Posted in NewsNotes Archive
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Dear Friends of NEW:
Special guest will be Barbara Jean Patton, chief service officer for Detroit. Her charge is to develop and implement a citywide plan to increase volunteerism, as well as target volunteers to address the city's needs. The groups participating are doing the "heavy lifting" in our community during these tough times. They're feeding, clothing, housing, greening, and nurturing our most vulnerable citizens through some pretty rough realities. We're looking for individuals who will help serve these deserving missions by joining boards or committees. Help us spread the word about the rewards of giving back. Organizations attending:
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October 2010
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| LEAD STORY | |||
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Building Sustainability: Earned Income for Your Nonprofit? There is much talk these days about social enterprise and about building nonprofit sustainability with earned income. This article will discuss what these terms mean, why earned income might be important to your organization, and what your next steps might be. There are many definitions of Social Enterprise. For our purposes, a social enterprise is an organization that uses its profits to further social or environmental missions – also known as a mission-driven, as opposed to a profit-driven, organization. A social enterprise can have either a for-profit or nonprofit structure. Earned income for nonprofits simply means compensation in exchange for products or services. If you earn money by selling goods or services, that is earned income. If you take the profits from that income (what's left after you pay the cost of getting it) and use them to further your nonprofit mission, you have a social enterprise. So, how can people who run a nonprofit keep focus on their mission when they are distracted by managing a business and making profits? Every organization, for-profit or nonprofit, needs to bring in at least as much money as it spends – or it will go out of business. The question is simply whether your revenue is earned or donated. The more revenue you earn, the more control you have, and the easier it is to smooth out your income stream and run a more predictable and sustainable organization. The main idea is to align your core competencies with marketplace opportunities in order to simultaneouslygenerate earned income andexpand your social or environmental impact.
There are tax rules for earned income for nonprofits to ensure that you use your profits to serve a mission. If you stick to earned income programs that align with and serve your mission, you will steer clear of conflicts. It is always wise to check with your legal/accounting advisors to make sure your plans will protect your 501(c)x status. The movement toward more earned income for nonprofits is being driven by a number of factors:
• Macro economic conditions are driving up the need for services typically provided by nonprofits The list of benefits is even longer:
• More funds means you GET MORE DONE! There are two main strategies for earned income. Consider an organization-wide earned income strategy, where your entire mission or operation is involved, or a program-oriented strategy, where a single program can drive revenue for itself or for the organization. Income earned can cover all or just part of a program's costs. As you think about your strategy and what services or products you could provide, it is critical that you choose a strategy and tactics that align with your mission. Then not only will you avoid drifting away from your mission, but you will be more successful because you are still doing what really matters! Some examples of earned income include:
• Fee for services: NEW In this short space, we cannot delve into the details of building an earned income stream within your organization*, so we provide just this high level outline:
• Bring together your organizational capabilities, mission and vision.
• Brainstorm around your mission, what you are good at and what resources do you bring to bear.
Here are a few “gotcha's” to watch for:
• Managing the “business” can take time and can cause distraction For many nonprofits, earned income is a great way to become self-reliant, build long-term sustainability, increase effectiveness and even create more jobs!
See you next month for the very last article in the series!
Rosemary Bayer is Chief Inspiration Officer for ardentCause, L3C, a company dedicated to helping nonprofits increase capacity through operational performance improvement and the adroit use of technology. She has 25 years in the Information Technology industry, and excels at inspiring varied groups of people to pursue a common vision, as well as problem solving and inventing. Experienced in both for-profit and not-for-profit ventures, she was a founder of the non-profit Michigan Council of Women in Technology (now 650-plus members) and founder and president of the MCWT Foundation. Lee Gorman, the founder of Barton Consulting Services, LLC, is an insightful, results-oriented executive with over 25 years of diverse experience in strategic planning, product planning, implementation and leadership. She has particular expertise in assisting organizations to understand and articulate their missions, visions, and values statements, and then to develop specific goals and strategic priorities. She has demonstrated this proficiency in health care, educational, automotive, and other for-profit and non-profit businesses. |
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| EVENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS | |||
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Crain's Job Creation and Workforce Development Conference:
National Philanthrophy Day
An evening to celebrate philanthropy and volunteerism. Please RSVP by November 8.
Michigan League for Human Services: Looking Back, Moving Forward Save the date. More information to come. Will feature Michigan tax and budget expert, Gary Olson, the retiring director of the nonpartisan Senate Fiscal Agency. |
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| NEWS YOU CAN USE | |||
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New Report - Despite Gloomy Jobs Picture, Michigan Nonprofit Employment Grows The University of Michigan Development Summer Internship Program (D-SIP) hopes to place Dobson Interns at four nonprofits in Washtenaw County for the summer of 2011. These four-days-a-week positions are fully-funded through the generosity of friend and adviser Molly Dobson. Feedback from past ‘host’ programs has been very positive. Read more. The deadline for organizations to apply for the 2011 summer program is Tuesday, October 26 at noon, using an online form. |
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| UPCOMING TRAININGS | |||
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Coaching as a Leadership Development Strategy WEBINAR
High Impact Grants This three-day course will teach you how to tell your story in a powerful way. Learn how to describe the impact of your programs. More information and registration.
How to Start a Fundraising Program from Scratch
For the nonprofit executive with three or more years experience. More information.
Strategic Decision Making at the Kresge Foundation
One of the Executive to Executive series programs. More information and registration.
A two-day mini-course open to all. More information in this pdf file.
Housing Counseling Seminar
A panel of community experts will discuss the housing crisis and offer strategies and solutions to avoid foreclosure. Please RSVP: 734-997-1678 or
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
. More information. Covers important aspects of recruiting new members for a nonprofit's board of directors including recruitment planning, identifying and cultivating candidates, and electing new members.
Google offers a variety of free and affordable tools and services for nonprofits. Come learn how to improve your productivity.
Media Mastery Bootcamp
A two-day intensive workshop. Learn what it takes to be great on camera and have reporters, bloggers, producers and editors coming back for more. More information and registration.
It's all about relationships! More information and registration. Join a seasoned board member in a fast-paced 1.5 hour session about ways to get your board to be better ambassadors. Learn how to jump start their involvement in raising money. |
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Office Space Available
Tired of working out of your basement? Rent space at the NEW Center in Ann Arbor. There
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Free Furniture
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This bears repeating! Last chance! We hope we've reached you with this important information. |
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Thank you to supporters of NEW |
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We're excited about our upcoming board matching event 
Some familiar examples of organizations that earn income include the 
Fall into Service 
