Darian Rodriguez Heyman's Blog, page 11

Tip of the Week: Understand your rights to affect policy through lobbying and advocacy

As Nayantara Mehta, Nancy Chen, Marcia Avner, and Jeannie Fox say in their
introduction to ?Nonprofit Lobbying and Advocacy? in Chapter 12 of Nonprofit Management 101,
?Nonprofit, community-based organizations provide unique opportunities
for individuals to combine their energy, talents, and values for
community improvement and enrichment. But with power comes
responsibility. Nonprofits are obligated to understand their role as
entities that engage and inspire individuals and communities for public
benefit.?



Many nonprofits think they?re prohibited entirely from political
activity, but that?s absolutely not the case. So here are some simple
guidelines: All 501(c)(3)s can engage in nonpartisan election-year
activities, such as registering people to vote, but they are not
allowed to support or oppose any individual candidate for public
office.



501(c)(3) public charities (i.e. not private foundations) that make
less than $500,000 can spend up to 20% of their budget on lobbying and
advocacy. The most any public charity is legally permitted to spend on
lobbying and advocacy (budget size allowing) is $1,000,000. 



So the next time there is a ballot measure, proposition, or other law
up for decision that would impact your organization, don?t be afraid to
mobilize your constituency around it. Check out Alliance for Justice for tons of great information including trainings and workshops, and discover additional resources in Chapter 12 of Nonprofit Management 101.

Tip of the Week: Know how many months of cash you have on hand

As David Greco so concisely points out in ?Nonprofit Financial Management,? or Chapter 13 of Nonprofit Management 101,
?To make good decisions, nonprofit managers need good information. This
is especially true when it comes to financial information.?

One
of the most important measurements for an organization to understand is
?cash on hand,? or how many months you could survive if no additional
funds were received. This is one of the most common measurements
of liquidity for organizations, and is helpful to know when engaging in
any decision that has financial implications, as it helps you
understand your cash reserves in simple terms.

The formula is
simple: Take your total ?Cash and Equivalents? (sometimes called ?Cash
and Near-Cash?) and divide that by your average monthly expenses (as
calculated by dividing your annual operating expenses by 12 months). 

For
example, if your total cash and equivalents is $10,000, and your annual
expenses are $30,000, meaning your average monthly expenses are $2,500
(i.e., $30,000/12 = $2,500), you have enough cash on hand to last four
months ($10,000/$2,500 = 4) should you receive no additional funds.

Read more and discover related resources in Chapter 13 of Nonprofit Management 101.

Tip of the Week: Create an organizational dashboard

Chapter 5 of Nonprofit Management 101, ?Strategy and Planning: Turning a Dream into Reality? by CompassPoint?s
Jeanne Bell, stresses the importance of organizational dashboards,
which are valuable tools in assessing your organization?s progress
toward strategic goals.



As Jeanne says, ?Just like the dashboard in your car, an organizational
dashboard is a holistic, though not comprehensive, visual
representation of an nonprofit?s key success indicators in a variety of
important management arenas, i.e., program, finance, development and
fundraising, human resources, and governance. Three to five indicators
are chosen in each arena along with what results constitute Green
(Celebrate), Yellow (Monitor), and Red (Act Now) flags.?



Dashboards can be as complicated or as simple as you want to make them,
and it?s easy to get started with a simple version of this powerful
tool:

Step one: Identify the key functional areas you want to keep an eye on (fundraising, programs, finance, human resources, etc.)Step two: Choose three to five metrics or
indicators for each of these areas. Some of these may be easily
accessible through third party information, such as cash reserves,
while others may require you to track things internally, such as number
of beds filled by homeless clientsStep three: Determine what measures of these
indicators should raise concern (red), call your attention (yellow), or
give cause for revelry (green)

For example, a fundraising indicator could be to submit 3 new grant
proposals per quarter. Once three are submitted, the measure turns
green, and perhaps you decide that at zero it?s still red and after one
has been sent out it?s yellow.



In aggregate, this set of visual indicators can give you, your staff,
and your board a quick sense of how you?re doing and where your
attention is needed. 



Here are two examples of how a dashboard can look:

 

 

These
examples demonstrate how an organizational dashboard can give your
organization  a snapshot of progress toward goals, and allow for
constant organizational planning and evaluation. Read more and discover
related resources in Chapter 5 of Nonprofit Management 101

at www.nonprofits101.org

Tip of the Week: Use behaviorally based interview questions during your hiring process

As James Weinberg and Cassie Scarano, co-founders of Commongood Careers tell us in Chapter 8 of Nonprofit Management 101, ?Making Human Resources Work for You: Best Practices in Nonprofit Human Capital Management,? ??the best predictor of future success is past accomplishment.? This is why it is important to use behaviorally based interview questions.

When you ask job candidates to describe specific examples of past experiences versus how they would handle imaginary scenarios, you will gain a better sense of how that candidate will handle similar challenges and needs within your organization.

During your next interview, instead of asking a candidate to hypothetically describe how they would do something, ask them to recall a specific experience when they have done the same task in the past.

For example, instead of asking a Director of Development candidate to tell you how they would ask a major donor for money for your organization, ask them to describe a past major donor ask that was successful. Questions that begin with phrases like ?Describe a time?Tell me how? How did you?? will elicit the type of direct examples that will allow you to better assess your candidates.

Read more and discover related resources in Chapter 8 of Nonprofit Management 101. www.nonprofits101.org

Tip of the Week: Invest in Directors and Officers insurance

As Pamela Davis says in her introduction in Chapter 7 of Nonprofit Management 101, ?Risk Management and Insurance,? ?Insurance is not often seen as a core part of an organization?s work toward meeting its mission. But it is actually an important factor in running and maintaining a strong organization. It has an impact on your ability to provide services to your clients, especially after a loss, and on your organization?s sustainability. Insurance enables you to quickly and successfully get back to business after a fire, theft, accident, or lawsuit.?

Our tip this week is to invest in Directors and Officers insurance. Known as D&O coverage, this is intended to cover claims related to decisions made by your organization, such as employment-related actions, allegations by employees of wrongful termination, harassment, discrimination, and failure to hire. Many board of director prospects won?t even join an organization unless they know this coverage is in place, since they don?t want to expose themselves to this kind of liability.

According the Nonpro?ts? Insurance Alliance Group (www.insurancefornonpro?ts.org), in any given year approximately one in ?fty nonpro?ts will have a D&O claim against them, nearly all of which are employment related. The average D&O claim will cost $35,000 to resolve?a combination of legal defense costs and, in a few cases, settlement payments. Protect yourself by ensuring proper personnel and insurance policies are in place!

Read more and discover related resources in Chapter 7 of Nonprofit Management 101.
http://ow.ly/4IDhs

Tip of the Week: Don?t ignore your IRS and state tax filing requirements

Bruce Hopkins and Virginia C. Gross contributed Chapter 11 of Nonprofit Management 101, ?Nonprofit Law.? In it, they say, ?Of utmost importance to tax-exempt organizations is an understanding of what it takes to maintain exempt status.? They go on to provide a great framework and a list of specific tips for nonprofits, and we wanted to share this particular one:

Don?t ignore your IRS and state tax filing requirements! We put it in bold because that is how important it is. Why risk losing your tax-exempt status and not being able to continue your important work when filing your taxes is so easy?!

For organizations making less than $50,000 in the tax year ending on 12/31/10 or later, filing your 990 is as simple as gathering this information: your Employer or Tax Identification number (EIN/TIN), tax year, organization?s legal name and mailing address, contact info of a principal officer (ED, Board Chair), website address (if applicable), and confirmation that gross receipts are less than $50,000. If your organization makes over $50,000, you can still fill out a 990-EZ, and there are many resources online to help ease the process.

And don?t forget about state specific filing requirements! Check with your particular State?s Secretary of State for filing specifics.

Tip of the Week: Make your donation button shine

This week?s tip comes to you from Katya Andresen and Rebecca Ruby Higman of  Network for Good. As they describe in ?Online Fundraising,? or Chapter 21 of Nonprofit Management 101, it is critical that visitors to your website can see your donation button within two seconds of landing on your homepage. 

This means that the button/link should be colorful, prominent, and above the scroll. Network for Good performed a test on its own website and found that it had a 30% greater conversion when it changed from a gray button to a red one, so play with little changes and track their impact.

And don?t be afraid to get creative and use images or different verbiage that relates a donation to something tangible, e.g. ?donate a mosquito net? or ?save a litter of kittens?.

Read more and discover related resources in Chapter 21 of Nonprofit Management 101. http://tinyurl.com/4sx9em7

Social Prophets

By Lynne Twist

I like to think of the people working in the social profit sector as social p-r-o-p-h-e-t-s: visionary, committed people who stand for a new future and live and work in a way that brings that future forward.

Social prophets are people who are called to this work, who take a stand. 
When you take a stand, positions melt and you honor, validate, hear, see, and respect all positions.  A stand is not a point of view, but a vision.  A stand allows you to occupy a place in the universe that sees all views.  A great social prophet is a visionary taking a stand.

Social prophets find inspiration everywhere and create possibilities when resources are scarce, and no matter how daunting, hopeless, or intractable a situation seems. They create conversations and interactions that generate possibilities for them and everyone else.  This ability comes from being inspired.

Social prophets have integrity.  This means keeping your word and giving your word only when you know you can keep it. Our integrity is more powerful than all of our doubts, fears, mistakes, and failures combined.

Social prophets aim to do more than merely right a wrong or fix something?it goes much deeper than that.  It involves making a transformational change.  It involves rising up and sharing something that?s morally powerful when expressed in the world.

Social prophets are motivated by their heart, mind, and soul, and it is this that leads to your best self, to your best work.  Social prophets bring the wholeness of who they are to the work that they?ve chosen to do. 

If you are already a social prophet, let me thank you from the bottom of my heart.  If you feel as if it is your calling to become a social prophet, but aren?t quite sure where to apply your service, I invite you to consider the possibility that you are on this planet at a critical time in human history, and I implore you to drop all of your ?shoulds???I should be making more money,? ?I should get married,? ?I should have three kids,? etc.?and look inside and ask yourself ?What makes my heart sing??

When you look at your life, at the people and things that inspire you, what do you see, and what are you drawn to?  If you open yourself to listen to the universe you will be presented with opportunities to serve that are uniquely suited to you, opportunities that will fulfill your soul and make your heart sing.  You will be a social prophet.

*Note: This post was written by Laila Brenner and is based on an interview by Darian Rodriguez Heyman with Lynne Twist.  For more detailed thoughts, see the Afterword of Nonprofit Management 101: A Complete and Practical Guide for Leaders and Professionals.

Welcome to Advancing Social Impact

Welcome, and thank you for visiting our blog, Advancing Social Impact. As a companion resource for the book, Nonprofit Management 101: A Complete and Practical Guide for Leaders and Professionals, this blog will provide straightforward, actionable tips and takeaways—in other words: concrete, practical suggestions on how to maximize impact.

Our goal is to magnify your ability to meet mission and serve—whatever your cause, whatever your location. To do that, we'll bring you "Tips of the Week"—easy to implement, practical nonprofit management solutions from seasoned experts.  Instead of heady, conceptual ideas, practitioners and veterans will share lessons learned and tales from the trenches in the form of no-nonsense advice that you can put to immediate use. It's all about working smarter, not harder.

This blog will address a wide array of topics, including:

•    Fundraising from individuals, companies, and foundations
•    Online fundraising, social networking, and effective use of technology
•    Marketing, public relations, and events
•    Board and volunteer engagement
•    Human resources and career planning
•    Lobbying and advocacy
•    Legal and financial management
•    Leadership and strategic planning

We're also excited to offer occasional guest posts from social sector luminaries like Lynne Twist, Beth Kanter, Ami Dar, and more

For a preview of the useful ideas you'll find in the both the book and this blog, download our free whitepaper, Ten Simple Tips for Raising More Money.  Also, don't forget to subscribe to our blog or our RSS feed so you can be the first to hear from us when new tips are released!

In Community,

Darian and Laila