NONPROFIT EYE

FREE NONPROFIT JOB ADS IN JUNE

2008-06-03T06:44:00.000-07:00

For the month of June all job postings at Idealist.org are FREE for any nonprofit organization. Posting a job on Idealist usually costs $60.

If you know anyone who works at a nonprofit organization, please share this message with them.

And for anyone interested in NPTech, they even produced a youtube video this month, that describes why Idealist is the best place to post a nonprofit job:

MIND OPENING WEB 2.0

2008-03-30T10:54:00.000-07:00

Technorati Tags: NPTech, Nonprofit, Web 2.0, NPTech Series

GOOD BYE AND GOOD NIGHT?

2008-03-02T10:56:00.000-08:00

Goodbye and Good Night @ the Nonprofit Eye?

I’ve had a moment of clarity…got to watch out for those. Here’s the insight: I’m a satirist at heart. I’m not cut out for writing the dry stuff. Whenever I write something from the heart I feel my work reputation disintegrating before my eyes.

On my other blog, I write whatever I’m musing about. On both, I don’t write under a pseudonym. In other words, I put myself out there. On that other blog, last week, I received a number of threatening comments. The anonymous (of course) commenter pointed out that I was pretty stupid to make it so easy to identify myself and (the scary part) where I live. Needless to say I took the pictures of the front of my building down that night. But I realized that I worked hard to create a very specific web identity and that maybe that wasn’t such a good idea…At least not under my own name.

During my job search I put all that on hold and reigned in my ramblings. The Nonprofit Eye was turning into a plain vanilla accounting and compliance reference site. What this means is it is time for a transformation but first a transition. I’ll be shutting down the “Eye” at the end of March. It’s been a good run, but it’s time to be moving on. I’ll leave the site up for a while and then move the good stuff over to my website (www.nonprofiteye.com).

And then the transformation. I will reappear sometime, but not under my favorite (real) name. I’ll have to join the world of (depending on your perspective) cowards or smart people. Either way, I won’t have to edit my sharper thoughts for fear of repercussions at work; and more importantly, I will be able to say what it is I want to say, in my own voice, even if not under my own name. Hopefully some of your will recognize the reincarnated voice and continue along with me on my written journey.

==Out

Technorati Tags: NPTech, Nonprofit Reference, Nonprofit Censorship, Blogging, Nonprofit Blog

NONPROFIT EYE CANDY?

2008-02-22T21:02:00.000-08:00

Nonprofit Audit Toolkit: How sweet it is

When's the last time I wrote about the AICPA's Nonprofit Audit Toolkit? I came across it again this week, and it's awesome! The whole pack can be downloaded as a zip file here. It's really too good for words. You have to check it out. Among some of it's jewels are:

• Audit Committee Charter Matrix	• Tracking Report (Whistleblowers)
• Financial Expertise	• Conducting an Exec. Session
• Sample RFP for CPA Services	• Issues Report from Management
• Independence and Related Issues	• Discussions with Indp. Auditors
• Peer Review of CPA Firms	• Evaluating Indp. Auditors
• Fraud and the Audit Committee	• Evaluating Internal Audit Team
• Hiring the Chief Audit Executive	• Audit Committee Self Evaluation
• Hiring External Experts	• Single Audit Act Issues
• Internal Control	• Resources for Audit Committees
• Evaluation of the Auditors Engagement Letter	• Unique Transactions and Fin. Relationships

NONPROFIT ROLE PLAYING?

2008-02-15T20:52:00.000-08:00

Civil Society, Government, Church - What role do we play?

Ever wonder what the role of nonprofits should be in the mix of government agencies, the business community, churches and other "faith-based" orgs? I have, since April, 2005, ever since I heard Bruce Sievers speak on the topic. It is great grist for the mill.

And so the quest for knowledge continues. Recently, a friend sent me a job opening for an innocuous position for the County of Orange called "Performance Auditor". The job paid well (approx. $90 to $150K) and the job description read like so many others:

This position will report to the Performance Audit Director and be assigned activities such as: management audits, process improvement studies, reorganization studies, cost effectiveness assessments, cost-benefit analysis, best practice analysis, program performance evaluations...

etc. etc. All read normally until...I got to the the requirements section. It read:

The candidate must also understand the role of government in society and how it interrelates with the business community.

Can I have a reality check here folks? Send me your comments. It's essay question time. How many of us can answer that question. What exactly is the role of government in society? But more importantly how is it supposed to interrelate with the business community?

If you get that one correct, try this: compare and contrast the answers posed by a democratic or republican candidate. What would Ronnie say? Should we go with "invisible hand" or do we go Libertarian? Just stay out?

In my day (and that includes the present), job requirements meant "knowledge of a certain software package" or "excellent communication skills".

What about after your first year on the job, at evaluation time? Here's how it might read:

Y.T. has a strong understanding of the role of government in society but needs improvement in the interrelation of government with the business community. We recommend several books on Political Science and perhaps a copy of "Good to Great" on her night stand.

What I'd do to be a fly on the wall for that HR meeting.

File this under: huh?

Technorati Tags: Role of Government, Nonprofit Jobs, Government Jobs, Civil Society, Bruce Sievers

JOB HUNTING II

2008-01-12T17:35:00.000-08:00

Job Hunting II

A good list of job search sites needs regular maintenance, here are three additions since our earlier post. From here on we'll post the whole updated list (with new items first) bi-monthly.

Bridgestar's mission is to support and strengthen nonprofit organizations by enhancing the flow and Effectiveness of passionate and highly skilled leaders into and within the nonprofit sector.

Commongood Careers - a nonprofit search firm that connects highly skilled, passionate individuals to organizations that are dedicated to creating positive social change. Founded by nonprofit professionals. Offers personalized, engaged support to job seekers and organizations throughout the hiring process, as well as access to a wealth of knowledge about nonprofit careers.

California Only:

Nonprofit Directions is a job listing service for the nonprofit sector, available both in print and on the web.

Nonprofit Directions is a service of the Center for Nonprofit Management, the founding partner of the Nonprofit Jobs Cooperative, a collaboration of nonprofit Management Service Organizations across the country who have combined efforts to form a new national jobs listing website.

Technorati Tags: Nonprofit Jobs, Job Search, Nonprofit, Job Resources

THE SAD & THE FUNNY: NONPROFIT JOBS CORNER

2008-01-11T10:59:00.000-08:00

NONPROFIT JOBS CORNER

THE SAD

File this one under "Sad State of Affairs":

A recent job search turned up this position advertisement:

Litigation Attorney
Disability Rights Legal Center
http://www.idealist.org/match/851494920-305
Los Angeles, CA
Salary: $48,510 per year depending on experience plus excellent benefits

Imagine graduating from Law School to find this salary! How will the Disability Rights Center recruit good talent with this offer???

THE FUNNY

Add it to my "new favorite job title":

1) I just had to read the job announcement for this one: Chief People Officer

Seems this is what they're calling a Human Resources Manager today. I remember when I thought calling People "Human" resources (as opposed to natural resources like petroleum I suppose) was egregious. What exactly was wrong with "Personnel Manager" again?

2) This is almost as good as (yes it is real!): Dream Coordinator - I've always wanted to coordinate dreams but I keep getting sleepy...

Dream Coordinator

Dream Foundation is searching for a highly motivated and committed individual to coordinate dream granting in our Los Angeles office.

3. Do you have "Poker" and "Table Tennis" on your Resume? This is a real job posting for an Engineer position!

REQUIRED SKILLS:

Ruby on Rails Experience
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) knowledge
CSS based HTML presentation

NICE TO HAVE SKILLS:

Table Tennis
Poker

4) Underwear Affair Participant Coach Needed - Another one, this one on Craigslist. I almost want to do the job just to put it on my resume.

FROM THE TRENCHES - THE IMPACT OF FASB 116 & 117 ON NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

2008-01-08T11:42:00.000-08:00

FASB 116 & 117-Nonprofit Financial Standards*
by Pam Ashlund

Disclaimer: this is a "from the trenches" opinion piece written by a nonprofit finance director who lived through the transition from pre to post FASB Statements 116 & 117. Please click the "summary" and "status" links to read the full text of the statements and consult your independent auditor for final interpretation.

Both Statements were effective December 15, 1994 for nonprofits with over $1 million in annual expenses and over $5 million in total assets.

Statement No. 116
Accounting for Contributions Received and Contributions Made (Issue Date 6/93) [Summary] [Status]

This Statement radically changed (and standardized) the way nonprofits reflect income. Generally, Statement 116 requires that contributions are recognized in the period received. Why radical? Pre-116, nonprofits received multi-year funding and reflected only the portion for the current fiscal year. The remainder was held in a balance sheet account known as "deferred revenue". This prevented the appearance of a large bubble of "profit" in the first year. Statement 116 had one unfortunate effect, it made financial statements very hard for boards and the public to understand, creating artificial profits and losses which, without notation, could be misleading. You have to decide for yourself whether the advantage (standardization) outweighs the disadvantages (hard to interpret financials); however, there is no choice, Statement 116 is required to be in conformance with GAAP.

Statement No. 117
Financial Statements of Not-for-Profit Organizations (Issue Date 6/93)
[Summary] [Status]

Nowhere near as controversial as 116, Statement 117 requires nonprofits to provide a statement of financial position, a statement of activities, and a statement of cash flows. The statement also requires that the amounts for each of three classes of net assets-permanently restricted, temporarily restricted, and unrestricted-be displayed in a statement of financial position and that the amounts of change in each of those classes of net assets be displayed in a statement of activities.

When this Statement was published all nonprofit accounting software had to be re-written to allow for a three column presentation. It also forced out some critical information. An organization that had previously showed high net assets, now might now call attention to a true loss in current unrestricted activity offset by permanently restricted funds. This statement made financials significantly more transparent and easy to understand by boards and the public.

Technorati Tags: FASB 116, FASB 117, FASB, Nonprofit, Revenue Recognition

THREE NONPROFIT BLOG FAVORITES

2008-01-04T19:07:00.000-08:00

The Best of 2007 and one new-comer
by pam ashlund

Forgive me if I sing the praises (one more time) of my three favorite bloggers, but I simply must. These three blogs have enough material to keep me reading all winter (and real I will!).

But before I begin, let me introduce a new nonprofit blog on the block. I don't know how I missed it, but it looks like it launched with a bang last September. UnCivilized Society is quite the entertaining blog. Admittedly I'm partial to the "Un's", ever since the Un-Cola, I've been into un.

White Courtesy Telephone - Last time I checked this was Albert Ruesga's baby, but on a recent visit (shows how long I am on the uptake), I see a community of bloggers. I am here to sing the praises of them all. If I had to pick one word, I'd say "entranced". I'm still hoping to craft a post title so clever as this: Nonprofits, Virtual Worlds, and the Triumph of Ironic Distance
GiftHub - What kind of being could blend bondage and philanthropy? That would be the self-proclaimed tongue-in-cheek moral tutor, Phil Cubeta. Brace yourself for the journey when you venture forth into Phil's land of satire and parable. There are times when the posts reach pure genius as in this one: Why Laundering Drug Money Through Philanthropy is Good for the Country
The Artful Manager - I try to give props to Andrew Taylor at every opportunity. His blog leaves me with a sense of awe, but doesn't require I lose my sense of humor either: Separate and connected...like a giant fungus

2007 NONPROFIT HALL OF SHAME

2008-01-04T00:01:00.000-08:00

More Nonprofit Hall of Shame
by pam ashlund

This in from the AP: A Bangor, Maine woman is in jail on a felony theft charge for embezzling $60,000 (maybe more) from a nonprofit that assists families with foster and adopted children.

Police arrested Katherine Ratliff, 39, after workers at Adoptive & Foster Families of Maine discovered discrepancies in the organizations accounts.

From a post on Deal W. Hudson's blog: 85 percent of Roman Catholic dioceses that responded had discovered embezzlement of church money in the last five years, with 11 percent reporting that more than $500,000 had been stolen.

Related Nonprofit Eye post:

2006 Nonprofit Hall of Shame

Technorati Tags: Charity, Fraud, Fraud Detection, Hall of Shame, Nonprofit

WOULD YOU WORK FOR NO MONEY?

2008-01-03T10:16:00.000-08:00

Work for a Nonprofit? Would you work for no money?
by pam ashlund

Well would you? No, I'm not talking about volunteering. I mean do what you do every day at your nonprofit, but for free. Yes you have said "I love my job so much that I'd do it even if they didn't pay me". But what if they didn't?

A friend of mine recently said that she didn't know people who worked for nonprofits got paid! It bothered her that any of her donation went to someone doing accounting, she had given it to the kids!

So here we are worrying about excessive compensation, and she's worrying about compensation period.

The fix is in folks. Now that the new 990 is a reality, anyone paid more than $150,000/yr will be highlighted. Yes, this means you. While the average household income in the US still hovers around $36,000, try living in Manhattan or San Francisco (or LA for that matter) on under $100,000.

A recent cost-of-living comparison showed a $116,000 salary in LA to be the equivalent of $212,000 in Manhattan. Given numbers like that, the Executive Directors in Manhattan sure get a raw deal on the 990. They appear to be paid excessively while the LA equiv skates on by under the radar. Is nobody thinking over there at the IRS???

OK, last question (alas I don't have many answers today): Anyone know a for-profit executive responsible for running a multi-million dollar corporation that gets paid LESS than $150,000???

fin.

BEHIND THE SCENES AT NONPROFIT EYE

2008-01-02T19:47:00.000-08:00

Nonprofit Eye - Backstage Pass - New Feature

A Letter from the Editor

It's a new year and in lieu of resolutions, we have turned our "Eye" inward. The result? An examination of focus of the Nonprofit Eye. Looking out to the audience, two posts continue to grab a huge share of our readership (one on (of all the arcane topics: revenue recognition) and the other on Job Hunting). Readership takes a dive when I turn to self-exploration, technical topics, philosophical musings on nonprofit identity. I have to admit that even my own interest was waning as I've swum thru the waters of all things related to the Nonprofit World.

So get ready for a new spin in 2008, and very soon...a new website and domain name. Such a move means a new start, appropriate for the beginning of a new year. And such a start demands a new theme.

Time for audience participation here dear readers. Two themes call strongly to me and I'd love to hear your comments on them (both as to marketability and to your own thoughts on the topics).

The first theme "Crossover Hits" speaks to bridging the gap between the knowledge bases in the for-profit world with those in the non-profit world. Call it an interdisciplinary approach. Seems the same topics are recycled over and over in the nonprofit blogosphere; the same with the for-profit writing world; And never the twain shall meet?

Two areas have great cross-talk - the fundraising and marketing bloggers have done a great job of bringing the branding concept over from "the other side". It can still be a hard sell to some nonprofit staff and boards, but there is progress. The other area is the now the almost-ready- for-prime-time: NPTech. It strikes that most of NPTech is...well...Tech. Still, it is important to keep bringing cutting edge tech applications over to the nonprofit side. Rover, Rover, let Linux come over!

It is possible to re-think the Nonprofit Eye as a place to blend for-profit trends in accounting, compliance (easier to see) as well as concepts from psychology, human interaction (also known as user-interface).

The blog would answer the question "what great stuff is being talked about out there that we aren't talking about in the nonprofit world".

The downside of this approach? All hot topics would be excluded, no 990 revisions, no transparency, no social media/web 2.0, no more fun Grassley bashing...

Which brings us to the second candidate theme, we call "The new and the old".

Bloggers like Rosetta Thurman, write about future leaders; new job seekers write about how to find a job; experienced nonprofit executives write about burnout or the leadership crisis. These points in the career cycle form a continuum; but what is in between? What can the newbies learn from their elders? What can us oldbies learn from the newcomers?

The blog could become a forum for bridging the divide. Experienced nonprofiteers would write in and answer future leaders questions; Newer Nonprofiteers would write about how to cure the ills of the old skool.

A quick scan of the newbie blogosphere shows quite a few Youth Leadership sites on the landscape:

A Shout Out to Youth
Linking a Network to Connect and Nurture Young Charity Workers (Chronicle of Philanthropy, 01.18.2002)
Advice by Young People, for Young People (New York Newsday article on YNPN-NYC, 04.04.2004)
A New Professional Network Gives Young Foundation Employees a Voice (profile of YNPN's sister network)
Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy)
Michele Martin's Advice on Starting a Nonprofit Career
The Search for a Meaningful Job
Involving Youth in Nonprofit Arts Organizations

Sound in! We want to here from readers of nonprofit blog readers. What do you want to read about? Do either of the two themes above appeal? Let's start the year with a conversation.

Technorati Tags: Leadership, Nonprofit Trends, NPTech, Charity, Young Charity Workers

GIVE WELL GIVE OFTEN - NONPROFIT TREND OF THE WEEK

2007-12-31T12:05:00.000-08:00

New Feature! Nonprofit Trend of the Week

Nonprofit Innovations

disclaimer: this is NOT a plug - please read to end of article for pro's and con's!

A friend introduced me to a for-profit product that dovetails well with nonprofit values. Produced by GiveWell.com , the product itself is called the "Healthcare Gift Card". There are pros and cons (discussed below), but first, what is it? Givewell bills itself as:

...a new way to help employees cover health and wellness costs. It is designed to encourage healthy living and staying well.

Employees can use it to cover a variety of healthcare costs including co-pays at doctor’s offices and pharmacies or for vision care, dental care, health club memberships and elective procedures at businesses that accept Visa debit cards.

Pros

Giftwell tells us that

Because the Healthcare Gift Card is targeted to work only with health and wellness providers, you can be assured your gift card will be used as a “gift of health.”

Better than giving someone cash and worrying that they'll use it on something less necessary? Hmmm...this may also be a "Con". Is a massage more necessary than gas or groceries? Can individuals not be trusted to use cash (or cash equivalents) for something they need? Is the glass half empty or half full here?

Cons

It's worrisome that a card like this can only exist in a country that doesn't provide adequate health care in the first place. Might it not be like saying "here, I know you're poor and can't afford to go to the dentist, so here's a little reminder of that"?

More worrisome is a hidden charge. After nine months if the card hasn't been used, the purchased starts incurring a monthly charge. That's kind of insane, I wouldn't want to give out a card unless I was darn sure it was going to be fully used!

The real evil here is that the stats show most folks don't use (or fully use) the gift cards they receive, perhaps Givewell's business model is based on this premise (not on the actual sale of the cards)...

But before we throw the baby out with the bathwater...there is some intriguing kernel of information here. Could you sell the card (at a markup) as a fundraiser? Could you set up to accept these cards (fee for service?) and have your donors decide who to give them to?

I think there's something here, but as always, let the buyer beware.

Technorati Tags: Givewell, Nonprofit Innovation, Nonprofit Trends, NPTech, Charity, Giving, Gift Card

FABULOUS FONT CLOUD

2007-12-27T23:53:00.000-08:00

Spruce Up Your Nonprofit Website - Find Your Font Here
by pam ashlund

Inspired by a post in the new hot blog "KPAO!" (I think that's a batman reference): Best Free Font Resources

Technorati Tags: KPAO!, Fonts, Font Cloud, Nonprofit, Webdesign, NPTech

THE REVISED 990: IT'S HEEEERE!

2007-12-22T10:42:00.000-08:00

This Just In...IRS Releases New Form 990
brought to you by pam ashlund

You've been waiting for it (dreading it?) and now it's here. Get ready, the IRS has announced the release of the revised Form 990 (complete with schedules A - R)! How many years have we been hearing the rumblings about excessive compensation? about professional fundraisers? about risk management? about enhanced transparency? Well, the pavement has met the road folks. Read the IRS announcement here.

Effective for the 2008 tax year (returns filed in 2009), the revised form will be phased in over a three year period for smaller organizations.

The revision reflects many changes since the draft was released (the IRS received more than 650 public comments!!!)

For the 2008 tax year (returns filed in 2009), organizations with gross receipts over $1.0 million or total assets over $2.5 million will be required to file the Form 990. For the 2009 tax year (returns filed in 2010), organizations with gross receipts over $500,000 or total assets over $1.25 million will be required to file the Form 990... Also, starting with the 2010 tax year, the IRS will increase the filing threshold for organizations required to file Form 990-N (the e-postcard) from $25,000 to $50,000.

You can find the 2008 Form 990, comments, etc. on the IRS Charities and Nonprofits web site.

Technorati Tags: 990, Revised 990, Form 990, IRS, Charities, Nonprofit Tax Return, Nonprofit

NONPROFIT GOVERNMENT GRANTS - THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

2007-12-21T11:09:00.000-08:00

Pam Ashlund's Nonprofit Thought for the Day

I came across this item in OMB's comments to the IRS (in response to the revised 990):

Federal agencies provide over $450 billion in government grants annually; a substantial portion of which goes to nonprofit organizations.

No deep thoughts today, just this: That's BILLIONS not millions. That's a lot of change. Let's use it to make a difference!

Technorati Tags: Government Grants, Federal Funding, Nonprofit Funding, Nonprofit

CONTENT NO LONGER RELEVANT

2007-12-12T20:32:00.000-08:00

Finding What's Relevant Today
by pam ashlund

I lost a subscriber today. Not the first, definitely not the last. The reason? The dreaded "Content no longer relevant".

The truth is that when I started writing about nonprofit identity, I thought that topic would carry me through writing unlimited posts. Even when I ran through the topics that interested me I still had an impulse to use the blog as a repository of reference information. 99% of that material related to nonprofit accounting and occasionally to compliance or fundraising. I've always worked in finance and tech. Two nonprofit spaces were full enough; the marketing/fundraising blogs and the IT/Tech blogs. Still, I can suddenly be inspired by some miracles of technology lately, especially the tech that speaks to blogging. I found a fair amount of my posts were tech or tech humor, accounting or compliance reference all forming a frame for my general philosophy on nonprofit identity.

In the meantime, my life changed radically. I was ten years into a job and twenty into a career when the signs of burnout started to show. I was overwhelmed with insecurities, suddenly feeling I'd lost my edge. All of what I used to call confidence now seemed to be nothing more than unsubstantiated hype. The more burned out I got, the worse everything seemed. My writing turned to preventing burn-out, to yoga, to stress reduction, etc.

It was just about then that I made my decision to walk away. After ten years I left my well-paying, secure, (somewhat) prestigious job. For the first time in my life I "leapt without a net". It didn't occur to me then, but it's clear now, that my own identity was entwined with my idea of nonprofit identity. Turns out I've been working for nonprofits for almost half of my life! Also, I'm what used to be called a "career girl". I've chosen the path less traveled, never married, no kids, two-cat limit (no cat lady action here!). What I'm trying to say here is this: my work was my life and vice versa. So now that I'm not working, it has thrown me into some serious self-examination. If I am what I work, what am I now?

A FLAIR FOR FLARE

2007-12-12T18:45:00.000-08:00

A Flair for Flare: Y.T. asks the important questions

Last Friday I blogged on blog flare in 'Tis the Season for Blog Flare. It wasn't until later that the word "flare" started bugging me. Where did it come from, why call it flare? The only thing I could think of was a cute little movie called Office Space.

P: What are pieces of flair?

J: That’s where you know, suspenders and buttons and all sorts of stuff. We’re, uh, we’re actually required to wear fifteen pieces of flair. Jennifer Aniston in Office Space

What the heck is "Flare"? I remember seeing it on Feedburners site as "feed flare". I assumed it was related to the "flare" that Jennifer Aniston made famous in the movie "Office Space", but where did it come from? Perhaps a bit of corporate marketing slang? A hunt of the online dictionaries turned up nothing.

But then, proving once again that there is nothing that hasn't been thought of before. I came across a fellow blogger, Matt Cutts (a Google Engineer and Spokesman) who asked (back in March):

When referring to those little widgets like MyBlogLog that spruce up a page, do you say “flair” or “flare”? The first place I heard the term was Office Space, and they call it flair:

Matt's post had 30 comments, the most key of which was from a Feedburner staffer who cleared it up once and for all thusly:

hey matt…it’s don from feedburner. while i didn’t do the naming (i think it was matt shobe, one of our cofounders), londoner and bob are right. it’s from office space, but we changed it a bit to match the flame

Mystery solved. I was barking up the wrong tree with "flare", when it was "flair" all along. Ah the important things in life. Now I'll be able to sleep tonight.

Technorati Tags: Blog Flare, Flare, Feedflare, NPTech, Flair

RSS - YOUR NONPROFIT BLOG CONTENT JUST A CLICK AWAY

2007-12-11T15:48:00.000-08:00

Not ready for blog RSS flare yet? We'll cover RSS today (then blogging tomorrow and Flare on Thursday)!

Don't get confused about technie terms like RSS, we'll keep it simple and refer you on if you want to go high-brow.

RSS - Really Simple Syndication, a format for web syndication used by news websites and blogs. The file is called a “feed” (as in “newsfeed”). If you have Google or Yahoo or AOL you probably already have a feed reader. But if you don’t you can find one on-line for free or for pay. Two that come to mind are Newsgator and Bloglines. Just click the RSS Icon in the upper right corner of your browsers address bar (or on your favorite blog--for example the Nonprofit Eye’s Orange Glass RSS Icon) and follow the instructions to add the blogs feed to your reader. Voila. You’ve made your own newspaper that updates automatically for you every time the blogger posts a new article. Rinse. Repeat (to keep track of all your favorite blogs).

Want to get into the details? Try Wikipedia or two incredible articles about how nonprofits can use RSS and aggregation to work more effectively: 10 Steps to RSStocracy and 10 Reasons Nonprofits Should Use RSS

Technorati Tags: RSS, Feed Reader, Newsfeed, RSS Icon, NPTech

'TIS THE SEASON FOR BLOG FLARE

2007-12-07T23:01:00.000-08:00

Will Tempers Flare?
by pam ashlund

The whole idea of "flare" is (apparently) to take an ordinary object and dress it up a bit. Flare might warm something up, make it a little more personal. At the very least it might make something a little cuter.

An example? The plain vanilla version of the RSS icon, got glam'd up with reflective shadows, new colors, beveled edges. I love customizing icons, it just adds some spice to otherwise dull activities.

So you'd think I would be happy when I came across a set of Christmas RSS Icons. At first, yes, but then a pang of "PC" guilt hit me. Does anyone say "PC" (as in Politically Correct) anymore? I've been "pc" all the way with one exception. It was sad for me when Christmas was transformed into Holiday or even sadder "Winter". We said "Happy Holidays" at the "Winter Party". Who would have thought a "nice jewish girl" would miss Christmas?

That's why my heart skipped a beat when I came across the RRS-ing of Christmas. Probably can't use it on a nonprofit site, unless a Santa hat and an ornament can be considered non-denominational. Does that mean I can't use the "NPTech" tag?

And me without my Channukah Icon.

Download the set here but don't tell anyone!

Happy Snowflakes!

See also my post, A Flair for Flare!

Technorati Tags: Humor, NPTech, Flare, RSS Icon, Christmas Flare

NONPROFIT TOUGH LOVE

2007-12-05T22:38:00.000-08:00

Nonprofit Tough Love
pam ashlund

the great lie is that it is "Civilization", it's not civilized. It's been the most blood thirsty...brutalizing system ever imposed upon this planet...that is not civilization, that's the great lie...or if it does represent civilization, and if that's truly what civilization is, then the great lie is that civilization is good for us" John Trudell, on Western Civilization (in "Trudell" documentary by Heather Rae, 2006)

John Trudell was making an important point about the effectiveness of a bias when it is built right into the language. Bias embedded in language is that much harder to overcome because you need language to be able to describe the problem.

My favorite illustration? A riddle: A father and daughter are in a car accident. The father is killed and the daughter taken to the hospital. The surgeon looks at the girl and says "I can not operate on her, she is my daughter"! How can this be? (answer at bottom of post)

Why was I thinking about the intersection of linguistics and belief today? And how, oh how, am I going to segue to nonprofit financial management? Simple. I came across an online quiz: the CFO Fitness Quiz: Are You Tough Enough for the Caring Sector? on the Bridgestar website (you have to sign up, but it's free and really worth it).

Until that moment I had not thought about the juxtaposition and contradictions inherent in personality type and industry. The questions hidden in the question are these: is the nonprofit sector an easy to manage industry? does working for a caring profession imply you are a kind person? are kind people necessarily competent?

Our industry has long had to be defensive on that last point. The underbelly of the nonprofit world. If we're here because we are caring, are we also here because no one else wanted us? Have we perpetuated the problem by hiring for heart and not skill?

This issue is, of course, tied to our fears about the coming "leadership crisis" (and I don't really believe there will be one). The truth is, our industry has done a lot of growing up. Our pay scales don't always look low to me anymore; our talent is (sometimes) formidable; we mission and vision with the best of 'em; we invest in training and marketing; and we account for our dollars as good (or even far better) than our for profit equivalents.

Answer: The solution, of course, is that the surgeon is a woman.

Technorati Tags: Leadership Challenge, , Leadership Crisis, Nonprofit, CFO Quiz, John Trudell, language, belief

28 DAYS FOR CHARITABLE GIVING (Oh...and Merry Christmas)

2007-12-05T06:49:00.000-08:00

27 Days for Charitable Giving in 2007
by pam ashlund

Leave it to a nonprofit accountant to write about tax-time instead of Christmas Cheer and Silver Bells! Seems like only yesterday I was writing about holiday fundraising appeals, but it turns out another year has flown by!

Here's a re-cap on tax-exempt giving:

The Nonprofit Eye on IRS Regs, Tis The Season to Be Giving

sixtyPercent on the great Tax Advantages of Giving Gifts of Stock

Beth Kanter's posts on Fundraising Widgets and on Donor Documentation

and let's not forget the IRS's own roundup of Tax-Exempt Giving

Technorati Tags: Charitable Giving, Donations, Nonprofit, Tax Exempt Donation

NONPROFIT JOB HUNTING

2007-12-03T10:47:00.000-08:00

Nonprofit Job Hunting
by pam ashlund

Following the old adage "write about what you know", today's focus is job hunting!

One great part of working in the nonprofit sector is how many industry specific job rags there are to choose from. If you asked me where to look I'd say (in no particular order): "Opportunity Nocs, Nonprofit Oyster, Idealist, Chronicle of Philanthropy".

But there is so much more:

Idealist.org A project of Action Without Borders, global clearinghouse of nonprofit resources, including jobs, internships, mailing lists, and nonprofit resources by state & country.

Opportunity NOCS
A resource for nonprofit jobs and employment opportunities.

Nonprofit Oyster
Offers job postings for meaningful career opportunities, and the ability for job seekers to post their profiles online for employers to access. They donate 5% of their profits to support nonprofits whose missions are particularly close to their hearts.

Craig's List, Nonprofit Jobs
Bay Area based community bulletin board, that posts nonprofit job openings by city and/or country from all over the world now.

Social Work and Social Services Jobs Online
jobs in social work, counseling, psychology, sociology, mental health, case management, employee assistance, volunteer management, substance abuse treatment, domestic violence, community development, mentoring, youth development, child welfare, developmental disabilities and all other areas of social services

Young Nonprofit Professionals Network Career Centre Job listings are geared toward professionals in the beginning of their nonprofit careers. Focus on San Francisco's Bay Area.

Nonprofit Jobs Nonprofit jobs and executive employment listings. Special e-mail lists for New York City, Washington DC, Los Angeles Boston, and San Francisco

Deep Sweep
a large selection of nonprofit jobs listed in one place for free. Resource linking nonprofit professionals to outstanding career opportunities.

Foundation Center/Philanthropy News Digest Job Corner
30-50 new jobs added weekly, mostly development positions, but other nonprofit jobs are posted as well. EJob Alert available.

Nonprofit Career Network
Provides job and volunteer listings, resume posting, and nonprofit directory.

Nonprofit Jobs Cooperative
A collaboration of nonprofit management centers from across the United States . One-stop source for nonprofit jobs from coast to coast. CA jobs tend to be mainly in Southern CA .

Young Nonprofit Professionals Network
Posts jobs with Bay Area nonprofit organizations, searchables by job title, position type, organization type, and/or Bay Area region.

DotOrgJobs.com- An employment resource for the non-profit world, featuring job openings at foundations and non-profit organizations.

Access: Networking In The Public Interest-Employment opportunities in Nonprofit Organizations around the US. Updated daily. Includes Full time, Volunteer and Internship Opportunities. Nonprofit Career Fairs and Expos.

Human S ervices Career Network - United States-focused service matching professionals and employers in the social service sector. Databases of resumes and positions are available.

Nonprofit Career Network - Resource center for individuals seeking jobs in the nonprofit sector. Post your resume on-line and search a database of job listings and job fairs.

Professionals for Nonprofits - A staffing company that specializes in providing permanent and temporary staff to nonprofits. Extensive job listings.

Nonprofit Jobs & Executive Search - Nonprofit executive, senior management and fundraising jobs and executive searches conducted by recruiters, headhunters, and employers in the nonprofit, government, health, higher education, human rights, social services, advocacy and public sectors.

LifeWorth- Online information service about careers in progressive business, global candidate search and selection service, and seminars, workshops and publications on professional development. Only useful if looking for international jobs (UK, Dubai, Canada)

Check out the latest additions to the job search list.

Technorati Tags: Nonprofit Jobs, Job Search, Nonprofit, Job Resources

RADICAL CHIC & THE NEW CONFORMISM (BRACE YOURSELVES NONPROFITS!)

2007-11-30T19:41:00.000-08:00

Nonprofits? Get ready for a generation that would make Kafka Proud
by pam ashlund

One thing that's great about my recent unemployment? Time to read. And reading means exposure to new ideas. And new ideas mean inspiration. Hurray.

Take two articles, the first David Brook's article "The Organization Kid", from way back in April, 2001 (remember when that was the science fiction future?) and another, Andrew Keen's article "Web 2.0 The second generation of the Internet has arrived. It's worse than you think." from February, 2006. Isn't it great when information converges over time?

First, credit where credit's due. These came to my attention from two blogs I read regularly (thanks to RSS!), the penny for your thoughts blog "1cent talk on nptech" and "Urban Community". They are two great reasons to keep browsing the blogosphere!

"The Organization Kid" paints a frightening picture of a new generation so conformist and content that they have become complacent, obedient even bland. Compared to the generation before who questioned authority, the organization kid isn't disturbed by authority. The key? An underlying belief that life is just.

They are responsible. They are generous. They are bright. They are good-natured. ...Evil is seen as something that can be cured with better education, or therapy, or Prozac. Instead of virtue (they) ...talk about accomplishment.

I find this fascinating because so much of my life has been devoted to a pursuit of justice. In other words, I have a belief that life is not just. I always figured it to be part of a gloomy personality type and that if only I had been blessed with a more cheerful basic life view, that I'd find the world more just. Hmmm. That's a whole 'nother can of worms.

What I'm thinking is that, hey, maybe a bit of skepticism ain't a bad thing after all.

Brooks gave us this outline of a new type back in 2001, and even though he was studying the completely non representative group of Princeton students, his portrait rings true. War protests (and other forms of social protest) seem more the territory of the 60's generation than todays college students and "under 30's".

Now, on the other hand, take Andrew Keen's article "Web 2.0: The second generation of the Internet has arrived. It's worse than you think." Keen keenly observes (sorry couldn't resist):

Buzzwords from the old dot.com era--like "cool," "eyeballs," or "burn-rate"--have been replaced in Web 2.0 by language which is simultaneously more militant and absurd: Empowering citizen media, radically democratize, smash elitism, content redistribution, authentic community . . . . This sociological jargon, once the preserve of the hippie counterculture, has now become the lexicon of new media capitalism.

So, is there a rebirth of the new conformist? or the hippie counterculture? Let's make up our minds. Want the truth? Think twice, it's scary. The truth (according to Pam) is that the young hip marketing folks must have discovered how sexy and marketable "radical" is. I haven't heard anything about the "radical chic" since my old dog-eared copy of Tom Wolfe's "Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers". It's not what he was talking about exactly, but same principle.

You know all the talk about the impending "leadership crisis" in nonprofits. OK, so if you don't, the basic idea is that the boomers will all being retiring and then who will run today's nonprofits? I don't think there will even be blip, those jobs will be filled chop-chop. All I can say is this... let's hope the sexiness of radicalism rubs off on our new conformists.

An Aside:

Keene's article really held a quite different premise, that:

(in)the Web 2.0 world ... the nightmare is not the scarcity, but the over-abundance of authors. Since everyone will use digital media to express themselves, the only decisive act will be to not mark the paper. Not writing as rebellion sounds bizarre--like a piece of fiction authored by Franz Kafka. But one of the unintended consequences of the Web 2.0 future may well be that everyone is an author, while there is no longer any audience.

The threat doesn't give me pause. I say the more the merrier. After all, where would I have had the chance to read these two articles written six years apart, and then brought to me via nonprofit bloggers, were it not for all this information overload?

Technorati Tags: NPTech, Leadership Crisis, Nonprofit, Question Authority, Web 2.0

REMEMBERING MY MISSION: NONPROFIT PHILOSOPHY

2007-11-05T10:55:00.000-08:00

Remembering My Mission: Nonprofit Philosophy
by pam ashlund

reprint: originally titled "The Dearth of Nonprofit Thought" posted on NetSquared

It's time to strike up a conversation backed by sound research, philosophy and experience. How is it we don't have our own "Wall Street Journal" by now? So much of the real estate space in nonprofit rags is devoted to a) our own salaries; b) how to raise money; or c) what nifty new accounting software we should buy.

I launched the Nonprofit Eye to do my part - kickoff some discussion on real stuff, like revenue recognition, the meaning of charity, the hazards of promising too much, the oxymoron of performance outcomes, etc. etc.

Join in, viva la revolution!

Technorati Tags: Nonprofit Philosophy, Charity