by Patty Ryan
Most people who don’t work in the nonprofit community in West Virginia are unfamiliar with the Neighborhood Investment Program (NIP). The NIP is a program of the State of West Virginia Development Office, which provides a limited number of tax credits to nonprofit organizations to use for fundraising efforts.
Here’s how it works: Nonprofit organizations apply to the Development Office for these tax credits. Organizations that are awarded tax credits are provided a specific number of credits to use for fundraising for their approved program. Those tax credits are then given to donors (individuals or corporations) that make a gift of $500 or more to the organization for the approved program. Most participating organizations give 50% tax credits to each donor.
Approved programs may include disaster relief, food security, housing, health care, domestic violence shelters, educational programs and many more. Each year the state is authorized to issue $3 million in tax credits, despite the receiving $6.5 million in requests. Additionally, the program participants pay a processing fee on each donation, which offsets the administrative costs of the program.
There are 15,883 nonprofit organizations that have benefited from using this fundraising tool since it was introduced in 1996. It is currently the only charitable giving incentive in West Virginia. This program is up for renewal and potential expansion during the current legislative session.
In 2020, and now into 2021, many nonprofits have found it challenging to raise funds due to the restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The West Virginia Nonprofit Association conducted a survey that found 90% of the state’s nonprofits have either been unable to hold fundraising events or have had to cancel revenue-generating programs, resulting in significant declines in revenue.
As uncertainty grows about whether, when and if we can continue these events in 2021, nonprofits across West Virginia are looking to the NIP for an increase in the available credits to help soften the blows that revenue losses have caused.
The NIP is one of the few programs that has provided support at a time when West Virginians have needed it the most, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The NIP is the only state incentive for charitable giving and the program impacts at least 200 nonprofits and serves more than 600,000 people (about one-third of the state’s population) in all 55 counties.
Locally, organizations participating in the program include Christian Help; Libera; Milan Puskar Health Right; Mon Valley Habitat for Humanity; Mon County Child Advocacy Center; Mon County Literacy Volunteers; Stepping Stones; PACE Enterprises; Rape and Domestic Violence Information Center; Spark! Imagination and Science Center; Scotts Run Settlement House; West Virginia Fund for Law in the Public Interest; and West Virginia University Hospital.
We ask Gov. Justice and the West Virginia Legislature to renew the Neighborhood Investment Program and expand the maximum tax credits certification in any state fiscal year to $5 million. This expansion of the credit is desperately needed during these unprecedented times.
Patty Ryan is the president of Your Community Foundation of North Central West Virginia, Inc.
