Hi, I’m Alanna — Greenlights’ Services Coordinator. As part of our mission to strengthen the nonprofit sector, we get all kinds of questions here at Greenlights, from viewing our in-office salary surveys, to using your workshop vouchers. To answer your frequently asked questions, “Ask Alanna” has a regular spot on the Greenlights’ blog, and this month, I’m covering a few questions I receive regularly around member benefits.

Our organization has been a Greenlights’ member for three years and I know we get discounts on workshops. That’s worth the membership itself! But can you tell me more about the discounts available to Greenlights’ members?

Dear Greenlights’ Member,

Thank you for reaching out to start using more of your member benefits! You’re right — Greenlights’ members receive discounts on our workshops. You also get discounted member rates on local events like Board Summit and the Texas Nonprofit Summit. Besides that, members also receive special rates on Board Excellence and Financial Management toolkits, as well as special offers on nonprofit services like Directors & Officers liability insurance, consultation services, and much more from our Business Partners.

Come meet other Greenlights’ members at our happy hour on March 27, 2013. You can also contact our Development & Membership Manager if you have any specific questions on discounts or other member benefits.

See you at a workshop or event soon!
Alanna

My organization is interested in becoming a Greenlights’ member, but I have to convince our board that it’s worth budgeting for. Any member-exclusive opportunities that might help win them over?

There are tons of great member benefits listed on our website you can share with your board, but you may want to specifically point out a few of the following organizational member-only offers. Only Greenlights members can:

• Be featured at Board Summit with 50+ other local nonprofits looking for new board members. (The 2013 deadline is March 15 – apply now!)
• Join the 501(c)ommunity – an online collaboration, resource-sharing site for nonprofit professionals
• Apply for Greenlights’ capacity-building grants

Even better – bring or send your board to one of our happy hours (like the one on March 27) and they can hear about it directly from other Greenlights members!
Alanna

March is Membership Month at Greenlights – join or renew now for the opportunity to win one free registration to the 2013 Texas Nonprofit Summit! If you’re a current Greenlights’ member, what is your favorite member discount or exclusive offer that you’d encourage others to use to their full advantage?

Comparing two board members is like...

We hear a lot about board member engagement, but what exactly does it mean to “be engaged?” No two board members are alike, so it’s difficult to create a one-size-fits-all approach to board member engagement. To some degree, it’s connected to involvement — serving on committees, volunteering at events, and attending meetings, among other things. At its core, though, engagement is less tangible than simply participating in activities. Engaged board members are constantly wearing their board member hats, always ready to be an ambassador for your organization, and see nearly everyone with whom they come into contact as a potential donor, volunteer, or supporter.

We don’t want our board members to be bored members (sorry, I couldn’t resist). So just how do we set our board members up for success and an engaging, satisfying experience? Here are four tips to get you started.

Smart Recruitment

Engagement actually starts before people ever begin board service. Creating a process for focused, intentional recruitment is the best step you can take to finding the right fit. Start by defining the skills you need on your board, then fill in the skills your current board members have. Where are there gaps? If you have gaps in two key areas — let’s say accounting and marketing — which is most critical right now? Prioritize the skills you need, and actively recruit based on those. Last tip, don’t show up empty handed. When recruiting, bring materials that showcase all your organization has to offer (brochures, information on programs, etc), and come prepared with specific ways that a person can be involved.

Effective Orientation

Make time to inform and inspire new board members when they come on board. Talk about board governance and clarify expectations for the specific roles and responsibilities of your board members. Ask each new board member to join at least one committee, and get them plugged in right away. You can also use your board orientation as an opportunity for board members to meet clients and observe programs. Finally, encourage questions! Let your board members know that their term will continue to be a learning opportunity, and consider pairing them with a tenured board member as a mentor to help them have a successful experience.

Defined Structure & Purpose

Board members want to know that the work they’re doing is critical to the success of the organization. Create specific ways your board members can contribute, and put them to work! Nowadays, most people don’t join a board to simply build their resumes. They have time, energy, and talent to contribute, and they want to make meaningful contributions to your organization. Provide a variety of opportunities, so that each board member can find ways to serve that make the most sense for their individual skills and interests. And don’t forget to thank them! Treat your board members as you would any donor or volunteer (they are, in fact, both!), and recognize their service accordingly.

Preparation for Success

(This is admittedly a catch-all category, so that I could keep this post at a nice, neat four steps…) Give board members the tools and resources they need to be successful. Send them to board training. Provide accurate, thorough reports in a timely manner. Ask them if they’re satisfied with their board experience, and if they’re not, work with them to find ways of involvement that are meaningful to them. Finally, be honest! Share with them not only what’s working well, but also the challenges you’re experiencing. Being up front about how their efforts are or are not helping can help you change course if needed.

There are lots of great conversations happening in our 501(c)ommunity about board development. Take a peek, ask a question, and add your own voice!

Giving Circles offer donors increased engagement in an organization’s mission through collaborative giving and decision-making. In most cases, individuals in giving circles give money and time to a cause, thus some tend to be more engaged in an organization’s mission, better informed about the impact of their support, and better connected to an organization’s network than traditional donors.

Greenlights’ Director of Development, Amy Silvey, talked about identifying the right giving circle model for your organization. Taking it further, I suggest working from the following principles as you get your giving circle off the ground:

Manage it.

A giving circle will flop if it doesn’t have a manager to orchestrate activities, lead donor cultivation, and facilitate fund-allocation meetings. Don’t underestimate the time involved in making a giving circle thrive, but be realistic about what’s appropriate to devote to this kind of group relative to the funding received in return. It should be a part of someone’s job description, and part of fundraising strategy conversations each year, just like any other development priority.

Make it accessible… then grow support.       

As reported in “The Impact of Giving Together” (2009; Dr. Angela Eikenberry and Jessica Bearman), individuals in giving circles give more than those who aren’t (particularly those who participate in a decision-making process). Simply put, this is the collective effect. As an individual’s engagement with an organization grows, so does their financial support. Offer membership at a various giving levels to make your giving circle is accessible to supporters of diverse giving capacities, and offer a payment plan so as not exclude a donor segment that would be beneficial to your organization in the long run (use it as a donor acquisition tool). For example, young professionals are a perfect fit for giving circles because of their of-the-moment skills and networking mentality, but they often lack the expendable income required to get their philanthropic feet wet. Get them hooked into your organization at a low, but consistent, level of giving; then invite them to increase their support after they’ve been involved long enough to see the value of their participation. Casting the net wide (especially in the beginning) will fuel momentum for larger gifts as your members become more invested in your mission and as they grow into a more significant practice of philanthropy. We all know that relationship building is the root of successful fundraising – investing in your giving circle’s members for the long term will pay off.

Make space for collaboration.

This is why your donors choose to engage with you through this vehicle, after all! Also reported in the above-mentioned study, members of giving circles give more strategically than other donors, due in large part to their collaborative, educational nature. Because members of giving circles participate in a decision-making process to determine how to allocate pooled funds, there’s a sense of responsibility felt by everyone involved to be good stewards of each others’ donations. While facilitation by the organization’s staff is crucial to the donors’ experience and to the management of funds, it’s important that the decision of impact come from the group. For instance, Greenlights’ 501 Council supports capacity-building consulting service grants for nonprofits in the areas of board excellence, strategy and planning, fundraising and merger or collaboration exploration. We invite organizations to apply for support and then take the council through a 2-month application review and grantee selection process. We’ve defined the giving circle’s area of focus, while leaving the decision of which organizations to impact up to them – their voice is central to the process.

Communicate impact.

This is the single best way to ensure your giving circle members remain invested in, and increase their support for, your mission over the long term. Giving circle donors need to be educated, and reminded often, about the impact of their support. I’m talking about frequent, real-time updates. Because they are engaged two-fold (dollars and decision-making), they are all the more invested in the outcome of their support. In the case of Greenlights’ 501 Council, we invite former capacity-building grantees to speak, to tell the story of the giving circle’s impact on their organization. This opportunity for dialogue between the giving circle and their beneficiaries results in greater understanding of the real value of their support, and fosters continued engagement in our mission. It’s important to communicate impact in a variety of mediums over time. For example, we also share stories of impact through brief case studies, blogging, and we’re producing a short video to showcase outcomes from organizations that have been impacted by the giving circle’s support.

Begin a ripple effect.

Giving circles can open doors to new funding relationships – partnerships which otherwise might be difficult to cultivate. For instance, some companies are more likely to support organizations with whom their employees are involved. As giving circle members become engaged in your mission, ask them to facilitate relationships with their employers, and find out about companies’ funding priorities. While some companies might only have capacity to offer matching funds for their employees’ gifts, others could make a case for event and program sponsorships.

Does your organization have a giving circle… or are you considering one? How is it structured? What are the challenges? Who’s involved? Let’s continue the conversation in the 501(c)ommunity!

Last week, I wrote about a recently published study which surveyed 2,700 development directors and executive directors about their fundraising challenges.  It confirmed what many have known for years – the role of the development director is often unstable and it causes not only individual nonprofit setbacks, but sector-wide challenges.

The research definitely got me thinking about the plight of my fellow development directors as well as the health of our nonprofit sector. How can we stop this revolving door while cultivating a new generation of ambitious, skilled fundraising professionals?  

The research includes a list of ten calls to action. In short, stopping this cycle of turnover and fundraising instability is going to take the work of many – the executive directors and development directors, of course, but also general nonprofit staff, boards of directors, funders, and capacity building organizations like Greenlights.

As Greenlights develops a new strategic plan this year, I think it’s important for us to consider these calls to action in relation to our own programs and services, such as:

• Leadership Development: More is needed to develop a pipeline of skilled and passionate development professionals. Greenlights offers fundraising training opportunities, but should we be thinking about creating a “Development Director Essentials” similar to our “ED Essentials?

• Board Training: The study highlights the sector’s need to train boards on more than fundraising engagement and focus on how to create and nurture a culture of philanthropy. Could Greenlights’ advanced board courses benefit from additional focus on this topic?

• Transition Management:  More and more organizations are taking their time to make the most wise and thoughtful decisions when it comes to hiring a new ED. The study asks, “What if development director transitions were approached with the same care?”  Greenlights already provides transition assistance for nonprofits going through an ED change, but what about development director transitions? Could the community benefit from interim development directors while on their search? What other services could we offer that would help them make the best decisions?

This is great food for thought for Greenlights, but what do you think? Do you think services like these would be useful?  What else needs to be done on a sector wide level? I encourage you to read all the calls to action. There are things we can all do to encourage development excellence and put our sector on a more stable path.

Hi, I’m Alanna — Greenlights’ Services Coordinator. As part of our mission to strengthen the nonprofit sector, we get all kinds of questions here at Greenlights, from recommended grant writers and event spaces, to starting a nonprofit and taking advantage of Greenlights’ benefits. To answer your frequently asked questions, “Ask Alanna” is going to have a regular spot on the Greenlights’ blog! I’m happy to be sharing some additional resources for the nonprofit sector. This month I cover a few questions I received in the past few weeks.

Hi Alanna, I’m a Greenlights’ member and received a code when I first signed up that I can use for free workshops. How do I apply this toward your ED Essentials course this fall?

Dear Greenlights’ Member,
Thank you for reaching out to start using one of your member benefits! Your membership level includes two free workshop vouchers that can be applied toward any of our half-day workshops. As ED Essentials is a four-day course, unfortunately your vouchers cannot be applied toward that workshop, but your membership status does reduce the rate. You are welcome to apply your voucher toward any of our other upcoming half-day workshops. Feel free to review the list on our website and let me know which workshop you’d like me to apply your voucher toward!
Look forward to hosting you soon, Alanna

Our nonprofit is pretty small and can’t afford to pay for a full audit, but we would like to have our finances reviewed to insure we’re on track. Do you have any recommendations for CPAs that might offer financial audit-type services?

Dear NPO,
We have heard that only about 60% of Central Texas nonprofits have audits completed, though we certainly recommend it, we know it’s not financially feasible for every organization. Bringing in a Certified Public Accountant for an extra pair of eyes to review your finances and insure everything is in order is a great idea! Below is a list of a few Central Texas CPAs that our members recommend:

Peter Allman, CPA, CFE – Allman & Associates
9600 Great Hills Trail, Suite 150W, Austin, TX 78759
(512) 502-3077

Monica Gill – Bridgepoint Consulting, LLC
6300 Bridgepoint Parkway
Build One, Suite 575, Austin, TX 78730
(512) 437-7900

Cheryl Seale – Seale CPA and Company
4501 Spicewood Springs Rd., Ste 1050, Austin, TX 78759
(512) 419-1249

Hope one of these is a great fit your organization! Best of luck, Alanna

Have you used your workshop vouchers yet to attend one of our half-day workshops or brought in a CPA to help with financial audit services? If so, please share your feedback in the comment section and let me know what other questions you’d like to see addressed in future “Ask Alanna” posts!