"Nonprofit Spark": A Radio Talk Show for New and Emerging Nonprofits

"Nonprofit Spark" is weekly radio talk show through The Voice America hosted by Renee McGivern, a Minnesota-based nonprofit consultant. This show, launched in September, is focused on spurring dialogue on issues of emerging and new organizations. Check out her show live on Thursdays at 8am EST or catch up on past episodes on her show's webpage.

About the Host: Renee McGivern has 30 years of experience working in nonprofits and trade associations. She’s worn the hats of development, communications and executive director and also spent a great deal of her career designing training seminars for the newspaper industry. McGivern’s passion is to facilitate learning, communication and action so life works for people and organizations. “Nonprofit Spark is the first national radio show devoted to new and emerging nonprofits,” says McGivern. “It’s my dream job - to spark learning and action so leaders are effective at making a huge difference in the world.”

Getting Social Media Right: A Short Guide for Nonprofit Organizations

Published Date: 2010-10-26 on http://www.bridgespan.org/getting-nonprofit-social-media-right.aspx?cid=1

Author(s): Richard (Dickie) Steele Sivan McLetchie Chris Lindquist

Imagine you've written a blog about your cause and readers pick up on it, re-tweeting it to Twitter users 400 times. Is that good? How would you know? To answer those questions with any confidence, you have to know what your goals are for that blog—and you have to know how those goals fit into your use of social media, and your organization's mission overall.

We couldn't answer those kinds of questions ourselves, until recently—until we started studying how nonprofits are using social media, what works best, what doesn't and why. In fact, one early lesson for us came when we tried using social media to jumpstart our research about social media and didn't get very far. We stepped back, reconsidered, and revised our approach, and with rich input from more than 136 nonprofits (who participated in a survey we conducted) and social media luminaries including Beth Kanter and Craig Newmark, we developed this evolving but experience-based guide to using social media effectively.

More on Social Media

• Social Media Resources
• Report Data

This report lays out a rubric we call the "Seven C's" of social media: Cause, Communication, Community, Collaboration, Costs, Capital, and Competition. By challenging yourself to ask questions around the Seven C's, you can quickly begin to organize your thinking about social media, and plan or revise your approach so that your social media efforts create real value for your organization. (Our full data set—purged of any identifying information—survey, and framework are all available for download, and we encourage everyone to examine and share it.)

Cause

What is my organization's mission, and can social media help me achieve it?

Your mission should be the foundation for all of your efforts to communicate and share resources and services—regardless of the medium. So when you think about your website, blogs, tweets, Facebook posts, and the like, keep your overall mission front and center and be explicit about what the connection is between your actions and your cause. Ask: "What is the direct link to our mission for this investment and this activity?" Ask: "Why are we going to post that blog? What are our hopes for it, related to our cause? How will this help us with our strategy overall?"

Many nonprofit leaders do not yet do this. In fact, in a report released early in 2010 by nonprofit technology research organization Idealware ("Using Social Media to Meet Nonprofit Goals," March 2010) 34 percent of respondents said they were using social media because other organizations were already doing so. That isn't much of a foundation on which to build a plan, set goals, or figure out whether your investments are worthwhile.

Social media use should be proactive and linked directly to strategy, not reactive. That means that if your organization is trying to influence a specific action (such as MoveOn.org), your approach likely will be different than if your organization's main goal is to share information (such as the Education Equality Project). Both of those organizations have thoroughly integrated social media strategies, but their approaches (and the set of social media tools they use) vary considerably.

Consider a detailed example: Facing History and Ourselves is a nonprofit that provides materials and support to help teachers develop a sense of civic responsibility in their students. As Adam Strom, director for research and development, told us, the organization jumped into social media because it was there, and the organization felt pressure to engage.

"For a while [Facing History] was sharing content on Facebook and Twitter without a plan," he said. After a while, though, the nonprofit's leaders started questioning whether Facing History's efforts were truly helping the work of the organization, and if not, why not. They realized that the organization's Facebook presence was developing a valuable and sizeable network; Facebook's popularity was helping the organization build its brand and spread awareness of its work among teachers and other groups of people it was trying to reach. Facebook was also helping the organization connect more easily and deeply with current and former students who had benefited from Facing History's work. With Twitter, they were far less confident; they didn't know as much about the way Twitter could work for them, and the organization's early efforts hadn't built a sizeable presence.

The person who had set up the Twitter and Facebook accounts had left the organization, and Strom knew the organization didn't have the staff time to continue to maintain an active presence on both. And so Facing History suspended its Twitter use—at least for now.

By taking time to reflect—and focusing its efforts on a single outlet—Facing History has developed a better understanding of what social media can do both for the organization and its constituents. The organization now uses social media purposefully to support its cause by building a community that includes current students and alumni; specifically, Facing History offers ongoing support via social media to a growing number of people, and by doing so, reinforces the idea that civic responsibility isn't a one-off concept. As Strom put it, "We're not just a course they took somewhere along the road."

Communication

What is the right role for social media in our overall communications efforts?

Social media is one tool in an overall communications strategy. It can strengthen an organization's existing communication efforts by making them more immediate (for example, a nonprofit can react to current events through social media, tailoring its message to be timely and relevant to constituents). It can open a channel to a new audience, potentially gaining new support for the organization, or helping people the organization does not reach through its programs or more traditional communications. It can facilitate communications, particularly if the organization's target audience is already comfortable with social media tools. And it can allow an organization's constituents to communicate—with the organization, and with one another—on their own terms.

Consider how leaders at Mobilize.org think about the role of social media. Mobilize.org focuses on bringing together "Millennials" (people born in the 1980s and 1990s) to identify and solve problems on their college campuses and in their communities. According to Ayofemi Kirby, director of communications at Mobilize.org, the decision to use social media was easy because the people the organization wants to reach already use social media; it was a natural extension of the organization's other communication efforts. The key to making social media work for Mobilize.org was to ensure that its use of social media was purposefully focused on reaching that target audience and to have the organization be seen as the resource for all things related to Millennial civic engagement. "Our first goal was to begin creating name-recognition and association with the ‘Millennial' movement," Kirby told us. "For example, we started tweeting and re-tweeting about things young people would be interested in, such as student loans, career advice, and college, and "tagging" the tweets with the #millennial hashtag so that we would regularly show up in the Millennial Twitter feed."

Mobilize.org has seen measurable results from these efforts, too, with traffic to its website being consistently highest on days when the organization is most active on Facebook and Twitter.

Community

What groups of people might we reach (or create) through social media?

There's great potential for nonprofits to bring people together, either to help one another get the most from what your organization can offer or to mobilize on behalf of your organization. The key is thinking about the natural boundaries of each potential "community" you can identify and keeping an eye out for groups that begin to emerge on their own, as a result of something they have in common regarding your cause or organization's offerings.

Ask: What natural "groups" can we identify around the work of our organization? (Beneficiaries, board members, peer groups, funders, alumni, activists?) What might a community built through social media help them do? What might group members want to do? Could we strengthen an existing group, such as activists, through a social media channel?

Facing History's newfound ability to stay connected with its alumni is one example. The alumni group is easy to identify, and Facing History is finding that social media is an effective means of staying connected with that group and building on the impact they've already felt through their previous interactions with the organization. Facing History gets "wonderful, unsolicited contact" from past students, Strom said, which only reinforces the organization's belief that social media has great potential to support alumni to continue to engage in civic activities.

Christen Chambers, vice president of engagement management at Fox Digital Media offered this advice: "Best-of-class social media strategy clearly targets very specific market or audience segments and customizes the strategy to meet their needs. I would never recommend a one-size-fits-all approach because you can never fully penetrate your audience that way."

Collaboration

How can we help our communities? How do our constituents want to be engaged?

Once you've identified potential communities, ask: How can we empower them? What tools and supports can we provide? Are we getting in their way? How can social media help bring the various stakeholders of our organization together in productive ways? Look for "if only" clues in their communications with you and with one another. What are they wishing they could do?

When Facing History identified its alumni as a promising community that could be helped via social media, the organization's work didn't stop there. In order to help alumni—and make it easy for them to help one another—Facing History's managers have done a lot of listening and plan to do a great deal more. Strom said that the organization's Facebook page allows for much easier, open conversation with its constituency than its website does. The organization is "getting comfortable with more free conversations," he said and is learning from those conversations about how the organization can be more effective.

Nonprofit social media consultant, blogger, and book author Beth Kanter also raised another point: Collaboration means opening up conversations about social media internally, as well as with external stakeholders. Social media may be controlled through the communications department, she said, but it "can't be siloed in the communications department." In The Networked Nonprofit, a book Kanter wrote with social media expert Allison Fine, the authors cite the American Red Cross as an example of how social media can help an organization internally. According to the book's account, prior to 2008, the Red Cross had gone so far as to block Facebook access from employee computers. But a multi-year effort by the organization's social media manager, Wendy Harmon, demonstrated how social media could bring the organization closer to its constituents and supporters. For example, Harmon used social media tools to engage with external bloggers, many of whom had published harsh words about the Red Cross at the time of Hurricane Katrina. Harmon's effort ultimately resulted in a social media policy that encourages Red Cross employees at all levels to participate in social media as "ambassadors" for the Red Cross.

Costs

What is the real cost of making social media work for us?

Many social media tools are free, but the time and technology necessary to configure, update, and monitor them is not. It is easy to be fooled into thinking that social media is a great cost-saver. But when you're thinking about integrating social media into your arsenal of communications tools, weigh the potential benefits against the investment you'll have to make (in technology, in dedicated staff, and so forth) to have impact. Doing this is hard, because it's very difficult, particularly early on, to gauge the potential benefits. It's also difficult to spot all of the costs associated with social media. (Remember, just because a video can go viral doesn't mean it will go viral for free. Successful social media requires marketing and relationship building, and those efforts come at a price, as well.) Social media should be held to the same standard as any other expense your organization incurs.

Put another way, don't ask yourself "How much do we need to spend to be active in social media?" Instead, raise issues of cause, communication, and community, and then muster your team to get specific about how social media fits into your strategy and what's needed to make it happen over time. What exactly will need to be done to use social media the way you'd like to use it? What will it cost to commit time and resources to stay current with your social media communications, so that your organization doesn't appear out of date? What resources can you reasonably expect to budget towards that end? Will any other activities you engage in be redundant once you're using social media, and would stopping those activities free up any resources? "Don't stop doing stuff that works," Kanter advised, "but reallocate to provide time to do things that social media may actually perform better than current methods [of communication or community building]."

Where possible, use data to inform your decisions. This will be hard to do at the beginning, but it's important to bring data to bear as soon as you can. The leadership team at Mobilize.org, for example, has begun thinking about the return on investment of the time the organization invests in social media using basic metrics, such as the number of people it engages, the number of tweets and re-tweets that mention the organization's efforts, and the number of comments that Mobilize.org blog posts receive. Kirby said that the team also is trying to think explicitly about how social media multiplies the nonprofit's reach.

Capital

How can we use social media to raise money for our cause?

There are a very few highly visible examples of organizations that have galvanized tremendous numbers of people to action for their causes. (Remember the American Red Cross' "text for Haiti" campaign that raised more than $32M for Haitian relief through text-message donations?) But keep in mind: those "communities" are quickly built; they disband just as quickly, and they are rare. Not many organizations will be able to amass support on that scale at that speed.

In fact, according to the 2010 Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark Report from Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN), Common Knowledge, and thePort, of all commercial social networks, only Facebook provided $10,000 or more in revenues in the previous year to any of the surveyed nonprofit organizations. And while 40.4 percent of respondents to that survey said they had fundraised with Facebook, 77.6 percent of those organizations reported raising $1,000 or less.

Social media in its current state can support fundraising; it should not be thought of as a primary fundraising vehicle and should be well integrated into an existing funding strategy.

How much can social media support your fundraising efforts? To begin to answer that question, think about how strong your brand is. Also take into consideration whom your donors have been in the past and whether your donor base is "social-media friendly."

"I think of [social media-based fundraising] as an option, but the research isn't there right now to show this a good way to raise money," summed up Facing History's Strom. "Right now we're thinking about constituency building."

Competition

Who is our competition in the social media space, and how can we differentiate our organization?

In large part, the key to differentiating yourself from others using social media is to keep your own particular audience in mind. As Fox's Chambers put it, "You want to customize the approach as targeted as you can so that your customers feel like you are talking directly to them and not to the general public."

It's also important to stay true to your organization's culture. "Be genuine in your communications," Chambers advised. "If you are not Ashton Kutcher, don't try to tweet like him."

Also make sure you're genuinely comfortable with the social media tools you're using. You don't want to be using out-of-date technology, but that doesn't mean you have to be an early adopter. "The social media tools you use have to be viewed in the same light as any communication and branding approach," Chambers said. "If you are trying to convey an image of being cutting edge, your social media approach needs to reflect that. If you want to be seen as dependable, then your social media tools need to be dependable, too. These tools may be new, but the traditional business practices still apply."

One useful exercise is finding out if other organizations in your field are using social media, and if so, how they use it. If yours is a small organization, what are larger nonprofits in your space doing with social media? What is unique about your mission, and how can you use that characteristic to tailor your social media use? For Facing History, differentiating the organization from others in social media channels means staying true to its educational mission, Strom said: "We want our social media presence to represent our core values."

Weigh In!

Despite the huge amount of discussion and rapidly increasing usage of social media tools, the space arguably is still in its infancy. As such, a reasonable amount of experimentation should and will be an integral part of the process of finding answers to the above questions.

You'll need to engage in a certain amount of trial and error. We will, too. Our hope, however, is that the Seven C's will provide a way to comprehensively think through the risk associated with that experimentation and maximize its potential to tap value from social media.

We welcome your thoughts, your experiences, your insights, and your "lessons learned the hard way." Please weigh in here and help us help other nonprofits multiply their impact through social media.

Download: Getting Social Media Right: A Short Guide for Nonprofit Organizations(2)

ED and Board Working Together: Watch Video of the Panel Discussion

Missed the Leatherstocking AEA October 20th Program? Watch the panel discussion on the ED and the Board Working Together.




Here's more video from the panel on NYCON's YouTube Channel.

Panel includes 5 nonprofits:
Opportunities for Otsego: Dan Maskin, ED and Dr. Alan Donovan, Board President
Chenango Health Network: Tina Utley Edwards, ED and Debra Marcus, Board President
Roxbury Arts Group: Susan Kenny, ED and Michael Mathis, Board President
Cooperstown Art Association: Janet Erway, ED and Cheryl Wright, Board President
MARK Project: Peg Ellsworth, ED and Brian Mulder, Board President

The discussion addressed the following:

The ED’s Perspective
1. How much involvement should Board members have in daily activities?
2. What is / how do you define the relationship between the Board and the ED?
3. How do you continue to reinforce the mission and the focus of the board?
4. What is the ED’s responsibility for Board development?

The Board President's perspective:
1. What is the Board President’s responsibility for a contract and what is the subsequent evaluation process by the Executive Director?
2. What is the role of the Board President in assigning Board committee tasks and following through?
3. What is the role of the Board President in recruiting new members and orienting them?
4. What is the role of the Board President in Fundraising?

Speed Networking at the Smithy this Friday!

Co-Sponsored by the COOPERSTOWN

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Friday, October 22nd, 2010

6-8 PM at The Smithy-- 55 Pioneer St.

You've heard of Speed Dating, well here's a version suited for business-minded individuals and companies alike!

Networking is quite possibly the most important thing you can do to improve your business, strengthen sales, grow customer lists, and market your products and services. Speed networking allows you to have multiple micro-meetings with over 20 attendees. Your time is valuable- this is a great way to utilize it productively!

Be sure to bring LOTS of business cards!

Complimentary wine and refreshments served.

RSVP to (607) 547-9983 or info1@cooperstownchamber.org

New Position at Friends of Recovery

Friends of Recovery of Delaware and Otsego counties, located in Oneonta, NY, has a new executive position that will open at the end of the month. Friends of Recovery is a Community Addiction Recovery support organization, and as it is funded by Access to Recovery, its direct services and administration must be carried out by a Qualified Health Professional.

The job announcement is as follows:
FT Executive Director for Recovery Community Organization.
Must be NYS Qualified Health Professional.
Send cover letter and resume to Betty Currier
at ecurrier@stny.rr.com or call 607-547-1834.

Tri-County Young Professionals 3rd Wednesday Luncheon

3rd Wednesday Luncheon Wed, Oct 20, 2010

If you haven’t had the opportunity to join us for lunch, now is the time! This month we’re meeting at Park Place in Norwich and Jill Eddy of the Chenango County Chamber has agreed to be our guest speaker. Learn more about the benefits of being a chamber member while socializing with other young profession­als.

Reservations are not required, but strongly encouraged.
RSVP to Alison Crotts: 607.433.2251 x185 or catering@hioneonta.com

Note: You do not have to be a member to attend this event.
Park Place
7 E Park Place , Norwich
P: 607.336.7275

How Much Does Your Program Really Cost?

From the National Council of Nonprofits' Nonprofit Knowledge Matters October Newsletter:

Your Mission: What Does it Really Cost?
Too often the grant or contract a nonprofit receives to deliver a program or service, whether from a foundation or the government, simply does not cover the full cost of delivering that program or service. This problem is highlighted in the National Council's recent Special Report: Costs, Complexification, and Crisis: Government’s Human Services Contracting "System" Hurts Everyone. The report illustrates how government contracts that do not cover the full cost of services cut into the muscle of the nonprofit providing the services, and ultimately weaken our communities.

In fact, failure to cover the full cost of services and programs was the #1 problem uncovered by the first-ever national survey documenting the serious and widespread problems experienced by nonprofit human service providers under contract with local, state and federal governments. View the findings from the survey conducted by the Urban Insitute.

The "full cost recovery" problem is echoed by the experience of nonprofits receiving funding from private philanthropy. Foundation grants frequently fall short of covering the actual cost to the nonprofit of delivering programs and services covered by the grant. For instance, a survey by Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO) found that only 20 percent of foundations say that their grants "often or always" include the appropriate overhead to cover the amount of time grantees spend reporting on their grants. Read a national study by GEO.

In order for nonprofits to be sustainable this paradigm has to change.

Whether from the perspective of capacity builders, or nonprofits that are striving to build their own capacity, we should recognize that part of the problem – and a big step towards a solution – lies with nonprofits themselves. Here are three things you can do:

1. Know how to calculate the full cost of delivering programs and services – not the "budgeted" costs (often a euphemism for anticipated or projected costs) but the actual costs of service delivery.
2. Advocate for your organization by communicating the actual costs of program delivery to funding sources.
3. Communicate to funders that shortchanging nonprofits by not paying the full cost of service delivery is a barrier to the sustainability of individual nonprofits.

The bottom line is that without knowing how much to ask for, and without receiving full cost recovery, nonprofits will never be able to build their capacity or provide sustainable services to our communities.

Wondering where to start? The National Council's Capacity Building Hub shares resources to help nonprofits understand and calculate the full cost of delivering their mission, and to help grantmakers understand the importance of full cost recovery.

Job Opening: Executive Director, Family Resource Network, Inc.

The Family Resource Network, Inc., a growing not-for-profit serving families who have children with disabilities, seeks a full-time Executive Director. The position requires employee management, program oversight, grant writing, fundraising and fiscal management.

Candidates must hold a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree, have successful experience writing grants, excellent organizational skills, strong fiscal management skills, possess excellent public speaking skills and have personal experience with special needs children. Preference will be given to candidates who have experience working with non-profits.

Competitive salary and excellent benefits.

To apply, send cover letter, resume and references to the Family Resource Network, Inc., Attn. Ruth Modinger, 46 Oneida St., Oneonta, NY 13820. You may also upload your resume on the Family Resource Network website – www.familyrn.org or e-mail it to executivedirector@familyrn.org.

Job Opening: Director of Marketing and Communications, Cooperstown

Our Cooperstown-based client is seeking a Director of Marketing and Communications to provide leadership for their organization at the senior level, by overseeing all marketing, design, media and community relations locally, regionally and nationally. Through creative and grassroots promotional efforts, you will increase the organization’s visibility as a cultural tourism and educational destination. This is an opportunity to serve as a working ambassador to the organization and the region. As a member of the management team, you will build and maintain trustful relationships with other managers, volunteers, staff and the community

The ideal candidate will be an individual who is looking for a longer term opportunity with a prominent institution. You must be a true team player who is collaborative in nature, yet holds responsibility and accountability for your decisions. A commitment and dedication to being accessible to the region is required.

Primary responsibilities:

• Develop, execute and evaluate marketing strategy.
• Plan and implement overall communications efforts to advance via press, media, community relations, special events, print and electronic media, etc.
• Manage the overall aesthetic vision and graphic identity, and oversee production of all collateral materials, web presence, advertising, promotional programs, institutional signage and press relations.
• Partner with outside firms which manage PR, print and design projects.
• Contribute to institutional planning.
• Undertake marketing research in support of institutional growth; produce summary reports and recommendations.
• Develop and manage staff and resources of the department; evaluate staff needs; direct, coach and/or counsel staff; promote and manage volunteer relationships.
• Write departmental and institutional budgets, practice effective financial planning, craft and maintain vendor relationships, accomplish goals within allotted expenditure.
• Represent the institutions in the industry and the community, participate or lead cooperative ventures involving marketing, to the benefit of the institutions.
• Direct the efforts of consultants and/or contractors working on behalf of marketing and communications for the institutions.
• Collaborate with other departments on initiatives, projects and goals.
• Maintain high standards of professionalism and conduct oneself in a manner which will consistently enhance the prestige and credibility of the organization.
• Other duties as needed or assigned.

Key attributes, skills and abilities:

• High energy
• Sincere
• Strategic thinking
• Exceptional interpersonal communication skills, both written and verbal
• Outstanding follow up
• Solid work ethic
• Diplomatic
• Initiator
• Timely and deadline-oriented
• Business oriented and logical thinking
• Focused
• Multi-tasking

Qualifications:

• BS in advertising, marketing, communications or related field required. MBA or related master’s degree preferred
• Proven experience developing and implementing an integrated marketing and communications program
• Successful record of building community relationships and promotional partnerships.
• Prior management experience – projects and staff
• Demonstrated record of success in formulating creative campaigns and brand management. Well versed in all forms of media, including the web, print and broadcast.
• Skilled in the use of direct e-mail, interactive/online marketing including social media, guerrilla marketing and promotional tactics
• Experience desirable in a cultural, arts or travel organization highly preferred

If you meet all of the qualifications and are willing to be based in New York’s beautiful Leatherstocking region, please submit resume and cover letter as Word documents to:

Alison Rosenblum, MBA

Strategic Resources

arosenblum@strategic-resourcesinc.com

Our client is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

New Mapping Tool Fosters Strategic Grantmaking in Education

New York, NY — October 12, 2010. The Foundation Center has launched Philanthropy In/Sight®: Education, an innovative data visualization tool that helps grantmakers maximize their investments in education. The tool is available through the organization's Foundations for Education Excellence web portal, a knowledge hub for funders researching best practices and funding opportunities in the field. Through support from the C.S. Mott and JPMorgan Chase foundations, education funders can register to use the tool free of charge at the project web site.

"Foundations are driving fundamental change in our system of education," said Foundation Center president, Bradford Smith. "Now more than ever, they are looking to be more strategic and to increase the impact of their grantmaking. Philanthropy In/Sight: Education, gives them a virtual GPS for tracking the flow of education funds, whether it's across the country, around the world, or in their own backyards."

Philanthropy In/Sight: Education, a customized version of the Foundation Center's Philanthropy In/Sight® mapping tool, is the only resource of its kind to offer comprehensive data on who is giving and who is getting grants across all areas of education, from pre-K learning to preparation for college and career. More than 1,100 grant subject terms can be chosen to hone in on programmatic areas. In addition, a menu of geo-targeting tools allows grantmakers to map the locations of organizations and determine funding gaps in countries, states, cities, counties, metropolitan areas, and ZIP codes — as well as in school and congressional districts. By combining the Center's data with Google maps, grantmakers can quickly view information on funding relationships and giving trends in engaging visual formats.

According to product manager, Dave Clark, "Philanthropy In/Sight: Education is a powerful tool that can help grantmakers better target their programs. The ability to overlay dynamic grants information with a wide array of demographic, socio-economic, and other data will help shine a light on areas of greatest need." The data — including population, income, housing, and education-focused statistics — are drawn from authoritative sources such as the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Department of Education, and the American Human Development Index.

Videos guide funders through real-world scenarios that show how to use Philanthropy In/Sight: Education to best advantage, including how to identify potential funding partners and grantees. "A key benefit of the tool," said Clark, "is its ability to foster collaborations between individuals and like-minded organizations. It's an effective way to connect the dots for a more vivid picture of the funding landscape in education."

About the Foundation Center
Established in 1956 and today supported by close to 550 foundations, the Foundation Center is the leading source of information about philanthropy worldwide. Through data, analysis, and training, it connects people who want to change the world to the resources they need to succeed. The Center maintains the most comprehensive database on U.S. and, increasingly, global grantmakers and their grants — a robust, accessible knowledge bank for the sector. It also operates research, education, and training programs designed to advance knowledge of philanthropy at every level. Thousands of people visit the Center's web site each day and are served in its five regional library/learning centers and its network of 450 funding information centers located in public libraries, community foundations, and educational institutions nationwide and beyond. For more information, please visit foundationcenter.org or call (212) 620-4230.

New Mapping Tool Fosters Strategic Grantmaking in Education

New York, NY — October 12, 2010. The Foundation Center has launched Philanthropy In/Sight®: Education, an innovative data visualization tool that helps grantmakers maximize their investments in education. The tool is available through the organization's Foundations for Education Excellence web portal, a knowledge hub for funders researching best practices and funding opportunities in the field. Through support from the C.S. Mott and JPMorgan Chase foundations, education funders can register to use the tool free of charge at the project web site.

"Foundations are driving fundamental change in our system of education," said Foundation Center president, Bradford Smith. "Now more than ever, they are looking to be more strategic and to increase the impact of their grantmaking. Philanthropy In/Sight: Education, gives them a virtual GPS for tracking the flow of education funds, whether it's across the country, around the world, or in their own backyards."

Philanthropy In/Sight: Education, a customized version of the Foundation Center's Philanthropy In/Sight® mapping tool, is the only resource of its kind to offer comprehensive data on who is giving and who is getting grants across all areas of education, from pre-K learning to preparation for college and career. More than 1,100 grant subject terms can be chosen to hone in on programmatic areas. In addition, a menu of geo-targeting tools allows grantmakers to map the locations of organizations and determine funding gaps in countries, states, cities, counties, metropolitan areas, and ZIP codes — as well as in school and congressional districts. By combining the Center's data with Google maps, grantmakers can quickly view information on funding relationships and giving trends in engaging visual formats.

According to product manager, Dave Clark, "Philanthropy In/Sight: Education is a powerful tool that can help grantmakers better target their programs. The ability to overlay dynamic grants information with a wide array of demographic, socio-economic, and other data will help shine a light on areas of greatest need." The data — including population, income, housing, and education-focused statistics — are drawn from authoritative sources such as the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Department of Education, and the American Human Development Index.

Videos guide funders through real-world scenarios that show how to use Philanthropy In/Sight: Education to best advantage, including how to identify potential funding partners and grantees. "A key benefit of the tool," said Clark, "is its ability to foster collaborations between individuals and like-minded organizations. It's an effective way to connect the dots for a more vivid picture of the funding landscape in education."

About the Foundation Center
Established in 1956 and today supported by close to 550 foundations, the Foundation Center is the leading source of information about philanthropy worldwide. Through data, analysis, and training, it connects people who want to change the world to the resources they need to succeed. The Center maintains the most comprehensive database on U.S. and, increasingly, global grantmakers and their grants — a robust, accessible knowledge bank for the sector. It also operates research, education, and training programs designed to advance knowledge of philanthropy at every level. Thousands of people visit the Center's web site each day and are served in its five regional library/learning centers and its network of 450 funding information centers located in public libraries, community foundations, and educational institutions nationwide and beyond. For more information, please visit foundationcenter.org or call (212) 620-4230.

Mayor: City should avoid PILOT deals

The Daily Star reported that Mayor Dick Miller is not recommending PILOT agreements with the city's large nonprofit entities.

Slightly more than half of the real property value in the city is owned by property tax exempt nonprofits, particularly Hartwick College, the State University College at Oneonta and A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital.

Earlier this year, Miller said Payment in Lieu of Taxes agreements could be one way to help alleviate projected budget deficits.

But in a recent memo to aldermen, Miller said nonprofit organizations are as strapped for cash as the city and the city should look at other arrangements with the institutions.

"Clearly, the city benefits from the presence of many not-for-profits, ranging from two large colleges, one public and one private, the Fox Hospital, the YMCA, the Boys and Girls Club, Opportunities for Otsego and a wide range of other service-providing organizations and churches," Miller said.

But he said the city bears most of the burden for providing services for the institutions.

"It doesn't even out in the sense that the employees of the hospital and the colleges do not all live in the city," Miller said. "The costs of having these institutions here are born by the city almost exclusively, and the economic benefit is a regional one."

Not-for-profit institutions own 51 percent of the real property value in the city.

Read more here.

National Study Shows Government's Unfair Business Practices Hurt New York State Charities

Albany, N.Y. – October 6^th, 2010 – The Urban Institute will be releasing a ground breaking national study this morning regarding government contracting and payment practices with human service nonprofits. The report, Human Service Nonprofits and Government Collaboration: Findings from the 2010 National Survey of Nonprofit Government Contracts and Grants, provides essential national and New York State data on contracting practices.

The study is based on survey data for 2009. It ranks late government payments to nonprofits in New York State as being the 9^th worst in the country. Payments were commonly late 90 days or more despite the fact that New York is the only state in the country with a “Prompt Contracting” law designed to protect nonprofits from late contracts and payments. This finding reinforces data produced by the State Comptroller that shows that 90% of all state payments are late. The study also revealed that the processes of applying for and reporting on state contracts is seen as problematically complex and time consuming by over 70% of the nonprofits.

Other rankings specific to New York State include:

· Ranked 11^th in the list of worst offenders with respect to
mid-term changes to contracts.

· Ranked 20^th in having contracts that do not cover the full cost of the services being performed. Related findings include that 47% of the nonprofits report contracts requiring them to share the cost of full service and over 60% reporting limitations on reimbursement for administrative or overhead expenses incurred.

"Our state’s nonprofits have, historically, been resilient when it comes to putting mission and people first, often absorbing the financial loses and risks associated with doing business with government,” states Doug Sauer, Chief Executive Officer of the New York Council of Nonprofits (NYCON). He further observes, “These are very difficult times for all. Community-based nonprofits are on the front lines of the crisis in human needs that people across the state are facing. Sadly, the inability of our government leaders to responsibly manage their budgets and be fair in their contractual commitments, are now pushing many charities to the financial breaking point. In essence, government appears to be expecting charitable donors, who are also taxpayers, to subsidize its cash flow. ”

The problem has worsened. A recent survey conducted by NYCON shows that the over 80% of nonprofits report that the contracting and payment problems with the State of New York have worsened in 2010 over 2009. To cope with the state´s business practices, over 60% of charities have reduced services or eliminated programs. Most have had to draw on their charitable reserves and/or borrow money.

To help strengthen the partnership between government and nonprofits NYCON, working closely with the Comptroller’s Office and other State agencies, launched an “Ombudsman Program” to help nonprofits navigate the New York State contracting and payments process as well as, over time, improve the efficiency and timeliness of the State’s processing of nonprofit business.

“Not-for-profits are struggling to provide crucial services to New York families,” said New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. "When state agencies fail to approve contracts and make payments on deadline, they make the problem worse. Many not-for-profits already face significant challenges, and when contracts are delayed and payments aren’t made, the situation gets even tougher."

"We need to fix this system,” stated Doug Sauer. “We call on all parties, including candidates for office, to commit to working together for responsible solutions.”

Complete study available now at www.nycon.org.

Mayor: Donors needed to save Foothills

The Daily Star reported that Mayor Dick Miller asked contributors Wednesday to step forward within 10 days to raise $1.25 million needed to finish the theater of the Foothills Performing Arts and Civic Center.

Meanwhile, a $500,000 grant payment due Foothills is being withheld by the state Dormitory Authority, which is auditing the center's finances, officials said.

The future of Foothills was the focus of a special meeting called by Miller. About 50 politicians, civic leaders and business owners attended the meeting in the atrium and theater of the Market Street complex.

Miller told the group that the fiscal problems faced by Foothills jeopardize not only the center's future but also the reputation of the community.

Oneonta has benefited from more than $20 million in state and federal funding awarded to support three major projects _ Foothills, the on-going redevelopment of the former Bresee's building and the National Soccer Hall of Fame, which has closed.

"Our credibility as a community is at stake," Miller said. "We have to make Foothills self-sufficient."

Read more here.

Family Thanks Pathfinder Village for care with $1M donation

The Daily Star reported that a family pleased with care provided at Pathfinder Village in Edmeston is saying ``thank you’’ with $1 million to further care and programs.

Pathfinder Village, a residential and program facility for people with Down syndrome, will expand elder-care services, thanks to a gift from Jane Davey Hamilton Warriner of Philadelphia.

Warriner and Edward Klees, also of Philadelphia — whose brother, Peter Hamilton, had lived at Pathfinder Village from 1998 to 2005 — announced the gift at Pathfinder’s 30th anniversary dinner Friday night at the Otesaga Resort Hotel in Cooperstown.

“We are very honored to be giving this gift to Pathfinder,’’ Warriner said in a prepared statement. ``Thank you very much for the love, care and support you gave Peter, and your friendship throughout the years. Pathfinder is a wonderful place that transforms lives.’’

Read more here.

Otsego-Delaware JSEC Meeting-- Thursday, October 7, 2010

September Meeting Minutes

Treasurer's Information

Old Business

Leadership Training Discussion (Joint Chenango-Otsego-Delaware JSEC & CDO Workforce Project)
1. Management skills development program modeled on leadership programs
a. Reports back to Committee: Michelle Miler (Executive Service Corps), John Rafter (SUNY Delhi), & Sara Boulanger (USC The Business College)

Alliance for Manufacturing and Technology (AM&T) Training -
1. AM&T is offering an 8-hour "train and do" workshop to introduce the basics of Project Management & 1/2-day Supervisory Training Workshop. - Alan Sessions
2. Discussion about JSEC Scholarships

Starting a Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Study Group
1. Study group for local HR professionals who would like to become certified
2. Coordinating with SHRM chapters for establishing a Study Group in CDO area - Alan Sessions

New Business

Teachable Fit - A framework to predict success in closing employee skill gaps

Other Discussion

HUMAN RESOURCES RELATED PROGRAMS

1. HIRE (Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment) Act: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=220745,00.html
Available through the end of 2010

2. NYS On-the-Job Training Grant: http://www.labor.ny.gov/workforcenypartners/PDFs/StateOJT.pdf
Available through November 1 (federal program expected in October)

Next meeting date: Thursday 4, 8:30 a.m. at CDO Workforce in Oneonta