Making the call – Obama or McCain

As a result of the economic conditions, many nonprofits are facing unprecedented economic conditions that will affect philanthropy. In the next few days, we will each have to make our own call on who best represents our goals. When Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama debated on the campus of the University of Mississippi, they were asked by moderator Jim Lehrer of the NewsHour on PBS about what fiscal priorities they would “adjust” as a result of the current economic bailout:

LEHRER: …what are you going to have to give up, in terms of the priorities that you would bring as president of the United States, as a result of having to pay for the financial rescue plan?

OBAMA: Well, there are a range of things that are probably going to have to be delayed. We don't yet know what our tax revenues are going to be. The economy is slowing down, so it's hard to anticipate right now what the budget is going to look like next year.

But there's no doubt that we're not going to be able to do everything that I think needs to be done. There are some things that I think have to be done.

We have to have energy independence, so I've put forward a plan to make sure that, in 10 years' time, we have freed ourselves from dependence on Middle Eastern oil by increasing production at home, but most importantly by starting to invest in alternative energy, solar, wind, biodiesel, making sure that we're developing the fuel-efficient cars of the future right here in the United States, in Ohio and Michigan, instead of Japan and South Korea.

We have to fix our health care system, which is putting an enormous burden on families. Just -- a report just came out that the average deductible went up 30 percent on American families.
They are getting crushed, and many of them are going bankrupt as a consequence of health care. I'm meeting folks all over the country. We have to do that now, because it will actually make our businesses and our families better off.

The third thing we have to do is we've got to make sure that we're competing in education. We've got to invest in science and technology. China had a space launch and a space walk. We've got to make sure that our children are keeping pace in math and in science.

And one of the things I think we have to do is make sure that college is affordable for every young person in America.

And I also think that we're going to have to rebuild our infrastructure, which is falling behind, our roads, our bridges, but also broadband lines that reach into rural communities.
Also, making sure that we have a new electricity grid to get the alternative energy to population centers that are using them.

So there are some -- some things that we've got to do structurally to make sure that we can compete in this global economy. We can't shortchange those things. We've got to eliminate programs that don't work, and we've got to make sure that the programs that we do have are more efficient and cost less.

LEHRER: Are you -- what priorities would you adjust, as president, Senator McCain, because of the -- because of the financial bailout cost?

MCCAIN: Look, we, no matter what, we've got to cut spending. We have -- as I said, we've let government get completely out of control.

Senator Obama has the most liberal voting record in the United States Senate. It's hard to reach across the aisle from that far to the left.

The point -- the point is -- the point is, we need to examine every agency of government.

First of all, by the way, I'd eliminate ethanol subsidies. I oppose ethanol subsidies.

I think that we have to return -- particularly in defense spending, which is the largest part of our appropriations -- we have to do away with cost-plus contracts. We now have defense systems that the costs are completely out of control.

We tried to build a little ship called the Littoral Combat Ship that was supposed to cost $140 million, ended up costing $400 million, and we still haven't done it.

So we need to have fixed-cost contracts. We need very badly to understand that defense spending is very important and vital, particularly in the new challenges we face in the world, but we have to get a lot of the cost overruns under control.

I know how to do that.

Click here to see the complete transcript.

In a nutshell:
Obama would continue to place early-childhood education, science education, affordable college tuition, energy independence, fixing the health-care system, and rebuilding the country's infrastructure as his priorities.

McCain’s priorities would be an elimination of ethanol subsidies, cut costs in defense by eliminating cost-plus contracts and freeze spending on everything but veteran’s affairs, and Social Security.

Who best represents your nonprofit priorities?

Who will be our next President?

The economy was on everyone’s minds last week as the final Presidential debate between John McCain and Barack Obama got underway. McCain launched his attack concentrating on Obama’s $60 billion proposal to improve the economic problems in the U.S, suggesting that this plan would mean tax increases for many Americans. Both candidates spoke directly to “Joe the Plumber” who had confronted Obama Monday at a rally in Ohio regarding his tax policies. Joe Wurzelbacher, the plumber, suggested that Obama’s plan would increase his taxes. According to Obama, his plan would increase taxes on wealthy American’s making over $250.00, so “Joe the Plumber” must expect to do pretty well if he thinks he will be impacted. McCain asked Obama why he would want to increase anybodies taxes right now. “We both want to cut taxes,” Obama said. “The difference is who we want to cut taxes for.”

Obama fought back using his running mate, Sen. Joe Biden’s comment that McCain’s campaign advertising had been 100% negative according to a study by the University of Wisconsin Advertising Project that examined TV ad spending by the two candidates from September 28 to October 4.

According to the Campaign Media Analysis Group,"An analysis of campaign commercials aired over the last seven days shows Obama outspent McCain nationwide by more than 2-1: $21.5 million vs. $9.2 million. But just under half of the money Obama is spending is going toward negative spots, meaning the Illinois senator is roughly keeping pace with his GOP rival when it comes to negative commercials, in terms of cash spent," the story said.

Was there a clear winner in that debate? Which plan will offer the best hope for a bright future in the nonprofit sector? Let us know what you think.

Has the Money from Wall Street Dried up?

With the severe complexion of the financial industries’ bankruptcies, cutbacks, bailouts, and takeovers sweeping through financial markets, donations from highly paid financial professionals are expected to slump. Wall Street professionals have been a part of the richest 1% of the U.S. population. Some 51 percent of individual giving comes from the 10% of households in the highest income groups and slightly less coming from the 90% with income less than $100,000, according to Giving USA. “While higher-income families are major donors to many important institutions, ordinary-income donors are vital, too, for the health of the nonprofit sector in this country,” according to Del Martin, chair of Giving USA Foundation.

It is natural that as the economy slumps people will have less money to give to charity, however, “the trend of total giving of about 2% of income has remained about the same for the past 50 years”, according to Elizabeth Boris, director of the Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C.

The effect of the financial crisis on giving is expected to be significant. Will it really? What will nonprofits do to make up for the shortfall? Perhaps the American middle-class will step in to shoulder the burden of bank bailouts and maintain the healthy philanthropic giving that has been our nature for so long. Though trickle-down hasn’t exactly worked, the question is, has it left charities out to dry?

6 steps to getting selected for federal grants

Federal regulations can be Byzantine, but the White House, through its office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, offered a guide called “Developing a Quality Grant Proposal” that offers guidance about selection criteria for a federal grant.

The criteria listed include:

• Need for the project. Explain how community need ties into the grant program’s purpose. Use recent statistics, compare target areas to region and nation, demonstrate through facts and avoid jargon and rhetoric.
• Project design. It should meet the stated need, reflect the life of the project, demonstrate a well thought-out plan, detail recruitment of target population, build community partnerships and develop a contingency plan.
• Project services. These should incorporate proven methods, tailor services to benefit the community, vary methods of meeting the need, emphasize individual services and cite examples of activities.
• Personnel. Provide detailed job descriptions of both paid staff and volunteers, highlight their qualifications, demonstrate their ability to relate to target populations, address professional development and align salaries with time and effort.
• Project evaluation. Measure goals and objectives to see if they are ambitious and attainable, what indicators will demonstrate progress and if they are achieved through services. Review project performance monthly or quarterly to see if it meets the needs in the proposal and if it can be used to replicate success. Include staff and participant input.

Budget. It should be for the life of the grant, address matching requirements, seek other support and focus on sustainability.

Power donor relationship building

The difference between Tiger Woods and the next guy is easily in the fundamentals -- the grip, the stance, the swing. More precisely, it's in how each one executes those fundamentals. The difference between a good fundraiser and a great one? It's in the fundamentals as well.

Through his book, Let's Have Lunch Together, the workshops hosted by his namesake consulting firm, and through his speeches, Marshall Howard teaches the importance of building strong relationships. "You must figure out how to climb up the relationship ladder, develop donor relationships, rather than try to figure out schemes to separate them from their money," said Howard, who spoke at the New Jersey Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals' 2006 Conference on Philanthropy.

Howard offered the four fundamentals of "power" relationship building:

1. Reach out. To create high emotional-impact time with prospective donors, consider how you communicate with them. "I don't email. Emails create the lowest impact of anything - one notch below letters." Having figured out through relationship building what his clients enjoy, Howard, for example, takes one client shopping, and another wine-tasting - high emotional-impact time.

2. Be more curious. "Why in the world do you keep your curiosity under wraps?" asked Howard. He then cited the "law of reciprocity," which, when loosely defined, suggests that when you share, there's an urgent need to share back. "Share, and ask questions. They will share back -- they can't help themselves."

3. Put the "person" first. Get to know the prospective donor as a person first, prospective donor (or board member, volunteer, etc.) second. Collectively create mosaics about the prospective donor -- and do it as a team, both organizationally and through high emotional-impact time with the prospect.

4. Uncover values, goals and interests, mutual and individual. The ability to connect is controlled by emotions, feelings and beliefs, said Howard. Every human being seeks to connect, and the stronger that connection, the more emotional energy that exists. The law of emotional reciprocity, loosely defined, suggests that when one gives, there's a need and a desire by the recipient to give back. "People decide emotionally; they justify logically. That said, why when we go see a donor do we plow them with facts?," asked Howard, who said that 88 percent of decisions are based on gut feeling, not fact.

Can you answer when a donor asks: “Why Me?”

Anyone affiliated with a nonprofit knows that any attempt at fundraising can be met with a barrage of questions.

In fact, in his book The 11 Questions Every Donor Asks, Harvey McKinnon has encapsulated that barrage into 11 points. Being able to answer them can be crucial at fundraising time.The first question McKinnon poses – or has donors posing – is “Why Me?”, and it reflects the tendency of all human beings to think selfishly at some point or other.

He points out that by asking this question the prospect is trying to situate himself in the world, or at least in the world of the organization asking him for money. It includes such concerns as: Do you really know me?; Do you care about me?; and, Am I important to you for reasons other than money?

McKinnon suggests that there are many answers but that the following are especially pertinent and helpful with respect to the Why Me? question:

• Because with your past gifts you have shown that you care;
• Because you have met so-and-so (a person the cause/organization has helped) and your gift can help others like her;
• Because you are respected and your support will inspire others; and,
• Because you know how big the need is, and your gift will help to provide solutions.

Donors... Romancing the ask

The importance of making the ask cannot be overemphasized, but “making” the ask might not be the best operative term.

At the recent Fund Raising Day in New York, sponsored by the New York chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Tom Gaffney, of Tom Gaffny Consulting suggested the concept of “romancing” the ask, a way to turn a simple request into a compelling story.

“People don’t give because you have needs – the give because you meet needs,” Gaffny said.

He added that any fundraiser must demonstrate that the organization doing the asking is clearly meeting certain needs. That kind of demonstrable accomplishment, letting a prospect know that a donation actually brings about a desired end, is the kind of approach that will encourage donors to give.

To do that, the organization must achieve the following: Be specific about what is at stake, tie in a specific dollar amount to an important action the organization will undertake and show the reader exactly how that amount will help someone, and then tell them again.

To achieve those objectives, Gaffny offered five ways to romance the ask:

• Use odd gift amounts, such as $67, $14, etc.;
• Focus on one amount;
• Attach recognition to an amount;
• Give the donor a “deal;”
• The ultimate weapon – an irresistible offer.

Disaster planning for your technology

Taming the technology beast can be a daunting prospect for many nonprofits, particularly when it comes to emergency preparedness. Taming that beast involves a detailed assessment of your organization’s current processes and systems.

Dennis Bagley, manager, and Michael Harnish CPA, Associate, technology, consulting and solutions at Plante & Moran provided an assessment questionnaire during the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ Not-For-Profit Financial Executive Forum. Scoring is on a basis of 0 to 5 with no being 0 and 1, sort of and 5 for yes.

1. Within the past 12 months, has your organization made a detailed assessment of all its computer applications and identified which ones are of top priority in supporting routine business operations?
2. Based on the results of study and analysis, do you know the estimated dollar losses your organization would suffer if it had a computer or network outage for a week, two weeks, a month?
3. Do you think the quality and completeness of your organization’s documentation and operating instructions for information systems would enable otherwise qualified strangers to understand and operate your systems without undue delay, research and guesswork?
4. Does your organization back up computer tapes (or diskettes) off-premises, so that at least minor recovery operations might be performed?
5. When was the last time you inventoried your organization’s computer backups to ensure that all needed files are being kept? (Be sure to consider your newer applications and changes to older ones)
6. Within the past 18 months, have you formally surveyed or interviewed key representatives from departments that use and rely on your computers or network to obtain their views on what kind of manual or semi-automated processing could be accomplished if all services were suddenly cut off for periods ranging up to one month?
7. Does your organization have an up-to-date, detailed, written set of procedures on what to do in an emergency and on exactly how recovery operations would go forward if your computer facilities were destroyed or made inaccessible?
8. Has your organization performed tests under simulated disaster conditions in order to help verify that its computer processing can be accomplished at an alternate computer site under whatever provisions your organization has for backup and recovery operations?

A score of 40 indicates a good state of emergency preparedness; 30-39 shows a need for additional attention in some areas. Consider strengthening your disaster recovery plan in areas of relative weakness; 20-29 indicates you are unprepared for potential difficulties that could have been foreseen and avoided. Address the indicated weaknesses in your recovery plan; 10-19 shows very spotty attention to a number of key areas. Significant difficulties and delays in data recovery can be expected. Prompt corrective action is advised; 1-9 shows little attention has been given to a disaster recovery plan. A system disaster is sure to be very costly. A task force should be chartered immediately to address the development of a plan;
0 – Indicates the need for divine intervention to preclude major dollar losses and delays should you experience a disaster

What’s Eating The List Industry? - Don't Tell the Donor

Read this month's Don't Tell the Donor article. The anonymous blogger's newest article tackles the list industry and more.

While reports of direct mail’s death may have been greatly exaggerated, unfortunately the same cannot be said for the traditional mailing list management and brokerage industry. There is a growing understanding that a series of events over the past year have wounded the list community and left it ill-prepared for the coming challenges ahead.

Before I go any further, it should be noted that I have long been an advocate of nonprofit fundraisers ability to use mass mailing to prospect for new members. Not only is it protected by the Constitution, it can also be a cost effective way to raise money and build donor files.

I believe strongly in the ability of organizations to use the unique power of mail to educate and motivate potential new donors. If you believe (like I do) that the revenue from direct mail is responsible for building many of our country’s most important nonprofit organizations – then the mailing list industry deserves a large amount of the credit for developing this successful fundraising channel.

But times have changed. Just as my Don’t Tell the Donor blog attempts to focus debate on controversial issues in the fundraising world, I wanted to use this space this month to talk about the uncertain future of the traditional list industry.

Click here to read complete article...

Family inns combat homelessness

There is no shortage of ideas about how to end the never-ending cycle of poverty, crime, homelessness and despair that entraps far too many Americans.

If anything, those who have studied the problem agree that they can’t all agree, although many have come to accept the fact that there is no single answer for a huge and complex problem.

Among the many solutions that have been offered, Ralph daCosta Nunez has promoted the concept of the American Family Inn as a way of addressing the problem of homelessness in this country.

In his book The New Poverty, Nunez explains family inns as residential education-based facilities, which he says have helped break the cycle of homelessness as well as the cycle of dependency.

Among the main features of family inns:

• Education. Education programs are designed to meet the individual education needs of each parent. There is a focus on basic education in the context of family issues to improve literacy rates.
• Family preservation. Programs ensuring family unity and protecting children are emphasized. Domestic violence, child abuse and neglect are met head-on.
• Job readiness and training. Job readiness, job training and job placement are paramount for preparing families for the challenges and responsibilities of independence and full-time work.
• Permanent housing. The independent skills of budgeting, health, nutrition and parenting are taught.

Train and gain for ending poverty

In an effort to help individuals deal with problems caused by poverty, a large number of education and job-training programs have been instituted and tried for many years.

Results have been far from universally successful, but there have been some good results.In his book The New Poverty, Ralph daCosta Nunez offers details on the Train and Gain (TAG) program, which integrates a variety of services of broad-based support in order to achieve success.

According to Nunez, Train and Gain consists of the following components:

• Pre-employment workshops. Participants attend a weeklong pre-employment workshop before beginning job training.
• Education and GED preparation. Participants without a high school diploma enroll in an on-site alternative high school to prepare for the GED exam. Those with a diploma take part in basic education and family literacy programs.
• Mentoring and skill-building internships. Participants choose to receive employment training in a variety of career fields.
• Supportive workshops: practical living/useful skills. Workshops help participants learn about the issues involved in living independently.
• Employment and basic-skill building. Participants attend weekly workshops providing support and guidance on issues related to finding and working at a job.
• Job search and placement. Job placement caseworkers assist participants in securing permanent employment.
• Postplacement services. Caseworkers assist with issues such as childcare, transportation or health that could threaten new-found employment.

Fundraising ... Getting that first $100,000

It all started somewhere. No matter how big the organization, it probably started with those first stumbling steps.

At a recent conference on fundraising sponsored by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), Aina Gutierrez of Interfaith Worker Justice, Joan Flanagan, a fundraiser for the Center for New Community, Rabbi Laurie Coskey, executive director of the Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice (ICWJ) of San Diego County, Bet Lawrence, ICWJ program coordinator and organizer, offered suggestions on how an organization can make its first $100,000.

Although they cautioned against a one-size-fits-all approach, they did emphasize certain guidelines:

• Fundraising provides an opportunity for inside evaluation and an idea of what the community regards as value.
• Fundraising is a way to build solidarity, raise money and connect to values.
• Fundraising can be done by people of any age.
• Fundraising from people is asking for money and is not a quick fix, but it is dependable and renewable, is internally controlled and provides multiple sources.
• 76 percent of fundraised money in 2006 came from individuals, according to Giving USA.
• Big money comes from individuals who are asked.
• Independence comes from a diverse set of dependable revenue streams.
• The job of the fundraiser is to make the obvious explicit. You get what you ask for.
• Getting money from individuals? Begin with the board, then membership dues, annual donations, major gifts and special events.

Keeping The Faith - Eleanor Clift Latest NPT Column

Along with the Iraq War and his efforts to democratize the Middle East, President Bush will be remembered for bringing a more open embrace of religion into his administration. He campaigned on a promise to forge a partnership between government and religious organizations that deliver social services, and in his first week as president, created the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.

If the Founding Fathers were around, the president might have to explain why this overt introduction of religion didn’t overstep the line they drew between church and state. In any event, the faith-based initiative that is Bush’s signature project has withstood legal challenges and is now well established in the government with offices in a dozen departments and agencies, including Justice, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services.

It is perhaps Bush’s proudest domestic achievement, and one that he would like to see extended regardless of who follows him as president. Bob Tuttle, a professor of law at George Washington University, says, “It’s safe to say none of the candidates would be devoted to it as a personal issue the way Bush has, but it’s hard to see the political advantage in abolishing the faith-based initiative. I’m not sure they’d want to take that on.”

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Is Your Staff Running To Their Next Gig? Latest Article from Don't Tell the Donor

Recruiting, training, and retaining top notch fundraising staff is perhaps the single biggest challenge facing nonprofits today.

You can’t control postal rate increases or the impact of bad economic times on your donor’s ability to give. As a fundraiser, you might even be hopeless to control the quality of programming content or the effectiveness of your organization at serving its mission.

The good news is that you probably have more control over staffing challenges than most other variables and there are some incredible new resources available to nonprofit leaders to help recruit, train, and retain. The bad news is that far too few people seem to be using the available resources.

Most successful leaders know that the hiring process is critically important for preventing “bad apples” from even getting hired in the first place. Unfortunately, you can be the most selective interviewer on the planet, but if you don’t have quality prospective employees to choose from you aren’t going to build a quality team.

Click Here To Read Complete Article...

General Ramblings - Heck Of A Job - White House continues to be clueless regarding New Orleans

The density of some federal officials can truly be stunning. The White House Office of Faith-Based And Community Initiatives decided it would be a good idea to hold a conference in New Orleans to discuss disaster preparedness.

According to the White House, the conference was “designed to highlight and strengthen the role of faith-based and community organizations in disaster relief and preparedness with a special focus on the Gulf Coast region. The White House Conference on Disaster Relief and Preparedness will discuss ways President Bush’s Faith-Based and Community Initiative vision is engaged across the Gulf Coast region and will offer tools and training for social service organizations as they work to rebuild and sustain their communities.”

They can’t be serious. Not only is the idea of this conference in New Orleans an insult to the people who survived Hurricane Katrina, it insults all of the sector leadership who continue to put the city back together without the help of the White House.

This concept can only be considered a “Brown-ie” moment, as in when President George Bush turned to Michael D. Brown, his head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and exclaimed, “You’re doin’ a heck of a job, Brownie.” That was the guy who had to be told folks were stranded at the convention center for days without food and water. He resigned about two weeks after the storm swept across the city on Aug. 29, 2005 and the 17th Street Canal levee was breeched allowing the city to become part of Lake Pontchartrain.

The Louisiana Association of Nonprofits, the nation’s major charities such as The Salvation Army and the American Red Cross, and communications groups such as TechNOLA Project, have struggled to get the city’s lights back on. They have pulled together and coordinated activity that should be responsibilities of government.

It’s true that it was a free-for-all when the storm hit. It can be argued that the only good response would have been to get people out of there. No matter the gravity of a situation, there are some people who will not leave their homes. What exacerbated the tragedy was that there wasn’t a plan for those people and to evacuate quickly the people who wanted to leave.
And, of course, the people of New Orleans still blame the federal government for ignoring decades of warnings that the levees were crumbling and endangering the city.
The federal government can’t ignore one of its major economic centers. But a “Do what I say, not what I do” attitude is incredibly arrogant.

This column generally starts or ends with an amusing quote that ties things together via irony. The suggestion of this conference is ironic enough. NPT

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Communications ... 7 messaging roadblock questions

Taking an honest, searching look at your organization's message is a necessary task. One result of examining the message could very well be a decision to modify the message to develop it the best way possible, or simply to leave it as it is and put a renewed emphasis on conveying the message.

Although this process might seem straightforward, Rebecca K. Leet, a strategic consultant to nonprofit organizations, cautions that there could be roadblocks to success in terms of developing a strategic message.

Those roadblocks can be overcome if an organization is willing to answer the following questions:

• Will we involve an interdisciplinary team in the message-development process?
• Will the team include top leadership of our organization or programs?
• Will we use the strategic message that is developed for a sustained period of time?
• Will we be disciplined about how we use the message, for example, refraining from changing it because of boredom?
• Will we commit to stating an organizational expectation that everyone in the organization, including board members and volunteers, will learn to use the strategic message?
• Will we refrain from telling our audiences what they should want or do?
• Will we practice linking what we want them to do with something they desire?

Web tools that can make your life easier

Although getting the maximum use out of online tools can be complicated at first, even daunting to smaller organizations, there are avenues that can be helpful.

Rick Christ, managing partner of NPAdvisors.com in Warrenton, Va., an online marketing consulting firm, suggests several resources that can be helpful to any nonprofit. They are:

• MySpace.com. If you're looking for free Web page hosting, with blog tools, room for photos, email and newsletter service, get one that comes with about 100 million other users who are online 24 hours a day.
• Paypal. It is free to set up. It costs about as much per transaction as most donation processing services (and less than many), ant it is a tool of choice for 67 million people whose sole purpose in having it is to transfer money online.
• Text messaging. When the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) failed to provide street lamps and the forms necessary to run search operations in post-hurricane New Orleans, relief workers used text messaging to stay in touch with each other and constituents were able to ask questions and provide updates.
• IM (instant messaging). It is another free way to be "open" for business.
• ThePetitionSite. Com. This is a site for online advocacy, a place to post a petition and drive advocacy.
• Yahoo! Groups. This provides file sharing, group email, calendars and other features.

Developing effective newsletters

Although a survey conducted during the 1990s indicated that donors prefer receiving newsletters from the organizations to which they contribute, a subsequent study shows that donors may not be reading the newsletters they profess to crave.

Speaking at a recent national fundraising conference, consultant Tom Ahern offered a few pointers about effective newsletters, including ways to get donors to read and then, as a result, donate.

Ahern offered four ways by which an organization can attract readers through its newsletter. They are:

• Speak in emotional terms. Gifts are written by the heart. The head is just there to second the nomination.
• Write in benefits. What’s in it for me? If you speak to people about the benefits and with donors that means about how they are saving the world or could save the world they will respond.
• Sound conversational, not institutional. Newsletters are very akin to direct mail. They are correspondence between you and your donors, so they should be conversational in tone, if possible.
• Speak to the four different aspects of donor personality: amiables respond to intimacy and heavy use of the word “you.” Anecdotes are important to them, as are photographs of people whose eyes can be seen.

Expressives want to know about the new, exciting things the organization is doing. Analyticals are skeptical and need reassurance. Give them facts. Bottom-lines want you to tell what your organization does and how they can help. FAQs are good.

7 tips for generating news coverage

Nonprofit organizations have learned that they can help with their mission if they maintain a high profile – which of course means a good image – in the public mind.

This high profile can be maintained via the media, and Sandra L. Beckwith writes in her book Publicity for Nonprofits that organizations can find creative ways to get their names in the news. Beckwith offers suggestions for creating news.

• Write and distribute a tip sheet. This is a form of news release that offers tips or advice in a bulleted or numbered format. This allows an organization to share specialized knowledge about a topic.
• Comment on national headline news. Media outlets are looking for a local angle on a national story in their area. This requires an ability to act quickly.
• Tap into TV story lines. For example, the NBC television show ER reported that two-thirds of the show’s viewers watch for health information. Knowing this, many local affiliates schedule health news updates for the newscast following the show.
• Do a survey. Newsworthy survey results are sure-fire publicity starters. The survey topic should relate to the organization’s mission.
• Create a list. Lists are popular with the media. David Letterman’s “Top Ten List” is reprinted in newspapers.
• Take advantage of newsworthy seasons and holidays. Each predictable seasonal story brings publicity opportunities.
• Host a contest or competition. Publicity opportunities exist for announcing the competition, conducting the competition and announcing the winners.

5 things NOT to do on an interview

Even the most prepared job candidate inadvertently might say the wrong thing during a job interview. But the risk is even greater for for-profit executives interested in transitioning to the nonprofit sector because there are distinct differences in the language used in the two sectors.

The April issue of “Leadership Matters,” published by Bridgestar, a nonprofit initiative of the Bridgespan Group dedicated to attracting, connecting, and supporting executive leaders for the sector, addresses this topic. The featured article, “Lost in Translation: Common Language Pitfalls for Bridgers” is based on discussions with 11 senior executives at nonprofit organizations, some of whom themselves were bridgers executives who move from for-profit to nonprofit.

The senior nonprofit executives shared the following insights:

• Avoid referring to the organization as “the company” or similar words such as “corporation.”
• Don’t use business jargon, such as “ROI” (return on investment), “EBITDA” (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortization), “CAGR” (compounded annual growth rate), or “net profits.” Instead of “income statement” or “profit and loss statement,” say “statement of activities.”
• Be familiar with nonprofit buzzwords, including, “outputs,” “outcomes,” “major donors,” and “development.”
• Don’t assume that those in the nonprofit sector don’t know business terms. That can be just as bad (and totally condescending) as using jargon blindly without stopping to see if it’s registering with anyone.
• Research the organization’s website and print materials to see what words they use. Some words that started out in the business world have been embraced by the nonprofit sector.