GIVE WELL GIVE OFTEN - NONPROFIT TREND OF THE WEEK

New Feature! Nonprofit Trend of the Week

Nonprofit Innovations

disclaimer: this is NOT a plug - please read to end of article for pro's and con's!

A friend introduced me to a for-profit product that dovetails well with nonprofit values. Produced by GiveWell.com , the product itself is called the "Healthcare Gift Card". There are pros and cons (discussed below), but first, what is it? Givewell bills itself as:

...a new way to help employees cover health and wellness costs. It is designed to encourage healthy living and staying well.

Employees can use it to cover a variety of healthcare costs including co-pays at doctor’s offices and pharmacies or for vision care, dental care, health club memberships and elective procedures at businesses that accept Visa debit cards.

Pros

Giftwell tells us that

Because the Healthcare Gift Card is targeted to work only with health and wellness providers, you can be assured your gift card will be used as a “gift of health.”

Better than giving someone cash and worrying that they'll use it on something less necessary? Hmmm...this may also be a "Con". Is a massage more necessary than gas or groceries? Can individuals not be trusted to use cash (or cash equivalents) for something they need? Is the glass half empty or half full here?

Cons

It's worrisome that a card like this can only exist in a country that doesn't provide adequate health care in the first place. Might it not be like saying "here, I know you're poor and can't afford to go to the dentist, so here's a little reminder of that"?

More worrisome is a hidden charge. After nine months if the card hasn't been used, the purchased starts incurring a monthly charge. That's kind of insane, I wouldn't want to give out a card unless I was darn sure it was going to be fully used!

The real evil here is that the stats show most folks don't use (or fully use) the gift cards they receive, perhaps Givewell's business model is based on this premise (not on the actual sale of the cards)...

But before we throw the baby out with the bathwater...there is some intriguing kernel of information here. Could you sell the card (at a markup) as a fundraiser? Could you set up to accept these cards (fee for service?) and have your donors decide who to give them to?

I think there's something here, but as always, let the buyer beware.


Technorati Tags: Givewell, Nonprofit Innovation, Nonprofit Trends, NPTech, Charity, Giving, Gift Card

FABULOUS FONT CLOUD

Spruce Up Your Nonprofit Website - Find Your Font Here
by pam ashlund


Inspired by a post in the new hot blog "KPAO!" (I think that's a batman reference): Best Free Font Resources


Technorati Tags: KPAO!, Fonts, Font Cloud, Nonprofit, Webdesign, NPTech

THE REVISED 990: IT'S HEEEERE!

This Just In...IRS Releases New Form 990
brought to you by pam ashlund

You've been waiting for it (dreading it?) and now it's here. Get ready, the IRS has announced the release of the revised Form 990 (complete with schedules A - R)! How many years have we been hearing the rumblings about excessive compensation? about professional fundraisers? about risk management? about enhanced transparency? Well, the pavement has met the road folks. Read the IRS announcement here.

Effective for the 2008 tax year (returns filed in 2009), the revised form will be phased in over a three year period for smaller organizations.

The revision reflects many changes since the draft was released (the IRS received more than 650 public comments!!!)

For the 2008 tax year (returns filed in 2009), organizations with gross receipts over $1.0 million or total assets over $2.5 million will be required to file the Form 990. For the 2009 tax year (returns filed in 2010), organizations with gross receipts over $500,000 or total assets over $1.25 million will be required to file the Form 990... Also, starting with the 2010 tax year, the IRS will increase the filing threshold for organizations required to file Form 990-N (the e-postcard) from $25,000 to $50,000.

You can find the 2008 Form 990, comments, etc. on the IRS Charities and Nonprofits web site.

Technorati Tags: 990, Revised 990, Form 990, IRS, Charities, Nonprofit Tax Return, Nonprofit

NONPROFIT GOVERNMENT GRANTS - THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Pam Ashlund's Nonprofit Thought for the Day

I came across this item in OMB's comments to the IRS (in response to the revised 990):

Federal agencies provide over $450 billion in government grants annually; a substantial portion of which goes to nonprofit organizations.

No deep thoughts today, just this: That's BILLIONS not millions. That's a lot of change. Let's use it to make a difference!



Technorati Tags: Government Grants, Federal Funding, Nonprofit Funding, Nonprofit

CONTENT NO LONGER RELEVANT

Finding What's Relevant Today
by pam ashlund

I lost a subscriber today. Not the first, definitely not the last. The reason? The dreaded "Content no longer relevant".

The truth is that when I started writing about nonprofit identity, I thought that topic would carry me through writing unlimited posts. Even when I ran through the topics that interested me I still had an impulse to use the blog as a repository of reference information. 99% of that material related to nonprofit accounting and occasionally to compliance or fundraising. I've always worked in finance and tech. Two nonprofit spaces were full enough; the marketing/fundraising blogs and the IT/Tech blogs. Still, I can suddenly be inspired by some miracles of technology lately, especially the tech that speaks to blogging. I found a fair amount of my posts were tech or tech humor, accounting or compliance reference all forming a frame for my general philosophy on nonprofit identity.

In the meantime, my life changed radically. I was ten years into a job and twenty into a career when the signs of burnout started to show. I was overwhelmed with insecurities, suddenly feeling I'd lost my edge. All of what I used to call confidence now seemed to be nothing more than unsubstantiated hype. The more burned out I got, the worse everything seemed. My writing turned to preventing burn-out, to yoga, to stress reduction, etc.

It was just about then that I made my decision to walk away. After ten years I left my well-paying, secure, (somewhat) prestigious job. For the first time in my life I "leapt without a net". It didn't occur to me then, but it's clear now, that my own identity was entwined with my idea of nonprofit identity. Turns out I've been working for nonprofits for almost half of my life! Also, I'm what used to be called a "career girl". I've chosen the path less traveled, never married, no kids, two-cat limit (no cat lady action here!). What I'm trying to say here is this: my work was my life and vice versa. So now that I'm not working, it has thrown me into some serious self-examination. If I am what I work, what am I now?

A FLAIR FOR FLARE

A Flair for Flare: Y.T. asks the important questions

Last Friday I blogged on blog flare in 'Tis the Season for Blog Flare. It wasn't until later that the word "flare" started bugging me. Where did it come from, why call it flare? The only thing I could think of was a cute little movie called Office Space.

P: What are pieces of flair?

J: That’s where you know, suspenders and buttons and all sorts of stuff. We’re, uh, we’re actually required to wear fifteen pieces of flair. Jennifer Aniston in Office Space

What the heck is "Flare"? I remember seeing it on Feedburners site as "feed flare". I assumed it was related to the "flare" that Jennifer Aniston made famous in the movie "Office Space", but where did it come from? Perhaps a bit of corporate marketing slang? A hunt of the online dictionaries turned up nothing.

But then, proving once again that there is nothing that hasn't been thought of before. I came across a fellow blogger, Matt Cutts (a Google Engineer and Spokesman) who asked (back in March):

When referring to those little widgets like MyBlogLog that spruce up a page, do you say “flair” or “flare”? The first place I heard the term was Office Space, and they call it flair:

Matt's post had 30 comments, the most key of which was from a Feedburner staffer who cleared it up once and for all thusly:

hey matt…it’s don from feedburner. while i didn’t do the naming (i think it was matt shobe, one of our cofounders), londoner and bob are right. it’s from office space, but we changed it a bit to match the flame

Mystery solved. I was barking up the wrong tree with "flare", when it was "flair" all along. Ah the important things in life. Now I'll be able to sleep tonight.


Technorati Tags: Blog Flare, Flare, Feedflare, NPTech, Flair

RSS - YOUR NONPROFIT BLOG CONTENT JUST A CLICK AWAY

Not ready for blog RSS flare yet? We'll cover RSS today (then blogging tomorrow and Flare on Thursday)!

Don't get confused about technie terms like RSS, we'll keep it simple and refer you on if you want to go high-brow.

RSS - Really Simple Syndication, a format for web syndication used by news websites and blogs. The file is called a “feed” (as in “newsfeed”). If you have Google or Yahoo or AOL you probably already have a feed reader. But if you don’t you can find one on-line for free or for pay. Two that come to mind are Newsgator and Bloglines. Just click the RSS Icon in the upper right corner of your browsers address bar (or on your favorite blog--for example the Nonprofit Eye’s Orange Glass RSS Icon) and follow the instructions to add the blogs feed to your reader. Voila. You’ve made your own newspaper that updates automatically for you every time the blogger posts a new article. Rinse. Repeat (to keep track of all your favorite blogs).

Want to get into the details? Try Wikipedia or two incredible articles about how nonprofits can use RSS and aggregation to work more effectively: 10 Steps to RSStocracy and 10 Reasons Nonprofits Should Use RSS

Technorati Tags: RSS, Feed Reader, Newsfeed, RSS Icon, NPTech

'TIS THE SEASON FOR BLOG FLARE

Will Tempers Flare?
by pam ashlund

The whole idea of "flare" is (apparently) to take an ordinary object and dress it up a bit. Flare might warm something up, make it a little more personal. At the very least it might make something a little cuter.

An example? The plain vanilla version of the RSS icon, got glam'd up with reflective shadows, new colors, beveled edges. I love customizing icons, it just adds some spice to otherwise dull activities.

So you'd think I would be happy when I came across a set of Christmas RSS Icons. At first, yes, but then a pang of "PC" guilt hit me. Does anyone say "PC" (as in Politically Correct) anymore? I've been "pc" all the way with one exception. It was sad for me when Christmas was transformed into Holiday or even sadder "Winter". We said "Happy Holidays" at the "Winter Party". Who would have thought a "nice jewish girl" would miss Christmas?

That's why my heart skipped a beat when I came across the RRS-ing of Christmas. Probably can't use it on a nonprofit site, unless a Santa hat and an ornament can be considered non-denominational. Does that mean I can't use the "NPTech" tag?

And me without my Channukah Icon.

Download the set here but don't tell anyone!

Happy Snowflakes!


See also my post, A Flair for Flare!


Technorati Tags: Humor, NPTech, Flare, RSS Icon, Christmas Flare

NONPROFIT TOUGH LOVE

Nonprofit Tough Love
pam ashlund

the great lie is that it is "Civilization", it's not civilized. It's been the most blood thirsty...brutalizing system ever imposed upon this planet...that is not civilization, that's the great lie...or if it does represent civilization, and if that's truly what civilization is, then the great lie is that civilization is good for us" John Trudell, on Western Civilization (in "Trudell" documentary by Heather Rae, 2006)

John Trudell was making an important point about the effectiveness of a bias when it is built right into the language. Bias embedded in language is that much harder to overcome because you need language to be able to describe the problem.

My favorite illustration? A riddle: A father and daughter are in a car accident. The father is killed and the daughter taken to the hospital. The surgeon looks at the girl and says "I can not operate on her, she is my daughter"! How can this be? (answer at bottom of post)

Why was I thinking about the intersection of linguistics and belief today? And how, oh how, am I going to segue to nonprofit financial management? Simple. I came across an online quiz: the CFO Fitness Quiz: Are You Tough Enough for the Caring Sector? on the Bridgestar website (you have to sign up, but it's free and really worth it).

Until that moment I had not thought about the juxtaposition and contradictions inherent in personality type and industry. The questions hidden in the question are these: is the nonprofit sector an easy to manage industry? does working for a caring profession imply you are a kind person? are kind people necessarily competent?

Our industry has long had to be defensive on that last point. The underbelly of the nonprofit world. If we're here because we are caring, are we also here because no one else wanted us? Have we perpetuated the problem by hiring for heart and not skill?

This issue is, of course, tied to our fears about the coming "leadership crisis" (and I don't really believe there will be one). The truth is, our industry has done a lot of growing up. Our pay scales don't always look low to me anymore; our talent is (sometimes) formidable; we mission and vision with the best of 'em; we invest in training and marketing; and we account for our dollars as good (or even far better) than our for profit equivalents.




Answer: The solution, of course, is that the surgeon is a woman.


Technorati Tags: Leadership Challenge, , Leadership Crisis, Nonprofit, CFO Quiz, John Trudell, language, belief

28 DAYS FOR CHARITABLE GIVING (Oh...and Merry Christmas)

27 Days for Charitable Giving in 2007
by pam ashlund

Leave it to a nonprofit accountant to write about tax-time instead of Christmas Cheer and Silver Bells! Seems like only yesterday I was writing about holiday fundraising appeals, but it turns out another year has flown by!

Here's a re-cap on tax-exempt giving:

The Nonprofit Eye on IRS Regs, Tis The Season to Be Giving

sixtyPercent on the great Tax Advantages of Giving Gifts of Stock

Beth Kanter's posts on Fundraising Widgets and on Donor Documentation

and let's not forget the IRS's own roundup of Tax-Exempt Giving


Technorati Tags: Charitable Giving, Donations, Nonprofit, Tax Exempt Donation

NONPROFIT JOB HUNTING

Nonprofit Job Hunting
by pam ashlund

Following the old adage "write about what you know", today's focus is job hunting!

One great part of working in the nonprofit sector is how many industry specific job rags there are to choose from. If you asked me where to look I'd say (in no particular order): "Opportunity Nocs, Nonprofit Oyster, Idealist, Chronicle of Philanthropy".

But there is so much more:

Idealist.org A project of Action Without Borders, global clearinghouse of nonprofit resources, including jobs, internships, mailing lists, and nonprofit resources by state & country.

Opportunity NOCS
A resource for nonprofit jobs and employment opportunities.

Nonprofit Oyster
Offers job postings for meaningful career opportunities, and the ability for job seekers to post their profiles online for employers to access. They donate 5% of their profits to support nonprofits whose missions are particularly close to their hearts.

Craig's List, Nonprofit Jobs
Bay Area based community bulletin board, that posts nonprofit job openings by city and/or country from all over the world now.

Social Work and Social Services Jobs Online
jobs in social work, counseling, psychology, sociology, mental health, case management, employee assistance, volunteer management, substance abuse treatment, domestic violence, community development, mentoring, youth development, child welfare, developmental disabilities and all other areas of social services

Young Nonprofit Professionals Network Career Centre Job listings are geared toward professionals in the beginning of their nonprofit careers. Focus on San Francisco's Bay Area.

Nonprofit Jobs Nonprofit jobs and executive employment listings. Special e-mail lists for New York City, Washington DC, Los Angeles Boston, and San Francisco

Deep Sweep
a large selection of nonprofit jobs listed in one place for free. Resource linking nonprofit professionals to outstanding career opportunities.

Foundation Center/Philanthropy News Digest Job Corner
30-50 new jobs added weekly, mostly development positions, but other nonprofit jobs are posted as well. EJob Alert available.

Nonprofit Career Network
Provides job and volunteer listings, resume posting, and nonprofit directory.

Nonprofit Jobs Cooperative
A collaboration of nonprofit management centers from across the United States . One-stop source for nonprofit jobs from coast to coast. CA jobs tend to be mainly in Southern CA .

Young Nonprofit Professionals Network
Posts jobs with Bay Area nonprofit organizations, searchables by job title, position type, organization type, and/or Bay Area region.

DotOrgJobs.com- An employment resource for the non-profit world, featuring job openings at foundations and non-profit organizations.

Access: Networking In The Public Interest-Employment opportunities in Nonprofit Organizations around the US. Updated daily. Includes Full time, Volunteer and Internship Opportunities. Nonprofit Career Fairs and Expos.

Human Services Career Network - United States-focused service matching professionals and employers in the social service sector. Databases of resumes and positions are available.

Nonprofit Career Network - Resource center for individuals seeking jobs in the nonprofit sector. Post your resume on-line and search a database of job listings and job fairs.

Professionals for Nonprofits - A staffing company that specializes in providing permanent and temporary staff to nonprofits. Extensive job listings.

Nonprofit Jobs & Executive Search - Nonprofit executive, senior management and fundraising jobs and executive searches conducted by recruiters, headhunters, and employers in the nonprofit, government, health, higher education, human rights, social services, advocacy and public sectors.

LifeWorth- Online information service about careers in progressive business, global candidate search and selection service, and seminars, workshops and publications on professional development. Only useful if looking for international jobs (UK, Dubai, Canada)

Check out the latest additions to the job search list.

Technorati Tags: Nonprofit Jobs, Job Search, Nonprofit, Job Resources