Nonprofit Startup Jumpstart Program

Every so often someone comes up with something that leaves you scratching your head and saying "Hmmm...why didn't I think of that?"  Sandy Rees has done just that.  She has put together the Nonprofit Startup Jumpstart Program and every part of it is fabulous!  I think the name is misleading because even if your nonprofit has been around a while, there's a lot you can take away from this program.  I looked over her curriculum and I just had to post it, there's so much good information there.  BTW, Sandy did not pay me anything to provide these compliments, I just know good material and expertise when I see it.  Bunnie

Dear Nonprofit Founder,

You’ve taken a brave step! You’ve identified a need and decided to do something about it. My hat’s off to you!  I know it’s likely been something very personal for you.

You’ve poured your heart and soul into starting a new nonprofit. You’re so excited about helping people in need, and now you realize there’s a business side of the organization to run and money to raise. Ugh. This is not what you had in mind when you launched your new organization! You’ve probably got more questions than answers. And not sure who to turn to for information and guidance.

Are any of these questions rolling around in your mind?

■Where do I start? There’s so much to do!

■How do I find good Board members. I just need people. Now!

■Do I need to find an attorney to be on our Board? And maybe an accountant?

■How do I spread the word about my good cause?

■How can I get something on TV or in the newspaper about my new nonprofit?

■How do I raise money without begging or annoying people?

■How can I possibly compete with the big nonprofits in town?

Let me help you with my Nonprofit Startup Jumpstart program

I will take you by the hand and personally walk you through the process of getting everything started and running so you can raise awareness of your organization and begin fundraising.

I’ll save you time. No reinventing the wheel. No wondering what will work. I’ll give you tips and shortcuts for proven techniques. No more losing sleep over which fundraiser will work best for you. No more stressful decisions about which Board members will be a good fit.

I’ll share resources with you. I’ll tell you which books to read, which websites to spend time on, and which newsletters you should be reading.

I’ll answer every question you can come up with. If there’s something I don’t know the answer to, I’ll ask one of my colleagues in my vast nonprofit network.

I know this is not just a job. This is your passion! This is your calling! And I want to help you get it off and running as quickly and as efficiently as possible.

Why me?

I’ve been helping small nonprofits get up and running in their fundraising, marketing, and Board Development for years. I’ve worked with so many small nonprofits that I know what works and what doesn’t. I can help you avoid the common pitfalls that slow down the growth of many worthwhile organizations. I get so excited helping groups like yours and I genuinely want to see you succeed. I know you have big work to do and if I can help you get off the ground faster, then you can be about changing peoples’ lives.

Here’s what you get in the Nonprofit Startup Jumpstart:

There are 4 main pieces to this unique program: education, coaching, accountability, support.

Education.

Each month for 5 months, you’ll have access to a recorded webinar that you can watch at your leisure. I’ve included my outline for the educational content here so you can see what you’ll learn.

1.Boards (September)

A.Roles & Responsibilities

B.Recruiting (Skills matrix)

C.Governance

D.Fundraising

2.Marketing & Communications/Getting the Word Out/Telling your story (October)

A.Key messages

B.Target audiences

C.Website

D.Newsletters

E.Speaking engagements

F.Working with the Media

3.Get ready to fundraise (November)

A.Mindset

B.Case for Support

C.Mission statement

D.Vision statement

E.Understanding Fundraising

i.Donor Pyramid

ii.Diversified revenue streams

F.Infrastructure

i.Donor tracking software

ii.Systems

G.Budget

H.Permits for fundraising, 501c3

I.Volunteers

4.Grantwriting (December)

A.Research

B.What to ask for

C.How much to ask for

D.Writing tips

E.Follow up

5.Individual donor development (January)

A.Where to find donors (target audience)

B.Build your list

C.How to ask

i.House parties

ii.Champion letters

iii.Ask/Friendraising events

iv.Online fundraising

As you can see, there’s a LOT of content!! I’m going to give you exactly what you need to move forward in each area.

I’ll also be providing you with handouts, including checklists, worksheets, templates, and sample documents.

The Nonprofit Startup Jumpstart program will start in September and continue on through January 2011.

Coaching. Each month, you’ll get to join me live on a Q&A call with your fellow program participants. We’ll talk about where you are and what you’re doing. You can ask any question you like and you’ll get to hear what others are doing. I find that there’s tremendous benefit in this group dynamic! You’ll likely learn more from each other than you will from me! If for some reason you can’t make the Q&A call, don’t worry. I’ll record them and share the recording with you so you can listen in.

Accountability. Each month, you can participate in an Accountability Day. This is a fantastic activity if you’re feeling a bit stuck on any topic. The Accountability Day works like this: I’ll tell you the date of the Accountability Days in advance. Early that day, you’ll check in with me via email or Facebook chat and tell me what you want to get accomplished that day. You’ll go do the work, then come back later and tell me what you got done. It sounds so simple, but it’s very powerful! If you’re having trouble getting something done, I can talk with you about what’s getting in the way and help you get moving again.

Support. You’ll have 24/7 access to me through email and a private Facebook group. I’ll be available to answer questions or give you a word of encouragement during the program. I’ll be your biggest cheerleader and supporter, urging you forward. If you get frustrated or need a listening ear, I’ll be here to listen to you and help you.

Obviously, I’m offering a LOT of time to you in this program! To make sure I can give you the attention you want and need, I’m limiting the number of nonprofit participants in this group to 20. If you are a co-founder, you may both participant and still count as only one nonprofit participant.

Learn more about Sandy and this seminar at http://getfullyfunded.com/nonprofit-startup-jumpstart

How Does Charity Navigator Work?

Charity Navigator has long been a gold standard in evaluating the fiscal health and well being of Nonprofits. Now, more than ever, people are determined to make informed decisions about where their charitable dollars will go and whether the charity they are considering will spend their contribution wisely and efficiently. Ken Berger provides a glimpse into how Charity Navigator rates charities. Bunnie

How Does Charity Navigator Work?

by Ken Berger, President and Chief Executive Officer

Charity Navigator (www.charitynavigator.org) is the largest evaluator of charities in the United States. Our team of professional analysts has examined tens of thousands of non-profit financial documents. As a result, we know as much about the true fiscal operations of charities as anyone. We've used this knowledge to develop an unbiased, objective, numbers-based rating system to assess the financial health of over 5,400 of America's best-known mid to large sized charities.

CHARITY NAVIGATOR’S RATING SYSTEM

What Kinds of Charities Do We Rate?

Criteria are based on our goal to help individual donors.

• Tax Status: 501(c)(3) public charities.

• Sources of Revenue: Depend on support from private contributions (at least 33%).

• Type of Programs: All types of programs and Services.

• Length of Operations: At least 4 years.

• Location: All parts of the country.

• Size: America's largest charities.

HOW DO WE RATE CHARITIES?

Charity Navigator's rating system examines two broad areas of a charity's financial health – how it functions day to day as well as how well positioned it is to sustain its programs over time. Each charity is then awarded an overall rating, ranging from zero to four stars. To help donors avoid becoming victims of mailing-list appeals, each charity's commitment to keeping donors' personal information confidential is assessed. The site is easily navigable by charity name, location or type of activity.

It also features, among/other things, the CEO’s salary for each organization we evaluate, opinion pieces by Charity Navigator experts, donation tips, and top-10 and bottom-10 lists which rank financially efficient and inefficient organizations in a number of categories. Charity Navigator accepts no funding from the charities that we evaluate, ensuring that our ratings remain objective. Furthermore, in our commitment to help America's philanthropists of all levels make informed giving decisions, we do not charge our users for this data. Accordingly, Charity Navigator, a nonprofit 501 (c) (3) organization itself, depends on support from individuals, corporations and foundations that believe we provide a much-needed service to America's charitable givers.

The two broad areas of a charity’s financial health mentioned above are their organizational efficiency and their organizational capacity. We use a set of financial ratios or performance categories to rate each of these two areas, and we issue an overall rating that combines the charity's performance in both areas. Our ratings show donors how efficiently we believe a charity will use their financial support today, and to what extent the charities are growing their programs and services over time. We provide these ratings to help donors in the process of making intelligent giving decisions, and so that the philanthropic community can more effectively monitor itself.

At its most general level, our rating system is relatively simple. We base our evaluations on the financial information each charity provides in its informational tax return, or IRS Form 990. We use that information to analyze a charity's financial performance in seven key performance categories, described below. After analyzing those performance categories, we compare the charity's performance with the performances of similar charities. We then assign the charity a converted score ranging from zero to ten in all seven performance categories.

SEVEN PERFOMANCE CATEGORIES MEASURING FINANCIAL HEALTH

• Program Expenses: Percent of total functional expenses spent on programs and
  services (higher is better).


• Administration Expenses: Percent of total functional expenses spent on
  administration (lower is better).


• Fundraising Expenses: Percent of total functional expenses spent on fundraising
  (lower is better).


• Fundraising Efficiency: Amount a charity spends to raise $1(lower is better).


• Average Annual Growth of Operating Revenue: Measures growth of grants and contributions, revenue generated from programs and services, and membership fees and dues over 36 months.


• Average Annual Growth of Programs and Services: Measures growth of program expenses over 36 months.


• Working Capital Ratio: Determines how long a charity could sustain its level of spending using only its net liquid assets, as reported on its Form 990.

Contact Ken at http://www.charitynavigator.org/