Get unstuck – NOW
Do you feel as if your organization has gone stagnant? Have you been engaged in frenetic activity to increase donations,but the results have been less than you’d hoped? Have you not had the success you desired on grants or major gifts? Are you tired of blaming the “bad economy”?
An organization, like a person, can get in a rut: the message goes stale, inefficiencies crop up, funding dynamics shift downward and relationships aren’t working. Years of observation and experience have shown me that often it takes only one or two small changes to make tremendous impact and shift the forward/upward momentum.
Getting Unstuck:
The first step in the process with my clients is to conduct a Current Reality Assessment. In this step of the process, clients receive a comprehensive review of 8 areas of the organization to get a “where we are now” picture. The client provides the requested information, and we produce a report that makes observations and recommendation for action. The focus is on ways the organization can improve so as to become more attractive to potential donors. The emphasis is on making it possible to get more funding in the door.
Knowing that especially smaller non-profits may be in a near-desparate position right now, I am making an offer to help your non-profit get “unstuck” and shift that momentum. Organizations that sign up by June 10, 2011 will receive a comprehensive Current Reality Assessment for a deeply-discounted rate: $500 (normally $1750). 3rd party reviews of grant proposals/grant requests are available for $200 per proposal (again – must sign up by June 10, 2011)
These are pre-paid, non-refundable services. It is designed to give you an unbiased perspective and perhaps expose some blindspots that could make an enormous difference for your organization. Most important, you will have definitive first-step actions that you can take immediately to get you what you want.
If you are interested in the observations and recommendations of an outside observer with experience in philanthropic endeavors, contact us at: 614.524.4264. You may also email us at PhilanthropyPlus@hotmail.com
Advancement model aims to better engage ‘OSU family’
Advancement model aims to better engage ‘OSU family’
Advancement – it’s about promotion, passion, aspirations. When every one in your organization is speaking with one voice, then the message to the outside world is clear. What you find is that as you connect and tell the story, you don’t have to “make the ask”. Instead, you will find that the potential donor gets excited as well and “makes the ask” with the question: How can I help? How can I be part of this?
OSU is often my model to other organizations on how to promote themselves and attract/acquire the resources that will help them grow and advance into the future. Contact me to learn more about how the best methods in fundraising and advancement can be applied to your non-profit, no matter the size.
Getting their attention
How are you using social media to promote your organization? Are you caught up in frenetic activity or purposeful content when using social media? Take a look at this video, and let me know what you think – pay particular attention at the 1:06 minute mark.
Confidence & Optimism at All-Time Low
I saw this on MSN.com today – from an NBC/Wall Street Journal Poll:
. . . 61 % say the United States is headed in the wrong direction; 65 % believe the nation is in a state of decline; and 66 % say they’re not confident that life for their children’s generation will be better than it is now.
In addition, Americans are deeply pessimistic about the state of the economy. Only 26 % think the economy will improve in the next 12 months (which is down 14 points from the previous poll), and just 26 % believe their wages will increase in the next year.
Confidence in key U.S. institutions is also incredibly low: 18 % have confidence in the federal government; 13 % have confidence in the news media; 12 % have confidence in large corporations; 10 % have confidence in the financial industry; and only 9 % have confidence in Congress. The numbers for the media and Congress are the lowest for those institutions in the entire history of the poll.
What are the implications for philanthropy?
If you are a non-profit, what does this poll tell you? What do you have to do differently? What does it mean for the future of your organization and those you serve?
If you are a philanthropist (donor) – of ANY size net worth – what are the implications for you? How do you feel about the future of the American/World economy? How do you feel about your family’s future? What would you like to do about it?
SEEKING: non-profits that you know and love that are in looking to improve their revenue streams. Contact Laura Anne Miller, 614.915.4324, lmiller@nfpcoaching.com today.
Full story on msn.com http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38996574/ns/politics/?GT1=43001
Leadership at Gettysburg
Inaction is not an option
-Every organization
desires a leader like General John Buford. On the afternoon of June 30, 1863, Buford arrived on the scene just outside Gettysburg. After assessing the situation, he made a critical decision that led to a Union victory and probably changed the course of American History. Take a look at the video as we remember those that fought at the Battle of Gettysburg.
Marketing Idea No. 215 – What we can learn from Bill Murray and Groundhog Day (via Creating the Longest Marketing Idea Chain in the World)
Check out the article link below from the “idea chain” blog
focus on your strengths – keep doing what does work and do more of it – STOP doing what doesn’t work! How does this apply to your non-profit? What unworkable activity do you keep trying, hoping for different results? Post your comments below . . .
The Dignity of Work
One of my clients, the MCS/TOUCH program was recently awarded a substantial grant to implement a program of community development. It is a summer work program for young people – helping them take their lives to a new level of growth and exploration. An essential part of this program, and of all the services at MCS/TOUCH, is to provide employment opportunities. We have an enormous list of “Pathway Partners” – employers who are willing to give people the opportunity to learn about the positive benefits of a good day’s work. They are small businesses and non-profit organizations that hire the participants and give them the gift of dignity. These business people are interested in making a profit, for certain. However, they are also intensely committed to making an investment in the community. Thank you to all the Pathway Partners! They are making it possible for people of all backgrounds to get to the level where they are net contributors and do not have to be dependent upon “charity” for their survival. . . .
If you would like to learn how to become a Pathway Partner and jump to the highest level of the Golden Ladder, contact Laura Miller – 614.915.4324 or lmiller@nfpcoaching.com . . . The summer works! program fully compensates the participant (up to 120 hours). See: Pathway Partners wordpress blog
If you are a non-profit and would like to learn how we were successful in this grant process, contact Laura Miller at the phone/email above. As a reminder, here is the Golden Ladder of Philanthropy:
The Golden Ladder of Philanthropy
By Maimonides
(From Lowest Level to Highest Level)
1. To give reluctantly, the gift of the hand, but not of the heart.
2. To give cheerfully, but not in proportion to need.
3. To give cheerfully and proportionately, but not until solicited.
4. To give cheerfully, proportionately, and unsolicited, but to put the gift into the poor person’s hand, thus creating shame.
5. To give in such a way that the distressed may know their benefactor, without being known to him or her.
6. To know the objects of our bounty, but remain unknown to them.
7. To give so that the benefactor may not know those whom he has relieved, and they shall not know him.
8. To prevent poverty by teaching a trade, setting a person up in business, or in some other way preventing the need of charity.
About the Author – Maimonides (1135 -1204)
Jewish rabbi, physician, Talmudic scholar and philosopher in Egypt.
Three iPhone Apps that Every Nonprofit Needs to Know About (via Nonprofit Tech 2.0)
This article is only the tip of the iceberg – Social Media falls under “short-term mission” fundraising and communication. The question is : How to use it for “long-term development”.
What do you think?
PND – News – Charities Working Harder to Find Revenue
Work smarter, not just harder . . . It is important to avoid becoming so desparate that you don’t build the long-term relationships that will sustain your organization.
PND – News – Charities Working Harder to Find Revenue
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Unleashed Abundance 