pic by eekim

Seek out corporations whom are willing to have their employees perform charitable work for your organization.  Companies do not usually advertise their commitment towards backing an employees’ volunteer effort.  This asking of an employer for their support should be structured to ensure that they will see a measurable result.

These companies usually pay the employees during this volunteer time.  Imagine showing this match when seeking other funding for your programs.  Imagine the success of one employee as a volunteer helping to identity for their fellow employee other potential volunteer opportunities.

During these tough economic times most companies are likely to keep up the efforts of their volunteer program.  Studies have shown that paid time off for volunteering can help a company in its recruiting and retention of employees.  Further, at an employees suggestion, companies often are willing to help out in bigger efforts for the nonprofit.

For more ideas on how to get corporations to invest in your organization check out the three documents noted below.

Giving in Numbers: 2007 Edition Link

Giving in Numbers:  2008 Edition Link

Business’s Social Contact: Capturing The Corporate Philanthropy Opportunity Link

photo by Nosha

Corporate Responsibility-Social Media-Nonprofit Help Part 4

Making a difference needs to be measurable for any corporation to decide whether any initiative is worthy of support.  Every company should incorporate into their strategic planning a social media and corporate responsibility initiative that achieves a measurable outcome for the corporation. Said measurable objectives may not always be easy initially to decide.  Listed below are just a few non-traditional areas to make measurable in order to create a stronger organization.

·    Educational requirements vs. salary
·    Living Wage vs. welfare wage
·    Disability/welfare vs. work
·    Work vs. benefits
·    Listening vs. learning
·    Listening vs. accepting
·    Continuous quality improvement vs. stagnation
·    Stated truth vs. underlining truth
·    Prejudice for employment vs. best candidate
·    Talk vs. action

 photo by Kolya

Corporate Responsibility-Social Media-Nonprofit Help Part 3

Why is it important for corporations to be socially involved in their service community?  It is good for business.  Ultimately it is always a human being making the choice of whether to make purchases from any corporation.  That person has many factors that influence choices but ultimately most choices lean towards that choice that is influenced by emotion.  This emotion is not only the customer making the choices but the individual connecting the customer to the corporation. Make connections between the nonprofit sector and create a synergy that promotes your corporation agenda.

It is quality vs. quantity.
It is outcome focus vs. transaction focus
It is wishful thinking vs. reality

Expected treatment of employees
Expected treatment of customer
Positive experience vs. negative experience

Employee management
Employees are averse to working towards conformity of an employee’s behavior.
Front line Employee valued vs. back room employee valued

Expectations:  Provide clear expectations and reward positive employees behavior with support to show others what it takes to be productive employees.

 photo by mamamusings

Corporate Responsibility-Social Media-Nonprofit Help Part 2

Social Media is not confine to for-profit corporations.  It is necessary for nonprofits to reach out to their communities to solve community issues.

Nonprofits organizations can be helped by not having them pay any taxes.  You may say back to me but they already do not pay taxes.  This is the biggest false fact which that the majority of people believe about Nonprofits.  The nonprofits organizations pay fuel taxes, gasoline taxes, telecommunication taxes, unemployment taxes, workers compensation tax, social security tax, and the Medicare tax.  Corporate energy companies should try to help nonprofits with their transportation costs such as gasoline, alternative energy, and heating/cooling costs.

Another area of nonprofit help is affiliating with colleges.  Decrease the use of Temps and increase use of Interns.  Decreasing turnover through building a network of college students not only builds an educated work force but also allows recruiting and hands on skill building.

Use the need for housing by college student to support the nonprofits goals and the student’s goals.

photo by ATIS547

Corporate Responsibility-Social Media-Nonprofit Help Part 1

Resources for nonprofit organizations should not always cost money.  Helping nonprofits achieve their mission should be a form of corporate responsibility.

The “Hopes and Dreams” of nonprofit organizations as they help their consistency need the help of corporate America.  Social Media is a strategic means to achieve such for corporations.

Corporate America and the community in which a nonprofit organization resides can provide the baseline help for the nonprofit organization.

Want to know who to help?

Log into www.guidestar.org type in your zip code and nonprofit organizations in that zip code will be shown.  Most of the organizations bases in your community are more likely to serve your community as a priority.

Corporate America can help nonprofit organizations by donating time, staff, goods or money.

Photo by Ross Mayfield     Photo by keishkakeishka

Individuals are the power behind nonprofits and the government.  Sometimes these entities lose they way and need help to find their mission and vision again.  People are the engine of CHANGE.

What is your geographic reach?

Write down ten companies within a five minute walk of where you are working?

Write down which communications you have sent these ten companies.

Write down the last time these companies were invited to an event run by the nonprofit.

 Write down the contact name for these companies.

If you were able to complete the task, your way ahead of most organizations.  Now do the exercise for another ten companies.

After completing the exercise look up all on the web for those businesses within a 2 mile radius and build your contact list.  When your done with that, try those businesses within your zip code. 

For those of you whom never got to the first ten, you should begin with creating a contact list of those businesses in your targeted geographic area starting with the instructions above. 

You will be amazed how when businesses get to know you and feel your part of the community how much more they are willing to be part of your circle of friends. 

Photo by Ross Myfield

Katrina was by far one of the single worst events to have created the largest migration of people to other states.

Photo by the voice of eye

Government has grown tired of supporting displaced individuals in temporary housing situations  and stops benefits.  However, it never rebuilt the housing that was destroyed. So what does that say about what government defines as displaced?

Photo by Rosefirerising

Many parts of the areas effected by Katrina are still closed, people have been unable to rebuild, businesses gone, jobs lost, and families disrupted.  Today the economy is on the edge.  The perfect storm of economic pain I believe began with Katrina families and now people throughout the country have begun to feel the same economic pain these families have.

If you want to learn how not to do something you only need to look to the local, state and federal government efforts.  The various actions on mobilization and the ongoing progress in recovery efforts from Katrina are so different but the overall failure is still one of the worst in history.  The media just grew tired of reporting it.  Nonprofits, individuals and businesses have had some of the best results in the shortest period of time.  Maybe it is your turn to give it a try.

Photo by C-Eight

Accountability and disclosure should not have to be debated on whether it is done.  Self dealing, fraud and inappropriate actions a board and management must deal with openly.  This New York Times article conveys very different approaches by two nonprofits.

If someone stole a million dollars from you would you keep them on the payroll?  Acorn did just that.  I guess the employee needed the money more than Acorn because there was no prosecution and they never got there money back.  Oh, $200,000 was paid but was that with his payroll deduction for money earned by working at Acorn.  Nothing like Acorn paying itself back for another persons crime.  To what effect the stolen funds effected Acorns  ability to meet its goals and outcomes has not been disclosed.

I would blacklist the nonprofit Acorn since I feel that the board has not taken enough action against those of management and the small set of board members whom deceived the organization.  Donating to Acorn should be done only after such action is taken.

Photo by Shyald

The game of chess is not only a board game but the constant movement of strategically placed decisions.

The Boston Globe reported that three Board Members of Boston Public Library with business ties to City vote to support the Mayors wishes to oust Executive Director.  Do these Board Members meet the Conflict of Interest test or the trust test? Regardless of whether anyone agrees or not that the city had influenced over the vote, these three members should have abstained to assure the public that there was no conflict.  The fact that they held city contracts and the city was advocating the Executive Directors removal meant that the board member had an interest in the business of the city and keeping that relationship.

It is up to a court to decide whether the vote was tarnished sufficiently to give the former Executive Director legal recourse.  It is up to the former Executive Director whether to take legal action against the organization to nullify the vote base on nondisclosure by the board members to the full board.

The IRS Conflict of interest disclosure is the best one to follow because there is no latitude for disclosing to your follow members what might or might not be consider a conflict.  It is not the individual members right to choose when to disclose or what is a conflict.  Up front at the time of selection as board member ties to the city should have been disclosed.  If there was a change in status while on the Board that should have been disclosed.

For your ease below is information from the IRS web site.

“Form 1023: Purpose of Conflict of Interest Policy
What is the purpose of the conflict of interest policy?Charitable organizations are frequently subject to intense public scrutiny, especially where they appear to have inappropriately benefited their officers, directors, or trustees.  The IRS also has an oversight role with respect to charitable organizations.  An important part of this oversight is providing organizations with strategies that will help avoid the appearance or actuality of private benefit to individuals who are in a position of substantial authority.  The recommended conflict of interest policy is a strategy we encourage organizations to adopt as a means to establish procedures that will offer protection against charges of impropriety involving officers, directors, or trustees.A conflict of interest occurs where individuals’ obligation to further the organization’s charitable purposes is at odds with their own financial interests.  For example, a conflict of interest would occur where an officer, director, or trustee votes on a contract between the organization and a business that is owned by the officer, director or trustee.  Conflicts of interest frequently arise when setting compensation or benefits for officers, directors, or trustees.  A conflict of interest policy is intended to help ensure that when actual or potential conflicts of interest arise, the organization has a process in place under which the affected individual will advise the governing body about all the relevant facts concerning the situation.  A conflict of interest policy is also intended to establish procedures under which individuals who have a conflict of interest will be excused from voting on such matters.Apart from any appearance of impropriety, organizations will lose their tax exempt status unless they operate in a manner consistent with their charitable purposes. Serving private interests more than insubstantially is inconsistent with accomplishing charitable purposes.  For example, paying an individual who is in a position of substantial authority excessive compensation serves a private interest.  Providing facilities, goods, or services to an individual who is in a position of substantial authority also serves a private interest unless the benefits are part of a reasonable compensation arrangement or they are available to the public on equal terms and conditions.”

Due to the nature of the vote and what I find as a conflict of interest by these 3 board members I recommend that donors withhold giving to the Boston Public Library until the Board adequately deals with this issue of disclosure, takes appropriate action and announces to the public that action they have taken.

Photo by Noblgnoble

It is a fine line between lobbying and education.  First, whom in your organization is doing the communication to the government?  If you have a dedicated person for government your getting much closer to the line of lobbying than you probably should?  The network which an organization has should include all of the elected officials within the geographic areas where the organization services.  Remember its about communicating at least seven times with the network to keep enaged with the person.  Such communication needs to convey over the year what the nonprofit is doing, how its doing and educating how rules or changes effect the organization and those its services.  There is nothing wrong with offering solutions to problems within a communication, there is nothing wrong with meeting with individuals within ones network, there is nothing wrong with holding forums on a subject.

The world of getting elected requires individuals elected to really know who to raise money from and the current movers and shakers of the community.  Therefore, check your network and see if its current.

One word of caution: A former elected official is not always the right person to manage the nonprofits network. The leadership of the nonprofit organization needs to be managing the network.  This should underscore the need to keep the network up to date.