Started as mobile education unit in 1972,

Fleet goes the distance for child care

BY DAVID PAGE
THE JOURNAL RECORD
OKLAHOMA CITY In 1972,
Margaret Loeffler founded Rainbow
Fleet to promote early childhood
development by providing child
care providers with resources and
materials.
The Montessori teacher started
the Oklahoma City nonprofit by using
a mobile education unit similar to a
bookmobile to deliver learning
materials, books, toys and art projects
to area child care providers.
She believed learning
should be interactive,
said Carrie Bullard, who
has been executive direc-
tor of Rainbow Fleet since
March.
Over the years, the
mobile education unit
was replaced with a Child
Care Resource and Re -
ferral Center and services
provided by Rainbow
Fleet expanded.
In July, Rainbow Fleet started
helping parents statewide find child
care providers through a contract
with the Oklahoma Department of
Human Services.
It is a free service for parents
statewide, Bullard said. Any parent
can call us.
Selecting a child care provider
can be difficult for parents.
It is kind of overwhelming for
people if you do not know, she said.
You do not want to leave your baby
with someone you do not know.
A Rainbow Fleet staff member
will usually spend 25 to 30 minutes
on the telephone with the parents
assessing their needs.
We will usually do some
research and call them back to help
them find a qualified child care
provider, she said. We try to give
them at least three options.
The child care providers are
licensed through the state Depart -
ment of Human Services. There are
a lot of choices for parents. In
Oklahoma and Cleveland counties
alone, there are about 1,250
licensed child care
providers, she said.
Some provide services
in their home and some
are day care centers,
Bullard said.
Information is also
available online. Parents
can get lists of qualified
child care providers in their
areas.
Before July when Rain -
bow Fleet got the statewide con-
tract, each of the eight DHS regions
handled its own child care referrals.
Rainbow Fleet was the referral
agency for the region that included
Oklahoma and Cleveland counties.
Since getting the statewide con-
tract in July, Rainbow Fleet has han-
dled more than 600 referrals,
Bullard said.
Rainbow Fleet has 10 full-time
employees, with five assigned to the
DHS contract.
The child care providers as well
as parents can use the Rainbow
Fleet Child Care Resource and
Referral Center at 3024 Paseo in
Oklahoma City. The lending center
is available to parents for an annual
fee of $40.
We usually let them check out
items for up to a month, Bullard said.
We sanitize everything every time.
The Rainbow Fleet staff can
work with parents to help find the
proper resources for their child.
If they are having problems
with motor skills we can help them
find the proper toys and games that
are appropriate, she said.
The centers resources are
replenished regularly.
In May and June we purchased
about $10,000 worth of toys to
replenish our stock, Bullard said.
Rainbow Fleet also is the adminis-
trator for a child care food program.
Home day cares that agree to
serve meals that follow U.S.
Department of Agriculture guide-
lines can apply to Rainbow fleet to
cover the cost of the meals, she said.
Money for the program comes from
a federal grant.
We have 165 different providers
participating in the program, she
said.
For operating funds, Rainbow
Fleet relies on private donors, grants
and government contracts.
The nonprofit agency has an
annual funding campaign for donors
that will start in October.
We set a goal of $10,000
through that campaign but we
would like to far exceed that,
Bullard said.
Taffy
Henderson,
child care
resource
and referral
manager at
Rainbow
Fleet in
Oklahoma
City.
PHOTO BY
BRENT FUCHS
18A Oct. 2, 2014 The Journal Record journalrecord.com
FOCUS ON NONPROFIT LEADERSHIP
How much is
too much?
The nonprofit sector not only provides valu-
able services to the community, but also
employs 10 percent of the workforce and pro-
vides 5.5 percent of the gross domestic prod-
uct. As such an important contributor to the
economy, do nonprofit organizations pay too
much in compensation?
Many news stories are written about non-
profit executives earning excessive salaries.
The reality is that most nonprofits struggle to
meet payroll obligations. Relying on philan-
thropic dollars and the generosity of others
can place nonprofits in a precarious situation.
The Internal Revenue Service has regula-
tions in place to guide 501(c)(3) tax-exempt
organizations in determining reasonable
compensation. Not following the rules can
result in IRS penalties and in extreme cases
tax-exempt status can be lost. That being
said, what is reasonable?
The IRS permits organizations to pay
executives fair and reasonable compensa-
tion. Organizations can determine appropri-
ate salary and benefits based on the follow-
ing considerations: Charities can pay their
executives market rate; market rate is deter-
mined by researching similar people per-
forming in similar positions in organizations
of similar size with similar missions; chari-
ties can look at for-profit compensation when
determining market rates if the job, size and
mission/purpose are comparable; the IRS
does not provide a formula or table to deter-
mine fair and reasonable compensation.
A nonprofits directors can protect their
organization and its members by taking steps
in advance to determine compensation. For
an organization whose gross revenues are $1
million or less, data should be gathered on no
less than three comparable organizations to
determine what is fair and reasonable before
compensation is approved.
The process should then be documented
including terms of the transaction, date of
the approval, who was involved in the deci-
sion making and voting process, comparabili-
ty data obtained and relied upon, any con-
flicts of interest and documentation of the
basis for the determination.
Nonprofit IRS 990 filings can be obtained
from organizations like the Foundation
Center, GuideStar, the National Center for
Charitable Statistics at the Urban Institute
and the Oklahoma secretary of state.
Nonprofit organizations need talented
people to continue providing much-needed
services and deserve to be compensated
accordingly. By using the process listed and
following the IRS regulations, 501(c)(3) tax-
exempt organizations can ensure public trust
and continue enhancing their communities
while benefiting the economy.
Marnie Taylor is president and CEO of the
Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits.
CharityINC.
Marnie
TAYLOR
Carrie Bullard
To grow a Rainbow