GREAT BOSSES

David Axelrod, President Obama’s senior advisor and longtime political strategist, came home to hail the Chicago premiere of the HBO documentary By The People. Directors Amy Rice and Alicia Sams had the exclusive access and, thus, exclusive footage – shooting Obama from May 2006 to June 2009 – indispensable for an historic film. Among those at the screening was Lynn Sweet, who covered the campaign for the Chicago Sun-Times and is featured in the documentary. She said "the most important stuff in this movie is the stuff that shows Obama talking about Obama. That is why this is an important movie.”

In his introductory remarks Axelrod shared three basic premises Obama enumerated from the start of his campaign that are good rules for nonprofit leaders to live by:

* This was going to be a grassroots campaign. Everything was to percolate up. Issues, messages, organization start from the ground up.

* Have fun. The campaign was going to be long, hard work, so “we might as well have some fun while we’re doing it.”

* No finger pointing. There will be mistakes; things will go wrong, but no blaming others.

For those of us in nonprofit organizations, that means listening to and responding to our clients, donors, directors. Having fun is very good advice in this economic climate. Outlawing the blame game is a key factor in being able to build a successful, respectful team.

I gleam some of the same managerial wisdom from Phil Jackson’s Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior. One of the most successful coaches in NBA history, Jackson, who has dealt with some of the biggest egos in the universe, espouses selfless team play and compassion. Tall order from a tall man, however, it would behoove nonprofit managers to tap the potential of the human spirit in their midst and not to work in isolation or their own version of corporate silos. Good relationships are vital to success in work, as well as in one’s personal life. Stressing fun along with self-discipline can motivate and stimulate teamwork among disparate followers. If it’s good enough for the Commander in Chief….
Photo credit: Kuni Takahashi

ROLLOVER TIME FLIES

ALERT: The IRA Charitable Rollover Act extends to December 31, 2009. Be sure to include the following information in an e-blast or newsletter to your supporters asap!

What is the IRA Charitable Rollover Act? This provision allows anyone 70-1/2 years or older to make an outright gift from their Individual Retirement Account up to $100,000 a year to a qualified charity – like (insert name here) - without first claiming it as income and being taxed. Take advantage of this important extension today! Consult your tax advisor or call us at (insert phone number here) for additional information.

GRANT WRITER COMMENT

I couldn't agree more. Hiring an outside grant writer might make sense --- in very limited situations, but is rarely the right approach and almost never the best long term solution. It's all about relationships and the wise nonprofit takes grant writing as an opportunity to build upon ... the secret to writing good grants: READ THE GUIDELINES AND FOLLOW THEM. Then, keep these two things in mind: 1) guidelines are written for applicants and not donors. You have to follow them but the donor doesn't and; 2) grant making is personal. People give to people, not to causes. So, a well written grant simply earns you the opportunity to start building that relationship.
Posted by David Zemel

OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF....

I started a small conversation on LinkedIn the other day. My point was that schools and organizations and consultants are offering grantwriting courses, but writing is not enough to secure a grant. “Many nonprofits do not realize the value of program knowledge, foundation research and relationship building to the grantsmanship process. Writing in a vacuum rarely leads to success.”

Gail Perry, author of Fired Up Fundraising: Turn Board Passion into Action and former major gifts officer at Duke wrote, “You are totally right. So many nonprofits - and board members too - think that hiring a "grantwriter" is the magic bullet that will rescue their fundraising program. They don't understand that grantseeking is what you might call "a body contact sport." That is, it requires person-to-person conversation. You have to cultivate grantor relationships just like you do individuals. Grantwriting courses shortchange their students if they don't include relationship-development and cultivation strategies.”

Two development pros – same advice – free. You’re welcome!

GOURMET CONSIDERATION

You won’t be able to devour Gourmet magazine after the November issue. Even with a 68-year history and nearly 1 million subscribers, television food shows and online sites have taken a serious bite out of Gourmet's advertising revenue. (Gourmet will remain in book publishing and television programming; Gourmet recipes will still be available on Epicurious.com; and Bon Appétit, Conde Nast’s other epicurean magazine, will continue to publish. Editor Ruth Reichl will be on PBS.) How is this relevant to the nonprofit world?

There are arguments, particularly from the foundation sector, about the proliferation of nonprofit organizations. Since 1996, the number of 501(c)(3) organizations has increased by 81 percent to nearly 1.2 million – is that too many or is that in proportion to the unmet needs of society? Speaking of unmet needs, foundations provide only 13 percent of charitable dollars, usually highly restrictive dollars, often only partial funding, over short periods of time, with burdensome application and reporting requirements.

The Lodestar Foundation takes a carrot approach to overlapping nonprofit interests -- they've created the Collaboration Prize ($250,000) to inspire mergers, acquisitions and collaborations among nonprofit organizations that provide “the same or similar programs or services and compete for clients, financial resources, or staff.” The Museum of Nature and Science won this year for merging three museums in Dallas: The Science Place, Dallas Children’s Museum, and Dallas Museum of Natural History. Lodestar contends the new entity is an “all-encompassing museum with greater attendance and quality of education content. The staff consolidation saved $600,000 in the first year and the ratio of benefits to salaries went from 17.6% to 10.5%, without reducing quality.” YMCA/JCC Integration also won for their merger of the Jewish Community Center and the Young Men’s Christian Association in Toledo. “As a result of combining, the organizations did not build a new YMCA which realized savings of $5-8 million. Staff consolidation alone saved $300,000 and there was administrative savings of $130,000.”

If you are having serious financial problems, for the greater good, should your organization consider a merger? Mergers have to make sense. They are painful, disruptive, expensive and there is no guarantee of a stronger entity. However, because of market forces, merging may be the best way to sustain services. Nonprofit Mergers Workbook Part I: The Leaders Guide to Considering, Negotiating, and Executing a Merger, Updated Edition by David La Piana, might be a good group reading project, when you’re not out raking leaves.

(Oct. 1970 image via cover browser where you can view Gourmet covers from 1959 - 2007)