Ahead of the 2025 legislative session, the Kentucky Nonprofit Network is sharing its priorities with nonprofit leaders in the state.
One of the organization’s primary advocacy efforts is pressing Kentucky's General Assembly into refining laws regarding government contracting. Officials said nonprofits often receive an unsustainable and inconsistent cash flow from government contracts, forcing many into financial hardship.
Danielle Clore is CEO of the Kentucky Nonprofit Network. She said she is optimistic to see their effort’s outcome in 2025.
“We are very encouraged by the General Assembly's commitment to helping us address some of these inherent long-standing, quite frankly not unique to Kentucky, contracting issues that nonprofits are having with the Commonwealth,” said Clore.
Clore added that KNN’s interest in regional advocacy is based on reports of undependable government contracting.
“We really didn't get into local work intentionally. It happened as a result of a crisis. A funding crisis where during the pandemic, a local government cut all of its nonprofit contracts and organizations were panicked, rightfully so, because they knew the individuals who needed them the most during the pandemic were not going to get services. So, we had nonprofits coming to KNN saying ‘Help us restore these funds’,” said Clore.
Many nonprofits in Kentucky are working to address Kentucky's housing crisis, childcare deserts, transportation barriers, and more. While KNN doesn't advocate directly on issues that do not impact nonprofits directly, they are working to lift up the messaging of nonprofits leading the charge on these issues.