In what should not be a surprise to anyone, this story from the Nonprofit Chamber of Service reports it only grew by 1% in 2010.
An excerpt.
“The growth in nonprofit jobs slowed in 2010 compared with other recent years, according to a new analysis of U.S. labor statistics.
“The number of nonprofit jobs grew by just under 1 percent from 2009 to 2010, according to a study of figures in 45 states by the Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Civil Society Studies, in Baltimore. Year-to-year nonprofit job totals increased by 1.2 percent in 2009 and 2.6 percent in 2008.
“However, nonprofits fared better in 2010 than for-profit companies, which saw a 0.9 percent decrease in jobs last year.
“Among specific fields, education added the most jobs in recent years, at a rate of 1.9 percent from 2007 to 2010, followed by professional services and arts, each at 1.8 percent. Health-related jobs grew by 1.6 percent, and social services by 1.5 percent. Civic groups saw a 0.5-percent drop in jobs during that three-year period, according to the report.
“Other key findings show that half of all nonprofit jobs are health-related, 13 percent are in education, and 11 percent in social services.”
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Donor Service
This article from Nonprofit About.com begins with the too often practice of not thanking donors, something that should be done immediately regardless of how the donation came.
From my perspective, if an organization does not thank donors immediately and well, they virtually negate their foundational mission, within which their organizational mission is embedded, of community service.
An excerpt from the article.
“A friend donated a considerable amount of money through payroll deduction to her local public radio station. For that amount, she was supposed to receive a thermos with the station's logo on it.
“When she didn't receive the gift nor any kind of thank you from the station, she called and asked about it. The woman on the phone said, "Oh, well we don't send thank you's for donations through payroll deduction." She didn't know anything about the gift.
“That was it...no apology...no "Let me put you through to someone who can help." Apparently, they didn't send the advertised gift for payroll deduction donations either because it never came. Why payroll deduction would have made any difference at all is perplexing. My friend was so infuriated that she never gave another cent and has plenty to say about the radio station whenever possible.
“I suspect that the woman my friend spoke to did not know what she was talking about, and that if the development department had known about the conversation they would be horrified.
“Overall there was a disconnect on several levels. What is their policy on thank you's? Is there a glitch in the fulfillment process that resulted in the gift not being sent? Why hadn't the woman on the phone been properly trained so that she knew the policies and what to do when her help was not enough? Why did she not appreciate the importance of a donor call such as that one?”
From my perspective, if an organization does not thank donors immediately and well, they virtually negate their foundational mission, within which their organizational mission is embedded, of community service.
An excerpt from the article.
“A friend donated a considerable amount of money through payroll deduction to her local public radio station. For that amount, she was supposed to receive a thermos with the station's logo on it.
“When she didn't receive the gift nor any kind of thank you from the station, she called and asked about it. The woman on the phone said, "Oh, well we don't send thank you's for donations through payroll deduction." She didn't know anything about the gift.
“That was it...no apology...no "Let me put you through to someone who can help." Apparently, they didn't send the advertised gift for payroll deduction donations either because it never came. Why payroll deduction would have made any difference at all is perplexing. My friend was so infuriated that she never gave another cent and has plenty to say about the radio station whenever possible.
“I suspect that the woman my friend spoke to did not know what she was talking about, and that if the development department had known about the conversation they would be horrified.
“Overall there was a disconnect on several levels. What is their policy on thank you's? Is there a glitch in the fulfillment process that resulted in the gift not being sent? Why hadn't the woman on the phone been properly trained so that she knew the policies and what to do when her help was not enough? Why did she not appreciate the importance of a donor call such as that one?”
Friday, October 7, 2011
Meeting With Peers
This is a good article from Stanford Social Innovation Review, touching on an important resource and fortunately, it is one available in Sacramento at the Nonprofit Resource Center ED Network, and here is their October meeting agenda.
An excerpt from the article
“We recently conducted a focus group with nonprofit CEOs in New York City. Given all the recent research that points to the value of peer-to-peer support for nonprofit leaders, we wanted to know why so little of this is done online. One CEO immediately responded, “We don’t have time.”
“The facilitator of the focus group was taken aback. “How do you have time to come to this two-hour focus group but don’t have the time to go online?”
“The leaders in the room saw the return on investment for a well-organized meeting with their peers to be much greater than anything they could do in the digital commons. They were more confident that they would get actionable insight into management techniques. But perhaps more importantly, the meeting provided an emotional and psychological benefit that is rarely met: a space for candid conversation about successes and failures in a safe, supportive environment. (highlighting added)
“Face-to-face conversations with other leaders—commercial and nonprofit—remind us that failure is, in fact, the norm and does not preclude success.
“If [CEOs’ successes] were graded on a curve, the mean on the test would be 22 out of a 100,” Ben Horowitz of Andreessen Horowitz recently wrote on TechCrunch. “This kind of mean can be psychologically challenging…because nobody tells you that the mean is 22.”
“If the buck stops at the CEO, every failure in our organization ends up piled on my desk—whether it’s a typo on the website, a bad hire, or a missed market opportunity. After just a week, the failures stack up so high that it is hard to see past the mountain of complaints.”
An excerpt from the article
“We recently conducted a focus group with nonprofit CEOs in New York City. Given all the recent research that points to the value of peer-to-peer support for nonprofit leaders, we wanted to know why so little of this is done online. One CEO immediately responded, “We don’t have time.”
“The facilitator of the focus group was taken aback. “How do you have time to come to this two-hour focus group but don’t have the time to go online?”
“The leaders in the room saw the return on investment for a well-organized meeting with their peers to be much greater than anything they could do in the digital commons. They were more confident that they would get actionable insight into management techniques. But perhaps more importantly, the meeting provided an emotional and psychological benefit that is rarely met: a space for candid conversation about successes and failures in a safe, supportive environment. (highlighting added)
“Face-to-face conversations with other leaders—commercial and nonprofit—remind us that failure is, in fact, the norm and does not preclude success.
“If [CEOs’ successes] were graded on a curve, the mean on the test would be 22 out of a 100,” Ben Horowitz of Andreessen Horowitz recently wrote on TechCrunch. “This kind of mean can be psychologically challenging…because nobody tells you that the mean is 22.”
“If the buck stops at the CEO, every failure in our organization ends up piled on my desk—whether it’s a typo on the website, a bad hire, or a missed market opportunity. After just a week, the failures stack up so high that it is hard to see past the mountain of complaints.”
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Author in Sacramento Today
Excellent opportunity to hear from author Dan Pallotta—his new book, Uncharitable: How Restraints on Nonprofits Undermine Their Potential is excellent and I posted on it in May—who will be in Sacramento later today, as reported by the Sacramento Business Journal.
An excerpt.
“As Sacramento kicks off a multiyear campaign to boost local charitable giving, the community gets a pep talk Thursday from a national philanthropy expert who challenges the way nonprofits are measured and regulated.
“Dan Pallotta, a Harvard professor and author of a provocative book on philanthropy, will speak from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Tsakopoulos Library Galleria. Tickets purchased in advance from the Nonprofit Resource Center ’s website are $35. Tickets at the door are $40. Pallotta will answer questions and sign his book after his talk.
“The Association of Fundraising Professionals, the Nonprofit Resource Center and philanthropists invited Pallotta to speak in Sacramento with the hope of convincing Sacramentans to think about philanthropy in new ways and to increase philanthropic support of this region’s nonprofits.
“The talk is in conjunction with the launch last month of the GiveLocalNow initiative that seeks to boost the amount given annually to local charities by $250 million.
“The public giving campaign launched after research found that the region lags the national giving average, particularly for households earning $200,000 or more.
“In the foreword of his most recent book, “Uncharitable: How Restraints on Nonprofits Undermine Their Potential,” Pallotta argues for “giving charity equal rights with the rest of the economic world and allowing it to use the system everyone else uses to get things done — free market capitalism.”
An excerpt.
“As Sacramento kicks off a multiyear campaign to boost local charitable giving, the community gets a pep talk Thursday from a national philanthropy expert who challenges the way nonprofits are measured and regulated.
“Dan Pallotta, a Harvard professor and author of a provocative book on philanthropy, will speak from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Tsakopoulos Library Galleria. Tickets purchased in advance from the Nonprofit Resource Center ’s website are $35. Tickets at the door are $40. Pallotta will answer questions and sign his book after his talk.
“The Association of Fundraising Professionals, the Nonprofit Resource Center and philanthropists invited Pallotta to speak in Sacramento with the hope of convincing Sacramentans to think about philanthropy in new ways and to increase philanthropic support of this region’s nonprofits.
“The talk is in conjunction with the launch last month of the GiveLocalNow initiative that seeks to boost the amount given annually to local charities by $250 million.
“The public giving campaign launched after research found that the region lags the national giving average, particularly for households earning $200,000 or more.
“In the foreword of his most recent book, “Uncharitable: How Restraints on Nonprofits Undermine Their Potential,” Pallotta argues for “giving charity equal rights with the rest of the economic world and allowing it to use the system everyone else uses to get things done — free market capitalism.”
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Starting Up
The initial period of building a new nonprofit to fulfill a mission is always more complicated than the novice realizes, and this article from Nonprofit About.com does a good job of looking at many of the relevant issues.
An excerpt with links at the jump.
“Starting a nonprofit is complex, with many missteps possible at any point. Going from nothing to a sustainable and financially healthy nonprofit is not for the timid. Avoiding these common nonprofit startup mistakes will get you off to a great beginning.
“From a review of the literature already available on this topic and by posting the question on various social networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Quora, I found that these mistakes were the most likely to plague nonprofit startups:
“Lack of Research and Planning
“Lack of a business plan is one of the most prevalent mistakes that startup nonprofits make. In their enthusiasm to do good, many founders of nonprofits forget that a nonprofit is a type of business. Businesses have business plans in hand before launching. A business plan encompasses an evaluation of the competitive environment, sources of funding, potential products or services to be offered and to whom, and a needs assessment….
“Lack of Financial Savvy
“Close behind lack of planning is unrealistic expectations about funding for a startup nonprofit. Many founders do not anticipate what it will cost to start their nonprofit, much less have any idea of where to get the funds. Any nonprofit startup needs a funding plan, must decide if services provided will be available for a fee or be free, and should institute a good financial records system. A nonprofit that has weak funding at the beginning is unlikely to be able to sustain itself long enough to get a vigorous fundraising program going.”
An excerpt with links at the jump.
“Starting a nonprofit is complex, with many missteps possible at any point. Going from nothing to a sustainable and financially healthy nonprofit is not for the timid. Avoiding these common nonprofit startup mistakes will get you off to a great beginning.
“From a review of the literature already available on this topic and by posting the question on various social networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Quora, I found that these mistakes were the most likely to plague nonprofit startups:
“Lack of Research and Planning
“Lack of a business plan is one of the most prevalent mistakes that startup nonprofits make. In their enthusiasm to do good, many founders of nonprofits forget that a nonprofit is a type of business. Businesses have business plans in hand before launching. A business plan encompasses an evaluation of the competitive environment, sources of funding, potential products or services to be offered and to whom, and a needs assessment….
“Lack of Financial Savvy
“Close behind lack of planning is unrealistic expectations about funding for a startup nonprofit. Many founders do not anticipate what it will cost to start their nonprofit, much less have any idea of where to get the funds. Any nonprofit startup needs a funding plan, must decide if services provided will be available for a fee or be free, and should institute a good financial records system. A nonprofit that has weak funding at the beginning is unlikely to be able to sustain itself long enough to get a vigorous fundraising program going.”
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Direct Mail
I am a big believer in direct mail—old school hand signed letter in an envelope to an individual carried by the postman—as one of the most potent forms of ongoing organizational communications with a large number of donors, and this article from The Nonprofit Times notes its continuing importance.
Also, a great how-to book I recommend is Building Your Direct Mail Program.
An excerpt from the Nonprofit Times article.
“As George Carlin said, the trouble with experience is that we don't get it until after we need it. Nonprofit decision-makers would love for the Great Recession to be over so they can put the bitter experience behind them, but the economy is still mired in a recovery that nobody notices.
“During the DMA Nonprofit Federation conference, Craig Finstad of the American Lung Association said that his organization has learned lessons about mailing during the recession, and he passed some of those lessons along.
“* If your piece is not in their mailbox, someone else's is. The strategy is to stay in front of renewal donors. The organization resisted pressure to cut the number of appeals without testing.
“* If you mail it, they will come.”
Also, a great how-to book I recommend is Building Your Direct Mail Program.
An excerpt from the Nonprofit Times article.
“As George Carlin said, the trouble with experience is that we don't get it until after we need it. Nonprofit decision-makers would love for the Great Recession to be over so they can put the bitter experience behind them, but the economy is still mired in a recovery that nobody notices.
“During the DMA Nonprofit Federation conference, Craig Finstad of the American Lung Association said that his organization has learned lessons about mailing during the recession, and he passed some of those lessons along.
“* If your piece is not in their mailbox, someone else's is. The strategy is to stay in front of renewal donors. The organization resisted pressure to cut the number of appeals without testing.
“* If you mail it, they will come.”
Monday, October 3, 2011
Social Media II
Following up on yesterday’s post, here is some specific info about why being on LinkedIn is a good idea.
An excerpt.
“1. LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 120 million members in over 200 countries and territories.
"While Facebook has 750,000 million users, many professionals prefer to use it exclusively for personal purposes. A recent study by Lab 42 showed that that 61% of people surveyed used LinkedIn for professional networking, compared to 22% for Facebook and 4% for Twitter.
“Professionals who are already using Twitter can set up their LinkedIn updates to appear in their Twitter feed and vice versa, so the two networks complement each other.
“As of July, 2011, Google + had already gained 20 million users, and it could become increasingly valuable over time. All the top social networks strive to add more features and gain new users, so there’s no guarantee that LinkedIn will be a useful network over the long term, but for now, it’s the best choice for most people who use social networking for professional purposes.
“2. LinkedIn helps professionals stay connected or to reconnect with people they already know, as well as get to know new people.
"It also provides opportunities for professionals to exchange knowledge and resources and be part of a broader network of people with similar interests.
“3. Nonprofits can create free “Company Pages” on LinkedIn to create visibility for their brand.
"The company pages also make it easier for non-profit organizations to promote their products and services, as well as get people to “follow” them and post:
status updates
job opportunities
news mentions
new hires
tweets
blog posts
“Over 101,000 organizations currently have a company page on LinkedIn.”
An excerpt.
“1. LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 120 million members in over 200 countries and territories.
"While Facebook has 750,000 million users, many professionals prefer to use it exclusively for personal purposes. A recent study by Lab 42 showed that that 61% of people surveyed used LinkedIn for professional networking, compared to 22% for Facebook and 4% for Twitter.
“Professionals who are already using Twitter can set up their LinkedIn updates to appear in their Twitter feed and vice versa, so the two networks complement each other.
“As of July, 2011, Google + had already gained 20 million users, and it could become increasingly valuable over time. All the top social networks strive to add more features and gain new users, so there’s no guarantee that LinkedIn will be a useful network over the long term, but for now, it’s the best choice for most people who use social networking for professional purposes.
“2. LinkedIn helps professionals stay connected or to reconnect with people they already know, as well as get to know new people.
"It also provides opportunities for professionals to exchange knowledge and resources and be part of a broader network of people with similar interests.
“3. Nonprofits can create free “Company Pages” on LinkedIn to create visibility for their brand.
"The company pages also make it easier for non-profit organizations to promote their products and services, as well as get people to “follow” them and post:
status updates
job opportunities
news mentions
new hires
tweets
blog posts
“Over 101,000 organizations currently have a company page on LinkedIn.”
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