Obama Urged to Push Programs for Nonprofit Groups

The National Council of Nonprofits, in Washington, today asked President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team to take steps to help nonprofit organizations weather the widening recession.

The organization, which worked during the 2008 campaign to push the major-party candidates to discuss key nonprofit issues, said today that the recession has pushed many charities to the brink of extinction at a time when they are most needed.

As a result, the group has recommended the new administration:

• Create a proposed Social Entrepreneurship Agency for Nonprofits.

• Provide budget relief for state and local governments to prevent state and local budget cuts that would hurt nonprofit organizations.

• Start a Community Services Protection Fund that would provide money to nonprofit organizations that are performing services that have traditionally been performed or paid for by the government.

• increase the federal tax deduction for volunteers who use their own cars, trucks, and other vehicles for their charitable work to mirror the standard deduction given to those who drive their cars for business.

The moves would help nonprofit organizations provide key services at a time when demand for those services is increasingly rapidly, the National Council of Nonprofits said in its recommendations.

“The nonprofit sector remains committed to providing as much relief as possible to those in need,” the report said. “However, despite the purest intentions and the strongest dedication, community nonprofits cannot continue to do so much more with so much less for very much longer.”

What do you think are the most pressing federal priorities for nonprofit organizations? Should Mr. Obama’s administration be focusing their efforts on improving conditions for nonprofit groups in the current economic environment?

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