Inside Philanthropy

It’s not about you

noreply@blogger.com (Philanthropy Journal) — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 19:00:00 +0000

Gen. Hugh Shelton

Chris Hitch

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the final post in a six-part series exploring values-based leadership by Chris Hitch, director of the Gen. H. Hugh Shelton Leadership Center.

Gen. Shelton emphasizes that all values-based leaders have an obligation to give back. It doesn’t matter whether you are a student or a working professional; you have an obligation to work to make your corner of the world a better place. He urges us to “be bigger than ourselves, to give back to our community, and to our state, and even to our nation.”

He reminds us that there are multiple opportunities to do this in small and large ways. Corporations and nonprofits mutually benefit from these partnerships. Corporations’ reputations are enhanced by giving back to the community. Nonprofits, by their very existence, are known for their mission-driven programs to the community.

A signature programs at the Shelton Leadership Center is the Shelton Challenge, which has selfless service as a key program component. Twice a year (in addition to their other volunteer efforts), our Shelton Scholars go to a particular town for a Weekend of Service, where they partner with local civic organizations to build wheelchair ramps, clean blighted areas or help in other ways. We partner with NC State’s Center for Student Leadership, Ethics & Public Service to support them in their student service learning and leadership efforts. I’ve been in awe of high school students who volunteer to help those with disabilities in and out of school.

I’m not highlighting these to boast about different Shelton programs are doing (although I am incredibly humbled and impressed with our tireless staff , board and many students and how they each live out this cornerstone daily). I’m emphasizing that there are lots of ways to give and give back in a community. As Gen. Shelton urges, “that is a part of what each and every one of us from the corporate level right down to the individual should be doing.”

Values based leadership—It’s not about you.

What situations have you found where giving back to the community gives you an even greater gift?

Chris Hitch, Ph.D., is director of the Gen. H. Hugh Shelton Leadership Center and program director of the Poole College of Management Executive Education at North Carolina State University.

How to get a Justin Bieber on board with your nonprofit

noreply@blogger.com (Philanthropy Journal) — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 18:00:00 +0000

© Shutterstock

Sara Choe

As you foray into online fundraising for your nonprofit, you might have stumbled upon the term “social media influencer”. You might wonder what that is exactly and where would you even get one of those.

A social media influencer is simply a person whose online presence carries weight. There are many kinds of influencers, but they share the following qualities:

1. Credibility

An influencer has had to earn their audience’s trust in some way, and more trust means longer attention spans.

Being an expert in a field is one way an influencer gains credibility. Physicians like Sanjay Gupta or Dr. Oz are influential – the former as a CNN medical correspondent and the latter as host of the eponymous television show – primarily due to their medical expertise.

2. Reach

Social media influencers have extensive audiences. They have numerous followers across several platforms; sometimes there are overlaps; that is to say, one might follow a blogger both on Facebook and Twitter. For example, author, blogger and speaker Jon Acuff has more than 49,000 fans on Facebook and nearly 186,000 followers on Facebook.

3. Quality engagement

The influencer’s audience is marked by quantity and quality. That is to say, she has many meaningful interactions with most of her many followers. Her followers not only consume her content but share it with their respective audiences.

Searching for Social Media Influencers

Now that you know who social media influencers are, you need to learn how to connect with those who would best advocate for your organization.

Hint: An influencer’s celebrity doesn’t translate into being an effective endorser of your cause. While not impossible, an urban fashionista probably would not be the best spokesperson for a nonprofit focused on promoting sustainable agriculture in the global south. A food critic who writes extensively about organic farming and shopping at farmers’ markets, on the other hand, would be a better fit.

Finding the right social media influencers involves more than just referring to industry and social rankings; you’ll have to do your own research to identify these key people. Fortunately, searching for them is not like trying to find Waldo.

Basically, you’ll be relying heavily on search engines and social media to find and befriend these influencers. Here are our tips on engaging with social media influencers.

1. Search online

Search for content –news articles, blogposts, research papers, trade magazines and books – germane to your field of work. Note the authors and their respective sources.

Chances are you’ve already come across these names if you’re already keeping up your industry’s news. Create a spreadsheet where you can record and keep track of these names.

2. “Stalk” them

Plug these names into Twitter and start following them. Add their handles to your spreadsheet and note other interesting facts about them.

Do likewise on other channels, such as Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest and YouTube. Skim through their information and content, and record your findings in your spreadsheet.

Sometimes, social media channels are search engines unto themselves. Run a Twitter search for industry keywords to find people that your Google (or Bing or Yahoo!) search might have overlooked.

3. Measure their social influence

Use Klout or a similar platform to get detailed, statistical analyses of the influencers’ influence. You can use these tools to find more influencers, too.

4. Determine your targets

Now that you’ve gathered information on the persons of interest, narrow the field of candidates. You’re free to lend as much or as little weight to the myriad opinions on the who’s who in the social media sphere.

But at the end of the day, only you can decide who is right for your cause and your campaign. One factor you might consider could be how much time you can devote to engaging with these influencers, in addition to their degree of relevance.

5. Organize them

Once you’ve finalized your selection of social media influencers, group them by categories of your choice. You can create lists on Twitter and circles on Google+ to help manage your interactions.

You can publicize or keep private the lists/circles you make. If you opt to share your lists publicly, be careful how you display them; avoid giving the impression that you’re familiar with these people if you actually haven’t met them before.

6. Interact with them

Across the various platforms, start following your chosen influencers. Listen to what they’re saying. Respond to their thoughts. Start conversations. Ask questions.

This is a marathon, not a sprint

Remember that influencers are ultimately people to connect with, not instruments to be played. So offer ways to serve them; in that way, both your mission and your influencers benefit.

For more info, read our free online guide on social media influencers.

Sara Choe is an online fundraising expert at CauseVox, a crowdfunding platform for nonprofits and social good projects.

Four tips to improve your nonprofit’s website

noreply@blogger.com (Philanthropy Journal) — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 17:00:00 +0000

© Shutterstock

Roy Chomko

As more of our day-to-day tasks have moved online, so has the way people make donations. According to Philanthropy.com, online gifts to nonprofits are growing faster than any other type of donations. In fact, online donations rose 14 percent last year to $2.1 billion, while the overall rise in donations was just 1.5 percent. So what does this mean for nonprofits and performing arts theaters? It means a your website is more important than ever.

Unfortunately, some nonprofits have not made their web site a priority, feeling that they don’t have the resources to dedicate to it. However, nonprofits can no longer ignore their website, as it’s sure to be one of their largest sources of income in the coming years. Once the decision to improve the website is made, nonprofits must then focus on creating a positive user experience that helps boost purchases and donations.

Here are a few key points to keep in mind when designing a nonprofit site:

1. Put your data to good use

From donations, membership renewals, event registration and ticket history to their past behavior on your site, today’s website provide tons of data on your supporters. However, despite the many affordable tools on the market, many organizations fail to use this data to personalize a user’s online experience.

Instead of serving up the same content to every visitor, use your data to cater your site’s information to each person’s interests. For instance, if a visitor bought a ticket to last season’s winter ballet, showcase any upcoming ballet performances first on the calendar. If a member repeatedly donates to the same cause time and time again, place information related to that cause right on the homepage so they see it immediately and consider placing another donation.

2. Show your story; don’t just tell it

To turn any prospect into a full-on supporter, you first have to gain their trust and attention. Since anyone can write a heartfelt blog post, turn to different types of media, like videos, images, graphs and even infographics. By using more than just text, you’re able to show visitors what your organization really stands for and the impact it’s making.

Instead of just telling supporters the total amount of money that’s been raised, demonstrate the overall impact their donations have made through a graph or infographic. Did you have a great fundraiser or charity event recently? Take plenty of photos or videos, and post them on your site and social media outlets. If you’re a performing arts theater, for example, be sure to have an archive of past performances. In general, these actual event images will tell a much better story than typical stock photos.

3. Offer micro-donations

If your organization allows users to purchase items or tickets on its site, give people the option to make a micro-donation by rounding up their purchase to the nearest dollar. People are already engaged in your cause, indicating they’d be more inclined to help out a little more by contributing a few extra cents. A few extra nickels and dimes might not seem much at first, but after a few months of rising donations, you’ll be sure to see the return on investment.

4. Streamline the ticketing process

First things first, if you’re going to sell tickets online (for events, conferences or performances), make sure the function is available on all devices. As more users are going mobile, so are their purchasing habits – making it necessary organizations make their sites and donation/ticketing functions mobile friendly.

Second, if your event requires visitors to select what day, time and seat they want for their ticket, make sure you have easy-to-use filter options in place to make this a hassle-free process. For starters, display the calendar in a way that’s easy to digest. You don’t want to confuse buyers by having too many options cluttering the screen. Instead, allow visitors to filter select days and time they’re most interested in. Also, display the seating chart so users can better visualize the setup and choose a seat that matches their own needs and preferences. You can even go a step further and show images of the views of the stage from each seat.

Creating an engaging and user-friendly nonprofit website needs to take priority, as donors and supporters start doing more of their giving online. While it takes time and resources, it’ll soon pay off as memberships and donations skyrocket.

Roy Chomko co-founded Adage Technologies in 2001, combining a passion for technology and the desire to build a company focused on driving business value through web technology. As president, Roy's energy and customer centric approach have helped to grow Adage to a well-respected web and software development firm.

A useful approach to big data

noreply@blogger.com (Philanthropy Journal) — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 16:00:00 +0000

John Klein

Big data — or the notion of it — is one of the more significant issues confronting today’s nonprofit leaders. From large, international enterprises to single entrepreneurs, information about customer transactions, communications connections and purchase preferences exists from a broad array of sources. Some organizations have synthesized their data into meaningful insight that drives or transforms their business. Netflix, for example, gleaned so much value from its subscribers and their habits that it was willing to make an educated roll of the dice on producing original content — and changed the media landscape in the process.

However, Netflix is an exception, perhaps even a rarity: It employed technology, data and the strength of its convictions to leverage big data to its advantage. For nonprofits, technology complexity, the sheer size of the amount of data and the understandable reluctance of leaders to base their futures on this mix stops big data in its tracks. This is not a new occurrence — thousands of research reports and customer behavior overviews gather dust in office bookcases and have done so for decades. The tools behind big data just make the problem bigger.

Perhaps the time has come to apply a more useful and manageable version of big data and to focus these data and technology advances toward specific, fundamental questions nonprofit leaders ask themselves about the viability of their organizations. At face value, this might sound like a typical research project, but the value lies in the approach. The keys are:

• Gaining access to a manageable base of customers and prospects
• Utilizing analytical tools that reflect today’s level of technological sophistication and ease of use
• Asking the right questions in a straight-forward manner based on standard research protocols
• Assembling the results in an easy-to-understand format, focused on action — in other words, presenting insights that can be employed to refine and grow the organization

Why do people go to museums?

This might sound like an ethereal question for the ages, more philosophical than practical. But the arts in the 21^st century are facing systemic challenges: competition, funding, even access (through technology). Leaders of the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) addressed this issue during a seminar at the Aspen Institute last spring), where they asserted that “the model of the art museum has never been more challenged and in need of creative re-imagination.” In addition, these challenges have become more vexing since there are no current comprehensive best practices guidelines for this environment — and they recognize that potential solutions may be based on each museum’s unique market and audience.

Based on these challenges, I collaborated with an art museum to determine, based on their attitudes and motivations, why patrons and members visit. The research was based on the work of John Falk The Museum Experience, in which he suggests that visitors fall into five categories according to their motivations: curiosity, social interests, experience-seeking, art as a hobby and emotional recharging.

To apply Falk’s hypothesis to the museum, we polled through e-mail more 1,300 respondents associated with the museum and the local community. These respondents were asked a series of 15 attitudinal questions about their habits and to rank their agreement on a 1–5 scale. In addition, they were also polled for demographic information and their participation in other performing and visual arts. The data was analyzed with Qualtrics, a leading U.S. online survey research firm.

The museum found that, beyond the art itself, that their patrons regarded a visit as a holistic immersion in an overall experience. Among the top responses, patrons felt the museum:

• Was valuable because “it is an important part of the community”
• Was an integral part of their “overall interests in the arts”
• Provided “an insider’s view of art” and the artist’s creative process
• Contributed to the social connectedness of friends and family

Why did this data matter to the museum? First, it validated many of the museum’s activities, including membership, educational initiatives and special events. Second, it gained specific direction to enhance offerings of value to its patrons and prospects. Third, it developed a framework to promote holistically its unique artistic experience, reflecting the demographics and the culture of the community. All these insights were new to the museum and would not have been available without the speed and depth of analysis provided by current data gathering and technology. But most importantly, the museum took the first step to re-visioning its role as an artistic entity and important element of the local community.

If a focused approach to big data can work for an art museum, it has possibilities in your organization as well.

John Klein is principal of Trilithon Partners, a marketing consultant firm for nonprofits.

Creating a personal roadmap to leadership in the social sector

noreply@blogger.com (Philanthropy Journal) — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 15:00:00 +0000

© Shutterstock

Kevin Donahue

The U.S. population is rapidly becoming more culturally and racially diverse. According to the most recent Census Bureau estimates, racial and ethnic minorities make up 37% of the U.S. population and, in 2011, accounted for more than half of the babies born in the U.S. for the first time. Projections show that by 2042, minorities will collectively be the majority of the U.S. population.

Social sector leadership, however, does not reflect this trend. Despite making up slightly more than 60% of the total population, white individuals hold anywhere from 75% to more than 90% of leadership positions within the non-profit sector, according to various studies.

Numerous studies have shown the benefits of diversity for organizations in decision making and innovation, but these demographic changes suggest larger challenges. Nonprofit organizations will face a growing disconnect as their leadership increasingly does not reflect the communities they serve. We will also face a serious leadership crisis in this country if we fail to develop and harness the leadership potential of a soon-to-be majority of our population.

Fortunately, a host of new ideas are under exploration and works in progress to address this problem, encompassing many facets of the issue. As we at MLT have worked on this issue, a number of factors have emerged that can help both individuals pursuing social sector leadership positions and the organizations who need them. For the purposes of this post, let’s focus on the individual.

For individuals, a critical first step to reaching your leadership potential is developing a career roadmap. The process starts with reflecting on personal passions, strengths and potential obstacles. Many will say they are passionate about family or education, but it is important they dig several layers deep to understand what really motivates and energizes them, based on how they have lived their life and spent their time. It’s not enough to talk about being committed to social change; actions that demonstrate commitment are needed.

Similarly, a lot of individuals will tout great problem-solving skills. But how many of those individuals have the potential to develop those skills to join the top 5 percent in the world at problem solving? That’s a much different question that requires a deeper level of self-awareness. It’s not enough to be good at something; we need to identify the talents that truly make an individual unique if that person hopes to ascend the ranks to senior leadership.

Next, one needs to understand how one’s passions and unique gifts align with career opportunities. This can be difficult for anyone, but there are some unique challenges within the social sector.

Most individuals interact with the social sector via people in direct service roles (e.g., teaching). Young people are often unaware of the breadth of infrastructure and careers that exist outside direct service. Many of those with whom MLT with are passionate about improving their communities, often through education. While some could perform well in direct service roles, their unique gifts often do not align with the skills it takes to be great in these roles. Even individuals working in the sector often lack proper exposure to organizations and functional areas that might be the right next step in their career.

MLT solves this problem through a combination of one-on-one coaching and access to our network of alumni and partners. We develop case studies to give individuals hands-on experience working on the challenges that social sector organizations face. They help ensure that our fellows are equipped with the right questions and approach to get the information needed when we connect them with someone in our network.

A third critical component is understanding what the bar is for high performance at various stages on the path to senior leadership. What separates the high performers (those who get chosen for high profile projects or get promoted) from everyone else?

Although the hard skills required to be successful (e.g., analytics, problem solving) often are the ticket to entry, soft skills — the abilities to build relationships and tie daily activities to the organization’s larger strategic direction — are the separating factors. However, individuals aren’t told this when starting a new role, and chances are those qualities don’t appear as metrics on a performance review (if a person is lucky enough to work for an organization with a good performance review process).

Unless someone who has already successfully navigated the same path happens to pull these individuals aside early enough to provide the missing insight, too many high-potential individuals aren’t getting it. This results in individuals who keep their head down and perform well in their day-to-day tasks, often not understanding why they’re getting passed over and becoming frustrated.

The final step in this process is tying everything together into an actionable plan. We encourage individuals to complete this process at least once every two years. Individuals should start with a clear articulation of the bar they needs to hit to be considered a high performer in a two-year time period. Individuals should then realistically evaluate where they stand against that bar and develop an action plan to close the gaps. MLT provides its fellows with professional coaches who work with each individual one-on-one to develop their roadmap and, just as critically, guide them through executing their development plan.

This proven four-step process has outstanding results. Corey Blay, an MLT fellow pursuing a dual MBA/MPP degree at NYU, is just one example of an individual who has successfully applied this process. You can read about his story here. Denis Adesui came to MLT early in her career after a series of lateral non-profit career moves. Denise received a full scholarship to Columbia’s business school after working with MLT, has been graduated and recently opened Harlem’s first eco pre-school for low- and moderate-income families. MLT also had two Echoing Green Fellowship winners in 2013 — Harlyn Pacheco and Chelsey Roebuck — and have alums who are rising leaders at many organizations, including Teach For America, New Leaders, Omidyar Network, Achievement First and Year Up.

Kevin Donahue is the vice president of growth strategy at MLT, a non-profit organization that helps high potential minorities achieve their potential throughout their careers. MLT has worked with 4,000 individuals and over 100 corporate, non-profit and educational partners over the past 10 years. Kevin has spent most of the past 7 years helping MLT’s corporate and non-profit partners (including organizations like Teach For America, PepsiCo, Citigroup, Goodwill, Bridgespan Group, and Deloitte) grow their pipelines of diverse leadership talent.

‘An ideal to die for:’ Nelson Mandela’s commitment challenges volunteer leaders

noreply@blogger.com (Philanthropy Journal) — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 18:45:00 +0000

Patti Gillenwater

“It is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.” Nelson Mandela

This statement by Nelson Mandela during his 1964 trial crystalizes for me the difference in his world and the world in which most of us operate. As board members of mission-driven organizations, we bring our passion for our cause into the board room. This passion is why we lose sleep over concerns about the organizations we volunteer to serve and why we live up to our promises made as volunteer leaders.

I think it is safe to say that none of us are serving in board positions that put our lives in danger. Most of us have never drawn a line in the sand on an issue with the intent of putting our life on the line, if that was needed to move that ideal forward.

The life Nelson Mandela led is inspiring beyond anything I can write. As we reflect on our future service to the organizations that work hard every day to make this world a better place, embrace the opportunity to give of your life, and be thankful that you do not have to give your life or be prepared to die for the cause that is dear to you.

Happy holidays!

“During my lifetime, I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

— Nelson Mandela speaking at the dock of the court, April 20, 1964

Patti Gillenwater is CEO of Elinvar. A Philanthropy Journal sponsor, Elinvar is a retained search and leadership development firm that specializes in serving mission-driven organizations in North Carolina.

Should you ever lower your standards?

noreply@blogger.com (Philanthropy Journal) — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 17:00:00 +0000

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the fifth in a six-part series exploring values-based leadership by Chris Hitch, director of the Gen. H. Hugh Shelton Leadership Center.

Gen. Shelton notes in his book Without Hesitation that “an effective leader is not a hands on micro-manager; in fact, the freer rein you give your people, the more they will excel — as long as you’ve communicated your objectives and expectations and surround yourself with good, independent thinkers who are not afraid to speak up” (p. 112).

He’s talking about how a values-based leader has high standards. The values-based leader always strives to do what is right. Yet, Shelton also shows that a values-based leader mixes in a generous dose of compassion with standards:

“You have to understand that, for a certain reason, individuals might have certain things they are wrestling with in life. For example, you may be on a school bus riding to school, and the person next to you is having a bad day. For whatever the reason, they’re not their self. But you’ve got a compassion for them because you recognize that something is going wrong. When you have someone who has had a tragedy in their family, you recognize that you know they’re a great employee, but they’re not having their best day or their best week because of this tragedy.”

The lesson for me is that you don’t lower your standards. You expect everybody to do their best and achieve their personal and organizational goals. You do recognize, however, that you have to get to know the members of your team, to know what is going on with them, to the extent that you and the other person feel comfortable sharing. That knowledge helps you to understand how much they have on their plate and whether you need to adjust and give some additional time, if possible, to help them reach their 100% goal accomplishment for themselves and for the organization.

That’s compassion.

Where have you seen a values-based leader keep standards high while simultaneously demonstrating compassion?

Chris Hitch, Ph.D., is director of the Gen. H. Hugh Shelton Leadership Center and program director of the Poole College of Management Executive Education at North Carolina State University.

Does your team look just like you?

noreply@blogger.com (Philanthropy Journal) — Wed, 11 Dec 2013 18:00:00 +0000

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the fourth in a six-part series exploring values-based leadership by Chris Hitch, director of the Gen. H. Hugh Shelton Leadership Center.

Gen. Shelton views leading with diversity as a great attribute for values-based leaders. When we listen to Gen. Shelton talk about his strong belief on diversity, we come to understand that he views diversity in a much broader sense than what is traditionally viewed. He talks frequently about how the differences in people-different qualities, attributes and perspectives result a much better solution than does an internal echo chamber in which everybody is alike.

He notes that there are multiple differences (for example, age, education, ethnic background, nationality, gender, work history and perspectives) that we need to embrace and bring to the table in order to identify the challenge or opportunity and come up with the best solution. Gen. Shelton likens this to his work as the 14th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He notes that "The Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force are all different. They have their own different cultures and ways of doing things, yet they come together to create the greatest fighting force in the world." He’s also seen from his work with corporate boards that a board’s effectiveness comes from different perspectives that help the organization continue to move forward. Each board member’s diverse expertise is tapped to help shape the direction of the organization.

One key point I take away from GEN Shelton’s ideas on diversity is that a key role of a values-based leader is to, as he states, “merge and meld the talents and complimentary capabilities of people from a diverse point of view.” We thereby grow a much stronger, capable and nimble team than we would if we only selected and worked with people who were just like us. I’ve learned and re-learned that a key function of a leader is taking the time to bring people in from different points of view and backgrounds, and then listen.

An analogy I’ve picked up from watching, listening and learning is the leader serving as a host or hostess at a large party. The host or hostess first learns each guest’s interests and backgrounds and then connects them with other people to create interesting conversation. Similarly, a values-based leader needs to consciously and continuously look for ways to connect and bring people together from different backgrounds and interests to solve large and complex challenges and opportunities across organizations.

Where have you seen diversity work as a strength in your personal or professional work?

Chris Hitch, Ph.D., is director of the Gen. H. Hugh Shelton Leadership Center and program director of the Poole College of Management Executive Education at North Carolina State University.

Is your leadership foundation cracked?

noreply@blogger.com (Philanthropy Journal) — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 17:29:00 +0000

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the third in a six-part series exploring values-based leadership by Chris Hitch, director of the Gen. H. Hugh Shelton Leadership Center.

Gen. Hugh Shelton asserts that integrity is the foundation for a good values based leader. He makes the point that, if a person does not have integrity, a person does not have strong moral character. You cannot count on a person without integrity. Conversely, a person who does have strong moral character and integrity is someone you can trust implicitly.

In Shelton’s words, "Their word is their bond. You don’t have to worry about a person with integrity. If they tell you they’re going to commit to do something, they will do it. If I tell you I’m going to do something, you know that I’m going to do it if at all possible. The best leaders who’ve been forged as leaders in the crucible of combat go all the way to say, ‘I will do it even if it costs me my life. I’m going to go out and do what I promised you that I would do.’"

Additionally, Shelton notes that we end up disassociating ourselves from a person who lacks integrity because we don't want our integrity to be tarnished. The challenges of integrity go back throughout recorded history of time. It’s evident in many books in the Old Testament. It is the subject of many writings in the classical humanities studies. We see it today in the headlines that trumpet the individuals from many professions who have not led with integrity.

As noted in the post on honesty, integrity is based on a series of decisions you and I make that are analyzed and cataloged by those we lead and those we are led by. When you lead with integrity, you also bring others to you who share your same values, and it creates a reinforcing spiral of goodness. Luckily, the more that you associate with people who have a great deal of integrity, the more you are inspired to continue to act in a similar vein.

What situations have you found where you completely trusted an individual because of that person's integrity?

Chris Hitch, Ph.D., is director of the Gen. H. Hugh Shelton Leadership Center and program director of the Poole College of Management Executive Education at North Carolina State University.

Record-keeping is essential for mom-and-pop-sized nonprofits

noreply@blogger.com (Philanthropy Journal) — Wed, 04 Dec 2013 18:00:00 +0000

Special to Philanthropy Journal

Daniel Rose

Everyone has heard the term mom-and-pop business. We normally associate it with grocery stores or other small ventures. But there are other similar businesses that start up – and fail – almost as often. These are the mom-and-pop-sized nonprofit organizations.

My introduction to the world of tax-exempt organizations (the federal term for nonprofits) was in Washington, D.C., as an internal revenue agent with the IRS. From my assignments, it was easy to believe that most nonprofit organizations had budgets of at least several million dollars.

After moving to North Carolina in 2005, I realize that the vast majority of nonprofits are relatively small and modestly funded. From a philosophy and purpose perspective, these nonprofits offer definite advantages over their larger counterparts. Community-based, they enjoy a much closer relationships with the people they serve. And these relationships cannot help but generate a passion to further the nonprofit’s purpose.

However, being small often results in a lack of resources to administer effectively. The passion and excitement that make small nonprofits so effective sometimes cause administrators to assign record-keeping a back seat. This can result in delayed or late payments to creditors and, often more costly, lack of adherence to government requirements.

Small nonprofits should seek a professional who can guide and protect them in navigating the unusual path of nonprofit law. Failure to file a single annual IRS Form 990 can result in a penalty of $10,000 for organizations with revenue of less than $1 million. The same penalty for an organization with revenue of a million-plus can be up to $50,000. Likewise, Internal Revenue Code Section 4958 assesses a tax of up to 225 percent on funds incorrectly diverted for personal use.

The resources that should go toward the nonprofit’s socially responsible purpose all too often are lost due to administrative failures. There are other potential hazards, such as trust fund assessments made against an organization’s officers for not paying income and FICA taxes withheld from employee paychecks. These are amounts that those personnel with the authority to pay – regardless of their ability – can be held personally liable for, if the incorporated nonprofit is unable to pay.

Lack of understanding of pertinent laws, or ineffective adherence to the laws, is more often the cause of a mom-and-pop business failure than intentionally bad practices. Without careful record-keeping and attention to detail, they also can dash the dreams of a small nonprofit to make a difference in its community.

Daniel Rose is a former IRS agent who operates a nonprofit consulting business in Summerfield, N.C.

How can stopping in the desert make you a more trusted leader?

noreply@blogger.com (Philanthropy Journal) — Wed, 04 Dec 2013 15:00:00 +0000

Chris Hitch

Special to Philanthropy Journal

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second in a six-part series exploring values-based leadership by Chris Hitch, director of the Gen. H. Hugh Shelton Leadership Center.

Gen. Hugh Shelton defines a leader who leads with honesty as a person who is “always going to recognize the difference between right and wrong. You can count on that leader to make a decision based on doing what is right. Honesty and doing the right thing leads to trust in a leader.”

It also leads to trust from your manager or board that you will do what is right without having to check on you frequently. That concept of trust and honesty help increase action and focus on your stakeholders and mission, not whether others are doing the right or wrong thing.

Gen. Shelton gives an example about leading with honesty. He discusses that honesty crops up in many seemingly small decisions that you make on a daily basis. He talks about going through the Arizona desert and coming to a stop sign. Do you stop, even though you see that there is nobody coming from any of the other three directions? If you’re honest, you come to that full and complete stop, because it is the right thing to do. You don’t have to think about it; you just do it. Honesty and trust go hand in hand.

Leading with honesty means doing the right thing all the time even when nobody is looking. I believe that these values, like honesty, are like a part of leadership “fitness.” Psychologists talk about muscle memory and how repeating the same action over and over in practice make it an unconscious positive act when the actual event takes place. I believe the same holds true with values-based leadership fitness. You make decisions (repetitions) in seeming small ways so that when a situation comes up, you automatically know what to do and simply do what you’ve practiced (ethical leadership muscle memory). As leaders, we are always being watched. You lead with honesty on a daily basis. Others pick up on what you do and how you act, and they begin to act toward you with increasing or decreasing trust, depending on your actions.

Gen. Shelton also recognizes that, if you are an honest person, you also realize that honest people can make a mistake. He talks about underwriting mistakes. If you make a mistake for the right reason and it’s an honest mistake, you’re willing to underwrite or forgive that mistake. You underwrite it and move on. But if you don’t have a reputation for honesty, others look toward you with a much more skeptical eye. If others think that you make a decision for the wrong reason, they are unwilling to underwrite or forgive that person.

Where have you found leading with honesty in seemingly small situations translate to that same honest behavior in more significant decisions?

Chris Hitch, Ph.D., is director of the Gen. H. Hugh Shelton Leadership Center and program director of the Poole College of Management Executive Education at North Carolina State University.

What is a values-based leader?

noreply@blogger.com (Philanthropy Journal) — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 19:53:00 +0000

Chris Hitch

Special to Philanthropy Journal

Gen. H. Hugh Shelton

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first in a six-part series exploring values-based leadership by Chris Hitch, director of the Gen. H. Hugh Shelton Leadership Center.

We are fascinated by learning from leaders. The basic formula seems to be:

• Look at a successful leader of one particular industry or profession.
• Interview that person.
• Look for lessons from that particular leader in that particular situation.
• Try to generalize those themes to a broader audience.

Many fewer of us, however, look at universal or generalizable characteristics that can transcend a particular industry, profession, career or one’s stage in the journey of life (K-12, college, early career professional or executive).

Gen. H. Hugh Shelton’s values-based leadership model comes from his experience and success in the military, the corporate world and his recognition by others for his leadership and contributions locally, statewide, nationally and globally. He’s outlined the key characteristics of great leadership as being a “Values-Based Leader.” He talks about the five cornerstones of values-based leadership: honesty, integrity, compassion, diversity and selfless service.

He believes that “any leader should strive to be known as a values-based leader. Values make up our character. They’re things that we believe in. They are things that we strive to make sure that we always include in our thought process when we think about making decisions. A values-based leader will leave a legacy each of us will leave behind if we strive to include these five cornerstones in our daily work. We always try to do what was right and always support those who worked for them. That’s the legacy of a values-based leader.”

It makes sense, then, for us to take a look at what Gen. Shelton has talked about, his methodology and cornerstones for success and how they might be applied to our personal and professional life. During the next series of posts, we’ll briefly explore each of these five cornerstones and how we can implement them in our daily work.

Chris Hitch, Ph.D., is director of the Gen. H. Hugh Shelton Leadership Center and program director of the Poole College of Management Executive Education at North Carolina State University.

Three barriers to superb fundraising

noreply@blogger.com (Philanthropy Journal) — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 19:21:00 +0000

Dennis Walsh, CPA

My wife serves on the board of a charity recently in need of a fundraising kick-start. In response, another director sent more than 400 letters to past supporters reminding them of the organization’s important work.

Not familiar with mail-merge, the director filled each salutation individually, personally signed each letter and hand addressed hundreds of envelopes. But the director omitted one question: Will you support us? And the number of gifts received from the mailing? None.

This experience introduces the first of three barriers to superb fundraising.

Barrier #1: Missing the journey

More has been written about the “ask” than perhaps any other aspect of fundraising. In the case of major gifts in particular, much has been said about creative ways to frame the solicitation, timing issues to be considered and blunders to be avoided when popping the all-important question. And as illustrated by the early example, even the best crafted effort is likely to fall flat absent a direct request.

But more than asking for money, fundraising should be viewed as a journey of inspiring passion and becoming part of something truly special. And there’s no better way to start the journey than with personal testimony.

“I recall my first fundraising experience,” says Bob Newton, a seasoned nonprofit leader and past board chair of the Cone Health Foundation in Greensboro, N.C. “The prospect’s response was a simple ‘thank you.’ I was taken aback. He went on to explain that he was flattered to be given the opportunity to participate in the venture, and yes, he would be glad to be a part of it.

“I have tried ever since to keep this in mind. The lesson is that there are lots of good causes, but not as many good stories,” adds Newton.

What is compelling is the stories program constituents tell of how far they have come with just a little help and encouragement and how they in turn have stepped up to help someone else.

Barrier #2: Acting individually

In fundraising, you don’t need any lone rangers. Teamwork is vital. And you need a good system to keep track of who's doing what.

“I recently called a friend to inquire about support for a fundraising dinner, and his first comment was what a wonderful ‘sales force’ we had, since I was about the fifth person who had called,” recounted Newton. “He was light-hearted about it, but for me, it painted a picture of lack of coordination and the probability that we didn't quite know what we were doing,” says Newton.

Record-keeping needs to be robust and up to date, so an organization knows as much as possible about each prospect and can coordinate communication. The development team must demonstrate that it is well managed and thereby inspire confidence in stewardship.

More than ever, people value their privacy. The phrase “constant contact” is conceptually sound, but should not translate as “constant annoyance.” Don’t lose your edge by over-soliciting.

Barrier #3: Terminating the gift

The advertising catchphrase “the gift that keeps on giving” has served well for decades. Applied to a fundraising context, the gift shouldn’t end when the check clears the bank.

Genuine personal gratitude is important. People like to know that their support is appreciated and that it is being put to good use consistent with the solicitation. This is borne out by a recent study of high net-worth individuals conducted by U.S. Trust and The Philanthropic Initiative, which found that concern that a gift won’t be used wisely is the top reason why such individuals don’t give more.

The thank-you should be immediate. Contact from several different sources tells the donor that it is not just someone's job to provide acknowledgment, but that the gift has been widely noticed. And this needs to be followed by timely updates on how the gift is making a difference. The more specific, the better.

Inciting anger, fear and even a dose of guilt over an unmet social need or injustice can be powerful short-term motivators. However, sincere and personally expressed gratitude is more likely to sustain donor affinity and refresh inspiration over time.

Taken together, these principles will help guide you toward realizing superb fundraising result.

Dennis Walsh, CPA is director of The Micah Project in Greensboro, serving as a resource to charitable organizations on financial management, legal compliance and organizational development.

Lessons from 10 years of working with humanitarian aid agencies

noreply@blogger.com (Philanthropy Journal) — Wed, 20 Nov 2013 20:17:00 +0000

Jessica Alexander at a book reading at Quail Ridge
Books in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Brenda Summers

“Humanitarian aid is about helping people rebuild their lives,” Jessica Alexander states in reflecting on her 10 years of working with agencies in Rwanda, Darfur, Sierra Leone, Haiti and other countries.

Alexander is now traveling the United States discussing her work and promoting her book, Chasing Chaos: My Decade In and Out of Humanitarian Aid. During a book reading at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina, she said that, after 10 years, she felt it was time to reflect on her experiences going back and forth between emergency areas.

The author started her journey with an internship in Rwanda during graduate school. After completing her master’s degree, she worked with agencies in Darfur, managing a 24,000-camp of internally displaced people. After completing her research for a Fulbright Grant on child soldiers in Sierra Leone, she was able to provide evidence which was used in the prosecution and conviction of former Liberian President Charles Taylor for war crimes. Alexander was also a relief worker in Sri Lanka and Indonesia after the 2004 tsunami and later in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.

Jessica Alexander signs books at
Quail Ridge Books in
Raleigh, North Carolina.

Alexander notes that countries around the world have many silent emergencies right now, but they don’t receive media attention that draws needed support from donors. In these contexts, there may be as many people in need, but with limited resources, agencies struggle to prove relief.

She wants people to learn several lessons from the book and her experiences, including how best to help after an emergency. She also wants to change some misconceptions about humanitarian aid and to provide insights into the people impacted by disasters who are not looking for handouts but are working with resilience and strength to rebuild their lives after a disaster.

While Alexander finds the work rewarding, she admits that it can be very difficult and after a while can lead to burnout. Today, she continues to make short trips to emergency areas, but most of her work now is with humanitarian agencies headquartered in New York. She also serves as an adjunct professor at Columbia, New York and Fordham universities. She is working on her Ph.D. at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, focusing her research on accountability in humanitarian aid.

Seeking support helped new foundation focus on namesake’s mission

noreply@blogger.com (Philanthropy Journal) — Wed, 20 Nov 2013 19:00:00 +0000

Mrs. Orien Levy Woolf, Dallas philanthropist

Special to Philanthropy Journal

Roberta Shapiro

Mistakes and mess-ups are a part of life. Sometimes they are small. Sometimes they are big. We are human. We cannot avoid every mistake, but we all have certain responsibilities in our lives that we try extremely hard not to mess up.

In the 1980s, I met and started working for Mrs. Orien Levy Woolf, an under-the-radar Dallas philanthropist. I helped her with her business affairs. During the 20 years I was with her, I became intimately involved with all aspects of her life. A major element of this was the charitable support she offered organizations in the Dallas area. She enthusiastically supported the East Dallas Community School, Dallas Children’s Theater and Habitat for Humanity, among others. She has many endowments in North Texas, one of which is at her alma mater, Texas Women’s University.

In 2009, at the age of 93, Mrs. Woolf passed away, and The Orien Levy Woolf & Dr. Jack Woolf Charitable Foundation was born. Over the years, Mrs. Woolf and I talked about her wishes for her giving to continue after her death. The foundation was the best avenue for that. It made the most sense for me to be the president of that foundation. The course was set.

Last year, The Orien Levy Woolf & Dr. Jack Woolf Charitable Foundation was funded. Like many of the more than 38,000 grant-making family foundations in the U.S., we are operating with no staff and learning as we go the complexities inherent to the operation of private foundations.

Early on, I discovered that creating and operating the foundation was not going to be like the old days. My time was spent on the huge and complicated process of filing for 501(c)(3) status, meeting all filing requirements with the state, selling real estate, hiring money managers, filing foundation tax returns, writing minutes, making agendas and running meetings.

Mrs. Orien Levy Woolf, Dallas philanthropist

Gone were the long chats with Mrs. Woolf about giving, needs and helping. No more would I hear her words that to this day guide me, “Well, they need it, and I can do it.” Her head would shake in disbelief as she would complain that there were many people who could give and didn’t. Nope, I was in a different world now.

This was the part that made me want to run. The fact that I want so very much to do it right, for her, makes me stay.

The hardest part of running a foundation is you don’t know what you don’t know. This is where the Conference of Southwest Foundations (CSF) pulled me out of my haze and fear. I submitted our application and was so pleased to immediately receive an email from the executive director welcoming me and offering any help I needed.

In the months that have followed, the support and opportunities for learning (more about what you don’t know you don’t know!) have been numerous. CSF has a wonderful website where as a member you can research questions. There are free webinars covering various topics. They have a library and documents in their office for member use. This fall, I will attend my first conference.

Most states have foundation organizations that provide similar resources to members. For me, it was important to have the opportunity to talk to people who have walked your walk in your shoes ahead of you. And they are willing to help you.

Recently, I contacted CSF and explained that I was looking for a sample of a letter I had to write. They sent me contact information for four foundations that use this kind of letter. I was able to get what I needed and come in contact with presidents with more experience than I have. I know that if I send an email or pick up a phone, CSF is there to help.

Mrs. Woolf was a dear friend who made a powerful impact on her community, and I want her legacy to live on. But operating in a vacuum leads to self-doubt and lots of unanswered questions and guesswork. Taking advantage of my CSF membership and resources helps me to feel less likely to “mess up.”

Roberta Shapiro is the president of the The Orien Levy Woolf & Dr. Jack Woolf Charitable Foundation of Dallas, Texas.

Get started in planned giving

noreply@blogger.com (Philanthropy Journal) — Mon, 18 Nov 2013 18:25:00 +0000

Lyne and Kathryn Gamble

Special to Philanthropy Journal

©Shutterstock

EDITOR’S NOTE: Philanthropy Journal will present Jan Doolin’s workshop, “How to Launch and Sustain a Successful Planning Giving Program from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 5 on the NC State University campus in Raleigh. For details and registration information, click here.

We find some of the reasons that nonprofit organizations frequently give for not engaging in planned giving are:

• We need to focus on annual gifts to make our operating budget.
• We are in a campaign for a new building.
• I don’t know anything about planned gifts.

The problem is when you are not engaged in planned giving, you have effectively limited your donors’ giving potential. What??? Now that we have your attention, let us repeat this important point.

When your organization is not engaged in planned giving, you have effectively limited your donors’ giving potential.

The reason for this is simple — people who are philanthropic give throughout their lives and will most often consider gifts when making their estate plans. Most of the planned gifts we have raised through the years come from people who have given consistently over time — usually through annual giving. This means their largest gift may come through their estate. So how can you get started? We recommend two simple steps to begin.

First, start telling your donors that your organization is interested in being the beneficiary of planned gifts. Consider the following simple strategies:

• Include some simple language on the gift form with your next annual appeal. You could offer two options for donors to select: “I/We have included Organization’s name in our will. I//We would like to know more about including Organization’s name in our will.” You will get some responses!
• Call the people who respond. Also, consider contacting some of your most loyal and consistent donors, and make an appointment to meet with them and ask if they have considered including your organization in their estate plan. Then just listen. You will learn a great deal about them — their values, family, other charities they support — and you might just get a commitment!

Second, educate yourself about planned giving. You don’t have to be an expert, but you need to know some basics. From experience, we can tell you that most, if not all, estate gifts you will deal with will be bequests. This means that you can get started without being an expert on the alphabet soup of planned gift instruments (CRUT, CRAT, NIMCRUT, CGA, etc.). However, you will feel more confident if you know something about the technical side of planned giving. Plan to attend a few seminars or workshops.

Take these two simple steps, and get started realizing the full potential of your donors’ philanthropy.

Gamble Squared, LLC is a fundraising consulting firm with a specialty in planned giving. For more information, please contact us at lyne@gamblesquared.com or 919-923-0983.

Philanthropic event planning: An expert’s top 3 tips and an example of an event done right

noreply@blogger.com (Philanthropy Journal) — Tue, 12 Nov 2013 21:28:00 +0000

TCG Events threw a gala for the Carolinas HealthCare Foundation.

Cassie Brown

Kirstin Ashford, ‎executive director of strategic relations and communications for the Carolinas HealthCare Foundation, had an event challenge and needed the right vendor to meet it: how to throw a large donor event with its own identity while avoiding repeating from past events and ably honoring the largest gift ever given by the Levine Cancer Institute’s namesake family.

After weighing many options, Ashford decided to engage myself and my team at TCG Events. I convinced the foundation — the primary point of contact for charitable support for the Carolinas HealthCare System, of which the Levine Cancer Institute is a part — that TCG Events could take a well-known venue and make it unique. I knew we could create an event with the needed “wow!” factor and make it an occasion that attendees would talk about afterwards — for all the right reasons.

Tip 1: Change it up — present the unexpected. Holding an annual fundraiser or a series of events? Although the speakers are different, if the format is the same, your regular donors may regard attendance as a duty rather than a pleasure. Consider introducing new elements each year. Work with an event planner who understands your end-goal and can offer fresh ideas to get you there.

Finding inspiration in Ashford’s plans to give away votive candles at the close of the event, TCG Events event architect Kim Martin threaded light throughout the event. Dancers wearing long, sparkling, gold dresses and candelabra headdresses and holding candles welcomed guests to dinner. Candles filled one wall. Light was incorporated into the dinner music, which was uplifting but unobtrusive: A grand piano was played on a round stage, edged with candles. As a surprise finale, electric string trio Bella Strings appeared, all wearing flowing white gowns.

“TCG Events took care of everything with their EventSmarter approach, planning the event from a guest perspective — and it paid off,” says Ms. Ashford.

“From the minute people got out of their cars to the moment they left after receiving wrapped votive candles in beautiful boxes — parting gifts that carried through the light theme — everything was thought through beautifully. Even the way the boxes were given out was memorable: When leaving, guests took the gifts from silver trays held by white-gloved, tuxedo-clad models who lined the carpet from the lobby to the exit.”

Tip 2: Center stage, not centerpieces — make the most of your event spending. Depending on the size of an event, the traditional arrangement with a stage in the front of a room can leave some tables feeling like they are in Siberia. Consider placing the stage or podium in the center of the room, with overhead screens so that everyone has a great view. This will engage your audience far more than even the most costly centerpieces and tableware. Shift your budget to where it makes the biggest impact.

A stand-out decorative feature of the event was also an effective branding tool: The stage backdrop featured a wall tapestry of the Carolinas HealthCare System icon, a tree of life made of flowers, featuring white roses. The

tapestry was the focal point of the ballroom, directly behind the pianist’s stage in the center of the room.

Tip 3: Talking heads — only a good thing if we’re talking dance music. The primary way philanthropic events lose audience engagement? Giving sponsors, one after another, the floor for what seems like forever as they all say basically the same thing. Consider alternate speakers, those impacted by the work done by the organization. To feature the sponsors and make a lasting impact, employ a short, professionally designed video. Everyone wins: the sponsors, your organization, and most importantly, the audience.

In addition to the expected speakers — Dr. Derek Raghavan, president of the Levine Cancer Institute, and Sandra and Leon Levine, the primary donors — the event featured cancer survivors treated at the Cancer Institute. They surprised attendees as they stood from their dinner tables to speak. Microphones were placed at each table, and the speakers were pinpointed by a spotlight while the rest of the room went dark. Each speech was a testimony to the wonderful work done by the institute, and afterwards, attendee feedback showed that it had been very moving.

The “icing” on the event? Since the event couldn’t be in the facility itself, TCG Events worked with Carolinas HealthCare Foundation to bring the facility to the audience via a video presentation on huge screens. Months in the making by the Foundation, the presentation showed donors how well their funds were being spent and had a significant, positive impact.

Overall, the event achieved every goal: It drove donations, solidified relations with major benefactors and created new donors.

Cassie Brown, CSEP, is chief experience officer for TCG Events.

Study reveals new picture of Jewish ‘next gen’ major donors

noreply@blogger.com (Philanthropy Journal) — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 19:48:00 +0000

An Israeli woman prepares packages of food to give to the poor for the Jewish holiday of Passover in Ashdod, Israel. ©Shutterstock

News release

A recent report from 21/64 and the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University reveals a new picture of the major Jewish donors of tomorrow. The report, Next Gen Donors: The Future of Jewish Giving, examines the causes these next gen donors care about, how they approach their giving and how their approach differs from the generations that came before them, with important implications for the Jewish organizations that seek their support.

Drawing from the research reported in Next Gen Donors: Respecting Legacy, Revolutionizing Philanthropy, released in February, this new report offers in-depth information and insights as a new generation of Jewish donors starts their giving, revealing how these donors will affect the philanthropy community for decades to come. Through analysis of national survey responses and dozens of direct, candid statements from Jewish next gen donors, the report reveals:

• Jewish next gen donors do give to Jewish causes. Despite research that new generations of the Jewish community are less involved in formal religious practice than previous generations, these next gen donors continue to fund Jewish organizations, identifying religious and faith-based organizations as the second most common area of their giving.
• Jewish next gen donors are driven by values. Inherited values drive these donors in their philanthropy, values often learned from parents and grandparents. Jewish next gen donors report seeking a balance between honoring and respecting their family legacy while looking for new ways to make an impact.

o Jewish next gen donors are eager to be more formally involved in family philanthropy. These donors report not being as involved in their families’ giving as they would like to be and striving for a more active role. Many Jewish next gen donors, frustrated by the lack of formal engagement in their own families, often look elsewhere for meaningful philanthropic engagement and experience.

o Jewish next gen donors seek to revolutionize philanthropy. Like most next gen donors, Jewish next gen donors are seeking new, innovative ways to maximize the impact of their giving, exploring more hands-on experiences and shifting to more peer-oriented giving.

“Many Jewish organizations and Jewish families are reevaluating how to engage the emerging generation of Jewish donors who will carry the legacy of Jewish family giving into the future,” said

Michael Moody

Michael Moody, Frey Foundation Chair for Family Philanthropy at the Johnson Center for Philanthropy. “The new findings from this study help advance our thinking about how these Jewish next gen donors want to be engaged, either by the organizations they support or within their own families.”

"Despite concerns from the community that the next generation of Jewish funders are less involved in Jewish giving, the results from our study provide an optimistic view,” said Sharna Goldseker, managing director of 21/64. “As the surveys reveal, not only are Jewish next gen donors committed to supporting Jewish organizations, they want to be even further involved in substantive and meaningful ways.”

The report was made possible by the support of the Joyce and Irving Goldman Family Foundation, Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation and Morningstar Foundation, with collaboration from the Jewish Funders Network.

Collaborating with employees, Red Hat becomes passionate corporate giver

noreply@blogger.com (Philanthropy Journal) — Wed, 06 Nov 2013 20:31:00 +0000

A Red Hat volunteer team

DeLisa Alexander

Community contributions have long been an important topic at Red Hat. Our company was built on the open-source software development model. We work collaboratively with developers around the world to create software, sharing code and contributing it both upstream and downstream as part of the open source community. As Red Hat grew into a successful company, we recognized that our responsibility as a corporate citizen needed to mature beyond contributing software code to the open-source community.

For many years, Red Hat supported nonprofits with donations from our modest charitable giving fund. This allowed us to contribute to the community in a way that was appropriate to our size, while meeting our commitments to our stakeholders.

Developing our corporate citizenship program

Six years ago, we were maturing as a company and wanted to expand our contributions into a more robust corporate citizenship program. Luckily, we had a group of associates who were passionate about, and experienced in, corporate citizenship. We asked them to form a committee and develop a corporate citizenship roadmap for our company.

The corporate citizenship committee set out to determine how Red Hat could better serve our communities while funding these efforts at a level befitting a company our size. As Red Hatters, they opted to answer this question using the same open-source principles we use to grow our business. They got the whole company involved.

First, they surveyed our U.S. associates, asking them to identify the areas of need where they would like Red Hat to focus our efforts. And they promised to keep them involved and informed. They also asked associates to identify causes that were personally important to them (rather than what they felt the company should support) to see if their answers differed.

Associates identified a broad range of causes, from the environment to animal welfare to domestic violence prevention, as causes they personally supported. But when they stated what they thought Red Hat should support, Red Hatters clearly identified four areas of focus for corporate giving efforts:

• basic needs
• education
• technology
• health

Associates also indicated strong interest in volunteer events and in a matching gifts program. Armed with this data, the committee prepared a three-year roadmap and went to work implementing the plan. We narrowed the focus of our giving program to the funding priorities identified by the associates and created a process by which associates could nominate charities for a donation from Red Hat. After creating guidelines and a simple application process for nonprofits, the committee focused on the matching gifts program because that was the most frequently requested charitable program by associates.

Many companies conduct a concerted workplace-giving campaign for only a few charities or limit the numbers or types of charities eligible for their matching gifts program. However, as the committee reviewed the survey responses, we realized this would be one area where Red Hat could easily support associates in the causes that mattered to them, beyond the causes prioritized by the company. So when we established our matching gifts program in 2010, Red Hat’s guidelines allowed a matching contribution to any 501(c)(3) nonprofit, school or house of worship (provided the donation went to a social outreach program). Allowing maximum flexibility in our program has been key, because as a company, we have a strong commitment to promoting freedom and choice.

Around the same time, our volunteer committee formalized. From time to time, our associates supported a variety of volunteer projects. A team of Red Hatters went to New Orleans to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina; others conducted a toy drive for Toys for Tots around the holidays. Before the committee, though, there was a lot of confusion over what was an official Red Hat volunteer activity or simply a group of colleagues getting together and deciding to ride in a charity bike ride wearing Red Hat t-shirts. This is a common dynamic for young companies.

Again, our committee focused Red Hat’s volunteer activities on the priorities identified through the survey. They gathered data on area nonprofits that needed groups of volunteers and created internal processes to help managers find projects for team-building activities. They started organizing company-wide volunteer events several times a year, including during our annual Red Hat Summit conference when we engage customers, partners and employees in volunteer activities to benefit the community. We also conduct volunteer events during We Are Red Hat Week, an annual celebration of our brand, culture and people, and these events have benefited communities around the world.

All Red Hatters have the opportunity to participate on the volunteer committee to help organize events. If they don’t have the time, there are still opportunities for involvement; for example, all associates were recently invited to vote for their favorite Red Hat Volunteers t-shirt design. Our volunteer efforts focus on communities where we have offices, but they also are a great opportunity for collaboration across the company.

A new perspective

Before implementing any of these programs, just as we were evaluating our place in the community as a corporate citizen, the world changed. Around October of 2008, at a time when we usually started our holiday party planning, the economy began to unravel. Although Red Hat had the good fortune of enjoying continued growth, most Red Hat associates had friends and family members touched by the recession. Some began to question whether we should spend money on merriment for ourselves when so many people around us were suffering. We considered the question: “What should the Red Hat way of celebrating the holidays be during times of economic hardship?” We concluded that we needed to tap into our open-source roots and focus on community contributions.

So we took this idea to the company and received a variety of reactions. Some people expressed great pride in the company for suggesting this change, while others viewed the party as a much-needed celebration and an opportunity for the company to thank employees and their families for their support throughout the year.

We took their feedback and reworked the plan. Instead of contributing all of the holiday party funds, we decided to use most of the funds for charity but still provide a token amount per associate per U.S. office to be used for small-scale in-the-office parties or in other ways as each office saw fit. In Raleigh, for example, we decided to have a small party held right after work. A team of volunteers offered to decorate for the event and take turns serving their fellow associates.

Next, we asked associates to nominate organizations, from the four areas of focus, for our new holiday donation. We collected a large list of worthy organizations. Given the tough economic situation, we decided that we should focus on organizations that covered basic needs, and the associates voted and chose Feeding America for our first-ever holiday donation.

Feeding America is the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity, which supports a network of food banks across the United States. In addition to our substantial national donation to the organization (which paid for about 800,000 meals, or approximately 1 million pounds of food), many of our offices around the United States held their own canned food drives to benefit local food banks.

Afterward, the reaction within Red Hat and the community was extremely positive. For years, when someone learned that I work at Red Hat, especially around the holiday season, they often mentioned hearing about Red Hat giving its holiday party budget away to charity. It has become a point of pride internally for Red Hat that we not only give away our software code, but we also give in other meaningful ways.

In the years since, we have continued our new tradition and made a substantial holiday donation to a national nonprofit chosen by our associates, including Meals on Wheels, the Alzheimer’s Association, Habitat for Humanity and the Wounded Warrior Project.

Going global

Although we started with a focus on U.S. nonprofits, we have now expanded our giving beyond the United States. We have local committees in our Raleigh corporate headquarters and our Westford, MA, engineering headquarters and another committee for the rest of North America contributions. Our first committee outside the United States was for our offices in Europe, and we now have a committee in Asia-Pacific, too. We have encouraged each local committee to survey their own associates to determine priorities that resonate best with associates in each region. While we strive for a certain level of consistency, we also want to give as much flexibility as we can to each program so that it has meaning for associates around the world. The best part about the committees is that they all consist of Red Hatters who are volunteering extra time to be part of our corporate citizenship efforts. Their passion drives everything that we do.

The corporate citizenship program within Red Hat has become something we care about deeply. Because our associates are actively involved in the decisions made and organizations selected, they feel a sense of ownership and pride in our contributions.

DeLisa Alexander is executive vice president and chief people officer for Red Hat.

Corporate culture of giving built by the people of Microsoft

noreply@blogger.com (Philanthropy Journal) — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 18:00:00 +0000

Participants in Microsoft YouthSpark's Innovate for Good Brazil use Gorilla Glass to imagine how they can help solve pressing problems in their communities. (Photo courtesy of Microsoft)

Lori Forte Harnick

As Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer wrote in the company’s 2013 Citizenship Report, “Our commitment to citizenship is brought to life by the work we do in serving communities, championing the growth of our people, and meeting our commitment to responsible business policies and practices.”

Behind that commitment, you’ll find a company that is dedicated – at all levels – to fostering a culture of giving. Doing so requires two critical elements: executive leadership with a commitment to philanthropy and corporate social responsibility, and employees who are passionate about making a difference through the products they create for the world and the causes they support in their local communities.

I joined Microsoft knowing that the company had a deep commitment to both. Undoubtedly, Microsoft is in a unique position with a founder and chairman of the board whose reputation for philanthropy is unmatched in the world. But every company – no matter the size or industry – can foster a corporate culture in which philanthropy plays a substantial role in their value system.

Last year, we galvanized Microsoft’s corporate philanthropy around one theme: empowering the next generation through YouthSpark, our global initiative to create opportunities for 300 million youth by 2015 through education, entrepreneurship and employment. One year later, we are seeing the impact and feeling inspired, though we know there is more work to be done to combat a youth unemployment rate expected to increase to 12.8 percent by 2018 (International Labour Organization, Global Employment Trends for Youth 2013).

Since launching YouthSpark, we have created new opportunities for more than 103 million young people in over 100 countries through collaboration with nonprofit organizations and governments. We’ve worked to improve digital literacy and access to technology skills training through Technology Education And Literacy in Schools (TEALS), Office 365 for EDU and Partners in Learning; to unleash future innovators by providing access to technology tools and mentorship through DreamSpark, Imagine Cup and DigiGirlz; and to increase employability and entrepreneurship opportunities through BizSpark, Students2Business and Give for Youth.

The TEALS program, for example, pairs high-tech professionals with in-service faculty in high schools to help provide curriculum resources to students eager to learn computer science skills. This school year, TEALS is in 70 schools in 12 states with 280 high-tech professionals volunteering to teach basic and Advanced Placement computer science courses to more than 3,000 students. The numbers, however, don’t tell the whole story. We invest in TEALS and all of our YouthSpark programs because of youth like Jeremy Moore from rural Beattyville, Kentucky, who can see a future they never imagined emerging in front of their eyes.

Microsoft employees are among the 280 TEALS volunteers, but through our Employee Giving Program, they, and many others, also dedicate time and money to support a wide array of causes that matter most to them, such as global health and disease eradication, environmental sustainability, poverty and homelessness.

Our annual Employee Giving Campaign is held every October – a magical month at Microsoft. Some employees choose to volunteer or donate money quietly on their own, while others look forward to more than 300 organized events throughout the month, such as a 5K Run/Walk on our main corporate campus and a 24-hour international fundraising relay across time zones when they can share the joy of giving back with colleagues around the world.

We are very proud of our employees for their passion and determination to help so many people less fortunate. And we are eternally grateful to our nonprofit partners whose tireless work has a real impact in our local communities and around the world. Every day.

Last October, we celebrated the 30^th Employee Giving Campaign and hit a milestone of $1 billion (inclusive of company match) for more than 31,000 nonprofit organizations since the program began in 1983. To further extend our employees’ generosity, this year we increased the matching funds available to each employee from $12,000 to $15,000, and we continue to match volunteer time at $17 per hour.

This culture of giving has been created by the people of Microsoft. It’s not a top-down check-box effort implemented by executives. Equally, it’s not a grassroots effort that lacks corporate support. It’s a breathtaking blend of corporate and personal values coming together to make magic happen. So now, onwards, toward the next billion!

Lori Forte Harnick is general manager of Microsoft Citizenship & Public Affairs.

Tackling obesity: Foundations and nonprofits go local for greater impact

noreply@blogger.com (Philanthropy Journal) — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 17:25:00 +0000

Special to Philanthropy Journal

Garth Graham

Even as childhood obesity rates are starting to level off in this country, 5 five percent of American children and teens remain severely obese, according to new information from the American Heart Association. Individuals in low-income communities across the nation are statistically more likely to suffer from obesity and obesity-related diseases such as diabetes and heart conditions.

As obesity rates have increased in the United States, we have been provided a broader view to see and understand the factors that multiply the issue, from genetics to food access. And, unfortunately, it’s a fact that individuals living in low-income communities eat greater amounts of cheap, unhealthy foods, contributing greatly to the public health crisis.

Driving collaboration—Community by community

Recently, the Aetna Foundation sponsored an international meeting on global health and wellness. The meeting brought together 100 of the most notable national and international experts on obesity and chronic disease. As experts discussed successful efforts to combat obesity, it became clear that local programs are having a significant impact in changing people’s health across the U.S.

As a physician and president of the Aetna Foundation, I’m continuously reminded of the duty we have to help advance the health of children and adults. Over the years, Aetna and the Aetna Foundation have supported disease prevention programs, helped revitalize neighborhoods, provided aid to those in need and listened to the varied voices that shape our community and our nation.

Today, as we work to increase the health and quality of care for individuals and communities, we also focus our energy on possibilities that may lead to meaningful improvements in health and the health care system. Foundations play a vital role in making this happen, with their ability to bring together experts and assets to address the preventive and individualized care that promotes health and wellness.

Foundations can utilize grant support and research to serve as catalysts for sharing information, collecting data and bridging partners with a common goal in a way that conventional businesses and other nonprofits cannot. We operate in an area that makes it possible to bring together policy makers, businesses, health professionals and community nonprofits to look holistically at the issue at hand and together develop the changes necessary for positive health outcomes.

Local focus

Along with the work of foundations and nonprofits on a national level, the Aetna Foundation provides grant support to a number of local nonprofits implementing programs in low-income communities to increase access to healthy, fresh foods. Take, for example, the Double Up Food Bucks program from the Fair Food Network helps recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) make the most nutritious use of their food stamps. Started in 2009 as a pilot project at five Detroit farmers’ markets, the program has expanded to more than 150 markets throughout Michigan. Through this program, SNAP recipients can double their purchasing power at participating farmers' markets to buy locally grown fruits and vegetables. Through a study we supported by Fair Food Network and several similar organizations, we determined that incentive-based programs are effective at promoting healthier eating habits.

In Brooklyn, United Community Centers’ East New York Farms project has significantly increased the availability of fresh produce. In this low-income neighborhood, the project supports two community-run farmers’ markets, manages two urban farms and provides resources and horticultural know-how to expand the number of community gardens and backyard vegetable beds.

On the other side of the country, Special Service for Groups has launched a program to enroll low-income residents of several Asian neighborhoods in their own Community Service Agriculture program, which provides biweekly bags of locally grown, organic Asian vegetables at a greatly reduced price.

As a foundation, we have a unique opportunity to help improve health and wellness for people across the nation. In my days as a practicing clinician, I held the importance of each and every individual’s health as paramount. In my role as a grant maker, I strive to bring this sense of passion and mindfulness to help change lives through continued research and partnerships.

Dr. Garth Graham is president of the Aetna Foundation. In this role, Dr. Graham is responsible for the Foundation’s philanthropic work, including its grant-making strategies to improve the health of people from underserved communities and increase their access to high-quality health care. A national authority on health disparities and health care quality, Dr. Graham is a frequent spokesperson for the Foundation on health care and health equity issues.

Avoiding regulatory pitfalls: Lessons learned from litigation

noreply@blogger.com (Philanthropy Journal) — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 14:14:00 +0000

Special to Philanthropy Journal

Hugh P. Quinn, Esq. and Jack L. White, Esq.

Far too often, well-intentioned and well-managed nonprofit organizations find themselves under intense scrutiny and unnecessary litigation brought on by various regulatory authorities. While these organizations often have experienced advisors, learned counsel and competent accountants, there are certain guidelines that are useful in their endeavors to avoid needless legal hassles.

Help Hospitalized Veterans (HHV) is a charitable organization that for more than 42 years has helped in the recovery of wounded, sick and disabled American veterans. Through a settlement permitting HHV to continue helping veterans reclaim their lives, this veterans service organization and its board of directors prevailed in a lawsuit brought by the California attorney general. Based on the experience of HHV’s counsel from Fluet Huber + Hoang PLLC during this investigation and litigation, the following lessons learned will assist charitable organizations in remaining focused on their mission – not needless litigation.

Lesson #1: Regulatory agencies – not former employees, competitive nonprofits or disgruntled donors – present the greatest risk to your continued viability as a nonprofit organization. Charitable organizations face a wealth of challenges along the path to fulfilling their core purposes. Yet the threat posed by regulatory authorities and their ability to derail progress toward charitable objectives can be quite formidable, indeed life-threatening. Each charitable organization must be deliberate in the actions it takes to avoid excessive scrutiny from regulatory agencies.

Lesson #2: A charitable organization’s leadership will be held responsible for the information the charity presents to the public, whether on tax information returns, solicitation materials, public pronouncements or otherwise. A charitable organization’s donor base benefits from a mosaic of regulations and accounting principles that ensure accuracy in information provided. Take measures to ensure that all information presented publicly on behalf of the organization is accurate and not reasonably subject to ambiguity.

Lesson #3: Relying on information presented to the board by officers and consultants of the organization can present risk for violation of your duties as a director, regardless of your volunteer status. Directors of nonprofits often serve on a voluntary basis and rely heavily (and appropriately) on information provided by officers and other advisors in reaching significant decisions regarding a charity’s conduct. Most state statutes recognize this reality of nonprofit governance; however, this recognition does not absolve nonprofit directors of their fiduciary obligations. While the ordinary nonprofit director should not be required to understand the intricacies of sophisticated accounting pronouncements, regulatory authorities will indeed require them to perform their fiduciary duties. Trust but verify the information presented to you by accountants, attorneys, officers and consultants; perform your due diligence.

Lesson #4: Drafting detailed meeting minutes of board meetings might seem like a good idea, but it can present issues when closely examined for evidence of breach of duties as a board. Opinions differ as to the level of precision that should be included in meeting minutes. Insufficient detail may sacrifice the benefit of specificity with respect to deliberation and the rationale for various collaborative actions. Excessive detail sacrifices the benefit of collective resolve, providing a trail of breadcrumbs leading inadvertently to points of contention that might have been resolved during deliberations. While neither approach provides absolute cover from litigation, it is our opinion that less is more with respect to meeting minutes. Keep your board meeting minutes focused, with only the essentials included.

Lesson #5: You can get in trouble for failing to follow protocol found in applicable statutes and your organization’s governing documents. Most states have statutes that define nonprofit directors’ fiduciary duties with reasonable clarity. Most charitable organizations intentionally draft their respective articles of incorporation, bylaws and other internal regulatory documents in a manner that sets forth organizational and individual responsibilities with adequate precision. Knowing what the organization can and cannot do and what the organization’s leaders can and cannot do is an excellent center of gravity for any charitable nonprofit. Where guidelines or proscriptions require adjustment, make the appropriate adjustments. But, follow the rules. Read, understand and follow applicable statues and your governing documents.

Lesson #6: Sometimes it’s not what you did but rather what you didn’t do as a board member that can present risk for a violation. Many charitable enterprises benefit from leadership comprised of like-minded individuals who share a common philanthropic agenda. Over time, this unity of purpose can inadvertently be transformed into an unwelcome sense of complacency that permits unwelcome acquiescence to practices that belie an organization’s ultimate objectives. Among any charity’s leadership, a willingness to gracefully identify and address potentially problematic practices should be embraced. And leadership should not be afraid to do so. If something doesn’t feel right, take the initiative, and address it.

As our clients, volunteer directors for HHV, frequently lamented, “No good deed goes unpunished when dealing with state regulators.” Charitable organizations engage in some of the most honorable enterprises imaginable. The honorable nature of philanthropic service, however, does not obviate the need for vigilance in your organization’s governance and regulatory compliance.

Hugh P. Quinn, Esq. is a partner, and Jack L. White, Esq. is counsel at Fluet Huber + Hoang PLLC, a values-based law firm that serves as advocate, counsel and champion for clients worldwide.

Film, innovative classes boost volunteering, strength of nonprofits in Wilmington

noreply@blogger.com (Philanthropy Journal) — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 18:13:00 +0000

Special to Philanthropy Journal

Michael Walton

Dr. Jeffrey Brudney speaks at NC State.

Innovation is coming to nonprofit education and community engagement in Wilmington.

The Institute for Nonprofits’ Community of Nonprofit Scholars (CONS) welcomed Dr. Jeffrey Brudney to Raleigh Oct. 8 to discuss his recent endeavors to improve the health of Wilmington and North Carolina’s nonprofit sector through innovative student and community involvement.

One new approach introduced by Brudney is promoting volunteerism through filmmaking. With Brudney as executive producer, University of North Carolina Wilmington students put together an original film profiling volunteerism in the Wilmington community, Building a Better Wilmington: Giving and Volunteering in the Port City. The 12-minute film features interviews highlighting volunteers’ motives for giving of themselves and the rewards they receive in return.

Employing the medium of film brings greater recognition to volunteers in the community and shows how easy it is to become involved. Those efforts will receive a considerable boost next month when the film is screened as an official selection at Wilmington’s annual Cucalorus film festival.

Brudney, UNCW’s first Betty and Dan Cameron Family Distinguished Professor of Innovation in the Nonprofit Sector and academic director of Quality Enhancement for Nonprofit Organizations (QENO), arrived just over a year ago with the goal of bringing new and different approaches to strengthening local nonprofits.

He has two more films in production. One will explore the results of volunteer efforts, focusing on the beneficiaries of volunteer work who have gone on to volunteer themselves. Brudney highlights this reciprocity by calling volunteering a “renewable resource.” He hopes the film will help raise the level of appreciation and knowledge about the nonprofit sector in Wilmington, ultimately attracting more people to volunteering.

UNCW is also getting students involved through an innovative course offering, which will be documented in the film Beyond the Classroom: Learning to Lead. Students enrolled in Brudney’s Nonprofit Leadership Experience course receive 40 hours of classroom instruction from Brudney and numerous guest speakers from the nonprofit sector.

One class session becomes a nonprofit fair in which organizations present results-oriented project ideas to the students. Students then choose to complete the project that best suits their interests.

Matching students with nonprofits has advantages for both groups. Benefits to the organization go beyond what is gained from the completed project. Brudney says, “The fair is as much for the nonprofits as the students.” Working with QENO to develop project ideas before the fair, organizations gain experience thinking strategically about designing a viable project – a process that enhances management capacity.

At the same time, students can select the project that most appeals to them, enabling them to put to use their own particular skills and abilities. Delivering tangible results provides students with real résumé-building experience.

The course has only been offered once so far, but an impressive list of student projects is already taking shape: developing a training program for one agency, creating a marketing brochure for another and revising a curriculum for an agency that implements after-school youth programs. At the end of the semester, students take part in a poster session to present their projects and receive feedback from the nonprofit community.

Innovative means of engaging students in working with nonprofits creates mutually beneficial ties. In an early testament to the success of these efforts, many students have remained involved with the organizations for which they worked. These initiatives in Wilmington show that student engagement may prove to be yet another renewable resource capable of bolstering the strength of nonprofits.

Sports lesson to never give up is key to strong brand awareness for nonprofits

noreply@blogger.com (Philanthropy Journal) — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 21:02:00 +0000

Special to Philanthropy Journal

Sarah Crawford

Since May 2011, I have had the pleasure of working at Tammy Lynn Center for Developmental Disabilities. Tammy Lynn Center has benefitted from strong brand awareness and a robust fundraising program, with a rich history in the Triangle since 1969.

In 2002, I had the privilege of meeting Dr. LeRoy T. Walker, the first black president of the U.S. Olympic Committee. An amazing athlete and inspirational leader, Dr. Walker has shaped the thoughts of many people, including me.

Dr. Walker said, “In sports, one has to recognize that success is not final, and failure is not fatal.”

This quote applies to work across all industries and can be easily translated to the nonprofit sector. Although Dr. Walker said it much more eloquently, when it comes to building and achieving strong brand awareness, I have generally two rules: 1) Your work is never done, and 2) It usually doesn’t hurt to try.

I’ll elaborate.

· Your work is never done. Tammy Lynn Center has been around for more than 44 years. We have served thousands of Triangle families. Families move from out of state just to receive Center services. We have been visited by international constituencies asking us how to best serve their communities. This gives evidence of Tammy Lynn’s strong brand awareness, but that does not mean that we can become complacent.

In a world of so much noise, we must find a way to be heard and the way that we do that and promote our brand is this:

o Take advantage of every opportunity to do what I call “Waving the Flag.” Attend Chamber events, leadership conferences and say yes when asked to speak.

o Start with the Why. Tell the story about why what you do matters first.

o Be engaged in the conversation. Get in the conversation early with your city, county and state leaders. This creates relevancy for yourself and therefore relevancy for your agency.

· It usually doesn’t hurt to try. Over the past 44 years, Tammy Lynn Center has had the opportunity to try many marketing and brand building approaches. We have invested in different media mediums, begged for news coverage and created opportunities for the press to come visit. Trying all of these ideas has given us a chance to evaluate success and retool our plan. Here are our general rules for marketing:

o Smart Marketing

§ Don’t rely on every media outlet to give you free coverage.

§ Media agencies will respond to a list of what you want. Create a list that includes a combination of what you can pay for and what you would like donated.

§ Don’t invest in every form of advertising. Think about your targeted audience. What is your message to them? Then, target your marketing to appropriate advertising outlets that reach your audience.

o Creating brand awareness is evolution, not revolution. Plant the seeds, water them, and then tend to the plants as they grow. Some crops that you plant might not grow the way you expect; some might not grow at all. Use that as a learning experience to refine your methods.

Tammy Lynn Center has had a robust fundraising program, and every year we are getting better. This does not mean that we do anything exactly creative. In fact, I would caution organizations about watching for gimmicks that promote having a magic fundraising bullet. The truth of the matter is that there is no magic bullet. It comes down to one thing: Relationship building.

Donors give money for two reasons: 1) They feel passionate for, or connected, to the cause. 2) They cannot say no to the person asking.

Connecting to the Cause:

· Some donors have a personal connection because they have used services. In this case, the passion is already there.

· Individuals and corporations not already connected to your cause need a reason to become connected. To create a reason, your first step is to listen. Listen to what the individual or corporation cares about and then look for ways that your organization connects to them.

Not being able to say “No” to the person who asks:

· This comes down to relationships. Build partnerships with corporations and foundations. Build relationships with individuals.

· Investments versus transactions. Think about a transaction as being a date. Think about an investment as being marriage. You want a happy marriage for your donors and your organization. It takes time to build a marriage.

· Keep your donors saying yes! Communicate how their support makes a difference, let them know what the organization is doing, and continue to invest in your relationship.

I’ll leave you with another Dr. Walker quote, “We ought to keep them informed. We ought to let them know what the Olympic movement is all about and what’s happening to the dollars that they give.”

What is philanthropy's role in the shutdown?

noreply@blogger.com (Philanthropy Journal) — Mon, 14 Oct 2013 18:20:00 +0000

Source: Wikipedia Commons/Vinoth Chandar

This article originally appeared in the A.J. Fletcher Foundation's blog.

Damon Circosta and Shannon Ritchie

We’re now on day 14 of the government shutdown, and things just got real in NC. With families starting to feel the effects of the crisis, the nonprofit community struggles to meet their needs and the organization’s funders and supporters are left asking, what now?

The hardest hit victims of this crisis are children. WIC benefits were threatened until yesterday for almost 264,000 women, infants, and young children though thankfully temporary funding was secured so they don’t need to rely on food banks. Child care subsidies are starting to run out, leaving tens of thousands of families unable to afford child care by the end of this month (likely leading to many lost jobs for parents). We also learned from our partner Covenant with NC Children that NC DHHS has issued a “stop work order” to contractors funded by federal block grants – affecting a whole host of child welfare services.

It’s all so unfair, isn’t it?

In this time of need, foundations, private companies, and individuals have stepped in to help. Examples include:

• The Laura and John Arnold Foundation in Texas giving $10 million to keep Head Start programs open across the country.
• Fisher House, a private foundation, taking care of death benefits to military families, with support from The Special Operations Warrior Foundation.
• Food Lion announcing a $500,000 donation to food banks in NC to supplement for the potential loss in WIC benefits.
• A SC man even showed up at the Lincoln Memorial with a lawn mower and leaf blower to keep it looking beautiful during the shutdown – “just doing [his] part.”

These stories make headlines, but support from private donors is a drop in the bucket compared to the support low-income families receive from the government. The WIC program alone has a $205 million annual budget in NC.

As a charitable foundation that provides support to the nonprofit community in NC, it’s hard to watch this go down and not do something. I’m sure the other organizations I mentioned, among many others, feel similarly compelled which is what makes them act. But our work at Fletcher Foundation is to support big, innovative ideas, putting money behind them to watch them grow and improve the lives of families and communities in the state. The government’s work is to support taxpayer’s interests which include caring for our poor and vulnerable citizens – giving them money for food, subsidies for childcare assistance to help them work, etc.

Make no mistake, we’re not chastising organizations and individuals who are pitching in and doing what we pay our government to do on our behalf. We get it and many people are grateful for their generosity. But we do ourselves a great disservice if we lead the public to believe the private sector can make a difference in this mess. As the burden shifts the public implies, “Oh, let’s look to private foundations and companies to foot the bill for these services we desperately need,” but they lack the understanding of just how vast the gaps are. The only entities that can make a difference are our federal and state governments, and perhaps our energy, time, and resources, are best served letting them know how our kids are hurting because of their inability to fund the services they greatly rely on.

Fletcher Foundation has created a site to collect stories, photos, and videos from our grantees and community about how the government shutdown is hurting kids in NC. In working with our partners, we hope to shed light on how desperate this situation is for so many and share with our elected officials in Washington as they make decisions that can change course for us here in North Carolina. We’d love to hear from you.