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In This Edition:
News Update:
Tips of the
Week:
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Governance as
Leadership: Reframing the Work of Nonprofit
Boards
Offered by
Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education, the program
reconsiders the nature of
governance in today's nonprofit organization.
www.hks.harvard.edu/ee/gal1 or call 617-496-0484 for more
information.
Attend Fund Raising Day in New York
2009. Register online today for the EARLY RATE! www.frdny.org
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Surveys: Few NP Mergers And Ready
Credit
Despite yet another doom and
gloom outlook for nonprofits in 2009, very few organizations are
even considering mergers or selling assets. And, most nonprofits
are not having trouble getting credit. Those are snippets from
two different surveys, one by the Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF),
the other by Grant Thornton LLP (GT).
Nonprofits are more likely to
develop worst-case scenario contingency budgets and engage more
closely with their boards, according to the survey of nearly
1,000 nonprofits by NFF.
To read
the complete article click here... |
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Boards ...
6 ideas for
governance issues
Even
before the economic melted down, nonprofits were facing stiff
challenges, including intensified oversight in the form of
regulations such as trying to adjust to Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX)
even though nonprofits are exempt from the
rules.
Speaking at the AICPA Not-For-Profit Financial Executive
Forum in Anaheim, Douglas M. Mancino of McDermott Will &
Emery LLP said that despite the surplus of opinions about good
governance, there are certain key issues.
The issues, Mancino said,
include:
- Does the adoption of good governance
practices lead to the desired outcome? What is that outcome? How
is performance measured?
- If you assume a practice is a "best
practice," how do you deal with offenders?
- Does a nonprofit with high marks
provide any assurance that the nonprofit is, in fact, a good
organization?
- Will good governance practices, over
time, assure superior performances based on operating measures
or other characteristics?
- How do you establish those practices
across a diverse nonprofit sector that includes grantmakers,
such as private foundations, social service organizations,
educational organizations, hospitals and others?
- How can you establish the predictive
ability of “best practices?” Is the Internal Revenue
Service (IRS) right when it asserts “a well-governed
charity is more likely to obey the tax laws, safeguard
charitable assets, and serve charitable
interests”?
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Finance ...
Foundations not compensating
board members
The question of foundation
compensation has been raised periodically as watchdogs keep a
sharp eye on nonprofit operations.
Several findings were released
as part of a study undertaken by a collaborative group drawn
from the nonprofit sector. The group included representatives of
the Urban Institute’s Center on Nonprofits and
Philanthropy, the Foundation Center and GuideStar, working under
the name of The Foundation Expenses and Compensation
Project.
The study was titled,
“What Drives Foundation Expenses &
Compensation?” and focused on the 10,000 largest
grantmaking foundations in the USA in the years 2001-2003. It
did not include operating foundations. Together, the foundations
in the study were responsible for 78 percent of foundation
giving and 77 percent of foundation assets.
Regarding foundation
compensation, the Project found that:
-
Most foundations do not
compensate any staff or board members. More than half report no
compensation, benefits or payroll tax
expenses.
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Of the 10,000 foundations
studied, 2,938 have paid staff. Top executive staff members earn
median compensation of more than $100,000. Executive staff
members earn more in larger foundations.
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Most board members do not
receive compensation. Of the foundations surveyed, 2,571
compensated individual non-staff board
members.
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Approximately one in eight
foundations studied name a bank or other institution to
represent the foundation. In many small foundations, these
institutional trustees are often the foundation’s sole
representative, and they earn a median compensation of nearly
$30,000.
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lucrative corporate alliances with help from the Cause Marketing
Forum Annual conference May 27 & 28 in Chicago
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Communications ...
4 steps to telling your
story efficiently
Sure you run an efficient, effective
organization. Doesn’t everyone know that? No, in fact they
don’t.
The plain truth is that it isn’t
enough to operate efficiently. Organizations must communicate
that efficiency to potential donors and to the world at
large.
Speaking at the Cause Marketing Forum in
Chicago, Marshall Stowell, deputy director of YouthAIDS/Five
& Alive, offered four steps that organizations need to take
to make their presence known competitively in today’s
climate. They are:
- Evaluate programs. Organizations need to
determine what they deem successful. Further, they need to
budget accordingly to support evaluation, and they should stand
behind their evaluations.
- Identify key leaders and supporters. Does
an influential politician, a celebrity or executive support your
organization? Organize program visits to educate current and
potential supporters. Look for opportunities for these
supporters to speak on your organization’s behalf. Ask
supporters to write a testimonial for the
organization.
- Know your assets. If you have received
awards or reached milestones, be aware of them and make sure the
public is aware of them.
- Know what makes you unique. Do you have a
unique approach to your programming? Does your organization
offer a distinctive area of expertise? What is your access to
market segments?
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