Philanthropy Front and Center-San Francisco

2012 James Irvine Foundation Leadership Awards

Do you know an innovative, effective leader who is working to improve California’s future? Nominate him or her for a James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award by clicking here. The award includes $125,000 in organizational support plus assistance connecting with policymakers and practitioners in the field. The nominations process has been streamlined so you can now nominate an effective leader in just three simple steps. Deadline: April 29, 2011.

This Week at the Foundation Center (March 28- April 1)

Tuesday, March 29, 9:30-11:00 am Grantseeking Basics; and 11:00 am-12:00 pm Introduction to Finding Funders

Wednesday, March 30, 5:30-7:00 pm Grantseeking Basics for Individuals in the Arts

Thurday, March 31, 10:00 am-12:00 pm Meet the Grantmakers: Demystifying Due Diligence; and 1:00-2:30 pm How to Approach a Foundation

Our library is open Monday through Friday free of charge and no appointment is necessary.

Library Hours:
Monday--11:00 am-6:00 pm
Tuesday/Thursday/Friday--10:00 am-5:00 pm
Wednesday--10:00 am-8:00 pm

Jumpstarting Your Individual Fund Development: Recap

I was so pleased to attend Lisa Hoffman's workshop yesterday, Jumpstarting Your Individual Fund Development. Lisa is an extremely skilled nonprofit coach and facilitator and has worked with all types of nonprofits from grassroots to multi-million dollar budgets. In typical Lisa fashion, she kicked off the workshop with a mini-get-to-know-your-neighbor-networking-exercise and asked us to chat about the New Normal. That is, how do we see our organization adjusting to the new economy, the culture of uncertainty, the new ways of approaching fund development, and accomplishing the mission of our organization? Most of us agreed, we are "doing more, with less”.

One of the things I liked about this workshop is that it remained flexible and interactive vs. a prescriptive "this is how to develop an individual giving program". It was clear; Lisa wanted to address each participant's burning questions while engaging different levels of experience in the room.

Vital takeaways included:

*Use Fund development vs. Fundraising. Fundraising is only one element in Fund Development. Fund development is EVERYTHING before and after solicitation; and includes donor cultivation, acknowledgement, recognition, building relationship, and managing donor and donation information.

*Know your organization and its needs. This is an important reminder for nonprofit leadership, whether addressing board recruitment or developing social networking strategies. If your organization is looking for new board members, know the skills your current board members bring to the table, and identify weaknesses. Do not presume your organization needs to have a presence on every social media outlet, but rather choose tactics selectively and focus. Again, asking: What does your organization need?  

*Board recruitment. Recruiting fantastic board members should take time—consider having potential new board members demonstrate that they have the time, passion for the mission of your organization, and possess follow through. Give prospective board members a meaningful task or invite them to be part of a task force or committee, so you can evaluate each other to determine a good fit. Effective and ongoing board recruitment, orientation and training with board fund development responsibilities should always be clearly communicated.

*Target constituencies appropriately. Maximize returns on direct mail solicitations, online fundraising initiatives and special events by getting to know your specific audiences and stakeholders. For example, target fundraising appeals to your volunteers vs. sending everyone the exact same general letter. Be strategic in how you communicate with different constituencies—and your organization will stand out.

For more information and guidance on individual fund development, check out these books:

• Beyond Fundraising: New Strategies for Nonprofit Innovation and Investment, by Kay Sprinkel Grace
• The Board Building Cycle: Nine Steps to Finding, Recruiting, and Engaging Nonprofit Board Members,
Boardsource.org
• The Networked Nonprofit, by Beth Kanter and Allison Fine
• Planning and Implementing Your Major Gifts Campaign, by Suzanne Irwin-Wells
• The Ultimate Board Member's Book, by Kay Sprinkel Grace

And these blogs/newsletters:

• Beth Kanter's Blog: social networking + nonprofits
• Thelar Pekar & Partners: tools for messaging and communications
• Mal Warwick Associates: nonprofit fundraising & direct marketing
• Blue Avocado: practical food-for-thought for nonprofits

Save the Date! Don’t miss Lisa’s next workshop: Fearlessly Facilitating Decision Making, May 17, 10am-12pm.  

Looking for Corporate Volunteers: Recap

Joni Podolsky, author of Wired for Good: Strategic Technology Planning for Nonprofits and Principal of CommunityCollage Consulting, visited the Foundation Center to deliver the workshop Looking for Corporate Volunteers? Learn How to Create Meaningful Experiences That Will Lead to Deeper Commitment. In case you missed it, following are some key points and tips from Joni's presentation.

Clearly articulate your organization's objectives with the company. Articulating your organization's message, culture, and goals is important when embarking on a corporate volunteer program. You will also want to define the culture of your organization and what you hope to gain from the project. Often, nonprofits feel like they have more to gain from corporate volunteer programs, but the opposite is true: Companies also gain from working with nonprofits. Taking these steps also helps to establish equality between your organization and the company.

Don't bite off more than your organization can chew. It is important to define to the partner your organization's capacity to utilize volunteers. Setting what seems like demands may feel counter intuitive for a lot of organizations that want to say "yes" to everything, but neglecting to do this is potentially damaging to the relationship between the company and your organization. For instance, if your organization does not have the capacity to utilize 50 volunteers, and the company has that many to send you, you should probably ask for fewer, or say no to the program altogether. You never want to underutilize the help you are given.

Get to know the company's culture to understand the reasoning behind the partnership. In addition to articulating what your organization wishes to gain from the partnership, it is important to understand why the company wishes to volunteer for you. Most companies have an agenda when it comes to volunteering. Companies will often volunteer for team building, leadership development, or professional development; however, volunteering also allows employees to develop their "full-selves". Generally, individuals get entrenched in the day-to-day roles of the workplace. Volunteering allows participants to grow beyond their work roles. Overall, this increases job satisfaction. Understanding the reasoning behind corporate volunteerism will also help your organization develop a more successful program.

Form volunteer programs with companies that have a vested interest in your mission. Corporate partnerships are most successful when there is a symbiosis between what the partners are giving and receiving. Create programs with companies that are geographically nearby and whose products or services align with your mission. In addition, make sure the company's employees gain something positive from participating.

For more information on creating successful corporate volunteer programs, you may be interested in the following resources:

2010 Executive Summary: Deloitte Volunteer IMPACT Survey

Mapping Success in Employee Volunteering: The Drivers of Effectiveness for Employee Volunteering and Giving Programs and Fortune 500 Performance

Giving Back: Connecting You, Business, and Community by Bert Berkley. Call Number: 438 BER GIV

This Week at the Foundation Center (March 21-25)

Tuesday, March 22, 9:30-11:00 am Introduction to Corporate Giving;  and 11:00 am-12:30 pm Looking for Corporate Volunteers?

Thursday, March 24, 10:00 am-12:00 pm Jumpstart Your Individual Fund Development

Friday, March 25, 12:00-1:30 pm Introduction to Fundraising Planning

Our library is open Monday through Friday free of charge and no appointment is necessary.

Library Hours:

Monday:  11:00 am-6:00 pm
Tuesday/Thursday/Friday:  10:00 am-5:00 pm
Wednesday:  10:00 am-8:00 pm

BART Reads: Evaluation, Collaboration, and Watson

On the BART Reads roster this week:

A new report from Public/Private Ventures about evaluating the effectiveness of social programs. The report indicates that too much importance is placed upon judging program effectiveness and not enough attention is paid to making programs more effective. The report suggests an approach to evaluation whereby nonprofit practitioners are very involved in the evaluation process. This alternative evaluation process also considers systemic implications. The authors suggest that changes to evaluation could lead to improved program effectiveness. This report was summarized in Philanthropy News Digest earlier this week.

The value of collaboration is discussed in the cover story of the March 2011 issue of Alliance "When Does Collaboration Make Sense?" By examining different examples of collaboration, authors Barry Knight and Caroline Hartnell, conclude that the outcome of a collaborative project is not always positive. Successful collaboration depends on a number of variables including relationships, cost, and the complexity of the problem the effort is attempting to solve, to name a few. If your organization is considering collaboration, or has embarked on a collaborative effort that isn't quite working out, the article suggests some alternatives to collaboration. If you're interested in more information on collaborative efforts, have a look at the Foundation Center's Collaboration Database.

Finally, for all the trivia geeks who were watching the Man vs. Machine battle on Jeopardy! last month, you might be interested in an article from the Chronicle of Philanthropy "Could IBM’s Watson Computer Aid the Work of Nonprofits?" The article suggests a few potential ways that the nonprofit sector might benefit from the Watson technology. Aparently IBM is already all over it, as their website indicates that "Watson could soon power many solutions in our world".

To access these BART reads and many more, visit the library.

New Google for Nonprofits Program

 
Yesterday, Google launched a new version of the way they help nonprofits. Instead of applying to each Google product individually, you can sign up through a one-stop shop application process. If approved, you can access their suite of product offerings, including: Google Grants/Adwords, YouTube for Nonprofits, Google Earth Outreach Grants, and Google Apps for Nonprofits.

According to the Google Nonprofits blog, "the new Google for Nonprofits program provides exclusive product offerings and enhanced online resources, designed to help U.S.-based nonprofits reach more donors, improve operations and raise awareness for their cause". Learn more about eligibility and how to apply.

I also read that the Google for Nonprofits program is committing to approve or disapprove your application in 30 days.

For more wrap-ups and responses, visit Beth Kanter's blog and Rohit Bhargava’s post.

 

Apply for the 2011 Nonprofit Transitions Fund

The San Francisco Foundation has announced a new grant opportunity: the Nonprofit Transitions Fund. This fund aims to help organizations "rethink and regroup" in response to the economic downturn. The goal of the fund is to minimize time and money spent on administrative functions, thereby increasing productivity. The $350,000 fund will be awarded in $10,000 to $30,000 grants to nonprofit organizations for the following purposes:

• Merger/acquisition/consolidation
• Back office collaborations (including rent, equipment, group insurance, joint purchasing, and centralizing human resources, payroll and benefits administration, and financial and grants management)
• Dissolution (voluntary/involuntary)
• Bankruptcy/reorganization
• Post-merger integration or closure costs
• Service delivery joint ventures

If your organization is interested in applying to the San Francisco Foundation's Nonprofit Transitions Fund, visit their website for further instruction and eligibility requirement.

This Week at the Foundation Center (March 14-18)

Tuesday, March 15, 9:30-11:00 am Proposal Writing Basics;  and 11:00 am-12:00 pm Proposal Budgeting Basics

Wednesday, March 16, 5:00-6:30 pm Grantseeking Basics; and 6:30-7:30 pm Introduction to Finding Funders

Thursday, March, 1:00 pm-2:30 pm Finding Foundation Support for Your Education; 2:30 pm-3:15 pm Getting Started with Foundation Grants to Individuals Online

Our library is open Monday through Friday free of charge and no appointment is necessary.

Library Hours:

Monday:  11:00 am-6:00 pm
Tuesday/Thursday/Friday:  10:00 am-5:00 pm
Wednesday:  10:00 am-8:00 pm

BART Reads: Prospect Research--What’s the Latest?

Yes, I’m still taking BART—despite the latest research.

Speaking of research, this week the Jan/Feb 2011 issue of Advancing Philanthropy* grabbed my attention and put me in touch with the latest in prospect research advancements. Mary Ellen Collin’s article “On Target” reviews recent prospect research trends, including the shift to focusing on philanthropy rather than wealth, data mining, and predictive modeling, and the use of social media. I highly recommend her article; she includes a summary of the 7 best practices for prospect research in arts and culture fundraising, as provided by a Wealth Engine report [free registration is required]. And this Wealth Engine reportoutlines 9 best practices in healthcare fundraising, and includes detailed case studies.

If you want to learn more about the ethical considerations of online prospect research and what information prospect researchers can legally obtain and use, read the article by Paul Lagasse, “More than Data” in the same Advancing Philanthropy* issue.

As a reminder, the Foundation Center–San Francisco library provides free access to Wealth Engine, just ask a librarian to log you in, and if you are looking to refresh your prospect researching skills—sign up for our free training class Prospect Research Basics: Researching Individual Donors.

*Advancing Philanthropy is the bi-monthly publication of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP).