It’s been feeling a little like spring here…I know we are not there yet, but a nice thought considering it is the first week in Feb This week’s theme seems to be fundraising.

1. 9 Ways Board Members Can Raise Money Without Fundraising from Social Velocity, By Nell Edgington

The good news is [...]]]>

Image via Wikipedia

It’s been feeling a little like spring here…I know we are not there yet, but a nice thought considering it is the first week in Feb This week’s theme seems to be fundraising.

1. 9 Ways Board Members Can Raise Money Without Fundraising from Social Velocity, By Nell Edgington

The good news is that there are lots of other things board members can do to bring money in the door. And remember, if you are financing not fundraising your organization, your definition of “bringing money in the door” should be very broad.

Here are 9 things you could ask your fundraising-shy board members to do

2. 5 Ways Your Brand Can Destroy Your Fundraising Results from Fundraising Fundamentals by AndrewOlsenCFRE

I’ve been talking about nonprofit branding a lot lately with organizations all over the country.  Seems brand strategy is top of mind once again for organizations trying to raise their community profile and generate more money for their causes.

There’s only one problem.  Brands  and fundraising don’t always mix.  In fact, often when a nonprofit makes changes to their brand strategy, it ends up killing their fundraising results.

Don’t let this happen to your organization.  Watch out for these five ways branding can kill your fundraising results.

3. 5 Tips for Successful Nonprofit Fundraising in 2012 from Marital Solutions

…there are steps nonprofits can take – regardless of size and scope – that will optimize their engagement and contribution opportunities in 2012 while remaining true to their cause and keeping their mission at the forefront. I have compiled the following 5 tips through my ongoing research of the latest studies, reports, podcasts and webinars relating to nonprofit and (to a lesser degree) for-profit business and marketing strategies that are worth considering.  

4. Nonprofit Governance: What Are Your Three Duties? from scHammond, by Susan Hammond:

True of all nonprofit boards our legal responsibilities can be defined as:

• Duty of Care
• Duty of Loyalty
• Duty of Obedience

5. Just in case you haven’t heard:  Pinterest Becomes Top Traffic Driver for Retailers [INFOGRAPHIC] from Mashable

The site’s popularity is quickly growing. Pinterest’s traffic increased more than fourfold between September 2011 and December 2011, bringing in 7.51 million unique visitors in December alone, data from Compete indicates. The amount of traffic Pinterest sent elsewhere has risen accordingly, becoming a top five referrer for several apparel retailers, according to internal data from Monetate, which provided the infographic below.

Related articles

• Around the Web Jan 27 (thenon-profittoolbox.com)
• Around the Web Jan 21 for NPO’s (thenon-profittoolbox.com)

Meet Spike and some of her rain forest friends and enjoy games, crafts, and cake!

Pre-registration requested.  Limit 60 people.

Tuesday- Friday, February 21-24 - Flexible! Choose one day or all 4 days!

Options for children ages 4-6 and grades 1-3.

Image via Wikipedia

1. Board Governance Resources great list of eight resources from Susan Hammond, sc Hammond Advisors

2. Free nonprofit tools from 10 different experts! from the Fundraising Coach

10 of us have gotten together to offer:

So last week, out of the blue, I got a phone call from our exchange student. In 2000-01 school year, while our children were a freshman and a senior at the high school, we decided to host an AFS exchange student. It was a great experience, but we have not talked much since his year here. Every [...]]]>

So last week, out of the blue, I got a phone call from our exchange student. In 2000-01 school year, while our children were a freshman and a senior at the high school, we decided to host an AFS exchange student. It was a great experience, but we have not talked much since his year here. Every year I send a Christmas card, we connected on Facebook a couple of years back, last year he was in San Francisco, and he had coffee with my daughter -so we quazi-kept in touch.

He and his brother got tickets for the Pat’s AFC playoff game, and they were coming in from Mexico on Saturday, and leaving Monday morning. Quick trip, but we had enough time to “catch-up” on things, and he settled in nicely to our house – his “room” is now our office, and many things were the same, but a little different for him.

In the last couple of years, his family has opened a small boutique hotel in his home town, and he and his brother talked about it with us. – humm it thought, the Norwell Women’s Club was looking for a destination silent auction item…this could be perfect…couldn’t hurt to ask, so I did, and we now have a great, unique item for our Wine Tasting Dinner and Fundraiser.

So I guess the motto to this story is that you never know where or when your connections might help you out

Friendship Home’s 4th Annual Gala Lombardo’s in Randolph 6:00-11:00 PM

Committee Chairs Joe Malone and Susan Daileader and Honorary Chairs Annellen and Gordon Pulsifer invite you to join them for an evening of inspiration and celebration.

Auctioneer Dan Flynn will offer fantastic getaways, sporting events and special packages.

Music by Vinal Tap Vocalist, Virginia Kulka and special [...]]]>

 

Greetings from a light snowy Northeast…it has been a while.

1. Does Your Nonprofit Need Legal Counsel About Using Social Media? from Beth’s Blog:

“CYA – Consult Your Attorney!”

Now, I have another great resource to share,   Good Counsel:  Meeting the Legal Needs of Nonprofits by Lesley Rosenthal, the astute General Counsel of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. [...]]]>

Greetings from a light snowy Northeast…it has been a while.

1. Does Your Nonprofit Need Legal Counsel About Using Social Media? from Beth’s Blog:

“CYA – Consult Your Attorney!”

Now, I have another great resource to share,   Good Counsel:  Meeting the Legal Needs of Nonprofits by Lesley Rosenthal, the astute General Counsel of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.   It is an thorough guide for the most common legal, governance, and fundraising compliance issues facing nonprofits.     Her writing style is less lawyerly, and well, human.   The book is filled with stories, practical resources, and tools.      The book is written for staff and board members.      While the advice in the book does not replace an attorney,  having this on your reference desk can help you be more efficient your attorney’s time because you’ll come to meetings educated.

2. Nonprofit Governance: How Small All-Volunteer Organizations Can be Successful from Susan Hammond, scHammond Advisors:

This all prompted me to think about what it takes to run an all-volunteer organization.  Here are a few of my thoughts:

1. Mission. All board members need to agree and be able to articulate to the public what the purpose the organization serves.
2. Vision. We all need to agree on the value the organization will provide to the public
3. Strategy. All decisions and activities then need to be driven by what the shared vision and mission is. The two most important questions to answer are:
   1. How does this decision, be it an expenditure or activity, further the organization’s mission & vision?
   2. Is this the mosst resource efficient and impactful way to approach this expenditure or activity?

3. I put this in because it happen to us at The Non-Profit Toolbox… No, You Can’t Pick My Brain. It Costs Too Much from Forbes: Adrienne Graham, Contributor

I can’t tell you how flattering it is to be approached by representatives from major companies seeking my wisdom and advice. It shows they are listening, and like what I have to say.

But often I find the road ends when they are just on a fact finding mission. That mission is to pick my brain to gather as much free intel and knowledge they need to make their jobs easier.

4. 12 ways to use Pinterest for your nonprofit from John Haydon a guest post from my good friend Noland Hoshino. Pinterest is the hottest, newest thing…with many people writing about it…

There is a new darling in the social media world and her name is Pinterest. A virtual, interactive bulletin board where individuals, businesses, and nonprofit organizations can pin their interests and drive traffic to their website.

What is Pinterest?

Pinsterest is basically a vision board or scrapbook that you put together while surfing the internet. According to the website, “Pinterest is a virtual pinboard. Pinterest allows you to organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. You can browse pinboards created by other people to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.”

Other Pinterest articles:

• Steal these 42 Creative Pinterest Ideas for Nonprofits
• HOW TO: Get Your Nonprofit Started on Pinterest
• Honoring Martin Luther King, Jr Today: Inspiration from Pinboard

5. How to Turn Your Super Bowl Party into a Fundraiser from by geofflivingston on Inspiring Generosity:

Winter isn’t the best time for fundraisers, but it’s sure great for football! Why not do both, and turn your Super Bowl party into a fundraiser?

The key to turning a successful Super Bowl party into a winning fundraiser is fun. You have to make your fundraiser fun, something people can enjoy. It should fit within the larger context of the Super Bowl party.

Some suggestions to build an event around your cause:

 

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), also known as House Bill 3261 or H.R. 3261, is a bill that was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on October 26, 2011, byHouse Judiciary Committee Chair Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) and a bipartisan group of 12 initial co-sponsors. The bill, if made law, would expand the ability of [...]]]> What is SOPA/PIPA?

From Wikipedia:

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), also known as House Bill 3261 or H.R. 3261, is a bill that was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on October 26, 2011, byHouse Judiciary Committee Chair Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) and a bipartisan group of 12 initial co-sponsors. The bill, if made law, would expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement and copyright holders to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods.^[2]

So what does this have to do with  non-profits?

Since there is currently no definition of what an “intellectual property right infringement” might be, your site could get cited under SOPA or PIPA because of links included in your online newsletter or stories on your website. If your agency gets cited, anyone, including possible donors and supporters will not be able to find you online via Google or other search engines and you won’t be seen in their search results. If these bills pass, companies could shut down sites based on accusation alone.

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

Go to Stop American Censorship for more information and a bunch of ways you can take action quickly, easily, and painlessly. The Senate votes in two weeks, and we need to help at least 41 more senators see reason before then. Please. Make your voice heard.

TODAY: If you click through to the Wikipedia site, you can write your Congressman and Senator and ask them to oppose the Stop Online Piracy Act (Congress) or the Protect IP Act (Senate). Here is a sample letter:

For Congress:
I’m writing to you to ensure that you oppose the Stop Online Piracy Act and make sure that it remains shelved.

We all oppose piracy, but we don’t want to give the government broad censorship powers that would provide a mechanism to shut down web sites arbitrarily by accusing a site of piracy.

For Senate:
I’m writing to you to request that you vote against the Protect IP Act.

We all oppose piracy, but we don’t want to give the government broad censorship powers that would provide a mechanism to shut down web sites arbitrarily by accusing a site of piracy.

Related articles

• Current Community protests SOPA/PIPA – Are you In? (current.com)
• SOPA vs. PIPA: Anti-piracy bills, uproar explained (digitaltrends.com)
• Wikipedia to protest SOPA/PIPA with 24-hour shut-down (techradar.com)
• How Can SOPA/PIPA Affect Non-Profits? (Donor Dreams Blog)