pm to 7:00pm. For more information: call 202-687-0595, write npmcert@georgetown.edu or visit http://cpnl.georgetown.edu

***

The Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (CFBCI) at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) will host a two-week online forum to engage stakeholders in government, business, faith and community-based nonprofit in creating solutions for the 21st century workforce. This virtual forum is part of the Touching Lives and Communities Technical Assistance Project (TLC).

This free conference will be taking place entirely online from November 8-19, 2004. The TLC 2004 Virtual Forum is designed for everyone connected with workforce objectives- leaders from workforce investment boards and One-Stop Centers, faith-based and community organizations, government, academia as well as other interested individuals.

Register Today [ http://www.dol-tlc.org The event is hosted in the TLC online Discussion area. If you already have a userID and password for Discussion, you do not need to register again. If you have registered and forgotten your password, there is an option to retrieve your password next to the login portion of the homepage.] The conference is free but will require a registration.

***

The National Neighborhood Coalition Community Engagement Forum Series continues with a dialogue among leaders of neighborhood institutions with an activist edge. Schools, libraries, faith-based, arts and social service organizations all have the potential to enhance, or in some cases, hinder community engagement in neighborhood and civic life. NNC's forum will explore the strategies and experiences of neighborhood institutions and residents who are developing a voice, building power, and influencing positive change.

Thursday, October 28, 2:00-4:30 PM
Bank of America
730 Fifteenth Street, NW
Washington, DC

RSVP to Leah Kalinosky at leah@neighborhoodcoalition.org or call 202.429.0790. This event is free.

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II. Promising Practices

Nonprofits and Taxes

by Kim Klein

Editors' Note: What are taxes for? What is fair taxation? Why should nonprofits make it their business to understand and affect tax policy? A fundraising guru gives us her perspective on why ignoring tax policy is foolish.

Nonprofits have responded to their recent and sometimes very severe financial woes by cutting their budgets or by trying to diversify their income streams. Most of you who know me might think that I would approve of this last strategy--and I do--but not without an accompanying aggressive effort on the part of nonprofits to move the debate about tax policy and its effect on communities into the public arena.

Many of you are familiar with the AAFRC's (American Association of Fundraising Counsel) annual report called Giving USA, which documents how much money is given by foundations, corporations and individuals, and where it goes each year. It is a very mainstream and nonpartisan publication. In this year's introduction, it says, "Most developed nations support health care, education, or the arts through taxation. In the United States, we have the distinction of having almost 10% of our workforce employed in organizations that receive a significant share of their funding from voluntary gifts."

This replacement of the public requirement of taxes with the private choice of individual giving in paying into the basic "commonwealth" is not a distinction to be proud of, and in fact it is a benchmark to measure against. I propose we set some goals for the next ten years that will allow us to say truthfully: "We have now joined the ranks of other developed countries with a fair and equitable tax system that supports, among other things, health care, education and the arts." This is what we should strive for.

Think about pursuing a strong tax debate and agenda as a part of your fundraising strategy--not just for your organization but for the world. At a narrow level, because of the tax benefits that accrue to donors who give from income, capital, or estate, the tax debate should be of concern for fundraisers and for the sector as a whole; yet historically, except for organizations specifically working on tax reform, the nonprofit sector has tended to stay out of the debate.

Without a public awareness of tax policy, during economic downturns, federal, state and local governments cut funding with little public outcry, even though the consequences in service to the public can be severe because the public does not demand that public schools, public libraries, public pools, public hospitals or public parks and the like be funded with money taxed from the public.

Read on: http://www.nonprofitquarterly.org/section/554.html

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III. News

Fleeing the Killing Fields, But Not Escaping
October 17, 2004
New York Times

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Lao Vets Honor the past, Comrades
Lacrossetribune.com
October 18, 2004

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15-Year-Old Attempts to Bridge Cultural Divide
Pioneer Press
October 18, 2004

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Hmong Charter School Operating in Milwaukee
Minneapolis Star Tribune
October 18, 2004

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Tax Write-Offs
Philanthropy.com
October 18, 2004

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Davenport Could Help Teach Refugees
Greensboro News Record
October 19, 2004

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Top Cancer Doctor to Discuss Latest Asian American Cancer Trends
Newswise
October 19, 2004

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Vietnamese-Owned Bank to Open in Socal's 'Little Saigon'
San Jose Mercury News
October 19, 2004

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Homesick and Stalled
Washington Post
October 19, 2004

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Wis. Credit Unions Reach Out to 'Predatory Lending' Victims
BusinessNorth.com
October 19, 2004

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A Farewell from Friends
Sacramento Bee
October 20, 2004

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Vietnamese Women Stake Claim on Male Custom
Pacific News Service
October 20, 2004

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More Than 1,400 Hmong Refugees Arrive to Twin Cities
WCCO
October 21, 2004

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Latest Asian-American Tobacco Use Data Reported
EurekAlert
October 21, 2004

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Contact: Letisia Marquez
UC Los Angeles
October 22, 2004

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Hmong Achievement Gap Has Grave Consequences
Pioneer Press
October 22, 2004

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Bush Tax Bill Limits Deductions
Jointogether.org
October 22, 2004

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Cable Rate Increases Draw Mixed Reactions
Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter
October 23, 2004

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Babes in Arms
The Age
October 23, 2004

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About the Hmong
San Jose Mercury News
October 23, 2004

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Vietnamese Seance in California
New California Media
October 23, 2004

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Vietnamese Want War Exhibit in Calif. to Include Their Voice
Boston Globe
October 24, 2004

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Cancer Leading Cause of Death for State's Asian-American Women
San Jose Mercury News
October 24, 2004

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Travel on the Tube
San Luis Obispo Tribune
October 24, 2004

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IV. Grants

1. (National)
   Northrop Grumman Health Solutions

   Northrop Grumman Health Solutions is requesting proposals from juvenile, dependency, or family court service units in the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. This initiative is to mobilize and build capacity of local juvenile courts to develop and implement policies and procedures to identify, diagnose, and treat juveniles with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

   Deadline: November 23, 2004

2. (National)
   Youth Service America

   Youth Service America announced that it is accepting nominations for the 4th Annual Harris Wofford Awards, named in honor of the former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania and CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. The Harris Wofford Awards recognize the extraordinary achievements of individuals, institutions, and media figures who actively contribute to "making service and service-learning the common expectation and common experience of every young person in America"

   Deadline: November 22, 2004

3. (California and Wisconsin)
   The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

   The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will distribute 12 grants averaging $500,000 each for four years to fund addiction treatment for young adults returning from prison.

   The grants are part of a $23-million fund set aside for programs in eight states: Arizona, California, Georgia, Texas, Massachusetts, New York, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

   All of the organizations promote programs with treatment for drug abusers coming out of the juvenile-justice system, focusing on ages 16 to 24.

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V. Resources

New Southeast Asian American Directory and Search Engine Link Resources for Community Development

Americans with roots in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam number over two million nationwide, and maintain hundreds of grassroots organizations for the betterment of their communities. One hundred and eighty groups are presented in a new publication and search engine: Directory of Southeast Asian American Community-Based Organizations 2004: Mutual Assistance Associations (MAAs) and Religious Organizations Providing Social Services.

The Directory is available in printed and on-line formats at http://www.searac.org/maa, and should be of use to public agencies, decision-makers, funders, and others interested in working with Southeast Asian Americans, some of whose communities continue to face strong economic and educational challenges. The on-line search engine allows users to select by program area, state, and ethnic representation, and will be updated periodically with new entries.

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Ensuring Asian American Political Participation

With weeks to go before the November 2nd election, the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium is participating in projects to ensure political participation of Asian Americans. A study done by Caltech and MIT found that between 4 and 6 million voters - disproportionately coming from minority communities - were disenfranchised during the 2000 presidential election. Recognizing that many Asian American voters are unfairly and improperly turned away from the polls and denied their opportunity to vote, simply due to language barrier issues, 'difficult' names, or perceived 'foreignness,' NAPALC has engaged in three voting rights projects to help ensure Asian American political participation: Election Protection 2004, Access to Democracy and Project VOTE.

NAPALC has developed an information kit to educate community members on our voting rights projects and to provide information for people who are interested in volunteering to help this effort. Included in the information kit are the following materials:

• Volunteer Announcement for Election Protection 2004;
• Access to Democracy Backgrounder;
• Project VOTE Backgrounder;
• NAPALC Voting Right Project Contact List; and
• Media Contact List.

We hope that these resources will help you in your efforts to inform community members of the importance of voting to the community and encourage them to volunteer on Election Day to help ensure that Asian Americans are able to vote. Please do not hesitate to contact Andrew Rice or Terry Ao from the Media Contact List for further information.

The information kit can be downloaded from www.napalc.org/vrpubs

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