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Welcome to the Nonprofit Partnership E-News
In this Issue
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Robert Wooler,
Director
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April, 2010
This edition of The Nonprofit Partnership e-news is sponsored by Malin, Bergquist & Co.
Nonprofits and the New Health Care Law
Here are two implications of the new health care law for nonprofits:
- Payroll Tax Credits. Organizations with no more than 25 employees and average wages below $50,000 are eligible for payroll tax credits if they offer health insurance to employees and pay at least 50% of the premium costs. Through 2013, they will be able to recoup 25% of their premium costs. A credit index applies to employers with 10 or fewer employees and average salaries of $25,000 or less - those at this level get full credit while those with more employees or higher salaries get less credit.
- State Insurance Exchanges. Nonprofit groups with up to 100 employees may participate in the new state insurance exchanges that must be set up by 2014. After this date, employers with more than 50 employees who do not offer coverage will have to pay a fee.
Source: The Chronicle of Philanthropy, April 8, 2010.
Take-Aways from the April 7 Public Policy Forum
As many of you know, The Nonprofit Partnership, The Erie Community Foundation, and the United Way of Erie County sponsored the Different Prespectives-Common Interests Public Policy Forum on April 7, attended by over 350 nonprofit leaders, public officials, and advocates. Here are a few take-aways to shape your follow-up work:
- The nonprofit sector has grown is size and importance in recent years. Averaging 6% annual growth while business and government are shrinking, its role in the local economy is growing. One of seven employed persons works for a nonprofit. Nonprofits are a larger force than the manufacturing sector locally.
- Beyond issues of size and scale, nonprofits are increasingly dominant because of their image as trustworthy, committed, caring, and self-sacrificing, particularly when viewed in relation to government and business whose image is plummeting.
- Nonprofits need to use this image and our increasing role as the flexible, pliable "stretcher-of-the-safety-net" that keeps our communities intact to our advantage in communicating with the public and with elected officials.
- Now it is more important than ever to measure your results and report the difference you are making in individual lives and in neighborhoods and communities. Illustrate the numbers with your emotional stories of impact.
- If you have not already done so, add all elected officials to your list for reports, news releases, newsletters, and any communications that report on your work, your progress, and your importance.
- Do not be shy about communicating with elected officials. The pieces that seem the most original and personal and that have required the most effort on your part will command the most respect.
Be in touch with us at The Nonprofit Partnership for further news, updates, tips, and involvement opportunities.
Managing Memberships
Everyone seeks growth in membership support. Keep these tips in mind as you seek to expand membership in your organization:
- Ask people to join right now, and give them a reason to join right now. For instance, if your regular membership rate is $35, tell them they can join at a discount if they join right now at this event. (Even if your bylaws specify the membership amount you should be able to give "early bird" and other kinds of discounts.) You could offer them 5% off at the next event, or 16 months of membership for the usual annual amount. The size of their first donation is not as important as capturing them while they are right in front of you.
- If you have organizations as members, use the number of lives touched by all of your members as the public number you tout instead of the number of organizations alone. It will sound impressive.
- While you may have benefits people want and need, don’t forget that joining is also a way for them to feel part of a specific community (like their neighborhood, their ethnic group, their fellow anti-toxics people, like-minded arts devotees). Understanding this will help you to not rely on gadgets and premiums as incentives.
- The most common reason people don't renew is because they think they're still a member. You're still sending them the newsletter so they figure they're still a member, or they think maybe someone else in their household renewed. Instead of asking once, follow this schedule: First renewal: Two months ahead of expiration date. Second renewal: month when their membership expires. Third renewal: Remind them the next month with a phone call or a hand-addressed envelope. Then, include your lapsed members in your prospecting campaigns and consider mailing them your year-end appeal.
- Instead of just telling what your organization does, tell prospective members how the value you provide makes a difference in their lives or in the lives of people they care about. And tell this through personal stories. Instead of a staff-written article about what happened at the city council meeting, have a short interview with a member who went to the same meeting and was inspired by what happened. Instead of telling them about your support programs, tell them about a young intern who signed up to work with you because of her experience with breast cancer.
A more extensive treatment of this issue by Ellis Robinson can be found at http://www.blueavocado.org/node/508
Resources for the All-Volunteer Organization
All-Volunteer Organizations (AVO) are some of the most invisible -- and most powerful -- nonprofit organizations around. Supporting them is a priority for us at Blue Avocado; here is a list of the articles of particular relevance to AVOs:
• Boards of All-Volunteer Organizations, by Jan Masaoka
• All-Volunteer Organization Treasurers: Eight Key Responsibilities, by Dennis Walsh, CPA
• Tracking Volunteer Time to Boost Your Bottom Line: A Complete Accounting Guide, by Dennis Walsh, CPA
• Internal Controls for the Very Small Nonprofit, by Carl Ho, CPA
• New Ways to Talk About Volunteers, by Jan Masaoka
These are avaialble by linking to Blue Avocado
…. And if You’re Interested in Recruiting More Volunteers
Join us at Get Involved Erie!, the Erie Ambassadors night devoted to linking area residents with community organizations. Whether you need volunteers in direct service, office, or board member roles, having a table at this event is your opportunity to connect with the public. The event will be held on Thursday, April 29 from 5 to 8 pm at the Ambassador Conference Center, To reserve a table, please contact the Erie Chamber at 454-7191 or cnoble@eriepa.com.
And If You Still Need More Volunteers....
This summer, The Nonprofit Partnership will be working with Connoisseur Media and the Love Erie campaign to make tables avaialble to nonprofits which they can use as a base to interact with the public at any of the many public events and festivals in the May-September season. Block Parties, Eight Great Tuesdays, the ethnical festivals, Heritage Fest, Celebrate Erie! - they are all on the list and offer tremendous opportunities for education, outreach, fundraising, and more.
Tables will be available on a first-come, first-served basis to NPP members. For more details, please contact Bob Wooler at the NPP office, or simply reply to this announcement via e-mail.
How to Keep Your Strategic or Business Plan Alive
Here are a few tips to keep things moving and to avoid having the plan collect dust on the shelf:
1. Use the plan as a communication tool with the board. Discuss an aspect of it at each board meeting – this can be an effective way to both inform and engage.
2. Review the plan with current or potential donors. As a road map for your organization, it has the capacity to inspire respect and confidence.
3. Link the plan’s goals to staff performance goals. In this way, the plans becomes integrated with your performance appraisal system.
4. Establish regular reviews of performance milestones. This marks progress and offers opportunities to celebrate achievements.
Mix Channels for Successful Fundraising
Fundraising successes and failures are largely functions of how well you communicate, and these days, it is essential to communicate in all available channels. Organizations that mix marketing channels and encourage channel hopping for donations will experience more success in the coming years. For instance, while you may send a donor appeal letter via snail mail, the same donor may give online. You may encourage online donors to give more by sending a paper thank you note with an accompanying success story. Integrate your messages and calls to action across all of the channels you use.
For more, see Tips and News from Kivi Leroux Miller at www.nonprofitmarketingguide.com and mark your calendars now for the 10th Annual Northwest PA Nonprofit Day - October 21. Kivi Miller will be among our special guests.
Rules for Communicating with Donors Online
Tom Ahern reminds us:
1. Donors should feel something as they read your newsletter. Everything should be designed to evoke feelings and emotions.
2. Your successes are due to the donors – this message must come through.
3. Provide reassurance that your organization is fully trustworthy. Donors want to have faith in us, but high-profile stories of nonprofit fraud have tainted the waters.
4. Use the “Made to Stick” rules in communicating: Simple, Unexpected (include surprises), concrete, credible, emotional, and story-driven.
5. Make it short and get to the point quickly. People skim.
6. If you want response, offer something: information, tours, matching gifts, special fund drives.
7. Make it easy and convenient to give – reply envelopes or online.
8. Maintain both e-mail and snail mail addresses. Use both channels according to donor preference.
9. Repeat your key messages over and over to remind donors they are the key.
More Upcoming Events from NPP….
On May 5 from 9 to 11 am, we will be hosting a hands-on training on Diversity and Inclusion plans and policies for your nonprofit organization.
On May 20 from 8:30 to 11:30 am, we will hold the next in our series with the E-marketing Learning Center: Planning Your Event in the Online Channel.
For more information on these and other NPP training events, please vist our education page
Re-Tool Erie, the new capacity-building project in partnership with the Erie Community Foundation, is hosting its first workforce-related training on May 4 from 9 am to 2 pm at Gannon Uversity's Yehl Ballroom. Details are avaialble at www.retoolerie.org.
And While You’re Visiting Our Site….
See new information and tools for you on two new pages:
• Boards & Governance – This new page contains information about Board training and resources and information on governance best practices.
• Resources and Information – This new page contains links to many resources for nonprofit leaders on finance, fundraising, strategy, leadership, volunteerism, and much more.
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