Health Care Providers, Insurers Need to Collaborate to Improve Care, Rein in Costs

When Eric Schultz began his keynote remarks, the President and CEO of Massachusetts-based Harvard Pilgrim Health Care made sure to alert his audience to his homegrown pedigree.  Whether his youth in the Naugatuck Valley, college years (five of them) at UConn, or graduate work at Yale contributed to Harvard Pilgrim’s more-than-solid inaugural years doing business in Connecticut isn’t certain, but the above-expectations numbers are indisputable.  And Schmitt made clear that his nonprofit health insurance company is looking for even greater achievements in his home state. Since entering the Connecticut market in the summer of 2014, the company has been aggressively growing its customer base in a competitive market while working diligently to grow and expand its network of doctors.  Harvard Pilgrim Health Care announced recently that its Connecticut membership has grown to more than 24,000, exceeding expectations for 2015. It now serves more than 800 Connecticut businesses.  Twenty-nine of the state’s 30 hospitals are now in-network.

With more than 500 business leaders in attendance at an annual Economic Summit & Outlook last week, brought together by the Connecticut Business and Industry Association and MetroHartford Alliance, Schmitt spent some time touting a new model launched in the state of New Hampshire that he believes may be a glimpse into the direction the industry is moving. Harvard Pilgrim Health Care’s footprint in New England now covers “where 90 percent of New Englanders live,” in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine and New Hampshire. 

Schultz, who succeeded now-Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker in leading the organization five years ago, pointed to what he described as “a practical example of how an insurance company and groups of providers can work together to get control of medical cost trends and to help improve medical outcomes and help create better experiences for physicians and their patients.”

The goals, Shultz explained, are to reduce insurance premium trends by 10 to 15 percent, to improve clinical outcomes, to create a better “practice environment” for medical staff and to grow business.  The partnership is driven to “produce something that’s better than what we have today, because we know the financing of health care is largely broken in the U.S.”

Launched in October 2015 and in business as of January 1, Benevera Health, a joint venture led by senior leadership at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Dartmouth-Hitchcock, is a population health company, centered around “clinical and medical informatics.”  Dartmouth-Hitchcock, a nonprofit academic health system that serves a patient population of 1.2 million in New Hampshire and Vermont, is led by Dr. James Weinstein, recently named as one of “100 Physician Leaders to Know” by a national health care trade publication.

“We are combining insurance data with clinical data,” Schultz said, “from their electronic medical records and our claims system, and creating a very powerful source of information.”  That information, he stressed, could be used to better understand what’s happening in regards to patient care, and it can help to redesign and improve clinical care.  This has the potential to be especially important in chronically ill patients, noting that 10 percent of patients drive 50 percent of health care costs.  “It is a great financial opportunity and a great clinical opportunity.”

“The magic,” Shultz noted, is in having the provider and the payer sit down together and figure out” what should be done.  Too often in the past, he said, providers and insurers haven’t gotten together – a lack of cooperation and collaboration that contributes to higher costs and to disconnects regarding patient care.  His expectation is the Benevera will “reduce headaches” that insurance companies often cause providers, reduce duplication and costs, and improve patient care. 

In fact, when the new venture was launched last fall, officials from the two companies stressed that the groundbreaking entity, “will take health care coordination to a new level by bringing together clinical, financial and operational data from across partner institutions to provide actionable analytics for clinicians to further improve the quality and efficiency of patient care.”  They added that  “at the center of this approach will be locally-based care advocates who will identify early opportunities to engage patients – especially those with chronic, complex or emerging conditions - and provide them with one-on-one support.”

Schultz noted that insurance companies tend to resist providers suggesting how insurance plans ought to be designed.  He disagrees with that resistance.  “If more insurers took more input from providers on plan design, we’d be a lot better off.”

Harvard Pilgrim is the only not-for-profit, regional health plan operating in four contiguous New England states.  Harvard Pilgrim’s flagship health plans in New England provide health coverage to 1.3 million members, while another 1.4 million individuals are served through Health Plans, Inc., a subsidiary that provides integrated care management, health coaching and plan administration solutions to self-funded employers nationwide.  Schultz holds an MBA in Health Care Leadership from Yale University’s School of Management, as well as a bachelor of science degree in biology and a bachelor of arts degree in economics from the University of Connecticut.

“We’re about change and driving change,” Schultz told those attending the Hartford summit, “and I believe we need to do more of that.”  He’s hoping to build a similar structure in Connecticut, and in other states around the country, because “it’s exactly what we need to do.”

Link to CT-N video of Economic Summit & Outlook.

Newman's Own Foundation Awards $1.5 Million in Grants to Military Service Organizations, Including 8 in Connecticut

In celebration of its 10^th anniversary, Newman’s Own Foundation is awarding $1.5 million in grants to 29 organizations – including eight in Connecticut - that provide services to military men, women, veterans, and their families. Based in Westport, Newman’s Own Foundation’s awards will benefit more Connecticut nonprofit organizations than in any other state; more than one-quarter of the total number of organizations slated to receive funds. Paul Newman, the late actor and philanthropist, established Newman’s Own Foundation in 2005 to carry on his philanthropic legacy after he started Newman’s Own, the food company, in 1982 with all profits going to charity. Less well known is that Newman was a World War II veteran.  According to the organization’s website, he enlisted in the United States Navy after high school, serving in the Pacific during World War II.

“One particular experience provided the core of his belief about luck and humility. In Saipan, the pilot of his crew became sick, grounding their bomber. The rest of Paul’s squadron was ordered to deploy aboard the USS Bunker Hill and days later were killed by kamikaze aircraft. It was simply luck that Paul had not been aboard. He attributed much of his success in life to luck, and what followed was a commitment to give back to those who were perhaps not so lucky,” the website explains.

The organizations receiving the grants provide a wide variety of support to veterans, including physical/mental rehabilitation, career development, entrepreneurship, education, and housing. There are also organizations that focus on female veterans.  The organizations and services are located across the country.

The Connecticut organizations are Applied Behavioral Rehabilitation Institute, Inc. (Bridgeport), Columbus House (New Haven), Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network (Hartford), Connecticut Veterans Legal Center (West Haven), Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation, Inc. (Bloomfield), Help Our Military Heroes, Inc. (Easton), Work Vessels for Veterans, Inc. (Noank), and Workplace, Inc. (Bridgeport).

“Our men and women in uniform make great sacrifices in their own lives to protect the unique freedom, privileges, and opportunities we enjoy as Americans. It is not so much a responsibility to support them, but more a privilege to express our gratitude for their service,” said Robert Forrester, President and CEO of Newman’s Own Foundation, who served in Vietnam as an Army officer.  “We’re proud to fund these organizations that provide services for military personnel, veterans, and their families.”

Military nonprofit organizations have been supported for over 20 years, with a total of $12 million donated since 2010, alone. In addition to the Foundation grants, Newman’s Own, Inc. has supported military service charities through the Newman’s Own Awards for 16 years, in partnership with Fisher House Foundation and Military Times.

Since the Foundation was founded, more than $280 million has been donated to charitable organizations around the world. The grants reached across international borders and countless organizations that addressed needs such as serious illness, hunger, homelessness, disaster relief, environmental issues, and education. Today the Foundation has four primary focus areas: Philanthropy, Children with Life Limiting Conditions, Empowerment, and Nutrition.   More information is available at: http://newmansownfoundation.org/military

Loyal Donors, Or Not So Much

Only 14 percent of American giving comes from foundations, while 73 percent comes from individuals, according to the most recent annual data.  Thus the likelihood of current donors continuing to contribute year after year to a charitable organization is critical to their ability to continue pursuing their charitable purpose. However, survey data appears inconsistent on whether the trends are good or bad.

A recent survey indicated that for every $100 in new donations nonprofits gained in fiscal year 2014 over the previous year, they lost $95 in lapsed or reduced donations.  While that 5-percent net gain in gifts is "disappointing," Nathan Dietz, senior research associate at the Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the Urban Institute, recently told the Chronicle of Philanthropy that the news regarding donors themselves is even worse: for every 100 new donors gained in 2014, participating nonprofits lost 103.

Charities also were asked what percentage of their 2013 donors made repeat gifts to charities in 2014, and the median was 43 percent, the same as from 2012 to 2013. Or, as Dietz described it, "more donors leave than stay."

The study also reveals a large amount of "churn in the donor universe," Dietz said. "It’s hard to predict for any individual donor in general whether they’re going to be still on the rolls next year, donating money next year."  Others suggest there is anything but churn in individual philanthropic giving.

Writing in Philanthropy Daily, William Schambra points to data that indicates:

• Almost 80% of all gifts are “100% loyal, meaning that there is a virtual certainty that these gifts will be repeated next year.”

• Only 35% of donors ever do any research, and almost three-quarters of these spend less than two hours at it. Among those who do research, only 24% regard outcomes as the most important information.

• Of those who do research, the overwhelming majority – 63% -- use it only to validate their choice once they’ve made it, to confirm that the group they’ve already chosen isn’t a total fraud. Only 13% use the research to actually help them choose between multiple organizations, i.e., to make decisions about which is comparatively the better performer.

Donation and donor-retention rates matter, fundraisers say, because it almost always costs less to keep a current donor than to find a new one, thus reducing the number of current contributors who don’t return is the least expensive way to spur fundraising gains.

So, are individuals coming or going?  Mary Cahalane, a Connecticut-based nonprofit fundraising consultant and author of the blog Hands On Fundraising, said that “the point overall is that what people say is important to them isn't necessarily how they actually behave. That’s a problem with surveys.”  She adds that the “80 percent loyal figure doesn't fit with the national average retention rate in the 40s.”

A well-run organization that focuses on holding on to donors should have a first-year retention rate of around 40 to 45 percent and a multiple-year retention rate of 75 to 85 percent, says Roger Craver, author of the book Retention Fundraising: The New Art and Science of Keeping Your Donors for Life and contributor to The Agitator blog, in the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Even with seemingly inconsistent data, one lesson, Deitz points out to nonprofit organizations, is clear: "Make sure you don’t neglect the people who have been there, who have supported you. They might not be there for you next year."

Charter Oak to Offer College Credit for Completed MOOCs

One of the leading unanswered questions in higher education globally is how MOOCs – Massive Open Online Courses – will evolve in the coming years.  Those college-level courses, delivered on-line and offered by some of the top institutions in the U.S. and around the world, are open to anyone, without charge, but also without college credit.  Tens of thousands of people have taken courses, but turning those courses into college credits that could lead to a degree has been largely absent from the higher education equation. Now, Connecticut’s Charter Oak State College  is setting out to change that.

Connecticut’s public online college has announced that it will award credit for select online courses taken through the edX.org platform, one of the most popular MOOC programs.  edX participating  institutions include Harvard, MIT, CalTech, University of Texas System, University of California – Berkley, Davidson, Dartmouth,  Princeton, University of Pennsylvania and University of Chicago.

Founded by Harvard University and MIT in 2012, edX offers “high-quality courses from the world’s best universities and institutions to learners everywhere.” According to the edX website, the organization was “founded by and continue to be governed by colleges and universities,” and is “the only leading MOOC provider that is both nonprofit and open source.”

This collaboration creates the potential for edX learners to earn college credit for those courses reviewed and approved by Charter Oak’s Connecticut Credit Assessment Program (CCAP). Ed Klonoski, President, Charter Oak State College said, “For Charter Oak, evaluating prior learning for college credit is what we were created to do. Now, we have the opportunity to partner with a worldwide leader in online learning, edX, to award college credit for successful completion of select courses.”

“We are pleased to offer a new pathway to college credit through this collaboration with Charter Oak State College,” said Anant Agarwal, edX CEO and MIT Professor. “EdX learners around the world will now be able to earn credit for their hard work and success in MOOCs, offering an opportunity to many who would otherwise never have access to high-quality education and credit.”

The edX website indicates the MOOCs are offered by 85 global partners, and 580,000 course completion certificates have been issued in just the past few years.

The first two edX courses Charter Oak will offer credit for are open for enrollment now, www.edx.org/charter-oak , and begin in January. They include MITx’s Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Using Python beginning January 13, and UC BerkeleyX’s Engineering Software as a Service (SaaS) Part 2 beginning January 11. Learners can earn three lower level college credits from Charter Oak for the successful completion of the MITx course, and two upper level credits from Charter Oak for the UC BerkeleyX course.

Additional edX courses continue to be reviewed for credit, and will be included in the program in the coming weeks and months, officials indicated.

Klonoski added, ““This partnership reflects our mission of using non-traditional means to speed adults toward the completion of their college degrees in a cost effective manner.  It is another innovative strategy for us to increase enrollment and support our sustainability by providing an outstanding value to students. The total cost to students of the course and credit is approximately $350.”

Officials highlighted the benefits for edX learners:

• Course credit for open online courses – Charter Oak provides a pathway for learners to earn accredited college credit for knowledge learned through MOOCs.
• Cost Effective – students earn affordable college credit that can then be applied to credentials, continuing ed credits, or completion of a college degree.
• Learn before payment - students learn now and decide to pay later for college credit. This provides qualified students with a pathway for academic exploration who may otherwise not seek college credit.
• Unlimited Reach – an unlimited number of students worldwide can study and receive college credit without any barriers of scaling up.
• Eliminates Barriers to Admission – students can study and earn credit, sidestepping the process of applications, application fees and transcript requests.

Participating students in the new initiative will first enroll as a verified student on edX.org in a course that Charter Oak State College has reviewed and approved for credit. Students then take the course through the edX.org platform. Students have the ability to check at any time as they progress through the course as to whether they have met the requirements for credit.

Once credit eligibility has been attained, a message appears on the student’s dashboard and they are sent an email. Students can then complete the request for credit from Charter Oak and fee payment on the edX site. Students then confirm their credit request with Charter Oak State College, and will then have credit on a Charter Oak State College transcript that can be used to meet continuing education, professional certification or degree requirements at other institutions or at Charter Oak State College.

Founded in 1973, Charter Oak State College (www.CharterOak.edu) is Connecticut’s only public online college.  Charter Oak students complete degrees through online courses and alternative approaches to earning credit. Charter Oak is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and governed by Connecticut’s Board of Regents for Higher Education.

Local Nonprofits Receive Funding From First Niagara As Bank Prepares for Sale to Key Bank

First Niagara Foundation’s Mentoring Matters™ program has announced it will be providing grants  that support local nonprofit organizations throughout Connecticut.  With the pending sale of First Niagara to Cleveland-based Key Bank, the fate of the Foundation’s local support seems strong, as Key Bank has announced it will make a $20 million contribution to the First Niagara Foundation “to continue its important community initiatives.” The charitable not-for-profit entity of First Niagara Bank  allocates $1 million annually in charitable grants specifically targeted to support quality mentoring programs across the bank’s seven regional market centers, including its New England and Tri-State regional offices, which between them share coverage of Connecticut.

The New England Region receives $150,000 in grant money for distribution, and for a region that includes Greater New Haven, north into Western Massachusetts.  The foundation’s Tri-State region receives $50,000 and covers the service footprint in Fairfield County and the lower Hudson Valley.

In each region, the Foundation partners strategically with mentoring organizations that offer “the best impact with our mentoring dollars, and grant decisions are made by local leaders in each market,” according to foundation officials.  In Connecticut, the organizations that received 2015 Mentoring Matters grants were:

• Governor’s Prevention Partnership for the CT Mentoring Partnership, which serves a network of more than 150 mentoring programs across Connecticut -- $75,000
• New Haven Reads to fund their summer tutor camp program which serves more than 300 low and moderate income New Haven students-- $15,000
• Norwalk Community College Foundation for the ConnCAS Program, a College Pathway Program that mentors disadvantaged NCC students to successfully transition from high school to college -- $28,000
• Junior Achievement of Southwest New England to support financial literacy and business entrepreneurship mentoring - $10,000
• Stamford Public Education Foundation to support their Mentoring and Career Readiness program - $5,000
• Bridgeport Public Education Foundation to support the Mentoring for Academic Achievement and College Success (MAACS) program -- $5,000
• Norwalk Human Services Council to support the Norwalk Mentor Program -- $5,000

In addition, the Foundation’s New England region also granted $50,000 in Western MA and the Tri-state region granted $20,000 in Hudson Valley, NY.

Along with the $200,000 in Mentoring Matters funding, the two regions have been allocated a combined additional $935,000 in charitable funding from First Niagara Foundation for distribution this year. Many of the grant recipients are other youth and education organizations, along with economic development, neighborhood revitalization, health and human services, and arts/cultural organizations serving local communities.

KeyCorp, the holding company for KeyBank, recently announced an agreement to acquire First Niagara Financial Group for $4.1 billion. First Niagara, headquartered in Buffalo, N.Y., has $39 billion in assets and $29 billion in deposits and 394 banking offices in New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Massachusetts. With approximately $135 billion of assets, the combined bank would be the 13th largest commercial bank headquartered in the U.S.

Based in the mid-west, Key Bank has branches in Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and Washington. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2016, according to Key Bank officials. Its roots trace back to Commercial Bank of Albany, New York in 1825 and Cleveland's Society for Savings, founded in 1849, according to Wikipedia.

“Key and First Niagara are a powerful combination, driven by a shared commitment to the clients and to the communities we serve,” KeyCorp Chairman and CEO Beth Mooney said.  “This transformational opportunity will bring compelling and complementary capabilities to our shared three million clients, while driving meaningful synergies and enhancing shareholder value. KeyBank and First Niagara both have values-based cultures and a long-term commitment to and experience with the region.”

Mooney, who began her banking career as a secretary at Republic Bank in Dallas, rose through the ranks in Texas before landing at Key Bank as a vice chair focused on community banking, next being named as CEO in 2011, making her the first female chief of a top-20 U.S. bank and quickly earning a slot at No. 96 on the Forbes list of the world’s 100 most powerful women.

The First Niagara Foundation is a not-for-profit charitable entity. Founded in 1998, the First Niagara Foundation is committed to supporting organizations in the communities in which we live and work, with specific focus on Youth and Education, Community Development and Neighborhood Revitalization.

“We have known First Niagara for a long time and have always been impressed by the quality of their people and their commitment to the community. We look forward to welcoming First Niagara clients and employees to Key,” added Mooney.

Latino, African-American Arts Organizations Face Steeper Climb to Sustain Success

Latino and African-American museums and performing arts organizations struggle to draw philanthropic support compared to other cultural institutions, creating "chronic financial difficulties" that sharply limit what they are able produce, according to a comprehensive new report, Diversity in the Arts. The study by the University of Maryland's DeVos Institute of Arts Management suggests that donors focus their giving on bigger grants for "a smaller cohort [of minority organizations] that can manage themselves effectively, make the best art, and have the biggest impact on their communities." The 51-page report was cited by the Los Angeles Times and reported in The Chronicle of Philanthropy.  The report said that minority-focused arts organizations’ most debilitating weakness has been difficulty in attracting private, individual donors, a demographic whose charitable giving far exceeds the grantmaking of foundations, corporations and government.

“In 2015 a large number of arts organizations of color are struggling, in some cases desperately,” says the report, overseen by Michael Kaiser, the veteran arts administrator and former Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts president who heads the DeVos Institute.  The report also recommended that “serious arts funders must address the need to develop pipelines to bring talented college graduates of color into the arts management field.”

Using 2013 tax returns, DeVos found that the 30 largest black and 30 largest Latino nonprofit arts groups had a median budget of $3.8 million, versus $61.1 million for 20 major general arts institutions. Minority entities reported getting 5 percent of their funding from individual donations, compared to a norm of 60 percent for other groups, the Times reported.

“There is an urgent need for philanthropic leaders to revise funding policies to account for changing demographics and the distinctive characteristics of organizations of color,” the report said.  Funders may need to support “a limited number of organizations,” the report stated, noting that “it might allow the sector to thrive by creating a group of strong, effective organizations of color that can serve as role models and training grounds for others.”

“The small staffs at many organizations of color are already stretched to the limit delivering their services and oftentimes struggle with reporting requirements set by institutional donors…A shift toward general operating support allows organizations to direct resources to where they are most needed while promoting sustainable capacity growth.”

The “Diversity in the Arts” report contains another potentially controversial finding: When large, mainstream arts organizations put on black- or Latino-themed performances or exhibitions, they siphon away artistic talent, donations and attendance from black and Latino companies, the Los Angeles Times reported. Kaiser called the study "a wake-up call" for arts funders.

A survey to which 29 of the 60 black and Latino arts groups in the study replied showed that the median percentage of donations coming from individuals was 5%. The norm is about 60% for big mainstream arts organizations.  “This is the most important single statistic in the study,” the report says.  Minority arts organizations also trailed when it came to box office receipts and other earned revenue. Earned money accounted for 40% of their revenue, compared with 59% for the big mainstream groups.

To develop its financial profile, the DeVos Institute used tax returns for what it ranked as the 30 largest African American and 30 largest Latino nonprofit arts groups nationwide, by budget, in the fields of theater, dance and museums. The institute compared them with 20 of the biggest general companies in those fields.

The study concludes by suggesting that “people look at the challenges of arts organizations of color in a new way.  And we hope that leaders of every community will feel moved to work together to ensure that the arts of every segment of our varied society are allowed to thrive.”

The DeVos Institute of Arts Management provides training, consultation and implementation support for arts managers and their boards.  It has been associated with the University of Maryland since 2014 but has its origins in the early 1960’s, and has served more than 1,000 organizations in 80 countries.

Innovative Efforts Receive Spotlight at Inaugural Ceremony Highlighting Energy Efficiency, Conservation

The Stamford 2030 District’s inaugural Change Makers Awards were presented this month, honoring projects and organizations excelling in four distinct areas: innovation in energy, water, transportation and sustainable technology. The awards ceremony captured some of the most innovative local project involving energy efficiency improvements, water retention methods and the promotion of safe multi-modal transportation. The award winners were:

• 400 Atlantic St. (The Landis Group) for Innovation in Energy;
• The Mill River Park and Greenway (Mill River Park Collaborative) for Innovation in Water;
• The Sharrow Network (city of Stamford and People Friendly Stamford) for Innovation in Transportation;
• Living Wall Project (JM Wright Technical School) for Innovation in Sustainability; and an honorable mention to 9 W. Broad St. Property LLC (Forstone) for its work with the C-PACE program.

The Stamford 2030 District is a collaborative, nationally recognized, but local community of high performance buildings in downtown Stamford that aims to dramatically reduce energy and water consumption and reduce emissions from transportation, while increasing competitiveness in the business environment and owners' returns on investment.

”We launched this program in October last year and it’s been amazing to see the commitment from the local community to start implementing changes," said Megan Saunders, Stamford 2030 executive director. "We went from zero to 34 members and have benchmarked six million square feet of their buildings. I’m excited to see what we’re able to collectively accomplish in the next year.”

The awards reception featured a keynote address by Brian Geller, founder of the first 2030 District and currently senior vice president, corporate sustainability, Citibank.  The evening also featured a tribute to the Stamford 2030 District’s first year of accomplishments and a sneak peek at next year’s plans.  Stamford 2030 is a collaboration between Connecticut Fund for the Environment, the Business Council of Fairfield County and a coalition of professional and community organizations.

“I would like to congratulate all of the members of Stamford 2030 for joining together to make vital changes for our community," said Stamford Mayor David Martin. "The partners in Stamford 2030 have really stepped up for the success and sustainability of our city and the surrounding area. And they are not alone. For our part, the city is committed to improving storm resiliency and moving forward with the Energy Improvement District. We believe these efforts are tied to our economic development and ability to attract people to Stamford while conserving important natural resources, all necessary for sustained growth and prosperity.”

The Stamford 2030 District is an interdisciplinary public-private-nonprofit collaborative working to create a groundbreaking high performance building district in downtown Stamford. With the Architecture 2030 Challenge providing property performance targets, the Stamford 2030 District seeks to prove that high performing buildings are the most profitable buildings in Stamford. District Members will do this by developing realistic, measurable, and innovative strategies to assist district property owners, managers, and tenants in meeting aggressive goals that keep properties and businesses competitive while operating buildings more efficiently, reducing costs, and reducing the environmental impacts of facility construction, operation, and maintenance.

2030 Districts are also operating in the cities of Seattle, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Denver, San Antonio, San Francisco, Dallas, Toronto and Albuquerque.

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Connecticut Businesses Encourage Voluntary Community Service on Company Time

Nearly two-thirds of Connecticut companies surveyed by the Connecticut Business & Industry Association report that they pay their employees for one or two days of volunteerism, another 17 percent offer three or four paid days, and 10 percent offer five or more paid days for employees to engage in community service activities. That data was included in the newly released 2015 Connecticut Corporate Giving Survey.  The survey includes nearly 200 businesses and has a margin of error of plus or minus 7.2 percent.

Among survey respondents, 57 percent say they are more likely to hire candidates who are active in their communities, and one-third say customers do business with them based in part on their reputation for good corporate citizenship.  Just over half, 53 percent, say they encourage or allow employees to volunteer on company time.

Community volunteering is very important for employees who seek a higher purpose in life and look for meaning, says Khadija Al Arkoubi, an assistant professor of management at the University of New Haven: "Companies that allow it improve their employees' engagement and well-being," Arkoubi told Fast Company magazine. "They also develop their soft skills including their leadership capabilities."

The Society for Human Resource Management surveys employers about the benefits they offer. In 2013, about 20 percent said they give their workers a bank of paid time off specifically for volunteering, up from 15 percent in 2009.

A UnitedHealth Group study in 2013 found that 87 percent of people who volunteered in the previous year said that volunteering had developed teamwork and people skills, and 81 percent agreed that volunteering together strengthens relationships among colleagues, Fast Company reported. In addition, four out of five employed people who volunteered in the past year said that they “feel better about their employer” because of the employer’s involvement in volunteer activities, according to the publication.

“It is encouraging to see that not only do many businesses provide incentives for employees to volunteer for area charities, but many voluntarily pay them for their efforts,” said Brian J. Flaherty, Senior Vice President of CBIA.  In the CBIA survey, nearly one-third of businesses (31%) said they recognize or reward employees for volunteer service.

CBIA is Connecticut’s leading business organization, with public policy staff working with state government to help shape specific laws and regulations to support job creation and make Connecticut’s business climate competitive.

Nearly 2/3 of Americans Have Confidence in Charities, But More Than 1/3 Don’t, Survey Reveals

Almost two-thirds of Americans have confidence in charities, according to a new poll by the Chronicle of Philanthropy — the first to measure public views on the subject since 2008. Although most expressed “a great deal” or “a fair amount” of confidence in charitable organizations and more than 80 percent said charities do a very good or somewhat good job helping people, dissatisfaction was also expressed.  A significant number voiced concern about finances: a third said charities do a "not too good" or "not at all good" job spending money wisely; and 6 in 10 said their leaders are paid too much, the Chronicle reported.

Half of those surveyed said that in deciding where they will donate, it is very important for them to know that charities spend a low amount on salaries, administration, and fundraising; 34 percent said that was somewhat important.  And 35 percent said they had little or no confidence in charities, the Chronicle underscored.

Maggie Gunther Osborn, President of the Connecticut Council for Philanthropy, points out that “in a new and positive era of transparency, better questions are being asked and more data provided about the positive impact of charities.  The sector is being asked to more openly communicate and be accountable to the public trust.  This is a good thing.”

“At the same time,” she added, “outliers and bad actors are publicized and amplified, tarnishing the sector and creating misinformation and incorrect perceptions.”

People who gave charities low marks on spending money wisely were asked what kind of spending they considered unwise. The biggest portion, 37 percent, cited salaries or other administrative costs. The second-highest answer, named by 11 percent, was advertising.

Mary Cahalane, a Connecticut-based nonprofit fundraising consultant and author of the blog Hands On Fundraising, said that “Charities need to do a better job explaining the importance of our work to the general public. Surveys like this are instructive.”

The Chronicle poll, conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, surveyed 1,000 adults in June, asking several questions identical to those included in polls that Princeton conducted from 2002 to 2008.

Americans rank charities higher than a range of other institutions. Fifteen percent said they had a great deal of confidence in charitable organizations over all, with 21 percent stating the same about charities in their own communities. Other institutions did not fare nearly as well.  In a June Gallup poll, only 4 percent said they had a great deal of confidence in Congress, 9 percent in big business, 10 percent in newspapers, and 12 percent in banks, public schools, and organized labor. The top scorers: the military (42 percent) and small business (34 percent), the Chronicle reported.

The survey found significant demographic differences in views toward charities. For example, young people were more positive than older people: 65 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds said they had a great deal or fair amount of confidence in charities, compared with 54 percent of people ages 65 and older. Republicans were more likely than Democrats to say nonprofits do a not-too-good or not-at-all-good job spending money wisely (38 percent and 22 percent, respectively), the Chronicle noted.

“Even the politicians are trying to highlight outliers in the sector to make statements about the whole which are creating false perceptions and in fact end up undermining the social purpose sector and creating false understandings,” Osborn explained.

“It also undermines the ability of the sector to continue to care for the most vulnerable, lift up and advance our society through the arts and education and create ways to deal with safety, environmental and health shifts of enormous impact on our daily lives,” she continued.  “The majority of people, who have factual information or just faith, support and believe in the powerful good of the sector.”

Cahalane also noted three thoroughly debunked myths about charities, which nonetheless remain widely held, are reflected in the survey results:

• Myth #1: Charities should spend every dollar on direct service. This has been called the “overhead myth”. Services can’t happen without administrative and fundraising support. Charities should spend money wisely, but looking at a ratio of service versus administration expenses is not wise. The largest watchdog groups have realized this, she points out.
• Myth #2: Nonprofit staff don’t deserve to be paid for their work. Many staff people have years of specialized experience and skill. This is their profession, and they deserve to be paid fairly for their work. If charities are to run well, skilled people are needed to do the work. A few egregious examples of high executive salaries shouldn’t fool anyone: most in the industry make considerably less than they would in the for-profit world, Cahalane explains.
• Myth #3: People make giving decisions based on low salaries or administrative costs. Most do not. Most give to organizations that make a good case for giving - organizations that move their hearts and align with their values, she emphasized.

When asked in the survey about factors that influence their giving, the biggest portion, 68 percent, said it is very important the charity has evidence that its programs are effective. The other factors, in addition to the 50 percent who favored low overhead spending: the charity gets good ratings from watchdogs, 54 percent; it works on a cause that has affected me or my loved ones, 39 percent; it only occasionally asks for money, 27 percent; and I know people who work there, 24 percent.

In the survey, women had more confidence than men (66 percent to 57 percent) in charitable organizations, and college graduates had more than those with just some college (73 percent to 56 percent).  In 2008, 64 percent said they had a great deal or a fair amount of confidence in charities, compared with 62 percent in the new poll.

Update:  Additional Resource

Early Childhood Data Aims to Helps Pre-K Learners in Hartford, West Hartford Neighborhoods

Long before a child steps into a Kindergarten classroom, they are getting ready for school. How ready they are on day one, and how local policies can influence that preparedness, is the focus of an initiative in Greater Hartford that has proven to be successful in communities around the world. In partnership with the public school districts and municipal leadership of Hartford and West Hartford, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving is piloting the use of the Early Development Instrument (EDI) to gauge the learning readiness of incoming Kindergarteners from different neighborhoods.

Recognizing that families and caregivers are the first teachers— and homes and neighborhoods are the first learning environments – the EDI process strives to discern what works best.  The EDI is an assessment that provides population-level data by neighborhood on school readiness, and has been used in over 40 communities in the United States and extensively internationally.

“Positive relationships and supportive environments guide a young child’s development and provide the foundation for future learning and well-being,” said Richard Sussman, director of Early Childhood Investments at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving. “While the EDI provides important data, the most impactful aspect of this project is the collective action strategy which encourages parents, residents, and communities to use data to make positive changes to support young children and families in their neighborhoods.”

Last year, after students had been in class for at least three months, Kindergarten teachers in Hartford, West Hartford, and Jumoke Academy filled out a comprehensive questionnaire regarding the social competence; emotional maturity; language and cognitive skills; physical health and well-being; and communication skills of each of their students.  Approximately 2500 kindergarten students were included, representing about 85 percent of the kindergarten-age population of Hartford and West Hartford.

EDI looks at the whole population of children in a neighborhood; it is not a diagnostic tool for individual children or a means to evaluate individual teachers or programs. The process enables local leaders to develop customized solutions designed specifically for their communities. It identifies obstacles facing children in individual neighborhoods and builds improvement strategies around resources that already exist, officials point out.

The Hartford Foundation worked in partnership with Trinity College’s Cities and Suburbs and Schools Project, the Connecticut Data Collaborative, and the University of Connecticut’s Mapping and Geographic Information Center (MAGIC) to analyze and visualize the data to help communities examine outcomes in the context of neighborhoods, socioeconomic and community resources. This information can be accessed by logging on to edi.ctdata.org.

It is hoped that this work will be shared broadly with key stakeholders in the community including local municipal officials to create dialogue that focuses on using limited resources more effectively to support young children and families.

The Foundation has trained community residents and community-based organizations in Hartford to interpret the EDI data and lead discussions in Hartford neighborhood. Several parent-led “community cafés” focused on analyzing neighborhood data have already taken place with a half dozen additional  cafés and follow-up meetings scheduled, to take closer looks at specific data and steps to improve outcomes for young children. 

The Hartford Foundation has developed a brochure in English and Spanish for local residents that explains the background, purpose and methodology of the Early Development Instrument. This brochure can be downloaded at hfpg.org.  At present, over 40 communities nationwide work with UCLA on the EDI project and the university center works with its international colleagues in Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom where the instrument is used widely.

The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving is the community foundation for Hartford and 28 surrounding communities. In 2015, the Foundation marks ninety years of grant making in the Greater Hartford region, made possible by the gifts of generous individuals, families and organizations. It has awarded grants of more than $620 million since its founding in 1925.