HANO AGENDA, JANUARY 2010

President's message:

Our hardest fight yet

Several articles in our January newsletter reveal our economy will be in slow recovery this year, but the financial pain will worsen before it gets better. The counties' financial woes echo those of the state, where limited resources, a runaway budget deficit and no immediate solutions will make the legislative session as difficult as ever. Expect nonprofit revenues to be assaulted from all sides -- even the most diversified budget will be challenged.

Nonprofits perform essential community services that governments and for-profit business cannot or will not provide. Yet, there is little recognition of our value. Instead, we see cuts to funding for nonprofit services in 2010 and threats to tax exemptions created to support our good work in the community. 

This is a disheartening state of affairs but, at the risk being trite, there is tremendous opportunity in this crisis. Collectively, we can remain strong if we support each other. At HANO's Dec. 9 conference, for the first time we joined sub-sector advocates from agriculture, the arts, conservation, health and human services and energy to share our priorities. Besides learning from each other, we began to see how our separate agendas could be stronger if we supported each other, learned from each other and found intersections. Collective advocacy, we hope, will lead to true cohesion in the nonprofit sector. Our current crisis is a chance to demonstrate the ingenuity, creativity, resolve and communication we need to win recognition from industry and government.

To develop skills to advocate for your own organization and help support the sector, consider attending HANO's workshop, "Nonprofit Advocacy 101: How to do it right," on Jan. 14. Click here for more information and to register.

It is important to stay tuned for more updates from us on ever-changing public policy issues. If you haven't yet, join our mailing list and be prepared to respond quickly when adverse legislation comes down the pike. Please consider supporting HANO in strengthening and building the capacity of Hawaii's nonprofit sector and representing the sector to public officials. Click here to donate.

Our work is needed now more than ever and I look forward to joining with you to tell the nonprofit sector story in 2010. We hope you will find value in this month's newsletter and that you prosper in the new year.

Hau`oli Makahiki Hou,

Lisa Maruyama
HANO president & CEO

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