Blog: Do-Gooder Tips

RSS

Help


Posts: 10

  1. Talk It Out

    01.Jun.08, 17:15 EDT
    Share It | Spread It | Comments: 0
    Got a problem? Everyday Democracy believes that talking is the best way to solve it — as long as you're talking to people who see and do things differently than you do. Formerly known as the Study Circles Resource Center, Everyday Democracy is a national organization committed to what they call "helping local communities find ways for all kinds of people to think, talk and work together to solve problems."

    The nonprofit has sparked powerful conversations in more than 550 communities across the United States, so odds are there's a study circle going on near you. And if there isn't, executive director Carolyne Miller Abdullah has some hints on how you can start one.

    What is a dialogue circle (sometimes called a study circle)?

    Our approach to community change puts small-group, facilitated dialogue at the center of a larger effort that includes organizing and action. In this approach, strategic organizing brings many small groups of eight to 12 people into meetings during the same time frame, and participants come together at the end to prioritize action ideas, plan their implementation, and follow through to make sure plans happen.

    Dialogues that lead to change bring different kinds of people together around a public concern, and create a space that enables constructive, respectful conversation. They meet over time, so people develop trust and relationships, as well as a shared understanding of the issue under discussion.

    Trained facilitators guide and manage the discussion and make room for all voices. They rely on ground rules, created by the group, to help make the conversation work for everyone.

    The dialogues use discussion materials that set up a framework for the conversation. People begin with personal stories, then move on to a discussion of the issue, including data or other relevant factual material. Participants examine the issue from many points of view, consider many possible approaches, and ultimately, develop ideas for action and change.

    What are some of the issues where it's essential for a nonprofit to establish meaningful dialogue?

    We have a vision of democracy where communities work better for everyone – where having a voice in the community is as important as voting. Nonprofits don't do this work alone, but work with people in the public and private sectors in meaningful dialogue that leads to action and sustained community change. In this kind of democracy:

    <blockquote>• everyone's voice has an opportunity to be heard, equally and respectfully;

    • people of different backgrounds and views routinely work together to solve public problems;

    • elected officials have many opportunities to hear from and respond to everyday people;

    • people have ways not only to inform government officials as they create and carry out public policy, but also to work with officeholders to solve public problems.</blockquote>
    Not all issues lend themselves to large-scale dialogue and problem solving. Issues that work best for this approach relate to the concerns and daily lives of many different types of people – that is, they are genuinely public issues, capture widespread public attention because they are timely, and are best addressed by many people through multiple forms of social, political, and policy change.

    Racism is one issue that's essential to address. Racism is rooted in our country's history and is embedded in our culture. It's still one of the greatest barriers to solving all kinds of public problems and to fulfilling the promise of our democracy. Because of this, we have seen that change-oriented community dialogue that includes attention to racism and diversity helps people make progress whatever issue they're working on.

    What's the first step in getting people talking to each other?

    No single organization or person can create effective dialogue and change initiatives without help. To ensure diverse, large-scale participation, the program organizing must be driven by a group of community leaders and organizations who mirror the diversity of the whole community.

    Even the most extensive programs begin with small steps.

    Build an initial diverse working group, and hold a pilot dialogue circle. Make a list of 10 to 15 people who would agree that the issue you are working on is an important one facing the community. In this list, include people from diverse backgrounds, and people with different views about the issue. Make personal invitations to the people on your list. Invite them to try out one or two dialogues. Find someone who can serve as a neutral facilitator. This pilot dialogue will acquaint you with the process, help you examine the issue in a facilitated setting, and strengthen the relationships among key people. After this, you will have a much better sense of the potential for change if dialogues like this were happening all across the community.

    Talk about what this initiative could accomplish for your community. At the end of the pilot dialogue, talk about the process, and about the potential for an inclusive, community-wide program. As a group, share your ideas about why it is important to engage the whole community in addressing the issue you've been talking about in this dialogue. It's important for those of you who are interested in carrying forward the idea of a dialogue-to change-program to discuss what the broad goals would be.

    What are some of the most common barriers to communication?

    Most people care about their communities and want to make a difference. Many want the chance to work with others in productive ways. Yet, they often have difficulty knowing where to begin and how to make progress. Often, when people try to work together on a public problem, communication and trust break down between people and groups from different backgrounds and sectors. People have different perspectives and experiences, and so they see the issues differently. The solutions that make sense for one person or group may not meet the needs of others. And, there are usually lots of people on the sidelines, not invited into problem solving or not knowing how to take part.

    These breakdowns in communication can be headed off with inclusive organizing from the beginning that brings in traditional and non-traditional leaders who have influence in diverse networks. By promoting racial diversity in outreach, and creating specific messages to targeted audiences so that all kinds of people know their voices will be heard and their values considered, barriers to communication can be reduced.

    How can you keep a dialogue going over a long period of time? In other words, how do you keep people talking to each other after a round of dialogues has ended?

    Link the dialogue to change so people know their voices make a difference. Give them ways to help make the change happen. But first, have a conversation about how change occurs in your community. Understanding how change occurs in your community is critical to moving from dialogue to action. Ideas for change often stall because people haven't given enough thought to questions of what meaningful change looks like, and how to achieve it.

    A large, diverse dialogue-to-change initiative will result in many different kinds of change, happening at all levels in the community. For individuals, ideas for change start through the dialogue process. Collective action and change often begin after the round of dialogues, when participants pool their action ideas. Ideas for collective change require additional oversight and resources.

    Planning to support action starts at the beginning of a program. Ask yourselves: Does the coalition have the right diversity of people and skills to help move from dialogue to action? Who else is needed in the action phase of the process? Decide how much support you can provide for action initiatives. With members of the coalition, talk about what will happen when the dialogues conclude. Consider helping set up task forces, overseeing task forces, writing a report, or linking participants to other related initiatives in the community.

  2. Pick a Fundraiser

    09.May.08, 04:50 EDT
    Share It | Spread It | Comments: 0
    On Tuesday, fundraiser extraordinaire Gayle Roberts revealed what it takes to be a master fundraiser. Now she tells Do-Gooder how you can choose the best fundraiser for your cause. Online? Gala? 5K Run? Annual fund? It all depends ...

    How do you see the potential of fundraising online?

    Online fundraising is creating a new giving market where one never existed. Its vast potential cannot truly be predicted. However, offline and online, the fundamentals of fundraising are no different. The fundraising cycle consists of five basic stages: planning, prospecting, cultivating, soliciting, and stewardship. First, goals are set and needed resources are identified. Second, gift markets are prioritized and individual donors identified. Third, strategies are implemented to develop relationships with prospective donors within each gift market. Fourth, donations are solicited and acquired. Fifth, donors are encouraged to become engaged in the organization and are told about the use of their funds. This process is repeated again and again. Each time the goal is to upgrade donors to a higher giving level, increasing the percentage return per donation after expenses.

    Most nonprofits are only just beginning to take advantage of the new opportunities presented by online fundraising at each stage of the fundraising cycle. Today it is used primarily as a communication outreach and donor acquisition tool. Those that maximize online fundraising at each of the five stages, and integrate it with offline efforts, have the potential to dramatically increase their fundraising reach and effectiveness. This includes major donor prospecting, acquisition, and stewardship.

    It is important to note that online donors are demanding more, not less, information and involvement in the nonprofits they support. This is accelerating a shift toward a more donor-centric fundraising style. For many nonprofits, particularly small to mid-size organizations, this is going to require a major internal culture shift. Therefore the biggest barrier to succeeding online is not technological, but human.

    How does online fundraising impact more traditional forms of fundraising, such as galas, auctions, sporting events, telemarketing, etc.

    Peer-to-peer fundraising will always remain the most effective form of raising money. The larger the donation, the more personal the touch required. Online fundraising will never have the power of a good in-person solicitation. Yet it can come close, because of the ability to deliver customized, interactive, multimedia experiences. Online fundraising should be an integral and integrated part of all offline fundraising efforts. Volunteer advocates can extend and reinforce an organization’s mission online with new and existing audiences alike. Repeated online brand messaging can reinforce offline fundraising appeals, and visa versa. Start-up costs vary widely and can be significant, but there is great possibility to scale activities. The Internet provides nonprofits with great opportunities to conduct donor research. Stewardship, the often missing but perhaps most critical piece of fundraising, can be effectively carried out online.

    How can a nonprofit decide which mix of fundraising approaches is right for their needs?

    Kim Klein, the guru of grassroots fundraising, once wrote, “Fundraising success is based on planning, planning, planning, and then working your plan.” Some of the steps required include reviewing past results, setting goals, identifying needed resources, engaging staff and volunteers, prioritizing gift markets, developing cultivation and solicitation strategies, identifying prospective donors, and establishing systems and procedures.

    Successful fundraising follows a top-down, inside-out approach -- i.e. one starts with the largest prospects closest to the agency. Leadership gifts must be secured or the chances of soliciting the needed gifts diminish dramatically. Ideally, these come from within the board of directors. One rule of thumb is a typical campaign requires a lead gift equal to 10 percent of the entire goal. Therefore, in order to raise $100,000, a donation of $10,000 must be secured; a $1,000,000 campaign requires a $100,000 gift.

    Another rule of thumb is that 80 percent of your funding will come from 20 percent of your donors. Using “gift chart” spreadsheets, it is possible to predict with some accuracy how many prospective donors and gifts are needed within each market and at each gift level. With this and other such tools, deciding which mix of fundraising approaches is right becomes a simple matter of good planning. However, it will quickly become self-evident that the resulting plan is going to be extremely time-, staff-, and volunteer-intensive. This is why fundraising ultimately rises or falls on the quality of agency leadership.

    What's the difference between a general effort to raise money for a nonprofit and a targeted campaign for a nonprofit to raise money for a specific project or need? Is one approach better than the other? Should groups try both?

    The short answer is to do both.

    The longer answer is that it depends. It depends on the nonprofit’s mission, field, programs, and donors. The use of general funds is usually unrestricted, while project monies are usually restricted. Therefore, dollar for dollar, general funds are more valuable, because they provide the agency with much more flexibility. For example, they can be used to cover administrative overhead or politically sensitive projects that are often difficult to fundraise for directly. An unrestricted annual fund campaign of individual donors should be the bedrock of every successful nonprofit.

    However, newer donors and larger donors increasingly view their gifts as “investments,” with a specific set of desired outcomes. In order to solicit these donors, project-specific requests are required. This includes most foundations and corporations, as well as many individual major donors. Simply put, attracting big gifts requires a big vision. A large visionary project — such as the creation of a new building — is a nonprofit agency’s best tool for securing truly significant donations, such as a capital or planned gift.

    Therefore, the successful nonprofit develops a variety of giving vehicles to appeal to donors at all levels and with various intents. Donors often start by making a small, unrestricted annual gift. If stewarded properly, they can progress to making major gifts, as well as gifts of true significance.

    Celeste Fraser Delgado is the MOLI View's contributing editor for Worthy Causes. Her Do-Gooder blog appears Tuesdays and Thursdays.

  3. Ask for $$$

    09.May.08, 04:48 EDT
    Share It | Spread It | Comments: 0

    Gayle Roberts started raising money in her home state of Minnesota at age six, hosting a backyard carnival for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (remember those?). Now she's a certified fundraiser and fundraising counselor in San Francisco with more than 20 years of experience -- and she's got a lot more than pin-the-tail on the donkey and water balloon toss to offer. Here she shares with Do-Gooder some insights on what it takes to turn a novice fundraiser into a master.

    What makes a person a master nonprofit fundraiser?

    Fundraising is a skill that can be learned. The inspired fundraiser understands that in order to succeed she must be united in both head and heart. It is a field that requires strong planning and analytical skills, as well as intuitive and subjective abilities.

    Resource development is fundamentally the process of cultivating relationships between individuals and institutions based on common values. Therefore, strong interpersonal skills and an ethical nature are critical. The successful fundraiser is a leader who has the ability to inspire and align others to reach a common goal.

    Though certainly not required, the field often attracts college graduates with a liberal arts background. Many mid-career professionals enter the field with experience in marketing, sales and communications. Their managerial skills are put to good use.

    Successful fundraisers must be passionate about their organization’s mission. In fact, they must be the first to make a donation. They are comfortable with asking family or friends for support, and do not take it personally when people say no. Ultimately, they must believe in the essential goodness of all people or they will quickly become jaded.

    Finally, the inspired fundraiser has taken the time to learn and practice the fundamentals of her craft, yet remains flexible and creative enough to work with the resources at hand. Setting and attaining very specific revenue and relationship goals, even under less than ideal circumstances, is the mark of a master fundraiser.

    What can a person who is not comfortable asking others for money do to become a better fundraiser?

    There are several things that I recommend:

    • Understand there is an abundance of money available. According to Giving USA, in 2006 a record-setting $295 billion was donated given to U.S. based nonprofit organizations. How much of this pool does your good cause need? Individuals, including bequest gifts, gave 84 percent of this total or $250 billion. In general, fundraising which focuses on cultivating relationships with individual donors is the most effective way to build a long-term, sustainable base of financial support.

    • Understand that you already know everyone you need to start fundraising. While the practice and purposes of philanthropy vary across cultures, the act of giving is ubiquitous. While having access to wealthy prospects certainly doesn’t hurt, it is not required to successfully raise money. The simple truth is that low- and middle-income folks give a higher percentage of their income than high-income individuals or businesses. In fact, small, regular annual fund donors make the best planned giving prospects. While there are slight discrepancies between various reference sources, according to the Independent Sector, 89 percent of American households give to charity. Gifts average 3.2 percent of income, or $1,620 annually.

    • If we are to successfully ask others to give, we must first give ourselves. Successful fundraising starts from the inside out. This requires first overcoming our own internal fears of money, power and privilege. One good exercise is to take is to take five minutes and write down all the earliest lessons you learned about money, such as, “Money doesn’t grow on trees, and we must save money for a raining day.” Share these with someone else. Discover how many messages you share in common and how most are very negative. Together rewrite these as the positive affirmations you wished you had learned instead. Post publicly and repeat them to aloud to yourself daily with enthusiasm.

    • Finally, think about the last time you made a donation or spent time volunteering? How does it make you feel months or even years later to remember? Don’t you want everyone else to feel that same joy? You can. All you need do is ask them for a gift. Asking others for help is one of the best ways you can tell someone they are important to you. If you decide to not ask, you’ve taken away one of their most valuable rights: their right to choose. The truth is, people only rise to the level of expectations we place them. To succeed as a fundraiser you don’t need to change donors, only your belief in them. The inspired fundraiser provides donors an opportunity to put their values into action and to make their dreams for a better world come true.
    What else do you think is absolutely critical for a aspiring fundraiser to know?

    If you can raise money, you’ll have a career where you can both put your values into action and make a good living. Years from now you will look back on all the children you helped graduate from college or the local park that was once an toxic landfill, and know your life was well lived. Here are my recommended steps for entering the field:

    1. VOLUNTEER: What good cause do you care about? Development offices are always looking for volunteers to stuff envelopes and help at events. Join a nonprofit board. Even without experience, if you are willing to support fundraising efforts, you’ll be snapped up.

    2. LEARN: Research your city to find free or low-cost training. I’m a huge fan of the writing of Kim Klein, Hank Rosso, and Kay Sprinkel Grace. Today’s thought leaders are bloggers. If you have time to read only one, make it the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s Give and Take, which summarizes all the rest. Start developing your expertise now.

    3. NETWORK: Find your local nonprofit trade associations. You’ll meet people who will become professional colleagues, career mentors, good friends, and future employers.

    4. START: We all must begin at the beginning. My first paid job was part-time telefunding. A horrible job really, but learning how to ask for money 30 times a day is a good skill to develop. There are always a variety development jobs available and the pay scale is higher than in other nonprofit departments. If you can learn to raise money, you will advance rapidly and never be without work.

  4. The Art of Fundraising

    01.May.08, 10:06 EDT
    Share It | Spread It | Comments: 0
    Three years ago, the Sundari Foundation and Martin Z. Margulies Foundation began co-hosting an annual art auction to benefit Lotus House. A shelter for homeless women in Miami, Lotus House can serve 50 mothers and many of their babies and offers a full range of support services for up to a year – until the women are ready to maintain a home of their own (look for more on Lotus House in Do-Gooder next week). In the first year, the art auction raised $225,000. In November of last year, the auction raised more than a million dollars. Constance Collins, who formed Sundari in 2004 and opened Lotus House two years later, shares her strategy for raising money through art.

    You started Sundari and Lotus House with your own money, after retiring from a lucrative career in real estate and other business ventures. Where do you find money to keep going, after your initial investment?

    You must find ways to self-sustain. Everyone [who depends on government funding] is in jeopardy everyday. The city gave us $150,000 in emergency funds last year, but they have no money for this year. Even private foundations tend to change their focus every few years, as their board members change. Or you win a grant one year and have to wait two more years to apply again. You can’t run an organization like that. You have to find ways to raise money privately.

    Why focus on art for fundraising?

    Art is integral to our program: Art therapy is part of how we heal ourselves. We also use art to raise awareness and to show the capacity of art to help those in need. Right not we are preparing a photography portfolio called By and About Women. This is a limited-edition, 100-boxed portfolio set by leading women artists from around the world. Each box will contain an image that will be printed and signed as well as poetry written by women in the shelter. We’re hoping to raise a million dollars, selling each box for $10,000.

    What does it take to be able to raise a million dollars through art?

    When you brand your cause with art, you must have a patron benefactor. One reason we had so much extraordinary art to auction is Martin Margulies, whose photography collection is ranked as one of the top 25 in the world, donates artwork every year. He has nurtured and supported the careers of many contemporary artists for 30 years. Without that benefactor, I don’t honestly think we could be as successful as we have been.

  5. Boost Your Career

    03.Apr.08, 09:38 EDT
    Share It | Spread It | Comments: 0
    Steven Pascal-Joiner has worked as a teacher and a freelance writer, but he found the career that really fit in the nonprofit world. He's so happy with his choice, that he wants to give others the same opportunity. As the Mid-Career Transitions Coordinator for the nonprofit organization Action Without Borders/Idealist.org, that's exactly what he does. Do-Gooder called Steven at his office in Portland, Oregon, to get a few tips on finding the right nonprofit career.

    You're one of the authors on the Idealist Guide to Nonprofit Careers, a great online resource. Why did Idealist decide to publish a nonprofit career guide?

    Finding opportunities in the nonprofit sector is a unique job seeking experience. A lot of people don't have a clear conception of what the nonprofit sector is. They think it's soup kitchens or people sitting in trees to stop logging, but it's a multi-trillion dollar segment of the economy. The nonprofit sector permeates all communities in the United States and abroad, where there are these huge NGOs.

    Once you get into the sector, it's important to know that there are very strategic ways to get hired. It doesn't follow the pattern of corporations where they start courting new MBAs in the spring, so people know where they're going before they graduate. Nonprofits don't have recruiting budgets or coordinated recruiting. You have to be very conscious and deliberate about creating these opportunities because they won't land in your lap.

    The key words in the guide are "Self, Sector, Synergy." Can you say briefly what those three words mean for nonprofit careers?

    Self, Sector, Synergy needs to be the road map people follow. The self piece is self-knowledge. The typical white collar thinking is that you go to college and get degree and then get a job in your field, and then you get another job. People aren't really conscious that you have to make self-aware choices in the career that you make. You can't go anywhere if you don't know where you're going. If you don't know yourself, you won't convey your interests well.

    If you're applying for a nonprofit job, you're going to be one of 30 applications from people all saying they want to do good. How are you going to stand out? Do you want to serve in a particular mission? Are you interested in child advocacy? Are you particularly interested in working for Idealist.org or Doctors Without Borders or the Gates Foundation. You have to show the organization your passion.

    Sector refers to the nonprofit system, whether it's huge like Harvard University or it's a small organization with a small budget. How do you want to be engaged? Do you want to work for a grassroots startup, that's really cutting edge, but they have to worry about funding. Or do you prefer the United Way, which might move slower, but you don't have to worry about your paycheck.

    The last piece was the Synergy: where is the connection between you and the organization? Maybe your mission doesn't involve working on the front lines. Maybe you're on the board of a local arts organization, but you couldn't pick up a pencil. You have to understand what resonates with you and how that resonates with the nonprofit sector as a whole.

    The guide suggests that "who you know" matters in landing the right job. Tell us a little bit about what the guide calls a "network management system."

    Nonprofits tend to have decentralized recruiting strategies: when hiring, 99 percent of nonprofits look internally to volunteers, interns, and their networks. Nonprofits rely on people power more than other sectors because there's often limited resources.

    So nonprofits create a vast network of people. When a job opens up, are they going to go to a pile of paper or are you going to go to your network? The positions that are advertised online are a fraction of what you would find if you were networking.

    But having your own network won't help if you aren't actively managing it: you keep track of e-mails, and keep in touch. You write a little not, saying I thought of you the other day, I saw this interesting news article. That puts you back on the radar, so when an opportunity comes up, people in your network will say: I wonder if Bob is still looking for a development job?

    The guide talks about the importance of understanding an organization's "culture." Why is that so important?

    There are always three questions when you're being considered for a job: Can you do the job? Will you do the job? and will you fit in? In any sector, if you can't prove to me that you can't do the skills required, I won't consider you.

    If the answer to whether you can do the job is yes, the second question is: Will you do the job? What in your cover letter or resume shows your passion for the job? The cover letter is a good place to make those connections to what about this organization makes this resonate with you.

    The third question is: Will you fit in? At Idealist we have a two-part interview process. The first part is the skills, and the second part is an informal chat with two or three people in the office to see what kind of person you are. A lot of nonprofits are people-powered, and you can't run a people-powered organization if the people don't like each other.

  6. Keep an Archive

    18.Mar.08, 13:37 EDT
    Share It | Spread It | Comments: 0
    This month the Rhythm Foundation, a nonprofit that brings the very best music from around the world to Miami, celebrates its 20th anniversary with an unusual twist: a retrospective exhibition at the cifo art space. Do-Gooder is all for seeing popular music treated as art -- but what really impresses us is that a modestly sized nonprofit has managed to keep such an extensive archive. We asked Rhythm Foundation director Laura Quinlan for tips on safeguarding a nonprofit legacy.

    Not all nonprofits do as well at archiving as the Rhythm Foundation. Why do you think that is?

    Documenting and archiving our work is probably the most difficult aspect of production because we get so focused on the immediate aspects and forget about the importance of the archives. It is really helpful to have professional photos and videos of your work if you are trying to apply for grants or sponsorships. Time passes so quickly, and if you keep on producing, you can amass a collection that really means something.

    What kind of material does Rhythm Foundation archive?

    About five years ago we had the great fortune to begin working with Luis Olazabal, our official photographer. Having a dedicated photographer, especially one as talented as Luis, has made a huge difference in everything we do. We have a beautiful record of our work, and we don't have to reinvent the wheel with each show.

    Now we are also working regularly with a video guy, Luis Cavallo. We ask the artist for permission to videotape one or two songs for our archives, and so far they have all said yes. For each concert, we have a flyer and a poster, which we make sure to get signed by the artist. My colleague [development director] Gene de Souza is in charge of remembering that! As well, we keep a record of press clippings by scanning them and creating a pdf file for each concert.

    So you basically have a set archiving procedure you stick to?

    It is important to make the commitment to each step, for each show. It would be difficult to have to rethink each step with each production. You would think it is easy to remember to get the artist to sign the poster, but it isn't easy! We put that into the master schedule.

    What was your initial motivation in saving all this stuff?

    James Quinlan, the RF founder, has long wanted to create a TV series from our live shows. We work so hard on the concerts, and when they are over, they only really exist as a happy memory. James wanted to make a way for the live experience to live on beyond the performance.

    What do you see as the value for your organization of keeping such an extensive archives?

    We don't have an extensive archive. We don't have anywhere to keep such a thing! We were lucky to have a few shoeboxes of videotapes of varying quality, which we transfered over to DVD, and some old photos. But I wish it was more extensive.

    Why did you decide to do an exhibit culled from the RF?

    The idea to do the retrospective at cifo came from Javier Ollarves, who works there. In addition to his work with the art space he is a music lover, and approached us to collaborate. We never dreamed we would fill up the space, but Javier knew we could do it.

    I imagine that over 20 years, the way you've archived has changed. Take us through some highlights.

    Initially, we recorded some of the old (1980s and early 1990s) shows on my old video camera. We set up the camera and let it run. The same with photos: It was entirely a homemade deal. We had people who took photos at our shows, but were never able to have a relationship with a photographer where we reliably got a copy of the photos.

    We have very little record of the earliest productions because everything -- all of the press clips and flyers -- were accidentally thrown out in a move in 1993. We were moving into an office and it was locked, so we left the file cabinet outside the door until we could get in in the morning, and the cleaning crew threw it all out. Luckily Jody, the wife of our partner at the Cameo [the theater where RF first presented shows] had another copy of some of the old Cameo flyers and press clippings.

    Our first major production was Africa Fête in 1994 and 1995. We began working with Montse Guillen at this time, and she has been a big role model in the importance of documentation. She documents everything! Also there was some TV coverage of the production which of course we saved. This is the first time that we have a complete set of photographs and videos to enjoy years later and include in cifo.

    But it really isn't until we began working with Luis Olazabal in 2003 that we have a professional record of the work. It is pretty sporadic up until that point.

    What has technology allowed you to do now to share your work that you couldn't do before?

    I work on a Mac computer, which has opened up enormous resources to me as an amateur archivist. We create beautiful printed photo books for our collaborators and sponsors using iPhoto. We post our photos and videos on the web using iWeb. We create really professional-looking resources and make them easily available. There is no excuse anymore.

    What practical tips do you have for other nonprofits that want to archive their activities over decades?

    The basic issue is to just do it. It can be very time consuming to scan the press clippings and properly label the disks of photos, flyers, and press. But it is much easier in the long run to keep them in order. They come in handy so often, and it would be impossible to track things down after the fact.

    When we were preparing the cifo show, we reached out to so many people to contribute materials. A lot said, oh, I have some great photos and videos but don't know where they are. Or, oh I don't have time to go through all of that stuff.

    I am the ultimate anti-packrat, and I asked myself, what is the point of hanging onto stuff for years if you don't know what you have? It's important to get out the Sharpie marker and make some notes, put things away properly.

  7. Get the Most Out of Social Web Tools

    01.Mar.08, 21:04 EST
    Share It | Spread It | Comments: 0
    Britt Bravo has been helping nonprofits, socially responsible businesses, and arts activists achieve their potential for 17 years. A prolific blogger, she posts at Have Fun * Do Good, BlogHer, NetSquared, AND produces the Big Vision Podcast, the Arts and Healing Podcast, and the NetSquared Podcast. Whew! Here Britt shares some advice on how your organization can make the most of social web tools.

    When did you decide that you didn't just want to volunteer, but to make doing good work your career?

    Socially responsible work has always been important to me.  I think it comes from how I was raised.  While I was growing up, my dad always worked for nonprofits, and my mom did teaching or counseling.  They were also both active in social justice work through their church, and raised me to value volunteer work and philanthropy.

    What are some of the common concerns clients have when they come to you for career advice?

    The biggest issue I see is fear.  It takes many forms: fear of failure, fear of change, and fear of making the wrong choice.  Fear of making the wrong choice is a big one that is often related to not wanting to let go of possibilities.

    In terms of day-to-day operations, what are some of the biggest changes that the Internet has introduced in the way the organizations you work with operate?

    I work with nonprofits around how they can use social web tools (i.e. blogs, podcasts, social networking) in their work.  One of the biggest challenges organizations struggle with when using these tools is not only figuring out how to choose which tools will help them meet their strategic goals, but also how to embrace the giving over of control to their supporters that comes with using some of these tools.  Organizations are often afraid to allow people to create, share, and remix content related to their website and their work.

    In terms of day-to-day operations, it is necessary to allocate staff time not only to creating media on a regular basis (i.e. online videos, blog posts), but also to listening and responding to what other people are creating and saying about their organization online.

    What new opportunities might groups overlook when they build an online presence?

    I’ve encountered a lot of nonprofits that want to build a social network from scratch for their supporters. The biggest challenge with social networks is getting a critical mass of users to make it active and humming.  Unless your organization has a large base of supporters who you’re sure want to join an online social network; a budget to hire someone to not only build the network, but to manage and maintain it; and a timeline that allows for a more than a few months to reach a critical mass, I would recommend starting with an existing social network.

    What challenges might they not anticipate?

    The idea that “if you build it they will come” doesn’t often work -- unless you have a budget for someone to create content, listen to what others are saying about you online, do outreach, and maintain your online presence and community.  I’ve had a lot of organizations say to me that they are afraid to use social web tools because, “It is going to take all of our time.”  It isn’t going to take all of your time, but you do need to plan for it to take some of it.

    Is there a minimum frequency you should post on a blog or a podcast to build an audience?

    I get asked this a lot.  I usually answer, “regularly.”  Think about when you subscribe to a magazine, or watch a TV series.  Would you keep watching or subscribing if your magazine was delivered one month, and then didn’t show up again for another three months?  Or if your TV show was on Tuesday at 8pm one week, Wednesday at noon the next, and didn’t show up at all the following week?  There is no hard and fast rule, but at a minimum I would say one to two posts per week, and one to two podcasts per month.

    The Have Fun * Do Good site is clean, bright, and reassuring. What do you advise your clients to consider when they are designing a blog or website?

    I think the most important things to remember when designing a web site are:
    1. People make a decision about whether they want to spend time on your site in a matter of seconds. Seth Godin’s post, “Eye Tracking Rules” has a lot of good tips for how to grab users’ attention.

    2. Don’t make people work to find the information they are looking for.  If I want to contact you, I shouldn’t have to search through your site map.   When designing your site, think about not only what you want visitors to see and read, but also what they are looking for.
    What are the main technical issues that could cause trouble for your clients, and what do you recommend to help them address those issues?

    A lot of nonprofits have beautiful web sites built for them, but they can’t update them themselves.  They end up paying a lot of money to have someone outside the organization update it, or having a volunteer update it when they can, or not updating it at all.  

    Similarly, I have seen a number of nonprofits use interns to set up their blogs, but when the intern leaves, no one else knows how to post on it, or wants to.  Whatever web presence an organization builds for itself, they need to choose tools that are user-friendly, make sure that more than one staff member understands how to use the tools, and archive instructions (including passwords and logins!) somewhere that more than one person knows about so that tech expertise isn’t lost when there is staff turnover.

  8. Diversity Your Audience

    26.Feb.08, 10:06 EST
    Share It | Spread It | Comments: 1
    Sheldon Epps is an award-winning theater director. Even if you don't get out to the theater much, you may have seen his work directing episodes of popular sitcoms like Frasier, Everybody Loves Raymond, and Friends. For the past 10 years, Epps also has been the artistic director of the Pasadena Playhouse, making him the only African-American artistic director of a major theater anywhere in the United States.

    While Epps is committed to bringing more African Americans into his theater, he also has a broad conception of diversity that includes generational as well as cultural and ethnic differences. In 2005, he founded the Pasadena Playhouse Diversity Project to "support new play development, fund productions by minority and women playwrights, and allow access to our theater for underprivileged youth."

    Here are some tips from Epps on how to diversify the audience for theater, which MOLI picked up on a visit to the playhouse last week as part of an NEA-sponsored tour for theater critics. These strategies apply not only to theater, but to any organization seeking a more diverse membership.

    Community: My father was a preacher. He always felt a church should not only have church services on Sunday, but should also be of service to the community. The church building would host Girl Scout and Boy Scout meetings, and other community activities.

    I felt that this theater should be open to the community beyond curtain time. I'm proud to say there is always energy, always something going on, in this building. The theater is alive and vibrant.

    Programming: You have to put on stage something that has to do with the lives of the people you want in your theater. You can talk about diversity for 100 years, but until it's reflected in your programming, you'll never get it.

    In 2006, we did a six-week run of August Wilson's Fences with Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne and it was a huge success. [The crowds were so big that] everyone on staff spent all their time trying to figure out how to fit more people in the theater. Then we did a musical version of Sister Act, the movie, and that was an equally big hit. This year we did a version of Cole Porter's Can-Can, and a very successful production of Ray Charles Live.

    Marketing: We have a lot of hubris. We think if we build it, they will come. That's not just in theater, but in any art form. But you have to find the way to get to the audience you want. The biggest ad in the LA Times might not do it for you. You might have to reach out to the churches or the social clubs.

    Economic access: I don't believe that nonsense about African Americans not having money to come to the theater. You have the Tyler Perry experience in African-American theater, and Tyler Perry shows are not cheap. I've been to the Kodak Theatre with seats [selling for] $45 or $50 and the theater was full.

    That said, we make sure that no one who wants to come to the theater is shut out because they don't have the money for a ticket.

    Urban appeal: How do you appeal to the audience that goes to a Tyler Perry show? I'm not going to address the quality of what's called the "chitlin circuit." It's impressive that they can come to these huge theaters for a couple of weeks and fill the house. I want to be on that bandwagon. I know that if I can get that audience into August Wilson's Fences or The Piano Lesson, they'll have as good or a better experience.

    Once an audience shows up for those plays, many of them keep coming back for other productions, like     Orson's Shadow, which is playing right now.

  9. Organize on Campus

    29.Jan.08, 09:23 EST
    Share It | Spread It | Comments: 0


    Organizing on campus often runs into a student paradox: passions run high, but attention spans can be short. That's one lesson Michael Del Ponte has learned since founding Conscious Lifestyle in 2005. A nonprofit that encourages students and schools to be socially responsible, Conscious Lifestyle's Ventures program provides $1,000 in start-up cash and a whole lot of hand-holding for would-be student activists and social entrepreneurs.

    If you've got a great idea for making your school more conscious, you've got until February 15 to apply for the 2008-2009 academic year. In the meantime, Do-Gooder asked Del Ponte for some tips on how to have the most impact on campus. The 25-year-old grad student at Yale's Divinity School spent last summer as a microfinance consultant for the Abhilasha Project in Nepal. He got his start as an undergrad, organizing classmates at Boston College around issues such as divesting college money from businesses in the Sudan and labor rights for janitors in Boston and garment workers in Bangladesh.

    Even if you're school days are over, Del Ponte's tips can help you foster change in any institution.

    What inspired you to found Conscious Lifestyle?

    The original intention was to get people to think more about their consumer decisions. We wanted people to learn about locally grown organic food and non-sweatshop products. Then buying green became really popular, so we switched to student groups.

    We have a three step philosophy: you should be aware of your impact on environment, then you can change your lifestyle, then you realize that having changed your own life, you can change an institution or the world.

    Why focus on students?

    There is such a great opportunity for change on campus. It’s really easy to make small changes that will be there forever. There's a venture this year at Columbia University that places students in dormitories kind of like resident assistants, solely to help other students live eco-lifestyles. For years and years to come, that will have an impact and can be replicated on other campuses.

    Conscious Lifestyle Venture's Class also has high school students making their schools greener by pushing the administration to use post consumer waste recycled paper and college students volunteering in soup kitchens while working against the root causes of poverty or hosting a 5k run to raise funds to renovate a local animal shelter. What is the CL criteria for choosing a venture?

    We look for groups that fit the three-part philosophy. Last year was somewhat of a pilot program with 8 ventures. We’re looking to expand to 25 ventures next year, and then 100 ventures in four years.

    For the selection process, the students have to do a 10-page application where they lay out everything: identify the problem, what they’re doing to do to solve it, their budget and time table. It’s like a business plan. We help them revise it. Then they have to present it to a panel. If we’re going to invest in them we want to make sure they’re successful.

    What kinds of advice do you find that student ventures need?

    Being able to clearly state what their venture will actually do. We have them pitch their ideas several times. If you can ‘t articulate what you’re doing, you can't succeed.

    What seems to be the biggest challenge facing students who are motivated to promote change in their schools?

    We thought it would be funding, but it’s actually balancing their really busy lives as students. That was one thing that caught me by surprise: students feel burdened by doing schoolwork, going to class, and spending time with friends. So now each venture will be given a young professional in their geographic area to walk them through their projects. So now there's someone who can say: Look I’ve done this. I was just in your shoes a few years ago.

    So, how can students balance activism with the rest of their lives?

    Look for overlap.     They need to see if they can incorporate their venture into their classwork. Get their friends involved, so instead of sacrificing their social life to have a meeting they can have a meeting over dinner.

    What other practical strategies do you recommend?

    Meet regularly. It’s imperative that students meet regularly. It’s really hard to stay on a weekly schedule. So they need to make meeting a constant just like a class, make it non-negotiable.

    Build momentum. A lot of students have large goals, but it's important to start small. Down in Florida, there's a venture called Minor Changes for Major Impact that put on a fashion show with used clothing to show how purchasing clothes isn't good for the environment. They had that right at the beginning and got some good press, so that keeps everyone going.

    Find one key ally. We can teach students how administration can be partners rather than adversaries. Find one key ally who can help you provide extra connections or publicity.

    Change your game plan    . Let’s say you want to get organic food in the cafetreria and you want to switch Coca-cola with another brand in the vending machines because you don’t like their human rights record. Activists are so passionate, they don’t want to give up. But if the administration won't budge on Coca-cola, then you might be better off saying: Okay, organic food this year; Coca-cola next year.

    Connect with an established social entrepreneur. We have a venture called IdeaTree Design, with Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, that provides engineering and product design services to nonprofits. Since they were a startup, I connected them with a startup from Silicon Valley. The young professional was more important than a professor, who maybe knows the engineering but doesn't have experience getting out the product.

  10. Manage Your Database

    27.Nov.07, 10:49 EST
    Share It | Spread It | Comments: 0
    "Database stuff can be a bit dry ... :)" So says San Francisco-based information systems manager Marnie in an e-mail to Do-Gooder. But Point Foundation, where she works, collects a lot of data, and somebody has to organize it all. The same is probably true of your nonprofit. Marnie agreed to break down for us why a good database is important and how she keeps Point Foundation's data organized.

    First, what exactly does Point Foundation do?

    Point Foundation provides lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender scholars with scholarships to attend the nation’s foremost higher educational institutions, with qualified mentors who provide a network of emotional and professional support, and with leadership training. The well-rounded support provided by a Point Scholarship helps Point Scholars to assume the leadership positions they seek and in turn creates leaders who make a difference in the LGBT community at large.

    Why focus on LGBT students?

    Point’s work is vital because nearly one-third of LGBT students drop out of high school to escape the violence, harassment, and isolation they face there — a dropout rate nearly three times the national average. As a result, LGBT students are twice as likely to report they were not planning to pursue a higher education. Many LGBT students face rejection by their family and peers, including the withdrawal of both emotional and financial support.

    You came to the foundation in 2005. What's your job there?

    I was responsible for overhauling the organizational database, establishing standards for maintaining the integrity of the data, and overseeing the maintenance of the current systems. Now I am tasked with the express duty of leveraging technology to create more efficient systems while being fiscally responsible and adhering to the organization budget.

    Um, you mean you've only got so much money to spend and you have to make the most of whatever technology is out there to make sure everyone at the foundation can get the information they need, right? Why does database management matter for a nonprofit?

    For any client-based company or nonprofit a clean, well-maintained database is integral to success. Consistency is key to maintaining a quality system that provides accessible and useful information.

    Okay, let's say a co-worker needs to pull names of prospective scholars or needs numbers to demonstrate the program's success to a potential donor. How do you make sure that information is right there at their fingertips?

    Think of it in terms of a huge closet or warehouse. There are shelves and drawers and racks to organize your stuff. Now if you and I were given the same closet we probably would not organize it exactly the same way. With this in mind, it's important that you and your users thoroughly understand the systems behind the way your database is organized (i.e., shoes go in the shoe rack or for example, members of our Cornerstone Society are coded with a certain code).

    So you need to decide upfront on the categories and codes everyone will be using whenever they enter data?

    When working in a large system with thousands of records it's important to have confidence in your data. That can best be achieved by setting clear standards for data entry and management on the front end and ensuring that records are marked consistent with your established rules or standards.

    How do you figure out how to set up your standards?

    There are many different ways to get the same result from a database. I get a lot of ideas and tips from our software user forums. I take those ideas and apply them to my system, not necessarily in the same way that others have done.

    Do you have any tips that other information systems managers might not think of?

    A key component in succeeding at this task is learning the technology and applying it to its full capacity. With limited resources and time constraints, along with expanding technology, it's easy to overlook the components of our gadgets or computer systems that we don’t use everyday. If you take the time to learn your systems up front you may find that you already possess the technological solution that you need.

    Are there any neat tech fixes you've found that your system already possesses after poking around a bit?

    I nearly learned this lesson the hard way. We were in search of software that would allow multiple users to review a big number of large files. We knew that e-mailing or printing these files for review by our group was inefficient, so I began looking for alternatives. I also knew there were a number of different software solutions in existence, so I was just looking for the right one. After some research, it turned out the solution we wanted to use for this project was one we already had. Fortunately, we hadn’t purchased an alternative yet!