Center for Association Resources

The Center for Association Resources supports mission-oriented organizations, assisting them in increasing relevance and accomplishing goals.

Training

Marketing for sponsors and exhibitors

Another in a series of articles related to association management selected from our reading list by:
Robert O. Patterson, JD
CEO/ Principal
The Center for Association Resources, Inc.

For a non-profit organization, marketing is a key factor in getting people to know who you are, what you do, who you serve, why you are accomplishing this mission, how you are doing and where you are focused.  The new parts of your non-profit organization are what keep people excited.  What is changing?  Why is it going that route?  How are you going to accomplish your goals with the new program while keeping the heart of the program intact?  These are the things your non-profit’s marketing department must uphold in order to utilize the key factors of progress and growth in the world around you.
New things are the spice of an organization.  In order for the mission of the non-profit to stay focused, the first step to tell sponsors is that it makes sense.  Why does it make sense?  If you are working in the education realm, perhaps building charter schools, then it makes sense to bring in a technology arm of your non-profit. Not only for the sake of growing the business, but for the future of design in the classroom, possible growth areas within the school and the students lives.  It might not make sense for your organization to offer a grant for adventure travel.  When growing an arm of the non-profit, you have to see where it fits into the overall mission.
One great way to get your message out is to exhibit your non-profit at a fair or to partner with a business and have a booth with a knowledgeable non-profit representative to speak about your group in association with the business.  If you are expanding a technology in schools, as stated above, it would make sense to work with Cisco, IBM, Oracle, or another software company who can also help you develop it.  This way the technology is utilized in the classroom; and many interested people see your organization in partnership with a major company.  This gets people excited about the growth potential you have and may possibly increase your funding.  It will get business people thinking about the power of your group.
When you talk marketing with sponsors and exhibitors, the most important thing to remember is how you represent your passion about a particular subject.  If you are devoted to closing the achievement gap in schools by building charter organizations, you need to make sure that comes across in your presentation to them.  You are always marketing when you talk with someone, and its always an opportunity to make a connection with them.  Everyone has a story and it just depends on how your non-profit and your story intersects with theirs.

Benchmarking for success

Another in a series of articles related to association management selected from our reading list by:
Robert O. Patterson, JD
CEO/ Principal
The Center for Association Resources, Inc.

Benchmarking is a measurement tool non-profits can use to gauge both their success and needs for improvement.

Benchmarking can be defined as the standard of excellence by which other activities should be judged.

Though benchmarking was first used in for profit businesses, it is also a useful tool for non-profits. Benchmarking includes activities such as goal setting, comparative measuring, and identifying and implementing best practices. Some key benchmarking activities include defining what a successful outcome is in relation to the non-profit’s services, gathering lessons learned, and defining and applying best practices from these lessons. Determining what measurements are meaningful is vital.

A non-profit can use benchmarking to compare their current performance against their own past performance, or that of other similar non-profits. The scope of the benchmarking can include all aspects of the organization, such as fund-raising, measuring administration costs, and providing services relevant to the organization’s mission. For instance, one measurement the public often considers prior to making donations is the percentage of an organization’s administration costs versus the percentage of funds that are actually used in providing services to the intended population. If an organization has established benchmarks which identify whether the organization is keeping the percentage constant or declining, this could prove valuable to future donation revenue.

Another key measurement for organizations is how well they are implementing activities crucial to the organization’s mission. For instance, a human services organization could poll the consumers of their services to find out what aspects worked well and what needs improvement.  Benchmarks ideally should be specific and measurable. Vague benchmarks will be difficult to measure and will likely not provide useful information.

Top management often needs to lead the way towards benchmarking. Those in the field providing services often do not immediately see the need for benchmarking. Challenges for establishing and implementing benchmarking activities include overcoming individuals’ resistance to change as well as defining measurements and success for disparate or complex activities. Involving field personnel in the benchmarking process may facilitate overcoming some of these challenges.

Benchmarking for non-profits is not a one size fits all endeavor. The organizations culture, mission and locality must be considered. For instance, an organization whose mission focuses on the fine arts may have very different benchmarks than one servicing basic human needs such as sanitation and health care.  An analysis of needs versus goals should be done with the unique circumstances of the organization in mind.

Establishing and communicating the achievements of benchmarked measurements can increase public confidence in the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization.  Public perception of the organization’s effectiveness is also an important item to gauge.  Feedback from surveys, focus groups and online comments can be used to measure how the organization’s activities are perceived by the public. Positive public perception can have a direct impact on donations, so this is an important area to monitor.

Though non-profits may have a few obstacles to overcome when implementing benchmarking, the improvements in goal accomplishment and public reputation are worth the effort involved.

Creating a Technology strategy

Another in a series of articles related to association management selected from our reading list by:
Robert O. Patterson, JD
CEO/ Principal
The Center for Association Resources, Inc.

It is imperative for a non profit organization to have a good technological strategy, because in this day and age people rely on their technology. It is surprisingly easy for an non profit organization to create a technology strategy, and it can usually be done in 2 steps. One of the ways to create a functioning technology strategy is to create a website to help spread the word by leasing out a web domain, creating a newsletter from their website that one can use to tell their followers about upcoming fundraisers goals, as well as just letting their followers know that they can follow this newsletter.

The first thing that a non profit organization should do when they are creating a technology strategy is to create a website. This will be the building blocks of their technology plan and from here they can install many things that will help boost awareness and keep their organization alive! There are many ways to create a website, but the one that most non profit organizations should use is to follow a few steps. Usually the non profit will want to lease out a web domain (I suggest Godaddy.com) which will be the http of their site. This is the place on the web where they will store their information. Usually this dosen’t cost very much, and can be leased for around 5 dollars a month. Next thing they will want to do is get somebody who can help design their website. This will ensure that it looks both professional and also in this economy web designers are looking for work and will normally settle for less than usual, and they will be even more willing if its for a non profit.

The next thing to do is create a news letter in the form of an RSS feed. This “RSS feed” will be available from their website and will let people who are trying to follow their cause have a way to get information on your recent doings. This will require the non profit to update the feed fairly regularly, or at least when they want people to know what they are doing. Creating an RSS feed is a fairly complicated process, so we won’t go into to it in this article, however there is a link included in the sources which goes over how to achieve this. Following these 2 steps will help create a solid and useful technology strategy!

Board training…..getting qualified people on the board

Another in a series of articles related to association management selected from our reading list by:
Robert O. Patterson, JD
CEO/ Principal
The Center for Association Resources, Inc.

The governing body of a non-profit organization is its board of directors. Whether a non-profit is at its infancy, or is in transition to becoming a more mature organization or is already an established institution, it is vital for its board to be effective and productive. The non-profit board must understand and perform its legal obligations and significant responsibilities fully. Therefore the non-profit board’s membership should consist of qualified individuals who are either experienced in non-profit board functions or who are willing to proactively learn about the roles and acquire the tools and knowledge to be competent contributors.

Most of the time, individuals serve on a non-profit board because they are passionate about the cause. However, passion alone is not enough to fulfill the many duties asked of each board member. Time commitment is a necessary requirement for attending board meetings, preparing for the meetings such as reviewing proposals, budget or other documents and fundraising. A main function of the non-profit board is to raise money. It is a common policy among non-profits to require each board member to either give or get a certain monetary amount annually. Board members are also asked to organize and host fundraising events or to meet with foundations or government agencies that award grants to non-profits. Time commitment aside, each board member should have sufficient business and leadership skills as the board needs to approve the budget, establish a process to create a strategic plan, hire and evaluate the executive director, and ensure the legal and ethical integrity of the organization. In order to perform the roles and responsibilities dutifully, the board should evaluate its effectiveness and identify areas where a new board member may bring on skills that would be complementary.

During growth periods, a board may need to grow too. Sometimes the need to find new board members arise from resignation or when board members reach their term limit. Recruiting for board members may start with referrals from the current board or from the staff. There are services that match prospective board candidates with non-profit organizations such as boardnetUSA and VolunteerMatch. The tasks of screening and determining a board candidate’s qualifications rest with the board. There should be a process to evaluate the candidate as well as a process to on-board the new member.

As leaders wanting to make a difference, the board must be made up of individuals who have sound business skills, experience with board duties and functions and commitment to developing a strong board by ensuring each board member is qualified to meet the needs of the non-profit organization.

Why Non-Profits Should Have Conflict-of-Interest Policies

Another in a series of articles related to association management selected from our reading list by:
Robert O. Patterson, JD
CEO/ Principal
The Center for Association Resources, Inc.

Conflicts of interest can arise in any area of an organization, from the lowest ranks to the board of directors, and can create troubling situations. Non-profit organizations have a vested interest in mitigating and managing board members’ conflicts of interest as they arise (eliminating them entirely is generally not feasible). How to manage them? Develop a conflict-of-interest policy.

Step one in creating such a policy is understanding just what constitutes a conflict of interest. The definition is fairly simple: if a board member’s professional or personal affiliations disrupt their ability to place the organization’s best interests over their own personal interests, a conflict of interest exists. Because non-profit board members are likely to be involved in other business concerns or non-profit organizations in their respective communities, conflicts of interest can arise very naturally.

Step two in the process is deciding how to mitigate any conflicts that might occur. To do that, the board must know how these conflicts potentially negatively affect the organization. In all cases, a conflict of interest has the potential to cause a board member to shirk his or her fiduciary responsibility to the organization. If a personal interest is allowed to take precedence over the organization’s interests, the board member’s decisions will not be in the best financial interests of the organization. Board members can even be held legally liable for the organization’s actions because of their fiduciary responsibility. Another concern regarding conflicts of interest within non-profit organizations involves ethical implications. Non-profits are meant to serve the public good, and when board members ignore the best interests of the organization, they are, in effect, betraying the public trust.

After all board members have a thorough understanding of the implications of conflicts of interest, the written policy can be developed. All board members should discuss the policy, and each one should agree in writing to uphold it. There are three important elements to be included in the written policy. The first is a full disclosure clause that states all board members must make known their affiliations with any organizations that the non-profit does business with. The second element is a clause that restricts board members from discussing and voting on issues that pertain to transactions with a company that the board member is involved with. The third clause regards staff members: it should restrict them from being in a decision-making role regarding business with firms they have an interest in.

It is important when drawing up the written conflict of interest policy not to use “boilerplate” documents – do not simply copy another organization’s policy or use a sample one. The policy should be tailored to your organization’s specific needs and goals. By creating a solid conflict of interest policy, the organization’s interests will be protected and legal and ethical troubles will be mitigated.

Leadership training and development for non-profits

Another in a series of articles related to association management selected from our reading list by:
Robert O. Patterson, JD
CEO/ Principal
The Center for Association Resources, Inc.

Every successful organization or business must have competent leadership.  For the non-profit organization, its leaders are the board of directors and the executive director.  Jointly they communicate the vision, set the goals and provide the direction for the organization to achieve its mission.  As leaders, the executive director and each board member must dutifully carry out their roles and responsibilities.  A leader must also recognize when he or she needs training and development and should seek the proper help to fulfill the requirements of the job in order to advance the organization.

The most important staff role of a non-profit organization is its executive director.  While the primary job of the executive director is to manage the day-to-day functions and the staff (including developing the staff), he or she also needs to work closely with the board of directors on a variety of initiatives such as strategic planning, fundraising, and participate in board involved committees.  Whether the organization size is small, with a budget of less than one hundred thousand dollars; or large, with a budget of over five million dollars, the executive director must have excellent business and people skills and teamwork to work along with staff personnel and the board as well as interface with the organization’s constituents and supporters.  To develop the breadth and depth of skills required for this non-profit leadership role, many nonprofit services offer classes and coaching.

Also vital to the non-profit organization is its board of directors.  Most often non-profit board members serve because they are passionate about the cause.  Therefore board members’ talents and skills vary and may or may not compliment the staff or each other.  Sometimes the board members need to learn about their roles and responsibilities and how to perform them as they are a governing body sanctioned by the state.  There is a wealth of information online about board duties as well as agencies that provide consultation to build and develop non-profit boards in the areas of fundraising, strategic planning, succession planning, governance, and managing the performance of the executive director.

A key position on the board is the president.  The board president leads the rest of the board members by being clear about the board’s role, sets examples of behavior for fellow members to follow, maintains a business focus and develops the board into a cohesive and productive body.  If an area of board development is to bring on training, there are many workshops and programs that would help the board and its president to be more effective leaders.

A trained and developed board and executive director are poised to help the non-profit organization through challenges, to transition the organization to the next level, and most importantly to achieve the mission of the organization.