What's New at CAPLAW?

New Resource: Weatherproofing CAA Bylaws: Preparing for Emergency Governance

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to present numerous challenges for CAAs that impact existing governance structures and practices related to board meetings, board member terms and selection, authority to take action, and more. CAPLAW created this resource to help CAAs prepare their bylaws for future emergencies and avoid the significant problems that result from failing to comply with the rules that govern the organization.

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New Resource: Do's and Don'ts of Workplace COVID-19 Vaccinations

As CAAs continue to adapt and evolve in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, their strategies for protecting employees from serious illness resulting from COVID-19 has shifted from mitigating the risk of transmission via measures like PPE and social distancing to promoting vaccinations. This article provides guidance for CAAs that want to encourage employee vaccinations and offers some key do’s and don’ts as they engage in vaccine-related efforts.

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New Resource: Preserving the Low-Income Voice: Snapshots of Democratic Selection Procedures in a Pandemic

In this collection of snapshots, CAPLAW presents the experiences of CAAs that successfully recruited and elected new low-income sector representatives to their board during the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope their stories will inspire other CAAs to consider innovative methods of engaging their communities and complying with tripartite board requirements throughout the pandemic, and beyond.

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Updated Case Studies: Raising the Low-Income Voice: Case Studies in Democratic Selection Procedures

CAPLAW’s case studies provide an in-depth view of the various ways CAAs are meeting the CSBG Act’s requirement that the low-income sector of the tripartite board be selected in accordance with “democratic selection procedures." We updated these case studies in 2021 to show how these CAAs adapted their existing democratic selection procedures in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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New FAQ: Unlocking the Potential of the Tripartite Board Private Sector

CAAs have the opportunity to leverage certain flexibilities when filling private sector seats on their tripartite boards. This FAQ seeks to answer key questions about identifying, recruiting, and selecting private sector members and groups to serve on the tripartite board, and to present ways CAAs can utilize the private sector seats to boost board capacity.

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New Case Studies: Leadership During Crisis: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic

CAPLAW and the National Community Action Partnership have developed two case studies focused on the ability of CAAs to respond to unique challenges and effectively govern themselves during difficult times.

Pro Action of Steuben and Yates
Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission

News for Community Action

Coronavirus Updates for the Community Action Network

CAPLAW is closely monitoring the coronavirus outbreak and impacts on the Community Action network. See the latest developments and funding source guidance here. (Last updated September 10, 2021).

Recently Updated:
Building Readiness: Planning, Prevention, Response, and Liability
CARES Act Benefits for Nonprofit CAAs

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Final Uniform Guidance Revisions Issued

On August 13, 2020, the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released its final guidance revising sections of the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards. This is the first major revision of the Uniform Guidance since its publication in 2014, and contains changes that will affect how federal grant recipients administer their federal funds. Read more.

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Free Upcoming Webinars

Dashboard: Making Your Data Work for You
Presented by: Propel Nonprofits
Date: Wednesday, September 22, 2021
Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EDT
Learn how to make your data–from community impact to financial information–more digestible and useful for making decisions. This webinar will cover the purpose and use of dashboard reports, the components of useful dashboard reports, and share some examples.

Get Your Board to Help You Fundraise
Presented by: Firespring
Date: Tuesday, September 28, 2021
Time: 3:00 PM EDT
Are you a nonprofit trying to fundraise? You have a board–and believe it or not, your board should function as a fundraising machine. This fundraising webinar will cover how to assess your board’s fundraising personality, motivate your board members to fundraise, set goals and kick off campaigns, create individual plans they’ll rock, track without nagging, and use goal attainment as board engagement.

Where Does Governance Stop and Management Begin?
Presented by: Propel Nonprofits
Date: Wednesday, October 20, 2021
Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EDT
A nonprofit’s board and staff need to be collaborative partners to achieve the mission of the organization. However, there are times when roles and responsibilities become blurred. This webinar will help clarify where governance stops and management begins.

Executive Directors Chat: Fundraising & Visual Storytelling
Presented by: TechSoup
Date: Wednesday, October 20, 2021
Time: 1:00 PM EDT
Visual storytelling is more than photos and video. Your communication strategy should think about all the things that go into social media, newsletters, and website design, and everything you do should have a good story within your visual presentation. This also includes your fundraising strategy.