Want to gain support from grant makers -- think program efficiency

Green equals growth and
sometimes you have to prune back.  Really.

I ran across this article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy and the title just jumped out at me.  Follow the link at the end of the article.

In today's tough economic times, private foundation' grant dollars are even more precious to nonprofits.  Doesn't it make sense your organization should to be current with private foundation thinking and expectation?  Of course it does. 

Grant makers, public and private, along with individual donors, want to know how their investment dollars make a difference -- sure.  The question is... how can you position your agency to utilize grant funding in the most efficient manner?  Does that mean partnering and collaboration with another nonprofit with a similar mission?  How about stepping up for an outside evaluation of your programs and specifically, their results?  Understanding your core mission and cutting the programs that aren't working = efficiency -- a good thing.

Demonstrating that your organization is progressive and understands the importance of every dollar and is willing to make necessary changes to offer the most for that buck is impressive to grant makers.

As a nonprofit consultant, one of the services I provide is that outside opinion/evaluation on programs, mission relevance, and efficiency. 

The Philanthropy' article has some good suggestions.  It is an easy read with some excellent tips to starting a new self-examination process. Worth the read!   Here is the article

Cheers,
DCR

Revise Your Donor Thank You Letter...here is a sample of one that works!

It's called donor relations...and it is important!



Donors give from the heart...and from
 recognizing a very good investment.

I know, I know...your donor thank you letters go out by the hundreds...and they all say the same thing.  Why?  Your agency  may be short-staffed or your staff lack the expertise to create individual letters, group and sort the whole thing.  You are just happy to get the darn things in the mail.  It is a common problem.

If your organization isn't in the position to send out custom thank you letters, (typically by donor amount), then change it up.  The benefits will surprise you.  It really is increasingly important to build relationships with your donors.  Lots o' ways to do that -- here is just one.

Acterra, an environmental charity in California, revised their thank you letter to help reinforce donors' emotional ties to the organization.  And, they have shared it with us  -- good ideas here.  Just follow the link for the sample letter. 

Don't miss your opportunity -- adjust, revise, change, appreciate... and share the joy!

Cheers!

DCR

On-line giving -- check out Amazon's Wish List




On-line giving...it will help
your organization carry the load!

 

Hey nonprofit friends, here is a quick little tip to get you into on-line giving (and receiving donations of goods), if you aren't there already.  Take a look at this excellent and easy-read article about Amazon's Wish List.  Just follow this link and get started!

Cheers!

DCR

Early Learning Grants coming to states to administer

Early learning grant programs will be coming from the federal level to the states for administration.  Here is a link to a recent Chronicle of Philanthropy article and the announcement in May.  Details on the programs should be available in late summer:

 http://philanthropy.com/blogs/public-measureshttp://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/obama-administration-announces-500-million-race-top-early-learning-challenge/a-new-race-to-the-top-for-innovation-in-early-learning/80

A slight twist on an old favorite -- teamwork

Team success depends on careful planning

J. Richard Hackman is the Edgar Pierce Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology at Harvard University and a leading expert on teams. The misperceptions that are summarized in this post are explored in greater depth in his new book Collaborative Intelligence: Using Teams to Solve Hard Problems (Berrett-Koehler, 2011).

Perhaps you have felt some frustration with your team's results, interactions, performance or communication.  Now might be a very good time for you to revaluate what you have been taught about teamwork, hands-on involvement; conditioning the team and bringing in new players.You can rethink the teamwork paradigm to your organization's advantage.

Prof. Hackman brings up some though-provoking ideas to our whole concept of team, including the individual players and leadership.  It turns out, bigger isn't necessarily better, nor is communication primarily through technology. 

Interesting reading.

Enjoy,

Diana

Your fb posts matter to employers...

We love our fb, but think before
you criticize your company or colleagues online.

Most of us are returning from a three-day holiday and getting back into the job.  Just a quick little note and reminder that your fb posts are public and many employers and colleagues are aware of your comments.  This article demonstrates that it doesn't really matter if your company has an internal social media policy in place or not...if your posts are detrimental to your company/colleagues...it is just not a good idea.  http://www.workforce.com/section/news/article/firing-tweeting-newspaper-reporter-upheld-by-nlrb.php

Leadership Mindset Training - moves away from individual leader to a process model



Leadership Mindset  -- quite an interesting idea



Has your agency followed the same leadership paradigm since it was founded?  Have you explored new ideas, new thinking and new expectations on leadership?  In building for the future and hoping to engage those new donors who are pretty young right now -- do you wonder what successful leadership might really look like to them? 

There is plenty of information on leadership models on the web. Here is one with a different perspective.  It tells us that leadership is a shared, relational process and moves away from the dominant American model of leadership deeply rooted in individualism.

Leadership for a New Era is changing the understanding of leadership from the traditional individual model to a process model through which individuals and groups identify and act on behalf of a larger purpose.

Traditional approaches to leadership and leadership development assume that training an individual leader with appropriate knowledge and skills will result in an increase of organizational capacity which will in turn lead to better community results.

If you have some time -- take a look at the site -- it's interesting and in our new age of global thinking, it makes sense.  It is titled the Leadership Mindset for a good reason.

Cheers,
DCR