HCF leader says charitable giving is not enough
By Kelvin Taketa
CEO, Hawaii Community Foundation
The first few months of 2011 have not been good ones for the nonprofit sector in Hawaii. As part of his call for tax reform in the State of the Union address, President Barack Obama proposed lowering the charitable deduction for itemizers by more than half. And in his State of the State address, our governor announced cuts in social services, starting with the elimination of millions of dollars in contracts to some 41 nonprofit agencies from the Department of Human Services.
The budget before Congress proposes to slash funding in half for the community development block grant program that supports community groups in poor neighborhoods. And our Legislature is considering eliminating exemptions from taxation for nonprofit organizations.
No wonder most nonprofits hope that they are watching the movie "Groundhog Day" and wishing they will wake up to find a new day with none of the storm clouds on the horizon. Not likely.
What is clear, and rightfully so, is that there are no sacred cows left in our federal, state and county governments' scramble to balance their budgets. As Gov. Neil Abercrombie has put it, we will all need to sacrifice to make it work. Certainly, the conversation needs to consider what services are essential to our community and how best to deliver them, regardless of the impact on any given nonprofit organization. But there are several unique characteristics about our nonprofit sector that are worth bearing in mind.
