This post is for nonprofit boards and the nonprofit staff who love them.

I was reading this blog post from Good magazine, and it made me think of those board meetings, when everyone’s sitting around listing all the to-dos for the annual fundraiser. This is for those of you who, when you start to wonder how you’re going to promote the fundraiser, think, “Do I know anyone who can design the invitation for free?”

Don’t. Cheap. Out.

Here’s why:

1. Cheap shows. When you get an intern or a junior designer or even a design firm on pro-bono (which, by the way, uses the project to keep its interns and junior designers busy) to design your collateral for really cheap or free, it shows.

And please, do not call in your nephew on this one. InDesign and a Mac do not a designer make. Just because you have a hammer, some nails, a measuring tape, and some wood doesn’t mean you should be building your own deck.Get a pro. They’ll make it right.

2. Cheap, in the end, can cost you more. When you get an inexperienced person to create your collateral, they may not know enough about production, printing, mailing, materials, etc to save you money.

So the invitation might look great from the printer, but now you’ve got an odd-size envelope to mail, which means extra postage. Or you’ve got signage for an event that looks exactly like the hotel signage – and you have to start from scratch. A million things can go wrong. An experienced designer knows how to avoid them.

3. Cheap is not what your donors – or prospects – want to see. Think of it this way – if all your donors, volunteers, prospects, and supporters were in a room, would you send the intern or junior member of your staff to talk about your fundraiser? While you might think the professionally designed invitation makes it looks like you blew money on a fancy designer, from the recipient’s perspective, it looks like you’re an organization that’s going places.

If you’re unemployed and broke, you don’t show up to a job interview in tatters. You bust out the good suit, shine the shoes, and try to look like a million dollars.

Besides, the pro is a better value every time. Good design is worth every penny.

I just don’t have the time. And I’d be happy to assign them but I just don’t have the money. So instead, these stories sit and wait. Would you believe I mentally sketch out GivingCity stories all the time? Very frustrating.

1. Giving Circles

Reportedly, giving circles are on the rise and proving to be very popular among donors. Examples of giving circles include groups like Impact Austin and the recently formed Futuro Fund.

But while they’re a great way to empower the giver and pool individual donations to make a bigger impact, the size of the donations limits the nonprofits the giving circle could consider. Impact Austin, for example, awarded five grants of $102,000 each. In order for a nonprofit to handle that amount of money, it needs to have the infrastructure in place, and apparently that takes a pretty sophisticated and established organization.

Does this matter? I think only if more donors join giving circles than choose to give as individuals. But I’m not sure. To write this story I’d start with Rebecca Powers who founded Impact Austin and who advises other giving circles.  From there I’d talk to development professionals of large and small nonprofits. The point would be to help you decide whether to join a giving circle and, for you nonprofit pros, how to win the grant.

2. Slacktivism

Another trend that bothers me, though I can’t figure out why. I’m not against them but I also can’t quite support them. Don’t get me wrong – I’ve done this myself. Examples of slacktivism include

• RT a Tweet from a nonprofit seeking volunteers or donations.
• Attending a Tweet-up or Charity Bash-type function where your intentions are really just to party
• Joining a Cause on Facebook
• 26 Miles for 26 Charities (maybe)

I’m all for people engaging in their community at any level, but I worry these simple, non-committal acts are a replacement for real engagement. For this story I’d interview some of the beneficiaries of these “party for charity” events, some development people on how much work it takes to create and manage a Facebook cause – and whether the return is worth it – and some of the organizers of these event to find out if they feel they’re achieving their goals.

I’d want to reader to come away with permission to engage in these activities but I’d want to make sure they understood the real impact of their action.

3. Social Entrepreneurship

What the hell is it? I’m reading, learning, talking, linking and just overall trying to soak in as much information as I can about this emerging trend. Apparently, the concept of genuine social entrepreneurship is still new to Austin, but there are lots of folks trying to create a bottom  line of social impact.

From what I understand, social entrepreneurs identify a social need first, devise a solution, then worry how to pay for it. Their bottom line measures social impact. As opposed to entrepreneurs who identify a market, create a product or service for that market, then worry about how to pay for it. Their bottom line measure profit. I think.

The point of the story would be to explain all this, offer some examples of social entrepreneurship here in Central Texas, offer some kind of five-step how-to become a social entrepreneur sidebar and explain why it’s so difficult to “sell” this concept to the nonprofit world and to consumers.

So many stories, so little time.

A successful collaboration or merger can seem like a miracle. As the former associate director of Community Action Network and a nonprofit consultant, Sam Woollard, a GivingCity contributor, has participated and lead the formation of a number of collaborations around  Central Texas.

“Collaborations and mergers are all about the timing,” she says. “Even if there’s a consensus to work together and a strong action plan, a single change in a funding model or at the legislature could seriously impact the effort. Plus, participants must come to the table with the needs of the entire community in mind, not just the needs of their board  or their constituency.”

Here are some Central Texas collaborations in which Woollard has participated.

Aging Services Council: Addresses  depression in older adults; coordinates home  repair programs; started a caregiver university.

Success by 6: Supports the annual child  well-being report card; supports quality child  care initiatives; supports education about early  childhood.

Central Texas Afterschool Network: Hosts the annual Lights on After School;  convened a forum about middle school students  and afterschool needs; conduct training for  after-school teachers and administrators.

Ready by 21 Coalition: Created a local  youth council; just released a Go to College  Guide for Educators and Youth service  professionals; manages an initiative to  increase the quality of after school  programs.

Basic Needs Coalition: Coordinates the annual Poverty  Awareness month each January;  coordinate the Best Single Source  program; coordinating a benefits  enrollment assistance training on  May 28th.

Children and Youth Mental Health Planning Partnership: Conducts an annual awareness event each  May; addresses the systemic issues impacting  children and mental health.

Re-entry Rountable : Addresses issues related to people leaving the criminal justice  system.

Ending Community Homelesnes Coalition (ECHO): Coordinates the  Continuum of Care grant every year; conducts  an annual homeless awareness forum in the fall;  sponsors the Let’s Get to Work Forum on May  21st to identify pathways to work for people  experiencing homelessness.

Victim Services Task Force: Conduct  awareness activities during the annual Crime  Victims Rights Week, support legislative efforts to  increase the crime victims compensation fund.

HousingWorks: Hosts annual housing  summit each fall; provides a speaker’s bureau for  housing issues; identifies and advocates for  policies that will support affordable housing.

I go to church. There, I said it. I attend Shepherd of the Hills Presbyterianon William Cannon. I go to church for a lot of reasons, but the two biggest drivers are my children and the Reverend Larry Coulter.

Larry does exactly what I’ve always believed a church leader is supposed to do: He tells us what to do. There’s no more mystery! It’s obvious! Just do whatever Larry says on Sunday, and you’re golden!

What I mean is that he starts with the Bible, explains the passage by giving you the back story, offering a little about the main characters, the historical context, all the ways that passage has been interpreted. It’s interesting, actually. Then he turns on the light by telling you a relevant story from his own life. He’s had quite a life. Finally he makes a suggestion, and it’s usually something along the lines of, “… and so this is what God wants us to do.”

And somewhere in there, I have a little revelation. “Oh,” I think, “that’s what that means.

So today, when I read Andrea Ball’s column about the Campaign for Philanthropy in Austin, a.k.a. I Live Here, I Give Here, I thought about Larry’s sermon this morning about patience. (Mostly, I bring up Larry so I can source him, but he’s so much more articulate about this, that I wish I could quote him word for word.)

See, what Larry talked about today was patience and ”active waiting.” It’s about identifying what you can control and what you can’t, and preparing in the meantime for the event you’re waiting for. He likened it to farmers, waiting for rain. Farmers can’t control the weather, of course, but they can buy the seed, sharpen the plow, prepare the soil, and perform other tasks within their control. In fact, if they don’t do those things, they essentially forfeit the event they’ve been waiting for.

So we wait, but we don’t just sit there and complain about how people in Austin should care more about their community. The I Live Here, I Give Here campaign launched in September 2007, and the main reason I know this is because I had coffee with Patsy Woods Martin two days after the kick-off at City Hall. I wanted to ask her for feedback on the idea of a philanthropy and charity magazine in Austin. You can read my post from that meeting here.

ILH,IGH and GivingCity are both almost two years old now. And we’re still waiting. Are we making a difference in Austin? Are more people giving now as a result of our efforts? Has this been a good investment of our time, money, sweat, and tears?

I have no idea, but I thank God for Larry. Maybe we’re not having a significant impact now, but I bet we will in the long run. These are, after all, seeds we’re planting. We nurture them, we protect them, we pray for them, and we wait.

From the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts

Last month the Community Action Network – a partnership of 18 public, private, and nonprofit entities in Central Texas – hosted a learning session about how local government agencies will be spending the millions of dollars we might see in our community. More than 200 people filled the room to listen in; browse the links CAN is compiling on the subject here.

Right now it’s impossible to say how much money Central Texas will actually see because it comes in through state and local agencies, nonprofits, small businesses, individuals, etc., and each of them has its own deadline for requesting money – and no real requirement to report how much it gets.

See this post that describes why it’s difficult to track the money.

I wish there were a single, clear resource for finding out how the money from the federal Recover and Reinvestment Act is going to be put to use – and how to get some. It looks like everyone’s trying to find or create that same thing. The most useful site I found comes from the Texas comptroller’s office. Thank you to whomever created this site. It’s as well designed as it is informative.

In the meantime, read a letter from CAN to Jim Dunnam, Chairman of the Texas House Select Committee on Federal Economic Stabalization Funding, which describes how Central Texas would like the money to be invested.

The recent news about United Way Capital Area having to lay off 10  employees is disheartening. UW runs pretty lean, and the people there work around the clock and even on weekends to accomplish their mission. When you work for United Way you take on a lifestyle, not just a job.

Andrea Ball’s story was on the money; what got me was the comments. Can it really be that United Way doesn’t have a place in the nonprofit environment anymore?

As a recent data-pull by Greenlights shows (see our third issue for the story, “Are There Too Many Nonprofits?”), Austin has plenty of frontlines service providers, maybe too many. The concern is that not all of these nonprofits are effective, so one idea is to increase collaboration and maybe even mergers. From what I understood in putting the story together, collaborations can be more effective and more efficient than what a nonprofit can accomplish on its own.

But who’s out there putting these collaborations together? Nonprofits individually can be so in the weeds trying to get their own work done that they can’t spend enough time looking around for help. That’s where agencies like United Way can come in.

I talked to John Turner, United Way’s director of marketing, to run by him some of the reasons why I think UW still has value. These are just some of the things I thought of off the top of my head:

1. Collaborations like Success By 6, which brings together more than 30 local nonprofits, community leaders, and concerned businesses to build more quality into the network of early childhood centers. SB6 has helped more than double the number of early childhood centers with a quality rating in two years.
2. Their 24×7 helpline 2-1-1 Texas, which fielded almost 200,000 calls last year from Central Texans in need of assistance, connecting them with help, whether with utility bills, finding a local food bank to escaping Hurricane Ike.
3. The over $140 million UW has raised in the past eight years for the community and nonprofits. What would happen if they were not here to go out and raise it? Most organizations do not have the resources or capacity to go out and raise that kind of money. It takes money to do it, and UW is an efficient way to collect and distribute donations.
4. The community engagement arm, Hands on Central Texas, organized and mobilized more than 2,500+ volunteers last year, and 3,000+ volunteer connection to agencies. They contributed over 6,000 hours to help local nonprofits and schools, again providing a valuable service to the local community.
5. Their new collaboration One Hour For Kids, which has several partners including E3, AISD and Manor ISD, and is recruiting volunteer mentors and tutors for middle school kids to help improve the drop out rate.

Again, these are the programs and accomplishments I can think of; UW does so much more than this. And I’m certainly not alone in my perception of UW being efficient. Charity Navigator, an independent online charity evaluator, gives it its highest rating for efficiency.

Thing is, United Way Captial Area does important work. And just because they’re reducing staff doesn’t mean they can scale back their mission. So how’s this going to work? There are only so many hours in the day…

If you think you can’t help United Way, think again. Any sized donation helps, but I invite you to share your thoughts about United Way with people you know or reach out to United Way to find out how you can support their work.

In fact, reach out to ANY nonprofit in Central Texas. They could all use a little more help these days.

See? I was just talking about this exact thing the other day: A public recognition site for volunteers. Except the RecognizeGood people have made a site with the potential for much more than that.

I’ve tried the site. First you register – name, city, etc – then you just fill out the thank you. You include the person’s email address so they can be informed about the thank you, and it’s otherwise totally obvious what to do.

You have the option to make a donation on the site, and that goes to the site’s hometown beneficiary, in this case Samaritan Counseling Center of Austin. But what’s cool about your donation is matched by the site’s corporate sponsor – and that part of the donation can go to one of 10 partner nonprofits. And the thank-you beneficiary gets to choose which one.

I spoke to Nancy Blaich of the Samaritan Counseling Center of Austin , founding beneficiary and lead nonprofit for the site, for a little more information.

Why this site now?
“I don’t think we say thank you enough. There are thousands of act of unselfishness that go unacknowledged, and we wanted to create a public forum for these thank-yous. We think that the stories of kindness and charity – all of our stories put together in one place have got tremendous power, the power to create a movement toward more kindness in the world, a cultural shift.”

How it started.
“In 2007, we gave our Ethics in Business Award to Tyrex Group. John Bosch, the principal an d co founder of Tyrex, at the same time he received this award from us, had some things occur in his personal life for which he received extraordinary acts of kindness. And he didn’t feel like thank you was enough. He wanted someplace public to tell the world what people had done for him. That inspiration combined with Samaritan Center honoring him inspired him to come to us as a business partner to develop this social media site.”

What you can do to help.
“Use the site, first of all. But also, help us spread the word! Take advantage of the Twitter, Facebook, Digg, Delicious, and other social media tools on the site to share it with friends.

“Our goal is to have 15,000 thank-yous. We also hope to take the site worldwide. Austin is just the first host city; our goal is to invite 500 other host cities, each with their own host nonprofit and then each of those sites will have their own nonprofit partners. We have 10 nonprofit partners… so if we can get thousands more nonprofits involved in this worldwide, that would be exciting.”
 
“We’re also looking for community reporters. These are people who will commit to finding five acts of kindness a week and reporting about them to us for the site and a future newsletter.” (If you’re interested in helping, contact Nancy at the Samaritan center.)

Check out RecognizeGood and let us know what you think.

I’m with Alan. From his most recent post:

Live and silent auctions are what really kill me. You go out and panhandle every merchant you can find to give you stuff to sell then you present it in such a way to the consumer to make them feel philantropic while they shop for bargains at your event.

I’m all for like-minded people getting together, but this shopping-for-charity thing just feels so icky. How can we do it better?

Just got done shaking down some merchants myself for the silent auction at the preschool fundraiser. Most are so generous, but it tends to be the small or medium-sized businesses that give the most often - not just a  product or service, but also in their time. Can we give them a break at the next gala and think of something else?

Do people give less when they worry about having less?How will nonprofits and charities, which rely on your donations, weather the economic downturn, which seems less about the effect on our wallets than the effect on our psyche?

The Austin nonprofit community – like small businesses, individuals close to retirement, parents about to put kids in college, young adults about to enter the workforce, presidential campaign managers, pet owners, European hair stylists, Chinese peasants, the astronauts on the space station, and just about everyone else – is worried: How are we going to survive in this economy?

I’ve been reading people’s assessments of the economy and who they think is going to come out on top, and they all sound like this:

“The organizations that always do well will continue to do well. Those that don’t, won’t. “

Also, here’s my summary of people’s plans for surviving it: 

“We’re just going to hunker down and keep doing what we do best.”

AND if you’re looking for advice,

“Prepare now for things to get worse by being financially responsible.”

Now, I don’t mean to belittle anyone’s fear, and I know ridiculously little about the economy… except that there doesn’t seem much we can do about it other than be our usual, “financially responsible” selves. Either we sink or we swim, and if we’re just barely floating now we might be looking at the bottom of the pool. There are a million ways to say it, but it all sounds a little like common sense to me. (Man, it’s so hard not to say “duh” out loud when I read these things.)

Barry Silverberg of the Texas Association of Nonprofits and the Center for Community-Based and Nonprofit Organizations told Andrea Ball this week, “There is so much we can be doing to strengthen our organizations and should not be using the economy as an excuse for all of our problems. Certainly our uncertain economic times has very real impact and I cannot overstate the importance of increasing financial support to an ever strapped sector. However, we must not panic or cry wolf.”

Earlier this month, Andrea wrote another story that mentioned one nonprofit that seemed to be doing well despite the economy, the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Capital Area, which told her, “We have not had to lay off any staff members, although we are watching our salaries very closely and being extra cautious about not overstaffing.”

Here are some other links to assessments, plans and advice for nonprofits:

TANO reports what 17 nonprofit leaders from around Texas have to say about getting through this economic crisis.

A San Antonio CPA reports from an nonprofit CFO forum with advice for creating next year’s budget, handling this year’s finances, and reassuring nonprofit staff.

In an article titled, “The Nervous Economy,” Ron Kessler says, In the bad there is often good.  And there are almost always opportunities.”

Convio, which sells software to nonprofits to help them solicit donations online, reported this week that a survey revealed that people will give more than $3 billion online to nonprofits despite the economy. (Convio, BTW, is an Austin-based company.)

On Thursday, Greenlights will host a panel discussion about this same topic. The event is a sell-out. GivingCity will also publish a story about local nonprofits and the economy, and we’ll focus specifically on your role as a board member and/or major donor. Stay tuned, and in the meantime, keep up the good work.

There are people who talk about poverty every day in Central Texas, and there are people who live in poverty every day in Central Texas, and for the most part they are not the same people. They don’t even look like the same people.

All that is to say what I think lots of people don’t know how to say which is this: Poverty seems to be the lot of African-American and Hispanic Austinites, but the folks trying to lead the change are white.

You gotta give it to white Austin, though. They do try. I mean, go to any gathering of nonprofiteers and do-gooders and such, and it’s just about all white folks in the audience. This is a huge generalization, of course.

But this is why Mando’s videos are so compelling to me. He’s talking to the non-white people who are trying to have an effect on poverty and disparity.

In the interest of full disclosure, which is neither here nor there, I am Hispanic, from San Antonio, third generation Texican, and my husband is white. Just for whatever that means.

The important thing is to WATCH THE VIDEOS. If you do nothing else for poverty today, at least watch these videos. “Dialog!” as they say.