Research and recommendations for effective, day-to-day nonprofit practice from ASU faculty, staff, students, and the nonprofit and philanthropic community.
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
Welcome to a new ASU Lodestar Center Blog series, “Get to Know the Lodestar Center!” We’d like to provide our readers with a peek into what we do each day to accomplish our mission by introducing members of the faculty and staff via short interviews and conversations. Meet the folks who are here to help you and your nonprofit succeed!
Anne Kotleba is our newest staff member, joining us as a lecturer in the School of Community Resources & Development and coordinator of the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance and the Certified Nonprofit Professional Credential. She joins us just in time to start a new school year and meet a new group of wonderful nonprofit students!
Meet Anne...
How would you describe yourself in 5-10 words?
Passionate, enthusiastic, creative, loving, and tall.
What is your main area of interest?
Being a force for justice and arming young people with the courage and freedom to define their own identity.
This means access and encouragement to step outside of the boundaries of what society or the world places on people based on where they grew up, what they look like, all the ways that we try to classify people. Also, the…
Read moreTuesday, June 21, 2016
For many nonprofit founders, managers and employees, their work in the organization is their baby—you don’t trust just anyone to take care of it. Whether you’re looking to hire new employees or contract for services, you want to make sure that whoever you bring into the fold shares your goals and interests in moving the organization and issue forward. Here are a few tips about what to look for and what to ask to see who may be the right fit:
FOR PARTNERS AND SERVICES
Identify what’s in it for them—other than good feelings
Anyone who wants your business can paint a rosy picture about why they’re the best fit for you. But the real question is, how are you the right fit for them? Lots of companies can wax poetic about how they share your values or care about your cause. That all may be true, but that’s rarely ever the whole story. Many law firms, for instance, require their employees to do pro bono hours, which helps with their branding. A public relations firm may offer a nonprofit discount, but with the assumption that they’ll get to rub noses with other high-profile supporters at your annual gala.
These aren’t reasons not to work with a vendor. In fact, many of the best partnerships work precisely because both entities can scratch each other’s backs. But it’s important to have a frank conversation about expectations. Don’t be afraid to ask what they get from the deal. You may not mind…
Read moreWednesday, June 15, 2016
One of the core problems that many nonprofits face is that although we work to serve or protect people or resources that are often called “priceless,” this failure to monetize our causes has the ironic effect of rendering them valueless. Certain sustainability and environmental business stakeholders are now taking the step of monetizing to try to force corporate leaders to manage natural resources more effectively.
A close examination of these tactics reveals several strategies that other nonprofits can use to monetize the work they do every day and add value to their time and output in corporate terms. Assigning value to nonprofit work in this way isn't just good for business; it's great for the vulnerable people and resources that nonprofits work to protect and serves the greater public interest, too.
Tying your cause to the cost of running other businesses
Sustainability advocates are now starting to have success showing corporate leaders just how costly it is to run a business without green, environmentally friendly practices in place. For example, while many businesses have resisted building more energy efficient buildings, it's now clear that doing so reduces their costs over time. This kind of investment in sustainability pays off, especially for big businesses.
But how does this work for other nonprofit messaging? That depends on the…
Read moreThursday, June 9, 2016
The bottom line may not be the driving goal behind nonprofit work, but, let’s face it, we all need money. Except for the lucky few organizations with large endowments or patrons with deep pockets, finding new funding sources and asking for money are key functions of charitable and advocacy organizations. This means every proposal or appeal you write has a lot of competition. The good part is, there are a few things you can do to make sure your proposal stands out from the pack. Here are a few principles that can help you show your cause merits investment:
Know your audience and speak their language
The first and most important thing is to understand who you’re talking to. The pitch you use to a large foundation likely isn’t the same that you’d send in an individual email appeal to an interested supporter or make in-person to a major donor. Before you even start your proposal, do some research on the potential investor. You want to understand their goals, constraints and processes so your proposal can match their needs and meet their expectations. You may not think about your work in terms of return on investment, but often people want to see not just what their money is buying, but how far it’s stretched. The more you can talk about your work in the potential funder’s framework, the better chance you have to connect with them.
This applies to how you use your language too. Like all fields, there’s a lot of jargon in…
Read moreTuesday, May 31, 2016
A nonprofit organization, much like a for-profit company, is only as strong as its leadership. Creating a thriving nonprofit sector that is fueled by innovation requires developing and retaining the best leaders. Businesses spent an estimated $12 billion in leadership development in 2011. The social sector spent $400 million, just .03% of the sector's $1.5 trillion total annual spending (Kapila, 2014). Businesses spend $120 per employee per year on leadership development, while the social sector spends just $29 (Callanan, 2014). From a funding standpoint, foundation support for leadership development was less than 1 percent of overall giving from 1992 to 2011 (Hirschfield, 2014).
Inadequate investment in leadership development has extensive adverse impacts, namely the loss of talent to other organizations and eventually other sectors. The need for nonprofit leaders has grown dramatically, not only due to growth but also because senior staff are leaving their organizations. According to a 2015 study by The Bridgespan Group, one in four C-suite leaders left their position in the last two years and nearly as many planned to do so in the next two years. Based on these projections, the nonprofit sector would need to replace the equivalent of every executive leader over the next eight years. From a purely financial standpoint, this is an exceedingly expensive problem.
Additionally, the costs in productivity are numerous and create a burden on the…
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