City of Utica Hurricane Sandy Follow-Up

News Release
Hurricane Sandy Follow-Up

City of Utica Hurricane Sandy Follow-Up
As Hurricane Sandy approached yesterday, the City of Utica implemented an Emergency Preparedness plan using the National Incident Management System.  At the direction of Mayor Robert Palmieri, the command staff from the Utica Police Department, Utica Fire Department, the Department of Public Works, and Engineering Department established a unified command post at City Hall, to prepare and execute an emergency response related to Hurricane Sandy.

The Command included upper level management from all departments, including Police Chief Mark Williams, Fire Chief Russell Brooks, DPW Commissioner David Short, City Engineer, Goran Smiljic, and Mayor Robert Palmieri.  The City of Utica’s command post for Hurricane Sandy was demobilized at 8:00am today and all departments have resumed regular functions.

During the storm, the Utica Police Department responded to 13 calls for, alarms, wires down, malfunctioning traffic lights, disabled vehicles, and a structure fire.  The Utica Fire Department responded to 24 calls for service including calls for EMS, wires down, a transformer fire, and a structure fire.  The Department of Public Works responded to 14 incidents of downed trees, limbs and a utility pole.

Throughout the night all department heads as well as the Mayor were mobile checking in on various incidents.  There were no reported injuries due to the storm.

The most significant incident was a fire that broke out at the former Catskill Spring Water Co. building in East Utica. Embers blowing from a smoldering portion of the building's roof were a concern, with the potential for them to catch elsewhere.

Mayor, Robert Palmieri was on the scene and said the fire department did a remarkable job in keeping the blaze under control in storm conditions.  At one point he had to move his car, parked a block away, to avoid burning embers.  The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Palmieri said, “We thank all the citizens of Utica for their cooperation during this potentially dangerous situation.”

“The measure of a community is not how it performs under normal circumstances, but how it reacts to times of challenge.  Our community can be depended upon to meet any crisis,” Palmieri concluded.

Mayor                                                                                                                                                                             Fax  315-734-9250
Email: mayor@cityofutica.com

Contact                Police   Sgt. Hauck           534-1229
                                Fire        Lt. Wusik              534-1226

Helpful Resources for Dealing with Sandy

To our NYC Members and all Members across New York State dealing with the aftermath of Sandy... Our thoughts are with you, your staff, and the community in this very difficult time. If there is anything we can do to assist, by posting notices, helping you connect with other nonprofit resources, etc. please let us know. ~NYCON staff and Board.

Some Helpful Resources:
Governor Cuomo Holds Storm Briefing 
CNN Impact
Disaster Distress Helpline
American Red Cross Greater NY Region

New Reports Shed Light on Payout Practices and Expense Patterns of U.S. Foundations

New York, NY — October 23, 2012. The Foundation Center, the nation's leading authority on philanthropy, has released new reports that examine the payout practices and spending patterns of more than 1,000 larger U.S. independent foundations. These reports provide an authoritative, unbiased source of knowledge to help the public and policymakers better understand foundation practice and to help foundations benchmark their own activities.

Understanding and Benchmarking Foundation Payout explains the concept of payout, which refers to the total amount that a foundation reports as its charitable distribution. (The law requires the vast majority of private U.S. grantmaking foundations to distribute at least 5 percent of their net investment assets for charitable purposes each year.) The report is the first of its kind to track payout practices of the largest U.S. foundations. It finds that during the period 2007-2009, the largest share of endowed foundations (46 percent) reported payout rates in the range of 5 to 5.9 percent, on average. Nearly one-in-five foundations had payout rates at or above 10 percent. The Foundation Center does not take sides on whether the minimum payout rate should be higher or lower — whether foundation assets should be spent down quickly or preserved long-term — rather it provides data and research to inform the debate.

"While the very top grantmakers tend to pay out close to the 5 percent minimum, there is surprising variation in payout levels of larger foundations overall, and annual rates are affected by drastic changes in the stock market," said Loren Renz, the author of the report and vice president emeritus for research at the Foundation Center. "Only by averaging these rates across multiple years can a balanced view of payout practices be realized."

The amount a foundation spends on staff, overhead, and other program-related administrative expenses is included in the calculation of its qualifying distributions each year. Benchmarking Foundation Administrative Expenses: Update on How Operating Characteristics Affect Spending considers how differences in foundations’ infrastructure, operations, and programmatic activities influence their spending patterns.

The report finds that whether a foundation employs paid staff is the single most important factor affecting its expense levels, followed by staff size. In addition, foundations that regularly engage in international grantmaking, foundation-administered programs, or making grants directly to individuals have expenses-to-qualifying distribution ratios that are roughly twice as high as those that do not.

Understanding and Benchmarking Foundation Payout and Benchmarking Foundation Administrative Expenses can be downloaded at no charge from the Gain Knowledge area of the Foundation Center's web site. To receive future updates on Foundation Center news, sign up here.

This research was made possible through support from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

About the Foundation Center
Established in 1956, the Foundation Center is the leading source of information about philanthropy worldwide. Through data, analysis, and training, it connects people who want to change the world to the resources they need to succeed. The Center maintains the most comprehensive database on U.S. and, increasingly, global grantmakers and their grants — a robust, accessible knowledge bank for the sector. It also operates research, education, and training programs designed to advance knowledge of philanthropy at every level. Thousands of people visit the Center's web site each day and are served in its five regional library/learning centers and its network of more than 470 funding information centers located in public libraries, community foundations, and educational institutions nationwide and around the world. For more information, please visit foundationcenter.org or call (212) 620-4230.

**To read more press releases CLICK HERE

Mohawk Valley Leaders Oct 10th Program: Keys to a Successful Organization RECAP

The presentation's focus was mainly on Executive Directors and Organizational leaders.  The presenter, Keith Fenstemacher, talked about ideas ranging from good to great, hedging, Shacklton's lessons, and getting to great (which focused on team work and finding your true North). For a recap click below to see the videos taken from the session. Also, there is a link below to Keith's power-point slides.

Video Part One

Video Part Two

Power-Point Slides

Nominate Someone for the 2013 Early Childhood Recognition Awards

The nomination period for the 2013 Early Childhood Recognition Awards has begun.
Complete a nomination NOW for a 2013 award!

Is there someone you know who makes a difference in the lives of our children?  Nominate your favorite "Friend of Children" for one of our awards and show your appreciation.  Just click below to make a nomination.

CLICK HERE

End-of-Year Giving

This blog post discusses Year-End Giving ideas in an interview with Mark Brewer, President/CEO of the Community Foundation of Central Florida.  Mr. Brewer provides some great suggestions on making a gift before the end of 2012 while making a difference in one's community.  His suggestion of a life income gift is particularly beneficial to both the donor and the nonprofit organization. Click below to read blog post.

CLICK HERE

10 GIFTS OF $10,000 OR MORE BY DECEMBER 31, 2012

Jim Donovan, President of Donovan Management Inc., gives tips on how you can get 10 gifts of $10,000 or more before next year.

His tips include:
-Manage your time
-Get out there face-to-face with prospects
-Take a donor who knows the prospect
-Be passionate when telling the prospect your organization is a leader in...
-Complete your request by saying "Can you think of any reason why we would not hear back from you about our request for a tax deductible gift before the end of this year?”

For more details on these tips click below 
Click here

Fall Conference Speaker presenting on Bullying Prevention

On Oct 20, the Child Care Council will be hosting a keynote presentation and follow up workshop by Betsy Evans, author of “You Can’t Come to my Birthday Party”. She will address the very real issue of identifying and dealing with early behavior that may lead into Bullying Behavior. If you have more questions, please feel free to contact Lorraine Kinney-Kitchen (lkk@mycccc.org) or Mariann Joslin (mj284@cornell.edu). The target audience is people who work with children and parents. Please share freely within your networks!

UPMC Among Nonprofits Eager to Avoid Paying Property Taxes

An interesting article about a major nonprofit (UPMC) who is making a rare move in order to avoid paying property taxes. Click on the link below to read this article and learn more about what types of deals other nonprofits are making. 
 

 

View Article Here

2011 Member Mapping Report from National Council of Nonprofits

2011 Member Mapping Report from National Council of Nonprofits
A unique report that gives your State Association data and analyses that are relevant to every State Association board and staff member in the National Council of Nonprofits' network. 

The 2011 report addresses many frequently asked questions, including:

• How are State Associations weathering the economy?
• How do State Associations earn revenue other than through member dues?
• Why are the numbers of people trained through our network trending down?
• Why are there lots of new members in State Associations every year, but not a corresponding growth in the network? 

VIEW REPORT HERE