Policy Alert

SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE HEARING
Thursday, March 17th @ 8:00 a.m.

The US Senate Finance Committee has scheduled a hearing to examine charitable giving and trends in the nonprofit sector at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 17th. In advance of this meeting, MNA has sent Montana Senator, Steve Daines, who sits on the Committee, a letter urging him to support nonprofit policy priorities such as addressing the nonprofit workforce shortage, reinstating charitable giving opportunities, and increasing the volunteer mileage reimbursement rate. You may read the full letter HERE and tune into the hearing HERE.

2022 ADVOCACY COHORT
Nonprofit Advocacy in Action
Starting April 13th

Join MNA’s Advocacy Cohort for a deep dive into advocacy best practices, need-to-know nonprofit policy and lobbying strategies, and how to craft an advocacy plan to support your mission. This intensive cohort, lead by MNA Executive Director, Liz Moore, will meet six times over ten weeks to introduce, develop, and begin to act on advocacy plans specific to your organizational needs.

By the end of the program, you will have built an advocacy plan and taken meaningful steps toward advocating for your mission.

Advocacy Cohort Topics and Timeline:

April | Policy and Advocacy Planning Overview; Finding Your Role in the Advocacy Ecosystem
Begin by exploring the big picture of public policy in Montana, including constraints and opportunities, advocacy and lobbying contexts and processes, the tension of maintaining nonpartisanship in a partisan environment, and other factors impacting advocacy.

May | Advocacy Timeline and Prioritizing Action
Delve into the planning process as a precursor to crafting an effective advocacy plan. Learn about the role of your Board and start identifying actionable steps and resources needed to advance your advocacy goals.

June | Advocacy in Action and Finalizing Your Plan
Test your advocacy efforts in real time with guidance and feedback from the facilitator and cohort and finalize your advocacy plan for moving forward.

Throughout the Cohort, you will engage in self-reflection, reading, discussion forums, and assignments built to develop and strengthen your role in the advocacy ecosystem. This offering is for MNA members and whole organization registration is encouraged because advocacy works best as a team effort. All Access Pass holders receive 20% off.

Collaborating with your County Commissioners on ARPA FUNDING
Town Hall Recording and Resources

In case you missed it, Jason Rittal, Deputy Director of Montana Association of Counties along with Bridget Wilkinson and Tanya Andreasen of One Valley Community Foundation discussed possible strategies for reaching out to local county commissioners regarding ARPA funding with MNA recently. The recording may be accessed here and below are some helpful tips on working with your county commissioners:

Know what your county is getting - ARPA County Funding.
Know what bucket you are asking to take funding from within MCA and ARPA guidelines - County Powers in the Montana Code Annotated.
Know how your use of the funds is going to mitigate the pandemic.
When you talk to commissioners, talk about the entire county, including rural areas in your county and how that impacts them.
Consider how you are leveraging your funds. Do you have additional dollars to help stretch this funding? Can you collaborate with others on this project or ask?
Plan out how you will communicate with the commissioners. How will they know the gift was helpful? What will success look like?

In addition to yesterday's recording, please see the slide deck for helpful information.

GIFTS-IN-KIND
New Reporting Rules for Nonprofits

The accounting standards for valuing non-financial assets or “gifts-in-kind” such as land; buildings and equipment; rent and the use of facilities; materials and supplies, such as food and clothing; and other assets have changed. The update is effective for annual periods beginning after June 15, 2021, and may require some retrospective changes in how your nonprofit reported contributions of non-financial assets in previous years. If your nonprofit isn’t already familiar with these changes, now is a good time to learn about it.