CNS's Guiding More Good Conference is THIS SATURDAY, February 2nd.
Here's what you need to know...

including workshops such as:

• Basics of Grant Writing
• Bookkeeping for Tiny Organizations
• Capital Campaign Strategies
• President and Secretary Training
• How to Start a Nonprofit
• Donor Relations Made Easy
• Total Value Budgeting
• and much more!

“I have attended the Annual Conference in Corvallis a couple times representing different Boards that I have served on. They always have top notch speakers and I find attending to be a great way to get re-energized.”  Melissa Metz, Grand Chapter of OR

We're very excited for this full day of informative talks, interactive workshops, and networking opportunities. Below is some information you'll need before the big day!

Registration
Thank you for registering for the conference. If you didn’t register yourself, we have now added your registration so you're good to go!

Check In
Please check in on-site at the registration table (Info Desk in the afternoon). If we have additional information for you, it will be provided at this time with your name tag and program. 

Full Schedule

• 7:30 am: Check-in and Light Refreshments
• 8:30am: Welcome and Keynote Address from Anne Kubisch
• 9:30am: Breakout Session 1
• 11:30am: Networking Lunch
• 12:45pm: Breakout Session 2
• 2:00pm: Afternoon Break and Snack
• 2:15pm: Breakout Session 3
• 3:30pm: Close

Location and Parking
LaSells Stewart Center, Oregon State University
875 SW 26th Street, Corvallis, OR 97331

There are two options for parking at LaSells Stewart Center; both require a parking fee:

• Reser Stadium: Located directly across the street from the LaSells Stewart Center on 26th Street and Western Blvd.
• Parking Garage: Located north of CH2M HILL Alumni Center at 26th Street and Washington Way (also accessible from SW Western Blvd.)
  

There's Still Time to Register!

We are currently expecting around 250-265 participants!

And registrations are still available. If you have colleagues, co-board members, or friends who would benefit from this conference, please spread the word!

• Event page: http://bit.ly/CNSAnnualConference
• Facebook: http://facebook.com/nonprofitstewardship
• Website: http://nonprofitsteward.org/conference

Consumers prefer a paper trail
Contact: Ruth Susswein, 301-718-2511 Linda Sherry 202- 544-3088 
     
The message is clear: Consumers overwhelmingly prefer to receive bills and statements on paper rather than electronically, according to a new survey of more than 2,600 people by the non-profit Consumer Action.Up to three-quarters of those surveyed opted for bills to arrive by mail. For each of nine types of bills and invoices, consumers chose paper over digital delivery: insurance (66%), utilities (63%), medical bills (74%), property taxes (71%), internet services (51%), mortgages (45%), motor vehicle renewals (69%), credit cards (61%) and phone bills (56%).
“Even more compelling is the fact that respondents accessed our survey online and still prefer to receive paper statements for most important bills and notices,” noted Consumer Action’s Director of National Priorities, Linda Sherry.
Many of those who gave reasons for their paper preference mentioned the ease of viewing and accessing the bills for future reference. Paper statements help some people remember to pay their bills on time.
“We manage numerous accounts for which paper files are kept. We have power outages fairly regularly and sometimes need answers when there is no access to my records kept electronically,” explained one survey respondent.
For some older, disabled or lower-income consumers, paper documents are not just an option, they’re a necessity. Those who are not tech-savvy, have difficulty using a computer or have no internet access at home find paper statements essential.
More than one-third (38%) of respondents said they prefer mailed copies of other important communications from service providers, and nearly as many (35%) said it depends on the type of communication. Twenty-six percent chose email or online notice. Consumers prefer paper notices for:

• Bank statements (57%)
  
• Medicare and prescription drug summaries (55%)
• Social Security statements (68%)
  

The only category where respondents prefer to receive information electronically—51 percent—was data use and privacy notices.
However, the majority (55.5%) of survey respondents said they prefer to pay their bills online.
What’s more, how consumers receive the bill does affect how likely they are to review the details. More than three-quarters (78%) of those who receive bills by mail said they review the transactions printed on paper statements. Of those who receive bills electronically, less than half—only 43 percent—said they go online to review their transaction details.
While the majority of respondents (66%) have not been charged to receive a paper statement, there is some cost-shifting. Nearly 9 percent of respondents said they have paid a paper-statement fee for phone, pay TV or cable bills, and 16 percent have paid for bank statements.
“No one should be forced to receive [bills and notices] electronically only, or to pay to receive proper notices and statements by mail,” said a survey respondent.
Under the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce (E-Sign) Act, if the law requires that a statement or disclosure be made in writing, financial institutions can substitute electronic statements for paper ones, but only with a customer’s consent. As a member of the Keep Me Posted campaign, Consumer Action supports an individual’s right to choose between receiving important financial information online or in print and believes that paper should be the default.

“Customers should get paper bills and statements until they proactively consent to electronic delivery,” said Sherry. “Bottom line, consumers need to know that they have the right to switch back to paper at any time they desire.”
For more on what consumers’ rights are in receiving a statement of their choice, see Consumer Action’s latest issue of Consumer Action News: Paper or digital?  (https://www.consumer-action.org/news/articles/paper-or-digital-winter-2018-2019)

Consumer Action’s online survey of 2,607 people was conducted from Nov. 7-27, 2018.
The results may not be cited for commercial or advertising purposes.
To view the full survey, visit: http://bit.ly/paper_digital.

Merriam-Webster chooses 'justice' as word of the year
Christian Science Monitor |
Search data for 2018 shows "justice" as a recurring theme spurred by the news cycle. To be word of the year worthy, an entry has to show both a high volume of traffic and a significant year-over-year increase in lookups.


Original Article: https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2018/1217/Merriam-Webster-chooses-justice-as-word-of-the-year

Gift card scams don’t slow down after the holidays have come and gone.

As gift cards have grown in popularity over the years, they increasingly are targeted by scammers as an easy way to steal money from innocent victims. These scammers can be very convincing, and typically prey on older adults.
 
Best Buy, AARP and the National Association of Attorneys General filmed a PSA (public service announcement spot) -- see above -- to alert consumers about spotting and avoiding getting ripped off in a gift card scams.

Please spread the word to your networks and help stop the scam.
PSA Video (Spread the Word, Stop the Scam)
CBS This Morning News Story (December 26, 2018)

Dear allies,

We need your help right now to persuade the FTC to give increased credit report protections for active duty members of the military. 

Active duty servicemembers are often at greater risk of identity theft and fraud because they may be deployed overseas or away from home for weeks or months at a time.  In 2018, Congress passed a law to give active duty servicemembers the right to free credit monitoring services from the Big Three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion).  

Unfortunately, the new law only requires the credit bureaus to provide “electronic notifications” of material changes in a servicemember’s credit report, i.e., email, text, or other electronic alerts.  The law doesn’t provide servicemembers with full free access to their credit reports when they receive an alert that something has changed.*

Fortunately, Congress gave the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) the power to mandate free credit reports as part of new requirements for free credit monitoring.  The FTC has issued a proposed rule on credit monitoring but did not include free reports.

Tell the FTC that active duty servicemembers should get free online access to their credit reports when they get an alert that something has changed in their credit reports.

Deadline to submit comments is Monday, January 7.
You can submit comments on the FTC website.  <======== Click Here to Comment!

Suggested sample comments:

Alerts for active duty military are not enough for credit monitoring.  The FTC should require the credit bureaus to provide free online access to credit reports for active duty military when they get an alert.  Servicemembers will want to review their credit reports when they get an unexpected alert and shouldn’t be forced to pay for it.

Protect servicemembers from being gulled into paying for expensive credit monitoring. If servicemembers are forced to pay for their credit reports after getting an alert, they will be easily enticed into signing up for a monthly monitoring subscription service -- for something they should have received for free. 

Servicemembers should not get “credit monitoring lite.”  Commercial credit monitoring products include access to credit reports; credit monitoring for servicemembers should as well.   

* Note: Servicemembers get one free annual credit report from each of the credit bureaus (as do all adults in the United States), but would need to pay for additional reports unless they have a right to a free report under state law or after a denial of credit.  


Thank you for your support of our servicemembers!


Chi Chi Wu
Staff Attorney
National Consumer Law Center