The success of any project begins before the project starts, with a clear plan for communication and decision-making.
Continue readingHow to Work Effectively with an Outside Consultant
A Good RFP Attracts Better Partners for Your Project
You will attract better partners for any project if you start with a good RFP, one that lays out exactly what you need and when you need it.
Continue readingWhy Spending on Branding Isn’t a Waste of Nonprofit Funds
Every dollar spent on marketing is NOT a dollar less for service. In fact, spending on marketing may well make your organization better able to achieve its mission.
Continue readingDon’t Neglect a Goldmine of Talent, Yours for the Asking
When you think of volunteers, think of retired professionals who can help your organization build capacity.
Continue reading4 Ways to Support Your Branding Team
Giving your branding team the tools and time to do its job is a big part of getting the job done right.
Continue readingWhere Will the Money Come From?
Your nonprofit wants to ratchet up its brand visibility but who do you ask for the money?
Continue reading12 Must-haves for an RFP
Don’t leave people guessing. How you ask for outside help makes all the difference in the quality of responses you get.
Continue readingCT Nonprofit Conference Challenges Nonprofits to Imagine & Innovate
The Connecticut Association of Nonprofits’s 7th Annual Conference is built around the theme of: Imagine. Innovate. Impact. Keynote speaker William Strickland, the President and CEO of Manchester Bidwell Corporation will address the Art of Leadership and the Business of Social Innovation, in what is being billed as a simple, optimistic message for leaders: give people the tools they need, treat them with respect, and they will perform miraculous deeds.Continue reading
UJA-Federation MAP Program Celebrates 25 Years
Last night, the UJA-Federation held a reception celebrating 25 years of its Management Assistance Program, its internal volunteer matching service to provide help to its 150 funded agencies.
MAP consultants have worked on more than 1,100 projects for UJA-Federation beneficiary agencies. Services have included strategic planning, board development, marketing, branding and creative services.
Red Rooster Group has provided pro bono branding services through MAP. The branding we did for ENGAJE!, a joint educational venture to help foster awareness of Jewish values to early childhood teachers was featured in MAP’s 25th Anniversary program. In addition, I was featured in a video of MAP consultants discussing their experiences.
For the ENGAJE! initiative, we created a logo and stationery items, brand manual, as well as invitations and program guide for their successful launch event. We are pleased that these items were selected as showcase examples to be featured in MAP’s 25th Anniversary brochure (shown above).
Links
- Howard Adam Levy was a featured volunteer for UJA’s MAP program. Read the spotlight here.
- Red Rooster Group has donated more than 3,000 hours of pro bono services to nonprofit organizations. Read more about our commitment to the nonprofit sector.
- See more of our work for The Jewish Education Project.
FUNDRAISING: Lift the Limits on Low Overhead Ratios
This entry is in response to an op ed piece by Nicholas D. Kristof in the New York Times on December 24, 2008: The Sin in Doing Good Deeds.
Easing our insistence on low overhead ratios for charities, will help them to co-opt the profit motive. One reason that nonprofits are not as effective with their own in fundraising is not specifically the profit motive, but the fact that the public insists on nonprofits maintaining low overhead ratios (such as 85%). On the face of it, it makes sense that donors don’t want to see their money spent on administration or fundraising costs – they want it to go directly into programs.
TRENDS: The Grantmaking Gap
NEWS FROM GRANTMAKERS FOR EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS
Most foundations are not making changes they and their grantees say are essential to supporting nonprofit success, but there is evidence of a gradual shift to more nonprofit friendly grantmaking practices, according to a new survey from Grantmakers for Effective Organizations.
The research, conducted by Harder+Company Community Research, was the second-ever comprehensive survey of the attitudes and practices of all staff ed grantmaking foundations in the United States. It builds on a similar study conducted in 2003 by the Urban Institute in partnership with GEO.
Principle Findings
There is a pronounced disconnect between the ways in which grantmakers are supporting nonprofits and what nonprofits say could contribute most to their success. Further, many grantmakers have not adopted practices that they themselves see as important for effective grantmaking.
In focus groups through GEO’s Change Agent Project and in surveys conducted by colleague organizations, nonprofit leaders have consistently pointed to two critical areas where changes in grantmaker practice can lead to better support for nonprofits:
- Improving the type of financial support grantmakers provide, and
- Building a more productive relationship among grantmakers and grantees. GEO’s survey found that while by and large progress is slow, there is evidence of a growing movement among some foundations to provide better support for nonprofits.
WAKE UP CALL: It’s time for funders to recognize the importance of supporting capacity building.
RESOURCE: Grantmakers for Effective Organizations
Also see the post: Valuing Intellectual Capital
Red Rooster Group is a New York based graphic design firm that creates effective brands, websites, and marketing campaigns to increase your visibility, fundraising, and communications effectiveness. Contact us at info@redroostergroup.com.
IDEAS: Valuing Intellectual Capital
Why don’t nonprofits value intellectual capital, particularly marketing expertise, when it can prove crucial to the success of their cause? I encountered that question when I learned about a nonprofit organization that was planning a campaign to raise $300,000 for food pantries and safety net social services, as well as to engage the community in volunteering on a regular basis.Continue reading