Nonprofit News

Nonprofit Online News will be on hiatus in the month of July. I look forward to being in at the end of the month! -- Michael Gilbert

The ACORN story really breaks my heart. ACORN is an organization truly devoted to the poor, not expressing the noblesse oblige favored by some but instead seeking genuine, bottom-up empowerment. Like all large organizations, it applies its values inconsistently, but in my experience far more consistently than most. And certainly more consistently than its critics. Alas, I should be writing this in the past tense. On June 14, the U.S. Government Accountability Office issued its Preliminary Observations on Funding, Oversight, and Investigations and Prosecutions of ACORN or Potentially Related Organizations. John Atlas -- the author of a book about ACORN -- offers a good summary of the report (along with his personal experiences at the organization) at Alternet: ACORN Totally Vindicated of All Wrongdoing -- What Was That 'Scandal' All About? None of us could have escaped the messages about ACORN spread by the right wing smear machine. In the face of accusations, their financial support was destroyed. Shamefully, congress stripped them of federal funding before an independent investigation could confirm the allegations. Even more shamefully, private funders wouldn't touch them either. I'm appalled that we didn't stand by them. The next organization that is the subject of a witch hunt could be yours. Funders can weather such assaults. Most of us can't.

Over the years, there's been a slightly tired joke around our office, that comes up when we hear from a client that someone in a position of authority at their organization wants them to have a "social media" strategy. Does it mean that they're ready to invest in the relationships between their stakeholders and leverage the networks they're a part of? Nope. Does it mean they realize the Internet itself is a social medium and it's time for their organization to grow past using it as a broadcast tool? Probably not that either. No, it means that someone at the top said: "Gotta get us some o' that Twitter!" Sometimes that's as far as it goes. Sometimes they cite irrelevant statistics. Sometimes they cite surveys showing how people think it's important. Sometimes they cite examples. Now, the people who engage us are usually people of vision and we are all of us easily seduced by the self-referential echo-chambers that drive the hype cycle for various easily branded "new" trends. But, whether or not the particular tool or strategy is a good idea for the organization (and it often is), there's no question that these conversations are triggered by hype. Few examples serve better to show what I mean than the frenetic, self-congratulatory conversations that went on during the post-election protests in Iran in 2009. In The Twitter Devolution, Golnaz Esfandiari takes apart the claim that Iranians used Twitter to organize and coordinate their protests following Ahmadinejad's apparent theft of the elections. I tend to think the attention Iran received on Twitter and elsewhere in the West was, overall, a good thing. But it's pretty clear that Twitter was not so much used by Iranians to talk to Iranians about Iran, but for Westerners to talk to Westerners, often about Twitter. We're dealing with smaller versions of this in organizations all the time.

I'm normally pretty disgusted when consultants (such as myself) make up fancy new hyped-up terms for well-established concepts in order to draw attention to themselves and create anxiety-based demand in their market. But these 6 New Terms to Use When Measuring Social Marketing Efforts actually seem pretty useful. Plus, they are not named in that annoyingly cutesy way that many firms use to glue the terms to their own brand and marketing. The six terms are Attractions, Participations, Interactions, Actions, Transformations, and Transactions. Not all of these apply to every campaign or program, but I encourage you to familiarize yourself with them. Using them will lead to better designed and managed social media efforts.

The Foundation Center reports on a Wall Street Journal report on how New York State is Cutting Off Funding to Tens of Thousands of Nonprofits. I bet this is on the verge of happening all across the U.S.

I'm on a roll with digging up relevant XKCD comics. It seems like nonprofits are all in the market for "social media" experts, "social media" being defined as anything on the upward scale of the hype curve that involves digital communication.

The economist Milton Friedman caused a lot of harm in his time and his ideas will no doubt continue to do so for a long time to come. But he was also a man with some powerful practical insights. One of the most powerful being that when there is a major crisis, the ideas that get put into practice are the ones that happen to be "lying around." This insight is one of the secrets to the recent and ongoing wave of "disaster capitalism" that is rapidly realigning power upwards. In The War for Control of the Story Daniel Pinchbeck dives into why it's critical that civil society come together by developing the alternatives to the modern economic systems of value, particularly those built upon pyramids of debt. His examples draw from new economic models for video, but his analysis extends far beyond that.

Start: 09/22/2010 - 11:00am End: 09/22/2010 - 12:30pm Timezone: US/Pacific Mission is what makes the nonprofit sector matter. Unlike for-profit entities, nonprofits are not accountable to a financial bottom line; rather, they are responsible for serving a social bottom line. It's true that nonprofit leaders must be good financial stewards, but that's because their organizations won't be able to keep providing services (delivering the mission) to their communities if they go out of business.

The goal of IT alignment is to use technology to support and enhance the work that you do to meet your mission. In other words, IT alignment will help you select and implement technology to achieve your mission and to avoid the trap of implementing the latest technology because it's shiny, or because someone told you to.

TAKEAWAYS:

1. Visual framework to evaluate how well aligned your mission and technology is.
2. Understanding of definition of IT Alignment and methods to help others understand it.
3. Tactical and strategic next steps, what you can act on today, tomorrow, next year and next decade.

Register Now!  

Presented By: Steve Heye, Web Project Manager, YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago 

Steve Heye is the web project manager at the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago.  He is responsible for managing all aspects of the YMCA's online presence including the web sites, intranet and social networking.  Previously he was with the Technology Resource Group at YMCA of the USA for about ten years where he provided resources, conferences, and training that allows YMCAs nationwide to better leverage business systems and technology.  He has a Bachelors degree in Finance from North Central College. 

Start: 10/21/2010 - 11:00am End: 10/21/2010 - 12:30pm Timezone: US/Pacific

It’s not enough to have Facebook and Twitter accounts—you need to understand the changes these tools represent in the ways we communicate. As our personal and professional lives blend together, we'll explore such questions as:

• How can you leverage the power of social media to build relationships with colleagues, clients, potential employers and the like? 
• How can you harness the conversations that are happening about you and our issues – conversations that we don’t control – to build awareness for your brands and your work? 
• How do you represent yourself while also serving as spokesperson for your organization?
• What is the big idea you want associated with your own brand and how can you shape that online? 
• Is the online ‘you’ different from the offline/real ‘you?’

Register Now!   Presented by: Farra Trompeter, Vice President, Big Duck With over 15 years’ experience working in and with nonprofits, Farra Trompeter joined Big Duck in early 2007. Big Duck combines expert strategy with award-winning creative to help nonprofit organizations transform the way they communicate. Farra’s expertise primarily focuses on helping nonprofits use the Internet (email, websites, social media, etc.) to increase visibility and connect with donors and activists. She developed her chops working as Senior Account Executive at Donordigital, one of the top consultancies that specialize in online marketing, fundraising, and advocacy for nonprofits including American Lung Association, UNICEF, and Girl Scouts of the USA. Before Donordigital, Farra managed online marketing efforts for several national public health education initiatives of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She has also coordinated the national telemarketing efforts for Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the direct mail campaigns for the National Breast Cancer Coalition. Farra holds an M.S. degree in nonprofit management from The New School and currently serves on the board of the New York City Anti-Violence Project. 

July 28: 2 join Cumberland United Way; Capital Community Foundation re-elects 3 board members; Smart Start to host conference; and more

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July 28: GEO names Murphy VP; Pace raises $101M; 2 join Blackbaud board; and more

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July 28: Kellogg gives $42M; UPS gives $1B; Northwest Area Foundation gives $1.9M; and more

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IRS gives nonprofits 80 more days to file; IRS says some colleges fail to report all taxable income; and more.

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Located in a shopping center near an affluent Winston-Salem neighborhood, the new branch is part of overall growth plans for YMCA of Northwest North Carolina to meet growing demand.

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The provider of software and services for nonprofits reported second-quarter net income of $6.8 million, compared to $6.6 million, while revenue grew 6 percent to $80.7 million.

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Nonprofit pay targeted; botanical gardens retooling; and more.

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July 26: Muscular Dystrophy group re-elects VP; Easter Seals UCP re-signs Topics Education; Conservation Trust buys tract; and more

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Nadia Yassa, director of estate and gift planning at the Boston Foundation, discusses strategies for planned giving professionals in this new environment of uncertainty.

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As nonprofit executives and boards begin the budgeting process, many are wondering whether, and by how much, they should raise salaries this year.

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July 26: John Rex Endowment gives $1.8M; Wachovia gives $20,000; Lexington Memorial gives technology; and more

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