Posted by: thegoodcounsel | May 23, 2012

5 Myths About Social Media for Nonprofit Organizations

Image A post by Dania T. Miwa

1.     Social media is a great way to fundraise. While I agree it can be a great tool to reach potential donors and I have even seen a successful twitter fundraising campaign or two, what is typically more common is Nonprofits using social media as a stewardship tool to connect donors and constituents to the mission of an organization and help them to feel connected. Donations may in fact come out of that as a byproduct of good stewardship, but it is usually a secondary outcome

2.     Social media will get people to do something for us or drive more traffic to our website.  Nope, wrong again. I personally think social media can be a great way to involve donors and constituents, but there needs to be an actual person following up and having actual authentic conversations with their followers, friends, etc. No one wants to follow/like a business that only talks about themselves. Additionally, speaking from my own experience, I don’t often “like” an organization, then go visit their website. After the “like” I usually move on to the next thing.

Read More…

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Posted in Communications, Social Media | Tags: , , , , , ,

Posted by: thegoodcounsel | May 17, 2012

Impact Measurement – Part Three of Three

 A Post by James V. Toscano

Measuring impact of nonprofit programs is clearly an important element in determination of benefit to society. It has also become a proxy to demonstrate return on investment to governments, foundations, corporations and other donors.

The state of the art and science of such impact determination is largely work in progress.

Certain nonprofit sectors, namely healthcare and education, are well advanced in such measurement compared to other sectors. Epidemiological methodology, such as used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has important elements that are available to be adopted/adapted by other sectors.

Using such tools as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), with the enormous amount of data already available through government agencies, and combining it with population statistics, another highly measured variable, in various time series may be an important way to derive impact of specific nonprofit programs. (See Part One of this Series).

Other methods currently used include process measures, e.g. the financial and accountability variables assessed by Charity Navigator and reported in an ascending number of stars, or the all or nothing Standards approach of our own Minnesota Charities Review Council, are widely employed and respected.

Reputational methodologies, using expert panels or other informants, to assess output are also currently employed, e.g. the rigorous survey methodology of Philanthropedia, a GuideStar subsidiary, is an excellent example of this approach. (See Part Two of this Series.) Read More…

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Posted in Leadership, Nonprofit Management, Nonprofit Sector | Tags: , , ,

Posted by: thegoodcounsel | May 10, 2012

Impact Measurement – Part Two of Three

 A post by James V. Toscano

There is currently considerable buzz about performance, outcomes, results and other measures of impact in the nonprofit world. Foundations and corporate funders are now interested in what the results of the inputs of their grants are. Individual donors are told that they should also be very interested in what their gift dollars produce.

In the Part One, questions on the uses of epidemiological variables and the need for standardized measurement and agreement on those measures were raised. In Part Three, the necessity for empirical testing to really determine causality will be explored in some depth.

Here, let us examine some middle-ground measures, not exactly scientific, but better than random selection. We’ll examine process measures, and then we’ll look at reputational measures. Read More…

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Posted in Leadership, Nonprofit Management, Nonprofit Sector | Tags: , , , , , ,

Posted by: thegoodcounsel | April 30, 2012

Impact Measurement – Part One of Three

 A post by James V. Toscano

The Wall Street Journal Report on “Innovation in Health Care” of April 16 has a number of articles on directions  in the way health care is moving, with constant referral to the mountains of data routinely collected on the multitude of variables considered important in measuring outcome.

Having spent over thirty years of my career in nonprofit health care organizations managing research and education, I am most familiar with data, its collection, analyses, and uses. Modern medicine is built on empirical studies which determine significant directions in the diagnosis, treatment and care of patients.

Measurement of effectiveness and efficacy determine which drugs, which procedures, which devices will be used. Determination of scores on risk factors influence the course and outcomes of treatment.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have pioneered in the use of empirical measures to study the spread of disease over time. Their series of maps of the United States demonstrating the spread of obesity, for example, are classics.

The use of epidemiological methodologies has made a  significant difference in many aspects of our health care model in the US. Is there further applicability to these techniques? Read More…

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Posted in Nonprofit Sector | Tags: , , ,

Posted by: thegoodcounsel | April 20, 2012

Why I’m going to Twive & Receive on June 14th

 Post by Dania Toscano Miwa
This year on June 14th I’m participating in Twive and Receive which is one day where over 100 cities mobilize their donors to give to a single nonprofit in their community. I have chosen the Animal Humane Society of the Twin Cities. I chose AHS because every dog and cat I’ve ever had growing up came from there.
For example, Samson was a German Shepard who was rejected by the police academy for being too nice. He was the smartest dog I’ve ever known and his favorite treats were peanuts.
Venus is the Siamese mix cat. She’s got a tiny delicate bone structure, but sounds like an elephant when she runs. She also puts up with me dressing her up in doll clothes when I was younger.And Barney, a newfoundland/lab mix, came with his name, a bright pink ball, and epilepsy, which was easily treated with medication. He was great at playing catch, and when we’d give him a choice, he would always pick a bright pink ball. That led to us joke that neon pink was his favorite color. Read More…

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Posted in Nonprofit Sector, Social Media | Tags: , ,

Posted by: thegoodcounsel | April 9, 2012

Social Impact Bonds

 A post by James V. Toscano

A new report sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation, A New Tool for Scaling Impact: How Social Impact Bonds Can Mobilize Private Capital To Advance Social Good, gives an interesting boost to the British idea of infusing private capital into projects that have a societal return, with repayment based on the success of the project.

In the introduction to the report, Judith Rodin, Rockefeller Foundation president states:

“Social Impact Bonds have the potential to substantially transform the social sector, support poor and vulnerable communities, and create new financial flows for human service delivery by offering an innovative way to scale what works and break the cyclical need for crisis-driven services.” Read More…

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Posted in Leadership, Nonprofit Management, Nonprofit Sector, Social Media | Tags: , , ,

Posted by: thegoodcounsel | April 3, 2012

Nonprofit Board Search

 Announcement from Dania Toscano Miwa

Here at Toscano Advisors, we’ve been thinking about what an amazing sector we work in, especially in Minnesota. As we were discussing this and brainstorming ideas to add even more value to this already vibrant sector and we think we’ve found one!

We are very excited to launch Nonprofit Board Search which is a free service from Toscano Advisors, allowing nonprofits to submit their open board positions on this site.

Now, I realize this may sound like a rather self-serving, even a shameless self promotion post. However, we know most, if not all, of our subscribers all have boards, are members of boards or are looking to become more involved with an organization by serving on a board. We hope this service makes it easier to find and publicize these listings and in turn make our sector even stronger. Enjoy!

If your organization is actively recruiting board members please send the listing to dania(@)toscanoadvisors.com and I will make sure it is posted within one business day.

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Posted in Board Development, Leadership, Nonprofit Management | Tags: , , , ,

Posted by: thegoodcounsel | March 26, 2012

Guest Post – Dealing With the Fear of Fundraising

 A post by Jim Thalhuber

The March 5 blog headline reads, “We’re all development officers now!”  As one who has worked in and with hundreds of nonprofits organizations over the past three-plus decades, I could not agree more with this proclamation.

Unfortunately, I have not always found this to be the case in the nonprofit sector.  Why?  For many nonprofits, it stems directly from CEOs and Executive Directors who suffer from a profound fear of the “F” word – Fundraising. Read More…

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Posted in Nonprofit Management

Posted by: thegoodcounsel | March 14, 2012

Nature Conservancy: Cavorting in Sea, Surf and Deep Manure

 A post by James V. Toscano

Certain specific demographic cohorts flock to the annual swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated each year, presumably to experience nature and the environment up close.

Some of our friends at Nature Conservancy were intrigued with the demographics of these readers, clearly holding the prospect of adding to NC constituency and donors, so they entered into a three-pronged sponsorship of this year’s swimsuit edition with the magazine and a high-end luxury website. Read More…

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Posted in Communications, Leadership, Nonprofit Management, Nonprofit Sector | Tags:

Posted by: thegoodcounsel | March 5, 2012

We’re All Development Officers Now!

 A post by James V. Toscano

A much emailed and referenced article from McKinsey Quarterly by Tom French, Laura LaBerge and Paul McGill, “We’re all marketers now,” stresses the need for commitment from everyone in an organization to fully engage customers.

The authors advocate a total organizational approach to marketing. Quoting the article: “…customers no longer separate marketing from the product—it is the product…In the era of engagement, marketing is the company.”

Read More…

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Posted in Fundraising, Leadership, Nonprofit Management | Tags: , , , ,

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