Startup Weekend Chandler: Day Three

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Pitching today was no different than pitching the first time because I was just as nervous. Even with Daanon standing next me. There are things you want to cover and the minute you get up there, everything flies out the window. I think I sorta mentioned the website, I definitely mentioned the upcoming pilot workshop, and I talked about the fortuitous impromptu workshop we held with Jimmy.

Oh yes, and we announced our intentions to go through with Roadmap to Launch.

So...onwards and upwards.

Startup Weekend Chandler: Day Two

It's Day 2 and we're back at Gangplank. Steve suggested an impromptu writing workshop. We're posting our butts off on Facebook and Twitter. We're asking people at Gangplank if they could post for us. Steven brought his camera to record the event for posterity.

And now we wait.

One o'clock rolls around and it's apparent that Plan A wasn't going to work. Plan B was to run across the street to the publc library and recruit teens from there. To be honest, I wasn't too keen on doing that. I know I wouldn't like the idea of a stranger approaching me and trying to get me to come to another building. That would've been weird.

And then...divine intervention

A man and his son, roped into moving stuff, entered Steve's line of vision and the next thing we know, we're  doing an impromptu workshop. To say that we weren't prepared was a major. Freakin'. Understatement. LOL. But that's okay, because I guess that's what this weekend was all about.

James and his 11 yr old son, Jimmy agreed to be our guinea pigs. It was a lot tougher than I thought. Thank God Marvin, Steve and Daanon were in the room with me to pick up the slack.

We decided to do something simple, an acrostic poem: a form of writing in which the letters in the word begin each line. All lines in the poem should relate to or describe the poem. For example:

Shines brightly
Under a deep blue sky
Never to be seen again until the next day

Or something like that. Using the dry erase board in the conference room, we did a few together, then one by himself. And then he really had to one by himself. And we kinda gave him a hard one to do: community. It took him a few minutes (I'm sure our eyes on him added to the pressure. LOL) but he came up with some good stuff.

We asked him for his feedback and based on his response, we gave him an easier one, because he already had the words picked out in his mind: sub (the underwater object, not the food)

And then his father suggested he try one more: Jimmy

Getting Jimmy's feedback as well as his father's was enlightening. Jimmy told us that he doesn't consider himself to be creative. And he doesn't like to write because he hardly ever does it. But according to his father, he's a fabulous storyteller. He does a lot of stop animation movies and is always telling verbal stories.

Needless to say, the impromptu workshop was a great learning experience and I'm glad we were able to do it. Tomorrow is the pitch, finished product and whether or not we're going to go through Roadmap to Launch.

Startup Weekend Chandler: Day One

At 2pm today, I attended the Startup 101 Workshop


This intensive 3-hour workshop provides the basics of building a business, from choosing a team to market research and completing Version 1.0 of your product.

This gave me a better idea of what to expect over the weekend. I have to admit that the closer the time came to pitching, I became extremely nervous. Your 60-second pitch had include an intro, the problem you're trying to solve, the solution and what you needed (web developers, designers, etc). I'd written it out a couple of days before and it looked a little something like this:

Hi, I'm Celise Colston and I'm a Young Adult Fiction author. The problem is that I'm seeing a number of public schools cutting their arts programs to narrow to focus on curriculum standardization to improve test scores. In 2009, AIMS testing results indicated that only 72% of students passed the writing portion. I want to change that statistic. My nonprofit, The Write Zone, will be a writing and publishing organization. My vision is to assist local students ages 13-18 with their writing skills through drop-in tutoring, workshops, publishing and in-school programs. I also want to help teachers foster an appreciation for the literary arts in their classrooms. The thing is, I don't know if my idea is feasible. So this weekend I'm hoping to connect with a research savvy person--or people--to help me come up with a community needs assessment.

My intention was to memorize that whole thing and then get up on that little stage and blow it out. Yeah, not so much.

28 other people pitched and while only a few did it without cheat sheets, the majority them used cheat sheets. So I used mine. Even using my little cheat sheet I was shaking by the time I got off that little stage. An hour or two beforehand, my husband had sent me this wonderful text:

Jerry Lewis once said its good to be nervous because it means you'll be creative.

And then he text me a picture of our cat rolling around on the floor, giving him the Crazy Eye. LOL. I looked at that before I pitched and it made me smile.

So, as I mentioned, 28 people voted, and as you pitched, there was a person near the stage typing up your idea. After you pitched, your idea was printed out and tacked to a board. Then you had to take 3 sticky notes and vote for your favorite 3. After they put the ideas up and people started walking through, I had two people come up and tell me that my idea wasn't up there!

I panicked but didn't show it as I walked through myself just to see and they were right! By that time, a lot of the other ideas had several sticky notes underneath them and nobody was going to vote for my mine because they'd be all done. But the person in charge was told, she apologized, hand wrote the idea, slapped it up there and made a loud announcement.

Within seconds I had 4 votes. 5 if you include my own. LOL.

When the voting ended, if you had less than 5 votes, your idea was cut and you'd have to find another team to join.

I got lucky.

Say hello to our 14 Startup Weekend Chandler companies:

Charitivize – Help good nonprofits create fundraising campaigns and identify potential contributors

Chow Locally – Connect local food vendors with local farms to bridge the gap, helping citizens eat locally

Surprises – Mobile app to find local freebies on your birthday

RhinoDough – Free 401K advisory site geared toward the younger generation

E-Intro - Social email that personalizes connections through a series of customizable templates

iPatient – Consumer healthcare solution look to build a mobile app

Armored.IO

Donor Assure – Mobile app for blood donors to check CRM

The Write Zone – Nonprofit writing center for teens geared towards self-publishing We're not geared towards self-publishing, that's just going to be one of the main programs. It's  all about the writing here.


Class Project – Help companies tell stories through user-submitted artifacts

Nuke It – iPhone games using physics

Card Jolt – Convert business cards into audio-visual commercial

Alertosaurus – Authority Labs new project

I Crashed – Crash sensor combined with tracking software to create an ‘OnStar’ type response for endurance athletes (bikers, distance runners, etc)
Is it bad to admit that out of all the ideas, I was only really interested in one, not including my own?

Steve didn't pitch. He came to be part of a group.He's the business guy. But his wife's a teacher, so he can give us that perspective.

Daanon, Marvin and I are the "creative souls" in the group. We have writing and or publishing experience.

Katie is the Dir of Operations at Gangplank and is our floater with the marketing advice. She's not an active part of the group (because she has to run the thing), but she's an official member of the group.

I really can't believe how fast we gelled. Steve is the business guy. He's the guy that's going to right it all down so that it all makes sense. What was interesting is that even though it's my idea and "this is the way I want my business to look", Steve asked Daanon and Marvin "Okay, you're the CEO of The Write Zone. What's your vision of how this company should work?"

And what happened is we were all saying the same thing, but in a different way. It was such an amazing feeling that I got chills. I know why I want to start this nonprofit, but it was interesting to hear what others had to say:

Daanon:

~ Physical location
~ Writing camp
~ Learn about storytelling
~ Offering editing services
~ Creativity over structure
~ Teaching the craft of writing
~ Chance to meet and work with published authors and professional writers
~ Know that they can make money being a writer
~ Teach the mechanics of publishing a book
~ Participants coming back to mentor other participants or facilitating a workshop.
~ Measure of success is coming in and creating something, creating that writing spark, and having a publishing company of just teen authors.
~ Provide scholarships

Marvin:

~ Youth empowerment as a form of expression
~ Teaching social community skills
~ Write what you feel
~ Express as collaboration
~ Writing to create a community
~ Create a safety zone
~ Not about achievement, just expression
~ Interact w/ adults
~ Be able to read in a safe, non-judgmental environment

I got a little teary-eyed writing that. LOL. It's how I see my company impacting the community and it was inspiring to know that there are others out there who see it the same way.

Our group gelled liked that so quickly, it was great. By the end of the night, we had come up with a Starter Mission Statement.
Tomorrow, we're hoping to pull together an impromptu writing workshop at the location at 3pm. Crossing my fingers that we'll get some participants.

Stay tuned for Day 2

Intern at Your Own Risk

A word of caution from the National Council of Nonprofits:

Interns and Unintended Consequences

About this time of year, many nonprofits are bringing summer interns on board. Interns can be terrific additions to a nonprofit’s capacity building journey, but it’s important to clarify whether interns are unpaid volunteers or paid employees – or something in between. In particular, there could be unintended consequences if an intern receives a stipend that could transform a volunteer intern into what the Department of Labor would consider an employee, resulting in a risk that the nonprofit could owe back wages (to pay the intern at least minimum wage) and back taxes.

Called Out

Today, I received a special alert from the National Council of Nonprofits:

Last night, the IRS issued the list of 275,000 nonprofits whose federal tax-exempt status has been automatically revoked.

The announcement of these revocations comes years after Congress imposed an annual filing requirement for all nonprofits and an automatic revocation penalty for those that do not file for three years in a row.

275,000!!! That's a wake-up call, people!

Then I read another Special Alert email from the Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits:

The IRS has released the names of the 4,025 Arizona nonprofits that have had their tax-exempt status automatically revoked.

I'm sorry, what? 4,025 nonprofits. In Arizona. That have been stripped of their tax-exempt status. I don't know how many nonprofits there are in the state of Arizona (something I should look into), but the fact that 4,025 of them haven't been reporting for the past 3 years is a bit...daunting? Shameful? Embarrassing? A travesty? INSERT YOUR OWN WORD HERE.

Especially since they've been called out.

Publically.

For the whole United States--and nonprofit world--to see.

I don't know about you, but to me, that would be a I'm-calling-in-sick-day type of situation for me. How do you explain something like that to your staff, your volunteers, the people you serve, your donors, and--God forbid--your board? I don't even have an organization to call my own yet and I'm turning a little red-faced as I type this.

How does this happen?

I'm still new to the sector, so I don't understand how something like this could happen.

Is the form too difficult to fill out? Does it take a rocket scientist to understand it?

Do you have to provide a lot of information?

Did someone not understand that they were supposed to file the form?

Did someone file the wrong form?

Did someone miss the deadline?

Or was it just pure laziness and someone just dropped the ball?

I'd like to understand. Really. I need to find someone to explain this to me.

In the special alert from the National Council of Nonprofits one of the questions asked was "Can a nonprofit raise funds while it is not tax-exempt?" Apparently you can, but there's a caveat: the nonprofit needs to be transparent and honest about the fact that it is not currently tax-exempt and, therefore, contributions to it are not deductible to the donor.

Ouch! That's gotta sting.

I DO NOT want this to happen to my organization. So, what have I learned from this lesson?

File. Every year (or whenever the hell I'm supposed to). No matter what. And if someone else is doing it for me (which, more than likely, someone else will be) follow up and make sure the person really filed. Because if they don't, I'm gonna be called out. Publically.

Start-upWeekend Chandler: Speed Team Networking

In preparation for StartupWeekend Chandler at the end of the month, I went to a Speed Team Networking event last night.

Speed Team Networking provides an opportunity for registered participants to get to know each other before the weekend, encouraging positive matches that will provide more work time over Startup Weekend.

We had to bring a 60-second pitch, what you're looking for, interview questions and an idea (or something to that effect). My greatest fear is that I wouldn't find anyone to join my team.

And I didn't.

The majority of the technical people really were technical people: web developers, mobile service providers. Just doing all sorts of techy things that went over my head. We had 7 minutes to pitch our idea to the techy people and by the time I was done, I was feeling that I didn't get anything out of it. I didn't get any bites. No one said, "Wow, that sounds like a great idea, I'd like to join you."

The host, Katie, asked for a show of hands if you think you benefited. I didn't raise my hand. She asked for feedback, good or bad, and I didn't have the nerve to say out loud that I was having doubts about participating in the weekend part of it because I didn't think anyone would be interested.

I was seriously thinking about asking to get my $25 (student discounts are awesome!) refunded.

And then I talked to Katie one on one during the mix'n'mingle session. I'm glad I did. She basically told me that I don't need a team. I mean, I will need a team. Eventually. But for the purpose of the weekend, I won't. I already have an idea, I just need the time to really focus on it.

That's what these 54 hrs are going to be for. I'll have access to mentors, maybe other writers, and just time in general to buckle down and really focus on my organization. She said, "By the end of the weekend, you should be able to tell me what makes your organization different from others, what your mission statement and values are, who my target audience is, how and where I'll recruit volunteers, what my goals are 6 months, 1 yr, 5 yrs down the road."

I'm nodding my head because I've already done some of those things. I'm in school to learn all this stuff and I've done some of those things as homework assignments.

Maybe I'll connect with a web developer and they can give me an idea of what my website will look like.

Maybe I'll connect with a writer who wants to volunteer their time to facilitate a workshop.

Maybe I'll connect with a graphic designer who can create a mock up of a company logo (other than The Write Zone, I have two other ideas for the name of my business).

Maybe I'll connect with someone who runs a church youth group and who will allow me to conduct a focus study with his/her kids.

Maybe I'll spend the time creating questions for a focus group.

Who knows? I just know now that the upcoming weekend won't be a waste of time. It will be worthwhile. I'll make connections. I'll get some work done.

I may even take the leap and say "I'm going to take part in Roadmap to Launch".

For Rent

Up until recently, I pictured my organization in a Victorian house. Much like Hugo House, if you want to get specific. I thought it would be pretty cool to have a storefront on the first floor and all the classrooms on the second floor. And they would all have different names, like the Inspiration Room or the Creativity Room. And the big backyard would be the perfect place for a stage for all the readings we'll have.

Then my husband and I moved downtown, in the heart of downtown Phoenix where all the action is. AZ Science Center is across the street. The Phoenix Children's Museum is right next door. We can walk to Chase Field and see a baseball game. But we're also blocks away from Roosevelt Row, where First Fridays occurs. My hubby and I eat a lot at the Pita Jungle on 3rd Ave and Roosevelt, and every time we drive down that street, we pass an abandoned building that sits on the corner of 2nd ave. There's a building and a little house next to it that would make the perfect stage. No longer do I see my organization in a Victorian house, but in this abandoned building on the corner.

Even though my organization would be in the midst of an urban arts district--and just a few blocks from other cultural venues--I can't help but wonder how the other businesses fair. Do they get a lot of foot traffic when First Friday isn't going on? Are they close to shutting down? And then I read an article in Philanthropy News Digest about how sharing office space can boost your nonprofits effectiveness. A study of U.S. and Canadian organizations indicated:

"...such arrangements provide a range of benefits to the organizations involved, including access to higher-quality facilities in better locations for rents that can be as much as 75 percent below market value. Organizations also benefit from the greater visibility that such centers provide, which in turn leads to greater community engagement, improved access to funding, and enhanced credibility.

As a result, securing space in a nonprofit center can be difficult. According to the study, 80 percent of the centers included in the survey have waiting lists and most have low vacancy rates."

Okay. So. Maybe, due to the economy, I won't be able to have a building of my own. Maybe I'll use rooms at different libraries around the valley, community centers, local bookstores, etc. Maybe I'll only need an office space to work out of and everything else will be virtual.

Something to think about.

Merging Missions

I remember my HR mentor, Chantal Sheehan, asking me if I'd ever thought my idea would work as a program for another nonprofit.

"I have, yes," I told her.

"And how would you feel about that?" she asked.

"I would be okay with that."

Because, really, what if my idea as a whole didn't work on it's own, but as a part of something else? It could be absorbed into something big like the Boys and Girls Club or a smaller organization like Phoenix Youth at Risk.

In the interest of the current economic downturn, I think it would behoove me to look at the possibility of a merger. In a post I read on Blue Avocado, guest blogger David La Piana states:

If your organization is, alas, weak, (unable to find or keep an executive director, unable to maintain an active board, or too small to compete effectively in a particular market), you might seek to merge into a larger organization that has what you lack or with other smaller organizations with whom you can develop the necessary strengths.

If you are ready to grow (want to augment a continuum of services; want to create a program from scratch, need to increase market share, or hope to reduce competition), you are probably a strong nonprofit and see mergers or other partnerships as ways to further grow the organization.

If you think a merger might enhance your mission and services (reduce consumer confusion, lower overhead and put more dollars into direct service, increase political clout by speaking with one stronger voice), you might partner with others with whom you have a significant mission, program, or identity overlap.

Something to think about, I suppose.

Big Money on social media?

In an article written back in May from the Chronicle of Philanthropy, in response to a survey put out by the Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark not many charities are raising significant amounts of money through social networks:

Fewer than 3 percent of the 11,196 nonprofit groups that responded to the Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark survey said that they raised more than $10,000 on Facebook in 2010.

But of the 27 charities that reported raising more than $100,000 on Facebook, 30 percent had annual budgets of $1-million to $5-million.

Nearly nine out of 10 organizations in the survey said they have a presence on Facebook. Almost 60 percent of the groups use Twitter, and nearly a third say they are on LinkedIn.

The study was sponsored by the Nonprofit Technology Network; Blackbaud, a fund-raising software company, in Charleston, S.C.; and Common Knowledge, a technology-consulting company in San Francisco.

TWZ has a presence on both Facebook and Twitter. Once we become official, we do plan to set something up on Facebook. Whether we make $10,000 or less, anything that helps support the programs is a good thing in my book.

Board Portals

In the May/June 2011 issue of Nonprofit World (published by Society of Nonprofit Organizations), there was an interesting article about board portals and how the Humane Society of the United States utilizes this feature to make it easier for board members to access information. Simply put, a board portal is a secure, password-protected web site created by an organization's senior management solely for use by its board members as a convenient way of eliminating traditional, paper "board books" and the efforts that go into producing and distributing these books.

What a concept!!!!

No more killing trees, no more board members harrassing the executive assistant for copies, no more spending money on messengering board books to non-local members. I almost can't wait to have a board just so I can use this feature. The article was written by Alex Sodi who is the president and CEO of Diligent Board Member Services. His company makes Diligent Boardbooks, a leading board portal solution.

5 Simple Ideas for Developing Fundraising Results

I'm a member of Society for Nonprofit Organizations and as a member, you get a subscription to a magazine they publish, Nonprofit World. I received the May/June 2011 issue today and though I haven't read the whole thing yet, I saw an article that caught my eye:

5 Simple Ideas for Developing Fundraising Results by Diane Hodiak


1. Ask donors what they like. Studies show that when you ask people what their mailing preferences are, they often respond by sending a charitable gift.

2. Tell donors what you need. Telling donors what you need is more than asking for a gift of a certain amount. You'll improve your results if you explain how you'll use the money (i.e. $300 will provide a writing lab at TMZ where teens can go to get help with their writing assignments)

3. Let donors know how much you need. Organizations can improve results simply by telling donors how much money they hope to raise and what time frame is necessary. (i.e. progress bar on the website or a progress chart in the lobby).

4. Show donors the behavior you want. Sleuth out stories that illustrate model philanthropy and share them with your donors. These stories will inspire people to philanthropic action as they see behavior that affirms their own values and interests.

5. Tell donors how special they are. A thank-you note or a personal call can do wonders. A variety of ways to thank your donor should be included in your development plan.


Diane Hodiak is author-trainer-counsel focusing on maximizing results for nonprofits in fundraising and marketing. See her free newsletter at Dr. Charity

Start it up...

This post is brought you by The Rolling Stones. LOL

My nonprofit may get off the ground sooner than expected. It just depends on how my weekend goes in Startup Weekend Chandler. I went to the Overview and Team Building meeting last night to see what it was all about:

Over the course of the evening, we will cover the format of the weekend and participant expectations. Additionally, we will cover some startup basics to help you prepare. Lastly, there will be time to bring your ideas to mentors to receive some feedback before the weekend.

I was intrigued about the concept:

Startup Weekends are weekend-long, hands-on experiences where entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs can find out if startup ideas are viable. On average, half of Startup Weekend’s attendees have technical backgrounds, the other half have business backgrounds.

Beginning with open mic pitches on Friday, attendees bring their best ideas and inspire others to join their team. Over Saturday and Sunday teams focus on customer development, validating their ideas, practicing LEAN Startup Methodologies and building a minimal viable product. On Sunday evening teams demo their prototypes and receive valuable feedback from a panel of experts.
Why attend a Startup Weekend event?

Startup Weekend Chandler involves the Overview and Team Building Meeting, a Speed Team Networking night on June 9th:

Speed Team Networking provides an opportunity for registered participants to get to know each other before the weekend, encouraging positive matches that will provide more work time over Startup Weekend.

A Startup 101 Workshop:

Startup 101 takes place the Friday of Startup Weekend Chandler from 2:00-5:00pm. This intensive 3-hour workshop provides the basics of building a business, from choosing a team to market research and completing Version 1.0 of your product.

*Only registered Startup Weekend Participants can attend Startup 101.

Agenda:
2:00-2:45pm Team
2:45-3:45pm Product
3:45-5:00pm Execution

Team (Panel)

A team should be made up of people with different skills and experiences. A team should not be all developers or all idea people. You need someone to plan, someone to execute, and someone to sell. Team members can take on multiple roles, but all critical roles should be represented. This panel will discuss what a team should look like in the context of multiple business models.

What does a team look like?
Responsibilities
Conflict Resolution

Product

Your vision may be amazing, but when you get real about it, it may not be reasonable for a 60-day launch. This section focuses on how to define your product for the highest possibility for success and deliver the highest value in your first release.

Market Research and Competitor Evaluation
Creating the simplest effective product

Execution

Ideas are worth nothing without execution. How you execute is the difference between success and failure more than anything else. In this section we will explore best practices in focusing your energy on the highest yielding activities.

Decision making: How do you decide what to do when you encounter a fork in the road?
Version 1: You can’t have every bell and whistle. Learn to evaluate what you need to launch, versus what can come later.
Last 10%: Your first release won’t be a polished gem. In this phase, you must set the foundations for growth.

The actual event that occurs the weekend of June 24th-26th, 2011 and ending up with the possibility of moving forward in the Roadmap to Launch:

During product presentations on Sunday night of Startup Weekend Chandler, companies will state whether they will be participating in the Roadmap to Launch challenge, culminating in Launch Weekend in August 2011.


The Roadmap includes mentoring assignments, social events around entrepreneurship, workshops and opportunities to test with potential consumers and practice pitching.

Sample Roadmap to Launch:

June 26 – Present product at Startup Weekend Chandler

July 4-8 – Mentoring Round 1

July 18-22 – Mentoring Round 2

July 20 – Chandler Startup Drinks with local entrepreneurs

July 27 – User testing event at Hacknight

July 28-29 – Private Pitch with roundtable of mentors

August 1-5 – Mentoring Round 3

August 15-19 – Mentoring Round 4

August 17 – User testing event at Hacknight

August 27-28 [Tentative] – Launch Weekend & Extreme Pitch
*This event will be open to all valley entrepreneurs and startups, with Startup Weekend Chandler companies being featured.

It's going to be held at this really cool co-working space called Gangplank and only going to cost me $25 (student rate). I'm not sure what to expect. I know I can't really start a nonprofit without filling out the proper paperwork and finding board members, but I'll make connections and maybe find someone---or a group of someones--who feel the way I do about my project. I'll definitely be posting about my experience.

And so it begins...again

The summer session starts for me tomorrow. I was supposed to be taking 3 classes this semester, but one of my mentors backed out. So now, I'm back down to 2. I'm taking that as a sign. I don't think I need the stress. And really, it's not going to matter whether I take 2 or 3. I'm still going to finish at the same time, I'll just be taking 2 (technically 3 because my Senior Project is considered to be 2 courses) courses in Summer 2012 instead of 1. This semester my courses are:

Marketing for Nonprofits - mentored by Abbie Fink of HMA PR

Self-Exploration Through Creative Writing - online Moodle course

My best friend is moving to Boston at the end of July and she's decided to have a service-oriented going away party. I thought that was pretty cool and plan to incorporate it as one of my assignments for my marketing course. Should be interesting.

I had a little 3-week break that really didn't feel like much of a break, LOL, but I'm looking forward to getting started.