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Lawsuits, Proxy Fight For DMA’s Annual
Meeting
By Mark
Hrywna
As the Direct Marketing
Association (DMA) proxy fight enters the home stretch, both
sides are pulling out all the stops in a bare-knuckle campaign
that might rival anything you might see in a November
election.
The DMA this past Wednesday
started automated telephone calls to solicit proxy statements,
two days after firing off a cease-and-desist letter to board
member Gerry Pike. Pike, who was not re-nominated to the DMA
board, sent another email blast to members yesterday, his
sixth since initiating a proxy Sept. 26. The DMA’s annual
business meeting will take place Sunday, Oct. 18, during the
annual conference in San Diego. The deadline for receiving
proxies is Friday, Oct. 16.
To read
the complete article click here... |
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Management ...
How to become a business
mensch
What’s behind philanthropy?
Maybe something like this: Act like a good, decent person.
That’s also the definition of a mensch that Noah Alper
offers in his book, “Business Mensch.”
Alper applied the advice he received
from his parents to business and found success doing so, but the
principles he advocates can work for any organization, nonprofit
or for-profit.
The principles of a
mensch:
- Repetition is reputation. As Alper's
father taught him, if you do things repeatedly, that's how
people remember you.
- Do the right thing, even when no one
is looking. When there is a lot of money or power involved,
people find it easy to lose their moral bearings. That which is
hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor.
- Be a generous boss. It's all about
keeping the rank-and-file happy and productive. Instead of
marginalizing employees or tempting them into taking from the
organization, make them feel like a part of it.
- Respect your employees. Act as if
you think they have intelligence. Ask them about their opinions,
and be willing to act on them.
- Never lose sight of the customer.
Business is all about attentiveness to the customer. Nonprofit
operation is about attention to the client.
- Give a little, get a lot. Nonprofit
work is about community outreach. So, reach out to the
community.
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Fundraising ...
Helping donors “give
back” is a strategy
Why do people give? Makes
‘em feel good?
Knowing how, or even why,
donors give can be a hugely successful strategy or any
nonprofit. The new book “The Complete Idiot’s Guide
to Giving Back” is intended for potential donors, but
knowing about the advice it offers could be helpful to
organizations trying to fundraise.
The Guide advises would-be donors to answer
the following questions when they are in the planning process
for donating:
- What financial resources do you have
available, including money that you will donate?
- Will you donate now as well as planning for
after you are gone?
- How will you give? Directly through
charitable donations, or indirectly through shopping for
charity or socially responsible investing, or both?
- How much time can you volunteer and how
often?
- Do you have general or specific skills to
volunteer?
- Do you have contacts you can persuade to
donate their giving assets to the cause of your
choice?
- Do you have any items that you can donate
to a worthy organization?
- Will you be making decisions independently
or through your workplace?
- Does your employer’s 401(k) plan or
your other benefits offer
opportunities?
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Marketing ...
Gaining a competitive
advantage over your competition
It’s all about doing good. Well,
actually, very often it’s about raising as much money as
possible, sometimes when several organizations are competing in
terms of what areas they service and who they ask for
money.
Because it’s a fact: many worthwhile
organizations are in competition with each other for the same
money, and the economy lately hasn’t helped anything
either.
Kevin P. Kearns of the Graduate School of
Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh
has written an article, “Market Engagement and
Competition: Opportunities, Challenges, and the Quest for
Comparative Advantage,” which appears in the book
“Wise Decision-Making in Uncertain Times,” published
by the Foundation Center.
Kearns suggests that organizations can help
themselves greatly by answering the following
questions:
- Does the organization possess certain
demonstrable strengths that can help it seize an existing or
emerging opportunity in the external environment?
- Does the organization possess certain
demonstrable strengths that can help it avoid or mitigate
existing or emerging threats in the external
environment?
- Does the organization have certain
weaknesses that are preventing it from seizing existing or
emerging opportunities in the external environment?
- Does the organization have certain
weaknesses that make it especially vulnerable to existing or
emerging threats in the external environment?
Regarding the first two questions, an
organization should seek to protect, strengthen or maximize the
strength. In regard to the second two, it should seek to
minimize the weakness or vulnerability. |
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