Nonprofit News from ONEplace
News, comments, resources, and more for nonprofits.
I was very fortunate to attend the National Independent Sector/Council of Michigan Foundations Annual Conference in Detroit earlier this month. It was inspiring to be among the 1,100 people from over 30 states who came together to share insights, build collaborative skills through interactive sessions, and delve into issues facing the nonprofit sector today.
Many of the themes of the three-day conference aligned with a plenary presentation made by Diana Aviv, president of Independent Sector:
- It’s past time to really work together across the ‘silos’ of business, government, and nonprofit; and
- As individuals, organizations, and collaborations, we must think and act for the ‘big picture’ because, to survive and thrive, we must acknowledge our interdependence.
Below is a summary of her comments as published in the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
--Bobbe A. Luce, ONEplace @ kpl
Nonprofit Leaders Urged to Rethink Their Role in Society
Independent Sector
Expanding on a key theme of this year’s Independent Sector conference, Diana Aviv, the group’s president, called on nonprofit leaders at all organizations – regardless of size or mission – to take a broad view of their work and their responsibility to help make society better.
“We do not and cannot work in a vacuum,” she told participants at the gathering of charities and grant makers, which drew some about 1,100 attendees in all.
“If our employees and their families can’t afford medical care, it limits their productivity,” she said. “If our transportation infrastructure makes it hard to get to work, it affects people’s performance. If we don’t collectively attend to the harm inflicted on our environment, polluted air and climate change will ultimately damage everyone’s work. And if we don’t demand greater civility in Congress and in the public square, we diminish our ability to achieve our aims.”
Ms. Aviv urged nonprofit leaders “to attend to these larger issues long before they threaten our work.”
As an example of the consequences of not doing so, she cited the experiences of health and human-services groups that now must take on loans as state and local governments increasingly delay payments for services already provided.
“Except for a sliver of public-interest organizations, at no time did we step up and try to fix a system that we have known to be problematic for years,” she said. “Why was this the case? Because we have long believed that these larger issues were not our responsibility.”
She called on participants to go back to their organizations and have at least one board meeting within the next year to define a role for their groups beyond their specific issue or cause.
“My point is that excelling at your particular mission is key – but so too is attending to the wider societal issues of the world you inhabit,” she said. “Active engagement with these issues is part of the price we pay for this special place we, as a community, have been afforded by society.”
— Jennifer Moore
Book
Independent Sector and Council of Michigan Foundations Annual Conference
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http://www.independentsector.org/AnnualConference/2009/
TIME SENSITIVE NEWS:
Recover Michigan and Michigan NOW! Programs Offer Capacity Building Opportunities to Small Nonprofits in Kalamazoo County and Across Michigan
NOTE: Attending an Orientation session for the programs is mandatory. ONEplace is hosting an orientation session on Friday, October 30, from 10 to noon in the Van Deusen Room of Kalamazoo Public Library, Central. Additional Orientation sessions will be held between October 26 and November 5 across the state. See the websites below for additional information or contact ONEplace at 553-7910.
Recover Michigan is a three phase program implemented by the Michigan Nonprofit Association and seven Management Support Organizations throughout the State of Michigan. During the eleven-month three-phase program, community and faith based nonprofit organizations will position themselves to strengthen their effectiveness to address the broad economic recovery issues present in their communities.
Services Offered at No-Fee
Trainings, Consulting, and Grant Opportunities (sub awards) in the areas of:
- Program Development
- Evaluation
- Leadership Development
- Collaboration and Community Engagement
- Organizational Development
Who Can Apply?
Incorporated community and faith based Michigan nonprofit organizations with a budget less than $500,000, and specializing in assisting low-income individuals in the following areas are welcome to apply:
- secure and retain employment
- earn higher wages
- obtain better quality jobs
- gain greater access to state and federal benefits, and tax credits
Recover Michigan is a federally funded under the authority of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 – Strengthening Communities Fund (SCF).
Michigan NOW! is a three phase program implemented by the Michigan Nonprofit Association and five Management Support Organizations throughout the State of Michigan. During the eleven-month three-phase program, community and faith based nonprofit organizations will position themselves to strengthen their effectiveness to address the broad social issues present in their communities.
Services Offered at No-Fee
Trainings, Consulting, and Grant Opportunities (sub awards) in the areas of:
- Program Development
- Revenue Development
- Leadership Development
- Collaboration and Community Engagement
- Organizational Development
Who Can Apply?
Incorporated, Michigan nonprofit organizations, with a budget less than $500,000, and specialize in assisting the following populations are welcome to apply:
- at-risk youth
- the homeless
- seniors/elders in need
- welfare to work transitions
- those in need of intensive rehabilitation
- couples who choose marriage
- prisoner reentry initiatives
- children of incarcerated individuals
Michigan NOW! is a federally funded under the authority of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Community Services, Compassion Capital Fund Demonstration Program (CCF).
Book
Recover Michigan and Michigan NOW! Programs
michigan-map-160
/ONEplace/
Is your nonprofit using social media tools like Facebook and Twitter to draw attention to your organization, mission, programs, and services? To reach out to your target audiences: clients, donors, volunteers, potential employees? Do you advocate for your cause using social media tools?
Or, are you still wondering what the return on investment may really be? How much staff time it will consume? If it’s the best use of your limited resources? And, what would you ‘say,’ anyway?
Case Foundation has scheduled online ‘chats with experts’ that may help. You can write in your specific questions as well as learn from questions others submit. The Ask the Guru sessions are part of their Gear up for Giving series (the schedule is located on their website).
Do you use social media in your nonprofit? If so, what and how do you put it to work for you? How do you communicate? How much time does it take to keep it active and interactive? These questions came up in a recent ONEplace Roundtable of PR and Marketing. Write back and share your experiences.
Book
Gear Up For Giving
gear-up-for-giving-160
http://www.casefoundation.org/projects/gear-giving
During a three-week stay in Kalamazoo in July, a Colleagues International delegation from Belarus studied nonprofit management in the United States.
The group of community and nonprofit leaders, and a journalist, visited a wide variety of nonprofits in West Michigan—the list is long and thorough: arts, education, human services, government…and ONEplace @ kpl.
They came to ONEplace to learn how we train nonprofit managers and staff in the skills they need to start, develop, and sustain nonprofit. They asked many probing questions and studied the answers closely.
Once their questions were satisfied, they talked about the nonprofit sector in Belarus. It was clear their nonprofit sector is young and growing, and they are determined to help develop it into a vibrant sector in their communities.
The conversation took place through an interpreter which made the exchange even more interesting and deliberate than had it been in one language.
We were pleased to host our Belarus Colleagues, seen here in ONEplace.
Book
Colleagues International
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http://www.colleaguesinternational.com/index.htm
Several people (Executive Directors and Board members) have contacted ONEplace recently asking how to increase consistent attendance and follow though with their nonprofit’s Board members.
On many (maybe ‘most’) boards, a core of people participate in every board meeting/action, every assigned committee, and contribute time, talents, and money to additional activities that support the organization. Many (most) boards also have members who, while ‘supportive,’ are sporadic in both their attendance and follow-through, leaving the active core to carry out the governance responsibilities on behalf of the entire board and the constituents of the nonprofit.
Why People Don’t Build the Attendance Commitment Into Their Schedule
Board members may be less than 100% committed to attending meetings for a number of reasons. Let’s look at a few.
They don’t know it’s expected.
- Are there board attendance policies? Bylaws specifying attendance? If so, were they clearly outlined during recruitment and orientations?
- Is it their ‘experience’ that attendance isn’t taken seriously by other board members, especially the chair?
- Is there a provision for ‘unexcused’ versus ‘excused’ (the member is still missing) absences?
- Are there any consequences for missing meetings? Have they ever been enforced?
They are ‘too busy’ to make every meeting.
- Everyone is busy, over-busy. Sometimes balancing work, volunteer activities, and family responsibilities is difficult (they may think, ‘impossible’) for everyone.
- The time of meetings doesn’t work in their schedule well. Has the board defined a mutually agreeable time for everyone and planned for a year at a time?
- They are ‘volunteering’ and this organization/board is not as high a priority as ‘conflicting’ events.
They don’t find the meetings motivating.
- Meetings are ‘boring’ or ‘rubber stamp’ sessions for committee and staff reports.
- Meetings are dominated by a few members and their input isn’t sought or valued.
- The connection between their role and the organization’s mission and outcomes for constituents isn’t clear, emotionally or intellectually.
What To Do
BoardSource recently sent an announcement on a new book (which is on order for ONEplace) with the lead-in: Board Meeting Attendance Is Not Optional, So Meet Smarter.
The book, titled Meeting and Exceeding Expectations, A Guide to Successful Nonprofit Board Meetings, encourages meetings that are “inspiring, productive, and efficient”:
- Establish a ‘consensus agenda’ board meeting format in which reports are sent out ahead of meetings and approved as a bundle, and meetings are only focused on in-depth mission-driven policy or issue discussions and action items.
- Elect a ‘devil’s advocate of the day’ to take a contrary stance on the issues under discussion in order to keep thinking fresh and discussions productive.
- Elect a ‘devil’s inquisitor of the day’ to ask difficult questions; to keep all arguments on the table and non-personal. Better governance emerges from open, challenging discussions.
- Clarify legal and ethical responsibilities each board member committed to when s/he agreed to serve.
In addition, invite board members who miss even a couple meetings (for any reason) to evaluate their ability to keep the commitment to actively serve on the board, and let them know it is ‘okay’ to resign. Lives change, schedules change, interests change: it's okay to give up your board seat for your own good, and the good of the organization.
Board members who aren’t in attendance aren’t available to provide input from their unique perspectives and expertise; aren’t available to vote on issues; aren’t available to learn from the other board members and staff. They are missing and missed.
Here are some additional resources and ideas to help strengthen attendance at board meetings and, therefore, governance of nonprofits, even in a world of busy board members.
Resource in ONEplace:
On the web:
Book
Meeting, and Exceeding Expectations: A Guide to Successful Nonprofit Board Meetings, Second Edition by Outi Flynn
meeting-exceeding-expectations-160
http://www.boardsource.org/Bookstore.asp?Item=1095
On Tuesday, September 22, representatives of Michigan’s nonprofit organizations will gather in Lansing for the annual Michigan Nonprofit Day. This is the one day each year that nonprofits and our state legislative representatives (individually and collectively) focus on the nonprofit sector. It’s an opportunity you won’t want to miss.
Highlights of the day include:
- Morning Breakfast Plenary with co-chairs of the Michigan Legislative Nonprofit Caucus
- Keynote address by Robert Egger, Founder and President of the DC Central Kitchen and author of Begging for Change: The Dollars and Sense of Making Nonprofits Responsive, Efficient and Rewarding For All
- One-on-one meetings with House and Senate members
- Lunch with Legislators
- Mini breakout sessions on making sure everyone is counted in the Census, basics of lobbying and advocacy, grassroots mobilization and media advocacy in a digital world
- VIP Tour of the State Capitol
Never met with a senator or representative? Two webinars will be held for registrants prior to Nonprofit Day to help prepare you for productive meetings, either individually or in groups.
Information and registration
Book
Michigan Nonprofit Day
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http://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Invitation.aspx?i=90413cde-26e5-4936-98db-ec97d2b8efce
Just as important―and some would say more important―as a fund development audit, is a risk management audit.
Nonprofits are governed by many of the same laws and liabilities as for-profit businesses, and some additional ones related to tax-exempt status and charitable donations. Whether newly-formed or operating for years, many nonprofits neglect the business side of their organizations because they “don't know what they don't know” or are concentrating so hard on doing their mission-driven work. Especially vulnerable are long-time all-volunteer organizations.
If your organization hasn't conducted a risk assessment or audit in the past year, or ever, now is the time, before a crisis occurs. Like a fund development audit, it starts with an evaluation of your organization’s governance decisions, policies, and insurance coverage to determine which ones are working for you or against you or missing all together.
Nonprofit Roundtable
On July 15, Dan Willson of Lighthouse Agency will lead our Roundtable discussion on the risk management side of operating a nonprofit and answer your liability exposure and coverage questions. He will provide a checklist of items to review for a variety of situations so you can start an audit immediately.
Date, Location
Additional Resources
Additional resources are available at the Nonprofit Risk Management Center website which, this summer, is focusing on employment law issues for nonprofits. A big question being covered is: Are summer interns considered employees under state and federal laws? Visit www.nonprofitrisk.org for the answer.
Book
Nonprofit Roundtable
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http://www.kpl.gov/ONEplace/nonprofit-risk.aspx
ONEplace recently hosted a webinar on evaluating your fund development plan. The speaker, Linda Lysakowski, ACFRE, encouraged participants to measure the philanthropic culture and practices of their organizations on a regular basis and to conduct a formal development audit before starting any new or significantly different funding strategy.
Our economic environment has changed considerably and, many predict, permanently. This calls for “new or significantly different funding strategies” for every nonprofit going forward. Before trying new ideas or stopping current activities, take a close look at your overall development plan through an audit. Don't think you have a development plan? Whether written, or not, what you are doing to bring money into your NP, is your current “plan.”
What is involved in a development audit?
- A comprehensive examination of past and current fund raising activities: annual fund to capital campaigns, special events, personal solicitations, planned giving programs, newsletter asks, memorials... everything.
- An assessment of their value to the organization in terms of amount of money raised, and “human resources” (staff, board, volunteers) and technology (software, hardware, training), needed to raise the money-the return on investment
- A review of policies and procedures related to fund raising
- A review of external factors affecting your fund raising abilities
- Recommendations for increasing effectiveness in all of these areas
What a development audit is not.
- A “blame game,” rather it is a tool for improving your development program and strategically meet your fund raising goals through the best use of human assets and technologies
Who conducts a development audit?
Start with internal assessment using some of the tools available at Capital Venture or Society for Nonprofit Organizations or Association for Fundraising Professionals. Lysakowski the recommends utilizing an independent, third party who can talk with all of your audiences (internally and externally) in a neutral, confidential manner, summarize their candid input, and make recommendations for improvement.
Whether starting a new fiscal year with fresh hopes, gearing up for “regular” fall fund raising activities, or facing a financial crisis, investing some time, and perhaps money, in a development audit will pay off.
Taking an impartial look at what you've been doing, and the outcomes being realized, will help your organization plan and execute fundraising initiatives more strategically.
Workshops and Webinars
Workshops and webinars focusing on concepts and skills for building fund development capacities are being offered by ONEplace, the Nonprofit Alliance in Battle Creek, and the Johnson Center for Philanthropy in Grand Rapids. Check Workshops and Event schedules regularly for current and new offerings.
Book
Workshops, Webinars, Peer-Learning
oneplace-logo-ruler-160
http://www.kpl.gov/ONEplace/events.aspx
On June 22, President Obama launched United We Serve, calling on all Americans to help in our nation's recovery by volunteering in our communities this summer. The initiative runs for 81 days, until the National Day of Service and Remembrance on September 11 and is being coordinated by the Corporation for National and Community Service.
“This summer, I’m calling on all of you to make volunteerism and community service part of your daily life and the life of the nation,” said President Obama. “And when I say ‘all,’ I mean everyone—young and old, from every background, all across the country. We need individuals, community organizations, corporations, foundations, and our government to be part of this effort.
“The challenges we face are unprecedented in their size and scope, and we cannot rely on quick fixes or easy answers to put us on the road to recovery,” said President Obama. “Economic recovery is as much about what you're doing in your communities as what we're doing in Washington – and it's going to take all of us, working together.”
By visiting www.serve.gov and entering your zip code you can find local opportunities, post organizational projects, and get ideas for creating projects.
Kalamazoo has always had a high level of volunteerism. This initiative in these critical time urges each of us to reach out wider and deeper. Are you involved in new or bigger volunteer projects this summer?
Let us know by submitting a comment. And, thanks for volunteering.
Book
President Barack Obama signing the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act
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http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/newsroom/photos_press_detail.asp?tbl_pr_id=1306
For small nonprofit organizations, efficiencies are an ongoing necessity. In these especially challenging financial times, taking a look at every new possibility to stretch limited resources is even more critical.
The Chronicle of Philanthropy recently held an online ‘live discussion’ on this issue with several consultants who work with small nonprofits. They shared these strategies:
- Always remember, it’s about the people served, not the organization, its staff, or board members. The mission has to be at the center of your strategies.
- Nothing is ‘off the table.’
- Think outside the grants/foundation box!
- Leadership (ED and board) and staff need to work together to seek and initiate practical, new approaches in all areas of the organization. Leadership at all levels is key…embrace it from everyone.
- Find creative new streams of revenue: low/no cost events; collaborate with other NPs on an event to bring in funds and extend your friends circles; barter services; combine ‘back room’ functions; seek corporate sponsors.
- Keep morale up through lean times and job cuts. Remind everyone that ‘this too will pass’; give people a little more autonomy to do creative projects; help them stay connected with your mission and passion about the work and people served.
- Keep perspective: Recognize there will always be more needs than you can fulfill.
- Continue or join membership in state and regional associations.
- Reach new and younger audiences with social media IF you have great news that people will want to ‘talk’ about you to their ‘friends.’
What strategies are working for you, personally, and for your organization? Please share them so we can all benefit from a wealth of creative ideas.
You can read the entire conversation at http://philanthropy.com/live/2009/05/small_charities/
Book
ONEplace Resources
oneplace-small-charities-160
http://www.kpl.gov/ONEplace/resources.aspx