Last week, Common Good Vermont team members joined other nonprofit associations from across the country for the National Council of Nonprofit’s annual Confab gathering in DC. It is always energizing and constructive to advocate and learn alongside our peers who are doing similar work in other states. This time it felt particularly special to come together as leaders in the nonprofit sector.
On Tuesday, Emma Paradis, manager of policy and strategic initiatives, participated in Nonprofit Lobby Day on Capitol Hill. She met with representatives from all three members of our congressional delegation to discuss nonprofit priorities and express appreciation for their work on behalf of Vermonters. The focus of the meetings was on the pending tax bill which includes several provisions impacting nonprofits.
While we encouraged support for expanding the non-itemizer charitable deduction provision and the Charitable Act, we highlighted other sections of the bill that do harm to the sector. Areas of concern included taxes on foundations and nonprofits and limits on charitable donations made by individuals and corporations. Our collective advocacy yielded some improvements to the bill – read more here!
Lisa Grefe, manager of learning and education, spent Tuesday alongside fellow “Training Titans” to dive into the world of training and programming. Lisa led a session on sustaining learning programs amid revenue loss – something many associations are also navigating. This exchange of ideas generated plenty of inspiration and practical examples to bring back home.
We worked with our peer nonprofit associations to plan for the future of our sector, developed new resources on federal grants, and learned about innovative ideas other associations are piloting (such as a nonprofit legal hub), advocacy tactics, and communication strategies for the moment.
We are grateful for this opportunity to convene with our network and look forward to applying all we’ve come away from this experience with to strengthen our work here in Vermont.
