resources

Many Wisconsin nonprofits offer support for getting you on the right track toward a rewarding and fulfilling career. Some agencies focus on minority groups, others on people who have a distance to the employment market.

There are also organizations that offer support to young adults who, for whatever reason, couldn’t complete their regular high school programs and need more education and training to earn a high school equivalency certificate or get more on-the-job training to get decently-paying employment.

Unfortunately, we cannot list all organizations and agencies that do great work to support the people of Wisconsin who often need it most. But let’s take a closer look at some of these nonprofits that do such a great job in providing opportunities that will lead to rewarding and fulfilling careers.

Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin

Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin provides training, employment, education, English Grammer tuition, and more supportive services for individuals with disadvantages or disabilities who want to have greater independence.

Such disadvantages or disabilities include mental or physical lack of education, lack of job preparation, skill limitations, communication challenges, or economic disadvantages.

Goodwill is pursuing this mission in a number of ways. First, by offering employment to individuals with disabilities within their own organization’s operations across southeastern Wisconsin.

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VISION is a Non-governmental, Non-political, secular Voluntary Organization. Its primary objectives are to spread education, improve health care and implement livelihood programs. The VISION Project has been playing an active role through networking with social activists on issues related to welfare and development. See also this video about the irrigation project in the Kalahandi District:

“Visionaries for Integrated Social Initiatives Of Network (VISION)” besides being a Non-political, non-profit-making voluntary organization is wholeheartedly dedicated to the symphonies, harmonious development of the downtrodden and needy people, their pristine culture, and living standard.

It held its birth in 1998-99 with the sincere, unceasing, uncompromising commitment and efforts of a group of youths. VISION, basically working in the health and socio-economic sector. In addition to it, VISION aspires for the upliftment of the downtrodden and weaker sections and other activities on a broader scale in Kalahandi District.

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It is not unusual to hear nonprofit organizations and consultants discuss how they need to become more “corporate” in their approach or how they need to operate more “like a business.” Yet, this is not where most nonprofits are willing to put precious resources. Why?

The third sector continues to place an emphasis on vision over management. We want to hire the best “visionary” we can find for our nonprofit mission.

However, this choice can come at the expense of effective management. Management (e.g., talented people, IT systems, and effective human resources) does not excite donors. Donors rarely want to fund supportive administrative operations. I know I do not look here first. I want my dollars to support the grass root level of service.

The dynamic of the board of directors, without any doubt, drives the selection and supervision of the Chief Executive Officer or the Executive Director. Nonprofits, to turn a phrase, continue to look for Superman to lead their operation, especially at the local or regional nonprofit level.  But is this feasible? Is it realistic?

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Does the nonprofit community have a greater purpose?  Do we owe more to the social contract than just our mission? I would say yes.

Each nonprofit organization has its own mission which drives (or should drive) each and every decision made by the board of directors, the leadership team, patrons, the staff, and volunteers.

We become involved in a nonprofit organization because it speaks to us from our hearts. Our connection, at first, may simply be employment and my path certainly started this way.

But we stay because we become emotionally attached to our work and the lives we are changing, which can be very rewarding, especially if we succeed in getting then suitable employment and s fulfilling career.

I want to make a different point here. I believe the Third Sector, the nonprofit community, has a greater role to play in the social fabric of our society other than just fulfilling our specific mission.

We are given preferential tax status by the government and our patrons gain a benefit by giving to us.  So, we owe to give back in every way possible. As I write tonight I would like to offer one example: childhood obesity.

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Let’s be honest. When it comes to the precious resources in the small to mid-size nonprofit, the first place we turn to is far from professional development.

However, the greatest resource most of our organizations have to offer is those who are committed to working for us and our mission day in and day out. So, why is it that professional development is a nonprofit issue?

There is no doubt at all it is first and foremost a question of resources, financial and otherwise. You may not have professional development (or training) as a line item in your nonprofit’s budget.

And if this is the case, funding for training may be the responsibility of your program director to find the resources from within their individual budgets.  So how can we develop our teams when money is scarce?

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If you are reading this I assume you have at least a passing interest in the nonprofit world.  Whether you are employed in the Third Sector, volunteer for your favorite organization, or just want to make a difference in this world you have experienced or will experience, the days where you do that, may just be plain tiring and/or frustrating.

It is part of the chase. This week’s post is not about the “nuts and bolts” of nonprofit issues; it is about why we do what we do.

Respect is earned. Honor is given. Who doesn’t want to be respected? We put in long hours for our organizations. We give blood, sweat, and tears. Most who enter the nonprofit domain do not do so for monetary rewards.

We give respect and we earn it through our good work of helping others get a good career. However, honor is given. The Third Sector is in the midst of the largest generational turnover in leadership experience in its history. We do not have to agree with all that was done by those who came before us. However, we must honor their efforts. And we must honor those we serve.

If you’re not dead, you’re not done. Barbara Hillary, a cancer survivor, was among the oldest people to make it to the North Pole and she was the first black woman to do so.

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By using the resources below, we hope that many of your questions will be answered. These resources are certainly no substitute for legal advice from an attorney familiar with the law of tax-exempt organizations however they will get you on the right path with the right tools and the questions to ask.

• Nonprofits rely on a broad array of revenue sources and amounts and sources of revenue vary significantly among different types of nonprofits.
• The government continues to rely on nonprofits to perform a number of key functions in our communities and challenges remain related to the contracts and grants involved.
• Both staff and volunteers play critical roles in carrying out nonprofit missions such as making sure disadvantaged youth and minority groups will get equal opportunities to get good and fulfilling careers just as less-underprivileged groups.

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There are many ways that experts use the Compensation Report, but here is one that over the years we have found useful for assessing how existing salary data stacks up to how much a candidate should be paid, using comparable data.

Step 1: Turn to the Job Title Summary page for the specific job that matches most closely to the job you’re reviewing.

If you’re a participant (knowing your own code) you can see exactly where you rank; if you’re a non-participant, look at where you are relative to the average, and which quartile you are in.

Unless you are looking at a position in which you have several employees, you can probably safely ignore the Weighted Average in the Overall Position Data Highlights box. This value better reflects organizations that have multiple people in that same position.

Step 2: Recognize which quartile you want your salaries to be in, relative to the average for all the nonprofits surveyed.

Organizations usually know where they want their salaries to be relative to the average – well above average (top quartile), above average (second quartile), or middle (lower half) – as a matter of philosophy, so they can visually see whether they are there.

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Among the most common questions we’re getting is: “How can I begin my own nonprofit organization?” If By using the resources below, we hope that many of your questions will be answered.

These resources are certainly no substitute for legal advice from an attorney familiar with the law of tax-exempt organizations however they will get you on the right path with the right questions to ask.

Nonprofit Management

Your nonprofit management organization includes acquiring as much as possible information. If you use the resources listed here, we think most of your questions will get answered.

Please keep in mind that these resources are not a substitute for any sort of legal advice. Please contact an attorney specialized in tax-exempt organization law. These guidelines will, however, put you on the right track and give you the right tools.

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