Nonprofit Cultivation Center

Say Goodbye to Charitable Giving…As You Know it.

KristinImo — Thu, 02 May 2013 16:12:32 +0000

Still unsure about mobile? Think about your own mobile use. How many times a day do you check your phone? Do you use your phone for more than texting and calling? What about social media? Directions? Or something else entirely?

Say goodbye to charitable giving…as you know it. If you haven’t already noticed, the world is going mobile and that directly affects how you engage people in the philanthropic world. Today, the average person is looking at two or more screens at any given moment. To be an engaging nonprofit you have to interact with donors and supporters on a more personal level. So why not reach out to them through something that is rarely more than an arm’s length away? Each week, I see nonprofit organizations walking away from mobile thinking that communicating and fundraising with their constituents through the single most used electronic device in history is optional. Conversely, we see more and more retailers embracing robust mobile strategies and the omni-channel marketing model because having a mobile strategy is not absolutely required.

Join my session Using the Mobile Channel at this year’s Tech Summit to explore what kind of potential mobile holds when incorporated into a multichannel engagement and fundraising strategy. We will discuss using the mobile for social good in general, as well as diving a little deeper into effective strategies of engagement and fundraising.

Some common misconceptions we will address:

· Mobile cannibalizes other gifts. Text-to-give donations do not cannibalize other forms of donations. Check out the 2012 mGive Text Giving Study (2013 study coming soon!)

· Adding mobile will automatically raise money. There is no “golden bullet” and mobile is no different than other fundraising tools. It takes more than a worthy cause to raise funds- it takes a strategy that engages donors and compels them to act. mGive knows the best practices for the industry. Check out some of our case studies to see how it’s done.

I can’t wait to see you all at the Tech Summit next week, if you don’t want to wait until next week to get a taste of this mobile world text GOLDEN to 50555 to join the Tech Summit mobile community!

SMS subscription service. Up to 4msg/mo. Msg&Data Rates May Apply. Text STOP to 50555 to STOP. Full Terms: mGive.com/E. Privacy Policy: mGive.org/P

Jenifer Snyder, Esq. Executive Director.

As Executive Director of The mGive Foundation, Jenifer is dedicated to expanding the scope and reach of the mobile channel for social good. She brings years of leadership experience in the mobile industry to the position. Previously, Jenifer was a founder and General Counsel for 9 Squared, Inc., a mobile content and services company subsequently acquired by the Zed Group. She left Zed in 2007 and started building the mobile channel for social and charitable effort, later forming The mGive Foundation.

Excel Is For Nerds…

KristinImo — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 16:12:03 +0000

…But it’s for the cool nerds. Think about it. If you’re struggling with something in Excel, do you use Google to search for an answer? Or is it easier to just stop over at Carol’s desk (again) to ask her how she does that Pivot Table thingy? If Carol is a sweetheart, then she takes the time to walk you through it for the fifth time. If you’ve caught her on a bad day, well, you’re out of luck. You may think Carol is a bit of a nerd for knowing the answer, but of course she’s got the answer so that makes Carol a bit of a superhero.

Our Tech Summit Excel session will feature functionality that will make you much more efficient on a daily basis. And that means no more relying on your co-worker’s Excel skills. I’ll provide a file with scenarios to load on your computer and then we’ll work through them as a group.

We’ll cover things like:

• Linking spreadsheets – Incorporating data from one sheet into others saves time and cuts down on potential data entry errors. The good news? It’s super easy.
• Pivot Tables – We’ll take a spreadsheet with several thousand records and quickly make sense of it by summarizing the data in multiple ways. You’ll leave knowing how to apply a pivot table to your own overgrown spreadsheets.
• Charts and Graphs – We won’t have time to get too in-depth, but we’ll cover the two most popular types: Column and Pie. You’ll get to see how easy they are to create and how simple it is to make modifications.
• My favorite functions – Does it make me a super-nerd if I have favorite functions in Excel? I’ll show you as many of my favorites as time permits. They’ll save you time and headaches.

I’ve been teaching Excel classes as a staff member with Teaming for Technology Colorado for over four years and I love seeing nonprofit staff members focused more on their missions (rather than a dull spreadsheet) after they’ve picked up a few new tips and tricks.

So join me at the Excel session and we’ll work on making you the Excel expert in your office. Don’t worry; you’re not obligated to tell your co-workers what you’ve learned.

One last thing: We’ve still got time for me to adjust a few of the specific things we’ll cover in the session. What have you been struggling with recently? Let us know what you’d like to accomplish in Excel and we’ll try to incorporate it!

To learn more about Technology Summit 2013 and how you can be a part of this experience, visit us here.

Today’s Tech Summit blogger is Andy Lubansky, who has been the Program Director at Teaming For Technology Colorado for a little over four years. Prior to T4T, he worked at a couple other local nonprofits and as a Corporate Trainer at Best Buy’s headquarters in Minnesota. In his current role, he enjoys teaching topics like Excel, PowerPoint, and video editing. He and his wife recently had a baby girl who is already a master at creating pie charts in Excel.

Traveling to the Canyonlands with Fundraising and Technology

KristinImo — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 19:38:00 +0000

Today we introduce Amy Quinn, author of “Fundraising Innovators: Leaders in Social Enterprise Share New Approaches to Raising Money” as our Tech Summit guest blogger. Amy is a respected independent consultant, speaker, facilitator and writer, and will be conducting a Tech Summit session called Load Your Backpack With Fundraising Tech Essentials.

Last Fall I spent three nights sleeping under the stars in Canyonlands National Park, Utah. This trip was rigorous and changed my life paradigm. The same can be said about technology’s potential in the nonprofit sector. It requires thoughtful planning before use, but can be the differentiator. Please allow me to elaborate.

The Canyonlands of Utah are vast and unending with many opportunities to hike deep into canyons or high above on “slick-rock” ledges around the perimeter. There are multiple gateways into the park and routes to traverse based upon experience, careful planning and skill level. My friends and I chose a route that challenged us to climb exposed ledges and explore deep into the wilderness. We were rewarded with panoramic views and remote terrain seldom visited since the Anasazi Indians populated this region centuries before.

Similarly, technology offers multiple applications across the non-profit sector for a wide variety of objectives, dependent upon the size, type, goals, and resources of an organization. If aligned with strategy, technology enables a nonprofit to raise more money and develop closer relationships with constituents. A nonprofit’s CRM, when used strategically, is at the center of this success. Technology acts as the enabler for staff and volunteers alike to prioritize activities and programs vital to a cause. Leveraging technology means crossing the canyons to enable the work that advances your mission.

With thoughtful preparation and leadership, completing a challenging journey such as mine across the Canyonlands is accessible to everyone. Likewise, leveraging technology to advance development and an organization’s cause is equally available today. Yet, where to start? I firmly believe that when we master the basics in technology and fundraising, “dotting our I’s” and tending to details important to a donor that we will excel in our work.

During my workshop we will explore the technology for effective fundraising and the accompanying basics for the following topics:
• Constituent Relationship Management software (CRM) and fundraising metrics;
• Website Essentials for engaging the donor;
• Email “Must Do’s and Social Media Starter Tips;
• Peer-to-Peer Fundraising and Crowd-sourcing;
• What comes next?
Packing for a trip into the wilderness involves specific needs, especially when spending several nights in the backcountry. In this way, we will also discuss how to become a Knowledge Monger and meet your tech needs.

The big news is that, like the business sector, nonprofits can utilize technology to facilitate a proactive approach with donors versus looking in the rear view mirror.

Click here to check out Amy’s upcoming training and other sessions at the Technology Summit May 9th.

The Internet…More Than Facebook? (How Your Organization Can Thrive Online)

KristinImo — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 18:20:30 +0000

This week, we welcome Robb Neumann, Technology Manager of Teaming for Technology Colorado as our Tech Summit guest blogger. Robb has extensive experience in the non profit sector, and will be running 2 sessions at our Technology Summit. Thank you, Rob!

When I was a child, the very idea of the 21st century seemed impossibly far away and exotic. Even with my imagination and visions of the future I could never have dreamt of the internet or what it’s become when I was just a kid, but the web has literally become a part of our daily lives. How many of us call for directions anymore? How many of us write letters and address envelopes? How often do you actually use your smartphone as… well… a phone? My family even watches television on the internet, something that even a decade ago, seemed impossible. Now that we’re here, over a decade into the 21st century no less, I’m continually stunned by this amazing age in which we live, even if we don’t have jet packs or live on the moon.

For many of us the internet is just as much of a utility as running water or electricity, but how well are we actually using this amazing communication tool for our work lives? On May 9th, I’ll be covering two topics at the Technology Summit that address how we can use online tools for collaboration and communication with coworkers and our organization’s members and friends.

• Writing For Your Website — Most organizations have a webpage, but have you really thought about what it means to write for it? What about Facebook and Twitter? We’ll spend a little time discussing messaging issues, such as:

finding an appropriate tone for your organization’s communications
how to expand your organization’s visibility in a sea of information,
some best practices for controlling your content,
and we’ll even talk about the mechanics of writing for the web, such as using HTML, WYSIWYG editors, and a new coding language that can make anyone a capable web designer (within reason, of course).

• Managing Your Virtual Team — Discuss and share strategies for working remotely with your coworkers and volunteers! In just a few years “Cloud-computing” has exploded with a number of services designed for sharing files, calendars, task management, and even group communication. These tools make it easy for a team to interact and work together, even when working out of different offices or even cities. We’ll spend some time talking about strategies for how to make a virtual team work, look at tools that allow that to happen, and even examine how your telephone or tablet fits into this sometimes strange new world of border-less offices.

Please keep in mind that many of these tools and strategies also work on a personal level, so even if you’re not working with a team halfway around the world, using the cloud to manage your own workload might provide you with some benefits you haven’t considered.

The internet is a staple tool in our everyday lives. Why not make it work for you and your organization?

So, who am I? Like many of you, I’ve been the “accidental techie” in every organization I’ve worked with. Whether I was learning valuable lessons through mistakes and hard work, or finding new and ingenious ways to work from home or during long commutes. I started volunteering with Teaming For Technology Colorado back in 2008, teaching basic HTML skills every few months or so, and continued teaching classes on a variety of topics until joining T4T as a staff member last year. I’m looking forward to sharing what I’ve learned and hopefully learning a little from you, so I’ll see you in May!

Be sure to check out our Technology Summit page and register here.

Your Common Employment Law Questions Answered

KristinImo — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 19:35:56 +0000

Tina Harkness joins us from Mountain States Employeers Council (MSEC) to discuss her passion for her work and how it led to our upcoming training Human Resources Fundamentals on April 18th.

It’s hard to believe, but I have been with MSEC for over 15 years now. What I most appreciate about my job is the interaction I have with members. I especially enjoy helping members brainstorm options for how to deal with employee situations. I also like the variety my job offers me. I write and edit publications as well as teach classes and give speeches. In my free time I try to get outside and do something active like XC skiing or cycling. Colorado is such a beautiful place to live.

As a staff attorney for Mountain States Employers Council, I work with small and large employers in various industries to answer questions about their employer/employee relationships daily. Believe me, there is a lot to ask questions about!

Nonprofit organizations particularly have some unique concerns. It might seem likely that most of these questions would be about new employment laws and emerging trends, but I find that many questions are about existing laws that are either hard to understand or difficult to apply to modern work relationships. The dated and sometimes unwieldy federal Fair Labor Standards Act governing how employers pay employees is one example. Despite repeated attempts to “modernize” this law, it still lags woefully behind how employers wish to compensate employees today.

That’s why I have designed this class to answer common employment law questions. We will start by discussing the sometimes mysterious concept of employment at-will; can employers rely on it or can’t they? Then, we will discuss employers’ obligations under federal and Colorado civil rights laws including the preventative and corrective measures employers need to have in place. From there, we will tackle the difficult wage and hour issues of classifying employees properly as either exempt or nonexempt, identifying workers who meet the tests for independent contractor status, and using unpaid interns and volunteers appropriately.

Please join me on April 18 and get your common employment law questions answered. Space is limited and fleeting; register today!

Creating a Social Media Plan

KristinImo — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 19:15:27 +0000

We are excited to welcome Emily Davis, President of Emily Davis and Associates Consulting as our Tech Summit guest blogger this week. She is donating her expertise in social media as a trainer and sponsor, running a session on Social Media Planning. Emily has been working in the nonprofit sector for over 15 years, and is the author of Fundraising and the Next Generation. Welcome, Emily!

In nonprofit and philanthropic communities we’re used to needing strategic plans, fundraising plans, and even marketing plans, but the ides of social media planning often falls to the wayside. Creating, implementing, and measuring a social media plan are critical steps in effective use of social media.

I work with a lot of nonprofits helping them to define their goals and desired outcomes for their multi-channel communications, which includes in-person, print, web 1.0 (email, websites), and web 2.0 (social media) strategies. Our fundraising world includes everyone from traditionalists to digital natives.

If your organization is going to develop its own social media plan, here are the steps needed to set you and your mission up for success:

1. Set Your Purpose: What is the purpose for using social media? Do you want to increase your brand awareness, explore the online world, raise funds, or share stories with stakeholders? Be clear about the reason or reasons that you want to use social media.

2. Clarify Goals and Objectives: What are the specific social media goals you have (number of Twitter followers or dialogue on a blog) or what are the organizational goals you have for using online tools (increase annual giving numbers, etc.)? Social media is just one tool in the communications and fundraising toolbox, but be as specific as you can.

3. Online Communications Platforms: Don’t forget that being online means more than Twitter. Web 1.0 technologies like listservs and websites are still useful for engaging people, and it is important to connect traditional strategies with the new ones. Ultimately, you want your interactive online presence to lead back to your website.

4. Implementation: Who will be in charge of the information being shared? How often will you share information? What information will be shared? Are there limitations? Creating playbooks and calendars for online communications management as well as online sharing policies are really great ideas for continuity, and a little insurance.

5. Evaluation: Be sure to put metrics – both qualitative and quantitative – in place from the start of your social media efforts so you can track what is a good use of your time and has the best return on your investment. There are lots of ways you can track measurement, from using analytics to action taken by your online followers.

Have other suggestions for planning? Share them here and keep the conversation going!

You can download a sample social media plan outline from IdeaEncore and view my presentation re: social media on Slideshare. I hope to see you on May 9^th for the Technology Summit where I’ll dig deeper into the details of Creating a Social Media Plan, so save the date! Find out more about the Technology Summit here.

Are questions about your nonprofit organization’s financial management keeping you awake at night?

KristinImo — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 17:01:44 +0000

We are excited to welcome Lee Bengston, CPA at NFP Partners as our guest for this month’s blog post reviewing our Financial Management 101 training on March 21st.

As the head of a nonprofit organization, are you comfortable that your financial management is under control? Do you feel confident in your understanding and effective application of basic financial principles and practices within your nonprofit? Do the financial statements generated by your finance department make sense to you and your Board? If these questions are hard for you to answer without some doubt or hesitation, you are an excellent candidate for our Financial Management 101 workshop that premiers March 21, 2013.

This workshop is the first of its kind to be sponsored by the Nonprofit Cultivation Center and the Colorado Nonprofit Association. This workshop puts meaning into financial management as presented in the Principles & Practices for Nonprofit Excellence in Colorado initiative.

Join us March 21st to find out what nonprofit CEOs, Executive Directors, and engaged Board Members need to know to effectively carry out their respective financial management roles. Our training will focus on the basics, including:

What are the respective roles of the Board of Directors and management in financial management?
What are the basic requirements for legal compliance and public disclosure?
What is internal control and how may it be set up?
What are the components of a strong financial infrastructure?
How are nonprofit financial accounting and reporting different?
What are some key accounting concepts and best practices that I need to know?
What are the key financial statements and what do they mean?
What are key ratios and supplemental performance measures?
Where can I get more information and guidance on financial matters?

The training will be co-presented by myself, Lee Bengston, CPA, and Laura Jorstad. We are NFP Partners and experienced nonprofit financial professionals. Come prepared to interact with the presenters and your peers by sharing your information and experiences with real-world examples of best practices and how to address problematic practices.

We will see you there!

Register Now, Space is Limited & Going Quick!

Have any questions about nonprofit financial management before the day of training? Leave your questions and comments, and we will add the clarity you desire!

The Makings of a Google Analytics Trainer

KristinImo — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 17:38:31 +0000

Tara Dunn is the Analytics Manager at Location3 Media. Tara first collaborated with us when she ran our Google Analytics training at the 2012 Technology Summit. We are proud to be partnering with her again to bring A Beginner’s Guide to Web Analytics Using Google Analytics to you on December 5th. This is her story of becoming a Google Analytics trainer!

My beginnings in web analytics are probably very similar to that of my students. I was working in web marketing and wanted a way to understand if my efforts were beneficial to my clients, so I began investigating Google Analytics. I was so impressed with Google Analytics’ affordability and transparency that I found myself spending more and more time digging into reports, answering questions and finding valuable nuggets of information.

Pretty soon more and more people were coming to my desk asking tough analytics questions (even though web analytics wasn’t part of my main job description at that point). I also began to be more involved in the analytics community through social media, and even helped edit an awesome book Performance Marketing with Google Analytics: Strategies and Techniques for Maximizing Online ROI. I was so in love with doing analysis at that point that I decided I wanted to do web analytics full time!

I continued to be involved in analytics outside my regular work life, and what naturally happened after being asked so often for analytics help is that I started giving lectures on how people can use analytics in their day-to-day lives. I especially love helping out small businesses and non-profits, because I believe those are the companies that really make an impact on a community.

My classes tend to be focused on not only what is available to view in Google Analytics, but also on what analysis you can do within the reports to really get actionable insights from your reporting. When someone attends my classes, I want them to be able to answer tough questions like “Which of my online marketing campaigns are getting me the most sales/leads and why?” and “Which areas of my website need improvement in order to be more effective for my web users, and which improvements should I make?”

I hope you can join us to understand how to use Google Analytics to answer questions like these and many others! Our December 5th class offers a unique implementation time called Stay’n Play. Stay with us for the hour following class to begin your work with Google Analytics. I will be there to guide the process. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Join us December 5th, and Register Now!

Evaluation Tools Series & Surveys that Show Success

KristinImo — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 21:44:44 +0000

Your program rocks, right?! Of course it does. But really, how do you know? Are you just riding on a wave of “good job” comments from passersby, or do you have statistics to back up your claims to fame? Do you ask your clients/parents/kids/constituents what they get out of your program? How they’ve changed? What they’ve learned? Are you asking the best questions to get the answers you want?

November 28^th, we are kicking off our Evaluation Tools Series. We will tackle Surveys, Focus Groups, Data Utilization, and Interviews.

Mix and match the pieces of the series you think will work best for your organization, play around with the new information, and then start to implement your new processes. Let Maggie Miller teach you how to design a survey that tells you what you need to know. Maggie is a survey guru with more than 20 years of experience.

Our series includes our new Stay ‘n Play feature for the hour following each session in the series. Stay with us for the hour after each training to work on your evaluations. As you embark on your implementation journey let Maggie be your guide in revising or creating amazing evaluations.

Join us November 28^th to create or revise a survey that will show you the reasons you have to celebrate your program and also give insight to how you can grow your successes.

See you there!

For a comprehensive list of the trainings in our Evaluation Series click here.

We’re invested in your growth. Apply for a scholarship here.

GUEST POST: The Leadership of “Being” and “Doing”

KristinImo — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 22:22:05 +0000

About Our Guest
Carmen Cool is the Executive Director at Boulder Youth Body Alliance. Boulder Youth Body Alliance works to promote and advocate the value of health and well being over appearance. Their work unleashes confidence, creativity and compassion in youth to become a force for change in their schools, their communities and in the world.

The Nonprofit Cultivation Center offers tremendous services to the nonprofit sector. One of the ways they support nonprofits is through offering scholarships to attend workshops and trainings. Boulder Youth Body Alliance was awarded a scholarship to attend the annual fall conference of the Colorado Nonprofit Association.

Attending this conference was an amazing experience. Nearly 900 people came together for two days of workshops. It is always meaningful to have the opportunity to leave the office, and be in a place where nonprofits come together and can share stories, successes, challenges, and be in community.

Breakout sessions were great ways for nonprofits and consultants to ask questions and share experiences. I attended sessions related to board development, social enterprise, the relationship between the Board and the Executive Director, developing a new organizational brand on a budget, and succession planning. I took away skills and ideas each workshop that Boulder Youth Body Alliance can immediately use. I think of these as the “doing” of nonprofit operations.

I attended two sessions with Deirdre Maloney, author of “The Mission Myth” and “Tough Truths” and owner of Momentum, LLC. Deirdre spoke to the “being” aspect, and reminded us to remember that we are more than nonprofit leaders, and that we need to feed ourselves, professionally and personally.

Other reminders for me were:
• we are resilient,
• we need to protect our energy,
• boundaries are critical, and
• it’s important to have a trusted inner circle of advisers.

Expanding on the “being” of nonprofit professionals there was a well-attended session on Authentic Leadership which gave nonprofit leaders the space to engage in dialogue around embracing all of who we are, leading with heart, and welcoming conflict as a source of creativity.

Being able to attend The Colorado Nonprofit Association’s Conference helped Boulder Youth Body Alliance learn necessary and impactful skills and lessons to enable us to continue maturing as an organization. As a very small nonprofit, having the ability to be around other nonprofit leaders is valuable. We are so grateful to the Nonprofit Cultivation Center for allowing us to have the opportunity to take time away from the office to learn new ideas, engage in conversations, receive and offer support, and to make connections.