Monday, February 11, 2008

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The NPT Weekly Update:

Table of Contents

 News Update

Charity Scammer Bennett Gets Out Of Prison

Tips of the Week:

Fundraising...
8 keys to building a monthly donor base

Boards...
10 essentials for a your board

Management...
Being entrepreneurial and nonprofit at the same time

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News Update

Charity Scammer Bennett Gets Out Of Prison 

Bennett, as president of the Foundation for New Era Philanthropy, was ultimately found to have bilked more than $100 million from a constellation of 150 nonprofits when it collapsed in 1995. The roster of New Era clients ranged from Harvard University and the Philadelphia Orchestra to small, evangelical Christian groups.

(Click here for more) 
 

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Tips of the Week

Fundraising...
8 keys to building a monthly donor base

Developing a strong base of monthly donors can help stabilize an organization’s financial foundation. Speaking at the recent Direct Marketing Association’s annual Nonprofit Federation conference in Washington, D.C., Epsilon senior account director Krista Harte Sassaman laid out some of the benefits of predictable monthly revenues and a stable constituency that is highly engaged.

Not only does this open the way to building loyalty, but also opens the possibility for future revenue growth through special appeals or upgrading the regular level of commitment.

The keys for developing a strong monthly donor program include:

• Stick to the mission. Make sure the monthly appeal doesn’t wander from a close connection to the main purpose of the organization.
• Different approaches. Use direct mail for prospects, then telemarketing for people who are already donors.
• Automatic payments. Tie the monthly pledge to a credit card or electronic funds transfer linked to an account.
• Adequate staff to carry out the program.
• Good computers. Databases and record keeping methods need to be nimble enough to effectively keep track of transactions.
• Program name and benefits. Makes sure they are clear and allow donors to make an easy connection with the organization.
• Communication. Monthly donors should be regularly kept up to date on the organization’s activities in order to maintain their interest.
• Ask. Donors will not automatically sign up for an organization’s monthly program. Usually, they must be prompted. Once that happens, monthly donors often feel commitments even if the charities are not their top choices.
   

Boards...
10 essentials for a your board

A nonprofit’s bylaws usually detail the specifics of its board of directors structure, such as size and length of terms, but say little or nothing about what role a board should assume or how it should be carried out.

Rather than fill these voids on a piecemeal basis, consultants Frederic L. Laughlin and Robert C. Adoring advocate addressing them comprehensively. In their book, “Good Governance for Nonprofits,” they define the parameters that should be built in to a section of a board policies manual to cover style, organizational culture and expectations for each board member.

“These qualitative standards of performance touch everything that the board does and basically establish a benchmark of behavior for the board,” they wrote.

The topics that should go into the manual include:

• Governing style, including maintaining internal discipline, accountability and the desire to initiate policies rather than react to the staff.
• A job description, covering duties and evaluation processes.
• Criteria for who should be allowed to serve on the board.
• A formal orientation program for new board members, rather than having to learn on their own.
• The role of the chairman.
• Board meetings, including frequency, the process for setting the agenda and the distribution of minutes,
• The roster of standing committees.
• Advisory groups that would assist the board with specific areas or tasks.
• A code of conduct for the board, covering conflicts of interest, a prohibition on self-dealing and the need to evaluate a CEO against set, written standards, among other topics.
• Finances, including the expectation that each board member will also be a donor to the organization.

Management...
Being entrepreneurial and nonprofit at the same time

Many nonprofit organizations have benefited from adopting an entrepreneurial approach to their mission. Such an approach can utilize new ideas as a way of bringing in fresh air and increasing funding.

In a selection titled "Entrepreneurial Nonprofit Institutions: The Many Roads to Rome" that appears in Wise Decision-Making in Uncertain Times, published by the Foundation Center, Reynold Levy of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City writes that there are certain criteria that must be in place for a nonprofit to develop and sustain an entrepreneurial character.

• Any institution that aspires to be entrepreneurial must maintain a financially sound base of operations. This means balanced or surplus budgets and diversification of revenue sources.
• The nonprofit must be driven by its mission and focused on its accomplishments. A well-articulated and understood mission helps to define programmatic choice and guide the allocation of scarce resources.
• There must be a certain brand of leadership. The top of the organization must exhibit an upbeat, can-do attitude. Leaders must see opportunities, not problems. They demonstrate a sense of humor, a sense of perspective and a resilience that enables them to face setbacks without seeming defeated.
• The organization must be externally focused. It must be shaped to better serve customers or suppliers or partners. Doing so means that executives within institutions begin to see themselves as others see them.  

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