Archive for March, 2010

Nonprofit Blog Carnival

Posted by Jason Dick in Guest Posts & Reviews, Social Entrepreneurship on March 31, 2010



Nonprofit Giving CarnivalI am hosting this month’s Nonprofit Blog Carnival (last month’s carnival).  I was amazed at what a great response we had this month. Thank you all for your incredible submissions. Because we had so many submissions I’ve taken a few of my favorites to tell you about and included a listing of the others below. Take a few minutes and read through the headlines that stand out to you. There are some really tremendous posts that were submitted.

Joe with The Fundraising Authority posted, How Anyone Can Be a Superstar Fundraiser. If you have an executive leader or board member that wants to fundraise does not feel like they have what it takes or is afraid of fundraising make sure they read his post.

Matt with Matt’s Fundraising Blog started a great conversation on his blog about choosing your CEO and what to look for, Don’t Be Afraid to Tell Me What You Want. Check out his post for the top 5 traits to look for in a new leader including a number of reader submitted traits as comments.

The conversation on Matt’s Fundraising Blog continued on Janet’s blog Too Busy to Fundraise where she talks about the role of the board in hiring the CEO, The OTHER Board Responsibility. She describes two kinds of board responsibilities governance and fiduciary responsibilities including fundraising. I thought that was a beautiful way to synthesize the important roles a board member should play.

Another great Board Member post was submitted by Social Velocity, 7 Things Board Members Can Do To Raise More Money. My favorite is number 6, “Articulate Why Someone Should Give.” I saw this as modeling a perfect donor or volunteer. A good board member that can articulate why someone should give needs to give financially, engage their friends, and have a passion for the organization.

Not every post submitted was connected to Board Members or Executive Leaders. SOFII posted, Swipe Files, Revealed, on the value of creating a file of what other nonprofits are doing and ideas that work and don’t work. I posted on a similar topic a few weeks ago, Copying Good Ideas. The more we can do together to advance the fundraising profession the better off we will all be.

Other FANTASTIC, MUST READ posts:

If you can let people know that the March Nonprofit Blog Carnival is live: post it on Facebook or Twitter, put a link in your blog. The more this post is mentioned the more everyone’s posts will be visited.

Submit your post to the April Nonprofit Blog Carnival. Thank you all for your spectacular submissions.

Related posts:

  1. Nonprofit Carnival: Day in the Life
  2. Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants
  3. Ingredients of a Successful Capital Campaign: Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants
  4. The Fundraising Coach: Nonprofit Blog Exchange Round #10
  5. Giving Carnival: Motivation


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A Mompreneur to Emulate

Posted by Entrepreneur.com - Startup Business News and Articles - Starting a Business in Social Entrepreneurship on March 30, 2010

Meet a woman who realizes you can't have it all--but tries anyway.

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Shine 2010: buy your tickets to the social entrepreneurs unconference

Posted by Nick Temple in Events, Social Enterprise, Social Entrepreneurs, Social Entrepreneurship, business, enterprise, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, social, start-up, unconference on March 30, 2010

Been busy of late: usual end-of-year shenanigans here, with programmes graduating (see this article on London SSE), and new ones starting (see this article on SSE coming to Wigan and Leigh), a launch of an SSE feasibility study (with MaRS...

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Summer of WordPress 2010: Act II

Posted by Jane Wells in Community, Development, Social Entrepreneurship on March 29, 2010

Scene: A college classroom

Professor: So. Out of the 20 students in the class, half wrote WordPress Summer of Code proposals good enough to receive an A. How many of you are planning to apply for the program?

Jack, a student: I am. They opened applications today.

Sophie, a student: I am. And that sentence was grammatically terrible.

Jack: Shut up.

Chris, a student: I’m not applying.

Jack (to Chris): Chicken?

Sophie: You’re such a jerk! Maybe he has a job lined up or something, did you ever think of that?

Professor: Whoa -

Chris: Actually, I’m going backpacking in Australia with my Dad. No internet for about half the time, and when I emailed the people at WordPress they said I should probably wait until next year to apply and make sure I’d be able to be online through the whole summer.

Professor: Fair enough. The application period opens today at 19:00 UTC and goes through April 9th, so let’s hear from the people who are applying.

Jack: I’m submitting mine today.

Sophie: That’s just stupid.

Andrea, a teacher’s assistant: Hey, that’s not necessary.

Jack: Yeah! The early bird gets the worm, or hadn’t you heard?

Sophie: What I heard was that the WordPress mentors are holding open IRC chats this week to talk to prospective students and give them feedback on proposals and ideas, and that talking directly to the mentors ups your chances of being selected. But I guess you don’t think you need the people who are actually choosing the students to know your name because your proposal is so brilliant?

Jack’s jaw drops.

Jack: Where did you hear that? It wasn’t on the GSoC mailing list.

Sophie: I joined the wp-hackers list and asked all the core contributors for feedback on my idea, and then I emailed 3 potential mentors to see what they thought of it personally. By the time applications are due, I’ll have revised it based on community and mentor feedback, and enough people will know who I am — and that I’m full of initiative — that my chances of being accepted will be much better.

Jack: You think you’re all Felicia Day with your MW2 level 70, but you’re just a computer nerd.

Sophie: Um, duh. We’re in an advanced computer programming class. We’re all computer nerds.

Professor: Now, now. Sophie’s correct; talking to community members and mentors will improve her chances. But, Jack, there’s no reason you can’t join the IRC chats and the mailing list to get your name out there, too, even if you submit your application today. Most proposals get tweaked a bit after the students are chosen anyway.

Sophie: Plus, Felicia Day is awesome! And she uses WordPress, so ha!

End Act II.

Here’s the deal. The application period opens today. Early applications will likely get a bit more attention up front, but it’s also important that your ideas and approach are vetted by the community and the mentors. If you haven’t already, you should join the wp-hackers mailing list and send your proposal to the list for feedback. We’ll also be doing a few IRC chats during the application period to give students a chance to talk directly with the mentors. Note that not every mentor will attend all three chats, so if you want to talk to a specific person, you might want to email them. Please arrive on time to the chats, as they will be scheduled for an hour, and will have to accommodate multiple students. IRC chats will be held at irc.freenode.net in room #wordpress-gsoc.

  • Wednesday, March March 31 at 20:30 UTC (4:30pm eastern)
  • Saturday, April 3 at 21:30 UTC (5:30pm eastern)
  • Wednesday, April 7 at 20:30 UTC (4:30pm eastern)

This chat room will remain open during the application period, and various mentors and community members may be there and able to answer questions, but the scheduled chats are the only official times at which they are scheduled to do so.

Oh, and if you want to help publicize the WordPress summer of code, grab a flyer and post it somewhere on a bulletin board at your local college campus. Professors, don’t forget to encourage your brightest students to apply!

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All Level Relationship Management

Posted by Jason Dick in All Donors Major Donors, Social Entrepreneurship on March 29, 2010



This may sound familiar to some of our discussions on the topic of All Donors as Major Donors. We do a great job of cultivating and planning strategically with our major and principal donors, but what about everyone else, especially our community and entry level donors? Discussions about cultivating these large donor groups often do not happen because we lack the time to deal with them individually.

Using data mining, segmenting, and social media tools, we can be more intentional and personal. Keeping your database up-to-date with important pieces of information can be extremely helpful. We use geographical, topical, and giving trends to segment our donor pool into groups for whom we can craft strategic and personal messages. For example, we have a special message for new donors or those from a specific area. Then we think intentionally about what themes and stories might appeal to that group and call a few to ask questions about what messages resonate with them.

Social media cultivation feels more like working with a crowd than an individual. Only a few of the many people you connect with will ever respond to the messages you are sending out. Often you will not know who has a dissenting opinion or if someone doesn’t like a direction you are going in until you are already moving in that direction. With social media the value is in the donor interaction. Overall the best way to work with a social community is to be consistent in how you engage them and to encourage thought leaders to help you positively distribute your message.

Related posts:

  1. Moves Management or Relationship Management
  2. Taking Ownership on Your Projects
  3. Join an Interactive Community?
  4. Getting a Hold of People
  5. What’s a Lead


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Ditch Your Bad Financial Habits

Posted by Entrepreneur.com - Startup Business News and Articles - Starting a Business in Social Entrepreneurship on March 24, 2010

Straight talk and business tips from personal finance guru Ramit Sethi.

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How to be a Critical Consumer of Nonprofit Research

Posted by Heather Carpenter in Social Entrepreneurship, nonprofit research on March 24, 2010

In today's society we want information fast and to the point causing us to make assumptions and generalizations about the sector or society as a whole. Too often this sound bite mentality/culture prevents us learning the real truth behind what we read. Here are examples of three news headlines:
Each of these headlines reported on a different study and made claims about the entire nonprofit sector. It is great that many organizations are producing research about the sector, however, in many cases this research is reported in an inaccurate manner.

One of the first things I learned in my PhD program was how to be a critical consumer of research (thank you Dr. Galloway!). Here are the questions I ask myself when I read any article or research about the nonprofit sector:

1. Who were sampled? (Nonprofits, Executive Directors, Foundations?)
2. Is the sample representative of the nonprofit sector-by organizational type (NTEE Code), budget size, location?
3. What were the sampling procedures?
4. Was the information conveniently gathered or did the researcher attempt to collect data from as many organizations as possible across the sector?

There are a variety of reputable sources that researchers can use to compare their sample to the national nonprofit sector. The National Center for Charitable Statistics produces an nonprofit almanac where the majority of this information is location. Here are some other sources as well.
Now, let's try to be critical consumers of the three studies I listed above:

1. "A Growing Leadership Gap: Need for qualified executives persists even as charities trim staff" Comes from the study: Finding Leaders for America's Nonprofits by the Bridgespan Group

The survey sample included 433 Executive Directors. The Bridgespan Group purposefully sampled organizations with revenues over 1million dollars. I am unsure why they did this since their sample potentially represents only 17.7% of organizations in the sector, therefore the study is not representative of the entire sector. Although the researchers reported NTEE code and region for the sample, it is unclear if this information is representative of the 17.7% of organizations in the sector since no comparisons were made.

2. "Nonprofit Groups Laid Off Employees, Shifted Investments, and Added Governance Steps in 2009" Comes from the study 2009 National Board Governance Survey for Not-for-Profit Organizations by Grant Thorton.

The survey sample included 465 CEO's, CFOs, board members or other executive level staff. Grant Thorton reported that 71% of respondent organizations had revenues of less than 50million. Really? I am unsure why they did not break down the budget sizes into smaller categories. This shows me the sample is heavily skewed towards larger organizations, and like the study above, is not representative of small organizations or the sector as a whole. Additionally, the study does not provide any statistical information about NTEE code or location of respondent organizations.

3. "For Executives, Study Shows Foundations Prefer to Hire from the Outside" Comes from the Study: Benchmarking Diversity: A First Look at New York City Foundations and Nonprofits by the Foundation Center & Career Pathways to Philanthropic Leadership 2009 Baseline Report by the Council on Foundations

I am going to focus on the Career Pathways report since it is a national study. This study includes a combination of interviews with 50 foundation executive, trustees, nonprofit executives, and people connected to the foundation subsector and an analysis of foundation executive appointments from 2004-2008 (400 appointees). I think this report does a nice job of reporting its sampling procedures and limitations of the research. They are clear that the study does not represent the 70k foundations in the USA and the study is skewed towards larger foundations. However, the hiring information is representative of foundations by region.

****
I recognize that it is difficult to conduct a research study that is representative of the entire sector and I am not necessarily advocating for that. I am advocating for researchers to clearly state their sampling procedures, limitations of the study, and try to see if their data is representative of the sector (and if not -- state that is not). Additionally, since most news headlines generalize research to the entire sector, I want to encourage people to read cautiously and be critical consumers of the research. I would also encourage news sources to state the limitations of the study in the news articles as well.

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Tracking More Than A Name

Posted by Jason Dick in Grassroots and Events, Social Entrepreneurship on March 24, 2010



We have just reached a point in our campaign where there is a need to be more meticulous about how donor prospects are tracked. Currently, we have a number of committees all working simultaneously with multiple prospect lists. The more events and prospecting sessions we have, the more difficult it becomes to track information and keep it consistent.

It is important when tracking donors to record past and current actions/status instead of solely prospect names. Knowing where a donor is in the pipeline of cultivation is essential, especially when working with a group or team of people. This is the only way to ensure that no one is dropping the ball and that everyone is staying on the same page with the donor.

Using a database is extremely valuable because you can both change information in one place and pull reports to answer your changing questions. In this way I can update actions and keep track of events without having to keep the information in several different locations. What information do you track and review on a regular bases when discussing donors?

Related posts:

  1. How Well Do You Know Your Database?
  2. Keeping Info in Your Donor Database
  3. Key Pieces of Database Info
  4. Power of a Clean Database
  5. How Clean Up Your Database


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Copying Good Ideas

Posted by Jason Dick in Politics of Fundraising, Social Entrepreneurship on March 22, 2010



I am constantly amazed at the diverse strategies and creative ideas all around us. However, in reality most of what’s new and exciting has already been done. Why, then, do we feel like we need to start from scratch? There is a lot of value to keeping your eye on what other people are doing and replicating strategies that work.

Often, a fellow fundraiser is more than willing to share his or her ideas. I’ve even had nonprofit professionals offer to let me use pledge forms and program descriptions they created word for word to save me time. In this way, I have found most nonprofit professional to be more collaborative than combative, very willing to speak candidly about techniques that work for them.

Before starting a new program I encourage you to search for some stories and organizations online that have already tried a similar concept. Call them up to see if they will give you a few minutes to chat about what did and did not work for them. This will help you evaluate your programs and avoid problem areas. Through collaboration you can have a refined program your first year launching.

Related posts:

  1. Gaining Fundraising Support
  2. Great Donor Stories
  3. Oh No! Not Another Good Idea
  4. Question: What are some new event & fundraising ideas?
  5. Competition or Collaborative


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Summer of WordPress 2010: Act I

Posted by Jane Wells in Community, Development, GSoC, Internship, Social Entrepreneurship, college, google, students on March 21, 2010

Scene: A college classroom

Professor: Is anyone here applying for Google Summer of Code this year? If so, see me after class to discuss getting independent study credit toward your degree.

Jack, a student: Isn’t that a really hard program to get into? Like, hard like getting to level 70 in Modern Warfare 2?

Sophie, a student: I went past 70, I prestiged.

Jack (turning to Sophie): Shut up, you did not!

Sophie: I did, too!

Professor: Not the point, kids. So who’s going to try for a GSoC spot?

Andrea, a teacher’s assistant: There are some great open source projects participating this year. I’d love to see someone from this class get in on the WordPress project.

Jack: WordPress is awesome, but my friend Billy didn’t get chosen by them last year.

Sophie: Billy’s not as smart as he thinks he is.

Jack: You think you could do better?!

Sophie: Of course I do! Any primate could do better than Billy! Or you, for that matter!

Jack: What? I would so beat you out in a coding competition!

Andrea: Sounds like we have the makings of a friendly classroom competition, Prof.

Professor: I think you’re right, Andrea. Tell you kids what. They announce the students who’ve been accepted on April 26th, which is before the semester ends. Let’s turn this into a class project.

Jack (raising a suspicious eyebrow): How do you mean?

Professor: As a class assignment, everyone has one week to write a project proposal for the Google Summer of Code, specific to the WordPress project. The proposals will be graded like a regular assignment. Anyone who gets an A on the proposal can use me as a reference if they apply with the proposal to WordPress and Google for the program. The application deadline is April 9, so you’ll have time to revise your application after it’s been graded.

Sophie: What’s in it for us?

Andrea: If you’re successful in GSoC you earn $5000 for the summer.

Sophie (smirking, to Jack): That’s more than you’ll make working the hot dog cart by City Hall.

Jack: You wish. I’m totally getting in, and you’ll be on the hot dog cart this year.

Professor: And as I was starting to say in the first place, a GSoC project would qualify for independent study credit. Tell you what, as an added bonus, anyone who actually gets accepted into the WordPress GSoC program will get extra credit points on their year end average.

Sophie (perking up): Really? I’m in!

Jack: No way, they’ll choose me first!

Stay tuned for the continuing adventures of Jack and Sophie as they navigate the course of applying to Google Summer of Code to work with WordPress.

That’s right, WordPress is honored to be among the 150 open source organizations chosen to participate in Google Summer of Code this year. Students work on WordPress projects over the summer under the guidance of mentors from among the WordPress core developers, and if they complete their projects successfully Google pays them $5000! Talk about a win-win. Last year’s projects led to some very cool code being created, like the new search API targeted for version 3.0 and the Elastic theme generator.

Professors: Help us and your students by telling them about GSoC and encouraging them to apply. Consider having them write a WordPress plugin or core patch as a class assignment so they can get to know the codebase. Offer to sign on as an adviser for a summer independent study so they can get credit for their work with GSoC.

Students: Check out our Ideas page, and start thinking about projects you’d like to propose. Watch this space for an announcement of some live chat information sessions where you can ask potential mentors questions and get feedback on your pre-proposal ideas. This program is competitive, but is one of the best opportunities out there when it comes to programming. You get real-world experience as a member of an open source community, you make decent money, you make connections with industry leaders, and you get the attention of Google. Not to mention some serious bragging rights. What are you waiting for? Applications will be accepted from March 29-April 9, so start thinking about a project now!


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