Laura's Blog
-
Articles (2 articles)
- In February of 2007 I had the privilege of writing an article for the local newspaper highlighting the plight of the homeless and the struggle society has in responding and understanding. Fieldstone Alliance has put out some great articles together for nonprofits including Four Key Financial Reports that you can use. Samples of the reports are included in the article!
Well, in the summer edition of the Stanford Social Innovation Review (a must read, btw), David La Piana, a leadership and management specialist in the nonprofit sector, writes about what he calls "The Nonprofit Paradox."
"Yet in my 30 years working in and consulting to nonprofits, I have come to realize that this was not an isolated
incident: Nonprofits tend to recreate within their own organizational cultures the problems they are trying to solve in society. I
call this phenomenon the nonprofit paradox.
Take, for instance, a human rights organization whose mission was to prevent torture. Despite this laudable goal, one of the group’s leaders left subordinates feeling terrorized. Staff members consequently—and without awareness of the irony—described working in the organization as 'torture.'" http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/the_nonprofit_paradox/
He goes on to discuss the many instances of this showing up in organization after organization. My challenge, is this true for your organization? Or are the core values you live by showing up (getting personal again) in the way you treat your kids? Ok, now I'm getting personal. Certainly worth a little eval-time on this one!
Giving Dropped 4.9% in 2009, Researchers Estimate
Americans donated $217.3-billion in 2009, a decrease of $11.2-billion or 4.9 percent compared to 2008, according to new estimates from researchers at the Center on Wealth and Philanthropy at Boston College.
The researchers are more optimistic about giving in 2010. They expect giving by individuals to range between $222-billion and $227-billion, an increase of 3 to 4.5 percent.
The estimates -- which exclude grants made by foundations and corporations and bequests from estates -- are based on a model that uses changes in economic data to forecast charitable giving. The model is designed to be modified every three months based on new data, such as price and market indices as well as information about income and net worth.
The researchers note that the 4.9 percent drop in 2009 was in addition to an estimated 6 percent decrease in 2008.
"It will be some time before we can reverse these declines," John J. Havens, senior research associate at the center, said in a written statement. "Fortunately, charitable giving in the first two quarters of 2010 seems to be on an uptick. However, growth may not continue the rest of the year if the fiscal crisis in Europe brings a second recessionary dip to the United States."
A full report on the study will be published in the July/August issue of Advancing Philanthropy, a magazine published by the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
http://philanthropy.com/blogPost/Giving-Dropped-49-in-2009/24346/
- Know why you are there--what do you contribute?
- Do an inventory of the why and the what of your involvement?
- Write a mission statement.
- Check your motives. Do a little soul searching.
- Think about who will replace you and what might you do next...from the very beginning. Hold your role lightly. You can and will be replaced
- Diversify your life: don't put all your eggs in one volunteer basket. There is such a thing as "workoholic volunteers."
- Think of delegating as sharing. Don't hoard your opportunities--INVOLVE others.
This is just one of the pieces of advice given in a recent Reuters article. Check out this link for more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64C3HQ20100513?type=GCA-Economy2010
I say often that the word relationship is the watermark of fundraising.
It is under all that we say and do when it comes to fundraising. We can talk
about all the practical aspects of the disciplines of fundraising, but you must
be relational, act relational, and breathe relational to be an effective
fundraiser. I am heartened by the fact that at the end of the day, through all
of my work in the nonprofit sector, I have many rich friendships—the fruit of
fundraising, strategizing and working together. I'd love to hear from others about the relationships you've built and their effect on your organizations!
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1963749,00.html
April 28, 2009
Keep Dire Talk Out of Fund-Raising Letters
As the recession continues to squeeze donations to nonprofit organizations, fund raisers are feeling increased pressure to refer to their economic hardships in their written appeals to donors.
But is it really a smart idea to mention the recession in fundraising letters?
Two prominent direct mail fund raising experts answer that question with a resounding "no".
"I strongly recommend that you do not complain about how hard the recession is impacting your organization," said Mal Warwick, a consultant and author of the new book Fundraising When Money Is Tight: A Strategic and Practical Guide to Surviving Tough Times and Thriving in the Future.
Instead, Mr. Warwick told participants in today's Chronicle live discussion on direct mail appeals to focus their letters on what they're doing to adapt to the tough times.
"Tell your donors what steps you're taking to tighten your operations, trim costs, and deliver services even more efficiently to your beneficiaries," he said. "Tell them how much further their gifts will go now. And make sure they know that 'the need' doesn't simply continue but is more urgently and more widely needed than ever."
Groups that are facing large financial deficits should also resist the urge to cry poor, says Brenda Helget, program manager for annual giving and communications at Methodist Hospital Foundation, in Omaha.
Ms. Helget says telling donors about a financial deficit doesn't encourage them to give. It sends up a red flag that their donation might be going to support a group that isn't fiscally sound.
"Use emotion," she said. "Make it heartwarming-- numbers and statistics aren't heartwarming."
For more advice from Mr. Warwick and Ms. Helget on direct-mail strategies, read the transcript of the live discussion.
--Peter Panepento
You should check out the post on their site for the full article (http://philanthropy.com/news/updates/index.php?id=7442), but be aware that there is still glimmers of hope.
Turns out that people keep giving to people in economic hard times.
While a recession may not seem like the ideal time to seek out new donors, many people in the survey (42.5 percent) said they would give to a charity they had not supported in the past if someone they knew was seeking the gift. Many donors (40.3 percent) said they were also willing to give for the first time if the charity was working directly to help people hurt by the recession.
Turns out that generous people stick with people they trust to give to truly hurting people. This gives me hope and reminds me to stick with relational fundraising. It is all about the people.
Here is a common dilemma. The board meets for their monthly meeting and comes up with one more great idea. Or, the executive director and his trusted friend step into the conference room for a quick check-in. The result: another new idea. No problem. We'll just add it on to the list of other projects we have too little time, money, or staff to implement. What is a person to do?
Sound familiar. Oh ya.
We typically look around the room and try to rest our spinner on one of the staff or board already assigned to 16 other tasks. Instead, why don't we turn around 180 degrees and point outside? We might just locate the person to champion that new idea or test it or kill it. Even better, why don't we see if there is another organization, team, or committee that might use their expertise to combine with our enthusiasm?
Here's a tangible example. An organization wants to take their expertise and put it into the classroom. The organization with the expertise has no talent in writing curriculum. Now what? Let's find another group, maybe at our local university, to take on the transfer of knowledge to learning tool.
A collaboration is born.
