JOHN F. HUCKSTADT, FOUNDER OF 501(c) AGENCIES TRUST, RECEIVES 2007 EXCELLENCE IN LEADERSHIP AWARD FROM NATIONAL HUMAN SERVICES ASSEMBLY

Cupertino, CA — John Huckstadt, Chairman and CEO of 501(c) Services of Cupertino, California, has been named the 2007 recipient of the Excellence in National Civic or Public Leadership award by the National Human Services Assembly (NHSA), a coalition of the nation’s leading nonprofit agencies. NHSA presents this award annually to an individual in the public or private sector who has provided sustained and effective leadership to improve the plight of people suffering or in need or to improve the delivery of health and human services.

Irv Katz, NHSA President and CEO, presented Huckstadt with the award on September 19 in Washington, D.C. at a reception capping the National Human Service Leaders Summit.

“Twenty-five years ago when he was Executive Director of the United Cerebral Palsy Association in Northern California, John saw a problem and found a solution that has saved nonprofit organizations millions of dollars in the intervening years,” Katz said. “He was concerned about the high cost of unemployment insurance, and could see that nonprofits were subsidizing for-profits’ unemployment expenses. Ultimately, he discovered a Federal law that allows for the reimbursement method of funding unemployment costs for nonprofits because they experience less staff turnover than for-profit organizations.”

In 1982 Huckstadt established the Joint Unemployment Compensation Trust with fourteen agency members and at the same time founded 501 (c) Services to administer the operations of the Trust.  Today the trust, which is now known as the 501(c) Agencies Trust, has more than 1,600 member agencies in 46 states and assets of $56 million. Its board members represent some of the largest and most prestigious nonprofits in the nation, including America’s Second Harvest, Boys and Girls Club of America, National Human Services Assembly, Points of Light Foundation, United Way, YMCA and YWCA. Its success has spawned the creation of other trusts so that today more that 4,500 nonprofits are benefiting from Huckstadt’s unique concept.

“Thanks to John’s ingenuity, every year these organizations are able to take millions of dollars in what would have been tax payments and put the money to use meeting the needs of the various communities they serve,” Katz said.

Earlier this month, the 501(c) Agencies Trust marked an important milestone as it celebrated its 25th anniversary in ceremonies held in Seattle in conjunction with the Trust’s quarterly board meeting.

“Collectively, our member agencies provide just about every service available in the nonprofit world — medical care, the arts, food and shelter, youth activities, and much, much more.” said Doug McClendon, current chairman of the trust board, and a member of the Advisory Council of the Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties in Northern California. “Because of these savings, countless thousands of people have received services they would otherwise have been denied. There just isn’t any way to calculate the immense amount of good that has been done during the quarter-century since John created the trust concept.”

501(c) SERVICES
Origin: Founded in1982 in Santa Clara, California, by John Huckstadt, the current chairman, who for many years had been a professional in the nonprofit sector.
Purpose: In 1972 Congress enacted legislation that allowed 501(c) 3 organizations to opt out of their State Unemployment Insurance systems and instead reimburse the state annually for the actual amount of benefits paid out by the state on behalf of the organizations.  Because nonprofit agencies generally have far lower SUI claims than corporations, this provision offered them a way to save large amounts of money. 501(c) Services was founded to administer a trust that would enable agencies to band together and take advantage of these savings and at the same time minimize the risk of unexpected claims.   It was the first such program in the country.

Web site: www.501c.com

501(c) AGENCIES TRUST
ORIGIN: Founded in1982 in Santa Clara, California as the Joint Unemployment Compensation Trust (JUCT).  Its charter members were 14 United Way agencies from the San Francisco Bay Area.

PURPOSE: To provide members with a way to take advantage of federal legislation that allowed them to opt out of their State Unemployment Insurance (SUI) systems and reimburse the state only the actual amount of the claims against their organization.

BENEFITS OF OPTING OUT: Nonprofit agencies generally have far lower unemployment claims than private corporations but are still taxed at the same SUI rate which results in them paying considerably more into the system than they receive in benefits. By reimbursing the state actual benefits only, this past year members saved an estimated $ (?) million.

MEMBERSHIP: Currently 1,600 members in 46 states and the District of Columbia whose combined payroll exceeds $3.5 billion.
GOVERNANCE: The Trust is governed by a board of 20 nonprofit professionals from across the country, all of whom are affiliated with a trust member organization. The board meets four times annually. Trustees receive no compensation for their duties except for travel expenses.

Web site: www.501ctrust.org

MEDIA CONTACT: 

Name : Carmen Lucas
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