Part of the health care reform bill passed last year gives a tax break to small nonprofits that provide health insurance to their employees.

From Steve Snodgrass / Flickr Creative Commons

“But how can this be?” you may ask. “Nonprofits don’t pay taxes, do they?”

Well, that’s a complicated question in its own right (we have a whole page about it here), but in this case, an organization that qualifies can keep part of the Medicare taxes and income tax-withholding money it normally would transmit to the Treasury and use it to offset part of the cost of employees’ health insurance. Note: the employees still get full credit toward social security and next year’s tax bill thanks to the way this program has been designed.

The maximum credit is available to organizations with fewer than 10 employees and average wages under $25,000; orgs with more than 25 employees or average wages over $50,000 are not eligible at all.

As you might expect, it’s a little complicated. Figuring out whether an organization qualifies requires knowing a good deal about its finances and payroll. Knowing which forms to use and how to fill them out requires understanding the details of this program works. Luckily, there are a couple of resources that will help puzzled Executive Directors or Human Resources professionals:

• First, an eligibility chart from the National Women’s Law Center. It runs through the law in a way that will let most organizations figure out whether these benefits apply to them or not pretty quickly. Check out a more detailed .pdf version here.
• Second, a free webinar hosted by the Internal Revenue Service on February 2nd at 2:00pm EST. The webinar is for both for-profit and nonprofit employers and will include attorneys, HR professionals and others in the audience, so it may be a little technical (to say the least!).

Any organization that looks like it may qualify for the tax credit based on the National Women’s Law Center’s chart may want to have someone attend the IRS webinar to get a first-hand presentation of the details. More information and a link to the webpage for registration is on the IRS website here.

For organizations that qualify—and their employees—this feature of the health care reform bill can be an immediate benefit.

This could be your organization! (Via impactconference.org)

The IMPACT Conference is the largest annual conference in the United States focused on engaging college students in service, advocacy and social action. We have a special connection to this event which builds on the legacy of the COOL (Campus Outreach Opportunity League) National Conference and the Idealist Campus Conference, which we housed for three years.

This year’s conference will be held at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida on March 31-April 3, 2011. For more information on the conference, visit www.impactconference.org.

Nonprofits seeking to reach out to some of the most active and engaged college students (and campus administrators) in the country might consider sponsoring this dynamic event. Sponsoring organizations have several opportunities to connect with students during the conference. The early bird deadline to sponsor is January 21.

Folks are all a-Twitter today over Cyber Monday, the start of the online holiday shopping season. Did you know that last year on Cyber Monday, consumers spent nearly $890 million online? And that The Nature Conservancy has also dubbed today Green Gift Monday, to encourage all of us to green our holiday shopping?

Why not direct part (or all) of your shopping funds this year toward responsibly manufactured goods or donations to your sister’s/neighbor’s/partner’s favorite cause? For ideas for some causes to support, take a look at The Nature Conservancy’s gift guide. (Diana’s hoping for someone to adopt a Coral Reef in Palau on her behalf – hint, hint!)

Additional resources that might help guide your Cyber/Green Gift Monday and the rest of your holidays:

• Climate Counts scores all kinds of companies (from airlines and hotel chains to toy and electronics manufacturers) on their sustainability efforts.
• Low Impact Living rates green holiday gifts.

Do you know of others? Share them in the comments below!

Confronting mistakes head on is often done in the business sector, but not so much in the nonprofit world. Why? There can be a lot at stake – maybe you have to answer to donors, or you work with vulnerable populations, or you’re worried about offending someone.

But mistakes happen. They happen often. And if we’re honest enough to admit our mistakes to ourselves and to others—and have a sense of humor about it—we can learn a lot.

Photo via Kristen Taylor (Flickr)

This is the philosophy behind FailFaire, an event hosted by MobileActive.org. The gathering focuses on errors related to MobileActive’s mission (using cell phones in development work). Attendees discuss how X project slipped through the cracks or why Y grant never came through. But instead receiving stern looks of disapproval, the atmosphere is open and supportive. Drinks and food are served alongside failures, and presenters are encouraged to be honest, light-hearted and even irreverent.

The idea is quickly catching on. The first FailFaire event was held in New York City this summer. The World Bank co-hosted an event in Washington, D.C. a few months later, and recently the Social Capital Market’s Conference copied the model and held one in San Francisco revolving around social entrepreneurship. The potential for FailFaire to be replicated all over the world, covering not only facets of the nonprofit sector but other fields as well,  is enormous.

If you’re failure-friendly, the site has a tip sheet of how to host your own event and a blog with some great stories and advice.

FailFaire could very well be the beginnings of a cultural shift in the nonprofit sector – and I have a feeling it won’t fail.

When we scheduled our season of graduate degree fairs many months ago, we planned our stop in San Francisco for November 1. Who knew that the Giants would also be cruising to victory in Game Five of the World Series last night?

From Gary Stevens (Creative Commons)

Luckily, Idealists are nothing if not multitaskers. 600 fans streamed into the Hall of Flowers, scrawled name tags in orange marker (“Giants pride!”), and talked with representatives from 116 degree programs while root-root-rooting for the home team. At one point, the entire Hall of Flowers erupted in applause as cars honked outside in celebration.

We have just two fairs left this season: one tonight in Los Angeles, CA, and one this Thursday in Atlanta, GA. There’s no telling if they’ll be quite as eventful (though with tonight’s election returns, you never know). But I hope they are festive and that if you go, you connect with the school of your dreams.

And if you see Chris Machuca, the manager of the grad fairs, give him a wave. He’s wrapping up quite a season himself, having run events in 16 cities over the past three months. Home run, Chris.

A photo from our NYC fair

Next week our annual grad fair tour will take us to…

• Denver, CO (Monday, October 25)
• Seattle, WA (Wednesday, October 27)
• Portland, OR (Thursday, October 28)

If you’re near one of those cities, we hope you’ll join us. You’ll have a chance to meet recruiters from 60-80 graduate degree programs ranging from conflict resolution to law to social work to journalism.

A prospective doctoral student recently wrote to ask whether he should travel to one of our fairs. He was curious what to expect and wondered: W hat is the value of attending a grad fair?

Amy Potthast, our Director of Service and Graduate Programs, offered her take:

Each fair takes place in a large room where each school staffs a table with more information, and where representatives chat with prospective students.

One value of a grad fair is that you can potentially build rapport with an admissions staffer at your prospective schools. You’ll then have the name of someone with whom you can follow up, ask questions, and meet on campus. You can make an initial in-person impression with a school representative — which is more powerful than over the phone.

Another value of the event is that you will learn more about schools you’d like to apply for and you find other programs you hadn’t set your sights on yet.

You can also ask basic questions and weed out other programs that aren’t going to be the best fit for your goals — saving you time and money.

We’ll have a Q&A panel where a number of recruiters will offer frank advice about admissions and financial aid so you can hear from a range of admissions experts at once.

On-campus visits are also a good idea, and we have an article on our site where you can learn more about how to plan for campus visits.

Learn more about grad school in our Public Service Graduate Education Resources Center.

[This blog entry appeared on an older version of Idealist; any broken links are a result of having re-launched our site in Fall 2010.]

The Idealist Graduate Degree Fairs are off to a tremendous start! We’re beginning the season with a tour of the Northeast.

Last week’s fair in New York City was barely fazed by the intense thunderstorm and tornado warnings. A line formed down the block as we welcomed almost 2,000 individuals to connect with representatives from 200 graduate schools.

On Monday we set up shop in Providence, one of the smallest cities on our tour. Dedicated volunteers from the Urban Education Policy graduate program at Brown University helped us run the event smoothly. About 250 prospective students chatted with 76 grad schools.

The next day we headed 40 miles north to Boston University, where they served better-than-average chowder in the student union while the Red Sox played right down the street. Over 1,200 grad school seekers got the chance to meet with 180 grad degree programs – this student-filled city always makes for a busy fair (below).

Next, we’re coming to Pittsburgh (tonight, September 23) and Philadelphia (September 27). Hope to see you there!

Staff photo from the Boston fair

[This blog entry appeared on an older version of Idealist; any broken links are a result of having re-launched our site in Fall 2010.]

From Flickr user Chris Willis (Creative Commons)

Every day, hundreds of new listings are added to our site, and it’s always amazing to see the variety of organizations, opportunities, and events that Idealist users can connect with. Let’s see what you (and we!) might be missing! I’ve decided to pick a few random listings each week and spotlight them here.

Today’s area of focus: Art, Architecture, Music

Organization: Baryshnikov Arts Center
Location: New York, New York, United States
In their own words: “BAC serves as a creative laboratory, meeting place, and performance space for a vibrant community of artists from around the world.”

Job: Hip Hop Instructor
Organization: United Teen Equality Center
In their own words: “UTEC reaches out to these young people through intensive street outreach, builds upon their unique strengths within a youth development framework, and creates opportunities to best support them in becoming agents of social change and organizers in the community.“

Volunteer Opportunity: Thai Village Handicraft Art Project
Organization: Mundo Exchange Organization
In their own words: “We team with local communities to provide global volunteers and financial aide to impoverished and rural community projects. We believe that cross-cultural participation and an equal exchange of ideas can help bring global understanding to those involved.”

Internship: Photographer – Ghana, West Africa
Organization: Women in Progress
In their own words: “Women in Progress works to achieve economic independence of women and alleviate poverty at a grassroots level in Ghana through the sustainable growth of small women-owned businesses.”

Event: Logan Heights Neighborhood Clean-Up!
Organization: BAME Renaissance Inc. (San Diego, CA)
Date: September 25, 2010
In their own words: “ BAME is a catalyst to promote and provide an opportunity for all sectors of the community to work collaboratively toward the goal of strengthening individuals, families, and neighborhoods through social and economic development.”

–
Search hundreds of other listings filed under Art, Architecture, and Music, or post an opportunity of your own.

[This blog entry appeared on an older version of Idealist; any broken links are a result of having re-launched our site in Fall 2010.]

Thinking about going to grad school? Our 2010 season of Graduate Degree Fairs for the Public Good kicks off this Thursday in New York City, and we’ll have stops in six more cities in September alone. (Yes, we are trying to get lots of rest this week!)

From Flickr user GypsySeoul (Creative Commons)

First up (click on a city name and fair date to learn more or RSVP):

• Providence, RI — Sept. 20
• Boston, MA — Sept. 21
• Pittsburgh, PA — Sept. 23
• Philadelphia, PA — Sept. 27

…And you can browse the whole list of cities and dates on this page.

If you’re in one of these cities, we hope you’ll stop by to meet admissions representatives from degree programs including social work, public policy, public health, law, and many more. All of the fairs are free to attend; run from 5:00-8:00 p.m.; and offer a panel discussion covering topics about applications and financial aid that lasts from 6:00-7:00 p.m.

If you can’t make it, you can peruse our Graduate Education Resource Center, and connect with some of our exhibitors via Twitter using this list.

[This blog entry appeared on an older version of Idealist; any broken links are a result of having re-launched our site in Fall 2010.]

Every year, we host a series of events we call Graduate Degree Fairs for the Public Good. Registration is now open for our 16 fall fairs, and we hope you’ll join us for one in a city near you!

We believe that if you’re considering a graduate education, it can be very helpful to meet with admissions representatives before you apply. At each of our fairs, you can learn more about local, national, and international programs focusing on Nonprofit Management, Public Health, Public Policy, Social Work, Education, International Affairs, and many other fields; find out how their admissions processes work; and understand how to make yourself a strong candidate if you decide to apply.

We’ll be all over the United States this year, and even swing up to Toronto. Even the smallest fairs will have 50 schools represented; the largest will feature 200 programs! All of the events run from 5:00-8:00 p.m. and are wheelchair accessible.

The fairs are free to attend, but we do ask that you RSVP. For more details and to sign up, visit idealist.org/gradfairs.

See you soon!
[This blog entry appeared on an older version of Idealist; any broken links are a result of having re-launched our site in Fall 2010.]