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.

Like Politics, All Nonprofits are Local

There’s a saying out there that all politics are local. The same is true of nonprofits. A recent study I conducted for a nonprofit showed that people believe that nonprofits are special because of their knowledge of what works in the local community.

So where does that leave nonprofits that having national ties? The local version of the nonprofit has to know that while national may want you to use their promotion or their statistics or their fundraising materials, to be successful you have to give it a local twist.

Many communities may be too conservative or too liberal or too focused on their own issues to care about what the national organization is saying. And by using national directives on fund development, they may actually hurt the local group’s cause. Donors may not feel comfortable sending their money to the national organization because they want their donation to make a difference in their own neighborhood.

My advice is to tread carefully and to think locally no matter what the nonprofit corporate office says.

If nonprofits could run on coffee

Nonprofits have faced some strong challenges over the past several years. Donations have been down while requests for assistance have been up and recent articles point to a trend that shows many nonprofit executive directors will be retiring in the next few years.

What’s a nonprofit to do? The critical element to any situation is communication. So Cause to Communicate is having some fun by offering a giveaway of coffee (and delicious things to dunk in coffee!) through our Facebook page.

Bold Bean Coffee has roasted an organic Cause to Communicate blend to please your palate and get the conversation going.

Seriously, if nonprofits could run on coffee wouldn’t the world be a better place! So go to our Facebook page and “Like” us for a chance to make your nonprofit run on coffee.

 

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.

 

Rethinking the charitable deduction

A recent New York Times business section article probably put fear into the heart of every nonprofit executive director. The headline in the Richard H. Thaler article was “It’s Time to Rethink The Charity Deduction.” This is certainly something to consider as it is the end of the calendar year when people might be thinking about how to reduce their taxes by making a charitable donation.

But is that really why people give – to lessen their tax burden?

The article goes on to explain why the current system of tax deductions isn’t fair because it amounts to a subsidy for the rich since many people who donate to charity don’t itemize their taxes and can’t take the deduction.

While I sympathize with the concerns of many nonprofits about funding, I don’t really believe that people give a significant amount of money because of the tax burden. They may give some but they really give because of the connection they have with the nonprofit’s people and the nonprofit’s cause.

Changes in the tax code will mean that nonprofits will have to revise some of their campaigns but it is an opportunity to look seriously at a marketing plan that achieves brand awareness and makes the all important emotional connection.

Warm vs. competent

I read an interesting research study done out of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business  about nonprofits being stereotyped as “warm” and for profits as “competent.”

That led me to the next question. Is that a bad thing for nonprofits? Do people want to give money to competent organizations or to warm and fuzzy ones? We do know that donors are motivated about the stories they hear. And while those stories usually are focused on how someone or something is helped (competent), the motivating factor for the “ask” is the emotional hook (warm).

Because of the pressure for nonprofits to operate on a shoestring – that all important administrative percentage – can nonprofits really make the case for competency like a for profit business can?

I don’t have the answers on this but would love to hear people’s comments.  I’m on Twitter at rankinc2c.  Let me know if where you net out in this discussion.