SUMMER GREETINGS FROM LAPA !

Welcome to our e-newsletter -- providing tips and updates from Laurence A. Pagnoni & Associates, Inc. (LAPA). Our e-newsletter is designed to keep you informed about our services and to provide you with LAPA’s take on innovations in nonprofit management.
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IN THIS ISSUE:

-- A Note from Laurence: Dealing with Uncertain Times

-- How You Can Benefit from Speeding Up Team Learning

-- Using Databases to Build Effective Individual Donor Programs

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A NOTE FROM LAURENCE: HOW IS OUR SECTOR DEALING WITH UNCERTAINTY?

These days, leaders in the nonprofit sector are surrounded with contradictory information. On one hand, analysts make dire predictions, in which the fundraising outlook is grim and getting worse. On the other hand, charitable giving totals for last year held strong. Although they did not increase enough to outpace inflation, the giving totals compared favorably to past periods of economic downturn.

So how do we make sense of our current situation?

Nonprofit leaders should not despair in the face of uncertainty. Confusion and conflicting information are inherent to uncertain times. Despite present economic difficulties, there are constants in your organization that remain the same. Do you know what those constants are? We suggest you take this opportunity to reaffirm the mission, vision, and values that guide your work. By reclaiming these core principles you can provide leadership to those caught up in confusion, and chart a strong course for your organization through this period of uncertainty.

In opening this edition of our e-newsletter, I congratulate LAPA Project Associate Bodi Luse, who recently received the Nonprofit Management Award from the Robert J. Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy at The New School University. The award recognizes students based on the criteria of academic excellence; personal, academic and professional growth; individual contributions to the field of study; and general leadership qualities. Bodi’s Masters thesis was entitled “Affiliation and Autonomy: National-Local Relations.” Her client for this paper, a professional decision report, was Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy, a new network of young people working in philanthropy. All of us at LAPA congratulate her on the hard work that earned her this prestigious award.

Laurence A. Pagnoni, MA, MPA

lpagnoni@lp-associates.com

P.S.--Please forward this newsletter to others whom you feel it would benefit. If you would like to be removed from our list, please follow the instructions at the end of the page. Thank you and enjoy!

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On Our Web Site: An Overview of Services!

LAPA’s Web site contains a complete overview of the nonprofit services that we provide. Our consulting intentionally combines organizational management and fundraising services. Why? Because our experience has taught us that organizational development and fundraising are intertwined. If you have ever wondered what services might help you to confront organizational challenges, raise money, or achieve professional growth, visit http://www.lp-associates.com/service.php and learn more.

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SPEEDING UP TEAM LEARNING

At LAPA, we often work with organizations facing the challenges of “team learning.” If you are building a staff to oversee a new program, integrating new technology into your work, or fashioning an effective subcommittee for your Board, you know that changing an organization from within often requires that staff members learn new things. This can be a slow and difficult process. Yet organizations can embrace change more quickly and effectively when an environment is in place that encourages team learning while supporting the learning needs of the individual staff person. Whether you are dealing with a team constructed for a short-term project, or with a longer-term group, LAPA believes that a conscious devotion to successful team learning can help speed up your organization’s development.

The Harvard Business Review suggests three things your organization can do to enhance team learning. First, arrange a team with diverse skill sets, learning capabilities, and experience that will allow it to meet a particular organizational challenge. Second, frame the organizational challenge as a goal for the team, making sure the incentives are clear and attainable. Third, provide an environment of psychological safety. People will make mistakes along the way, so provide reinforcement or encouragement as needed. Ironically, speeding up team learning does take time initially, so be patient! As we like to say around the LAPA office, “sometimes you have to go slowly to eventually move fast.”

If you would like to talk more about achieving change in your organization through team learning, LAPA associate Melissa Shurkin can provide you with a free consultation. Please call 212-868-4800 x4.

For more general information, refer to “Speeding Up Team Learning,” Harvard Business Review, October 2001, Vol. 79, No. 9.

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USING DATABASES TO BUILD EFFECTIVE INDIVIDUAL DONOR PROGRAMS

The key to increased giving from individual donors lies in the system that tracks these individuals. Donor databases should feature more than a person’s address and phone number. A database should collect as much information as possible. Most importantly, it should contain a record of a person’s interaction with your organization and your organization’s interactions with that person.

In fundraising, cultivating a relationship with a donor is essential. People give to people they know, and to people who know them. Studies show that the more interactions an organization has with a donor, the more money the organization will receive from that individual. Donors want to feel that they are known at the organization they support. They want to know that their money and their opinions matter.

It is difficult to personally remember your contacts with the hundreds or even thousands of people on your mailing list. If your organization relies on a team effort to complete development work, things get even more complicated. Thus, you need a database to keep track of the information for you.

The type of database you use is less important than how you use it. At LAPA, we have seen even bad databases serve as exceptional tools for some of our smaller clients. The most important factor is having someone who is passionate about keeping the database up to date, and who will actively use the information to keep in touch with individual donors.

You don’t have to spend a lot of money to get good database software. ebase™, which we recommend, is available free of charge at www.ebase.org. LAPA firmly believes that nonprofits should not spend a lot of money on technology when so many opportunities exist to get it at no or low cost through things like the freeware movement.

For some organizations it can even be more cost effective to outsource their database of supporters in conjunction with their individual donor systems. LAPA believes that the nonprofit sector should increase opportunities to outsource its more technical functions. Right now, organizations often outsource information technology, human resources, and financial responsibilities. Organizations should consider outsourcing fundraising as well to achieve better results in this area.

Currently, two organizations outsource their database and individual donor systems with LAPA. We use ebase™ to keep track of contact information, donation histories, letters and thank you’s sent, telephone calls, interests, background details, and more. This information helps us to tailor our interactions with specific donors. Maintaining good records allows organizations to give supporters the personal attention they deserve, treating them less like names on a mass mailing list and more like people who matter. Ultimately, it leads to more significant financial contributions and longstanding relationships, which are the goals of all individual fundraising.

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Click here to contact Laurence A. Pagnoni or a LAPA associate.