Building A Better Board

With the start of a new year I thought I would address what every nonprofit executive director secretly wishes for – building a better board of directors.

Here’s what my wishes would be for the perfect board of directors:

• Attends majority of board meetings
• Willingly participates in fund development activity
• Willingly donates time, treasure or talent to the organization
• Attends seminars such as Chuck Loring’s Board Development program to better understand role of board member
• Understands that role is strategic focus and fund development.  Does not get into the weeds of tactics
• Asks the right questions of staff and at board meetings
• Does not fall prey to “glamour” ad campaigns that are not affordable and not focused on what the nonprofit truly needs
• Agrees to work with other board members and put personal feelings assign for the good of the organization
• Recommends others to become board of director members who support the organization, the role of being a board member, and fill in the various positions that all boards need

Would love to hear what you think are important elements that make a great board member.  There are so few great boards at local nonprofits.  I’m not sure why but I join every nonprofit executive director in the wish for building a better board in 2012.

Focus, people!

Image by Truthout.org via Flickr

Watching the nightly news recently, I saw a sweet story about a private school where the students were helping the homeless by contributing new sheets for a shelter. The reporter was interviewing adults about how important is was for children to learn about those in need and to contribute. I totally agree. But is it really about giving things that don’t really help?

I don’t mean to pick on just the sheets for the shelter campaign. Let’s talk about food banks. People rush to empty their cupboards of cans they haven’t used in years or go to the grocery store and snap up two for one items to contribute. Yes, the thought is appreciated but food banks would rather have the money. That’s because they have access to purchase lots more food with $1 then a contributor can buy at the local grocery.

Yes, cash is always king for a nonprofit but there are times when nonprofits could use help from the general public through advocacy. Emails, letters, tweets to elected officials about government funding or changing a law can be just as valuable as the dollars to create the campaign.

It may sound like I’m griping but it really is more about focus. People don’t take the time to really investigate an issue and find out what they can do that will really help. Nonprofits are not good at prioritizing what they need and making the case for it. And most nonprofits don’t want to offend anyone or turn away anything even if it doesn’t work well with their goals and/or mission.

As for the homeless, please advocate with your elected officials about concepts like daycare facilities and permanent affordable housing with services. There are many organizations that desperately need cash donations. As for the food banks, remember cash is king and they can stretch a dollar in more ways than you can.

Jocks For a Cause

This past weekend I saw a segment on an NFL pre-game show about Mark Sanchez, New York Jets quarterback, who is heavily involved in a number of nonprofits that help children. They focused on his work with Tuesday’s Children, an organization that helps children who lost a parent in the 9-11 attacks.

I think it’s great that Sanchez has taken some of his hefty salary and uses that along with his notoriety to support a nonprofit. I also thought it was generous when New York Giants Head Coach Tom Coughlin founded The Jay Fund in 1996 (when he was coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars). The fund is named for Jay McGillis, his former player of his at Boston College who died of leukemia. Even though Tom no longer lives in Jacksonville, he is still active in the cause and fundraising efforts.

I do have some concerns about athletes that establish foundations and then expect the public to be the greater funder. Athletes have benefitted from their success both financially and with brand awareness. They have an obligation when they start a foundation to remain the face of the effort, be active in any fundraising, and put their money into the cause.

The Power of Half

I’ve been reading “The Power of Half” by Kevin and Hannah Salwen. If you don’t know this true story, the Salwen family, at the impetus of their middle school age daughter Hannah, sold their big house in Atlanta, downsized to a house half the size, and used the proceeds from the sale to fund a nonprofit project in Ghana.

As I was driving through a beautiful neighborhood in a very high end community this weekend, I was struck by the size of the houses. Yes, I used to live in that community and like the Salwen’s did get caught up in having the newest, latest, biggest phenomenon. I thought about do people really need 10,000 sq. ft. homes with four car garages? What if all those people did what the Salwen’s did? Wouldn’t that be great?

But then I felt guilty because it’s not just about the very wealthy. Anyone could just as easily do “The Power of Half.” It’s not about the size of your home or the size of your donation. It’s about being passionate about helping and figuring out how to offer that assistance whether it’s time, treasure or talent.

If you haven’t read the book, pick up a copy. Better yet, Kevin Salwen is coming to Jacksonville in October to speak at the 100th Anniversary of Community Connections. Hear how you can have the Power of Half.

But does it really help?

Recently I heard about a local business that wanted to help tsunami victims by donating shoes to an organization called Soles4Souls. Sounded like a great idea – helping people out by donating goods. Then soon after I read a story in USA Today about nonprofits such as Salvation Army and Soles4Souls that actually sell these goods to for-profit middlemen who then sell them to vendors in other countries. It creates money for the nonprofits and jobs through microenterprise they say. But does it really help?

I don’t mean to pick on the local business that wanted to help or any individual who comes up with an idea to donate goods for those in need but it does beg the question. Does the nonprofit actually need what you are going to give? Whose responsibility is it to explain what the need is and should nonprofits accept in-kind donations that don’t fit with the mission?

Every nonprofit should have an acceptance policy about gifts – whether they be time, treasure or talent. But every donor should know upfront where their gift is going.

I do find that nonprofits in today’s economy are so desperate for donations that they won’t turn anything down. I believe that they need to do a better job explaining the need and why they may need cash vs. in-kind. A recent campaign by a local homeless shelter explaining that the $5 you spend on a coffee can provide five meals is just the kind of communication nonprofits must do in order to generate much-needed funds.

 

TINSTAAF

(There Is No Such Thing As A Free Lunch)

I talk to many nonprofits about marketing and public relations. The fund development staff all would like to have a concerted professional marketing effort but knows that it is a hard sell because of both budget limitations and myths about spending marketing dollars. Because of that they often spend in inordinate amount of time soliciting free marketing, advertising and public relations.

Many ad agencies mean well when they put together competitions to award a nonprofit with a new logo, brochure or website. But in the end the agency really performs that service for publicity they receive and to be able to do creative work that might win them more publicity in the form of some type of industry awards. It’s not really about what the nonprofit might truly need as far as marketing service and it’s what I call a ‘one-off.’ By that I mean that it’s an activity that’s not part of a concerted strategic marketing effort.

So what’s a nonprofit to do? Consider the time involved to win one of these freebies and if it fits with a plan. At the same time work to educate staff and board of directors that a good solid marketing plan is vital to your organization’s fundraising success.  After all, the adage is ‘you spend money to make money.’

Who would get your half?

Recent news reports highlighted 40 billionaires who have pledged to give half their money to nonprofits.  That got me thinking. If I had a billion dollars how would I handle the donation. Yes, I have many nonprofits that I support but this kind of money would involve some serious strategy.

If you check the list of billionaires you will see a variety of interests. Some were giving a large percentage of their wealth to foundations that they had established. Others had special interests such as renewable energy sources or health care.

I have many causes that I support but in the end think my half a billion will go the farthest by being directed towards programs that help families step up out of poverty. Poverty affects everything from health to education to homelessness to crime.

How would you donate your half billion? C2C wants to hear from you. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

It’s graduation season

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My son is set to graduate from a top 15 university this weekend. His sister and father graduated from the same school. I, however, went to a state university. This is the tale of two very different schools with very different endowments and how one botches the ask for donations. No, it’s not the state university.

University with the lofty ranking has a BIG endowment (think billions) and it never misses a chance to ask students, parents, alums for money. But what it doesn’t do is establish a relationship with these target audiences first – a relationship that shows knowledge and sensitivity about the potential donor. It also doesn’t do a very good job of explaining exactly what all those billions are doing in the endowment at the current time and why they need billions more.

Lowly state university keeps in touch. Sends information about the school’s successes. Also details the plight of financing based on lack of state funding and money needed to endow scholarships for the underprivileged.

The lesson here is for any nonprofit. Communicate about your needs in a way that resonates with your target. Don’t just keep asking for money blindly because people will not give unless they understand why.

(Still More) Tardy for the party

GoooOOod Moooorning Vietnam C2C Followers!! So glad you dropped by for the fourth and final tip that will save your party attending career.

#4: If you can’t say something nice… don’t say anything at all.

All too often I hear, “that event stunk… that event was horrible” (usually phrased with other choice words). Here’s my suggestion; if you think something could be better, get involved—join the committee and offer constructive criticism or start your own committee to create your own super awesome event. But if you don’t have this drive inside you to make a difference then keep your ugly comments to yourself. Next time you want to scream “Ewe” or “OMG,” stop and try to find one nice thing about the event and announce it to everyone around you… positivity is contagious.

Remember, if you follow these simple tips, you will probably become the most popular Jacksonvillian and be invited to every event in town. People will envy your know-how and suave behavior and then you can tell them you learned everything you know from Heather Smith: Eventress Extraordinaire.

(More) Tardy for the party

Okay, where did we leave off? Oh that’s right, you’ve been oblivious to proper party etiquette, which you are working on now thanks to me, and you think I am the most brilliant person in the world.

#3: The early bird gets the worm and cheaper tickets!

There is a silent killer targeting events in Jacksonville… it’s called Lazyassopotomus and it’s slaying Jacksonville events left and right. This affliction is brought on by people waiting until the day of to buy tickets for an event. Guess what? There is a reason why events offer early ticket discounts. It’s not only to boost ticket sales, it also used to gauges interest in the event. Early ticket sales help to determine a general headcount for things like food and beverage. Sometimes if an event fizzles before it even happens due to low pre-sale, event organizers are forced to slash items from the budget. So all those fun little surprises that events often lack (ie: free booze) were probably cut due to a strike of Lazyassopotomus!

Tune in next time: same bat time, same bat channel! Tip #4: If you can’t say something nice… don’t say anything at all.