Good Morning, Folks-

 

Here are some NYSCAA News and Updates along with other items that may be of interest.

 

NYSCAA News and Updates

 

Risk Management Roundtables in Westchester and Saratoga Counties.  NYSCAA is hosting two regional roundtables on agency risk management and changes to the Workers’ Compensation Law.  On Wednesday, October 31^st the event will be held at the Saratoga Visitor’s Center, 10:00-2:00 and on Friday, November 2, 10:30-2:30 at the Yonkers Public Library (River branch).  The cost for these sessions is $10 and lunch will be provided. To register, go to http://www.nyscaaonline.org/Events_Events_NYSCAAEvents.aspx

 

Free Session on Pension Plan Changes in the Southern Tier.  As you may know, the IRS is requiring higher standards for pension plan compliance and administration by passing the 2007 Pension Reform Act this August.  To help explain what this means for Community Action Agencies, the CEO of PENSERV, Susan Diehl, will be in Elmira, NY, on October 26th at 9am - 12am, to present on the new regulations.   Penserv is located in Pennsylvania and is one of oldest Third Party Administration firms in the US.  They have a large client base of non-for-profit organizations in which they provide IRS compliance monitoring.  The goal of this meeting is to bring to light and clarify the new regulations and requirements the IRS has established for non-for-profits going forward.  Susan will walk through each of the requirements and highlight important areas to focus on in order to get your plans into compliance quickly, or how to design new plans.  Andrea Ogunwumi the Executive Director of the Economic Opportunity Program of Chemung County, was gracious enough to host the event.   EOP is located at 650 Baldwin St, Elmira - (607) 734-6174 Directions and more »  If you are interested in attending please call David Stoller at 585-475-8481 as soon as possible to reserve a seat.  This session is free of charge. 

 

APR is Underway.  This year's Annual Performance Report (APR) cycle is currently underway.  The APR is conducted on a website created as a joint project by Department of State and NYSCAA staff.  The site can be accessed off the main NYSCAA website (www.nyscaaonline.org) by clicking on Members Area, then APR.  Select your agency name and then your username and enter your password.  There is a function on this page which allows you to retrieve your password by clicking on the 'What if I forgot my password' button. Please contact Lisa Nieves at DOS at Lisa.Nieves@dos.state.ny.us or Liz Hughes at NYSCAA at lhughes@nyscaaonline.org. if you have any questions.  (Please note that NYSCAA’s internet connection is moving very slow this morning 10/15/07 which may cause error messages.  We have calls into our internet provider and we ask that if you receive an error message, you try again later this afternoon.  We apologize for any inconvenience)

 

CAPTAIN Roundtable Online.  NYSCAA is hosting an online roundtable Tuesday, October 23^rd at 10:00 to discuss CAPTAIN software.  We have a good crowd already registered so it is bound to be a good conversation.  To register for this free online event, go to http://www.nyscaaonline.org/Events_Trainings_NYSCAATrainings.aspx

 

Stories Needed.  Just a reminder that Denise Harlow has requested stories (dharlow@nyscaaonline.org) regarding successful (and unsuccessful) coalitions, specifically coalitions developed around justice related issues.  She is presenting at the Rural Justice Conference in Saratoga Springs on October 31^st as part of a panel and would like to use real examples and lessons learned.  Thanks to those who have shared.

 

Walk-a-Mile.  Many of you may recall that we were hoping to embark on a Walk a Mile project with NYSERDA this fall. This is still on the agenda but has been delayed a bit.  We will be in touch with CAAs in late October/early November in areas that have an elected official volunteering to participate with a training date for involved CAAs for November 30^th in Albany and by video conferencing in Buffalo and NYC. 

 

NYSCAA Public Policy Committee Meeting.  The committee is meeting Wednesday, October 24^th at 10:00 via conference call.  Please call 1-866-680-1500 and enter code 3162050# at the prompt.

 

June Conference Planning.  Just a reminder that that Membership Development Committee is seeking member input on location.  Please let Denise know (dharlow@nyscaaonline.org) if you haven’t already, your preference between Lake George, Ithaca, or Niagara Falls.  Please see Denise’s 10/12/07email for details.

 

Website Update.  Please note that NYSCAA has added a link on the homepage to CAA jobs in New York State.  Please send us any job postings that you would like us to post.  This service is available to members free of charge.

 

NYSCAA September Newsletter Update.  Please visit NYSCAA’s website at www.nyscaaonline.org for an updated PDF of NYSCAA’s most recent newsletter.  Secretary of State Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez name was spelled incorrectly on the mailed version.  NYSCAA regrets this error. 

 

Other News, Events, and Publications of Interest

 

NYS Public Service Commission Meetings.  The NYS Public Service Commission (PSC) is hosting a series of meeting to learn about the Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (EPS), a major new effort by the PSC to address the State’s energy needs.  The EPS proceeding builds on a major goal established by Governor Spitzer last April to reduce New York State’s electric usage by 15 percent from forecasted levels by 2015.  To register, please call 518-474-1680 or e-mail Pamela Carter at Pamela_carter@dps.state.ny.us.

 

Meetings are set as follows:

October 17, 2007

31 Avenue C

Johnson City, New York

1:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

 

October 18, 2007

McChesney Room of the Schenectady County Public Library

99 Clinton Street, Schenectady, NY,

2:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

 

October 19, 2007

North Country Community College

Saranac Lake Campus

Saranac Lake, New York

9:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

 

November 6, 2007

Association for Energy Affordability, Inc.

505 Eighth Avenue

New York, New York

10:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

 

Community Action Partnership Winter Conference.  Community Action Partnership Winter Management Training and Leadership Conference has been re-located to New Orleans!  We are pleased to announce that the Conference will be held at the New Orleans Marriott. The new dates are January 9 – 11, 2008. The tragedy of Hurricane Katrina changed everything for the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region. Since the unavoidable cancellation of the 2005 Annual Convention, we have been waiting for an opportunity to bring Community Action back to New Orleans. This is the time. It is especially appropriate since we are planning to release the Community Action network recommendations which are being developed and finalized by the National Conversation on Poverty and Economic Security (NCPES) Steering Committee.  For more information, go to http://www.communityactionpartnership.com/.

 

NCAF.  NCAF’s 2007 Energy Programs Leveraging Conference in St. Petersburg Florida 

Tuesday, November 13 to Thursday, November 15, 2007. For more information, go to http://www.ncaf.org/index.asp?Type=B_EV&SEC={59E1978E-A5D4-4828-A6FD-21B1A21D55B6}&DE={DEE5E105-A522-4414-9FCE-8DD003FCDCBA}

 

NCAF Annual Legislative Conference.  Please mark your calendars now for the annual NCAF Conference, March 4-7, 2008.  Please hold the afternoon of March 6^th for legislative visits to New York’s Congressional delegation.  Go to www.ncaf.org for more information.  Hotel rooms go fast so if you are planning on attending, you may want to book a room now either at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill or Holiday Inn across the street.

 

Chronicle of Philanthropy Online Event with Clara Miller.  Making Charity Finances Easy to Understand, Thursday, November 1, at 1:00 p.m. Many charity officials do not have significant training in financial analysis so they have trouble figuring out all the implications of the decisions they make about their programs. For example, when does it make sense to reject an endowment gift in favor of another donation? When should a charity buy office space instead of renting? What steps should charities take when their programs are growing fast in popularity but their finances are not keeping up?   To help nonprofit groups and their trustees recognize how best to keep their finances on track, the Nonprofit Finance Fund has started a program to help charity officials analyze their finances. The founder of the program will be available to take your questions. For more information, go to http://philanthropy.com/live/2007/11/miller/chat.php3.  You may need a Chronicle subscription to access.

 

How to Raise $50K in 6 Weeks.  Nov 9th (1 PM EST)

In this fast paced webinar, Kim Klein details one of the most important ideas in fundraising today: bringing volunteers together for a short specific intensive campaign, and then letting them go for the rest of the year. In this webinar you will learn both the specifics of raising a large amount of money in a short time and the process of designing all of your fundraising in short bursts.

Cost: $150 per site/per webinar (more than one person can view the webinar at a single location; with a data projector your entire staff and board can participate!

For more information and to register please visit: www.grassrootsfundraising.org or call 1-888-458-8588

 

SAVE THE DATE: NYSCAA’s Second Annual Symposium on Poverty and Economic Security will be February 25-26 in Albany.

 

 

 

 

Denise Harlow, CEO

New York State Community Action Association, Inc.

2 Charles Blvd.

Guilderland, NY  12084

518-690-0491, ext. 24

FAX 518-690-0498

dharlow@nyscaaonline.org

 

Join the Call for a Statewide Commission on Poverty and Economic Security.  Learn more and add your name and organization to the list of supporters at http://www.nyscaaonline.org/FirstPageNewsArticles/StateWidePovAndEcoSec.aspx.