“State nonprofit community development associations can’t simply close up shop because their states are in various stages of budgetary free-fall.�� A dozen associations at the annual conference of the National Alliance of Community Economic Development Associations (NACEDA) in Washington, D.C., on Monday and Tuesday, volunteered difficult answers to what they have accomplished for the nonprofit [...]
How to Create an Effective Non-Profit Mission Statement
05/24/2011 By Leave a Comment
“Mission’ for nonprofits is the same as ‘profits’ for private sector companies. In the private sector, corporations achieve their goals by carefully designing business operations that are reflected in a budget and then regularly reporting on how actual profits compare to that budget. If mission accomplishment is as important as profit attainment, why do most [...]
Tips for Entrepreneurs Who Want to Start Not-for-Profit Organizations
05/24/2011 By Leave a Comment
“There are huge markets where people have needs — for food, shelter, education and more — but can’t afford to pay money out of their own pockets to have their needs met. In the United States, the government created the 501 (c) (3) nonprofit corporation to help address this situation. Technically speaking, a 501(c)(3) is [...]
For Love or Lucre: Create a nonprofit, a for profit or something in between
04/26/2011 By Leave a Comment
Social entrepreneurs who want to start a new venture quickly confront an important question: What type of legal structure should I create? Should I start a traditional nonprofit, a for-profit, or something in between? This is not a simple question to answer, and it is in some ways becoming more difficult with the proliferation of [...]
Increasing Civic Reach: Nonprofits Board members staying connected to the communities they serve
04/26/2011 By Leave a Comment
am convinced that skill at fundraising and governance alone do not an excellent board member make. Nor do such skills alone ensure that a nonprofit organization maintains a durable, deep connection to the wider community it serves. A third skill—I call it civic reach—distinguishes a great board member from a merely adequate one, a world-class [...]
Myths about Online Volunteering
04/21/2011 By Leave a Comment
Are myths about online volunteering preventing your organization from tapping into this valuable resource? In the following article, which first appeared on the website Coyote Communications, consultant Jayne Cravens dispels some common misconceptions about finding and working with online volunteers. Online volunteering means unpaid service that is given via the Internet, either via a computer [...]
Your Media Relations Can Make or Break Your Charity
04/21/2011 By Leave a Comment
Did you see the 60 Minutes story about Greg Mortenson, his book, Three Cups of Tea, and his charity, the Central Asia Institute? If not, you can get the gist of the expose with this AP article or Monday’s New York Time’s article about it. The 60 Minutes report was pretty damning, alleging misrepresentation of [...]
‘Three Cups of Tea’ Author Defends Book
04/21/2011 By Leave a Comment
While the publishing industry waited to see whether it faced the embarrassment of yet another partly fabricated memoir, Greg Mortenson, the co-author of the best-selling “Three Cups of Tea,” a book popular with the Pentagon for its inspirational lessons on Afghanistan and Pakistan, forcefully countered a CBS News report on Sunday that questioned the facts [...]
Role of Faith-Based Not For Profit’s
01/18/2011 By Leave a Comment
Government is always challenged by the need to render social services to its citizens. The more disadvantaged a big portion of the population is, the heavier is the task of government to reach out and make the lives of the underprivileged easier and better. This is recognized by government and initiatives were made to institutionalize [...]
IRS Resources for Tax Exempt Organizations
12/14/2010 By Leave a Comment
The Internal Revenue Service or IRS has many excellent resources available for tax exempt and other nonprofit organizations. Every nonprofit should take advantage of these resources to ensure that they are complying with the law and preserving their non profit status.The IRS actually has a wide variety of resources available for nonprofit organizations. These resources [...]