Summer 2011: Done and Done

Summer 2011 is ovah!!

Originally, I was supposed to be taking three courses:

Marketing for Nonprofits
Program Planning
Self-Exploration Through Creative Writing

The first two were supposed to are mentored courses. The third course was an online course through Prescott and happened to be taught by the same person who was going to mentor my Program Planning course. But it didn't work out, so I only took Marketing and Creative Writing and bumped the now Program Planning and Evaluation course to Spring 2012.

I would like to thank Abbie Fink of hmaPR for being a great marketing mentor. She was teaching two other classes for ASU (one online, one in-person) at the time. As well as doing her day job on top of that! Wonder Woman, she was. I learned so much from her:

The most valuable lesson I gleaned from this course was the importance of research: the market, the target audience, the competition, and the different methods in which to reach the public. In addition, I was required to dig a little deeper for a SWOT analysis and discovered that a strength can be considered a weakness, and vice versa. The book review I conducted of Kivi Leroux Miller's "Nonprofit Marketing Guide" provided additional helpful information for nonprofits with small or nonexistent budgets. Based on what I learned, I was able to produce a workable marketing plan that I can implement within my own organization.

As with all my mentors, I hope to do justice to their teachings by applying/implementing them in my own organization. Out of all the creative writing courses I've taken, this one was the best and I am so glad that Susan Vespoli taught it this way:

The one thing I've discovered about the various creative writing courses I've taken over the years is that the syllabus doesn't change: students read the work of authors, answer questions about their work, and write a paper. I feel like I never learn anything new, that the teacher is just following a curriculum designed by every other school in the country. This course followed the same pattern, to a certain point. I enjoyed being reintroduced to Maya Angelou, the tears and little hairs that arose when I read Martin Luther King Jr's speech, the poem where the author felt connected to her African heritage, and writing my first superhero poem. The main aspect I liked the most was the incorporation of "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron.

This course forced me to dig below the surface and raised issues and emotions that I had to deal with. My expectations for this course was to find my writing groove again and start a regular writing routine. While I did maintain a regular writing routine, I discovered that any "productive" writing will have to wait until I've completed school. I was able to understand the kind of writer I am and come to terms with the fact that I can't be like every other writer out there. I'm just me.

As a writer, I've been meaning to add Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way to my collection of writing-related books, but it always slipped my mind. Finally, I had a reason to buy it, just for the simple fact that it was required reading. And I thoroughly enjoyed it and the experience! I hope to try and incorporate that somehow into the programs at TWZ.

Now it's time to say goodbye...take a short 8-day break...and then jump into Fall 2011 for Board Governance and Strategic Planning. 

Raising More Money from Your Business Community

Web/Audio Conference - AFP Greater Arizona Chapter
Date/Time: Wednesday, August 24. 10 to 11:30 a.m.
Location: Rio Salado College Conference Center. 2323 W. 14th Street, Tempe, AZ 85281

Although corporations and businesses contribute just over 4% of all philanthropic dollars (over $14 billion in 2009) in the United States, much more is given through gifts in kind, corporate sponsorships, and personal donations of individual corporate leaders. And, in a typical capital campaign, businesses often provide a much more significant percentage of the overall goal. However many nonprofits fail to touch their local business community for a variety of reasons. In this webinar, they will discuss how to approach corporate leaders, how to motivate them to become involved in your organization, and how to develop a corporate appeal. 

Presenter Linda Lysakowski, ACFRE, is one of fewer than 100 professionals worldwide to hold the Advanced Certified Fund Raising Executive designation and has trained more than 18,000 professionals in all aspects of development in Canada, Mexico, Egypt, and most of the fifty United States. Linda is the author of Recruiting and Training Fundraising Volunteers, The Development Plan, Fundraising as a Career: What, Are You Crazy? Everything You Wanted to Know about Capital Campaigns, The Genius' Guide to Fundraising, a contributing author to The Fundraising Feasibility Study - It's Not About the Money, co-editor of You and Your Nonprofit, and co-author of The Essential Nonprofit Fundraising Handbook.

My Takeaways:

First of all, I've never been privvy to the concept of web/audio conference. But basically, you're in a room with other people listening in on the call and watching the webinar online, something you would normally do by yourself. 

Second, this experience was my second experience with this web/audio conference concept and it was marred by the fact that the sound went out on page 7 of the presentation and came back in bits and spurts, so I didn't get the full effect of the workshop. Especially since I was really looking forward to attending.

Other things I learned:

• Corporate giving is often the route to individual gifts from corporate leaders
• Corporate volunteer programs can add significantly to the bottom line of nonprofits
• Who are the real potential donors? Not the typical "Big Money" places
• Ask for money, and you'll get advice; ask for advice and you'll get money
• Do the "rubber chicken circuit" (mixers, business breakfasts, networking events)
• Know your case and be able to present it to the business community - Show how your business can benefit their bottom line 
• Work with the business community - How does your business community work? How does your business relate to theirs?
• Businesses look at their bottom line, efficiency/transparency, impact on community, partnership opportunities and recognition
• Conduct "cultivation activities" such as tours, individual meetings/advice meetings, involvement in your organization
• The board's role is hosting cultivation events/activities, opening doors, and the development committee
• Volunteers, structure, the case, choosing the right prospects, training and reporting make it successful 

Review: Kivi Leroux-Miller's THE NONPROFIT MARKETING GUIDE: High-Impact, Low-Cost Ways to Build Support for Your Good Cause

• Pub. Date: June 2010
• Publisher: Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated
• Series: Jossey-Bass Nonprofit Guidebook Series
• ISBN-13: 9780470539651
• ISBN: 0470539658

  - From the NonprofitMarketingguide.com website

This down-to-earth book shows how to hack through the bewildering jungle of marketing options and miles-long to-do lists to clear a marketing path that’s right for your organization, no matter how understaffed or underfunded.


You’ll see how to shape a marketing program that starts from where you are now and grows with your organization, using smart and savvy communications techniques, both offline and online.
Combining big-picture management and strategic decision-making with reader-friendly tips for implementing a marketing program day in and day out, this book provides a simple yet powerful framework for building support for your organization’s mission and programs.


- Includes cost-effective strategies and proven tactics for nonprofits
- An ideal resource for thriving during challenging times
- Fast, friendly, and realistic advice to help you navigate the day-by-day demands of any nonprofit.          

I chose to read this book for my Marketing for Nonprofit course. I'm glad I actually had the choice, because even though it was for my class, I had planned on buying it for my own personal Nonprofit Library. I'm not sure how I originally discovered Kivi Leroux-Miller, but I enjoy reading her blog, have participated in a couple of her webinars, and am a subscriber to her e-newsletters.Leroux Miller started a consulting business in 1998, EcoScribe Communications. In 2007, she transitioned from primarily consulting to a primarily training and launched NonprofitMarketingGuide.com, that includes a blog and weekly webinar series. Simply put, she write this book because she encountered a need:

"My hunch that staff at thousands of nonprofits were in the exact same situation that my clients and I had been in for years was right: they too were communications departments of just one or two people who had to do it all themselves and didn't know where to turn for help."

The book is an easy to read guide written in a friendly, conversational tone. It's meant to be "part real-world survival guide and part nitty-gritty how to handbook" and is organized into four sections:

Part 1: Getting Ready To Do It Right - Provides perspective on the nonprofit marketing world today.

Part 2: Writing a Quick and Dirty Marketing Plan for a Specific Program - Which requires the reader to answer three deceptively simple questions: Who do you want to reach?, What do you want to say? and How and where are you going to say it?

Part 3: Building a Community of Supporters Around You - How people and nonprofits connect and relate to one another.

Part 4: Doing It Yourself Without Doing Yourself In - Takes a loo at three required elements to successfully implement a marketing plan: time, talent, and treasure.

The book concludes with some questions readers can ask themselves as they evaluate the success of their marketing program, such as "Do you love your job?" and "Do your current supporters think of you favorably?"

Here's what I've gleaned from reading this book:

Ten New Realities for Nonprofits -

1. Marketing is not a dirty word--nor is communications or public relations.

2. There is no such thing as the general public.

3. You need to build your own media empire.

4. All generations--including seniors--are online.

5. Nonprofit communicators are transforming into community organizers.

6. Personal and organizational personalities,or brands, are blending.

7. Good nonprofit marketing takes more time than money.

8. You've already lost control of your message--stop pretending otherwise.

9. Marketing is not fundraising, but it is essential to it.

10. Old-fashioned basics still work best, even online.

~ Segment your target audience into groups: basic demographics, behaviors, and the Stages of Change.

~ 4 Essential Categories to spend your marketing dollars: email newsletter service provider, digital cameras, professional design and photography, and professional development.

~ 4 Nonessential marketing areas to scrimp: advertising, fancy/splashy graphics, print mailings, and donor premiums.

Overall, I found this to be a very helpful resource as I start my nonprofit and would suggest bookmarking the companion website, NonprofitMarketingGuide.com, as well.

Kivi Leroux Miller is the founder of NonprofitMarketingGuide.com, one of the leading sources of information and guidance for nonprofit organizations with limited resources. Leroux Miller is a communications consultant, trainer, and blogger. Visit nonprofitmarketingguide.com/book for additional resources, tools, and tips that go with the book.

Building Blocks for a Solid Proposal Budget

Hosted by the Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits

Date: August 18, 2011
Time: 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Location: Catholic Diocese of Phoenix
400 E. Monroe, Phoenix, AZ  85004

Worthy grant proposals often don’t make it to the final cut because the proposal budget is poorly put together. However, crafting a budget that clearly and accurately reflects all the resources your program needs can help convince prospective funders that your project is worthy of their financial investment. 

Building a strong proposal budget is not a complex or mysterious process!  

In this workshop, you'll learn:

• The principles of mission-driven budgeting.
• How to apply those principles using a real-life scenarios as you build a detailed proposal budget, step by step.
• How to use the Grantseeker’s Power Tool – Master Budget Planning Checklist and Worksheet.
• Explore how grantmakers evaluate budgets and what your budget says about your organization.

My Takeaways:

Again, the learning and experiential objectives for this workshop say it all. This was a tiny refresher course for the Financial Management course I somehow managed to blunder through, but this went in-depth a little bit more.

• Be familiar with the major budget categories and know what is typically included in each
• Know how to calculate dollar values for common budget expense items
• Be familiar with resources for more information on developing federal grant budgets
• Understand and be able to apply the concepts of "direct" and "indirect" costs
• Understand and be able to apply the concepts of "matching" and "in-kind" resources
• Learn additional resources for building program budgets for various kinds of grant requests

To be honest, I never was good at math and though the presenter was very good, I know that I'm going to have to recruit a board member or a volunteer with an extensive financial background. It was still a little confusing, but very informative.