The Raiser's Razor

2009-08-07T13:22:00.001-05:00

9,843. That's how many emails I sent during the 310 days that I was a part of the Center for Nonprofit Management. Yikes.

2009-08-05T20:17:00.001-05:00

Too many social networking sites, so I just got a ping.fm account to update them all at once. We'll see how this works.

Six $5,000 Awards for Excellent Nonprofits

2009-07-23T14:01:00.000-05:00

Now Accepting Applications!
2009 Awards of Excellence - $5,000 Awards

Friends of the Center-
We hope you will apply for the 2009 Awards of Excellence and encourage others to do the same!

The 9th Annual Awards of Excellence are designed to acknowledge the outstanding contribution of the nonprofit community in North Texas. Six $5,000 awards will be presented at A Night of Light on Thursday, November 12, at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas.

Where can I find information on the Awards?
Information can be found here or visit www.cnmdallas.org/nol_awards.aspx.

Can I nominate someone?
Yes, anyone may nominate an ED/CEO or board chair for the Innovation in Nonprofit Leadership or Excellence in Board Leadership awards. In addition, we hope you will assist or encouarge other nonprofits to apply for the organizational awards.

How do I apply for the Awards?
To download the application forms, click here. To be eligible for an award, the organization must be a current member of the Center. Winners of an Awards of Excellence in the past three years (2006, 2007 and 2008) are not eligible to apply.
See the past winners list.

When is the application deadline?
The deadline to submit an Awards application is Wednesday, August 5 by
5 pm. Finalists will be informed late September and winners will be announced at
A Night of Light on Thursday, November 12. Join us for A Night of Light - Purchase tickets/tables.

Who do I contact for more information?
Katy Spicer will be happy to help you and can be reached at spicer@cnmdallas.org or 214/826-3470, ext. 232.

For those on Twitter...

2009-07-13T22:37:00.001-05:00

To celebrate rebranding from the Christian Children’s Fund, ChildFund International is giving gifts of agricultural love and hope from the organization’s gift catalog for every 200 Twitter followers @childfund receives. These efforts will directly benefit children in Gambia, Zambia, Kenya and Ethiopia. There is no cap on followers, and the offer will continue through July 27. Full details are here: http://bit.ly/13yoSc.

Save the dates! Aug 17-23 = Restaurant Week

2009-07-09T18:14:00.001-05:00

KRLD Restaurant Week presented by Central Market
August 17-23
You’ve waited all year – and it’s almost here! Select from any of the over 120 restaurants and enjoy a fabulous three-course dinner for just $35 per person. For each prix fixe dinner purchased, participating restaurants will make a $7 donation to the North Texas Food Bank in Dallas and Lena Pope Home in Fort Worth to benefit families in need. Last year KRLD Restaurant Week raised more than $430,000 for the two charities.

NEW this year - Reservation Day
Be the first to get your reservations!
The 2009 KRLD Restaurant Week list will be available July 13. Make your reservations on Open Table, and a donation will be made to the North Texas Food Bank or Lena Pope Home for each Restaurant Week reservation made on July 13.

Get your Central Market 4th Course Certificate!
Central Market 4th Course Certificates will be available beginning July 13, while supplies last, with a purchase of $25 or more. Each Fourth Course Certificate is good for one free Fourth Course and can be used during any of the 3 weeks that the restaurant is participating in KRLD Restaurant Week.

Want to see the list before July 13?
Click here to become a fan of KRLD Restaurant Week on Facebook or here to become a KRLD Insider and find out the 2009 restaurant list before anyone else! Follow us on Twitter at DFWRestaurauntWk

Deficits - Coming to a town near you?

2009-07-06T15:32:00.000-05:00

From the revolutionaries at the V3 Campaign:

This week is a big week for state governments. The majority of state legislators are dropping their budgets today, and nearly all of them are coming up short. Forty-seven states will be posting over $130 billion in red ink.

When nearly 30 percent of nonprofit revenues come from government grants and fees for services, state budget issues have huge impacts on our sector, yet we do not have a voice in this vital process.

Do not wait to get involved. Tell your friends and colleagues to join us on Facebook and Twitter, and to start asking their elected representative what they are doing to partner with and support the nonprofit sector.

There are more details on the V3 Campaign blog. Join the conversation!

Recruiting volunteers on a national stage

2009-06-30T03:05:00.000-05:00

If you care at all about volunteers, your organization should definitely look into this… Google and Obama Administration are partnering on this www.AllForGood.org site. Great opportunity to get noticed on national stage while also recruiting highly connected volunteers.

------------------------------------------

From: All for Good Team [mailto:footprintteam@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, June 24, 2009 11:10 AM
To: footprintteam@gmail.com
Subject: Posting Volunteer Listings on All for Good

Hello!

Thank you for requesting information on posting your volunteer opportunities on All for Good. We're excited to be able to help you reach more potential volunteers across the country. This email includes several options on posting your listings - please review them and choose the method that will work best for your organization.

Option One: Posting Through Partner Sites (Recommended for 1-5 listings)
If you only have a few listings to post, the easiest way to get them on All for Good is to post them to one of our partner web sites. These sites have already integrated their listings with All for Good, so anything you post there will automatically appear on All for Good. (Note that this won't happen immediately, so don't worry if your listings don't appear on All for Good instantly.) If you'd like to use this option, we recommend you post your activities on one of these sites:

http://www.idealist.org
http://www.serve.gov
http://www.volunteermatch.org

http://www.meetup.com

If your listings are already posted on one of these sites or any other site we already receive listings from (see the list at http://www.allforgood.org/about), you don't need to submit again!

Option Two: Online Spreadsheets (Recommended for 5-100 listings)
If your organization has more than a few regular volunteer opportunities to post and would like to feed them directly to All for Good, you can upload a spreadsheet of your listings in a specific format to have them included on the site. This option requires some work on your end, but does not require any detailed technical or programming knowledge. Follow the directions at the link below to post listings through spreadsheets. (Note that listings may take up to 24 hours to appear using this option.)

http://tinyurl.com/afg-spreadsheet-template

Option Three: XML Feeds (Recommended for large organizations with technical resources)
If your organization anticipates posting large numbers of volunteer opportunities on a continuing basis, it's possible for your organization to create a XML feed of your listings following our specifications that we will automatically import and continually crawl for new listings. Note that this option will require technical resources on your end, and is not the fastest or easiest option for adding a small number of listings. If you are interested in using this option, please reply to this email and we'll be in touch.

Editing Listings
We've received some requests to update incorrect information appearing in listings on All for Good. Because All for Good crawls other sites to aggregate listings, we cannot modify listings directly. If you would like to change how your listings appear on All for Good, you will need to do so at the source of the listing. You can see the web site that is providing a listing in gray on the last line of the listing, before "Like" and "Share".

We look forward to including your listings on All for Good! Please let us know if you have any questions.

Thank you,

The All for Good Team

You are being called to serve...

2009-06-23T00:31:00.001-05:00

Amazed and inspired by http://www.allforgood.org/ . . . and grateful that Google is joining the effort.

Mayor's Town Hall Meeting

2009-06-23T00:26:00.001-05:00

Do you want the nonprofit sector's voice to be heard? Do you wish your organization had more influence to drive change in the community?

Then go here:

Mayor's Town Hall Meeting
Tuesday, June 23rd | 6:30 p.m to 8:30 p.m.
Cedar Crest Golf Course
1800 Southerland Ave., Dallas 75203

During the June 23rd Town Hall Meeting, Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and the staff members from the City of Dallas will be present to answer questions that matter to you.

501(c)lub next Wed, June 24 at 5:01 p.m. at Elbow Room

2009-06-19T14:33:00.000-05:00

Please forward this invite to others… all nonprofit staff and volunteers are invited to come to this FREE networking session!

501(c)lub Happy Hour

Wednesday, June 24, 2009
5:01 p.m.
Elbow Room
3010 Gaston Avenue
Dallas, TX 75226
http://www.ElbowRoomDallas.com

Join us early to receive free and/or discounted drink specials, as well as some amazing pizza!

fantastic chance to change the world...

2009-06-19T14:11:00.001-05:00

PEP needs your help to recruit new executive leadership for our team! We are hiring managers for our growing programs and are looking nation-wide for outstanding candidates to fill the following Houston-based positions:

1. Chief Operating Officer
2. Chief Development Officer
3. Manager, Prison Initiatives

(Catherine Rohr with Class IX graduates )

PEP offers great benefits and competitive salaries, not to mention the opportunity to work for a mission-driven organization. These opportunities and expanded job descriptions may also be viewed here.

You can help us by reviewing the job descriptions for your own interest or by forwarding this email and job descriptions to anyone you believe might be a qualified candidate for one of the roles and a great fit for our organization.

For more information about our hiring needs, please check out www.pep.org and please direct any HR questions to our recruiting team at recruiting@pep.org.

Thank you!
Catherine F. Rohr
Founder and CEO

$75K emergency loans available to Nonprofits

2009-06-18T13:37:00.001-05:00

Thanks to additional funding from The Meadows Foundation, the Center is now offering loans for agencies affected by the recent economy.

To qualify for a loan, an organization must:

Be a 501(c)(3) organization, incorporated and operating in the state of Texas;
Have a Board of Directors with at least five unrelated members, and be empowered to borrow;
Be able to submit monthly financial statements and cash flow projections;
An applicant must be creditworthy.

Terms & Conditions for the Community Response Loan Fund:

Amount: Up to $75,000.
Interest Rate: Determined at the time of loan approval, but generally between 0% and 3%.
Maturity: Up to 4 years. Repayment schedule is flexible, based on the borrower’s projected cash flow.
Collateral: Unsecured.
Loan Administration Fee: No Fee.

Application Process:
Before submitting a formal application, complete the Pre-Qualification Scan to find out if you might qualify for a loan.

Loan requests are reviewed and approved by the Nonprofit Loan Committee, which meets monthly. In general, a loan request is reviewed by the committee approximately 20 business days after a complete loan application package is submitted.

For more information about the Community Response Loan Fund, contact Ryan Smith, Associate Director of Financial Services, at smith@cnmdallas.org or 214/826-3470, ext. 248.

LIVE UNITED Food Drive this Saturday

2009-06-18T13:20:00.001-05:00

LIVE UNITED Food Drive

Saturday, June 20th

9am - 1pm.

It benefits several agencies with food pantries in Dallas and Collin counties. There are 6 locations across the community so it is easy to drive by and drop off grocery items. It is not a fundraising event, we are asking for food donations. Please help if you can. Thanks!

Anyone can participate in the national Day of Action - it's the perfect way to LIVE UNITED. Individuals, families, office teams, sports groups, religious and community organizations.

WHO: Everyone can help!

Anyone can participate in the national Day of Action - it's the perfect way to LIVE UNITED. Individuals, families, office teams, sports groups, religious and community organizations.

WHAT: United Way National Day of Action- LIVE UNITED Food Drive

Each year on June 21st – the longest day of the year – United Ways across the country participate in a nationwide Day of Action. This year our National Day of Action activities will be held June 15th - 21st and will focus on the United Way impact area of INCOME – Promoting independence and financial stability.

WHY: To help stock community food pantries

Our local food pantries are reporting that demand is up for food pantry services and that families and individuals are asking for help who have never sought assistance before. June also marks the beginning of a season when many children do not have access to the nutritious meals often available during the school year. Families in North Texas struggle even harder during the summer to try to provide food for their children. Reports indicate that even though the demand is up, donations remain level or have decreased. Help is needed now more than ever!

WHEN: Saturday, June 20th from 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

WHERE:

Dallas 4906 Bonnie View Dallas, TX 75241 Bonnie View near Ledbetter
Irving 250 E Grauwyler Irving, TX 75061 E. Grauwyler at Britain
Plano 3528 East 14th St Plano, TX 75074 14th Street near Shiloh Road

THESE PANTRY ITEMS ARE NEEDED:

Canned Chili/Stew Canned Fruit/Vegetables Canned Juice/Tea/Tang/Gatorade Canned Meat/Ravioli/Sausage Canned Nuts Canned or Dry Beans Canned Soup Cereal Bars/Oatmeal Evaporated or Powder Milk Granola Bars/Graham Crackers Jell-O/Pudding Mix/Cookies Macaroni & Cheese Peanut Butter/Jelly Rice/Pasta Tuna Fish

Questions? Contact volunteer@unitedwaydallas.org or (214) 978-0045

WWW.UNITEDWAYDALLAS.ORG

great PSA for Katy Trail

2009-06-15T10:34:00.001-05:00

Thanks to Dave Gallman for putting together this great promo for one of my favorite spots in Dallas!

Friends of the Katy Trail (60 sec) from Producer: Dave Gallman on Vimeo.

refugee

2009-06-15T02:13:00.000-05:00

Web event: "Nonprofit Leadership: An Intergenerational Discussion"

2009-06-14T09:12:00.002-05:00

The Chronicle of Philanthropy is hosting "Nonprofit Leadership: An
Intergenerational Discussion" on Tuesday, June 16 at 12:00pm.

Event: Nonprofit Leadership: An Intergenerational Discussion
"Current and Future Leaders Debate Succession, Style, and Much More"
What: Business Meeting
Start Time: Tuesday, June 16 at 12:00pm
End Time: Tuesday, June 16 at 1:00pm
Where:
http://www.facebook.com/l/;http:/philanthropy.com/live/2009/06/next_generation/chat.php3

To see more details and RSVP, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=114722239337&mid=9e44e8G1f528c37G1e
f6c86G7

Don't Forget to Ask for Money

2009-06-13T10:30:00.001-05:00

This is very important: don't forget to ask for money.

Elisa Ortiz wrote a nice piece called "Forgetting what’s important"
(which was recently featured in a Nonprofit Blog Carnival).

Here is the meat:

"For a nonprofit, invariably the first thing to go is professional development and travel money followed closely by marketing/PR budgets...

"Here’s the deal: you may not have to try and attract more clients, but you sure as hell need to attract more donors and more people that can advocate for you to their friends and connections. How is a nonprofit supposed to do that when it has locked down and shut out marketing, outreach and PR efforts entirely?"

An excellent point.

This is obviously a difficult time for nonprofits. Spending a dollar on an advertising campaign is a dollar not being spent on feeding a hungry child, healing a diabetic mother, training an illiterate adult, or more.

But if you don't invest in the future of your organization, there may not be such a future. And the hungry kids, sick moms and illiterate masses depend on you to be there.

[where: 75223]

Oh, no, now what are you doing, Mr. Gregg?

2009-06-13T03:37:00.002-05:00

Yes, it's 3:37 a.m. and I am playing with my blog template.

Nerd?

Announcing the Dallas Business Journal 40 Under Forty

2009-06-12T17:08:00.004-05:00

Announcing the Dallas Business Journal 40 Under Forty

Congrats to the Dallas Business Journal 40 Under Forty!

If you are interested in meeting "the best and the brightest business leaders under forty," who are listed below, the DBJ is convening an event for them hosted by the Tower Club Dallas, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Thursday, June 18.

http://dallas.bizjournals.com/dallas/event/6386?sid=f70df161039a3c93638f3b6979c52848

Deadline to register is 5pm Monday, June 15.

Here they are:

Brian Amend, AC Lordi Consulting

Angelo Antoline, mundayMorning Creative Group

Ashley Blanchette, Robertson, Griege & Thoele

Scott Burnett, Watson Wyatt Worldwide

Emily Callahan, Susan G. Komen for the Cure

Jason Dodd, The Cirrus Group

Clay Dover, Raising Canes Chicken Fingers

Mitch Edgeworth, Doctors Hospital at White Rock Lake

Kern Egan, The Richards Group

Brent Fitch, University of Phoenix - Dallas

Sonny Garcia, e-Rewards, Inc.

Yolanda Garcia, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP

Kourtny Garrett, DOWNTOWNDALLAS

Grant Harrell, 21-Century Silicon, Inc.

Liana Hawes, Wilson Associates

Dr. Brody Hildebrand, Preston Hollow Specialists

Nichole Jordan, Grant Thornton

Cris Jordan, Transwestern

Suzan Kedron, Jackson Walker L.L.P.

Shannon Kraus, HKS, Inc.

Jon Lineberger, Dallas Baptist University

Courtney Marcus, Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P.

Krystal Mims, Texas Health Partners

Erin Nealy Cox, Stroz Friedberg LLC

Jeffrey Nieman, Tenet Healthcare Corporation

Mary Nix, Gordon & Rees, LLP

Kevin Pailet, Prescott Pailet Benefits LP

Chris Peterie, Swingle Collins & Associates

Cheri Phyfer, Sherwin Williams

Christi Redfearn, LEED Ap, REDLEE/SCS, Inc.

J. Daniel "Dan" Rodriguez, Tenet Healthcare Corporation

Dupree Scovell, Trammell Crow Company

Conner Searcy, Insight Equity

Nicole Small, Dallas Museum of Nature & Science

Caleb Smith, Spire Realty Group, LP

Scott Sonju, Frisco RoughRiders

Jimmy Stathatos, City of Roanoke

Jeff Staubach, Jones Lang LaSalle

Richard Vitale, Bank of America

Temple Weiss, La Quinta

[where: 75223]

Craigslist for Volunteers

2009-06-12T14:08:00.000-05:00

Over the past couple of months, I have been exploring options for developing an open source technology to allow nonprofits to post their volunteer opportunities directly on the Web. This was dovetailing with another project that’s been in my mind for a few years: “Craigslist for volunteers.”

Well, I am grateful to see that Google is actually already driving something like that!

An Obama-Inspired Volunteer-Recruitment Web Site Will Soon Debut

http://philanthropy.com/free/articles/v21/i17/17001401.htm

This is fantastic, because it means that good things are getting done. I don’t care if we are the ones to do anything or not. What matters is “that which needs getting done… gets done.”

Focus on actions, not actors.

Mission clarity = Power.

Your Reviews Now Live on Guidestar!

2009-06-12T11:54:00.002-05:00

Interesting update on the GreatNonprofits project:
http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/243720/30d2d5bb0b/1394004647/8666d722cf/

Your reviews are now even more influential and reaching more prospective donors and supporters! GreatNonprofits reviews are now being syndicated to GuideStar.org, the premiere site for philanthropic research. Reviews are visible on any nonprofit's report page (click below for sample full-screen view).

We are thrilled to partner with GuideStar to provide this functionality to their large base of donors. The increased visibility and transparency will trigger greater accountability. It will inform prospective donors and help them differentiate between nonprofits, find ones that they trust, and be more confident in giving.

Thank YOU for your participation in the transparency movement!

This newsletter provides a glimpse into our world of great nonprofits, a way to share special events and news, and an opportunity to hear about organizations and individuals working on the ground in our sector. We’d love to hear what you think! Send us an email at newsletter@greatnonprofits.org to share your thoughts.

Add Your Cause-Related Blog to the List of Change

2009-06-12T10:50:00.000-05:00

Per Britt Bravo at Have Fun * Do Good …

Livingston Communicationshas launched a new ranked list of cause-related blogs calledList of Change.

If you are using your blog for social impact, you can submit your site to be included on the List by filling out this form.

The List of Change was developed by programmer Shannon Whitley and Geoff Livingston, and co-facilitated by changeblogger extraordinaire, and my co-Contributing Editor of the Social Change section of BlogHer, Beth Kanter.

Eventually the List will be moved to the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s site after its redesign.

Each blog's ranking is established by statistics: Technorati ranking, Technorati inbound blog links, Bloglines subscriptions, Alexa rank, Google pagerank, and Yahoo! inbound links.

You can read more about the List of Change on these blogs:

· Introducing the List of Change by Geoff Livingston on The Buzz Bin.

· The List of Change by Beth Kanter on Beth's Blog.

· New List Ranks Blogs About Nonprofit Causes by Peter Panepento on Give and Take

Why is Social Media Important to a Brand?

2009-06-12T10:30:00.000-05:00

Anna Farmery wants to engage your brand...

Thus asks Anna Farmery, Speaker/Social Media Coach and author of The Engaging Brand Blog (which was recently featured in a Nonprofit Blog Carnival).

She offers 5 main reasons why social media should be part of your organization's brand strategy:

Social media can help bridge the gap inside a consumer's mindset of where they are now and where they want to be.
Social media empower consumers to be advocates for your brand.
Social media enable brands to communicate at all levels and to all emotions
Social media engage consumers in a conversation that can help brands evolve.
Social media -- particularly those with RSS (Really Simply Syndication) -- keep brands in their consumers lives.

Those are just summaries. Read her complete thoughts here:

http://theengagingbrand.typepad.com/the_engaging_brand_/2009/05/why-is-social-media-important-to-a-brand.html

[where: 75223]

Why I want to live in DC . . .

2009-06-11T17:08:00.003-05:00

Fantastic event benefiting DC Central Kitchen … check it out below.

- Jeremy@JeremyGregg.com

From: DC Central Kitchen [mailto:DCCKfeedback@my-websites.org]

Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2009 1:00 PM

Subject: Food Fight Tickets On Sale Now

Save the Date!

Wednesday, November 11th 2009 - 6:00 PM

Chair José Andrés and Co-Chair Ted Leonsis invite you to watch top chefs battle live on stage to benefit DC Central Kitchen.

Watch last year's winner, Chef Barton Seaver, defend his title against 4 challengers, with judges Ted Allen, Eric Ripert, Carla Hall, and Co-Host Anthony Bourdain.

Buy tickets online at:

http://www.capitalfoodfight.org/

$175 each ($150 before October 9th!) Get your tickets early—this event will sell fast

JOKE: What do you call someone who sees the future of our world depending on the social sector?

2009-06-11T10:01:00.000-05:00

A non-prophet.