Grant Opportunity: 2009 Community Enhancement Grant

The Arlington Community Foundation is accepting applications for its 2009 Community Enhancement Grant Cycle.

Applications for the Community Enhancement Grants program will be reviewed in the following categories: Arts, Culture and Humanities; Children & Families; Health; Housing/Homeless & Hunger; Legal; Environment; Senior Enrichment; and other services to Arlington. Nonprofits serving Arlington may submit one application and must identify whether they are seeking support for a one year or multi-year program. Grants are awarded for new or continuing activities and may be a continuation of a project previously funded by the Arlington Community Foundation. The Community Enhancement Grants application includes specific proposals for programs that promote successful aging, to be funded by the Senior Adult Recreation Endowment Fund, and applicants to that fund are not restricted to one application.

Click here to learn more. The deadline for grant submissions is at 5:00pm on Wednesday, September 30.

Join Us Next Week

We hope to see you next week at one of these upcoming workshops at the Center for Nonprofit Advancement. Click each listing below for event and registration details.

• Wednesday, August 5, The Basics of Online Fundraising for Nonprofits
• Wednesday, August 5, Contribution Revenue Best Practices in Financial Reporting
• Thursday, August 6, Developing a Technology Plan That Moves Your Organization Forward

Addressing Nonprofit Training, Capacity Building Needs

Center Convenes Training and Education Task Force, Helps Nonprofits Assess Professional Development Needs and Creates Solutions

As nonprofit organizations throughout the Greater Washington region face increasing demands for services, the Center for Nonprofit Advancement is engaging the community to develop short- and long-term solutions to support their training and capacity building needs.

In response to the expressed needs of area nonprofits, the Center has established a dynamic Training and Education Task Force of area experts to enhance its programming for nonprofit staff development and overall organizational capacity building. The Center’s Learning and Leadership Institute currently offers more than 100 comprehensive workshops on core management areas annually. In addition, it hosts continuum series sessions for emerging nonprofit leaders and new and veteran executive directors.

Task force members include Lee Christian Parker and Kristin Scotchmer of The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region, Karen Kinney of the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, Bob Wittig of the Jovid Foundation, Rick Moyers of the Meyer Foundation, Michela Perrone, Ph. D. of MMP Associates, Emily Gantz McKay of Mosaica, Chuck Bean of the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington and Patricia Mathews of the Northern Virginia Health Foundation.

The Task Force was established to help identify and collaborate on solutions to the region's most pressing needs in professional development and move toward implementing short- and long-term solutions.

“As organizations across the region are asked to do more with less, continued support for nonprofit capacity building is critical,” said Center CEO Glen O’Gilvie. “We’re delighted to engage these learning champions to assist the Center in building upon our 30 year history of supporting and strengthening nonprofits in the region.”

To help assess the current needs of nonprofits, this spring the Center invited nonprofits across the region, including Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia and Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in Maryland, to participate in a comprehensive survey to assess the training and educational needs of nonprofit leaders, staff and board members.

Respondents rated the strength of their organization in the following categories: governance, leadership, management, finance/accounting, human resources, fund development, program management, public relations/marketing and information technology.

Results show that executive leadership, finance/accounting and program management were perceived areas of strength for local nonprofits. The areas for which nonprofits expressed a need for ongoing skill development included fund development, governance and public relations/marketing.

Ninety-one nonprofit organizations participated in the survey. Respondents were both Center members and non-members, shedding light on the nonprofit community as a whole. Thirty-one percent of respondents have an operating budget of $1 – 4.9 million and 32 percent of respondents have five or fewer paid employees. Click here to learn more about the survey's findings.

“The results of this survey emphasize the ongoing needs of area nonprofits,” said O’Gilvie. “These results, along with the work of the Education Task Force, will help the Center to build upon its work supporting the capacity building needs of our region.”

About the Center for Nonprofit Advancement:
The Center for Nonprofit Advancement strengthens the capacity of nonprofit organizations throughout Greater Washington, D.C. The Center directly partners with more than 800 nonprofits, helping them achieve their missions through training and technical assistance programs, networking, advocacy and group buying power.

DC Nonprofit Business Examiner Seeks Nonprofits to Profile

The DC Nonprofit Business Examiner is looking for nonprofit organizations in Maryland, Virginia or District of Columbia interested in having their organization profiled here on the DC Nonprofit Business website. Starting the first Friday in August and each Friday thereafter, the DC Nonprofit Business website will profile a local nonprofit organization. Any 501 (c) 3 that serves the DC Metro community in some capacity can be considered.

To take part, contact the DC Nonprofit Business Examiner with basic information about your nonprofit, including the name, location, contact information and a brief synopsis of your organizations’ mission. You will be contacted, if your organization is selected to profile on the DC Nonprofit Business site.

Sign the Petition to Save Our Safety Net

Today and tomorrow, the District of Columbia City Council will make decisions on the Mayor's proposed budget cuts to address the District’s revenue shortfalls.

Reach out — TODAY — to your staff, board, clients, colleagues and friends. Encourage them to speak out against cuts to DC’s safety net — cuts that could be made THIS WEEK — by visiting a new Web site that makes it easy to communicate directly with the DC Council.

Today, City Council will begin deliberation on the budget. Under Mayor Fenty's current proposal, over half of the cuts fall on human services.

It's time to save our safety net. It's not too late to try and change course!

The Coalition for Community Investment has developed a website with a petition calling on Councilmembers to save our safety net. Please help us spread the word about this petition so we can show widespread community support for protecting critical safety net services.

Here's the Web site: www.SaveOurSafetyNet.com

Here's who to tell:

• Your professional network
• Your social circle
• Your organization's action alert network
• Blog about it, tweet about it, post it to Facebook

Join Us Next Week

We hope to see you next week at one of these upcoming workshops at the Center for Nonprofit Advancement. Click each listing below for event and registration details.

• Tuesday July 28, Are Social Networking Strategies a Good Fit for Your Organization?
• Tuesday, July 28, How to Prepare a Competitive Grant Proposal
• Wednesday, July 29, Community Conversations Forum: Arts and Culture in the Community
• Thursday, July 30, Building Successful Relationships with Major Donors

Now Enrolling: Special Series for New Executive Directors

Is there anything more challenging than leading a Washington–area nonprofit organization? How about being new to the executive role, too?

Our 2009 class is now enrolling for Start Smart: a Series for new Washington area Executive Directors.

Start Smart graduates feel they are better equipped to work with their boards and staff, handle financial leadership responsibilities and have an understanding of best practices in nonprofit management. –Series Evaluations

The Center for Nonprofit Advancement presents a four–part series tailored specifically for new executive directors (those in the position of Executive Director for two years or less). Each session will focus on essential skills and strategies to successfully meet the challenges of executive leadership in today’s fast–paced nonprofit sector.

Classes for the 2009 series begin September 11 and registration is now underway. Class-size is limited to 20.

Click here to learn more.

Register Today!

Center Builds National Bridges of Partnership During White House Meeting

This last week marked a defining moment for the Center for Nonprofit Advancement’s member nonprofits — and the communities they serve — as the Center advocated for the region’s nonprofit sector at the White House.

In an historic first, Glen O’Gilvie, CEO of the Center for Nonprofit Advancement, along with 80 fellow leaders representing more than 20,000 nonprofit members from across the country, including the Center’s Susan Sanow and Beth Hess, met Tuesday with a senior White House official to explore ways government and nonprofits can best partner to serve local communities.

Meeting in the celebrated Indian Treaty Room, the White House was represented by Michele Jolin, Senior Advisor in the new Office of Social Innovation & Civic Participation. Jolin noted that the Office was created by a President who has an unprecedented commitment to and personal understanding of the vital role nonprofits play in their communities. Jolin and the nonprofit leaders discussed ways the National Council of Nonprofits, which includes the Center, can leverage its unique national/state/local network to help the Office of Social Innovation & Civic Participation connect to small and midsize nonprofits in local communities to identify, promote, and support innovative and scalable programs. The discussion also covered how to create a better policy environment for nonprofits so limited government and nonprofit resources can be leveraged for greater impact in local communities.

This discussion with the White House occurred as part of the annual Member Meeting of the National Council of Nonprofits. In addition to sharing innovative ideas and knowledge about best practices, nonprofit leaders heard evidence of the economic recession’s serious impact on nonprofits from Dr. Lester Salamon, a national expert on nonprofits and civil society who leads the Listening Post Project at Johns Hopkins University.

“There was obviously great power and influence in our collective voice on behalf of nonprofits across the country,” said O’Gilvie. “We were delighted to join this historic meeting on behalf of the Greater Washington region.”

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About the Center for Nonprofit Advancement: The Center for Nonprofit Advancement strengthens the capacity of nonprofit organizations throughout Greater Washington, D.C. The Center directly partners with more than 800 nonprofits helping them achieve their missions through training and technical assistance programs, networking, advocacy and group buying power.

Coalition for Community Investment Responds to Proposed Budget Cuts

The Coalition for Community Investment has issued a response to proposed District FY2010 budget cuts. Click here to view the response. Click here to learn more about recent action on this topic. The Center for Nonprofit Advancement is a member of the Coalition for Community Investment.

Center Launches Partnership to Support Nonprofit Marketing and Communications

Center Members: Spotlight Your Work

The Center is excited to share with you our new partnership with DCTV. This partnership will provide Center members with the opportunity to share your work and best practices with more than 300,000 in the community including potential volunteers, funders, clients and policy makers. The Center and DCTV will launch a new channel this fall to highlight the work of local nonprofits and provide resources, training and tips for nonprofit professionals, board members and volunteers.

Center members, if your organization has created a PSA or video about your nonprofit, its services or work in the community, it may be eligible to air on this new TV channel! Your video will need to match the following technical specifications:

• Length: any length up to 30 minutes maximum
• Format: DVD or DVCAM

Please send information about footage meeting these specifications that you would like considered for airing to Beth Hess.

Join Us This Week at the Center

We hope to see you this week at one of these upcoming workshops at the Center for Nonprofit Advancement. Click each listing below for event and registration details.

• Tuesday, July 21, Center 101
• Tuesday, July 21, Nonprofit PR Essentials
• Wednesday, July 22, Having a Difficult Conversation
• Thursday, July 23, Managing Up
• Thursday, July 23, Time Management for Nonprofits

Now Accepting Applications: Social Venture Consulting Program

The University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business Center for Social Value Creation is accepting applications from nonprofit organizations for its Fall 2009 Social Venture Consulting Program. Projects are designed for 80 full-time equivalents (FTEs) over 3 months to address issues—whether financial, marketing, operational, organizational or strategic—and to develop the necessary steps to solve the problems and improve the business. MBA students are selected to participate in a highly competitive application process and there is no fee charged to the organization.

Click here to learn more about the program. Click here to apply (organizations with annual budgets > $1M may also click here to apply directly).

The application deadline is Friday, July 31.

Now Accepting Applications: Fairfax County Volunteer Projects

Volunteer Fairfax is accepting applications for nonprofits to participate in VolunteerFest, its 15th annual Fairfax area day of service, on October 24. This region-wide day of community service is held in conjunction with National Make a Difference Day and mobilizes hundreds of volunteers to help local nonprofits.

Qualifying projects must be within Fairfax County borders and require a minimum of 15 volunteers. Click here for additional information or here to download the application. The deadline to apply is Friday, August 14.

Explore the Benefits of Membership

Network with other nonprofit leaders, meet the Center for Nonprofit Advancement's staff and learn about the wealth of resources, programs and services you could be enjoying as a Center member. Join us for Center 101, a free event next Tuesday, July 21 at the Center beginning at 9:30 a.m. (no worries, we'll have you on the way back to your office by 11:00).

This session is great for those considering Center membership, new members and those that have been enjoying the benefits of membership for many years already--all are welcome. Register today--we look forward to seeing you there!

Meet a Center member: Tahirih Justice Center

Protecting immigrant women and girls from all across the world, the Tahirih Justice Center works to end gender-based violence. With both in-house and a network of pro bono attorneys, Tahirih Justice Center provides the ammunition to help their clients struggle against injustice and inequality. Executive Director and Founder Layli Miller-Muro explains that Tahirih Justice Center “is about changing peoples’ lives through law.” Beyond their legal services, the nonprofit organization provides access to social services and advocates national public policy for gender equality.

In choosing cases, Tahirih Justice Center begins by doing a phone interview. From there, the potential client is asked to come to the office for a more in-depth look at the case. Once the facts are compiled, the case goes to the group of lawyers for a decision. If at any point during the process the woman’s case is not chosen, she is referred to other organizations. However, if the woman is chosen, the case is given to a particular lawyer, either a staff member of Tahirih Justice Center or a member of the organization's Pro Bono Legal Network.

Since its founding over ten years ago, Tahirih Justice Center has achieved a 99% success record and has never had a client deported. Guided by the vision of a bird with two equally strong wings, the organization seeks a day when both men and women are equally valued as members of society.

The Tahirih Justice Center is the recipient of The Washington Post 2007 Award for Excellence in Nonprofit Management. Miller-Muro is a recipient of the Gelman, Rosenberg & Freedman 2008 EXCEL Award. Click here to learn more about the Tahirih Justice Center.

[Thank you to Center intern Casey Linsey for contributing this post.]

Join Us Next Week at the Center

We hope to see you next week at one of these upcoming workshops at the Center for Nonprofit Advancement. Click each listing below for event and registration details.

• Tuesday, July 14, Effective Management 101 for First Time Managers
• Wednesday, July 15, Branding in a Tough Economy
• Thursday, July 16, Stewardship: The Lifeblood of Fundraising

Nonprofits: Register your volunteer projects

Beginning June 22, citizens of the United States were called upon by President Obama to serve our nation. We were not asked to enlist in the armed forces, but rather to volunteer our time and efforts where they are most necessary and appreciated. The United We Serve campaign encourages people of all ages and backgrounds to participate in our nation’s recovery and renewal by serving in our communities.

Visit the Web site to explore the many opportunities available. If you need volunteers for your organization, we encourage you to log in and register your volunteer project(s).

As of today, very few nonprofits in our region had taken advantage of this. Please visit the Web site, watch Michelle Obama’s three minute video and take full advantage of this resource.

[Thank you to Center intern Lindsay Smith for contributing this post.]

Action Alert: Help Preserve the Safety Net, Call the Mayor

This week, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty will be finalizing plans to address the District’s new $340 million revenue shortfall. We need to send him a message right now that he should protect key services — especially the safety net — as he works to balance the budget.

All DC residents have a stake in the city budget: if city leaders make wise choices with our shared resources, our communities will be more healthy and prosperous, and better able to weather the economic downturn.

Please call or e-mail the Mayor today to tell him that his budget-balancing plan should maintain a strong safety net. Feel free to use the talking points below, or write your own message. Call the
Citywide Call Center at 202-727-1000 and ask to speak to someone in the Mayor's Office, or e-mail mayor@dc.gov.

• The safety net provides stability. DC families and individuals are already struggling with stagnant, low wages, layoffs and rising food, energy, medical and housing costs during this economic downturn. Cutbacks in safety net programs can increase hardship, reducing
  residents' buying power, and creating the need for more costly emergency services.
• A strong safety net is good for the economy. Public investments stimulate economic recovery because the money is spent quickly and locally. Support for human capital development, the environment, and infrastructure will help DC build living-wage jobs, healthy communities, and a thriving business climate.
• Maintaining healthy communities requires raising revenue. The use of responsible revenue enhancements and DC's rainy day fund should be part of the city's approach. It will be difficult or impossible to keep safety net programs from being cut unless new revenues are
  identified. The economic downturn offers an opportunity to review DC's revenue system and to identify changes that would both raise revenue and improve our tax structure, creating a higher quality of life for all.

Please share this Action Alert with other DC residents in your networks. If you have not done so already, consider signing on to a letter to the Mayor.

Join Us This Week at the Center

We hope to see you this week at one of these upcoming workshops at the Center for Nonprofit Advancement. Click each listing below for event and registration details.

• Tuesday, July 7, How to Keep Staff More Motivated in Turbulent Times
• Wednesday, July 8, How Everyone on Your Staff Can Play a Role in Fundraising Success
• Wednesday, July 8, Wooing Women Donors of New Wealth to Be Major Donors
• Thursday, July 9, The New Form 990–How to be Prepared for All the Changes

Sign On to the Letter: Protect Safety Net Programs from Budget Cuts

This week, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty will be finalizing plans to address the District’s new $340 million revenue shortfall. We need to send him a message right now that he should protect key services — especially the safety net — as he works to balance the budget. In particular, we need to urge the Mayor to tap DC’s rainy day fund and to raise revenues — as more than half the states have done this year.

Here’s how you can help:

1. Sign on to the letter below by close-of-business Tuesday (See details below.)
2. Call-in or e-mail the Mayor later this week. We will post details of an action alert later this week.
   

Sign-on letter details:

Please review the letter and sign on by close-of-business on Tuesday, July 7. Also, please forward this message to other organizations or networks of organizations. To sign on, please e-mail info@coalitionforcommunityinvestment.org. Include organizational name is signing on as a group. Please include individual name and the ward of residence if signing on as an individual.

TEXT OF SIGN-ON LETTER

July 6, 2009

The Honorable Adrian M. Fenty
Executive Office of the Mayor
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Suite 316
Washington, DC 20004

Dear Mayor Fenty:

We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, are concerned about the potential impact of the recently announced revenue shortfall on services that DC residents rely upon. We encourage you to work with the DC Council to develop a plan that balances the budget while maintaining key investments that support residents, build strong neighborhoods, and invest in the future health and vitality of the District.

Addressing the new revenue shortfall will require the District’s leaders to make increasingly difficult budget decisions. Falling revenue collections already required $800 million in budget-saving measures in the FY 2010 budget, including cuts in virtually every DC agency. The new shortfall — totaling $340 million in FY 2009 and FY 2010 — means that an even wider range of gap-closing options will need to be considered.

In particular, we urge you and the DC Council to take steps to replace a portion of the city’s falling revenues, including using DC’s rainy day reserves and adopting revenue increases. This would be consistent with the actions taken in other states, most of which have tapped rainy day funds or adopted revenue increases this year, or both.

The following steps can help balance the District’s budget while limiting the impact on DC residents.

• Use Half of the Rainy Day Fund: Some 27 states have tapped their reserves recently, but the District has not. Using half of DC’s $330 million in rainy day reserves would cover roughly half of the $340 million shortfall for FY 2009 and FY 2010, while leaving some of the reserve for future years. The Mayor and Council also should start working now with Congress to eliminate numerous federal rules that make DC’s reserve far more restrictive than the rainy day funds in nearly every state, including a requirement to repay withdrawals in a very short time frame — two years.
• Tap Other Revenue Sources: The District’s budget includes a number of special-purpose funds that are financed by dedicated fees and taxes. Many of these funds currently have surpluses that should be used to help cover the budget shortfall. All dedicated funds should be considered, including the Ballpark Revenue fund and the Washington Convention Center Authority.
• Raise New Revenues: Fully half of all U.S. states have enacted revenue increases this year and 12 more are considering increases. The District should consider tax changes based on a number of factors, including those that would improve tax fairness or that would spread the costs partly to non-residents — such as imposing a sales tax on tickets to live performances. Tax changes should be structured to protect residents who are least able to absorb the additional burden and should instead fall as much as possible on those most able to pay.
• Preserve Safety Net Programs: DC’s unemployment rate is at the highest level in 25 years, and demand for public assistance benefits has risen significantly over the past year. Given the rise in need, the District should avoid cutting services that help with basic necessities like housing, healthcare, and food assistance. Cutbacks in safety net programs can prove to be "penny wise and pound foolish" by increasing hardship, reducing residents' buying power, and creating the need for more costly emergency services.
  

We welcome the opportunity to discuss these recommendations with you in more detail. Thank you.

Free Training Call: The Influential Fundraiser

The Network for Good Learning Center is hosting a free training call on Tuesday, July 14 at 1 p.m. on "The Influential Fundraiser: Using Psychology & Neurology to Win Over Donors."

Click here to learn more about, or register for, this session.