Interpreting America’s Historic Places grants support public humanities projects that exploit the evocative power of historic places to explore stories, ideas, and beliefs that deepen our understanding of our lives and our world. The Division of Public Programs supports the development of humanities content and interactivity that excite, inform, and stir thoughtful reflection upon culture, identity, and history in creative and new ways. Interpreting America’s Historic Places projects may interpret a single historic site or house, a series of sites, an entire neighborhood, a town or community, or a larger geographical region. Grants for Interpreting America’s Historic Places should encourage dialogue, discussion, and civic engagement, and they should foster learning among people of all ages. To that end, the Division of Public Programs urges applicants to consider more than one format for presenting humanities ideas to the public.
NONPROFIT GOVERNANCE & THE REVISED IRS FORM 990 - A SERIES OF FIVE WEBINARS DESIGNED TO HELP YOU FILL IN THE BLANKS.
Your organization’s Form 990 is one of your most important documents. It is the world’s window into your organization. The IRS, donors, funders and the press review your Form 990 to determine such information as:
-Do you have an independent board of directors overseeing your operations?
-Does your organization maintain high ethical standards and a culture of transparency for your donors, volunteers, clients and employees?
-How much of each donation does your organization pay its outside fundraisers and how much does it keep for its mission?
-Is your executive compensation in line with organizations in your area of similar size and with a similar mission?
In recent years the IRS has adopted a specific focus on nonprofit governance as part of its oversight of nonprofits exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The revised Form 990 requires nonprofits to describe in detail their governance practices, including such issues as how the nonprofits manage conflicts of interest and set executive compensation.
The five-part webinar series is designed to help you understand and comply with the new disclosure requirements. Each webinar in this series will discuss in-depth one of the new disclosure requirements. It will assist you in developing policies and procedures that will allow your organization to follow best practices and help inspire confidence in your funders and the general public that your organization is well run.
This series is designed for members of the board of directors and senior executives of nonprofits, as well as attorneys that counsel nonprofit organizations on governance matters.
The webinars are held once a month. They begin at 9 am and last approximately 60 minutes – and you never have to leave your office! Please feel free to forward this invitation to your nonprofit partners. For more details, please click here. To register, please click here.
ICW "In Conversation" series presents:
Telling Stories: Oral History as Research and Archives
Friday, December 4, 2009
Noon to 1pm
The Overseers’ Room, Huntington Library
A conversation between historian David Igler of UC Irvine and:
-Lisa Rubens, Historian and Academic Specialist at the Regional Oral History Office, a research unit of The Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley
-Ana Elizabeth Rosas, a Postdoctoral Ford Foundation Fellow in the department of Black Studies at UC Santa Barbara
-Natalie Fousekis, Director of Cal State Fullerton’s Center for Oral and Public History (COPH) and an Associate Professor in the History Department
This seminar will explore the use of oral history as a research method and the basis of many recent path-breaking historical studies. How and when should scholars conduct oral histories? What are the limitations of oral histories as source material? What are the best oral history archives in California? Three scholars will discuss the possibilities and problems associated with oral history.
This conversation is part of a brown bag luncheon series sponsored by ICW.
The event is open to any who wish to attend, and a limited number of lunches will be available upon a first come/first served basis. To reserve a seat, please respond to Kim Matsunaga at kmatsuna@usc.edu by November 30.
SAN FERNANDO VALLEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
&
CULTUAZTLAN
INVITE YOU TO
CELEBRATE
FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO RESERVE ALTAR SPACE
818.257.4072 OR 818.448.0511
The tour is part of The Sixties Turn 50, the Conservancy and ModCom's nine-month program celebrating Greater L.A.'s rich legacy of 1960s architecture. If your organization is holding a sixties-related event between now and June 2010, let us know and we'll add it to our calendar! (E-mail Cindy Olnick at colnick@laconservancy.org).
Click here for tour details and tickets. Hope to see you there!
Revised form 990 Seminar offered October 22, 2009
Public Counsel’s Community Development Project is co-sponsoring a free seminar, called “The Revised Form 990 – Preparing For A New World,” on October 22, 2009 from 7:30 AM – 12:30 PM. The seminar will be hosted at the offices of DLA Piper LLP in Los Angeles, 550 South Hope Street, Suite 2300, Los Angeles, CA 90071. As you know, the redesigned IRS Form 990 significantly changes the reporting requirements for many nonprofit organizations. Now, the IRS wants to know in more detail how your organization sets executive compensation and how much it is paying its executives; how it handles potential conflicts of interest; and whether it has a record retention policy, independent directors and a whistleblower policy. This seminar is designed to walk you through all the new requirements so you will be prepared when you have to file the revised form. Please click here for more details, including RSVP information.
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SAMPLE FORM 990 POLICIES NOW AVAILABLE
Through the release of the revised Form 990, the IRS indicated its intent to continue its scrutiny of the corporate governance policies and procedures of nonprofit organizations. One of the changes to the new Form 990 is that it includes a new section on corporate governance which asks, among other things, whether the organization has adopted a written conflict of interest policy, a whistleblower policy and a document retention policy. Although not required by tax law, the IRS increasingly views such policies and good governance practices as a means to establishing transparency and ensuring compliance.
Public Counsel’s Community Development Project, with the support of the Annenberg Foundation, has designed a sample conflict of interest policy, whistleblower policy and document retention policy for nonprofit organizations seeking to adopt or amend such policies and the pro bono attorneys who represent them. These samples are annotated with explanatory endnotes, including citations to applicable laws, alternatives and recommended practices. To access these sample policies, please click on the links below.
Conflict of Interest Policy – www.publiccounsel.org/cdp/coi_policy.pdf
Whistleblower Policy – www.publiccounsel.org/cdp/wb_policy.pdf
Records Management and Retention Policy – www.publiccounsel.org/cdp/records_policy.pdf
On October 4th at 4:00 PM join us for a special living history presentation of Paving the Way: The Stories Behind the Names of L.A.'s Streets.
See the characters from Heritage Square’s latest exhibit come to life before your very eyes. Witness as they recount their various tales of fame, fortune, heartache and triumph. Stick around after the presentation to discover why the streets we all travel today are named after these fascinating individuals.
Admission to this very special presentation is $10 for the general public and free for museum members. Seating is limited, so be sure to RSVP by calling (323) 225-2700 ext. 221.
Paving the Way: The Stories Behind the Names of L.A.’s Streets is generously supported by Morley Builders and curated by Mitzi M. Mogul and Laura Meyers.
Celebrating 40 Years of Preservation and Interpretation of the History of Southern California, Heritage Square is an open-air, living history museum dedicated to telling the story of the development of Los Angeles. Heritage Square Museum is located at 3800 Homer Street, off the 110 Arroyo Seco Parkway (110/Pasadena Freeway) at Avenue 43, just north of downtown Los Angeles. For further information, visit our website at www.heritagesquare.org or the museum blog at heritagesquare.blogspot.com.
The L.A. Community Development Department is offering free classes for non-profits in or serving the City of Los Angeles. From their site:
You are invited to participate in a FREE training series created to instruct individuals starting a non-profit, and to enhance the effectiveness of existing non-profits, including faith-based. The invitees to the series are those whose intent and services are to enhance the lives of poor and low to moderate income children, youth and families living in the City of Los Angeles.
Space is limited and reservations will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis. Food/Refreshments provided.
They offer two tracks of topics, but you don't need to attend all of the classes.
On Fridays, they office Specialty Topics from 9am to 12pm and on Thursdays, the offer Basic Series from 9am to 4:30pm.Click on the above titles for the topic details, dates, locations, and registration information, or contact David Thompson at David.L.Thompson@lacity.org or 213-744-7140.
September 10, 2009
Today, the City Planning Commission voted 7-1 to approve the staff recommendation on the proposed amendments to the Cultural Heritage Ordinance.
Most of the discussion focused on the review of interior spaces in Historic-Cultural Monuments. The Commission supported the staff recommendation, which emerged from meetings of a Working Group on Interiors, to go back to the status quo on interior review. Under this proposal, all interior permits would continue to be referred to the Cultural Heritage Commission and the Office of Historic Resources for review, as has occurred since 1962. As in the current ordinance, the CHC could not deny approval of interior work altogether: it could only object to the issuance of the permit for no more than 180 days, with a possible 180-day extension of the objection period upon approval of the City Council.
We felt that this compromise lessened any potential burden on property owners, while still protecting Monuments whose significant interiors are often inseparable from the building's overall architectural significance. The new ordinance would require that exterior work, additions, or new construction be subject to a "Certificate of Appropriateness" that could be denied. The ordinance version approved today also maintains our staff recommendation to enhance protections for historic properties by giving the Cultural Heritage Commission the power to deny demolition requests for
Monuments.
Next, the ordinance will go to the City Attorney for review and possible refinement. The City Planning Commission also voted to request that the City Attorney and Department of City Planning staff review and refine how the Cultural Heritage Ordinance provisions will interact with requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Because these reviews may take a few months, we anticipate that the ordinance may not proceed to the Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee and City Council for final approval until early 2010.Ken Bernstein
Museums are a vibrant force in our communities. They play an important role in helping people experience and understand our world and in educating individuals of all ages. Recognizing the important contributions and educational value of museums, MetLife Foundation has awarded grants totaling over $25 million in recent years to museums across the country.
MetLife Foundation created the Museum and Community Connections program in 2007 with the objective of strengthening communities, broadening programming and promoting museums as centers of education without boundaries. The program has awarded $2 million in grants during the 2007 and 2008 funding cycles.
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
In 2009, under Museum and Community Connections, MetLife Foundation expects to award grants totaling $1 million. The purpose of the program is to encourage art museums to reach out to large numbers of people of all ages and backgrounds through imaginative programs and/or exhibits that help us understand and appreciate each other and our world.
Chatsworth, known as Los Angeles' last frontier town, plays host to Pioneer Day on October 4, 2009 from 11am to 4pm. This annual event is hosted by the Chatsworth Historical Society at the Minnie Palmer Homestead Acre nestled in the foothills of the Santa Susana Pass. The event features a chili cook-off for amateur chefs, exhibits and displays in the Chatsworth Museum and Homestead Cottage; panning for gold; blacksmithing; Indian artifacts; woodcarvers and rockchippers; "chores of yore"; food and entertainment; and lots more!State Controller John Chiang is hosting a free tax seminar for non-profits and exempt organizations on Friday, September 11, 2009 from 9:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. in Los Angeles.
Topics Include:
The New Form 990
Compliance for Existing Non Profit Organizations
Employment Taxes
Recent Developments in Charity Law
Sales and Use Tax for Non Profit Organizations.
This is a valuable resource you should take advantage of. All the details are at the State Controller's site, and you must RSVP.
The Museum of the San Fernando Valley is pleased to present another historic walking tour of North Hollywood “NoHo.” The Target Field Trip Grants program provides funds for K-12 field trips in
order to give students throughout the country the opportunity to explore more of
the world outside the classroom. For the 2009-2010 school year, 5,000 grants of
up to $800 each will be awarded to educators, teachers, principals,
paraprofessionals, and classified staff who are employed by accredited K-12
public, private, or charter schools. Types of eligible field trips include art,
science, and cultural museum visits; community service and civic projects; and
career enrichment opportunities. Funds may be used to cover trip-related costs
such as transportation, ticket fees, resource materials, and supplies. Online
applications will be available from August 5 through November 3, 2009.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 17, 2009
For further information contact:
Dana Saal, Conference Manager
217.528.2460 or dana@apti.org
Nathela Chatara, Administrative Director
217.529.9039 or info@apti.org
APT LA 2009 Conference Registration Open
The Association for Preservation Technology International (APT) is accepting registrations for its Annual Conference scheduled for November 2–6, 2009 in Los Angeles, CA, USA. Registration can be completed on-line at www.apti.org. Rates increase after September 7 and again after October 18.
Los Angeles represents the quintessential American city of the late 19th and 20th centuries. Technological and social changes allowed an interconnected, yet scattered, collection of towns and villages to grow (sprawl) into one of the world’s major metropolitan regions comprising five counties; more than 200 towns, cities, and municipalities; and more than 15 million residents. At the hub of this metropolitan agglomeration, Los Angeles invites rigorous debate between those seeing an urban utopia—complete with fast cars, movies stars, high-tech jobs, surf boards, fruit orchards, and mountain resorts—and those who envision a dystopian nightmare of race riots, air pollution, traffic jams, endless sprawl, and rapidly increasing density. Somewhere in the middle, for better or worse, lies the real Los Angeles, the model for the post-war 20th century American metropolis and (sometimes considered jaded) blueprint for the World City.
Now that we have moved into the 21st Century, both philosophical and pragmatic questions arise regarding the conservation and management of the World City…
The APT LA 2009 Conference in Los Angeles will address the scientific, engineering and technical ramifications of preserving the modern metropolis and its expansive body of historic resources through the four Conference tracks in the program.
Conference Highlights
Keynote Speaker
Tuesday, November 3
Preservation in an Age of Economic Challenge—More Necessary Than Ever
Kevin Starr, University Professor and Professor of History at the University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA, USA, will argue that the preservation of historic structures at a time of economic challenge, such as we are now experiencing, makes more than mere economic sense.
College of Fellows Lecture
Wednesday, November 4
“First Principles” in the Conservation of Asia’s Heritage: Lessons Learned from the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Conservation Awards Competition
Richard A. Engelhardt, UNESCO Charge de Mission, Senior Advisor to the UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture, UNESCO Professor of Heritage Management, will discuss how we balance the preservation of the unique heritage significant of our built environment with the transformations required by modernization and sustainable development.
Paper Sessions
Wednesday, November 4 and Thursday, November 5
The peer-reviewed paper presentations will feature experts discussing their work in four tracks:
Workshops and Symposium
Monday, November 2–Tuesday, November 3
Workshops offer hands-on experience in
The symposium—Capturing the Past for Future Use: Integrating Documentation with Repair, Design and Construction Practice in Historic Buildings—will establish the background context for recording of existing buildings, and introduce the state of the art in the documentation techniques, as they relate to the design and management of change to historic buildings.
Field Sessions
APT Field Sessions offer participants the opportunity to see unique aspects of the conference host region while gaining valuable insight into local preservation history. This year the choices are:
Wednesday, November 4
Friday, November 6
Tours
APT Tours offer participants a glimpse into LA just for fun:
Tuesday, November 3
Invitation
All industry professionals—preservationists, architects, engineers, conservators, consultants, contractors, craftspersons, curators, developers, educators, historians, landscape architects, students, technicians, scientists, and others—are invited to join APT in this culturally-rich city where you can learn about the latest in preservation technology from around the world. Registration can be completed on-line at www.apti.org.
Created in 1968 in Québec as a joint venture between preservationists in Canada and the United States, APT continues to be the premier international outlet for sharing technical preservation information. Headquartered in Springfield, Illinois, APT is a nonprofit organization in both the US and Canada, with regional chapters across the continent and in Australia.
