Approaching The Ice Bucket Challenge

(From the Sept. 16, 2014 Non-Profit Roundtable)

This summer’s Ice Bucket Challenge took the country, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the nonprofit world by storm. A recent YouTube search yielded 10.8 million results. Searching #IceBucketChallenge on Twitter is still yielding new responses and comments. According to the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Association website, the national organization has received $115 million in Ice Bucket Challenge donations from approximately 3 million donors, most of whom are new to the organization. This does not count those who made their donations to local chapters. To put that into perspective, the ALS Association’s annual budget is typically around $25 million per year of which only $8.4 million comes from individuals. That financial windfall of the challenge is more than 13 times the amount they normally receive.

Throughout the NonProfit community the whisperings of How can we do that? floated in the air, sometimes said aloud, and sometimes indicated that nonprofit leadership of a large number of organizations would do well to figure out a way to copy the success.

At the September NonProfit Roundtable, attendees studied the fundraising phenomenon and discussed if and how there were ways to create or support an atmosphere for any organization to pursue such a fundraiser. Basically, we addressed three questions related to the Ice Bucket Challenge: a) can you engineer a miracle; b) how to use social media to its utmost; and c) how does one manage the finances (and donors) of an unexpected windfall?

We first acknowledged that the ALS Association did NOT launch or design this campaign; it was started by the family of a former Division 1 baseball player, Pete Frates, who is living with ALS. They posted a video of Pete being doused with ice water and tagged his friends from college who are now professional baseball players. He challenged three friends to either dump a bucket of ice water over their heads or donate $100 to ALS causes, and then invite three of their own friends to do the same. The dumping and challenge should be filmed and posted on Facebook. This modest endeavor exploded with millions of participants, including young children, some of whom didn’t even know the underlying purpose of the acrtivity. Hundreds of celebrities also participated, several creating humorous or sexually charged variations. Along the way, others began to take the ice bucket challenge and donate. Thousands just donated. Links to the Association’s donation page flew from individual to indivudal, fast and furious, with reminders that this was a fundraiser. Again and again, those with knowledge or experience about ALS acted to remind participants and potential participants why the challenge was undertaken.

Guest speaker Rona Fernandez, a senior consultant of Klein & Roth Consulting (www.kleinandroth.com) reminded everyone that The Ice Bucket Challenge was NOT engineered by any nonprofit. In her estimation there were several reasons it was successful:

1.   The activity was easy and fun

2.   Participating made people feel like they are part of something bigger

3.   The Ask was very specific ($100 or the ice water)

4.   The challenge was Celebrity-driven with a lot of star power

5.   The activity was related to the ALS Association’s mission and connected directly to the disease (like a bucket of ice water, ALS freezes a person’s muscles)

Fernandez also shared some basic information on the status of fundraising responses, noting that studies are showing that response rates to Email solicitations are going down and simultaneously there is an indication that direct mail is making a come back. She also shared how important it is to use Social media as a true conversation. If an organization wants to know what its constitutents and supporters are thinking about, they should ask them.

Can You Engineer A Miracle?

The basic answer, of course, is no. But meeting attendees discussed why this particular challenge caught on:

1.   It was fun and a little humiliating (connecting to the current craze promoted by America’s Funniest Home Videos)

2.   People don’t want to be left out

3.   There is a peer pressure component, with friends challenging and then following up with friends

4.   There is pride in doing something safe but scary

5.   Calling it a “challenge” made the fundraiser competitive

6.   The activity was connected to ALS Association’s mission, values and brand

7.   Timing (dumping ice over one’s head seems possible on a hot summer day)

8.   The activity was authentic – a person just did it

9.   It was physical and appealed to men and women

10. The challenge connected deeply to the Internet culture

How to Use Social Media to Its Utmost

Roundtable meeting attendees recognized that there were many ways to inappropriately use social media in response to this highly successful fundraising event, such as posting negative or misleading videos, writing disparaging comments about the ALS Association, or asking social media contacts to not participate in the Challenge and give instead to their own organizations. There are also great ways to applaud and support the Ice Bucket Challenge while also bringing positive awareness to one’s own organization.

Âna-Marie Jones, Executive Director of CARD - Collaborating Agencies Responding to Disasters, and co-chair of the NonProfit Roundtable, led a conversation about how to connect  to the Ice Bucket Challenge in a positive way via social media. Some of the most appropriate ways include:

1.   Congratulate the ALS Association online from your social media pages

2.   Participate in the Challenge as staff or as a whole organization

3.   Share about why the Ice Bucket Challenge matters to your agency, especially how your agency serves or connects to people with ALS or the agencies that serve people with ALS

4.   Cheer on and post about your donors, staffers, volunteers, or constituents as they participate in the Challenge

5.   Repost specific videos that spark your interest

6.   Offer a space to do the Challenge

Social media platforms work best when they are used for active engagement. When millions of pro-social people are positively engaging in a conversation, it is likely a good conversation for your agency to engage in.

The Ice Bucket Challenge provided a great opportunity for nonprofits to flex their social media muscles, help bring awareness to a good cause, and practice the art of leveraging proactive, pro-social behavior on a large scale.

Financial Management of an Unexpected Windfall

An unanticipated windfall of such an enormous amount ($115 million) can play havoc with an organization or an individual. First, there is the processing and acknowledgment of the 3 million donations. What is the best way to acknowledge donations? Individually? As a group? Publicly? Personally? Then there is just what one organization can do with such a tremendous amount of unexpected and unbudgeted cash.

During the empowered introduction of the meeting, attendees shared what they would do if their organizations received an unexpected gift of $5 million. The answers were varied but fully within the scope and missions of the organizations represented. One organization seeking a new facility would put the money toward its capital campaign. Several would use a portion of the funds to strengthen programming. One would increase the number of constitutents it served. An  at-risk youth organization leader would create a college scholarship fund to pay for the education of its students. All agreed that some should be put away for longer term use and any immediate decision would come after a conscientious review of needs.

Barbara Newhouse, President and CEO of ALS FAssociation stated: “These funds will be used to fund cutting-edge research as well as care and support to people living with the disease. Now and in the coming weeks, we will be able to enhance our strategic plan, reformulating and recasting strategies with input from stakeholders, including our donors, our chapters, and most importantly, people living with ALS and their families. We want to move quickly but decisively as our ultimate goal is to use this incredible generosity in a way that has the biggest impact on fighting this disease.”

Similarly, management experts recommend taking time to create a strategic plan before rushing into spending or hiring, especially for groups that don't face an urgent time clock situation, as many disaster-relief agencies often do.

As for the immediate funds processing needs, the ALS Association relied on a handful of temps and a crew of volunteers from a senior center to help handle call volume and donations. The Association further created a special page on its web site and has made several public announcements and acknowledgments to the donors.

The Roundtable attendees agreed that there is no right way to respond, follow up or even ask again from this sort of fundraising phenomenon and exposure. As following the same practices that the organization has been following for years may not be of maximum benefit, the organization should develop ways to maintain ties with the donors.

Big thanks to Iryna Oreshkova of Iryna Accountancy (www.IrynaCPA.com) for bringing treats.

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Contacts:
Co-Chair Âna-Marie Jones, Executive Director of CARD (AMJ@CARDcanhelp.org)
Co-Chair Jerry Metzker, Development & Communications Professional (jmetzman@earthlink.net)

July's Nonprofit Roundtable: Successful Planning For Yourself

The importance of managing a professional’s own personal skills and knowledge was the featured conversation at the July 15 meeting of the Oakland Chamber NonProfit Roundtable. Like most, if not all, sectors, the nonprofit sector is managed and guided by professionals—managers, directors, fundraisers, marketers, program developers and leaders, HR personnel, IT experts and many others. As specialists in their fields, maintaining current skills is crucial for their respective organizations to pursue their missions and visions effectively.

What was the last class, workshop, webinar or conference you participated in? Who hosted it? Was it free or did you pay? How and why did you choose it?

While many of us are content with our jobs, positions and companies/organizations, others eventually want to move upward and outward. All wanted to continue to develop their skills, and none of those who attended the Roundtable meeting believed that s/he knew everything. So, in fact, we are all interested in strengthening our capabilities and keeping up with new trends, new technologies and new information that can positively impact or negatively impact us, whether we know it or not.

During our meeting, we addressed three questions:

What do professionals in your field need to know to be current?

Answers: Social media, volunteer management (especially how to address issues with volunteers), compliance and legal requirements, financial management (where is the money and how do you connect to it), learning knew storytelling styles and techniques, employee safety and readiness, state and local policies, internship management, payroll, workplace safety, GAP (general accounting practices), effective networking, evaluation on alignment with the organization’s goals, and community updates.

Where can you learn these kinds of things?

Answers: Foundation Center (www. http://foundationcenter.org/sanfrancisco), Vocus (www.vocus.com), CompassPoint (www.compasspoint.org), Constant Contact (www.constantcontact.com), Chambers of Commerce (www.oaklandchamber.com), CARD (www.CARDcanhelp.org), California Association of NonProfits (www.calnonprofits.org), local Toastmasters Clubs (www.toastmasters.org), Association of Fundraising Professionals (www.afp-ggc.org), Planned Giving Council (www.ncpgcouncil.org), Taproot Foundation (www.taprootfoundation.org), East Bay Community Foundation (www.ebcf.org), Volunteer Center of the East Bay (www.volunteereastbay.org), and Volunteer Match (www.volunteermatch.org) to name only some.

What affiliations – professional associations—exist for your field?

Answers: American Society of Association Executives (www.asaecenter.org), Development Executives roundtable (www.dersf.org), and Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (www.calvoad.org) to name a few.

Many of those listed provide free or low-cost trainings and workshops, as well as send out regular newsletters of other learning and conference opportunities. The importance of professional development and lifelong learning cannot be emphasized more strongly—for both personal and professional stability and growth.

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Have you been intrigued, startled or perhaps even jealous by the tremendous success of the Ice Bucket Challenge that has captivated the nation and the world? Have you wondered how your organization could implement such a successful campaign? Do you think that the Challenge has been an act of fundraising terrorism on the nonprofit community? Please join the co-chairs and other members of the Oakland area nonprofit community at the September meeting to a thorough discussion of the matter. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 16, 2014 from 2:30pm - 4:30pm at the Oakland Chamber of Commerce, 475 14^th Street, Oakland, CA.

Also, if you would like to promote your organization, please bring a door prize or some snacks.

Contacts:
Co-Chair Âna-Marie Jones, Executive Director of CARD (AMJ@CARDcanhelp.org)
Co-Chair Jerry Metzker, Development & Communications professional (jmetzman@earthlink.net)

Chamber Liaison Nikki Mendez, Membership Director (nikki@oaklandchamber.com)

May Flowers: Volunteers Are the Treasures of NonProfits

NonProfit Roundtable Blog

May 20, 2014

By Jerry Metzker, Nonprofit Roundtable Co-Chair and Development & Marketing Manager of Biotech Partners

For community benefits organizations and agencies, public projects, and community action initiatives, individuals who freely devote themselves, their skills and their time can be the life’s blood of an activity, and sometimes the organizations themselves. At its May meeting, the Chamber’s NonProfit Roundtable addressed the many aspects of volunteers and volunteering for the community. These included how to look for volunteers, engage them, train them, support them and thank them.

Volunteers are individuals who undertake tasks for an organization but are not paid, including such persons as board and committee members, pro bono consultants, people who are assigned community service, unpaid interns and students volunteering for class credit. In 2012, 26% of Americans volunteered, more women than men, and mostly in the 35-44 year-old range with 33% of all volunteers in youth services.

The meeting featured Jayne Cravens of Coyote Communications (www.coyotecommunications.com), an internationally-recognized consultant, researcher and trainer. Her work focuses on communications, volunteer involvement, community engagement, and management for nonprofits, NGOs and government initiatives. She has a decade of international experience, and extensive experience regarding community and institutional development. Cravens is a pioneer regarding the research, promotion and practice of virtual volunteering, including virtual team work, online mentoring, microvolunteering and crowdsourcing. She has worked extensively with multicultural audiences, corporate audiences, United Nations agencies, national and international agencies, international aid workers, low-income communities, and those who are traditionally socially-excluded. She is also co-author of the book, The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook.

During her presentation, Cravens covered many aspects of volunteering. Her suggestions include: 1) organizations should use their own strengths, mission and stories as recruitment tools; 2) think about why people want to volunteer, nothing that many people respond because they are angry about something and want to do something productive to address or fix the situation; 3) different people have different reasons for volunteering, and many of them go after what they are passionate about; 4) look for ideas from other organizations and volunteer services and try them; 5) beware of anti-volunteer positions, such as those held by individuals displaced after disaster or internships.

She also noted how important it is to value volunteers as individuals who are engaging with you in your mission or activity. They are not helpers because the organization cannot afford to pay workers. In fact, Cravens strongly recommends avoiding talking about monetary considerations at all. She also encouraged organizations and agencies that use volunteers to create a mission statement for volunteers.

In addition, developing a range of volunteer engagement and opportunities under the mission is crucial. These may include volunteer roles (such as board and committee members that have very specific requirements), length of time necessary (for example, a youth mentor is expected to dedicate her/himself to the youth for a minimum of nine consecutive months), location of activities (onsite, online) and skills needed. As many people like to work from home, do you have opportunities that satisfy this interest?

She concluded with the reminder that volunteering is a way to engage people in your mission and activity; the best way to satisfy them and utilize their potential is to help them enjoy it.

John Alyosa of CASA – Court Appointed Special Advocates (www.casaofalamedacounty.org) – shared his experiences as a volunteer coordinator for that agency on how to maximize volunteer time. The best practices he shared include establishing goals, recruitment protocols, screening processes, training, supervision guidelines and ongoing engagement. He also shared ways to identify volunteers, such as having an inquiry process via an app or website, being listed in search engines (such as Volunteer Match), referrals and, crucially, word-of-mouth.

For any organization, determining how volunteers fit requires some thought and strategy. Alyosa recommends establishing requirements/guidelines, noting if the position is independent or supervised (and how much supervised) and creating an application process. For anyone working with youth, fingerprinting, TB testing and background checks are essential (and in many cases, required by law).

Working with volunteers follows many of the same protocols as those applied to paid employees, such as orientation, training and support; welcoming them warmly; identifying their immediate supervisor; establishing a reporting structure; and giving constructive and corrective feedback. Whether they have good or bad experiences, during and after, volunteers are spokespersons for the organization. It behooves the organization to be respectful and honorable in all of its dealings with them.

The meeting also featured an exercise on acknowledgment led by NonProfit Roundtable co-chair Âna-Marie Jones of CARD (www.CARDcanhelp.org). In this exercise, each participant wrote one or two different things that s/he had accomplished and was proud of. Then Jones divided the attendees into pairs of two, in which the partners swapped their cards. The recipient read the card, turned it over and wrote on the other side why s/he was pleased by the accomplishment or how important that contribution is. Then the partners shared aloud with each other both the contribution and the appreciation.

To learn more about volunteering and volunteer appreciation, check out www.volunteermatch.org, www.volunteereastbay.org, www.compasspoint.org and www.coyotecommunications.com.

 

Thank you, also, to Iryna Oreshkova of Iryna Accountancy (www.irynacpa.com) for bringing the treats.

 

 

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Events are critical to the success of nonprofits. Whether it's a classic fundraiser, an open house, a training or workshop, or simply sponsoring a happy hour to have your friends and supporters get together, these events allow people to experience us and embrace our work. Come join us at the Nonprofit Roundtable on Tuesday, June 17th, 2:30pm - 4:30pm, to go deep into making events work for our agencies. Presenters include Kathryn Weber, Corporate Partnership and Events Manager of Alameda County Community Food Bank, Maren Amdal, CAE, Executive Director of CFA Society and Roundtable Co-chair Jerry Metzker, Development & Marketing Manager of Biotech Partners. If you have an upcoming event, please come prepared to share about it! Also, we gratefully welcome door prizes and snacks.

 

Contacts:
Co-Chair Âna-Marie Jones, Executive Director of CARD (AMJ@CARDcanhelp.org)
Co-Chair Jerry Metzker, Development & Marketing Manager of Biotech Partners (jmetzker@biotechpartners.org)

Chamber Liaison Nikki Mendez, Membership Director (nikki@oaklandchamber.com)

 

 

 

August Non-Profit Roundtable Discussion

Teaching and learning will be the featured conversation at this Tuesday’s (August 21, 2012) Non-Profit Roundtable. We believe we all have knowledge and experiences that can be shared to benefit each other, and this will be a great opportunity to teach and learn. The Non-Profit Roundtable provides the opportunity for those in the non-profit service sector and all other businesses to network and support each other in strengthening and growing the Oakland community. Please join us on Tuesday, August 21, from 2:30-4:30 pm in the Oakland Chamber Boardroom.

For more information, contact:

Jerry Metzker

Development & Marketing Manager
Biotech Partners
ph: 510-705-7324
fax: 510-705-5237
email: jerry.metzker@bayer.com
web: www.biotechpartners.org

Why Non-Profits are profitable for Oakland

By Jerry Metzker

Co-chair of Non-Profit Roundtable and
Development & Marketing Manager of Biotech Partners

The word “charity” is often a misnomer, and yet that is the word that pops into most people’s heads when we think of “non-profits.” In addition, “non-profit” often carries with it the common and diminishing belief of sameness. Frequently, non-profit companies and organizations are listed together, as if their primary business was, in fact, being “non-profit.”

A review of the non-profit organizations that are members of the Oakland Chamber of Commerce, however, reveals a breadth and depth in focus, service and business. First, approximately 15% of all Oakland Chamber of Commerce members fall under the IRS status of “non-profit.” These roughly 200 businesses run in size from employing a handful of employees focused on a specific service or activity to the largest private sector employer in Oakland. While many are specifically local, others are regional, national or even international.

Non-profits are service organizations for children and youth, seniors, people with disabilities or illnesses, the unemployed, homeless and disadvantaged; they are arts organizations and museums; social and civic clubs and associations; schools (from pre-school programs through universities), churches, synagogues, mosques and religious communities; cultural organizations; zoos and science centers; health care providers (including Kaiser and Children’s Hospital); credit unions; City CarShare, AAA and even the Oakland Chamber of Commerce.

A person wouldn’t classify a restaurant, farm, trucking company and supermarket as the same type of business, because they merchandise in food. Yet that same person would lump a school, health organization and orchestra under the giant umbrella of “non-profit.” Simply, to be a non-profit is to be a legal corporation with a specific IRS tax status.

Not only do non-profits provide valuable and necessary services to our communities, but they also provide thousands of jobs and pour millions of dollars into local economies. Non-profit companies also make our communities better places to live and prosper. Imagine Oakland without its world-class zoo, the Paramount, Chabot Space & Science Center, Children’sHospital, the Oakland Museum or the Chamber of Commerce.

Non-profit companies and organizations are integral to the positive fabric of our community, and the Oakland Chamber’s Non-profit Roundtable invites all those that are interested in interfacing and networking with this valuable collection of local businesses on the third Thursday of each month, from 2:30-4:30 p.m. in the Oakland Chamber boardroom.

Member Spotlight: Progressive Transitions

The Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce congratulates Chamber Member Progressive Transitions for their Award for Public Service!

Norma Ward, CEO Progressive Transitions - Jefferson Award for Public Service - Interviewed by Kate Kelly  CBS/Channel 5 

Greetings: I was nominated and am blessed to be the recipient of the Jefferson Award for Public Service. This is an award that was started in 1972 and founded by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

, U.S. Senator Robert Taft, Jr. and Sam Beard.

I was interviewed by Kate Kelly from CBS/Channel 5 and it will be aired on the following times and dates listed below.  I hope you will tune in. The dates and times are as follows:

1) October 12, Wednesday on Eyewitness News @ 6 p.m.

2) October 13^th, Thursday on Eyewitness News at 12:00 noon

3) October 15^th, Saturday on CBS 5 Early Edition mornings

It will also be on KCBS All News 740 AM and FM and 106.9 on

1) October 12th Wednesday at 6:50 p.m. 9:40 p.m. and 11:50 p.m.

2) October 16^th Sunday at 11:50 a.m. and 3:50 p.m.