Philanthropy Front and Center-Atlanta

Using Social Media for Development: Flash in the Pan or Wave of the Future?

In case you missed this lively program presented earlier this month by Kelly Hornbuckle, Manager of Marketing & Communications, Georgia Restaurant Association, you can view her presentation. (We will also have a recording of this program available in the video event archives section of our web site in the near future.)

Kelly talked about how nonprofit organizations can leverage Web 2.0 tools and do more with less. The program discussed using social media to find creative ways to drive your organizations’ missions forward; to increase donations with applications and widgets and to use search functionality to attract new donors with similar interests; to raise mission awareness through the viral nature of web 2.0 with measurable web traffic; and to mobilize volunteers using technology that makes recruiting and volunteering easier than ever. She referred to a helpful webinar available from Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta on the “Legal Issues of Social Networking.” 

You may also want to look at The Case Foundation’s web site which has a resource page with links and tutorials on social media sites for nonprofits.

Another resource comes from the Foundation Center-Washington DC’s  program “Facebook, Twitter, and Causes -- Are They Right for Your Organization?” In this program, three speakers discussed social media and how nonprofits can use these outlets to connect with their constituents and raise awareness of their message. Panelists included:
• Dahna Goldstein, Founder of Philantech, LLC
• Jocelyn Harmon, Director of Business Development for Triplex Interactive and blogger at Marketing for Nonprofits 
• Evan C. Parker, Manager of Digital Membership for The Nature Conservancy

You can find the slides for Dahna and Jocelyn's presentation and for Evan's presentation online. Here are some highlights from the program:
• The Pew Internet and American Life Project has compelling statistics on Internet use that can be useful in planning a social media strategy.
• Panelists reinforced the reality that social media helps you engage new audiences rather than turn them into immediate donors.
• Panel members had different opinions on which social media tools were most effective, but all agreed that picking a social media tool  based on which would appeal to your organization's primary audience is critical.

In case you were wondering, most people agree that social media tools are the wave of the future and not a flash in the pan. Please share your thoughts and experiences with social media.

Joanne Kepics, Regional Training Coordinator, Foundation Center-Atlanta

Resource Market for the Arts on October 5!

October is Funding for the Arts Month here at the Foundation Center-Atlanta.The kick-off event for the month will be a Resource Market for the Arts—a day to network with peers and learn about available funding, resources and services. Join us on Monday October 5 for the Market where representatives of local organizations who fund the arts and/or provide services to arts organizations will be available to answer your questions about their programs and chat one-on-one.

Preceding the Market at 12:00 pm, Adam Natale, Director of Membership and Program Development,  Fractured Atlas, and Jan Selman, Executive Director, ALL-Georgia, will discuss how advocacy can sustain funding for the arts.  Find out how you CAN influence politicians' decisions about the arts and how to wield your power and successfully advocate for arts funding and increase awareness of the impact of the arts and culture on communities.

Topics will include:
• Why advocacy is important for culture and arts nonprofits at the legislative and community levels
• Tips for strategic and effective advocacy
• Creating advocacy action plans

Listen to our podcast with Adam Natale about advocacy and about his organization.

When:
Monday, October 5, 2009
1:00 - 3:00 pm  Resource Market for the Arts:   
12-1:30 pm  Sustaining Arts Funding Through Advocacy:  

Where:
Rialto Center for the Arts
at Georgia State University
80 Forsyth Street NW
Atlanta, GA 30303

These events are cosponsored by the Foundation Center-Atlanta, Fulton County Arts Council, Alternate ROOTS, City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs, Georgia Council for the Arts, Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Fund and Southern Arts Federation.

Visit our calendar to register for our other programs and events in October:
•  Developing Your Communication Plan for Social Media, October 9, 11:00 am-12:30 pm
•  Professional Growth for Individual Artists: The Business of Art, October 13, 5:30-7:00 pm
•  Beyond Survival: Collaboration, Partnerships and Sustainability, October 15, 2:00-3:30 pm
•  Public Art Project Proposal Writing, October 20, 6:30-8:00 pm
•  So You Gotta Wheelchair Ramp...What Next?, October 22, 10:00 am-12:00 pm

Kayron Bearden, Reference Librarian, Foundation Center-Atlanta

More Chirps about Twitter

I was reading during lunch today, and happened to pick up the Nonprofit Times.  In the September 15, 2009, edition, there is an interesting article about nonprofits and Twitter.  In “What’s All the Chirping?”, the author looks at the uses of Twitter by nonprofits to “make friends and money.”  She cites examples from the American Red Cross Santa Barbara County chapter, the National Wildlife Federation, and the Best Friends Animal Society in Kahab, Utah.

The author also cites results from several studies of Twitter and other social media site usage.  According to a Nielsen Company survey, unique visitors to Twitter jumped from almost 1 million in June 2008 to 21 million in June 2009.   And according to The Nonprofit Social Network Survey Report, over than 43 percent of survey respondents had a Twitter presence.

One of the conclusions in the article that I found interesting is that nonprofits shouldn’t “think like an organization.”  That it, don’t use Twitter just to repost your press releases or send out links.  There needs to be a personal touch that turns the tweet into part of a conversation—not just used for self-promotion.  And that may be hard to do for some of us as nonprofits…

You can follow us on Twitter to see how we do at FCAtlanta for news and updates from the Foundation Center-Atlanta, or at our other Twitter feeds:

• fdncenter - Main Foundation Center feed
• FC_econcrisis - Updates from our Focus on the Economic Crisis
• pndblog - Current news items from Philanthropy News Digest
• FCCleveland - News and updates from the Foundation Center-Cleveland
• FCNewYork - News and updates from the Foundation Center-New York
• FCSanFrancisco - News and updates from the Foundation Center-San Francisco
• FCWashington - News and updates from the Foundation Center-Washington (DC)

Kayron Bearden, Reference Librarian, Foundation Center-Atlanta

Next Week at the Foundation Center-Atlanta: September 28 - October 2

October is Funding for the Arts Month at the Foundation Center! Look for the symbol on our October calendar to find special programs for individual artists and arts organizations.

We invite you to our classes this upcoming week:

Tuesday, September 29, 10:00-11:15am
How to Approach a Foundation

Wednesday, September 30, 10:00-11:00am
Introduction to Corporate Giving

Thursday, October 1, 9:00am-4:00pm
Foundation Fundraising: An Introductory Course
$125

Friday, October 2, 10:00-11:30am
Before You Seek a Grant: A Checklist for New Nonprofits

Friday, October 2, 3:00-4:15pm
How to Approach a Foundation

Unless otherwise noted, the classes above are free to attend, but registration is required. For programs offered over the next three months, please see our Events Calendar.

Can't visit the Foundation Center this week? Check out our webinars.

Use our library:

• Search Foundation Directory Online Professional and other research tools for free


• Borrow books about nonprofit management and fundraising


• Ask our staff of experts for information assistance

We're open to the public Monday through Friday, 10am-5pm (first Tuesdays of each month, 10am-8pm). No appointment is necessary. See our web site for directions and parking information.

Stephen Sherman, Reference Librarian, Foundation Center-Atlanta

Resource Market for the Arts

Join us on Monday, October 5, from 1-3 pm at the Rialto Center for the Arts at Georgia State University for our annual Resource Market for the Arts.  Over 25 agencies who provide resources, services and/or funding to arts organizations and artists will be available to describe their services and answer your questions. 

Preceding the Market at 12:00 pm, Adam Natale, director of membership and program development at Fractured Atlas, and Jan Selman, executive director of the Arts Leadership League of Georgia (ALL-GA), will present Sustaining Your Arts Organization Through Advocacy. Learn how to bolster your organization's case for funding through arts promotion and advocacy. The discussion will include why advocacy is important for culture and arts nonprofits at the legislative and community levels, tips for strategic and effective advocacy, and creating advocacy action plans.

Check our October calendar for information about our other programs during Funding for Arts Month in October. And at our web site you'll find Focus on Arts Funding — a "one-stop shop" of free, easily accessible information including an interactive U.S. map of arts grantmaking, podcasts, research reports, and helpful links.

Kayron Bearden, Reference Librarian, Foundation Center-Atlanta

Hurricane Katrina: Where Did the Money Go?

Despite my aching legs and feet from all of the walking, my husband and I had a blast celebrating our fifth anniversary in New Orleans. I thought four years would be enough time to rebuild homes and fix the damaged ones. Instead, I found myself wondering, “Where did the money go?” 
 

The Foundation Center attempts to answer this question in its newly released report: Giving in the Aftermath of the 2005 Gulf Coast Hurricanes (2007-2009). According to the report, economic and community development has now “captured the largest share of ongoing foundation support dollars (24 percent) and the second largest share of grants (18 percent).” This represents a shift in the focus of service providers and grantmakers from immediate relief to recovery and rebuilding.  You can find this report and a wealth of other information at the Focus on Gulf Coast Hurricane Relief area of our web site.

I’m glad this shift is taking place. When I toured the Ninth Ward, I saw a sea of abandoned homes, empty home lots, battered FEMA trailers, and makeshift signs of remembrance and pleas for help. I was sorely disappointed and hurt to see what little had been done to rebuild the area, so I am glad to see that grantmakers are now more aggressively directing funds to rebuilding those communities.

Although rehabilitation will take years, I saw evidence of glaring success initiated by celebrities. The tour guide showed us Brad Pitt’s housing development from his Make It Right Foundation New Orleans. We also saw the Musician’s Village, a powerful partnership between Branford Marsalis, Harry Connick, Jr., and Habitat for Humanity. It was refreshing to see these new communities being reconstructed.
 
Now that I have seen parts of the aftermath with my own eyes, I realize that I probably wouldn’t have been near the Ninth Ward had I traveled to New Orleans prior to Katrina, unless I was visiting someone.
 
You would never know the devastation that wrecked the city if you stay downtown or in the Quarter. When you don’t have to look at the devastation daily, it’s easy to ignore the fact that more help is needed in less affluent areas. Even though billions have been donated, affected parts of the city still have a long way to go to rebuild.
 
Here is how you can help.

Asia M. Hadley, Training Coordinator, Foundation Center-Atlanta

From the Answer Desk. Contingency and Scenario Planning: What's the Difference and How Do Nonprofits Get Started?

A: Both are structured ways for organizations to think about the future. In the context of planning, the terms "contingency" and "scenario" are sometimes used interchangeably. In simple terms, a contingency plan can be described as your organization’s “Plan B” or "worst case scenario" and is often tied to something specific, like a natural disaster. They are also sometimes called business continuity plans or disaster recovery plans. Scenario planning, on the other hand, is a “strategic planning method expressly developed to test the viability of alternative strategies," according to Mal Warwick in his book, Fundraising When Money is Tight. Warwick suggests six steps for creating an effective scenario plan, starting with exploring answers to the question, "What keeps you awake at night?," to draw out fundamental issues, and concluding with testing your strategic choices using “what-if” reasoning. Warwick describes scenario planning in detail and goes on to suggest Peter Schwartz’s classic 1991 book, The Art of the Long View, for further reading. (Listen to our February 2009 podcast with Mal Warwick here.)

In the July 2, 2009 Chronicle of Philanthropy article “Worst Case Scenarios,” author Ben Gose advocates that forming a contingency plan can help a nonprofit navigate the recession more successfully. Offering tips ranging from setting priorities and identifying "trip wires" (actions to take when revenues drop, for example), Gose cautions that organizations must come to terms with the fact that “painful decisions will still have to be made.” However, Mr. Gose goes on to note that during contingency planning “a charity may find that a program it considered cutting is in fact worth saving, and that finding can make a compelling story for donors.”

Additional resources:

Financial Scenario Planning for an Uncertain Future
Slides from a presentation made by Emil Angelica at the June 2009 annual conference of Dance USA.

Nonprofits Assistance Fund Scenario Planning Worksheet
A "step by step guide to nonprofit contingency planning."

ScenarioThinking.org
Open community on scenario thinking and scenario planning where you can publish scenarios, reflect on the planning processes and share online resources about scenario planning in a democratic and inclusive manner.

Do you have a question? Ask Us!

(This post is from Rob Bruno, Foundation Center librarian.)

Foundation Center Launches National Education Stimulus Initiative

The Foundation Center announced the launch of "Foundations for Education Excellence," a national initiative to engage philanthropic institutions and education leaders across the country in a unified, strategic drive to improve public education.

foundationcenter.org/educationexcellence, the web portal developed by the Foundation Center with a grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, was launched in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Education. It connects foundation funders in education to information and tools that will help them support ARRA's education reform goals.

"There is a unique window of opportunity in the coming weeks and months for private philanthropy to leverage its investment in education," said Bradford K. Smith, the Center's president. "Funders need fast-track tools to target areas of need and collaborate in new ways to improve educational opportunities across the country. The Foundation Center is ideally positioned to provide foundations with the knowledge platform needed to advance this process."

Read the full press release for details on the contents and uses of the portal.

Young Professional Groups: Creating Next Generation Donors and Organizational Evangelists

Getting involved in your community is not only good for your career, it’s good for your health. According to a 2007 research study by the Corporation for National & Community Service, “those who engage in volunteer activities are less likely to suffer from ill health later in life and may be introduced into a positive reinforcing cycle of good health and future volunteering.”

It’s not only good for the health of volunteers, but for the health of organizations as well. By establishing a young professionals group, nonprofits can capitalize on eager young talent ready and willing to serve. These talented emerging leaders share their passion with their peers. They give their time, talent, and treasure. As these young leaders mature professionally, they are often able to contribute at higher levels financially. Therefore, it is advantageous for organizations to cultivate these future major donors now.
 
Authors Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba conducted a year-long research project that led to "Creating Customer Evangelists,” a framework to create communities of influencers who drive sales or membership for a company or organization.
 
In the case of nonprofits, staff and volunteers sell a vision and program impact in the community. Young professionals often become organizational evangelists, sharing success stories about nonprofits with their peers and community. Here are some local organizations that are benefiting from having a young professionals group: 

• The Atlanta Opera
• Atlanta Urban League
• Boys and Girls Club of Metro Atlanta
• The Civic League for Regional Atlanta

We welcome your additions to this list.

Asia M. Hadley, Training Coordinator, Foundation Center-Atlanta

Next Week at the Foundation Center-Atlanta: September 21-25

Evening hours next week! We will be open until 8:00pm on Thursday, September 24.

We invite you to our classes this upcoming week:

Tuesday, September 22, 9:30-11:00am
Grantseeking Basics

Tuesday, September 22, 11:15am-12:15pm
Introduction to Foundation Directory Online

Wednesday, September 23, 10:00-11:15am
Introduction to Fundraising Planning

Thursday, September 24, 5:15-6:45pm
Proposal Writing Basics

Thursday, September 24, 7:00-8:00pm
Proposal Budgeting Basics

Friday, September 25, 2:30-4:00pm
How to Use Research to Get Noticed by Funders

The classes above are free to attend, but registration is required. For programs offered over the next three months, please see our Events Calendar.

Can't visit the Foundation Center this week? Check out our webinars.

Use our library:

• Search Foundation Directory Online Professional and other research tools for free


• Borrow books about nonprofit management and fundraising


• Ask our staff of experts for information assistance

We're open to the public Monday through Friday, 10am-5pm (first Tuesdays of each month, 10am-8pm). No appointment is necessary. See our web site for directions and parking information.

Stephen Sherman, Reference Librarian, Foundation Center-Atlanta