|
From Martin J:
Newsletter news
It has been almost five years since we launched the People First -Total Solutions newsletter. Our circulation has grown steadily since then from four to 4000 subscribers in many countries around the globe. We intend to continue that growth.
I have greatly appreciated the personal emails I get from people telling us how much they appreciate this newsletter. Thank you for taking the time to provide that feedback.
I have been pleasantly surprised by the people who tell me they keep past issues of the newsletter and refer back to them. In response to requests form subscribers, we have added last year's issues to the website. We have had a strong response to that move, with people checking the website specifically for our newsletter issues.
Now, we are taking the next step with the newsletter and moving it to a monthly publication date of the 15th of each month.
Your ongoing feedback about this move and other things we do is greatly appreciated. We work very hard to collect and listen to feedback. You can email me personally, or provide feedback on our training forms.
In addition, please invite your colleagues and friends to subscribe to our free newsletter - we want to reach 5000 subscribers soon!
|
|
|
|
Welcome Martin!
To keep you further informed about the state of the not-for-profit (NFP) sector and our work, we are very excited to be now bringing you this newsletter every month. We hope you will continue to find it full of informative news about the not-for-profit and community sectors.
|
|
|
Effective people: Instant baby-boomer volunteers
In our training sessions we have been warning people not to expect a flood of baby boomers into their organisations as volunteers.
However, we did not count on the recession. Anecdotally, volunteer centres and NFPs in New Zealand, the USA, UK, Australia and Canada are reporting susbtantial interest from jobless baby boomers who are following the advice given in the last few years and seeking to volunteer.
The challenge is whether many volunteer programs are equipped to deal with highly skilled bankers, mining engineers and middle managers wanting to remain socially connected, utilising skills and doing meaningful work. And how many boomers will stay with volunteering?
Some tips:
- this is the chance for NFPs to get projects done that have been waiting for skilled staff with time
- give boomers meaningful work
- have boomers help you with recruitment of other volunteers to ensure you can process people rapidly
- allow projects that they can self-manage and achieve
- allow people to be honest about seeking work
- celebrate when volunteers get paid jobs and see it as part of your success
- find ways for boomers to stay connected to you no matter what they decide to do
Check our website for appropriate training packages that will help you manage your new pool of volunteers.
|
|
Better organisations: Eight funding ideas
 1. Keep reminding people (especially monthly donors) that you're "in business" - your cause is relevant and needed.
2. Look after current donors. Rapidata says: "Commercial companies invest heavily on customer
retention; charities need to follow suit".
3. Improve responses. One study suggests that 20%
of charities never respond to a donor's initial contact. For monthly donors, 30%
took ten days or more to set up the donation, while 25% failed to
confirm with the donor when the monthly giving program was about to
begin.
4. Without being dramatic, explain your funding situation reality to donors, local political reps and volunteers, letting people know how much support is needed. Some charities have held public meetings inviting donors, politicians and the public with surprisingly positive results.
5. Do less with less; for example, if your funding is cut by 40%, do 40% less and tell people why. Don't keep trying to maintan your previous patterns.
6. Invite volunteers to donate financially to your charity: volunteers are more generous givers on average than non-volunteers, yet many volunteers are never asked.
7. Sensitively invite volunteers to include your charity in their wills. Many NFPs lose out because they are too scared to ask.
8. Invite former volunteers or volunteer applicants to donate. Many of these people already have passion for the cause.
|
Stronger society: The recession & NFP revenue
 Many NFPs have reported a rapid fall in income, accompanied by a rise in demand for services and support. Here are some trends:
Individual donations
Individuals donate typically 70-75% of all gifts to NFPs.
USA: In a February survey, 70% of individuals plan to maintain their giving and
16% plan cuts. Wealthy donors, however,
significantly reduced their giving in the last quarter of 2008. The Center for Philanthropy
reports they "appear to be thinking very carefully about how much to give and when".
UK: research reveals that 39% of donors are reducing giving, but 61% plan no change. People who cancelled their
monthly direct debits increased from mid-2007, skyrocketing from mid-2008 with a massive 67% increase in cancellations in December.
Canada: 40% of charities expect total contributions to decrease, while 31% expect no change.
Australia
and NZ: The recent outpouring of donations in response to the
bushfires showed that people will give when confronted with significant
need. The question is, how will this affect their other donations in
the
coming year?
Trusts & foundations
With falling returns from fixed-rate investments and
sharemarkets there have been significant cuts (of up to 100%) in grants to NFPs. This means competition for these grants is already strong and will continue through the year.
Corporate donations
A US survey found that 42% of corporations and 37% of corporate
foundations indicated that giving budgets will decrease in 2009 with
84% indicating they will donate with much more focus: "Because there will be less dollars, we need to ensure we
are investing this in the community where it can have the greatest
impact."
Government grants
Cuts at local level are impacting NFPs in the USA and UK - less so in Australia. Many
governments have committed significant funds to supporting NFPs as part
of economic stimulus work.
|
|
Company news
Free Resources
Check out our website for free resources to help you manage your organisation and its volunteer program.
USA Dates
Martin will be presenting in Boise for SERVE Idaho (Apr 15-17) and at Idaho Hospital Association Conference (Apr 30-May 1). He is available in Alberqueque, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, and Seattle April 6 to May 5 for training and consulting.
Recession Buster Offer for US Nonprofits
We believe that it is vital that we maintain training in volunteer management in the midst of a global downturn. So for US not-for-profits, we are providing a kick-start with our high quality training through our US Recession Busting Offer!
Fourth Advanced Volunteer Management Retreat
This retreat concluded in
the Gold coast with 43 excited and exhausted attendees agreeing to six concrete actions to help build volunteering. Many noted the impact this retreat has in building the volunteer management sector in Australia and NZ. The next Retreat: Adelaide March 17 to 19, 2010.
Facebook
Martin J Cowling now has over 300 friends on his Facebook page. Are you one of them?
|
|
Your say
Thanks for the latest newsletter. I forward this onto all the NFP's that I work with. Just a note [re the fires] - NZ Red Cross have put in a spectacular effort with results being outstanding from this side of the Tasman. I'm sure one of the managers will respond to this newsletter with the amount raised so far, but it is quite humbling.
Debby Butler, Governance in Practice Ltd
We have kept up with the news about the fires and hope the worst is over. Your name [Martin J Cowling] always came up in those conversations.
Onward and upward and my best wishes and continued thanks for your contribution to the Summit on Volunteerism [Martin spoke at this event in 2007]
Arthurine Harrison, Program Developer, DHS Division of Volunteerism
Thank you for continually sending me an e-copy of your newsletter. The information I get from it is very helpful to me and my organization.
Mariam B. Barandia, Executive Director, KAPAMAGOGOPA Inc., Philippines
|
|
|
|
|
