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The Larson Report, copyright
2008
Allen R. Larson,
Yarmouth Port,
Massachusetts.
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April 5, 2017
Is it
time to establish a capital fund to help finance Cape Cods
infrastructure needs?
Life as we have
known it on Cape Cod is changing. The scale and complexity of the
regional problems that now confront us far exceed the financial capacity
of our governing institutions to implement solutions.
Environmentally, this disconnect has long been evident as weve wrestled
with how best to handle solid waste disposal and the treatment of
wastewater. Now, apart from the Capes demonstrated commitment to
protecting the Capes groundwater and air quality, federal and state
regulatory agencies are pressing our regional agencies to design and
implement affordable remedies without delay.
Economically, weve long valued the importance of our tourist economy as
weve also looked to incorporate into our economic base some of the
opportunities presented by advances in technology. For more than two
decades, initiatives like the Silicon Sandbar, Open Cape, the Highlands
Center, and the current Cape Cod Blue Economy Project have been stalled
by the difficulty of accessing necessary capital.
Other capital needs add to these financial pressures. We need to fund
treatment centers to combat and destigmatize substance abuse. We also
need to expand the availability of affordable housing, in part to retain
a Cape-based workforce.
Until now, weve often addressed regional concerns by taking collective
actions, such as purchasing open tracts of land to combat sprawl or
implementing regulations, such as the Title V septic system
requirements, that affect the actions of individual property owners. Now
these types of limited actions are insufficient. They are dwarfed by the
scale of the problems we confront. This disconnect between what we need
to do and what we have the financial capacity to do stymies our efforts
to act effectively.
In the past, weve put our heads together and come up with creative
solutions. In the 1980s, the formation of the Barnstable County Assembly
of Delegates, the establishment of a regional land bank, and the
creation of the Cape Cod Commission were responses to large-scale growth
pressures. In the 1990s, the Cape worked well with state and federal
governments to protect the 15,000 acre water reserve at Joint Base Cape
Cod.
Now, we need now to build upon this legacy. One idea to consider is to
establish a capital trust fund of regional scope. Whether or not such a
fund realistically could be a source of financing for regional projects
is not clear. To answer that question, we need to define the minimum
level of funding that would be necessary. We also need to define from
where the revenue to establish such a fund would be derived. While the
answers to these questions are yet to be determined, one thing is clear:
if we are to improve our ability to sustain Cape Cod, we need to get a
handle on how we will come up with the wherewithal to do so.
The op-ed above is a
consensus statement from the Cape Cod Business Roundtable, which is
chaired by Alan McClennen. Allen Larson was the principal author.
It was originally published in the Cape Cod Times on April 5, 2017.
Establishing a Management Support Organization
to Serve the Nonprofit Sector
by Allen Larson
The article below,
"Establishing a Management Support Organization to Serve the Nonprofit
Sector," was first published here and in the Cape Cod Times
in December 2003. We are reprinting it now, in October 2008,
because the current turmoil in the financial markets has the
nonprofit sector heading into a serious financial storm.
Last week, in an article published on September 22 and linked to in the
box above, the Boston Globe highlighted that nonprofits will face
constrained giving by their usual funding sources. There's no time to
dawdle now. We need to come together and find ways that reduce costs and
potentially add new sources of revenue.
One way would be to promote the existence of the Community Directory and
its list of individuals interested to be engaged in the Cape community.
This is something we had not developed at the time of the first printing
of the article below in December of 2003.
Another way would be to become part of the Massachusetts Nonprofit
Network (MassNonprofitNet.org), which also did not exist in 2003 and is something that is
patterned after discussions that we helped prompt at that time about the
need to collaborate.
The Massachusetts Nonprofit Network (MassNonprofitNet.org) is hosting its first conference
October 24 at Bentley College, for which Gloria Larson, the president of
Bentley, will be giving the keynote address. The
conference will be organized similarly to the Volunteer Expos the Cape Cod Center
for Sustainability has held in the past.
* *
*
Revised and updated from the first version originally published in
December 2003:
Sustaining Cape Cod involves a lot more than attention to the Cape's
natural environment. Equally important are the people who live here, the
factors that affect their ability to make a living and to use each day
to fulfill their interests and ambitions. In this context, one sector of
the Cape's economy that tends to be overlooked is the region's active
and extensive nonprofit sector.
Over the past several years, the Center for Sustainability has been
working with many of the nonprofit organizations that direct their
efforts to serving Cape Cod and its residents. These organizations
define their missions in terms of the economy, the environment, health
concerns, and social welfare. Many have been struggling recently. Some
have even closed. These events compel the effort to determine if there
is anything to do.
From these discussions and observations, we've concluded that there is
an outline of an idea that merits closer scrutiny by others who have
knowledge and expertise. We suggest that there is a void in the
nonprofit sector that could be filled and lead to improved
administrative and operational efficiency. Doing so would provide
economic and operational benefits that could help sustain our nonprofit
sector.
Common organizational tasks provide the context in which technology
advances as well as specialized professional services could be used in
ways that would save money by realizing efficiencies of scale and by
providing access to a deeper reserve of managerial experience and
counsel. These savings could be applied to the programmatic purposes for
which any particular charity was formed. (continued)

Photographs of
Harry Jr.
and his sister Sally
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June 2017
Yarmouth Port,
Massachusetts
The Service Nation Day of
Action was on Saturday, September 27, 2008. Some of the participating
organizations are listed below. Their needs for volunteers and donations
continue on; please contact them if you can help.
ServiceNation:
"Uniting Americans in common cause. Tackling our greatest social
challenges. Citizens giving back to community and country: We are
building a national movement to inspire a new era of citizen service in
America. ServiceNation is a campaign by the people, for the people, and
of the people. It launches September 11, and we need your help."
City Year:
"Give a Year. Change the World."
Be the Change:
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world. Gandhi."
Civic
Enterprises, LLC: "Civic Enterprises is a public policy firm that
helps corporations, nonprofits, foundations, universities, and
governments develop and spearhead innovative public policies to
strengthen our communities and country."
Points of Light
Volunteers
of America
New Profit Inc.: "New Profit
helps visionary entrepreneurs and their organizations bring about
widespread and transformative impact on critical social problems."
And close to home:
massnonprofit.org:
"Inform, share, thrive: We provide information about the nonprofit
sector in Massachusetts. Check in frequently to be informed."
Cape Cod Center for
Sustainability: Helps nonprofits sustain their activities
And the Larson Report's BarnRaisers
section on resources for nonprofits, especially its list of local
nonprofits, all of which are always in need of volunteers.
September 11, 2001
Sustainability:
Community Indictors: Media Reporting of Community Indicators
Reports, a blog that tracks reports in the media on the use of
sustainability indicators in local communities
A Day in
the Life of
Cape Cod's
Nonprofits
Opportunity Expo
Ecology
Project International (EPI):
EPI involves student groups,
individuals, and families in authentic field research that catalyzes
conservation, science education, and intercultural exchange. Our
programs engage local residents and international students in field
research; inspire learning about science, culture, and communication;
and empower citizens to engage in the world around them make a
difference. EPI operates educational programs in Missoula, Montana (the
Yellowstone Ecology Program); on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica; on
the Baja California Sur; and the Galapagos Islands (a province of
Ecuador).
Interested to make
a donation to a local charity? You might find the
information you need to do that from the Larson Report's list of Web sites
for local charities:
BarnRaisers.
Super Tuesday
The Boston
Foundation's
Boston Indicators
Project
Ecology Project
International
Sustaining Cape
Cod
New England Energy
Alliance (NEEA)
Blue H
Technologies
Nuclear Energy
Institute (NEI)
The Wind Farm: A
Discussion
Video Recording of the
Discussion
Moderator's
Report: Winds of Change
Afterword:
The Need for Fresh Air
Cape Wind:
Energy for Life
Save
Our Sound:
Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound
Cape Cod
Museum
of Natural History
Cape Cod Center
for Sustainability
TeenAIDS PeerCorps: "TeenAIDS
is devoted to helping teenagers pass the news about HIV and AIDS among
their generation to save the lives of family, friends and neighbors.
Our PeerCorps is a voluntary program for teens that is not government-run
or funded. . . . Our organization's message is simple:
HIV/AIDS is now infecting youth here in America and worldwide.
The
PeerCorps' mission is life-saving: to empower teens to protect themselves
and their best friends from HIV. We use a combination of personal
contact and the Internet to spread our message locally and globally.
Our
program . . . emphasizes medically sound information and peer
responsibility."
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