Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Leatherstocking AEA: Creative Collaborations

Here is a recap from our June 20th session on Creative Collaborations for Optimizing Resources

The agenda from this session was as follows:
-Welcome and Overview
-Introduction of Panelists
-General Discussion
    -Overview of collaboration examples
    -Defining collaboration success
    -Collaborations challenges
    -Resources needed and costs
    -Board involvement and role
    -Lessons learned
-Networking
    -Sharing nonprofit needs and strengths
           -What can you offer other nonprofits?

Summarized below are the notes from the Networking Activity on what everyone said the overall strengths your organization has to offer and your overall needs/weaknesses.

Strengths

  • Programming
  • HR
  • Resources 
    • Data management 
  • Funding Opportunities (shared)
  • Volunteer recruitment
    •  Volunteer/ Board retention
  • Space 
Needs/Weaknesses

  • Funding
  • Volunteers
  • Financial services
    •  Accounting
    • Payroll Help
  • Media/ Communications 
    • Expand connections and share more
    •  Too compartmentalized when trying to make connectionsà everyone has their own “lists” 
  • Resources
    •  Shared
    • Large projects needing assistance with such as: 
      • Compensation analysis
      •  Develop employment
    • Grant writing
  • Broader knowledge
    • Of areas and organizations
  • Find a peer group and collaborate
  • Trying to adapt to large growth 
    • Anyone who offers services
  •  Clinical services
  • Board development and training
  • Uneven collaboration
NYCON's Role
    • Funding and resources available
      • Fundraising expertise
      • Shared Fundraisers
      •  Shared clinical services
        • Need for CAHPC
      • Promotional advertising 


How America Gives- Fundraising Tool


Check out this great new interactive tool that can help nonprofit directors get information about the giving patterns in every state, county, city and ZIP code in the United States. This is an exciting new tool that can help  you out with fundraising. 

How America Gives is a free resource that spotlights giving statistics across a variety of income levels and allows users to compare and share data about charitable contributions. You can access it here:http://philanthropy.com/givingmap 

You are also invited to check out our exclusive How America Gives special report, which includes rankings, analysis, and much more: http://philanthropy.com/americagives 

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Nominate an Outstanding CPA; Join the NYCON Board


2012 Michael H. Urbach, CPA, Community Builders Award Now Accepting Nominations
Submission Accepted through August 24th, 2012
Sponsored by the New York Council of Nonprofits (NYCON) and the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants (NYSSCPA)
Lewis Kramer, Urbach Award Recipient and Doug Sauer, CEO, NYCON
Lewis Kramer, Urbach Award Recipient and Doug Sauer, CEO, NYCON

The New York Council of Nonprofits, Inc. (NYCON) and the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants (NYSSCPA) are pleased to announce this call for nominations for the Ninth Annual Michael H. Urbach, CPA Community Builders Award.

The award is named in honor of the late Michael H. Urbach, CPA, former partner of Urbach, Kahn and Werlin, former NYS Commissioner of Tax and Finance and Chair of the State Employees federated Appeal, and board leader of a number of charities. This award is in recognition of the important role, talents and leadership that a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in New York State can provide as a board member for community-based charities.

Award Criteria & Submission
Candidates must:
  1. Be a CPA in good standing and a member of NYSSCPA.
  2. Have served as an Officer on at least 3 different charitable 501(c)(3) community-based nonprofits with service as President/Chair at least once.
  3. Have demonstrated exemplary board leadership resulting in significant and positive organizational impact including, but not limited to, financial turn-around, growth, and/or organizational re-structuring.
  4. Preference will be given to nominees whose board leadership accomplishments have been with community-based charities.
Deadline - August 24th, 2012
Nominations addressing the candidate's qualifications must be received by August 24th. Nominators are strongly encouraged to address the qualifications related to the four (4) criteria mentioned above and to include at least three (3) letters of support from the charities who have benefited from the candidate's volunteer leadership.

Send two (2) packets of nomination materials to:
Urbach Community Builders Award Committee
New York Council of Nonprofits
272 Broadway
Albany NY 12204
or email the packet to Melissa Currado, Executive Assistant to the CEO at mcurrado@nycon.org.


NYCON Now Accepting Applications for Board Membership
A great opportunity to volunteer your time and lend your expertise to help nonprofits of all types improve the quality of life in New York State.
The New York Council of Nonprofits' Board Development Committee is now accepting applications for nominees for its Board of Directors.

Terms are for three years, starting January 1, 2013, with a three consecutive term limit. Successful nominees will be presented for election to our Membership at NYCON's Annual Meeting on October 4th in New Paltz.
Applicants must be individuals of high integrity, demonstrate commitment to our state's nonprofit sector, and be willing to invest the time, effort, expertise and influence necessary on a regional and statewide basis to further NYCON's mission.

All applications will be considered by the Board Development Committee however priority consideration will be given to individuals who meet more than one of the following characteristics:
  • Resides in Hudson Valley, Metro New York or Central New York regions
  • Has public policy knowledge & expertise, particularly with respect to state government
  • Has marketing & Media Relations expertise
  • Is affiliated with Organized Philanthropy
  • Has Banking & Corporate Business expertise & affiliations
  • Is a racial or ethnic minority
Applications are due by August 27th, 2012. If you are interested we encourage you to review the NYCON "Board Brief" document and complete the application below:
Candidates are recommended to the Board by the Committee and the Board in turn recommends a slate to the NYCON Membership which convenes for our Annual Meeting at Mohonk Mountain House on October 4th during Camp Finance.

Board members elected by the members begin service in January 2012.

Questions?Please contact us.
All About the Board Members...


Thank You to Our Supporters!

NYCON and NYSSCPA would like to recognize The Community Foundation for the Greater Capital Region for their grant contribution towards the Michael H. Urbach, CPA Community Builders Award.


For More Information
visit NYCON at
or contact
Melissa Currado at (800) 515-5012 or
mcurrado@nycon.org



Co-sponsored by
The New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants
 
nysscpa


August 16 Malignant Hyperthermia Association of the United States Hosts An Open House in Sherburne NY on August from 4 to 6 pm


Sherburne, NY, August 14, 2012 - On August 16 The Malignant Hyperthermia Association of the United States www.mhaus.org will be hosting an open house from 4 to 6 pm at its national headquarters located at 1 North Main Street in Sherburne, NY. Tour the new offices and talk with board members and staff about what Malignant Hyperthermia is and how hospitals and outpatient surgery centers manage this fascinating and often misunderstood heat related syndrome. There will be giveaways and casual refreshment.

About Malignant Hyperthermia: MH is an autosomal dominant genetic disorder found in an estimated 1 out of 2,000 people. Once triggered, the rapid progressive series of chain events include a body temperature of up to 107 degrees, muscle rigidity, system-wide organ failure, and, if untreated, eventual death. MH is often experienced in individuals undergoing, what was expected to be, routine surgery; and in rare cases, MH can happen outside of the operating room.

The incidence of MH is low, but, if untreated, the mortality rate is high. Introduction of a treatment drug and advances in the understanding of MH have saved many lives since the syndrome was first described in the 1960s.

About the Malignant Hyperthermia Association of the United States (MHAUS): Founded in 1981 MHAUS promotes optimum care and scientific understanding of MH and related disorders by encouraging healthcare professionals and patients and families to prepare for MH through education and testing.  MHAUS offers an MH Hotline that provides healthcare professionals access to experts in MH crisis treatment 24-hours a day.

Did you know the MHAUS Emergency Therapy for Malignant Hyperthermia poster hangs on the wall of almost every operating room in the United States?

Source: Malignant Hyperthermia Association of the United States (MHAUS)    
Contact
Michael Wesolowski
607-674-7901 ext 207
info@mhaus.org

###

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Recruiting Youth for Your Board: New Idea for Continuing Challenges

As more of our organizations face recruitment and engagement issues with our Boards of Directors, it is time to think outside of the box and take new approaches.  One such idea is to consider youth serving on our Boards.  Below is a great overview and info from the National Council of Nonprofits, the umbrella organization for the NYCON, for your consideration.


You’re only as old as you feel
By Jennifer Chandler
 

When a question landed in my inbox last week about youth serving on nonprofit boards, my thoughts turned to our society’s attitudes towards age and the role that charitable nonprofits can play in bridging the “generation gap.” The question in my inbox was: “Are there any programs that prepare youth to serve on nonprofit boards?” The question prompted me to think about the distance between young and old, and how nonprofits bridge what I think of as a “perspectives gap.”

But first, let’s clarify a threshold issue relating to the question posed. While seven states (Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Utah) prevent anyone under the “majority age” (usually 18) from serving as a board member of a nonprofit corporation, most states are silent about the age of board members. This leaves the decision about what age is appropriate for board members up to the individual nonprofits. (To our knowledge there are no state laws that restrict older individuals from serving on boards.)  If you are curious what your state law says about the age of board members, you can research the statutes that govern nonprofit corporations in your state at LawForChange.org.
 
The post "Youth Board Members: Can minors serve on nonprofit boards?" by Emily Chan, co-author of the Nonprofit Law Blog, gives an excellent overview of the legal issues raised when young people serve on boards. Chan raises many important questions nonprofits should tackle before inviting youth to take on decision-making roles, and she offers several alternatives to board service. Chan’s post is very comprehensive (and we always appreciate Nonprofit Law Blog’s carefully researched resources). My own view is that whether someone under 18 should serve on a nonprofit board should not turn on whether the “youth board member will feel isolated” or “what skills or training the youth board member needs that the organization currently does not provide?” Isolation, preparation for taking on the fiduciary duties that board service requires, and other issues are equally relevant across the age spectrum. What we are really exploring when we ask the age question is whether this particular individual has skills and experiences that will add value to the board’s work and/or whether placing that person on a governing board is necessary to fulfill other goals, such as growing the bench of leadership for the organization, or creating ambassadors to segments of stakeholders that are important for the nonprofit’s work.
 
Conscious of the need for continuity of leadership, many nonprofits cultivate talent, whether young or old, to make sure that multiple perspectives are represented on their board and that when one generation steps aside, another is ready to take its place. “It’s something the North Carolina Center for Nonprofits advocates, as we want to see nonprofits grow their leadership and ensure that other generations are ready to serve,” explains Trisha Lester, Vice President of the North Carolina Center for Nonprofits. “Authentically engaging young people as partners and decision-makers is a crucial and challenging topic for youth-serving nonprofits (and other groups). Service on governance boards can be a powerful way to do this, but there are other ways to accomplish the goal of giving this particular constituency voice,” says Molly O’Connell, Resources and Advocacy Coordinator at the Maine Association of Nonprofits.  Looked at another way, we all need mentors, and when seasoned seniors can pass their wisdom and insights on to younger generations – whether defined as under 18 or under 30 – everybody wins over time. (If you think that working with board members is a little like herding cats, this 60 Minutes story about the importance of role models for elephants may suggest a different analogy!)
 
Moreover, a board that boasts a diversity of perspectives is simply better-poised for scenario planning. Different life experiences not only help board members see around the organization’s corners, but also help the organization see challenges in the community more clearly. Such added perspective can lead to more effective problem-solving and greater impact. When the work of charitable nonprofits reflects diverse perspectives, this is a perfect example of a “triple bottom line” ROI because it benefits the nonprofit, volunteers, and the community.
 
At the National Council of Nonprofits we are strong believers in the value of proactively preparing leaders and diversifying governing boards (and staff) of nonprofits. We also believe in the important role that charitable nonprofits play as places where people in communities, young and old, of all shapes, sizes, and colors, come together to learn from each other and collaboratively solve problems.
 
So what does age have to do with it?  Age, like any other characteristic, adds meaningful texture to our own perspectives. And the perspectives of charitable nonprofits are really all about the perspectives of individuals in communities, coming together through nonprofits, to affect change and improve their worlds.
 
Resources about diversity on boards (National Council of Nonprofits)

Resources on board development (National Council of Nonprofits)
Resources about cultural competency (Bridgestar and BoardSource)

Resources
Boards and governance issues  (National Council of Nonprofits)
 
Next Generation and Governance (BoardSource)
 
Plan A – How Successful Nonprofits Develop Their Future Leaders (Bridgestar)
 
Youth Advisory Committees (Michigan Community Foundation Youth Project)
 
Creating a Teen Board/Ambassador Program (United Way of Central New Mexico)
 
Case study on board diversity (Maine Association of Nonprofits)