This case focuses on the development of information systems for not-for-profit volunteer-based organizations. Specifically, we discuss an information system project for the Volunteer Center of Racine (VCR). This case targets the analysis and design phase of the project using the Unified Modeling Language (UML) methodology, database modeling, and aspects of project management including scope and risk management. Students must decide how to proceed, including recommending an IT solution, managing risk, managing scope, projecting a schedule, and managing personnel. The rewards and special issues involved with systems for not-for-profit organizations will be revealed. This case can be used in a variety of courses, including systems analysis and design, database management systems, and project management.

Fundraisers are often intimidated by the prospect of writing grant proposals. But missing a grant opportunity can mean losing important programs and essential services. For the fundraiser in need of practical skills and guidance, The Grantwriter’s Start-Up Kit shows how to prepare for the process of writing a successful grant proposal.

A virtual assistant can take on various tasks such as:
• Meeting logistics (event planning, registration, vendor coordination, etc.)
• Scheduling (appointments, meetings, interviews, and events)
• Website (maintain websites and/or build websites)
• Social networking (creating social media pages, adding business updates, and making business connections)
• Donor database (create, maintain, and update)
• Bookkeeping (sent out end of year donor letters, and maintain financial bookkeeping records)

These are just a sampling of tasks that a virtual assistant can help with. Together you can make your dream wish list of tasks, and your virtual assistant will make find solutions for you.

In my next post, we’ll talk about how a virtual assistant can assist with fundraising efforts.

Nonprofit organizations must employ effective, professional public relations techniques in order to get the recognition, support and dollars they need to fulfill their missions. The Public Relations Handbook for Nonprofits offers you the first comprehensive guide to all the practices organizations need to do well in their efforts to do good. This title examines all the elements, tools and processes involved in an effective nonprofit PR campaign.

Offering a combination of theory and practice, it shows you how to market to your key audiences, both inside and outside of your organization. In addition to helping you understand you target markets and shaping your message for your audience, Feinglass discusses all the key public relations vehicles, including:
news releases, press kits, brochures, newsletters, annual reports, direct mail, advertising, the internet, special events

A final chapter walks you step by step through the process of developing your own comprehensive public relations campaign.

“Get out of your comfort zone, feel the fear, and just do it!”

“People are more comfortable with the familiar discomfort, as opposed to being in an unfamiliar possibility.”

“Endowments are very appealing as dependable sources of income for nonprofit organizations. Diana Newman’s comprehensive work shows how endowments also can provide multiple opportunities for donor involvement when the solicitation program is well-designed and integrated with other fund development and program goals. Diana emphasizes the critical ethical issues inherent in marketing and structuring endowment gifts in addition to clear step-by-step guidelines for constructing the entire campaign. It’s an excellent reference manual and training guide.” –Joanne Scanlan, Ph.D. Senior Vice President for Professional Development, Council on Foundations

Days
June 1 – Donut Day and Stand for Children Day
June 3 – Egg Day
June 4 – Cheese Day
June 5 – National Gingerbread Day and World Environment Day
June 6 – D-Day, National Applesauce Cake Day, and National Yo-Yo Day
June 10 – Ball Point Pen Day and Iced Tea Day
June 12 – Magic Day
June 13 – Race Unity Day (Second Sunday in June) and Weed Your Garden Day
June 14 – Flag Day, “Pop Goes the Weasel” Day, and World Juggling Day
June 15 – Fly A Kite Day and Power of a Smile Day
June 16 – National Fudge Day
June 17 – Eat Your Vegetables Day
June 18 – International Picnic Day
June 19 – Juneteenth
June 20 – Bald Eagle Day, Father’s Day (Third Sunday of June_and Ice Cream Soda Day
June 23 – National Pecan Sandies Day, National Pink Day, Soap Opera Day, and United Nations Public Service Day
June 24 – U.F.O. Day
June 26 – National Chocolate Pudding Day
June 28 – Paul Bunyan Day
June 29 – Camera Day
June 30 – Meteor Day

Weeks
Week 1 – National Fishing Week
Week 2 – National Clay Week
Week 4 – National Camping Week

Month
Dairy Month
Great Outdoors Month
National Adopt-A-Cat Month
National Drive Safe Month
National Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Month
National Iced Tea Month
National Rose Month
National Safety Month
National Tennis Month
Potty Training Awareness Month
Turkey Lovers Month
Zoo and Aquarium Month

Too often I hear people referring to ALL nonprofit organizations as a 501(c)3 and they are not. So, I thought it would be beneficial to list the various types of nonprofits.

Here is a list from Internal Revenue Services of the types of nonprofit organizations:
501(c)(1) — Corporations organized under acts of Congress such as Federal Credit Unions
501(c)(2) — Title holding corporations for exempt organizations
501(c)(3) — Various charitable, non-profit, religious, and educational organizations (see below)
501(c)(4) — Various political education organizations (see below)
501(c)(5) — Labor Unions and Agriculture
501(c)(6) — Business league and chamber of commerce organizations (see below)
501(c)(7) — Recreational club organizations
501(c)(8) — Fraternal beneficiary societies
501(c)(9) — Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Associations
501(c)(10) — Fraternal lodge societies
501(c)(11) — Teachers’ retirement fund associations
501(c)(12) — Local Benevolent Life Insurance Associations, Mutual Irrigation and Telephone Companies and like organizations
501(c)(13) — Cemetery companies
501(c)(14) — Credit Unions
501(c)(15) — Mutual insurance companies
501(c)(16) — Corporations organized to finance crop operations
501(c)(17) — Employees’ associations
501(c)(18) — Employee-funded pension trusts created before June 25, 1959
501(c)(19) — Veterans’ organizations
501(c)(20) — Group legal services plan organizations
501(c)(21) — Black lung benefit trusts
501(c)(22) — Withdrawal liability payment fund
501(c)(23) — Veterans’ organizations created before 1880
501(c)(25) — Title-holding corporations for qualified exempt organizations
501(c)(26) — State-sponsored high-risk health coverage organizations
501(c)(27) — State-sponsored workers’ compensation reinsurance organizations
501(c)(28) — National railroad retirement investment trust
501(d) — Religious and Apostolic associations
501(e) — Cooperative hospital service organizations
501(f) — Cooperative service organizations of operating educational organizations
501(k) — Child care organizations
501(n) — Charitable risk pools
521(a) — Farmers’ cooperative associations
527 — Political organizations

To get more detailed information go to http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p557.pdf pages 60 and 61 give you an Organizational Reference Chart. It is a very handy tool when deciding what type of nonprofit you are starting.

Do you have accounts on Facebook and Twitter, and wonder what all the fuss is about? It seems a big time waster to you, but since everyone is talking about Social Media, how can they all be wrong? 

 
They can’t all be wrong. And the statistics can’t be wrong either.  To quote statistics from Socialnomics:

1 out of 8 couple who married last year met through some form of Social Media. 96% of Generation Y are on at least one social network. Facebook added 100n million users in less than 9 months. Even more shocking, if Facebook were a country, it would be the 4^th largest in the world!  78% of consumers trust peer reviews of products more than advertisements (only 14%). 

Is it all just a fad? No, this change in marketing represents a fundamental change in the way we communicate with each other. It is about listening first, about giving first, and about selling second. It is about building trust and awareness. It is about putting info out there about who you are, what your services are, what your products are, and knowing that the interested buyers will find you.  The world has changed dramatically from a static advertising modality to a form of interactive conversation- a dialogue, a discussion, a friendship. In short, it is about relationship.

Social media is a very new term from the last few years, but it has quickly become part of our culture and part of our language. In a nutshell, social media is made up of internet and mobile media tools for sharing information among people. This new environment is generally known as web 2.0, delineated by the fact that it is interactive.

Some examples of early social media sites were MySpace, Wikipedia (which means Quick, from Hawaiian), and Craigslist; and then followed by sites used for bookmarking, such as: Technorati, Digg, Delicious, and Yelp. But it is only in the last few years that the “biggies” were born- Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. These are the sites with the huge punch.

There are interesting stories behind the development of these three big sites. You Tube, the huge video-sharing engine, started off as an elite site for those that could afford to create videos. But it has, to everyone’s surprise, become an extremely accessible site. As a matter of fact, it is now the second largest search engine in the world!

The development of Twitter is a strange story. It was started as a site to dispatch communication for taxi drivers. Now, it is a monster site- a powerful marketing tool, when used correctly. And it was Harvard students who created Facebook (which grew by a phenomenal 422% in 2009). Their intent was to use Facebook exclusively for themselves!

These three big sites are primarily where a business should focus its initial marketing energy. When brainstorming strategy for social media marketing, it is good to remember that Twitter is the way to quickly connect with your customers and to announce alerts, gifts, coupons, etc. Facebook holds a larger news stream so you can add videos, photos, and much more in the way of information about your company or products, and your brand.

YouTube is just plain fun, and exciting. The right video can sweep around the globe. The most recent powerful example being the story of Susan Boyle, from Britain’s Got Talent. Within minutes of the broadcast of this singer’s performance, emails and tweets were chasing around the world. Someone put the video up of her on YouTube and it became and amazing overnight sensation. As did she. The power of YouTube indeed!

Here are a few great links for more information: First, here is a nice easy Youtube video explaining social media. Second, here is the link to one of the hottest videos on Social media last year.

Social media is here to stay, and everyone now knows it. The rush to get onboard has been exciting, and yet, the most exciting piece is how it changes all the time. Who knows what will come next?