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May
2003
>>>>>>back
to e-newsletter
SPRING
TIPS, UPDATES, and SERVICES from LAPA
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IN THIS ISSUE:
-- Getting Results from Your Staff and/or Board Retreats
-- How to Use the Web to Fundraise Effectively
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WELCOME!
Spring greetings from Laurence A. Pagnoni and Associates, Inc.
(LAPA). Our e-newsletter is designed to provide you with updates
about our current services and to keep you informed about LAPA’s
take on innovations in nonprofit management.
Please forward this 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!
Laurence A. Pagnoni, MA, MPA
lapagnoni@mindspring.com
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On Our Web Site: Exchange Links With Us!
LAPA offers a Link Exchange Program for the purpose of increasing
awareness of available services and sharing information with
other management, consulting, and philanthropic groups on the
Internet. We encourage you to contact us to exchange links.
If you would like us to link to your site please call LAPA’s
Executive Assistant, Katie McMullen, at (212) 932-8001 x6. We
also have HTML code available to help
you with adding our link.
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GETTING RESULTS FROM YOUR STAFF AND/OR BOARD RETREATS
If you are like many nonprofits, you have a retreat coming
up this Spring. The period between now and July is one of the
busiest times of the year for Board, staff, and executive retreats.
Unfortunately, many people leave such events feeling that their
time was not productively used, and that the retreat did not
spur action.
LAPA strongly believes that effective planning and facilitation
can solve these problems. This belief arises from our experience
in working with various organizations on the three most common
types of retreats:
-- Board Retreats involve an organization’s directors and executive
staff, and should focus on development of governance mandates
and initiatives.
-- Executive Staff Retreats give EDs the opportunity to catalyze
discussion among senior officers on objectives for the organization.
-- Staff and Board Retreats are broader, involve the entire
staff, and should focus on macro-level goals.
Understanding the different purposes of these retreats is important
to assure the best organizational intervention. LAPA believes
that three other considerations are vital as well:
1) Implementation Strategy: Often, organizations conduct retreats
without giving forethought to the implementation strategy to
be used after the event. LAPA suggests that organizations build
in such a strategy from the beginning. For example, the approach
of going into a retreat with a list of recommendations for action,
and having Board or staff members react to these recommendations,
is much more action-oriented than simply hoping that something
will happen. Unless you prime the pump, implementation may never
occur.
2) Gender and Racial Parity: We believe in gender parity of
the retreat facilitators, and in having multi-cultural and multi-racial
facilitation when it makes sense. Gender balance, in particular,
often helps to create greater sensitivity to personality differences
among your participants (see #3 below). In our experience with
one organization, we found that having a native Spanish-speaker
translate retreat presentations for a diverse Board of Directors
greatly enhanced the experience for several individuals, and
also prompted better discussion. The organization had not previously
considered translation a necessity.
3) Personality Differences: We structure our approach with
attention to personality differences, based on the Myers-Briggs
inventory. Some people don’t place much credence in these measures.
However, we think that they are good indicators of how participants
absorb information differently.
Understanding personality differences means more than alternating
use of oral presentation, visual material, and facilitated discussion.
It also involves encouraging better participation. For example,
when one group member remains quiet throughout most of a retreat,
it may reflect a preference for analyzing and synthesizing data
before speaking. The group benefits tremendously if a facilitator
knows when to turn to such a person for his/her depth of knowledge.
It is in the interest of all organizations to dispel the idea
that retreats are a waste of time, and to make these events
into springboards for action. LAPA can provide additional resources
on retreat planning by request. Please call LAPA’s Senior Associate,
Melissa Shurkin, at 212-932-8001 x4 to learn more.
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HOW TO USE THE WEB TO FUNDRAISE EFFECTIVELY
Despite the heady optimism of the late 1990s, the Internet
has yet to become the holy grail of fundraising. Most small-
and medium-sized nonprofits do not raise a significant amount
of money through on-line fundraising. Lack of understanding
about how to use the Web effectively creates many missed opportunities.
Even organizations that do take the initiative to develop Web-based
fundraising often do so in isolation, without integrating it
with personalized efforts to contact donors. One of LAPA’s fundraising
fundamentals is that people give to people. If you don’t have
a way to follow-up web contacts with personalized attention,
your fundraising will be much less successful in the long term.
LAPA has had the privilege of working with many nonprofits
on using the Web to enhance fundraising. From this experience,
we have drawn several important lessons that could be valuable
for your organization:
1) Use On-line Donation Portals: LAPA recommends using giving
portals like CharityWave (www.charitywave.com) and Network for
Good (www.networkforgood.org). These allow people to donate
to your organization on-line, through a secure credit card transaction.
There’s no need to worry about security, as giving portals have
excellent reputations for safeguarding data.
In addition, giving portals can be useful as an administrative
tool. If your organization receives a credit card donation over
the phone or in the mail, you can enter the information into
the portal yourself to process the credit card without paying
a fee.
2) Communicate with the Public: Many prospective donors do
research on-line before giving. Organizing your Web site so
that visitors can quickly find information about your mission,
programs, and finances is vital in promoting donations.
3) Build Your Network of Supporters: Mailing lists give individuals
the opportunity to sign up for more information about your organization.
List-building features on your Web site can collect appropriate
names and contact information from interested site visitors.
Of course, once visitors supply this information, it is your
responsibility to follow-up. In-house fundraising staff or outside
consultants who are diligent in providing visitors with the
information that they need make all the difference in separating
effective on-line strategies from the many fancy but ineffective
Web pages that now exist.
4) List Yourself With Search Engines to Position Your Organization
as a Leader: Only by taking this step will you allow people
doing research in your field to find you. LAPA has researched
the search engines that are worthwhile for those on a limited
budget. This analysis is available free of charge by calling
us.
5) Register with GuideStar: LAPA is shocked at how few organizations
have registered at GuideStar, the leading on-line database for
nonprofits. Donors visit the site to obtain general information
as well as your completed Form 990. Having this information
readily available enhances your credibility and donor-friendliness.
You can register on-line at (www.guidestar.org).
All LAPA clients are automatically registered for free.
We believe that on-line giving strategies can directly complement
your organization’s continuous efforts to cultivate individual
donors and volunteers. In fact, they should be designed to do
just that.
LAPA is available to help you with these tasks. Call Bodi Luse
at 212-932-8001 x5 for a free consultation on how your organization
can make the Web an effective tool for fundraising.
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LAPA associates may be reached as follows:
Enid Harlow, MA: eharlow@lp-associates.com
Melissa Shurkin, MMHS: mshurkin@lp-associates.com
Bodi Luse, MS: bluse@lp-associates.com
Mark Engler, BA: mengler@lp-associates.com
Katie McMullen, BA: kmcmullen@lp-associates.com
Elsa Rios, MSW: elsarios7@aol.com
Julia Ritchie, CSW: ritchieinc@aol.com
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