Gayle Thorsen (pictured at left) is back with another great article to share with us here at Step By Step Fundraising!  Over the past year, Gayle has been kind enough to share with us her recent articles from her blog ImpactMax.  Today she has one for us about time saving advice for those of us working in the non-profit field.

Gayle has been in the nonprofit communications world for more than 25 years, the last 12 as the communications head for two large foundations:The Minneapolis Foundation and The McKnight Foundation.

Take a few minutes to visit ImpactMax and read all the terrific articles Gayle has posted there. It will be time very well spent!  Thanks, Gayle!

Nonprofit video roars into 2011: Here are the trends

I just took a terrific, free, Common Knowledge webinar on the five big nonprofit communication trends for 2011. It was beyond great; it was inspirational! So thorough and well-grounded in strategy-first. I’m going to be sharing some of the major take-aways in my next couple of posts.

I just read a fascinating article on the Charlotte, N.C. National Public Radio website, WFAE.org. It was called “Finding Chemistry In The Boardroom Through Speed-Dating”.

The article reported on a recent gathering of several area non-profit agencies and approximately 30 people who were seriously interested in becoming board members.

Just like regular speed dating, the two parties, the non-profit and the board seeker, sat at a table in a large room and talked for a few minutes before a bell rang and everyone shifted to meet new people.

During the time together, the agencies and the candidates tried to get a feel for each other to determine if they would make a good match.

I have never speed dated before, professionally or personally, so I can only imagine that the pressure during this brief period must be high. I have, however, conducted many job interviews, but I’ve never placed a time limit on them, so I would guess that would force the questions and answers to be very focused. Which is a good thing, I suppose.

This concept got me to wondering. What questions would I ask in such a situation. First of all, I thought about it from the perspective of the non-profit, but then I remembered that this event was really more of a two-way conversation, rather than a standard, old-fashioned job interview. So, then I started thinking about what I, myself, would have asked if I were the person looking to find the right non-profit to serve.

I think the first question I’d have for the non-profit is “why”. Why are you here looking for board members? I’d be curious to see if it was more out of desperation rather than just a real search for new talent in unexpected places.

The answer would tell me if the group were proactive and creative or passive and uninspiring. I say this because I believe that a non-profit that has its act together is going to attract a whole host of board candidates organically. This is the kind of group I’d want to be a part of. If the non-profit came to this speed date event, only because they couldn’t find anyone to join them, I’d be very worried.

The next question I’d pose to the non-profit would be about the board itself. I’d ask a very open-ended question, such as “Tell me about your board.” I would purposefully take this broad approach, because I’d want to see what they thought was important to tell me.

I’d be looking for information about how the individual members got a long with each other, how passionate they were about the organization, if they had regular board training sessions and retreats, if they were always looking forward into the future of their group, and what kind of turn-over they experienced in their ranks. From their answer, I’d be able to gauge if there were a high level of drama on this board. Were politics more important than their mission?

I think I’d also be able to tell a lot from the group’s body language during their answer. Were they open and relaxed when they spoke to me or was their description of their operation tense, worried, and negative? When you give people an open-ended question like this one, they tend to reveal a great deal more about themselves than they would have if you only asked them yes or no type of questions.

The next bit of information I’d want to ask about is how their board relates to their executive director. If the director were there, I’d still ask the question to see how comfortable/uncomfortable the situation became. It would be pretty easy to determine if they were telling the truth about their relationship or if they were feeding me a line of you-know-what.

I would specifically want to know how the board viewed their role in relation to the executive. Did the board micro-manage him or her or did they see themselves as a resource for their organization’s operational leader? I know that I would not want to be part of a board where we regularly poked our noses into the day to day goings-on of the group. This undermines the director and hurts the growth of the non-profit. Yet, many boards confuse their responsibilities and do just that. If I had several choices of boards which I could join, I would look for a group whose members knew their roles and were comfortable in them.

What questions would you ask if you were in this position? If you could pick your own perfect board situation, what would it be? Please share your ideas with us in our comment section. I’d love to hear what you have to say!

Photo by: pasukaru76

Want to hear some of my best ideas for creating a successful fundraising plan?

Then join me for a f ree call next Thursday, February 4 at 3:00 pm eastern as I present my “Simple Success” Fundraising Plan.  Register here for the call.

Here’s some of what you’ll hear:

• Why you need a fundraising plan
• 7 questions your plan must answer
• The optimum number of goals you should set
• How to create goals that you can reach
• My proven tool to keep yourself on track each month

Plus, you’ll hear about a virtual planning retreat I’m hosting in February.  It’s unlike anything I’ve seen before and I think it will be lots of fun!

Sign up now for this free call!

If you want to hear the call, but can’t be there with us, go ahead and sign up.  I’ll send you a link to the recording.

I hope to see you on the call!

Sandy

Continually learning is important for most jobs and fundraising is no exception.  Personally I love going to conferences, seminars and even taking online classes.  (In fact this weekend I’m missing a really great internet conference.)

Sometimes seminars just give you general information that might be helpful “someday,” while other times you are looking for something specific that you can put into practice right away.  For your end of year fundraising to be truly successful this year, why not get an edge by taking a class related to what your major fundraising focus is this year?

Here are some of the training opportunities available from various service providers, listed here as a service to Step by Step Fundraising readers.  Just click the links provided for more information.  Happy learning!

Teleseminars & Webinars

Learn from the comfort of your home or office!  These are listed in chronological order.

6 Steps to Sponsorship Success: What Nonprofit Leaders Need to Know
Date & Time: October 15, 3:30 PM EST
Speaker: Gail Bower
Cost: $60 Non-member/$50 State association member
Offered by: The National Council of Nonprofits

Many organizations are seeking ways to supplement funding sources that have pulled back in the past year. What is your organization doing to rejuvenate its relationships with potential corporate funders? Corporate sponsorship, done creatively, may be an answer for your organization.
Information & registration

Fundraising Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards
Date & Time: October 19, 1:30 PM EST
Speaker: James M. Greenfield, ACFRE, FAHP
Cost: $87
Offered by: Charity Channel

Discover how to engage board members in fundraising, educate boards on their responsibilities and identify criteria for fundraising performance analysis.
Information & registration | Other topics available

“Missionize” Your Year-end Fundraising
Date & Time: October 20, 1 PM EST
Speaker: Terry Axelrod
Cost: Free
Offered by: Network for Good

The holiday season is upon us and, especially this year, thoughts are turning to good food, good cheer, and–of course–fundraising. While people are in a “caring and sharing” mood, they will also be looking more carefully as they make their year-end contributions. Does your nonprofit organization have a plan for strategically connecting with your donors over the holidays? Are you prepared to “missionize” each event?
Information & registration

Marketing & PR on a Shoestring: Keeping Communications Front & Center
Date & Time: October 28, 1PM EST
Speaker: Hannah Brazee Gregory
Cost: $99
Offered by: Society for Nonprofit Organizations (SNPO)

Covers: The most common mistakes nonprofit organizations make when it comes to marketing and public relations; strategies for improving your organizations message and brand; Real things you can do TODAY (at no cost) to market your nonprofit organization and further its mission.
Information & registration

Does Your Fundraising Measure Up?
Date & Time: October 28, 12 PM EST
Speaker: Linda Lysakowski, ACFRE
Cost: $10
Offered by: The NonProfit National Resource Directory

When and how do you evaluate your fundraising program? What should you measure? Why should you assess your development program? Who should be involved? Linda will discuss the who, what, when, where, why of a development audit, including standards against which to measure your program.
Information & registration

Listening to Your Donors through Data Gathering and Analysis
Date & Time: October 29, 2 PM EST
Speakers: Brian Cowart, Sr. Director, Mail Acquisition & Donor Retention, ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital; Ann Crowley, Membership Director, Human Rights Campaign; Lindsey Twombly, Human Rights Campaign; George Whelan, Consumer Reports Foundation
Cost: $59 (Free to all 2009 New York Nonprofit Conference attendees.)
Offered by: Direct Marketing Association

Discover the ways in which other organizations are using donor touch points and data to determine the next steps in their donor relationships. Whether the data is based on one-to-one interactions or direct marketing interactions captured through the mail/web, it is all valuable if used in the right way.
Information & registration

Building a Development Committee
Date & Time: November 2, 1:30 PM EST
Speaker: Linda Lysakowski, ACFRE
Cost: $87
Offered by: Charity Channel

Webinar will cover who should serve on the Development Committee, what the committee’s role is, and how to recruit the right people to serve on the Development Committee.
Information & registration | Other topics available

Online Fundraising Bootcamp November 4: Special E-Clinic: Online Fundraising Bootcamp
Date & Time: November 4, 1 PM EST
Speaker: Kivi Leroux Miller
Cost: $75
Offered by: Nonprofit Marketing Guide

Is your online marketing and fundraising program ready to make the most of end-of-year giving? Whip it into shape by getting the must-knows and must-dos. Limited to 20 nonprofits only!
Information & registration | Other topics available

Strengthening Foundation Relationships
Date & Time: November 20, 1:30 PM EST
Format: Webinar
Speaker: John Greenhoe, CFRE
Cost: $87
Offered by: Charity Channel

Learn specific methods for making the initial approach to a prospective funder, and for following up in ways that make them stand out; strategies for building lasting and fulfilling foundation partnerships.
Information & registration | Other topics available

Mobilizing Volunteers in the Face of Budget Cuts
Date & Time: December, 1 PM EST
Speaker: Susan Ellis, President, Energize Inc.
Cost: $99
Offered by: Society for Nonprofit Organizations (SNPO)

Covers: Realistic expectations for volunteer contributions; determining what you need and finding the right volunteers who can really help; the wrong way to try to fill staff vacancies with volunteers; The right way to engage volunteers in stretching your budget.
Information & registration

Teleseminars & Webinars – On Demand or Download

These recorded and/or transcribed seminars are available at anytime that works for you!

Strengthen Your Year-End Fund Raising ­ And Sow the Seeds for a Successful 2010
Speaker: Bruce W. Flessner, Karla A. Williams
Cost: Non Subscribers $165.00, Subscribers $95.00
Offered by: The Chronicle of Philanthropy

This Webinar discusses strategies that charities can use to advance their year-end fund raising as they: Solicit major gifts, plan special events and Develop direct-mail, telephone, and online appeals.
Information & registration

Secrets of the Charity Auction Experts
Speakers: Dawn Rose-Sohnly, Steve Lieberstein, Karin Costa, Ray Hansen
Cost: $67
Offered by: Step by Step Fundraising

These seminars will make planning your auction easier and more profitable.  Includes audio recordings, printed transcripts and a Quick Start Guide – “81 Tips to Make Your Auction Great.”
Information & registration

I Can’t Thank You Enough: Winning Stewardship Strategies For The Tough Economy
Speaker: Marcy Heim, CFRE
Cost: $99
Offered by: Affinity Fundraising Seminars

Learn the key elements of a thoughtful stewardship plan; hear examples of how good stewardship is practiced; discover the importance of donor satisfaction and how to satisfy donors; get new insights and strategies for retaining your donors.
Information & registration | Other topics

Conferences and Seminars (In-Person)

Attending a live conference or workshop has many added benefits! You’ll have time to ask questions of the speakers before and after the sessions, network with other participants and attend the trade shows.

The American Association of Grant Professionals (AAGP) Annual Conference
Dates: November 4 – 7
Location: Austin, TX
Speaker: Various; Keynotes from
Cost: $650 members, $750 non-members
Offered by: The American Association of Grant Professionals (AAGP)

High-quality workshops on a wide variety of topics related to the grant field for a variety of skill levels and subject areas. The conference draws grant proposal writers, grant managers, nonprofit administrators, and consultants.
Information & registration

Fundraising Conference
Dates: Varies by location October – December 2009
Locations: Austin TX, Memphis TN, St. Louis MO, Minneapolis MN, Chicago IL, New Jersey, Charlotte NC
Speakers: Various
Cost: $55 per session or $169 full day
Offered by: OEG Conferences

Offers a variety of topics for fundraisers and nonprofit managers: grants, online fundraising, direct mail and other sessions available, depending on location.
Information & registration

Add to this list…

Do you know of other upcoming fundraising seminars?  Post the information in the comment box below.

It took some arm twisting, but I managed to get Sandy Rees to agree to join me for a one hour teleseminar, just for Step by Step Fundraising readers.  — For Free! — You see, Sandy is one busy, in-demand gal.

In addition to the 7 Essential Steps to Raising Money by Mail, the book she and I co-authored, she has written several other books. She has a long list of coaching and consulting clients. All of this of course after retiring from working full-time directly for nonprofit agencies.  In her own words:

I’ve worked in nonprofit fundraising for the past 10 years. In one of my first fundraising jobs, I started a direct mail program to raise money and gain new donors. I didn’t know much about how to do it, so I read everything I could get my hands on and I tested various letters. In just 4 years, I was raising over $300,000 annually with direct mail for my nonprofit organization. Believe me, I made a LOT of mistakes, but I kept working at it. And my Board was thrilled with my results!

In this seminar you’ll discover:

• How Sandy took a nonprofit from near zero donations by mail to over $300,000 per year
• What every fundraising letter absolutely must include
• How your newsletter & free publicity can support your fundraising letter appeal
• How to identify major donors through direct mail
• Tips for finding the right kind of mailing list
• How to improve your fundraising by telling great stories — by mail and in person!

Press the play button below to listen online:

Resources for a successful direct mail campaign:

Get the book: 7 Essential Steps to Raising Money by Mail

For one-on-one help: Sandy’s Coaching Programs (The Direct Mail Secrets Mentoring Course is sold out.)

Additional resources: direct mail links in our directory

Wishing you direct mail success,

Sandra Sims & Sandy Rees
Co-Authors, 7 Essential Steps to Raising Money by Mail

Sandy Rees is doing a free teleseminar next week called “Fundraising in Tough Times.”  Here’s why she decided to host this call:

With the economy the way it is right now, it’s easy to get discouraged about asking people for money.  I’ve given my “it’s gonna be okay” talk to many groups and I’ve decided it’s time to share it with as many nonprofits as want to hear it.You’ll get encouragement and inspiration to keep moving forward, plus some specific things you can do to stay positive.

Here are the details:

Date: Wednesday, April 22
Time: 2:00 pm Eastern
Duration: about an hour

Visit’ Sandy’s Website for more information and to sign up

The Chronicle of Philanthropy is hosting two online chat events this week.  You can submit questions ahead of time, whether you can attend the chat live or not.  Grant writing and international philanthropy will be discussed:

The first is a live discussion this Tuesday, April 14, at noon Eastern time about grant writing strategies. We’ve invited three experts to take questions from Chronicle readers on this topic — and we expect the session to produce some excellent ideas for those who are competing for grants in this difficult economy. You can join the discussion or submit a question here.

The other event focuses on international philanthropy and it takes place this Thursday April 16th at noon Eastern time. Experts will be taking questions on how overseas organizations are dealing with the recession. You can get the details here.

We’ll offer free transcripts of both discussions at http://philanthropy.com/live once they are complete. And I invite you to spread the word to others who might be interested in participating in either event.

Thanks to Peter Panepento, The Chronicle’s Web editor for making these opportunities available!

While looking for a new job in fund-raising, someone suggested that I look into The Foundation Center’s online courses. I am certainly glad that I did. They offer a variety of courses, some for a fee and others that are free.

The Foundation Center is well-known as a leading authority on philanthropy. It was first established in 1956 and there are now Center locations in several large cities across the United States. The headquarters is in New York City and Field Offices are in Atlanta, GA; Cleveland, OH; San Francisco, CA; and Washington, DC. The Foundation Center has an extensive library of information about foundations for organizations and individuals. They also offer on-site classes.

But what can you do if you live in a part of the country that does not have a Foundation Center located near you? For this reason they have also created online courses. The online courses are extensive and offer lots of information on their subject area.

In speaking with Dr. JuWon Choi, Vice President for Educational Services of The Foundation Center, I discovered that they actually offer three different types of online training opportunities.

Free Online Courses

“The first type is what we call “tools and resources” and they are online guides to help grantseekers to make the most of the Foundation Center’s web site and databases. Examples include Guide to the Foundation Center’s Web Site and The Foundation Directory Online Guided Tour. Anybody can access these from our web site free of charge,” said Dr. Choi.

The second type is what is called “Quick Tutorials”. “The “Quick Tutorials” introduce grantseekers to the world of foundations, proposal writing, and related topics. These resemble short e-books and examples include Proposal Writing Short Course (available in 6 languages), Guide to Funding Research, and Establishing a Nonprofit Organization. Again, anybody can access these from our web site free of charge,”said Dr. Choi

Pay As You Go Courses

“The third type is more intensive courses that reinforce lessons with interactivity, assignments, and self-tests. You have taken two of our courses—Grantseeking Basics for Individuals and Grantseeking Basics for Nonprofit Organizations. In addition, we have many others such as Getting Ready for Foundation Fundraising and Proposal Writing. Some of our courses are available free of charge and some are fee-based,” said Dr. Choi

As Dr. Choi mentions, I took the courses Grantseeking Basics for Nonprofit Organizations and also Grantseeking for Basics for Individuals. I enjoyed these classes. I did not have any previous grantwriting experience before. I found them to be very informative, and also extremely approachable. There is great detail in this class, it is not the type of class that someone would probably complete in a single evening. This is more a class that someone can go back to over several evenings.

Grantseeking Basics for Nonprofit Organization Course

The course Grantseeking Basics for Nonprofit Organization, for example, takes you step-by-step through the grantwriting process, explaining to you how it works as if you were going to write a grant. That in some ways was a bit challenging for me because I did not have a specific organization in mind. So I used the idea of writing a grant for an organization I was doing some volunteer work for – so that I had an organization to direct the assignments towards.

I thought the assignments were excellent, there were enough assignments to keep you thinking about the project without overwhelming you with too much work. It was clear that you could also take the assignments to a deeper level, and there were even book recommendations offered so you could further your study beyond the course, which was just great to see, because how many times have we been in a class and a professor has suggested we read an article or look at a specific book? So this was very much like being in a class.

One of the challenges with the course is that you cannot print it out. I would have liked the opportunity to review the lessons at a later date after doing the examples. The Foundation Center does make it clear that you do have access to the course for 180 days, which is certainly a very generous amount of time – and this gives you lots of time to go back and reflect. There is also the ability to take notes inside the course as you are taking it. But once I learned I could not print out my notes I chose to take my notes on a Word document so I could print them out and save them on my own computer.

The design of this course is also very attractive. I know that is not the only reason to consider taking this type of course, but when you are learning online, it is helpful to have something that is going to be “easy on your eyes” and make learning comfortable. This is a very attractive looking course with a variety of graphics offered (pie charts and some other graphics). Different colored text is also used, which makes reading easier. I was also very impressed that The Foundation Center could cover such a dense subject, but make the course’s text very condensed in a number of ways – there is no superfluous writing in this course.

New Courses from The Foundation Center

Dr. Choi confirms that there will be more online courses offered in the future. “Yes, we recently issued our 8th online training course, Getting Ready for Foundation Fundraising which we made available free of charge, and already many people are finding it helpful. We are getting close to introducing a comprehensive course on proposal writing. We have a few other courses in various stages of development at the moment.

Find out more about The Foundation Center Online Training Courses.

You can find additional links for grant databases and other resources on the grants page in the directory.

Teleseminar with LIVE Q&A

Firstgiving, one of the leading online donation processing companies, is offering another free webinar.  This Thursday you can get in on the live event and watch the audio and visual presentation right from your own computer.  The seminar leader, Frank Days, will share an actionable nine-point plan for success with your winter or spring fundraising event.

This seminar is available as an on-demand replay. Click here to watch the video.