9/15/14

What to Do Now (part of the "Temporary Opportunities for Small Organizations" Series)






If you act now, you can find volunteers to help your organization with all manner of activities, such as:


  •          Raising money for your organization,
  •          Developing an evaluation for your nutrition program,
  •          Setting up your donor database management system,
  •          Writing grant applications for your organization,
  •          Bringing people to your protests, and 
  •       Giving massages to your program participants.                                                                                
Who are these people? Students.


No, I am not talking about filling out those pesky applications for interns.  I am talking about other school-based opportunities for you to find donated time and talent. Here are some examples:


  • Classes at the school of social work (or film/journalism/massage/culinary arts/other),
  • Career resource center, where you can find recent graduates who want real-world work  experience in their fields of study,
  • Students who have to complete community service hours to graduate,
  • Sororities/fraternities,
  • Service organizations,
  • Interest group-based student associations,
  • School bands, and
  • School newspapers and radio stations.


The important thing is to act now:  Some of these groups and the people in charge of them map out the year’s activities in the fall.


9/11/14

To Apply or Not to Apply (for a Grant)

Have you ever found yourself in a situation like this?

Let’s say your nonprofit provides financial literacy education to low- and moderate-income people. You find an opportunity to apply for a grant from a foundation that supports financial literacy programs (no support for general operating dollars, maximum of $5000). No, it’s not the $50,000 grant you seek, but your organization is new, your budget is tiny, and that $50,000 grant might be a ways off. You check out the application form and make some notes:

  XYZ Foundation requires info re: applicant’s past financial literacy workshops:
-          the number of workshops,
-          number of participants per workshop
-          who are over 40 years old,
-          making between $35 and $36k per year (for each participant in this income range: the number of children they have in college, where their children go to school, and if they are gluten-free),
-          and second-time home-buyers,
for the last three years.


Or what about this?

You find a grant opportunity (maximum $5000, no general operating support, no support for fundraising).

You skim the application. This funder wants applicants to submit:

1)   a list of foundations that: have committed funding to your project,  are considering your submitted application, and you plan to apply to;

2)   audited financial statements from the last two years;

3)  The amount of money you plan to raise via each of these categories - corporate sponsorships, individual donations, special events, direct mail, and federated campaigns –  during each of the next three years; and 

4)  The total number of individual donor contributions your organization has received, as well as the number of $25 donations, $50 donations, $75 donations, and so on, up to $10,000, for each of the last five years.

Would you apply for a grant in either of these two situations? What criteria would guide your decision? If you do not yet have criteria, here are links to a couple of articles that may be of interest:




6/6/14

Don't Plow Into Stalled Cars, & Other Tips for Grant Writers

After 25 years of working as an employee of and consultant to nonprofit organizations, I have seen it all when it comes to grant-writing. Some of the more drama-filled situations I have witnessed are a consequence of submitting applications at the last minute. At one place where I worked, the Executive Director (ED) drove at breakneck speed on the shoulder of an expressway in order to hand-deliver her proposal before the 5:00 deadline. Until she plowed into a stalled car. (Fortunately, no one was hurt! And fortunately for the ED, our job descriptions included the phrase, "other duties as assigned," which came to mean "driving the ED around the greater Chicago area whenever necessary" for those of us with cars.) 

If you are one of those people who insist, "But I work better under pressure," read on. I have more gory details that should persuade you of the error of your ways. If after reading these, you still insist on the last-minute approach to submitting grant requests, then keep reading: To you, I offer a few tips about how to avoid last-minute landmines.

Three reasons not to submit your proposal at the last minute:

Reason 1) 
4:50 p.m.: You're at the computer, frantically finishing a proposal that has to get to the prospective funder by 5.  

4:51 p.m.: Whoo! You're ready to press Send!

4:52 p.m.: Your computer crashes. Yes, there's another computer in the office. But you don't have the password...and the person who does is on vacation, backpacking through northern Alaska.
                                                                 ~ ~ ~
Reason 2) 
4:50 p.m.: You're at the computer, frantically finishing a propopsal that has to get to the prospective funder by 5 .

4:51 p.m.: Whoo! All that's left to do is to copy and paste your narrative onto the funder's website and press Send. 

4:52 p.m.: You log onto the funder's website.

4:53 p.m.: The website won't accept your password. But it will send you an email with a link to reset your password within the hour. 
                                        ~ ~ ~
Reason 3)  
4:50 p.m.: You're at the computer, frantically typing...  

4:51 p.m.: Done! All that's left to do is find the email address for the foundation, and send! Except that the foundation does not accept proposals by email. And the foundation is located three states away.
                                        ~ ~ ~

And two reasons not to wait until the last day to send your proposal: 

Reason 1)
You're almost ready to submit your public safety funding request, due tomorrow. All that's left to do is get police crime data to attach to the proposal, as required by the funder. Only problem is that the police department's computer system is down.* They don't know when it will be back up.**

Reason 2)
The proposal's due tomorrow - three states away. No problem. According to the post office website, you can send mail overnight as long as you get to the post office by 4 p.m. And you get there at 3. Problem is, the website lied. The person behind the counter says the last pick-up for overnight mail was at 2:00. You're out of luck. 

No problem. You can go to UPS. They'll overnight it. But not to a PO box address...which is the only address you have.

How to avoid timing-related funding misadventures:

Strategy 1)
Collect required attachments - statistics and other data, resumes of key staff - early in the application-writing process.

Strategy 2)
Save your work early and often: on a hard copy, on a disc, in an email to yourself, with a memory card, in Google Docs, ...

Strategy 3)
Perhaps you have made for yourself a reference a chart of funding opportunities to pursue. Each row of the chart corresponds to a particular foundation; the first column corresponds to the funder's application deadlines, the second to contact information, and so on. If you don't have it already, add a column to your chart titled "mode of application." It is answers to questions like, Does the funder require you to apply online, on its website? (And if so, how does that process work?) Via email? Snail Mail? And if snail mail, will you be sending the application to an office or a PO box? 

If you don't already have a chart, or something like it, make one.  

Strategy 4)
Don't drive 20 miles per hour over the speed limit. And watch out for stalled cars.


* I swear I am not making this up. 
** It was several days. 

5/30/14

This Is What Grassroots Organizing Looks Like

$15!$15!$15!$15!$15!$15!$15!$15!$15!$15!

I gotta gloat. To those who say grassroots organizing doesn’t work, it’s an excuse for angry kids to break windows downtown, its time has passed, etc.,  I say: “$15 minimum wage.”
As in: "Seattle is going to have a $15 minimum wage, and it wouldn’t have happened without grassroots organizing."
15 Now was the work of a lot of people (most of them, adults) with a direct stake in its success ... persistent people, unafraid to hit the streets, unafraid to create and use leverage via a prospective ballot measure.

For their efforts, they won a better minimum wage and, moreover, established themselves as a group that Seattle’s political elite could not ignore without paying a price.
I hope 15 Now continues to organize – and win. $15 in ‘15!

4/20/14

$15 Minimum Wage: Don't Leave Money on the Table!




A group of human services providers in Seattle recently issued a report on the proposed citywide $15 per hour minimum wage; in this report, they urge supporters of a $15 minimum wage to more carefully consider the unintended consequences of the pay hike.  They suggest that one  consequence will be the elimination of important services to vulnerable people, ostensibly because nonprofits will have no choice but to cut staff and/or services.

Here’s what I say to the coalition: Rightbackatchya!  

Yes, unintended consequences are bad. You know what else is bad? Missed opportunities. These too, can happen when policy proposals are not more carefully considered.

Consider this: The $15 minimum wage debate presents Seattle with the opportunity to push for the kind of change that could ameliorate the very conditions so many nonprofits seek to address. Human service and other nonprofits should be at the forefront of this push: Because they serve so many low-income people, they are uniquely positioned to both inspire stakeholders to action and to shape the minimum wage debate. When a policy issue demands immediate action, what other organizations have the needed credibility to contact hundreds of stakeholders and motivate them to act? What other organizations have as much exposure to the depth and breadth of problems resulting from poverty?   

But many nonprofits, by staying out of the $15 minimum wage debate or by advocating exemptions and postponements, forfeit this opportunity. Others by insisting that they will have no choice but to cut services if the minimum wage is raised to $15 per hour lend legitimacy to the position that it is okay to pay people poverty wages - however unintentionally they may do so.

I know how hard it can be to run a nonprofit on a shoestring. I have done it - more than once. I recognize that finding more money for salaries increases the workload of executive directors and management staff who are probably already overworked and underpaid, and for board members who already volunteer long hours. And I realize some nonprofits will not be able to come up with a way to pay all employees $15 an hour by 2015 - even if management staff take pay cuts or boards do more fundraising.

But all nonprofits can - and should - take stock of what they are doing to promote fair wages for workers (in their own organizations and across the sector), and brainstorm what more they could be doing. With growing public interest in living wage policies, now is the time to advocate an end to the funding model that calls for nonprofit workers to design and implement successful programs, track their progress, do more with less, and patch holes in the ozone layer - all on Walmart wages. It's up to nonprofits to more aggressively educate government agencies, foundations, corporations, and individual donors about how critical their services are, and how important it is to pay a living wage to the people who deliver them.  

·     It's up to the rest of us to listen. And invest. 

4/9/14

Fighting for a $15 per hour minimum wage: What would a Wholehearted Supporter do?

Let me preface this post with the acknowledgment that there is no easy answer to how to implement a city-wide minimum wage increase (which is the subject of local debate in Seattle). However, this complexity does not justify the heavy-handed language that some City leaders use to discuss the issue.


The mantra of some Seattle political, business, and other leaders who claim to be Wholehearted Supporters of a $15 per hour minimum wage: "There's a Right Way and a Wrong Way to achieve a $15 per hour minimum wage; to avoid Terrible Consequences, Seattleites should get behind the Right Way." 


Demanding that City Council pass a no-exceptions-$15-minimum-wage-in-2014 ordinance is Wrong; so is taking the issue to Seattle voters via a ballot initiative. Mayor Ed Murray worries a ballot initiative would "divide us." A co-chair of his minimum wage task force (charged with recommending how to implement a minimum wage) fears an initiative would mean a "financial bloodbath" for the business community and unions. Other Wholehearted Supporters warn that a no-exceptions minimum wage would destroy nonprofits dependent on low-paid staff and, hence, their services for low-income people; transform Seattle into a big-box store wasteland; suck the City of its soul; and more. 


What is the evidence for Supporters' claims; what considerations do their analyses ignore; and what is the effect of their public admonitions on workers, employers, and voters? 




 

3/10/14

30-Second Fundraising Workshop Series: The Reject Gift Drive

(cont'd from Mar. 6th post) 

Here’s how the Reject Gift Drive works: Organizations solicit and collect unwanted, unopened gifts throughout the year.  (Note the phrase “throughout the year.”)

Random thoughts:

  • Wedding and Valentine’s Day gifts can be particularly good auction items, in terms of monetary and/or entertainment value.
  • It’s easiest to solicit unopened, unused gifts, but there are exceptions to this rule (see above).
  • Encourage in-kind donations of all sizes. A lot of little reject gifts can be artfully displayed in the proverbial nonprofit auction basket (as in, “Italian Dinner in a Basket,” “Spa in a Basket,” etc.) encased in cellophane and adorned with a big bow.
  • I find that this fundraising tactic works as a complement to more conventional fundraising, as opposed to a substitute for same. (Sometimes you collect great stuff; other times – not so much.)

Reject gifts can be used as auction items and raffle prizes.

3/7/14

To fundraise or not to fundraise?

That is the question confronting public school students and their parents...

What if parents channeled all their fundraising time and energy into organizing to demand that public education be publicly funded?

For organizing ideas, read my article in today's Crosscut.

3/6/14

The 30-Second Fundraising Workshop Series – fundraising posts for busy ppl


Here is the first in a series of quick posts re: raising $: 


Weird Fundraisers: What Worked, and Why


Weird Fundraiser #1: “Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is”

When my dentist replaces a patient’s crown, she saves it. When she has a bunch of crowns (that’s a technical term), she sells them to a refinery and donates the money to the local food bank. When last I checked, she had donated almost $1000 in used-crown money over the course of the year.

Why it worked: It required almost no work, time, or monetary investment.

Weird Fundraiser #2: “Evil Ex Raffle”

At a Valentine’s Day-themed fundraising event (that I helped organize), attendees were asked to bring unwanted (but usable) gifts (in good condition) from their ex-partners. People brought jewelry, art, furniture and other valuable items, which were used as prizes of the event’s raffle and prominently displayed.

Why it worked: 1) Lots of raffle tickets were sold. 2) The raffle (and prizes) made for great entertainment. 3) No expenses were incurred.    



Tomorrow - Weird Fundraiser #3: The Reject Gift Drive

1/26/14

How's that economic recovery working out for you?




True or False?


In the U.S., since 2009, 95 percent of total income growth has gone to the top 1 percent of earners.

Click here for answer.

1/23/14

Post-Post-Christmas Debrief: A New Year’s Resolution


If you want to skip to Part II, please scroll down until you see red font. To everyone else: Please keep reading.


Throughout 2013's holiday "season of giving," I watched as our nation's leaders labored to turn the United ("Give me your tired, your poor,") States into something out of a Dickens novel. I wondered how their gifts of fiscal responsibility and respect for the rule of law would be distributed and received. I imagined the holidays from the perspective of someone directly affected by their recent "leadership," and what could be done about it. Here's Part One of what I came up with, in the form of a post-Christmas carol:  


Part I) Pondering the meaning of Christmas:

On the 1st day of Christmas, the SNAP guy gave to me
A cup, and he told me to pee.
On the 2nd day, I learned my per-meal subsidy:
One buck-thirty-three, and a cup for my sample of pee
The 3rd day of Christmas, the boss deigned to mention:
No more pension, one-buck-thirty-three, and a cup for my sample of pee
On the 4th day, the border gave Mom big indigestion
Sent to detention, no more pension, one-buck-thirty-three, and a cup for my sample of pee
On the 5th day, I wondered what the Dream Act means
More broken dreams, Mom in detention, no more pension, one-buck-thirty-three, and a cup for my sample of pee.
On the 6th day, the food bank again ran out of greens,
I got more beans, more broken dreams, Mom in detention, no more pension, one-buck-thirty-three, and a cup for my sample of pee.
On the 7th day of Christmas, my boss proved he’s a slime,
Cut my hours to part-time, more pounds of dried beans, more broken dreams, Mom in detention, no more pension, one-buck-thirty-three, and a cup for my sample of pee.
The 8th day, at work, I parked and didn’t see the sign,
95 buck fine, hours cut to part-time, more pounds of dried beans, more broken dreams, Mom  
in detention, no more pension, one-buck-thirty-three, and a cup for my sample of pee
On the 9th day, the senator’s wish filled me with rage
No minimum wage?! 95 buck fine, hours cut to part-time, more pounds of dried beans,   
more broken dreams, Mom in detention, no  more pension, one-buck-thirty-three, and a cup for my sample of  pee
On Day 10, no more COLAs insists a DC sage,
Insecure old age! No minimum wage, 95 buck fine, hours cut to part-time, more pounds of dried beans, more broken dreams, Mom in detention, no more pension, one-buck-thirty-three, and a cup for my sample of pee
Day 11 wrecked my plans for state-paid rest and enjoyment*,
No help for unemployment, No minimum wage, 95 buck fine, hours cut to part-time, more pounds of dried beans, more broken dreams, Mom in detention, no more pension, one-buck-thirty-three and a cup for my sample of pee
On the 12th day, I got news much worse than unemployment:
My son’s deployment! No help for unemployment, no minimum wage, 95 buck fine, hours cut to part-time, more pounds of dried beans, more broken dreams, Mom in detention, no more pension, one-buck-thirty-three, and a cup for my sample of pee

 Part II) Where Can I Exchange These "Gifts"? & What I’d Like Instead

My 1st wish is that Congress with all its looney callousness
Submits to daily urinalysis.
On the other hand, it may be what Congress needs is cannabis,
Psychoanalysis, and for most of them, daily urinalysis
3rd wish: For Congressmen to whom all oil is blessed
Fracked water taste tests, psychoanalysis, and for most of them, daily urinalysis
4th:  For CEOs who treat the poor like lazy pests,
Wall Street arrests, fracked water tests, psychoanalysis, and for most of them, daily urinalysis
5th for Congressmen telling the jobless, “No extensions!”
No more pensions! Wall Street arrests, fracked water tests, psychoanalysis, and for most of them, daily urinalysis
6th, for all the Mitt Romneys, and all their condescension,
NASCAR conventions, no more pensions! Wall Street arrests, fracked water tests, psychoanalysis, and for most of them, daily urinalysis
Next, for those who say “No SNAP ‘cause it’s not longer-lasting,”
3 days of fasting, NASCAR conventions, no more pensions! Wall Street arrests, fracked water tests, psychoanalysis, and for most of them, daily urinalysis
8th, for the one percent who want minimum wage-axing,
90% taxing, three days of fasting, NASCAR conventions, no more pensions! Wall Street arrests, fracked water tests, psychoanalysis, and for most of them, daily urinalysis
9th, for those who want Obamacare null and void,
Super-sized hemorrhoids, 90% taxing, 3 days of fasting, NASCAR conventions, no more pensions! Wall Street arrests, fracked water tests, psychoanalysis, and for most of them, daily urinalysis
Day 10, the congressmen of integrity devoid
Become unemployed, get Super-sized hemorrhoids, 90 % taxing, 3 days of fasting, NASCAR conventions, no more pensions! Wall Street arrests, fracked water tests, psychoanalysis, and for most of them, daily urinalysis
Next:  since their collective conscience has been downsized
they must be supervised or become unemployed, get super-sized hemorrhoids, 90 % taxing, 3 days of fasting, NASCAR conventions, no more pensions! Wall Street arrests, fracked water tests, psychoanalysis, and for most of them, daily urinalysis
Day 12, it was clear that we who have been pauperized
we must get organized, they must be supervised, become the unemployed, get super-sized hemorrhoids, 90% taxing, 3 days of fasting, NASCAR conventions, no more pensions! Wall Street arrests, fracked water tests, psychoanalysis, and for most of them, daily urinalysis

New Year’s Resolution (In Lieu of Hemorrhoids...)

We can end their wars on the poor and the middle classes
By being daily pains in their asses**


*because living on unemployment…it doesn’t get much better than that!


**i.e. regular, collective action that puts politicians who serve only the one percent at risk of being thrown out of office by the 99 percent

1/22/14

A Post-Holiday Debrief & A New Year’s Resolution in a "Recovering" Economy


Throughout 2013's holiday "season of giving," I watched as our nation's leaders labored to turn the United ("Give me your tired, your poor,") States into something out of a Dickens novel. I wondered how their gifts of fiscal responsibility and respect for the rule of law would be distributed and received. I imagined the holidays from the perspective of someone directly affected by recent "leadership," and what could be done about it. Here's Part One of what I came up with, in the form of a post-Christmas carol:  

Part I) The 12 Gifts of Christmas 2013:

On the 1st day of Christmas, the SNAP guy gave to me
A cup, and he told me to pee.
On the 2nd day, I learned my per-meal subsidy:
One buck-thirty-three, and a cup for my sample of pee
The 3rd day of Christmas, the boss deigned to mention:
No more pension, one-buck-thirty-three, and a cup for my sample of pee
On the 4th day, the border gave Mom big indigestion
Sent to detention, no more pension, one-buck-thirty-three, and a cup for my sample of pee
On the 5th day, I wondered what the Dream Act means
More broken dreams, Mom in detention, no more pension, one-buck-thirty-three, and a cup for my sample of pee.
On the 6th day, the food bank again ran out of greens,
I got more beans, more broken dreams, Mom in detention, no more pension, one-buck-thirty-three, and a cup for my sample of pee.
On the 7th day of Christmas, my boss proved he’s a slime,
Cut my hours to part-time, more pounds of dried beans, more broken dreams, Mom in detention, no more pension, one-buck-thirty-three, and a cup for my sample of pee.
The 8th day, at work, I parked and didn’t see the sign,
95 buck fine, hours cut to part-time, more pounds of dried beans, more broken dreams, Mom  
in detention, no more pension, one-buck-thirty-three, and a cup for my sample of pee
On the 9th day, the senator’s wish filled me with rage
No minimum wage?! 95 buck fine, hours cut to part-time, more pounds of dried beans,   
more broken dreams, Mom in detention, no  more pension, one-buck-thirty-three, and a cup for my sample of  pee
On Day 10, no more COLAs insists a DC sage,
Insecure old age! No minimum wage, 95 buck fine, hours cut to part-time, more pounds of dried beans, more broken dreams, Mom in detention, no more pension, one-buck-thirty-three, and a cup for my sample of pee
Day 11 wrecked my plans for state-paid rest and enjoyment*,
No help for unemployment, Insecure old age, 95 buck fine, hours cut to part-time, more pounds of dried beans, more broken dreams, Mom in detention, no more pension, one-buck-thirty-three and a cup for my sample of pee
On the 12th day, I got news much worse than unemployment:
My son’s deployment! No help for unemployment, no minimum wage, 95 buck fine, hours cut to part-time, more pounds of dried beans, more broken dreams, Mom in detention, no more pension, one-buck-thirty-three, and a cup for my sample of pee.


*because living on unemployment…it doesn’t get much better than that! 

To read Part II ("Where Can I Exchange These Gifts? Here's What I'd Rather Have..."),  check back tomorrow.