Join a powerful group of your peers in this three-part, executive director series hosted by the Nonprofit Academy for Excellence.  Designed as a series of interactive workshops, each session will be facilitated by several nonprofit executive coaches and will address issues that most working ED’s consider to be the most challenging.  Topics include:

·         The unique work of the staff leader

·         The relationship between the ED and the Board

·         Retaining personal identity on the job

·         The question of values and ethics and how they create a culture in an organization

·         Problem solving: many paths to a solution for the same problem

·         Risk taking

·         Managing Change

·         Transition/Succession planning

·         Personal workplace challenges

A generous grant from the American Express Charitable Fund has reduced tuition for this series from $795 to $400!  To take advantage of this opportunity and get enrolled, call 801.585.1780.  For more information, visit our website at contine.utah.edu/nonprofit.

 

Our friends at the University of Utah remind us that the deadline to apply for the Spring Nonprofit Certificate program is January 20!  And scholarships are avaiable. 

To apply or for more information, call 801-585-1780, or visit nonprofitacademy.utah.edu.

“We’re a business and if we don’t approach it that way, we’re not going to be successful,” That is the message Booz Allen Hamilton gave to  60 nonprofit leaders at a recent conference in DC. If you've been to our speed mentoring events it sounds familiar!

Washington Post: In down economy, nonprofits explore profit-making ventures

To all our friends out in the desert (the festival runs over labor day) read this when you get over your sunburns and rave-tired feet! 

"Burning Man, an annual arts festival and mass gathering in the Nevada desert, has attracted questions about its finances as it makes a switch from for-profit to nonprofit,The New York Times reports."

How N.Y. Museum Fell Into Financial Hardship  is a story in the Times today describing how "an overly optimistic expansion and series of poorly timed decisions have brought the American Folk Art Museum to the brink of dissolution.

"The recession has amplified the chronic financial instability of many organizations, causing heightened anxiety and increased frustration with unsustainable
financial models" - just one key finding in "Daring to Lead 2011" a must read report from CompassPoint Nonprofit Services and the the Meyer Foundation. Down load it here.

A movement in the UK may be coming to Massachusetts where the Governor is is considering a financing approach for social-service projects that would require charities and philanthropists to obtain private financing and show results before getting state money. You can read the article in the  The Boston Globe. Already  24+ nonprofit have weighed in on how they can implement a “social-impact bond” approach used in Britan.  Investors in social projects could reap healthy returns if governments adopt and begin financing the programs but would lose their stakes if the efforts do not meet predetermined benchmarks.

$100,000 is the first place award the 2011 Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation, granted to a social sector organization that demonstrates Peter Drucker's definition of innovation — "change that creates a new dimension of performance." The applicaiotn can be downloaded here

This new study shows that nonprofits that responded to increased we all saw over the past two year by collaborating helped many groups stretch far beyond what a single charity could accomplish on its own.  But you already new that! Read the article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy here:.

Oregon is considering a bill that would take away the tax-exempt status of charities that spend less than 30 %of their budget to provide services.  Read about it in  The Oregonian .

The planned union of two leading charities that provide surgery for children with facial deformities has divided the board at one of the would-be partners, The New York Times reports. Smile Train board members who opposed the New York charity’s merger with  Operation Smile, a Virginia group, have made an official complaint to the New York attorney general’s office, saying the deal gives Charles B. Wang, a computer mogul who co-founded Smile Train, too much control over the organization’s resources.

(from the Chonicle of Philanthropy)

This new report from BoardSource updates board practices and performance, including financial oversight, fundraising, and strategic planning in light of the the recession and new Form 990 requirements. It is free to download here!

Turf. Bitter founders. Different models. This story has everything that would stop two agencies from merging. But the 2 charities that provide surgery for children in the developing world with cleft lips are indeed joining forces. Here is the article from the Virginia Pilot

Norfolk-based Operation Smile announced plans Monday to merge with Smile Train, one of its fiercest competitors for charity dollars, saying that the two international groups can help more children by working together.

The new organization, called Operation Smile Train, will continue to be based in Norfolk, where Operation Smile was founded in 1982 by plastic surgeon William Magee and his wife, Kathleen. It will have an office in New York, where Smile Train is located.

Both groups repair cleft lips and other facial deformities for children across the globe.

Howard Unger, chief operating officer of Operation Smile, said he initiated conversation with Smile Train co-founder Charles Wang in December, which quickly grew into suggestions to unite the charities.

"All of us want to make a greater impact on children, and there's great synergy that exists between the two organizations," Unger said. "We can reach more children working together than working separately."

Unger will hold the same title in the new organization and will have responsibility for day-to-day management. The merger must be approved by Virginia and New York regulatory bodies.

The merger, recently approved by the boards of each charity, follows a long-standing feud between the two multi million-dollar organizations. Brian Mullaney, who co-founded Smile Train with Wang, had once worked with the Magees to build up Operation Smile, but he broke away in 1998 because of philosophical differences. The next year, he co-founded Smile Train in New York with computer software giant Wang.

While Operation Smile uses a mission-based model, flying volunteers and equipment to different countries to perform surgery on children, Smile Train has trained and supported doctors and health professionals in 78 countries to operate on children.

Smile Train has far outpaced Operation Smile in raising money. According to tax reports for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009, Smile Train pulled in $92 million in revenue, compared with Operation Smile's $33 million.

Operation Smile, which works in 60 countries, employs 115 people, which Unger said would probably remain the same. Tax records for Smile Train showed 43 employees worked for the charity in 2009.

Operation Smile broke ground in Virginia Beach in September on a new headquarters, due to be completed in 2012. The merger will not affect the move from Norfolk to Virginia Beach.

In recent years, Mullaney had tried to "bury the hatchet" with William Magee and had sent donations to the organization, but the contributions were turned down.

Smile Train board member Mark Atkinson said Mullaney had differences with Wang last year and stepped down from his position of chief executive in October, but he continued to be a board member.

Atkinson said the proposal to merge the two organizations came up quickly, with board members getting information about it only last week. He said he voted against it, along with Mullaney and one other board member, because he felt the move was made too hastily. He also questioned why Operation Smile kept so much administrative control.

He said he respects both organizations but questioned how money donated to one could rightly be spent by the other, particularly since Smile Train's resources are so much larger than Operation Smile's. "I think it's going to be very complicated going forward."

Mullaney, reached by phone in New York, declined to comment Monday except to say he no longer runs Smile Train and has moved on to another charity.

Atkinson said some of Smile Train's top managers were dismissed from their jobs Monday. Unger said he was unaware of any recent staffing changes at Smile Train, although he was aware Mullaney no longer directed the charity.

Unger arrived in New York on Monday to discuss the merger.

"We're going to be looking forward rather than backward," Unger said. "This will help all of us accomplish what we have set out to do."

Elizabeth Simpson, (757) 446-2635, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The nonprofit sector is the fourth-largest employer in Michigan and has been one of the few engines of job growth in the state in recent years, a new report from the Center for Civil Society Studies at Johns Hopkins University finds.

The report, Michigan Nonprofit Employment (24 pages, PDF), found that the sector employs nearly one of every ten workers in the state — eleven times that of the auto industry — and that in 2009 the state's 374,537 nonprofit employees, more than two-thirds of whom work in the health services field, earned nearly $14.5 billion in wages, which generated an estimated $90 million of income tax revenue for state and local governments. The report also found that nonprofit employment in the state grew 17.4 percent between 2001 and 2007, partially offsetting the massive job losses that were taking place in the private business sector, and grew an average of 1.3 percent annually between the second quarter of 2007 and the second quarter of 2009.

Organizations that have government contracts are most at risk of long standing receivables. Garvester Kelley suggests saying no or at least keeping your eyes WIDE open and negotiating up front. Here are his ideas in today's Chronicle of Philanthropy

"The following is a partial list of what they should consider when setting up new financial arrangements:

• Evaluate the terms of payment.
• Reach out to other nonprofits that have experience with the government agency or grant-making organization that is offering support to get the scoop on how timely it is in making payments.
• Assess your organization’s balance sheet to determine your ability to withstand late payments with available cash.
• Evaluate your group’s access to working capital: Does your organization have a line of credit to meet current and projected needs or will it qualify for a line of credit if it needs one?
• Project cash flow regularly, and establish contingency plans if payments do not occur as planned.

Summoning the courage to just say no to a grant or contract may be the best thing an organization can do to ensure its financial viability—especially if the group is not flush with cash. Preemptively making these kinds of tough financial and organizational decisions may prevent an organization from going broke so it can remain in the business of serving the public good."

Are Network for Good and other on line giving programs worth it? Good overview of the controversy you might have missed in the NYT when you were busy over the holidays.

Only 42 percent of the combined goal across all campaigns has been raised or pledged to date   This reports from the Connecticut Council for Philanthropy is quite comprehensive - it includes data from 64 current, anticipated, and completed campaigns in the Greater Hartford, New Haven, and Fairfield County areas, Perhaps something to keep in mind - and data that perhaps we should compile here in Utah!

This is a unique certificate program created for directors, staff and board members of Utah’s nonprofit community.  Certificates available in Fund Development, Leadership and Management, Human Resources Management, Social Media, Financial Management and Self-Directed.

Apply Now!  Visit us at http://nonprofitacademy.utah.edu or call 801-585-1780. Scholarship assistance available!

Applications accepted until January 21^st for Spring 2011 term.

Five great tips for year end on line giving from a new report. You can download the report here - and read a summary below.

1. Small improvements to the online experience can make a big difference in donations.
2. Giving on social networks is significant, but donor loyalty is highest on charity websites that build strong connections with donors. 
3. Donors who gave via charity websites started at the highest level and gave the most over time. 
4. Recurring giving is a major driver of giving over time and should be strongly encouraged in the giving experience.
5. A third of all online giving occurs in December, and 22% of annual giving happens in the last two days of the year. Online giving (by dollars) on December 31 is concentrated between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. in each time zone.

Donations Increased Slightly in Summer Months, Survey Finds
Small charities are seeing bigger percentage gains in donations than large groups, a new study finds.