Nonprofit Connectors

You're not serious

I went to lunch with my friend Deborah Crimes owner of Lessons from Abroad. We met at my favorite restaurant, Ledo's, for a delicious pizza, salad, and business conversation.

We chatted about the importance of growing personal skills useful for business. We talked about the importance of professional exposure: using press releases, marketing tools, seminars, etc. Then we talked about personal health. Deborah exercises every day. I, on the other hand, think about it every day. Yet, I always talk about doing more.

Then Deborah said the dreaded words that confirmed my true heart, “Oh, I see, you're not serious.” She said it in a way that conveyed it was fine that I wasn’t; so, she just wasn’t saying any more about that subject. She switched the conversation, and started talking about all the bible studies I attend.

Wow! I love that most about Deborah, she cuts to the chase. It reminded me of Proverb 27:6a “Wounds from a friend can be trusted...”  Do you have someone in your life that gets to the point with you? I highly recommend that you find that person. It was very beneficial for me to have had that conversation with her, because I immediately came home and started exercising. I’m not consistent. Yet, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that before my lunch with her next month I will be more active.

I also take this approach with her when it comes to business advice. Deborah is a very savvy business woman. She has successfully launched her language programs for children throughout the region. Yet, the most important lesson that I’ve learned from her is the giving of herself to help someone else get ahead. However, that person must be ready to take action; as you can see my friend is not into wasting time (yours or hers)!

So, I hope you find someone to invite alongside you in your business that will be honest with you, and challenge you to move forward.

 

Business check-up

A wise friend posted this weekend, in Twitter, “Treat your business as your #1 customer.” Now, I’m not sure if that is Mia’s original thought, but it was quite timely for me.

Once a quarter, Esther Fleming and I set aside a weekend to work on our businesses.  We call them, If I Only Had A Weekend (IIOHAW). Our time during these IIOHAWs has been spent praying, fasting, and focusing on our businesses. We come to the weekend prepared to give advice, encouragement, and complete attention to each other and our respective businesses.

This weekend was very special as we each are saying goodbye to a client. This gap in our businesses has given us a clearer purpose for meeting and strategizing. So, we spent a lot of time looking for direction, being clear about action steps, and identifying our motives. This may be hard to grasp, but neither one of us wants to run a business for the sake of running a business. We want the passion we had when we first started our businesses, me 9-years ago and Esther 5-years ago. We spent quite a bit of time this weekend falling in love with our businesses again.

For me, I can say that I like things plainly defined. I want to look at a map and understand exactly where I’m to go next. So, I went back to my life map I created earlier this year. It sits in a prominent spot in my office (on the wall above my monitor). In the center of my life map is a picture of the world with God spelled out in the middle of it. For me, taking my business back to the beginning means reconnecting with my faith. This is what this IIOHAW afforded me. On the first day, I organized my office, my thoughts, and created my plan. On the second day: I sat quietly in meditation and prayer, I revised my business budget (cutting costs and adding expenses for training), I created the beginnings of a marketing strategy (get out of the office once a week for business development), and I just did a lot of soul searching. On the third day, I finalized my budget (I still have a few cuts to make, but it is pretty much done), and I finalized my marketing strategy by creating a plan with activities listed for the week and month. I am excited about what I’ve created with the help of Esther. We have even added an accountability component this upcoming quarter, to meet weekly for 15 minutes to talk about our progress in keeping with our plans.

When was the last time you stopped to survey the health of your business? Is it still on track? Do you need to take a weekend to refresh yourself on your mission? Take it! Do whatever you need to in order to build (or rebuild) what your heart desires!

 

Six degrees of separation

Have you ever played the Six Degrees of Separation game? The idea is that we are all somehow connected by as few as six people. My friend Angela and I were marveling at the number of people I know that she knows, and these are people who we didn’t even know that the other knew.  Sorry, that sounded like a bad rendition of an Abbott and Costello show. I think you get the point.

This made me think about nonprofit organizations. How connected is your organization to others? Some people may not see the necessity in it, but there is. No organization can survive/thrive without the support of others. So, find complimentary organizations and form alliances. So, if your organization feeds the hungry, you should be aligned with food banks, churches, and maybe even other soup kitchens to provide overlap and support.

Find ways to connect to others. Do you need suggestions?

Member networks

Nonprofit organizations are only as strong as their members. So, questions you should ask yourself as you start your nonprofit: Who’s benefiting from your organization’s mission? How do you keep lines of communication open among your members? What questions do they have that others may be able to answer? Consider creating an environment, such as a community portal, to give your members a way to communicate and support one another.

Just creating a listserv these days will not suffice. You need to have more functionality and flexibility to relay information in several formats. You can use AWeber, Constant Contact, and Vertical Response, just to name a few, to create marketing materials to send to your entire membership.

You can create a presence on Facebook or Twitter where your members can post comments and participate in group discussions. These social networks also allow the members an opportunity to really get to know one another. Don’t forget to investigate creating forums for your website where members can share information, ask questions, and find support with your organization being the catalyst for this one-stop-shop.

There are various tools to help us establish relationships, make connections both business and personal, and to become a little more real to people, who in this day and age are looking for authenticity. Study your market, and get a feel for the various ways they are reaching out to each other now; then use that as a starting point to build your member network.

Ten ways to get free publicity for your nonprofit

A marketing plan is a necessary part of almost any business planning process. There are many marketing techniques available that are free, and as a nonprofit, you may find these strategies very doable. So if your marketing budget is pretty much non-existent, there are many ways to increase your visibility to attract more members or advertise special events. Here is a list of only ten:

1. Create a press release- checkout my previous Blog on press releases.
Send out a press release to the media when your organization has new employees or board members, partners with another business or organization, or sponsors an event or a worthy cause.

2. Get blogging- Blogs are all the rage. Blog about your nonprofit, the nonprofit world, volunteerism or anything related to your cause. The search engines love blogs, and blogs pull traffic (including journalists) to your website. In addition, post comments on other blogs devoted to your topic. This allows the nonprofit world to get to know you. (See "Blogging for Business")

4. Write an article about your nonprofit and write letters to the editor -Write articles that are informative and helpful to your members and volunteers. There may be local magazines that will publish your articles, and then you can post them or link them to your web site. See “How to Use Newspaper and Magazine Editorial Pages”

5. Check out National Public Radio, a great resource for nonprofits. Search their site for previously aired programs about nonprofits. (See "How to Get Booked on National Public Radio")

6. Call local TV and radio stations to spotlight your organization –Get FREE publicity on Radio with a well-crafted press release. Many radio and TV stations have programs in place that spotlights new organizations or events on a weekly basis. Check your local stations to see what they can provide.

7. Put out a monthly newsletter or email bulletin. Invite people to sign up for your monthly email bulletin in which you can provide news and helpful tips. You may want to publish "Top 10" tips lists that explain how to do something, or solve a problem on a regular basis. (See "Special Report #16: How to Write Tips Sheets That Catch the Media's Attention.")

Creating Press Releases

Creating Press Releases

This isn’t necessarily a nonprofit specific topic, yet it is quite relevant. Press releases are an excellent source of marketing, and have the potential to connect you to the people you are trying to reach through your community work.

There are several great web resources that you can use to guide you through the process. Check out Microsoft Online free press release templates. There is no need to struggle in figuring out how to make this happen, just take the help and use it to your best advantage.

The key thing to note you must have a newsworthy piece to report. So consider what contribution your organization has, or will, make to the community, and write about it in five paragraphs or less.

Have fun spreading the word about the good works you are doing!

A visit to your local library just may land you a nice grant

The local library should be the first place a new Executive Director makes a second home. There you have access to knowledgeable individuals and a plethora of resources at your finger tips. All for the low cost of FREE.

Visit your local library and start researching grants for your organizations type. If you are not sure start, ask the librarian. Librarians are trained to help draw you out in order to get you to the best resources for your needs.

Happy researching!

What importance does the business plan have in grant funding?

The business plan is the foundation for what you are starting; it gives you direction as to where you are taking your organization and it gives you milestones to measure your progress. The other very important thing about a nonprofit organization’s business plan is that you can use it for grant review as well.

Included within your strategic planning section and your marketing plan are key items that will appeal to funders. Here is where you’ll talk about business growth and development. This will be essential information for grant makers to review. More than likely, they will be reviewing these sections of your business plan to determine your other means for establishing financial stability. Funders are looking for organizations that want a hand up to grow and invest in, not an organization that is looking for a hand out and total dependence.

Know your target audience

While you may think, you’re starting a nonprofit business for the community and that’s your target audience. The community has a make up that you should get to know well.

What does your target audience do for a living? Where do they live? What are they asking for that the community isn’t providing? How can you provide? What will make them want it from you? How will this improve their lives? I could keep going on, but you get the idea.

In order to gather this information, you really need to do some field reconnaissance. Create a brief questionnaire, and then poll people. Attend town hall sessions, homeowner association board meetings, or any other venue that will give you access to the people in your targeted community. If there isn’t one, then organize it. Listen to what the people are saying, and if appropriate ask a question that may lend itself to research for your project. (Be appropriate, otherwise you’ll just turn off your targeted community.)

Information, information wherefore art thou

When conducting research about your new business for your business plan, don’t just stick to the usual suspects: the library, the internet, and/or a similar organization. Go everywhere!

When researching about my new business, I found myself in other states talking to Executives Directors of nonprofit organizations. I interviewed people who started nonprofit businesses to see what they thought they did right and what they would do to improve on the process. I visited group meetings of nonprofit professionals and gathered information, as well as new supports.

My most rewarding experience, yes hind-sight is 20/20, was the November 9 networking event with the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations and other nonprofit organizations. While I was almost sick to my stomach just thinking about going, it was a great experience, and I was able to gather new resources from that event. I must admit, I’m looking forward to my next one.