August 29, 2008
Nonprofit Group Asks: What Songs Inspire You?
Musicians and their songs have always reflected and influenced social, political, and cultural concerns, whether it’s Marvin Gaye crooning about air pollution in his 1971 hit “Mercy, Mercy Me (The Ecology)” or the marching beat of U2’s anti-sectarian violence song “Sunday Bloody Sunday.”
Echoing Green, a New York nonprofit group that supports social entrepreneurship, is holding a contest asking readers of its blog to name their top favorite songs that inspire them to work on making the world a better place.
Contestants can create a “mixtape” of their songs and submit them by September 12. Entries will be judged on their creativity and theme by a panel of Echoing Green staffers, and the winner of the contest will receive an iPod.
So what would be on your mix tape? Which songs do you find most inspirational or relevant to the work you do?
August 28, 2008
How to Check Out a Job Candidate's Background
Would your charity eagerly hire someone with a criminal history of embezzlement or bank fraud to a managerial position?
Gary Snyder, a nonprofit consultant, lists a half-dozen charities—including an affordable housing group and a Christian school—that unwittingly hired people with just such background blemishes. And most of the groups only found out after they, too, became victims of financial misconduct.
Writing on the blog maintained by the the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, a watchdog group in Washington, Mr. Snyder stresses, is the importance of checking references.
For senior-level job candidates, he recommends contacting as many as five or six references. Getting the most from a conversation with a reference is an art, he writes.
“Drilling down below the surface of initial comments will make a reference truly useful,” Mr. Snyder says. “Listen not just to the overall comments a reference makes, but also to the specific word choices and the tone and enthusiasm.”
What are you experiences in checking references and exploring the backgrounds of would-be employees?
Rumors Abound on New Leader of Metropolitan Museum
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York, has been busy vetting candidates to succeed Philippe de Montebello as leader of the institution, and may end up selecting Max Hollein, director of Frankfurt’s Städel Museum and the Schirn Kunsthalle, speculates Lee Rosenbaum , an arts writer, in her CultureGrrl blog.
Ms. Rosenbaum says that Mr. Hollein, a native of Vienna, is near the top of the list of candidates, according to sources familiar with the search. A candidate may be selected at a meeting of the board of trustees on September 9, after which a contract would be negotiated.
The fact that Mr. Hollein is young (he’s in his 30’s) but experienced, and holds degrees in business administration and art history, may be among the reasons why the museum may be interested in Mr. Hollein, Ms. Rosenbaum writes. From 1996 to 2000 he worked at the Guggenheim Museum, and is one of many protégés of Thomas Krens, who is stepping down as leader of the Guggenheim Foundation this year.
August 27, 2008
Fund Raising at the Speed of Twitter
Twitter — mini-blogs updated via text message — can raise money fast from the technologically savvy.
Beth Kanter and 250 bloggers, podcasters, and other technology enthusiasts at a Seattle conference raised $2,657 to pay for Leng Sopharath, an orphan in Cambodia, to go to college this year, using the new technology — and by passing the hat at the session — in just 90 minutes. By the end of the conference, the total had climbed to $3,774.
Writing on her blog, Ms. Kanter compared the experience to her earlier efforts on Ms. Sopharath’s behalf. In November 2006, it took three weeks to raise $800, and at the same conference last year, it took about 24 hours to raise the money for her tuition.
But not everyone was convinced that Twitter’s potential as a fund-raising tool was the most important lesson to take away.
“What stands out to me is stories,” wrote one conference participant who commented on the posting. “When you told us about Leng Sopharath’s surgery, I gasped. From your stories she was no stranger to me. Tools and techniques may get worn from overuse, but new stories can always be told.”
What do you think? Has your organization experimented with twitter in its fund raising?
— Nicole Wallace
August 26, 2008
Donors List Their Charity Pet Peeves
What really irks potential donors about their contact with charities?
Marc A. Pitman, a fund-raising consultant, decided to use the popular social-networking site LinkedIn to pose that question to real-life donors.
At the top of the list for many donors: the freebies that are included in many direct-mail solicitations.
“Don’t send me junk in the mail like address labels, notepads, and pennies,” writes one donor. “I have an understanding of the costs of printing and mailing and including these items with a solicitation letter [and it] makes me wonder exactly how much of my donation will be used for the core mission.”
Other donors griped that charities had given their contact information to other organizations, so donors were overwhelmed with telemarketing calls and direct-mail appeals.
“Every nonprofit should thank their donors with no strings attached, no additional asks or invitations — just a pure thank you,” writes another.
Mr. Pitman says he plans to follow up on the responses on his blog, The Extreme Fundraising Blog.
Tell us what has frustrated you the most about charities — whether you work for one, volunteer, or offer support to a good cause.
August 22, 2008
How Charities Can Win Government Support
How can charities win government support for their group or cause?
Courtney Powers, a former Capitol Hill aide who now works for the consulting group Changing Our World, offers some advice on the Future Leaders in Philanthropy blog.
She says that charity leaders should first appeal to the House or Senate member who represents their district. Contact the “scheduler,” whose job it is to coordinate meetings. Be patient, she says, because it can take some time to hear back. Ms. Powers advises charities to follow up only if more than two business weeks have passed without a response.
When you do get a meeting, “keep it brief,” she says. Most meetings take half an hour or less. Whether you’re asking for money, support for a piece of legislation, or a public endorsement of your group, be concise. Ms. Powers recommends following up with a thank-you note.
If you’re seeking a government grant, approach the agency that handles the causes on which your group works. Most grant opportunities are listed at http://www.grants.gov. If you run into problems, says Ms. Powers, contact your Senator or Representative’s office.
What do you think? Do you have other advice?
August 20, 2008
How Can You Do the Most for Charitable Causes?
A newly-minted lawyer writes in to Stephen J. Dubner’s blog Freakonomics, on The New York Times site, with this query:
“I recently passed the bar and am currently applying for jobs. My main concern is bringing out the most charitable result. Should I work in the nonprofit section where my services are passed directly along to the most needy, or should I get the high-paying firm job and donate the difference in my salary to charity?”
Mr. Dubner says he’s not convinced that working with a nonprofit organization is the best way to effect change, in part because of the high incidence of fraud at charities. (See this post).
One reader of Mr. Dubner’s blog advises the lawyer, Anthony DiClaudio, to “get as rich as possible and then give out your money as you see fit.”
Another tells Mr. DiClaudio: “My wife struggled with the same question. She now works for a large law firm that also stresses pro-bono work. This allows her to work directly with those in need, as well as being able to donate to other charitable groups.”
Still others warn Mr. DiClaudio that many lawyers who work at large law firms are unhappy. They tell him to choose the path that will give him the most fulfillment.
What would you advise Mr. DiClaudio?
Why Special Olympics' Movie Boycott Was a Mistake
The decision by Special Olympics to boycott the new movie ‘Tropic Thunder’ because it uses the word “retard” was a “big tactical communications mistake,” says Kivi Leroux Miller.
Writing on her Nonprofit Communications Blog, Ms. Miller says that the boycott overshadows a Special Olympics’ campaign, announced simultaneously, to convince people to stop using the word “retard.”
The “Stop Using the R-Word” campaign is a great idea, says Ms. Miller. But “by linking the campaign to a movie boycott, Special Olympics comes off as a bunch of humorless finger waggers, which makes them very easy for the public to ignore.”
Tropic Thunder is a satire of the movie industry, writes Ms. Miller. By using the term “retard,” its characters aren’t mocking people with mental disabilities, but distasteful people in Hollywood who throw around the word.
So what could Special Olympics have done differently to get people to pay attention to its campaign? Ms. Miller says the nonprofit group should have tried to do something as “equally creative, sharp, and satirical as the movie itself.”
“What about coming up with a faux ‘Actor’s Guide to Playing a Retard’ that puts the advocates’ issues with Hollywood out there in a stark yet humorous and intelligent way?” she writes. “Or what about a faux thesaurus of more acceptable slurs than the word ‘retard’?”
Sure, these kinds of ideas take a lot of creativity, something Ms. Miller says is in short supply in the nonprofit world. And they could be misinterpreted. But, she says, “Make me laugh at something outrageous and I’ll remember you and your message much longer than this movie will be in theaters, and infinitely longer than the chanting at a movie protest.”
Do you think the boycott was a mistake? What do you think of Ms. Miller’s proposals?
August 19, 2008
Giving vs. Investing: Does It Matter What Donors Call It?
More donors today consider their charitable gifts to be “investments.” What are the implications of this new mindset for charities?
Sean Stannard-Stockton, a financial adviser to wealthy donors, describes a few of the implications on his blog Tactical Philanthropy. Among his observations on why it matters that donors are seeing giving as investing, rather than spending:
- Donors may start thinking about philanthropy as a percentage of their assets, rather than of their income. This could translate into a big jump in giving among wealthy donors, many of whom have assets that are far larger than their incomes.
- Donors take a longer-term approach. They are “‘investing’ in the continued success” of a charity, rather than “‘buying’ the right to feel” as though they’ve helped someone.
- Corporate donors see “corporate social responsibility” as an investment in a community where they derive profits, rather than a cost they seek to minimize.
- Charities begin viewing donors not as “customers” who they must “separate from their cash,” but as investors and stakeholders in the organization.
- Wealth managers start advising the philanthropy of their clients, as they realize that giving is not “a cost that should be minimized” but an “asset-allocation question that is directly intertwined with their clients’ broader wealth-management needs.”
What do you think?
Making Charity Web Sites More Informative
Nonprofit organizations that want to tell the public more about their work— and solidify the trust they have earned from donors, clients, and others — should include more information about their inner workings on their Web sites, writes Ken Goldstein on the Nonprofit Consultant Blog.
“I’m not just talking about your programs and the great deeds that your organization performs,” writes Mr. Goldstein. “I’m talking about your finances, your governance, and your management of the public trust. Because that’s what a nonprofit is: A public trust.”
In exchange for the tax-exempt status charities have been granted by the Internal Revenue Service, he writes, they owe the public a certain amount of information.
“Lack of trust in nonprofits leads to lack of donations, and restrictions on what we can ultimately accomplish,” he writes.
Among Mr. Goldstein’s suggestions for what should be included on a charity’s Web site: the group’s most recent Form 990, the informational tax return filed with the IRS; the results of recent financial audits; monthly summaries of board meetings; and contact information for staff members that includes e-mail addresses. Blogs that detail staff changes and new donations that have been received can help supporters feel included in an organization’s work, he writes.
“These are just a few ideas to get you going, “ Mr. Goldstein concludes. “I’m sure you can come up with many more once you start thinking about your organization, and how you communicate with your community.”
What elements should be included on a charity’s Web site to inspire supporters’ confidence? Click on the “comments” link below to offer suggestions.