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Welcome to the Nonprofit Partnership E-News
In this Issue
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for a complete listing of Nonprofit Partnership programs and services
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Robert Wooler,
Director
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January, 2010
This edition of The Nonprofit Partnership e-news is sponsored by Malin, Bergquist & Co.
Don't Give Up on Corporate Volunteers
Businesses may be hurting, even laying off workers and cutting back on charitable donations. But employee volunteerism is thriving during hard times.
56% of workers say they take part in volunteer activities organized by their employer. 27% say they are more motivated to volunteer because of the bad economy. Concern that charities are hurting in the economic downturn was the second-leading reason that employees cited for volunteering.
E-mail was the way that 71% of employees found out about volunteer opportunities. And more than one-third of workers said they were allowed to volunteer during the workday.
To take advantage of this growing pool of talent for your nonprofit, list your needs and interests with volunteererie.com, the volunteer exchange operated by Channels 12 and 35. And don’t forget your most promising source of long-term, highly-skilled volunteers – laid-off professionals who are in the job hunt and may be considering a switch to nonprofit careers. Find them the way you would if you were promoting a job opening within your organization.
For more information, see the report, "Motivating Volunteering in Tough Times," available from LBG Research: http://www.lbg-associates.com/publications/. [Source: "More Than Half of Corporate Employees Volunteer, Study Finds", Heather Joslyn, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Nov. 15, 2009. http://philanthropy.com/news/updates/10171/more-than-half-of-corporate-employees-volunteer-study-finds]
Upcoming Events From NPP and Partners
PA Act 141 – What All Nonprofit Organizations Need to Know About the Law and Financial Reporting for Their Endowments
Presented by Vincent Halupczynski, CPA, Malin, Bergquist & Co. and Thomas Tupitza, Esq., Knox Law Firm
Tuesday, January 26, 2010, 8-9 am – Malin, Bergquist Training Room, 2402 West 8th St., Erie
Registration and breakfast (coffee, Danish, fruit) 7:30-8am
For reservations call or email Michele Mathers at 814-454-4008 mmathers@malinbergquist.com
Co-sponsored by Malin, Bergquist & Co., Knox, McLaughlin, Gornall, & Sennett, and The Nonprofit Partnership.
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Hands-On E-mail Marketing Workshop
Presented in collaboration with the eMarketing Learning Center at ebizITPA.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010, 8:30 - 12 Noon at WQLN, 8425 Peach Street, Erie
E-mail marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to keep in touch and build strong relationships with prospects, donors, partners, and more - all of your nonprofit audiences. This hands-on workshop is designed to help you learn how to do it yourself and create an e-mail that will generate results for your organization. In this session you will actually use the tools that help nonprofits design and launch campaigns that deliver results. Come to this workshop and learn:
+ E-mail marketing best practices
+ CAN-SPAM compliance training
+ How to build a list
+ How to create and launch a successful campaign
+ How to set up a free trial e-mail marketing hosting account
+ How to test, track, and tweak your e-mail marketing campaigns.
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Social Enterprise 2010
Presented by Debbie Thompson, Strategy Solutions
Wednesday, February 10, 2010, 9:00 - 11:00 am at Crime Victim Center, 125 West 18th St., Erie
The downturn in the economy has shifted our thinking about social enterprise. The paramount need to create new revenue streams, connect with new customers and users, and move outside the traditional box has given rise to real creative thinking and social entrepreneurship in the nonprofit community. Join us for this provocative session on rethinking social enterprise for 2010. What's new in the field? What new resources are available? Who else is being enterprising in Erie? Take the first steps toward re-tooling your business plan.
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Three Deadly Data Backup Mistakes: How to Avoid Disaster at Your Nonprofit
Presented by Beth Burnside, Principal of CMIT Solutions, Erie
Friday, March 5, 9:30 - 11:30 am at Highmark Caring Place, 510 Cranberry Street, Erie
In this sobering yet entertaining and informative session, you will learn:
• The most common data disasters and how to avoid them
• Why one in five businesses loses their data every five years
• The three questions every organization should ask themselves
• How to evaluate your current system
• The quickest and easiest way to secure your data.
Beth Burnside of CMIT Solutions in Erie offers her views and solutions based on work with nonprofits of all
shapes and sizes.
To RSVP for these sessions, call (814) 454-8800 x 1 or use reply.
Save the Date – NPP’s First Public Policy Institute
Mark your calendars now – Wednesday, April 7 from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm at the Ambassador Conference Center, the Nonprofit Partnership, The Erie Community Foundation, and the United Way of Erie County will present a public policy primer to equip the nonprofit community in Northwest PA with the information and skills they need to navigate in the troubled waters of federal, state, county, and city finance in 2010. The keynote for this event will be delivered by Steve Gunderson, President of the Council on Foundations. Stay tuned for more details.
Five Trends Affecting Online Donations in 2010
1. More Donations; Smaller Gift Size
People are still giving, even in this economy. The donations have been in smaller amounts, but more times per year. Your organization needs to be prepared for smaller donations. Reach out to past donors and their networks more often than usual to increase the number of times they give.
2. Wary of Donating to New Causes
Prospective donors want to know where their money is going and how it is going to be used. Show them the good work your organization does and the impact a donation has. Don’t just say thanks for the money; show them what the gift means to your organization.
3. More Organizations moving to e-mail
Since it is cheaper, many organizations have moved from direct mail to e-mail. This means more messages in donor’s inboxes. Be prepared with appealing subject lines and interesting content as you will be competing with more organizations for online donations.
4. Increase of Recurring Giving
Set up your online fundraiser to ask each donor if they want to sign up for recurring giving. People seem to like this because it is like automatic bill-paying; they do not need to remember to come back. They can also divide a larger gift into smaller portions over time.
5. Large Year-End Gift Giving
“Fourth quarter giving comprised over half of the total dollar value and number of donations made in 2009”. Start planning for it now; do not wait! Begin to evaluate your website for kinks, your newsletters for interest points, and all other communications you have sent in the past. Really look at what worked and what did not so your organization can be ready for December.
Source: http://www.fundraising123.org/article/5-trends-will-affect-online-fundraising-2010
And to Make Giving Real in the Eyes of the Donor - Make it Tangible
Everywhere you look these days, organizations are translating the cost of their operations into tangible, donor-friendly chunks that easily find their way into increased private donations to fund their operations. (Have you noticed this in the aftermath of the tragedy in Haiti?) An after-school program in New York that is succeeding in finding benefactors to fund the cost of education and care after school for its low-income kids. It’s secret – the program calculated the cost per child per day to be $50 – an amount both meaningful and manageable for many donors. An arts incubator in Rhode Island that makes well-equipped, affordable space available to artists and start-up businesses found that the cost of a day in their facilities was $131. Their “buy a day” campaign was successful in raising nearly $20,000, far exceeding expectations in a down economy.
The key is in translating a right-size donor gift into tangible, understandable terms that make sense from a consumer’s perspective – a day of care, the cost of meals for a week, an hour of therapy. Make it tangible. Reap the rewards.
Project Blueprint is Recruiting for its 2010 Class
Project Blueprint, the training program that equips diverse volunteers from neighborhoods and businesses throughout Erie for service on nonprofit Boards of Directors, has launched its application drive for participants in its 2010 class. Applications are available on The Nonprofit Partnership website, www.thenonprofitpartnership.org, and are due on March 26
. The training program will begin in April and continue through August with the goal of preparing 20 new leaders for nonprofit community service. This program is co-sponsored by the United Way of Erie County and over the past 15 years has connected over 300 leaders to service channels in Erie. For more information, please call the office - 454-8800.
Give Help-Get Help in 2010
The Nonprofit Partnership and WJET-TV have renewed their collaboration on YourErie.com for 2010. Each month, NPP features an innovative Erie nonprofit who is demonstrating success in an area that drills down naturally from the leading news stories of the day - healthcare, unemployment, and the like. The series strives to offer local profiles of organization’s accomplishments in answer to the question, “what works?” The monthly feature offers a text narrative on yourerie.com and a video profile spot that airs throughout the month on WJET. If you are interested in participating in this program, please discuss your idea with Bob Wooler at 454-8800 x 3 or by reply.
Avoiding Burnout Webinar
Avoiding burnout in the small development office will be the topic of a webinar offered by Martin Novom and the Philanthropy Journal on February 4 from 1 to 2 pm. To register, please follow this link.
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