Public-Private Partnerships Even More Important Now

On June 1 this newspaper reported “Miami-Dade is facing a $174 million decrease in property tax revenue after the county announced its tax roll had declined for the first time in 16 years…[C]ounty services will have to be cut and some departments could be eliminated.”

And Miami-Dade is not alone. Here and across the nation increasingly important public-private partnerships between governments and non-profit organizations are stepping in to bridge the funding gap and raise funds for services our governments can’t afford to provide. Without these partnerships and without community support for them programs and services that we value highly would be lost.

We all need to recognize the enormity of this challenge. If contributors to these non-profit organizations cut back on giving at the same time government funding is shrinking this double whammy could be the end of many of these  vital programs. Rather than scale back private and corporate donors in our community must rededicate ourselves to supporting the programs we care so much about.

These organizations are everywhere in South Florida.  Many fueled by donations from individuals and corporations and led by committed volunteers have been quietly helping to keep essential community services funded for decades.

Friends of WLRN for example is an independent non-profit that since 1974 has helped fund South Florida’s public radio and television stations WLRN-FM and WLRN-TV. Started by the stations’ general manager Don McCullough this independent organization was conceived as a way to close funding gaps and to supplement the dollars received from Miami-Dade County Public Schools which owns the stations’ licenses.

As WLRN evolved and gained listeners and viewers Friends grew as well. Currently more than 16000 South Floridians are members of Friends of WLRN contributing to support this community resource. Leaders from some of the community’s top professional firms educational institutions and corporations contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of their time each year. In the fiscal year that ends this month Friends is forecast to provide nearly $5 million in operating funds to WLRN.  That’s about a third of the stations’ budget and growing each year. Miami-Dade County Public Schools contributes another third with the remainder coming from grants.

Voices for Children is another example where deeply committed community leaders recognized that the government wasn’t funding a critical need. Twenty-five years ago three judges in the Children’s Court and a group of Guardians saw that many of the abused and neglected children in Miami-Dade County were not represented by a Guardian Ad Litem advocate an adult appointed by a judge to be the voice of that child in an overburdened legal and social service system. Because the State wasn’t meeting this need these leaders created an independent non-profit to raise funds to ensure that every abused and neglected child in Miami-Dade County has a court-appointed Guardian and the resources needed for their health educational and social needs.

There are currently over 3000 children in Miami-Dade County’s foster care system who need to have an advocate. In 2008 Voices for Children contributed more than $2.5 million to helping these children.   On September 12th Voices is teaming up with more than a dozen other community partners for The Forgotten Children Campaign an event designed to draw awareness and support to those who are “lost and forgotten” within America’s foster care system.

The College Assistance Program (CAP) is another great example of a public-private partnership. This non-profit was started in 1978 by Miami-Dade School Board member G. Holmes Braddock and a group of community leaders who recognized that economically disadvantaged graduates of Miami-Dade high schools needed additional help funding their higher education. It operates in cooperation with the Miami-Dade County School Board and Dade Community Foundation to help high school seniors who have exhausted all avenues of financial assistance and still have significant unmet needs to attend the college of their choice.   CAP Advisors (funded by the school system) help students with the college application process provide financial aid expertise and when all other funding sources are exhausted assist with the application for a CAP scholarship. In the summer a group of these Advisors are paid by the non-profit to review applications and recommend funding.

CAP’s role is to raise the funds to award these grants. Over the last 31 years the organization has awarded more than 100000 students “last dollar” grants totaling more than $10.3 million dollars.   As college tuitions have increased the funding need has grown as well. In October the New York Times quoted the president of the American Council on Education warning “Given the economic strain on state budgets the pressure on state governments to shift the cost of education to students and families may prove irresistible.”

Countless organizations like these are helping communities preserve education health and welfare and arts programs.   According to The Non-Profit Times overall charitable giving in the U.S. declined by $6.4 billion last year. Now more than ever as government funding decreases our community needs individual and corporate donors to step up and help.

Janet Kyle Altman is a principal with Kaufman Rossin. one of the top accounting firms in the Southeast. She can be reached at jaltman@kaufmanrossin.com.