NonprofitEye

Bruce Sievers & Nonprofit Identity by pam ashlund Every once in a while (I wish!) I find I’m guilty of a huge (unintentional) oversight; and last April was one of them. Specifically, it was March 21st & 22nd, at CAN ’s Policy Day’s in Sacramento, CA. It was at that conference where I heard Bruce Sievers deliver the keynote address “A Tale of Three Cities: Government, Business, and Civil Society--a look into the increasingly fuzzy relationship between nonprofits, government, and business”. It was after hearing his talk that I launched the NonProfit Eye and wrote my first post “ Identity Crisis ”. Since that day, I haven’t stopped struggling to address the ideas that sprang from that keynote. Bruce, on the understanding that I not use it in print, sent me his talk notes (which helped to re-inspire me long after the talk). Today, I came across (yet another) blog (posted on 10/28) on the topic of Non-Profit Identity and I set out to track the coverage of that topic. I imagine that...

On Sept. 20th Beth Kanter, of Beth's Blog fame, graciously posted an interview about yours truly and cross-posted it on BlogHer . Don't worry, this isn't a blatant self-promotion blog, it's dual purpose: 1) to thank Beth for the wonderful effect it had on NonProfit Eye readership; and 2) to sing the praises of Google's web-tracking product Analytics . Take a look at the graph of the Eye's readership and page visits after Beth posted her interview: I love Google Analytics, because (among other cool features) it tells me 1) how many unique visitors; 2) where they come from; 3) filters out my own editing visits; and 4) boils them down to executive summary level. Very nice. Finally I can count all four of my visitors and find out that 25% (i.e. one person) is unique. Wow, 25%! (insert wink here). Technorati Tags: BlogHer , Google Analytics , Nonprofit

Nonprofit Confidence Problem: Kim Klein Names the Shadow Side of Nonprofits by pam ashlund What's in a name? Nonprofits struggle with this. Marketing professionals everywhere espouse different theories. Myself? There was nothing so powerful as Nike's "swoosh" or it's "Just Do It" mantra. I don't wear Nike's, I don't buy Nike's, but I know that symbol is called a "swoosh" and when I need something done pronto I'm known to say "just do it!". And this wasn't a passing thing either. In the early 90's I was known as the "Nike-boss" for my overuse of the slogan. That was not necessarily a good thing, but sure says something about branding. Last week, at the 2006 CAN Conference, I had the pleasure of hearing the keynote speaker: Kim Klein. Although Kim is known as the leader in grassroots fundraising, this was not the focus of her talk...or if it was, I must have missed the point. She spoke on trust and ...

Nonprofit Burn-Out? by pam ashlund PART II - NONPROFIT EYE BURNOUT SERIES Ken Goldstein, in " The Nonprofit Consultant Blog " in his posting " Fraud, Burnout and Getting What we Deserve " wrote: The very nature of the sector is to spend long hours solving other people's problems for less money than our skills would earn elsewhere. Having worked for non-profits for going-on decades, when I saw California Association of Nonprofit’s 15th Annual Conference: Building Strong Nonprofits had a session on "Burnout", I signed up as fast as I could. Appropriately, coming in from a red-eye flight the night before, I arrived at the conference (racing from a 7:30 am meeting), exhausted and worn down. At registration, they told me the workshops were starting in ½ hour. I looked around and made a bee line for an empty row of tables and chairs. But there he was, a conference staffer (with a badge)…”I’m sorry, you’re not allowed to sit there”. "Where may I sit?...

Welcome to the NonProfit Eye ! If you’ve just landed here, the blog is devoted to keeping an eye on current issues affecting nonprofits. Find links to some of my favorites (by topic) below. Motivated by an alarming change in climate in the nonprofit environment, the Nonprofit Eye launched in April '06. Our industry is under attack, with our very identity between a rock and a hard place. Are we as professional as a business? Are we so professional that we aren't a charity anymore? Are we pushing political agenda's? Are we government sub-contractors or agents of change? Everywhere I look, another threat to our tax-exempt status if we don't tow the line. Worse still, are we beginning to believe the attacks? is the public? Take a look at the topics covered and then sign-up to receive updates when new articles are published. If you have a feed reader, the Eye is also RSS friendly. Enter your Email If you aren't a subscriber yet and want to catch up, here are a few highl...

No Room At the Inn: Pam heads for the Blackbaud Accounting Training by pam ashlund Come along with Pam on her work travel adventures. Don't have time to read the whole thing? Jump to the punch line! Los Angeles, 8:30 am OK, make that 8:45 am. Realizing the clock is running down, feed the cats, throw the laptop in the carry-on, dash out the door, drag my suitcase down the fire stairs behind me and beat it to LAX. LAX, 10:45 am Take off in a very ugly (and old) airbus. The plane is completely full. The guy sitting in our center seat leaves me no elbow room. Food is "pay-to-play" and I buy some cheese and crackers for five bucks. Watch "The Devil Wears Prada" while sit-sleeping for four and half hours. Dulles, Washington D.C. 6:15 pm Arrive at Dulles and take TWO airport subways to Terminal A, while chugging a dry cappuccino, lugging my carry-on and talking to Ma on the cell phone. Dulles, 7:25 pm Jump on the 30-seater to Charleston. This plane is half empty and t...

How did all of this madness evolve? In the beginning was a social ill, a problem that needed solving. Enter government funds set aside to help with that particular problem. If 100% of your funding goes to pay for 100% of one project, you only need be concerned that the expenditures are reasonable right? Wrong! Read the federal regulations (if you can stay awake) and first find out if they are allowable costs. Once you have an allowable cost and determined that it is "reasonable" you should be in the clear. Unless.... Unless you have two sources of funds funding one project. Sound's simple, but that's when the trouble begins. Have $100,000 from source A and $100,000 from source B, it's logical to charge 50% of the costs to each. But wait, I hope you have a cost allocation plan. And wait, I hope that plan isn't derived from your budget. What? If source A pays for a counselor who spends 30% of her time on the project, then your 50/50 plan is not accurate. Fur...

Si Se Puede: Nonprofits, Government & The Left by pam ashlund When does government start and politics end? In my experience most nonprofits are heavily funded with government dollars to implement government programs (so much so that I have come to think of many non-profits as not much more than government sub-contractors). The ironic thing is that if we can do the work more effectively (and cheaper) than the government…and the only reason we can do it cheaper is because we’re exempt from government taxes…and the government revenue stream is lower because we aren’t paying taxes… what exactly is happening here? Furthermore, if we (and the government) are committed to many of the same causes (e.g. to provide a good and just life for the citizens of the world)…why exactly is Lobbying prohibited? I know, I know, there is always the 501(c)4 status that can allow some lobbying…but what I am thinking about today is the attack on non-profits participating in the political process. Specifi...