The USA has been a nation where most political refugees do not become a burden on its resources.  These individuals are motivated to survive and succeed.  Due to their status they usually do not get government benefits.  It is these individuals and other group resettlements that are a resource for many of the job openings in the nonprofits sector.  Many of these individuals are educated and have skills that only require recertification.  The Iraqis who have helped the USA is one such group that will offer highly skilled people for organizations to consider.  In the near future the number of Iraqis coming to the US will increase as the US decreases its military involvement. 

With planning an organization can take advantage of hiring these individuals to meet their staffing needs.  Last year over 36,987 refugees entered the US.  This group does not require H1B visas.  These individuals  are part of the federal resettlement programs that helps them towards self-sufficiency.

Does your employee feel valued by your organization?  What is your turnover rate?  The closer your turnover rate is to 40% the more the organization should look to how it shows its employees they are valued.  If you think it is because you pay so little, I challenge you to look closer.  In reviewing many nonprofits, there are some who pay low wages and have staff who love their job.    They love their job because they are helping individuals and they feel valued. 

The second most important factor is the ability of the employee to afford a place to live and commute from their residence to their job.  Housing costs effect every business in its ability to recruit in a community.  There are many regions of the USA that have become such expensive places to live that it is effecting the ability to recruit.  You can resolve this problem by joining other nonprofits in providing housing opportunities to employees.

More and more companies are providing concierge type services to help retain their staff.  The service can be offered via the web or phone. 

The service lowers the employees need to take personal time to do their chores, especially taking that extended lunch or the day off.    The extra time saved during the week allows the employee to concentrate on their job.  It will increase the amount of time an employee feels that that have for them selves and their family.  It has been known to lower the stress of an employee and provided more evening and weekend time to individuals.    Check out these three errand running services.

 http://www.errandsolutions.com/site/whatwedo.htm

 http://www.circles.com/

http://www.bestuponrequest.com/index.php

The Internet has brought about a tool for individuals to be able to communicate and bring services to them as they are in need. In addition, it can be used as a way for folks to be in touch daily with individuals to keep tabs on their health and safety and decrease feelings of isolation.

Nonprofits should review their services and create opportunities to expand their services through the web market place and maximize their impact.

Start with stay at home moms, the elderly, the disabled, and other groups that can be isolated or restricted in their ability to interact outside of their home.

Over 29,000 Americans to date have returned with injuries due to serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. With the change in battle field medicine the survival rate has created the largest number of individuals with serious long term injuries and many with amputated limbs. The Veterans Administration is overwhelmed and needs many health care nonprofits to make themselves known to the Veterans. Reach out and clearly show what your organization can do for those who have served. The wait for services, the lack of service, and some substandard services, are due to an overwhelmed system. The need grows each day.

Nonprofits who can support a veteran’s family, provide job retraining, and become a lifeline to these men and women should contact your local national guard, military installation, and advertise to the military community.

Make a difference.

Economics:

A community in poverty is more difficult to break from the cycle of poverty, unless reasonable employment and educational opportunities exist in the geographic area.

• An individual can move, a community can not.
• Individuals and a community can work together or not.
• Individuals and a community can blame others for their failure to overcome poverty or spend their energy overcoming the barriers.

If jobs do not exist and/or education opportunities for training when jobs do exist is not available then maybe a city/town should close.

or

Government/foundations/educational institutions/business should be brought to bear.

It is critical to be strategic in the planning and to have measurable outcomes for the resources directed towards the objective.

While a harsh decision to make, if the outcomes produced are not increasing the skills of the work force and creating jobs, then do not continue the effort. There are plenty of needy geographic areas in the USA and the world.

How many hours are you or your employee spending resolving health insurance issues or negotiating the health care system?  To cut through the time and stress of it all, think about offering a health care advocate resource.  This advocate service will allow employees to concentrate on their job and your organization the ability to concentrate on its mission.

Health Advocate, Inc., the nation’s leading health advocacy and assistance company, serves more than 10 million Americans nationwide through its more than 3,000 client relationships.  Check them out at : http://www.healthadvocate.com/about_us.aspx

For owners of pets and parents of children an On-Line Support System is nationwide and growing.

When was the last time you needed to call someone for the pets or children?  Or an employee could not get someone on short notice to step in? With planning, this important need can easily be addressed with a great service.

I will make it plain and simple. The solution is Sittercity.

I found Sittercity to be the best tool out on the web  I have used it for several years to find sitters. For the office or the home need log on and give them a try.   Long term or short term, it’s a great resource. They have designed their system to make it as easy as possible for many types of people and the various levels of hand holding needed. Check out the site and have access to a huge network of support.

http://www.sittercity.com/

I studied many religions while in college and later as an area of personal interest. There is one consistent pattern among all faiths; go forth and teach your faith to others. Therefore, I find it strange when certain religions/faiths/groups use a situation to restrict their ability to teach, educate and provide exposure of their faith to others. Catholic Charities stopped doing foster care and adoption in Massachusetts because of the Commonwealth’s requirement of no discrimination. Holy Cross allowed a Teen Pregnancy conference to rent its facilities and there was backlash due to two organizations attending with whom faith groups did not agree .

Instead of refusing to be associated with people or a group that does not agree with an organization, I would suggest that each disagreement is an opportunity to convey the message in other ways.

Religious/faith based organizations have the largest assets at their disposal to deal with the issues of our society. As nonprofits they should take every opportunity to maximize their value to the community. Housing, youth, children and families are the key areas where they can make the most impact.

Yes, there are rules that must be followed to receive government funds, but the impact on society is worth the steps that faith based organizations must address. Walking away when it gets hard is not what one’s faith says to do. 

Make a difference in someone’s life. If your organization is not doing something, then volunteer. If you are having trouble finding a group feel free to email me.

Nonprofits are just too nice when it comes to creating, inventing and working hard. They show their result and the design to achieve the results.

If you create it, especially if it is successful, copyright it or patent it.  Universities and colleges have been doing it for years and making money on the royalties.

You can always give an individual, company or government permission to use it, and certainly always credit the funding source, but make sure you get the credit for what you did.

Branding and Name Recognition = Marketing = Money