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Developing a complete plan of action before organizing a not-for-profit charity event can save valuable time and money for any organization. There are tons of minor details that need to be considered when planning an event, and if you are not prepared ahead of time, they can become huge obstacles for your fundraising efforts. A careful and well thought-out plan can make organizing any event a smooth and painless process. Here are some tips to consider while planning your next fundraiser.

Why
The first part of your plan should clearly define and prioritize the goals of your charity event. Is your organization looking for more volunteers, donors or members?

photo credit: Christmas w/a K

What are currently the greatest organizational needs and how do you plan to bring awareness to those needs. Include numbers in your goal plan, how much money would you like to raise; how many volunteers would you like to enlist; or how many new members would you like to recruit?
This is a good time to set a budget for your charity event as well. Some questions to consider are how many people you expect to attend, how many invitations you will need, where the event will be hosted and if there will be a rental cost, also whether the location will require any further rentals or costs such as tables, decorations, warming plates, etc. When you do get to the point of contacting these places, make sure you ask if they would like to donate any part of the cost to the cause. Some, if not most businesses will offer a discount if you ask.

What
Decide what type of event you plan to organize. If you need ideas, just get online and Google “Fundraising Event Idea’s”, you will pull up thousands of unique event ideas to help raise money and awareness for your organization. Here are a few fun, easy and inexpensive idea’s to get you started:
• Rubber Duck Fundraiser
• Pink Flamingo Fundraiser
• Bowling Fundraiser
• Online Auctions

Who
Next, start brainstorming current volunteers that will be willing to help you organize the event. List each name, phone number and a notation of what you believe they will be able to contribute. Call and set a date for a preliminary organizing meeting to discuss the details and then delegate particular actions to the volunteers that are most suited for each task.
Think of any special speakers that might be willing to emcee your event. Try to find someone who is passionate about your mission and will be able to hold the attention of the audience. Contact local and online celebrities that might be willing to speak at the event. You might be surprised how willing some people are to jump in and help a worthwhile not-for-profit organization.
Write down businesses, churches and organization that might be willing to assist and promote the event for you. Consider offering them banner and advertising space at the event and promotional that go out. Most businesses are more than willing to donate a gift-in-kind of simple but necessary items such as drinks, napkins, plates and even food! All of these things will help defray the overall cost of your fundraising event.

When and Where
Finally yet most importantly, find a good day and time to hold your event. Try not to choose any date around a holiday, even long holiday weekends since those are the times most people travel. Make sure you set a date far enough in advance so that your committees have time to meet and adequately plan the event. Depending on what the not-for-profit mission is, see if there are any ‘awareness’ months allocated to, such as Skin and Breast Cancer Awareness months. Even if your mission is different than the more common nonprofit organizations – you might be surprised to find there is a particular day or month that is dedicated to your cause. Even searching by event can be useful when selecting a day. There is actually a Hot Fudge Sundae day in celebration of ice cream, so if you were doing an Ice Cream social that would make a perfect day to plan the fundraising event.
As you work through these steps planning your charity event, you will likely have many other ideas that will help your fundraiser go smoothly. Write down everything you can think of and keep a notebook with your plan readily available to jot down important contacts and information. Don’t forget to use email and social media networks to keep volunteers, donors and sponsors updated of the latest information. With a little forethought and a solid plan it is easier than ever to organize a successful not-for-profit event that people will be talking about for years.

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Guide Star has released its June 2010 Survey “The Effects of the Economy on the Nonprofit Sector”.The survey consisted of more than 7,000 respondents, composed of various nonprofit sector leaders such as CEOs, executive directors, vice presidents and presidents of non-profits. The survey measured the impact of the current economic environment and its effect on the nonprofit sector. The survey produce some interesting results:

* 40 percent of participants reported that contributions to their organizations dropped between January 1 and May 31, 2010, compared to the same period a year earlier.
* 63 percent reported a total increase in demand for their organization‘s services between January 1, 2010 and May 31, 2010, compared to the same period a year prior.
* 80 percent indicated that their organizations were in imminent danger of closing.
* Among organizations that use volunteers, 17 percent used one or more in what had formerly been paid positions.

To read and download the complete report click here:“The Effects of the Economy on the Nonprofit Sector”

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today announced the addition of a new portfolio of software, services and consulting grants to respond directly to the needs of local non-profit organizations to improve their effectiveness.
These new IBM Trailblazer Grants open up IBM’s innovation technology and the deep expertise of its employees and make them available to the local non-profit sector. Through consulting and technology tools in areas such as social networking, project management, strategic planning, leadership and collaboration, IBM’s Trailblazer Grants will help local non-profit groups to reach farther into their communities, connect with populations in need, and more efficiently and effectively manage their organizations.
These new localized software, services and consulting grants leverage IBM’s expertise in the communities it engages, and mirror the type of assistance it provides to its clients. In a pilot phase, these grants have been distributed to 30 non-profit organizations and schools in the United States with 150 more groups around the world set to receive grants in 2010. These new grants enable local, non-profit organizations to receive for free some of the same services and tools that for-profit businesses routinely are able to obtain, allowing them to operate more efficiently in the current economic environment and position for future community stability and growth.
“In a tough economy, non-profit organizations have the dual challenge of shrinking budgets and increasing requests for help from people in need, particularly in the case of local groups that are part of the social safety net,” said Stanley S. Litow, vice president of IBM Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs. “IBM has a long history of commitment and engagement with communities as a local, good corporate citizen. These grants respond to the very real challenge of helping community agencies improve their productivity and effectiveness.”
These IBM Trailblazer Grants help recipient non-profit organizations to build up their IT infrastructure and their leadership, management and technology skills. The solutions were developed with non-profit partners, and designed to help them enhance their ability to meet the needs of their communities. By leveraging IBM’s strength in these areas, the new grants align closely with the needs of small-to-mid-sized non-profit and educational organizations. Some of the early recipients of these grants have offered perspective on the relevance and impact these offerings can have:
“The extent to which IBM has helped us to think more strategically through the Strategic Assessment grant is the extent to which we will be better able to improve public education and to help students, teachers, families, community members, and teachers in the Philadelphia community, so that all of our students have access to college and careers.” – Carol Fixman, Executive Director, Philadelphia Education Fund
“We’re using the social media tools we gained from this grant in order to both reinforce key financial aid information delivered during our in-school advising sessions and reach out to new students in need of guidance about how to afford college. We learned from IBM how to employ tools like Facebook and Twitter to create a network that will connect us with these students and help them form a community with each other as well – this will keep them engaged from their freshman year of high school all the way through to successful completion of college.” – Kevin Mitchell, Development Director, ACCESS, Boston
“This grant helped us build skills at Safe Horizon for better management of some of our most complex projects in serving victims of violence in the New York City area. Our mission is to provide support and prevent violence for victims of crime and abuse, their families and their communities. With improved management, we’ll be better able to coordinate and execute on projects across our organization, from facilities management to legal contract reviews to operations.” – Ariel Zwang, Chief Executive Officer, Safe Horizon, New York
“At Greenlights, we are working to connect the Central Texas community and enable local non-profit groups to manage their business and governance issues. In tough economic times like these, small groups that have the passion to do good work may not always have the business tools and skills they need to stay afloat. With the knowledge and tools we’ve received through our project management consultancy grant, we’re helping our local community nonprofits to do more with less, serve the increasing numbers of local populations in need, and thrive in a tough economy.” – Ann Starr, Director of Education, Greenlights for Nonprofit Success, Austin
The IBM Trailblazer Grant offerings include a range of services, software and technology including project management, social media, leadership and collaboration and strategic assessment. As well as data back up, resiliency and hacker vulnerability services, along with donation of key software tools such as LotusLive and Lotus Foundations.

Source-PRNewswire

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Uh-oh. I hope I’m not going to get in trouble with this post.

The truth is, I’ve noticed a few reoccurring themes about nonprofits through the course of my career. Some of them are truly inspiring. Some of the themes are quite frustrating.

So I offer the following observances about nonprofit culture not as an indictment about this extremely important and absolutely vital sector of our economy. Rather, they are suggestions for a starting point about how focused strategy and effective management can help nonprofits achieve their purpose quicker and more cost-effectivel Read More

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Earlier this month, IRS Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division (TE/GE) Director of Rulings and Agreements Robert Choi discussed some of the big tax changes facing nonprofit organizations in the year ahead. Changes in Form 990 and 990-EZ
In addition to changes to the form itself, eligibility requirements for the Form 990 will change for 2009 tax year filings. If your organization’s assets total less than $1.25 million and gross receipts total less than $500,000, your organization is eligible to file the Form 990-EZ. Read more

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Ever since Barak Obama managed to raise $6.9 million out of $25 million through small donations on the web, 92% of which were $100 or less, many involved in the non-profit world started to understand the potential of crowd sourcing small “micro-donations” instead of, or in addition to, the traditional approach of getting small numbers of large donations. Micro-donations are generally under $10 per person, with the idea being to crowdsource very large numbers of donors. A good example of an organization that maximizes the potential of micro-donations is Kiva. Kiva’s fund-raising activity takes place almost exclusively on the web, where it allows donors to make small donations to finance small businesses in developing countries. Kiva uses the web and social media brilliantly (their email newsletter is one of the best I’ve seen), and their emphasis on the fact that donations are “person-to-person,” and the transparent nature of their enterprise succinctly represents the personal culture that users of social media expect and appreciate. Reas More

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The first “comprehensive” strategic plan for emergency preparedness regional implementation, was release recently by Deloitte LLP and the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington:

WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 /PRNewswire/ — Deloitte LLP and the Nonprofit
Roundtable of Greater Washington today released the “The Roadmap to
Preparedness: A Strategic Plan to Address Unmet Needs in Nonprofit
Emergency Preparedness for the National Capital Region.” The Roadmap is one
of the nation’s first completed comprehensive plans to implement a regional
metropolitan strategy for emergency preparedness in the nonprofit
community.

Representatives from Greater Washington nonprofit organizations, joined
by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG), the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and U.S. Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) officials, as well as disaster preparedness specialists from
Deloitte, unveiled the plan, which is a two-year initiative led by the
Nonprofit Roundtable and Deloitte, in collaboration with the National
Capital Region nonprofit community.

Utilizing a “regional gap assessment” process that included surveys,
stakeholder interviews, focus groups and a series of emergency preparedness
training events, the plan addresses shortfalls in preparation efforts
between area nonprofits, which serve a vital role as the proverbial “third
leg of the disaster preparedness stool,” working alongside government and
the business community during a disaster.

The Roadmap will help the nonprofit community build plans to operate
more effectively and efficiently during a time of regional crisis. It
addresses such areas as: integrated planning and training; strengthened
partnerships between nonprofits, government and the private sector;
improved coordination and communication networks; and sustained capacity to
respond to all-hazard events, emphasizing long-term recovery capabilities.

“Today’s event is the culmination of nearly two years of intense
activity,” said Chuck Bean, executive director of the Nonprofit Roundtable
of Greater Washington. “To get us here, we’ve met numerous times with the
scores of nonprofit leaders represented here, along with Deloitte
executives and public sector leaders, to listen, share experiences,
educate, and drill. But this is just the beginning. We will now begin to
implement this plan collectively as a nonprofit community.”

The plan includes endorsements from government leaders, national
nonprofit organizations and members of the business community. “‘The
Roadmap to Preparedness’ plan goes a long way to ensuring our Greater
Washington region is going to be better prepared for emergency situations.
The Greater Washington Board of Trade applauds the leadership of the
Nonprofit Roundtable and Deloitte LLP to better integrate the nonprofit
community into the region’s overall preparedness plans. We can take a page
from their collaborative effort, in ensuring that the business community
meets its obligations in ensuring the National Capital Region is a best
practice in emergency response and preparedness planning and execution,”
said Jim Dinegar, President and CEO of The Greater Washington Board of
Trade.

Keynote speaker Dennis Schrader, deputy administrator, National
Preparedness Directorate, FEMA/DHS, noted in his remarks that, “As we’ve
seen time and time again, this vital and diverse network of organizations
often acts as the backbone of local response, providing services ranging
from emergency shelter, to meals, to transportation and much more.”

Schrader continued, “The nonprofit sector’s unique resources and
capabilities both complement and enhance public and private sector
preparedness efforts and initiatives. Indeed, the ‘Roadmap to Preparedness’
exemplifies FEMA’s commitment to work hand-in-hand with our partners. I
applaud this important step forward in strengthening our nation’s ability
to prepare for and respond to disasters.”

Some of the preparedness shortfalls highlighted during training
exercises over the last two years were identified and addressed with the
help of FEMA and DHS officials, who gave generously of their time to engage
with their nonprofit constituencies.

For instance, Christopher T. Geldart, the director, Office of National
Capital Region Coordination, FEMA/DHS, has provided guidance around key
government planning details during several events, including an October
2007 discussion-focused exercise that tracked a mock pandemic flu outbreak
in the Greater Washington area.

“Participating in these exercises has been extremely educational and
rewarding,” said Geldart. “The feedback we’ve received, and the open
communication it has fostered, speaks directly to FEMA’s mission to engage
local communities. We applaud the leadership this group has shown in
proactively preparing for the future.”

The Nonprofit Roundtable received a $250,000 grant from Deloitte’s
Problem Solvers Fund to undertake this project, as well as more than 1000
hours of professional time donated by the firm. The Problem Solvers Fund
invests financial support, skills-based volunteerism and leadership in
nonprofits nationwide to build their capacity to address significant social
issues in their communities.

“By joining with the Nonprofit Roundtable, Deloitte can donate not only
our funding, but also our unique talents to strengthen our community’s
nonprofits,” said Gary H. Tabach, Deloitte LLP’s managing partner for
Greater Washington. “In fact, this type of skills-based giving has become
the hallmark of Deloitte’s community involvement efforts nationwide.”

This Roadmap is one of the first emergency preparedness strategic
frameworks for a large metropolitan region that has a focus on the
nonprofit community. The plan may serve as a best practices model or
template for other cities across the country. In fact, nonprofit leaders
and emergency managers from other large metropolitan areas who have
reviewed the plan have commented that they look forward to incorporating
elements into their own plans.

Deloitte and the Roundtable have received kudos from emergency
management experts in other parts of the country as well. “While most
everyone appreciates and understands the role of government in providing
disaster assistance, the importance of community-based organizations in
administering to the needs of underserved populations after disasters is
often overlooked,” said Paul Jacks, Program Director, Bay Area Preparedness
Initiative at the Fritz Institute, a nonprofit disaster response leader in
the San Francisco Bay area. “Deloitte and the Nonprofit Roundtable of
Greater Washington should be commended for developing the Roadmap to
Preparedness Strategic Plan which provides a clear path for non-profits to
effectively and efficiently provide critical front line safety-net social
services when disaster strikes. This work will benefit other communities as
well, such as the San Francisco Bay Area.”

As the implementation of the Roadmap begins, there will be
opportunities to host regional and national events to engage other
metropolitan areas interested in a blueprint for strengthening nonprofit
emergency preparedness. These forums will be announced in the future.

About Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington

The Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington is a nonprofit,
501(c)(3) organization launched in 2002 by nonprofit leaders from across
the metropolitan area. The mission of The Nonprofit Roundtable is to build
the strength, influence and visibility of the nonprofit sector in Greater
Washington. With nearly 200 members representing the broad diversity of the
Greater Washington area’s nonprofit community, the Nonprofit Roundtable
strives to strengthen our collective voice on areas of vital importance to
our region. Members are service providers, advocacy organizations, and
grantmakers–from small community-based organizations to the region’s
largest foundation–there is a seat at the Roundtable and a role in shaping
and advancing the nonprofit sector’s common agenda.

About Deloitte

As used in this document, “Deloitte” means Deloitte LLP and Deloitte
Services LP, a subsidiary of Deloitte LLP. Please see
http://www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the legal structure
of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries.

Source: Deloitte LLP

download the Plan here

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In a not for profit organization management is a very important aspect. The existence of the organization is primarily defined by its purpose. So the management is required to establish realistic goals and objectives that are in conformation with the mission. It should accord with the said organization’s capability for implementation and achievable within a pre-decided time limit. Since accretion of profit for self indulgence is not the objective of the organization, so it becomes essential to build up a sense of ownership of the organizational members towards the developed plan.
The management needs to focus on the optimum use of the organizational resources while efficiently maintaining the principle priorities. Efforts should be made to converge the best and the reasoned efforts of each member and building up of a consensus. Further, a concrete base needs to be built on which a measured mechanism can be established for progress of the organization and even invoke changes in policies as and when required.
Majority of the challenges faced by the non-profit organizations pertain to the management of the finances can be effectively solved when the diverse principles of strategic planning is practiced.
Management in not for profit organizations are varied in terms of perspectives, approaches and models. The style and approach followed by a particular organization is dependant upon culture of the said organization, the nature of the organization’s leadership, the size of the organization and the complexity of the structure of the organization. The management strategies adopted are based on goals, issues and the organic scenario.
Management approach that is based on goals is the most practiced one. It initiates with fundamental focus on the mission and the values that the organization stands for. Strategies are devised to accomplish those goals and missions. When the management focuses on issue based strategic planning, the board keeps itself busy with the issues that are faced by the organization. Strategies are devised to formulate an action plan that examines those issues and effectively meets them. When the organic aspect is the main concern of the management, the organization’s visions and values are further articulated and plans that adhere to those values are worked upon.

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