RSVP BY FRIDAY, MAY 2NDSuper Session with

Tanya Howe Johnson, CAE – President and CEO

National Committee on Planned Giving

1st Session: – 10:00 am – 11:00 am

“Ten Notes for Fine-Tuning Your Gift Planning Program”

We all know the song, but how well do we sing it? Even the best musicians (and charitable gift planners) need an occasional voice lesson, if only to be reassured that they are still on pitch. These 10 basic notes will help you set the tune for starting, fine-tuning, or simply celebrating a successful gift planning program. This session is a basic overview of some of the fundamental “best practices” or foundations for a solid program.

11:00 – 11:15 Break

Lunch – 11:15 – 12:00 noon

2nd Session: 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm

“Strategic Decisions in Charitable Gift Planning”

In 1989 when the NCPG was created, many fundraisers aspired to become planned giving officers. They sought the pinnacle of their profession – the most specialized knowledge, the wealthiest donors, the top nonprofit salaries. NCPG grew by more than 1,000 new planned giving council members every year and it seemed that there really might be a dedicated planned giving specialist in every charitable organization.

Fifteen years later, philanthropy and fundraising practices have changed. What are these changes, how are they playing out in the current environment, and what do they mean for the future of charitable resource development and NCPG? This presentation will continue the dialogue begun by NCPG’s Strategic Initiatives project.

WHEN – Wednesday, May 7th

REGISTRATION – begins at 9:30 am

WHERE – Belmont Inman Center Health Sciences Building located on Wedgewood Blvd between 15th and 16th Avenues, in the Frist Lecture Hall on the fourth floor.

DIRECTIONS & PARKING – Enter the parking garage underneath the Inman Center from Wedgewood by the road to the left of the building and immediately make a right turn into the garage. Take the elevator to the fourth floor.

COST – $15 for PGC members, $20 guests

RESERVATIONS – Please respond to Christine McGill, christine.mcgill@curreyingram.org by noon on Friday, May 2nd. Reservations are required and cancellations after this date will be billed

For information on membership go to www.ncpg.org

Today, the Tennessean posted descriptions of what area nonprofits need to better support their mission:

Nonprofits’ wish list

Supports children

Agency: Boys & Girls Club of Middle Tennessee (Franklin/Williamson County)

Description: Needs copier paper, construction paper, electric pencil sharpeners, pool sticks, ping pong balls, computer mice, first aid kits, jump ropes, digital camera, crayons, whistles, Hula Hoops, hot glue gun, boom box, manila folders, juice boxes, bottled water, small bristle paint brushes, Clorox wipes, disinfectant spray, white poster boards, scissors, dictionaries, rulers, glue stocks, spiral notebooks, soft rubber kick balls, dodge balls, and a Rebound DVD.

To donate: Call the club at 794-1106.

Assists all in need

Agency: Bridge of Hope

Description: Needs a washer and dryer.

To donate: Call 226-0596.

Helping children

Agency: Cannon County Reach

Description: Needs white and black paint and painting supplies plus portable classrooms.

To donate: Call Angela King at 563-5518.

Improves child care

Agency: The Center for Early Education

Description: Needs 12 comfortable conference room chairs suitable for long training sessions. Matching chairs would be a plus, but not required.

To donate: Call Michelle Cochran at 251-1902 or e-mail michellec@nashvillesees.org.

Housing provider

Agency: Community Housing Partnership in Williamson County

Description: Needs weatherization kits, paint, windows, doors, appliances and insulation.

To donate: Call Stephen Murray at 790-5556 or e-mail Stephen@communityhousing.info .

Tutors at-risk kids

Agency: Community United Youth Resource Center in Columbia

Description: Needs 40 backpacks, school supplies (paper, pencils, spiral notebooks, binders, rulers, glue sticks, index cards, Crayola markers and crayons, school boxes, folders with pockets, calculators), office supplies and toys for Christmas. The agency also needs file cabinets, chairs, children’s chairs, bookshelves, computers and children’s tables.

To donate: Call Teresa Davis at 931-381-5720.

Family literacy program

Agency: Estoy Aprendiendo (”I’m Learning”)

Description: Needs computers for English-language learning laboratory and books appropriate for middle and high school students, CD players and Power Point equipment.

To donate: Call Tracy Jennings at 941-8658.

Supports community

Agency: Eighteenth Avenue Family Enrichment Center

Description: Needs office supplies, toys, playground equipment, color copy paper, construction paper, hand wipes, wallpaper books, preschool scissors, flashlights, batteries, first aid items, legal pads, finger paints, crayons and hand sanitizer.

To donate: Call 320-1131.

Helps those with disabilities

Agency: Evergreen Presbyterian Ministries Inc.

Description: Needs two folding mat platform tables, four clinical recliners, two single point swings, four rocking chairs, one Hoyer lift with weight scale, four Big Mack communication aids, two Snozelen Elite packages, two Snozelen MSE Corner Padding packages and one portable dishwasher.

To donate: Call Sereadia Dunn at 366-7454 or e-mail sdunn@epmi.org.

Resource center

Agency: Gallatin Shalom Zone

Description: Needs a board table and chairs, and 100 stacking chairs for the community room.

To donate: 585-0790 or e-mail allatinshalomzn@bellsouth.net.

Emergency food and services

Agency: Mt. Juliet Help Center

Description: Needs copy paper.

To donate: Call (615) 754-4357 or e-mail help@mtjuliethelpcenter.com.

Animal education and fun

Agency: Nashville Zoo

Description: Needs four large storage cabinets (at least 6 feet tall and 4 feet wide, metal or plastic only) for the elephant barn; five full-length lockers for staff, and a 4-by-8 foot non-breakable acrylic mirror sheet or steel sheet for elephant enrichment (elephants can recognize themselves in a mirror).

To donate: Call Elephant Manager Rise Pankow at 642-1003 or e-mail rpankow@nashvillezoo.org.

The Zoo also needs additional metal lockers, about 6 feet tall, a metal bookcase up to 32-inches wide, heavy duty free-standing shelving, a commercial blender, a new kitchen stove, good quality chef’s knives (no wooden handles), a commercial door-type dishwasher, a college-sized refrigerator and a golf cart (new or used).

To donate: Call Lead Commissary Keeper Stephanie Greene at 833-1534, extension 150 or e-mail sgreene@nashvillezoo.org.

Learning supplies for at-risk children

Agency: PENCIL Box program of the PENCIL Foundation

Description: Needs binders, arts and crafts materials, educational magazines, containers and a wide variety of supplies that a teacher would be able to use in the classroom.

To donate: Call Sarah Killpack at 242-3167, ext. 233.

Support for seniors

Agency: Perry County Council on Aging

Description: Needs file cabinets, round tables and chairs and bookcases.

To donate: Call Marianne Watson at 931-589-5111.

Help for developmental disabilities

Agency: Progress Inc.

Description: Needs computers, five-drawer filing cabinets, wheelchairs, six Cracker Barrel-style rocking chairs, large print editions of Readers Digest, and other large print books.

To donate, Call Susan at 399-3000, extension 39 or Pat at extension 17.

Educates at-risk children

Agency: Project Reflect

Description: Needs a projector and a projector screen.

To donate: Call Lynda Evjen at 228-9886 or 517-5713

Helps the mentally challenged

Agency: Prospect Inc.

Description: Needs a metal-coated picnic table, a tow motor and a Ridder Pallet Jack.

To donate: Call Bill Potter at (615) 444-0597.

Helps the developmentally challenged

Agency: RHA Health Services

Description: Needs a washer, dryer, living room furniture, bedroom furniture, patio furniture, kitchen table and chairs, fax machines and computers.

To donate: Call Susan Farmer at 367-1181.

Assisting seniors

Agency: Shelbyville/Bedford County Senior Center

Description: Needs a washing machine, aprons, dish towels, a medium freezer and food donations.

To donate: Call Sonia Miller at (931) 684-0019.

Serves the disabled

Agency: Quality Living Inc.

Description: Needs two filing cabinets and a rocking chair.

To donate, Call Bambie Mansaray at 365-2230, ext. 208, or 886-8863.

Striving for independence

Agency: Resources for Human Development

Description: Needs a desk printer, LCD projector for training, gardening supplies, sheets, linens and homegoods.

To donate, Call Kathleen Newbold or Pierre Womble at 391-8088.

Works with seniors

Agency: Shelbyville/Bedford County Senior Citizens

Description: Needs a big screen TV and a Wii game for the seniors to participate in interactive games and sports to improve mobility.

To donate: Call Sonia Miller or Barbara Strahn at (931) 684-0086

Therapeutic horseback riding for the disabled

Agency: Silver Bullets Ranch

Description: Needs building materials to construct a feed room, a freezer, filing cabinets, trophy cases, a storage building, arena panels or fencing for horses, a horse trailer and a house or camp trailer.

To donate, Call (931) 685-9946.

Assists seniors

Agency: Springfield-Robertson County Senior Center

Description: Needs tool Box with basic tools, gardening tools, a safe, awning, a receptionist front desk, a table top folder, new and used computers, desktop printer, copier, scanner, garden hose rack, washer and dryer, five white tablecloths for 58-inch round tables, car vacuum and 50-foot heavy duty extension cord.

To donate: Call Sarai Reed at 384-6367 or e-mail rcsc@bellsouth.net.

Medical help

Agency: Tennessee Personal Assistance

Description: Needs 3-inch binders, a heavy duty copy machine and copy paper.

To donate: Call Sweden Kwenda at 578-2029 or 331-6200.

Settles refugee families

Agency: World Relief

Description: Needs clean queen-sized mattresses and box springs, tables and chairs, couches, living room chairs, end tables, pots and pans, silverware, glasses, small kitchen appliances, calendars, hangers and folding chairs.

To donate: call 833-7735

Faith-based community assistance

Agency: You Can Make It

Description: Needs an office chair, filing cabinet, kitchen table with six chairs, floor light and two wood chairs for clients.

To donate: Call Deborah Harding at 977-5372.

Recently posted on the Tennessean’s Web site:

Local man wins International Goodwill Award

Keri Foy
Reader Submitted

Mike Eisenbraun has been selected as the 2008 recipient of Goodwill Industries International’s Edgar J. Helms Award for Staff for exemplifying Goodwill’s mission and Rev. Helms’ values of unselfish service to people with disabilities or other disadvantaging conditions.

Helms, an ordained minister, social innovator, and the founder of Goodwill, was motivated by spiritual values to improve the lives of those in need. Rev. Helms believed that unselfish service, faith, and a strong work ethic should permeate Goodwill’s mission, fostering self-reliance and success in others through training and employment.

Eisenbraun has worked at Goodwill now for almost 10 years and is currently Goodwill’s director of production. Mike manages 328 employees in Goodwill’s main processing plant. He realizes that running a efficient operation creates more job opportunities for Goodwill clients, but also uses his personal time to improve his employees’ quality of life.

A major Tennessee electronic recycling event will be held on May 14 – 17 in Nashville/Vanderbilt, Memphis/University of Memphis, and Johnson City/ ETSU in partnership with Apple Computers. Free recycling of Computer Systems & Accessories, Audio & Video Equipment, Handheld Devices, and Office Equipment for individuals, households, nonprofits, schools, government agencies, and businesses.

Institutional Recycling Days are Wednesday, May 14 through Friday, May 16 9AM to 3PM at LP Field (Titans Stadium) Parking Lot

(Shelby Avenue and South 2nd Street). For details and sign-up form go to http://www.vanderbilt.edu/sustainvu/institutional_electronics_day.php

Community Recycling Day is Saturday, May 17 9AM to 3PM at LP Field (Titans Stadium) Parking Lot (South 2nd Street & Shelby Street).

For details go to http://www.vanderbilt.edu/sustainvu/community_electronics_day.php

PLAN is looking to lease office space. We need a cube or small office for our new Program Director. We would like to have the option of using a conference room on occasion for meeting with clients. Office 10′ x 10′ or comparable preferred. Will consider cubicle. Require access to phone line/internet.PLAN (Planned Lifetime Assistance Network) of Tennessee is a non-profit organization dedicated solely to meeting the planning needs of families with adult children having lifelong disabilities. We help family members to develop a Personal Plan of Care for their child, and then we support the family in their effort to care for their loved one. PLAN services can include care coordination, acting as representative payee and bill payment.

We also operate a special needs pooled trust which families can use to help provide for the financial security of their loved one with a mental illness.

If you have space available, pleas contact Deb Reitner at 783-0088 or dreitinger@comcast.net.

New Horizons has announced Microsoft 2007 Training opportunities.  

Each Session is $99. The dates and times are as follows:

May 22 8am-12pm PowerPoint 07; 1pm-5pm Word 07
May 23 8am-12pm Access 07; 1pm-5pm Excel 07

Course Description:

Word 2007 – Explore the components of the results-oriented interface of the Word Environment. Work with the Ribbon, finalize and secure a document.
PowerPoint 2007 – Explore the new interface components of PP and customize the PP environment. Enhance a presentation by applying custom layouts and themes.
Access 2007- Explore the Access 2007 interface, work with tables and forms, and create queries and reports using the enhanced features of Access 2007.
Excel 2007 - Explore the new and enhanced Microsoft Office Excel 2007 environment, organize data in Excel worksheets using enhanced tables and table formats. Analyze Excel data by applying enhanced conditional formatting, and generate specific information using the sort and filter options.

Contact New Horizons at 615.850.5923  for more information.

From today’s Tennessean:

Strobel honors top volunteers

• The Oasis Center’s International Teen Outreach Program, recipient of the Volunteer Group Award;
• Cynthia Black, recipient of the Community-Wide Volunteer Award;
• Linda Johnston, recipient of the Direct Services Volunteer Award;
• Bailey Roberts, recipient of the Youth Volunteer Award;
• and Jim Weber and Melony Pugh-Weber, recipients of the Volunteer Innovator Award.
 

4 activists, service group recognized
Four Nashville activists and one service organization were rewarded for their efforts Wednesday night at the 22nd annual Mary Catherine Strobel Volunteer Awards, which lauds Middle Tennesseans for their volunteerism.

The winners, who were chosen from among 12 finalists, were:

Click here for pictures of the event.  For those who attended the event, put on annually by Hands On Nashville, it was a day to feel great about being a part of this special community!

The Tennessean interviews the Safe Haven board of directors president:

Former councilman takes over as family shelter’s board president

By PAM SHERBORNE
For Davidson A.M.

One of the things that impressed Jim Shulman most when he visited Safe Haven Family Shelter during a “Lunch and Learn” was how simple the concept on which the nonprofit agency is based.

Now, as president of the board of directors there, he is eager to help the nonprofit agency, which provides assistance to homeless families.

Shulman, deputy commissioner for the State Department of Health, is very active in the community. He is on the board of the Adventure Science Center, the Nashville Children’s Theatre and the Nashville City Cemetery. He also served for eight years as a Metro councilman, representing District 25.

Bruce Newport, executive director of Safe Haven, at 1234 Third Ave. S., said Shulman’s experience in small business, local and state government will “allow us to take our organization to the next level.”

“With continued public awareness and fundraising, Safe Haven can begin drafting plans for expansion and continued organizational strength,” Newport said. “Jim will be an outstanding board president.”

Board presidents serve a term of one calendar year. Afterwards, they can be re-elected for another year. Newport said most presidents serve two terms.

How did you become involved with Safe Haven?

“I had attended a ‘Lunch and Learn,’ an event they have occasionally to show people what they do. That was nine months ago. I came away thinking that the concept was so simple. They take in homeless families, get the kids back in school, bring some stability to the family and bring them back to their feet. The residents have to work. Safe Haven takes part of their wages and saves it for them. After 60 days, 90 days, whatever it takes, this money helps the families get back to a certain stability.

They also have programs in the shelter, parenting skills, things for the kids.

And, they have a phenomenal success rate. It is in the low 80 percent. What they are doing is working.

So how long afterwards did you become a board member?

“I became a board member not too long afterwards. Then, before I knew it, I was board president.”

What is your role as board president?

“My role, and the board’s role, is to provide help to the staff. This is very much of a working board. I have put up signs for events and sold tickets. I have also gone over there for their Lunch and Learn.

This Safe Haven staff has been working very hard to stabilize the agency. They have been looking for a new focus and wanting to readdress their primary focus. They have a very strong staff.”

Is there a growing need for this type of agency in Nashville?

“Last year, they had about 1,000 families on a waiting list. The need is growing, but unfortunately there is a not a lot out there for homeless families. There is such an age span. They are dealing with kids from newborns to 18 years old. Safe Haven is pretty unique in trying to address this.”

So what will the next year bring?

“We have all kinds of responsibilities. We have a long-range plan to develop. We need to look at the existing programs. We need to keep the organization financially sound and try to find a way to serve more people. We need to start looking for ways to increase the space.”

From today’s Tennessean:

Charities lose billions of dollars to theft, fraud

Nashville groups are among victims

By BOB SMIETANA
Staff Writer

Cassandra Stanfield liked to spend money.

She bought a $600,000 home outside Memphis, along with a Lexus, a Mercedes, and a Cadillac Escalade, $75,000 worth of clothing, and thousands more on jewelry, electronics and fine furnishings.

Prosecutors said Stanfield earned less than $30,000 a year as head cashier at the Regional Medical Center in Memphis but fueled her spending sprees with money intended for the hospital, operated by the Shelby County Healthcare Corp., a not-for-profit charity.

Stanfield’s case is not an isolated one. It illustrates the national problem of embezzlement among U.S. charities, particularly small ones at which trust gets in the way of solid bookkeeping practices. According to one recent study by the Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, a respected trade publication, charities were bilked of $40 billion in 2006.

Janet Greenlee, one of the study’s co-authors, said fraud happens “all the time at charities” but that few of them are willing to admit it.

“They are afraid it’s going on and not being caught,” she said. “Or they know it’s going on and don’t know what to do about it. Or they are afraid that the news will get out.”

Stanfield was sentenced earlier this month to five years in prison and ordered to repay more than $2 million she had embezzled from her employer.

The West Tennessee wo-man matched the profile of other female embezzlers, the study said. Most are women earning less than $50,000 a year who have worked at the agency for less than three years. They usually do not have a criminal record.

“It’s usually someone who is indispensable,” said Greenlee.

That’s something members of the Granbery Elementary School PTA in Nashville found out in 2006, after discovering that volunteer co-president Julie Ann Taylor Buchanan had stolen nearly $150,000.

At Buchanan’s sentencing, Carol Burgess, the group’s former treasurer, described Taylor’s steadfast service.

“Julie was always there,” Burgess said. “You could always count on her.”

Small groups vulnerable

Dennis Dycus, director of the division of municipal audit for the Tennessee state comptroller’s office, said schools-related groups, like the PTA or sports boosters, are particularly vulnerable to fraud because they have few financial controls in place.

Small nonprofits that rely primarily on volunteers often don’t take basic precautions to prevent fraud, such as having two people present whenever cash is counted, or separating duties when handling a checking account. If the same person who writes checks also reconciles the bank account, that leaves the door wide open for fraud, Greenlee said.

William Maxwell, administrative director for the Tennessee Baptist Convention, said many of his organization’s almost 3,000 congregations are too small to hire professional accountants. But they can safeguard funds by using “the rule of two,” where financial duties are always split.

“If it’s a small church with volunteer treasurer,” he said, “we talk about delegation of duties, like having a different person to count the money, a different person to write the checks, and a different person to balance the checkbook.”

Ken Behr, president of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, said putting those kinds of simple principles into place can drastically reduce fraud.

“An ounce of prevention goes a long way, he said.

Having hard and fast financial procedures seems foreign to many small nonprofits, which thrive on a culture of trust and friendship. But when it comes to money, trust is a luxury nonprofits can’t afford, Greenlee said.

3 motivating factors

Most people who steal from charities do so because of three factors: opportunity, some kind of personal crisis, and an ability to rationalize their actions.

“It usually starts out with someone who needs a little cash to get through to the end of the month,” Maxwell said, “and it will snowball from there.”

The study in the Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly is the second recent report to suggest that charity fraud is widespread.

The findings were similar to a 2007 study conducted by two researchers at Villanova University in suburban Philadelphia who surveyed chief financial officers at 174 U.S. Catholic dioceses about theft. Seventy-eight dioceses responded and researchers were shocked to learn that 85 percent had experienced fraud at local parishes within the last five years.

Tennessee isn’t immune

The impact on charities and churches in Tennessee is difficult to calculate because no central agency collects comprehensive statistics. But it happens here.

In January 2007, Sherry Dorris, the part-time treasurer for Neely’s Bend Baptist Church in Madison, was sentenced to eight years probation for embezzling more than $97,000 from the church.

In November 2006, Zoya Tanmaya Zakwan, bookkeeper for the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Murfreesboro, was indicted for stealing more than $60,000, mainly by using church credit cards for personal purchases.

In February, she pleaded guilty to theft over $1,000, got two years probation and was ordered to pay $73,256 in restitution.

Davidson County Assistant District Attorney Jim Milam said there had been eight cases – two involving about $150,000 each – brought to trial over the last two years in Davidson County.

When auditors discover fraud at large charities, they are required to report it to the state comptrollers office. Anti-fraud experts also say it’s essential to call the police, even if fraud happens at a church. Otherwise, a thief may simply go on to rob another charity.

“We want these cases to be prosecuted so that someone who steals from a charity cannot turn around and victimize another charity without being punished,” Milam said.

He added that almost any charity that experiences fraud is likely to end stronger afterward. “They almost always end up with better financial controls,” he said.

Habitat bounced back

At least one Nashville-area charity found the silver lining after experiencing fraud.

In 2001, an employee of Nashville Habitat for Humanity was charged with embezzling more than $40,000. Kathy L. Dixon pleaded guilty and received a 12-year sentence for theft of property.

Until that time, the charity had run an operation more concerned about the feel-good aspects of its work than the business side of charity, said Chris McCarthy, executive director of Nashville Habitat.

When McCarthy joined Habitat in 2002, she instituted strong financial controls and staff training.

“I wanted to set up policies so that if I was going to give them money, I wanted to be sure it was going to be used well,” McCarthy said. “This is too much hard work to let anyone steal from donations.”

Most folks are familiar with the book, “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t.” Written by Jim Collins, the book became a fixture on The New York Times bestseller list, among others. In this interesting interview conducted by Marcia Stepanek of New York Contribute Magazine, Collins discusses a recent 36-page monograph he wrote on applying the principles of “Good to Great” to the social sector. Here is an excerpt of the interview:

Contribute: What can charities learn about greatness from business?
We have to reject the idea, well intentioned but dead wrong, that the primary path to greatness in the social sectors is simply to become more like a business.Collins: The truth is that most businesses aren’t great, and so we can’t learn about greatness by just looking at what the average business does. Most businesses are just average by definition.So the really critical difference is not between business and nonbusiness. It’s the difference between great and good: there are great social sector enterprises, there are great companies, and there are mediocre social enterprises and there are mediocre companies. The disciplines of greatness are not the disciplines of business. In fact, truly great nonprofits will share more in common with a great corporation than a great corporation will share in common with an average corporation.

You can read the full interview by clicking here. What are your thoughts? Do you think great nonprofits have a lot in common with great corporations?