This post is the third installment of a weekly series previewing the topics that will be discussed at CNM’s May 18th Nonprofit Conference: Bridge to Excellence. Click here to register for this exciting day long learning event featuring keynote speaker Dan Pallotta, author of Uncharitable.

Michael Kipp has been a principal in businesses as diverse as banking, health care and internet commerce. He has worked with nearly 100 corporate, association and nonprofit organizations on board development. He is leading the session, Volunteer Ownership: Rethinking the Nonprofit Board at the Conference.

Road to the Conference: Featured Presenter, Michael Kipp

Board work is frequently characterized by ceremony, instinct, and unfounded assumption. People involve themselves for all manner of reasons: they believe in a cause or have written a check; they want to make a difference, or “change the world”; they are advocates committed to a political or social cause; they want to make connections, associate with “the right people” or those who share their interests; their lives have been marked by a personal or family challenge captured in the organization’s charter.  The passion that powers nonprofits has equal power to handicap them.

Then there are the intersecting roles of volunteerism, fund raising and governance…rarely kept in balance and frequently distorted by history, circumstances and the complex mix of motives and assumptions cataloged above.  The net impact is that board members struggle between leaning back and leaning in.  It takes time and experience to grasp that governance is a form of ownership—an idea worthy of closer examination since the success, significance, and even survival of nonprofits depends so heavily upon the quality of their “owners”.

Directors are not managers.  Governance should not be a substitute for staff deficiencies.  Weak boards should never be tolerated with the excuse that “…after all, we’re just volunteers; we’ve got real jobs, you know…” Nor should board members “dial down” in deference to the “professionals” as sometimes happens in treatment settings with doctors, educational environments with teachers, associations with legacy members, and within the sub-industries that grow up around services to special needs populations. This kind of self-effacement engenders passivity and sets the stage for specialized employees to determine policy and even set aspirations on behalf of their “owners”. The reality is that while they may be highly trained, well-motivated, and in command of the expertise to pursue the mission, the organization is not theirs to govern.

Continue reading ‘Road to the Conference: Featured Presenter, Michael Kipp’

Kim Carpenter Drake has over 20 years of experience working with nonprofit organizations on everything from fundraising to cause related marketing. She is also a CNM trainer and consultant conducting  a workshop on February 4 entitled, What Sponsors Really Want: Successful Sponsorship Strategies; register today to ensure you have a spot! In the following blog post, Kim analyzes the value of reputation when trying to acquire corporate support:

The Value of Reputation

Benjamin Franklin said, “It takes many good deeds to create a good reputation and only one bad one to lose it.” This is so true, especially in the world on consumer culture.

A product or company lives by its reputation. To survive in a competitive environment, smart business people distinguish their offerings from the competition. Wal-Mart is the best value. Armani is the best quality. Southwest Airlines is friendly and efficient.

These are all excellent values but how do companies take this one step further? They enhance their reputation by aligning themselves with another success story. Often, these take the form of celebrity endorsement. In the last ten years, the “new” celebrity – the celebrated cause – has taken a higher profile. Breast Cancer Awareness, AIDS research, hunger relief, and homelessness are but a few of the causes with which corporations have aligned themselves to improve their consumer image AND their bottom-line.

Continue reading ‘CNM Trainer and Guest Blogger Examines the Value of Reputation’

Kim Carpenter Drake has over 20 years of experience working with nonprofit organizations on everything from fundraising to cause related marketing. She is also a presenter at CNM’s Bridge to Excellence Nonprofit Conference on May 12, 2009. Kim also has a blog that you can visit by clicking here.

Fundraising in Tough Times: What Matters Most?

It’s tough out there. Ask anyone – from the checkout clerk at the grocery store to the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Although we all know the situation, how does this translate into fundraising strategies for nonprofits? My answer is: Focus on what matters most.

More than dollars, more than buildings, more than capital campaigns, our goal is to serve the community. When reevaluating our funding options, we must ask ourselves if and how we are best serving those in need. Those who are part of the solution will flourish. Those without clear vision and clear purpose may not.

All of the surveys and market research seem to agree that giving will decline but not at the same rate as the economy. Many generous people, businesses and foundations are digging deep and working hard to ease the pain of those in greatest need. Will you be one of the partners that make this possible?

Here are a few points to consider:
Continue reading ‘Guest Blogger Examines Fundraising in Tough Times and Asks, “What Matters Most?”’

“Making A Case For Earned Income Development/Assessing Organizational Readiness”

This is an extended version of “Making A Case For Earned Income Development” by Dan Surface. The abbreviated version appeared in the Winter, 2009 edition of CNM Front & Center.

Your nonprofit organization may very well be a candidate for earned income development. However, before you can determine the nature of that earned income and how to develop and manage it, you need to find out if your organization – including staff, board, and volunteers – is ready for it.

It is not always an easy task to introduce earned income development (EID) into the unique culture of a nonprofit organization. The nonprofit world is driven by mission, not profit. Your staff, board, volunteers and donors have all invested emotional ownership in the vision and mission of your organization. So, it should come as no surprise that you may encounter resistance when you begin to introduce an alternative funding stream that depends upon generating revenue from the sale of a product or service. Profit may be a dirty word and difficult to reconcile with an attitude of mission and service to community.

Continue reading ‘Guest Blogger Makes the Case for Earned Income Development’

Catherine Banich and Donna Roberts of Stites and Harbison examine important things to know when serving on a nonprofit board:

Serving as a board member for a not-for-profit organization can be a personally and professionally rewarding experience. But like any other venture, you should have a thorough understanding of what you’re signing on for, or have signed on for, when you agree to join a board.

When you volunteer to be a board member you become part of that organization’s management team. And not-for-profit organizations can open themselves to legal liabilities just as their for-profit counterparts can. Most state statutes specify the standard of care required by directors of not-for-profit corporations. These statutes usually require that directors discharge their duties in good faith and reasonable prudence. This isn’t a reason to shy away from volunteering, but it is reason to fully understand what you’re signing on for and what is expected of you.

If an organization has not told you what the responsibilities are for their board members, you should ask for a formal set of requirements and guidelines. While this may seem like a formality for a volunteer role, remember that you are agreeing to help guide and manage that organization. It is in every-one’s best interest to have clearly defined expectations.

Continue reading ‘Guest Blog Posting on Volunteering for Nonprofit Boards’

CNM Consultant Kim Carpenter Drake has put together a fantastic post on how to encourage supporters to make a difference:

Seamless Living
By Kim Carpenter Drake
www.goaldrivenphilanthropy.com

Stop and consider for a moment one simple question: what do our decisions say about us?

Not the big decisions, just the simple ones – such as what to have for dinner or whether to throw the can from that diet Coke you just finished into the wastebasket next to your desk or carry it to the recycling bin in the kitchen. No, this is not to make you feel guilty if you did not recycle that can. It also is not a condemnation of your diet if the dinner is a quick trip through the drive-thru (complete with a licensed Happy Meal toy, if you are my family) or if it comes from your share of the local farming cooperative.

My only point is to say that our lives are becoming increasingly “seamless” – without borders that distinguish work from play, philanthropy from shopping, and we from the world around us. As nonprofit leaders, this can be both liberating and exhausting. We can develop complex cause marketing plans wherein our cause benefits when a consumer buys the brand of choice at the store. We can encourage responsible behavior by bringing recycling bins and paper pickup campaigns to area businesses. We can even empower our supporters to change the standard practices of government or business through their actions.

Continue reading ‘Guest Blogger Provides Ideas on How to Empower Supporters’

Those of you familiar with the CNM Blog know that every once in awhile, we have a guest blogger put together a post on a topic that we think is of interest to nonprofits. This week, Jeremy Scott of Keystone Business Solutions, was kind enough to put together an interesting post on Search Engine Optimization. Read on to understand what SEO means, and why it matters to your organization:

The current economy creates some unique challenges for nonprofits. You need to continue getting your message out to as many people as possible while increasing the level of donations and grants you are able to bring in-and you need to do it spending less money than ever.

The Internet is the single most powerful tool at your disposal. Today’s donors and volunteers will slowly be replaced by tomorrow’s donors and volunteers-college students and young adults who are “wired” in a way a lot of us can barely understand. This generation speaks the language of the web, and small businesses and nonprofits who wish to remain relevant will soon be forced to find a way to connect with this demographic online if they hope to prosper.

One of the basic ways most nonprofits have embraced this idea is in setting up a Web site. Ten years ago, it was novel for a business of any kind to have a Web site. Today, it’s commonplace.

According to the Kelsey Group, 54% of people have ditched phone books in favor of search engines for their local search needs. This means that if Bob needs a mechanic, he’s now more likely to look for one on Google than he is to use the Yellow Pages.

That’s a sobering thought. Do you know what comes up on Google if people search for you? Do you know what keywords and phrases they’re typing into the Google search box when they search for you?

Simply having a Web site is no longer enough… the Web site also needs to be easy to find.

Research shows that if people can’t find what they’re looking for within the first two pages of Google results… they give up and try something else.

So the straightforward question is this: How many young people are out there, passionate about your issue or cause, but unable to find you online?

Search Engine Optimization (or “SEO”) is the process of writing and coding your Web site to most effectively communicate to the search engines what your nonprofit is all about. It involves keyword research to determine what search phrases your target audience is using, and then inserting those phrases into the on-site text and behind-the-scenes HTML code of your Web site.

There are many reputable SEO firms to choose from, though you should take care to be cautious of those that make bold guarantees and use buzz-words like “magic” or “mojo.”

Typical SEO services can run anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand, depending on the size of your Web site and the work required to help it rank better-but it’s well worth the cost.

I’m sure each of you has budget constraints-it’s one of the hallmarks of running a nonprofit. But I urge you to strongly consider your marketing budget for the coming year. Traditional marketing like print, radio, and television, isn’t obsolete… yet. But online marketing and advertising simply cannot be ignored any longer.

Today’s young people, who will fuel your nonprofit’s future, are looking for you on MySpace. They’re looking for you on Facebook and Twitter. They want to read your blog. And they’re definitely using Google to discover things that move them.

You can throw up a billboard for a few thousand a month, cross your fingers, and hope that the right prospective customers see it and remember to call you. Or you can spend that money with a search marketing firm, get your site ranking well on Google, and know that your message will be right there in front of the very people who are already searching for you.

By Kim Carpenter Drake

Millennials. Also known as Generation Y, this group encompasses those born between 1980 and 1994 and is the second largest generation after Baby Boomers. We have heard much in the news lately about their perspective on the workplace and their sometimes high demands for recognition and positive feedback. They are, after all, the children of Baby Boomers and the most “hovered-over” generation in U.S. history, according to Deloitte Consulting.

How will they lead us in the future and how will we, as nonprofits, embrace them? This is a tough question. Most nonprofit leaders are the same Baby Boomers who are leading our country’s largest corporations. The generation gap is really more of a chasm and the echo is carrying over into our personal lives, consumer habits and charitable giving.

Just imagine, however, a generation that cannot remember a time before computers – a generation that expects everything to be at their fingertips, on-line and plugged in 24/7. These are the young people who we need to start courting as donors, volunteers and leaders.

Here are a few ideas to consider:

• Evaluate your web presence. If it’s stale, Millennials will see your organization as outdated.
• Look at your board structure. Use your committees to develop new talent and reward hard work and dedication.
• Reconsider your donor recognition program. Although these might not be your leading donors today, they can change the course of your organization if they become loyal donors now.

Generational differences impact our marketing, fundraising and programming but we all share one thing – a desire to make a difference. Given the chance, Millennials will do just that.

Kim Carpenter Drake is a trainer and consultant with CNM. She also runs her own consulting business and blog at www.goaldrivenphilanthropy.com.

On February 21, CNM organized a customized training in Jackson, TN. The training was presented by the Jackson Arts Council and the topic was “Developing & Implementing P.R. Plans for Nonprofits.” CNM Consultant and Katcher, Vaughn, and Bailey partner Aileen Katcher conducted the session. You can read about how it went in a post from Aileen on the company blog, by clicking here.

On March 5, CNM held a workshop entitled, New Media Strategies: Enhance Your Image, Identity, Impact. Dr. Sybril Bennett, the executive director and Assistant Professor of the Department of Media Studies at Belmont University conducted the class and has posted video from class participants on her blog, “The Multimedia Maven.” Click here to go to Dr. Bennett’s blog. Feel free to post your comments about the class below. Did you find it interesting? How is your organization utilizing new media strategies?