[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 18 (Wednesday, February 12, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E221-E222]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


             ACHIEVING A CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE UNITED STATES

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NEWT GINGRICH

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 12, 1997

  Mr. GINGRICH. Mr. Speaker, I want to encourage my colleagues to read 
the following report, ``Achieving a Civil Society in the U.S.'' which 
was written by a nonprofit roundtable that I set up in my district to 
study the need to reform and improve the nonprofit sector.
  Our Nation is the leading country on the planet, with both a 
successful economy and the greatest opportunities for success. However, 
our civilization is at the risk of decay. Poverty, crime, and drugs 
threaten the lives of countless citizens on a daily basis. Our mission 
must be to create an opportunity society where nonprofit organizations, 
businesses, and government work together to ensure everyone in this 
country can pursue the American dream of life, liberty, and the pursuit 
of happiness. All it takes to make a difference in the lives of those 
less fortunate, is to give a couple of hours, even just once a month. 
Such a commitment would make a tremendous difference in the quality of 
life of all Americans.
  The report follows:

      Achieving a Civil Society in the United States--July 5, 1996

       Since September 1995, a group of executive directors and 
     volunteer leaders from a cross-section of nonprofit 
     organizations primarily in the Atlanta, Georgia, area with 
     participation from Augusta, Dalton and Tifton, Georgia have 
     been meeting periodically with the Speaker of the U.S. House, 
     Rep. Newt Gingrich. The purpose of these meetings has been to 
     begin a dialog about the role of the nonprofit sector in 
     creating a civil society and the potential impact of federal 
     policy on this sector.
       Through the course of several meetings, Rep. Gingrich 
     charged the group with the task of defining their vision for 
     a transformational society, an ideal view of the future of 
     America from the nonprofit standpoint.
       A vision of a civil society is one on which most Americans 
     can agree. It describes a country where the three sectors of 
     society, nonprofit, business, government, cooperate to meet 
     the needs of its citizens. In this ideal country, neighbors 
     help neighbors, and the general populace is fed, housed, 
     clothed, educated, and healed. In this civil society all 
     citizens are actively engaged in their communities, dedicated 
     to improving the quality of life for all.
       The true challenge comes in trying to create a more 
     concrete statement from this vision: a system by which 
     individuals and their institutions--nonprofits, business and 
     government--collaborate to create a civil society with the 
     capacity to continually transform and reinvent itself as 
     population needs change and new challenges arise.
       Through a facilitated meeting, the group of nonprofit 
     representatives developed several broad principles and 
     recommendations on which to build such a system. This is only 
     a start; there is much work and discussion left. This 
     document represents a beginning; it also represents a 
     consensus in regard to the conditions necessary to create a 
     society that works for all Americans and gives individuals 
     and families the power to create the communities they want.


     how do we get there: groundwork for achieving a civil society

       1. Create a shared vision of the roles and responsibilities 
     of each sector in building strong communities.
       We are all in this together. Each of the three sectors-
     business, government and nonprofits--must understand our 
     respective roles and responsibilities in keeping the ``three 
     legged stool'' of a civil society upright. Our 
     interdependence must be acknowledged, celebrated and 
     undergirded through public policy, public relations, 
     financing mechanisms and program development. Agreeing on 
     relative roles and responsibilities of each sector is 
     essential to achieving a civil society. And each sector must 
     recognize and support the roles of the others in this 
     society.
       The nonprofit sector's unique role in the community is to 
     be a model builder and pioneer for new social forms and human 
     services. The flexible and entrepreneurial spirit which 
     birthed most nonprofits is the appropriate environment in 
     which experiments and innovative programs can be developed.


                    action items/guiding principles

       Nonprofit organizations working on the front lines of 
     issues must clearly define and articulate best practices and 
     develop new models of impact.
       Nonprofits must take responsibility for being the voice of 
     their constituents to all aspects of the organization's work 
     and to the public policy table.
       The federal government must take responsibility for 
     accomplishing welfare reform in a way that does not leave 
     behind or punish our country's most vulnerable citizens. It 
     must also recognize that the private sector cannot fill the 
     gap in funding currently proposed by Congress.
       All three sectors must share the risks of change and work 
     to communicate the shared vision to the general public. 
     Public discussion should focus on a tripartite model which 
     clearly articulates the civil sector's role as an equal 
     partner in the creation of a new vision of our society.
       We must develop a shared definition of healthy communities 
     that allows for local flexibility at the same time identifies 
     common benchmarks against which to measure impact.
       In developing power from the federal to local governments, 
     Washington must take responsibility and leadership for 
     managing the change and measuring the impact of devolution on 
     communities, nonprofits and state and local governments.
       Privatization efforts must take into account the role of 
     private nonprofits in accomplishing the task of delivering 
     high-quality, cost efficient services.
       Nonprofits must have a voice in government and in the 
     planning of our future as a nation. It is especially 
     essential that they have a fair say with regards to issues 
     and legislation that directly affects them.
       Business must bear its responsibility, as corporate 
     citizens of its communities, for supporting the creation of 
     healthy communities and civil society by providing funding, 
     leadership and volunteers.
       2. Together, define short- and long-term needs of 
     communities and create plans to meet them.
       As a society, with all sectors at the table, we must assess 
     where we share a collective vision for creating a civil 
     society which will transcend separate purposes of each 
     sector, and create plans and policies needed to structure a 
     civil society.


                    Action Items/Guiding Principles

       Nonprofits must move from a deficit-model approach to one 
     that builds on existing strengths and assets in communities.
       Government policy makers must look beyond this budget year 
     or election year in planning for the future.
       Nonprofits must develop long-term strategies that are 
     focused on prevention and solutions while ensuring that basic 
     human needs are met.
       Nonprofits must learn to adopt the best practices of the 
     corporate sector to sustain their community mission. They 
     must know how to cost their services and bring greater 
     efficiencies into their operations.
       Funding sources--government and private--must allow for 
     long-term solutions to be developed and implemented.
       Government and nonprofits must work together to ensure that 
     the process for transformation takes into account that this 
     will be a time of great transition and develop ways to 
     protect the most vulnerable in society during that time.
       Planning must take place from a thorough understanding of 
     past successes and failures.
       3. Establish and promote true collaborations and 
     partnerships within and among the sectors to work toward a 
     civil society.
       No single sector has the capacity, by itself to implement a 
     vision for a civil society. No agency or business or 
     department of government can bring about significant change 
     unless it works with partners within its sector and the other 
     two. Our success in transforming our society is dependent 
     upon the three sectors working together. Collaboration must 
     move beyond rhetoric to substantial action and must draw upon 
     mutual respect, use of each sector's strengths and broad 
     expertise.


                    Action Items/Guiding Principles

       Nonprofits must work together to define problems and bring 
     best practices to light in their respective fields.
       Nonprofits should strive to create high-quality, cost 
     effective integrated service delivery systems across the 
     human services continuum.
       Funding sources--government and private--should recognize 
     and fund costs associated with collaborative efforts among 
     nonprofits.
       Government should recognize and support partnerships with 
     nonprofits as a desirable method of providing services in the 
     community.
       Business must recognize that return on investment in the 
     community through partnerships affects the corporate bottom 
     line and the quality of life of its employees.
       Each sector must actively seek partnerships to implement 
     the shared vision.
       4. Evaluate and implement financial reforms and incentives 
     to support the shared vision. Provide revenue sources 
     necessary to support the new vision.

[[Page E222]]

       Undergirding the creation of civil society are a number of 
     economic factors. Transformation must include financial 
     reforms and appropriate incentives for government, business 
     and the nonprofit sector. Incentivized strategies will allow 
     for the most creative and unencumbered approaches toward 
     development of a civil society. Resources are each sector's 
     investment in the shared vision.


                    Action Items/Guiding Principles

       Congress must protect the current tax-exempt status of 
     nonprofits and expand the charitable deduction to non-
     itemizers.
       Business must encourage employees to give both money and 
     time to their communities.
       Congress should develop tax incentives for business to 
     become more involved in their communities.
       Business should seek ways to partner with nonprofit 
     organizations to leverage human and financial capital for 
     community needs.
       Nonprofits should seek ways for their constituents to 
     invest in their services to create new revenue streams as 
     they are available.
       Business and government should create incentives for 
     displaced workers to join in creating a civil society by 
     working in nonprofit causes.
       5. Establish requirements and measurement systems that will 
     ensure mutual accountability for community outcomes.
       The focus of accountability and regulation must go beyond 
     cost-effectiveness and highlight outcomes leading the 
     realization of our vision. Currently, in both the nonprofit 
     and government sectors, accountability often relates only to 
     process. The ultimate accountability questions in a civil 
     society are: ``What impact did we have in the community? What 
     benefits, and at what cost?''


                    Action Items/Guiding Principles

       Impact measurements should be developed using common 
     benchmarks among all three sectors, by which progress and 
     success may be measured and all involved may be held 
     accountable for their work.
       A system to measure efficiency and impact should be 
     developed specifically for nonprofit organizations.
       Government regulations of the nonprofit sector should be 
     focused on outcomes rather than on processes. Government 
     should be especially sensitive to the effect of regulations 
     on small, grassroots organizations and the tradeoff of impact 
     for efficiency that burdensome regulations can cause. There 
     should be a balance of regulation that brings about 
     meaningful accountability without sacrificing the ability of 
     nonprofits to have significant impact.
       Intermediate sanctions should be developed to allow the IRS 
     to impose targeted and proportionate measures on a public 
     charity's officers, directors or other individuals in cases 
     of abuse in nonprofits.
       The emerging field of business ethics and accountability 
     should align itself with community outcomes for the shared 
     vision.

                          ____________________