​Two of our colleagues were recognized for completing the Nonprofit Management certificate program.  ​Please join us in congratulating both of them on this accomplishment.  

​Welcome  to the C4NPR alumni community!

When friction is reduced between the Board of Directors and the Executive Director, nonprofits honor their mission and deepen the impact.

​Nonprofits produce their most effective work when leaders on the board, within the staff, and within the community are connected and communicating well.  Keeping these relationships fluid and open is important. This is easier said than done, however.

​Like those dinner parties when there are too many cooks in the kitchen all trying to craft their own menus, Boards and EDs may run into communication, structural, or relational barriers as they work to achieve the best for their nonprofit. If approached with intentionality, honesty, and interest in developing a collaborative relationship, EDs and Board Chairs can work together to align their structural processes and practices with their strategies and tactics to move the organization forward.

​The relationship between Board Chair and Executive Director is critically important for setting the tone of how the board and staff will work together to advance the nonprofit. Beginning with open conversations, consider discussing why each person is working and advocating for the organization, what work styles they prefer, and establish clear expectations of each other regarding communication and areas of leadership and responsibility. From deepening the relationship to revisiting board functions and structures, board chairs and ED’s can find ways to effectively communicate and thrive.

A major gift is different at every organization and to every donor.  My career in fundraising illustrates this point.I started my career in fundraising at the battered women’s shelter. We rarely received gifts over $1,000. Our first $10,000 gift was cause for major celebration! That was a MAJOR Gift. Any personal gift over $1,000 was a major gift there.
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Rutgers University was my next stop. There a major gift was $25,000 or more. Just down the road was Princeton University where Major Gifts didn’t start until $100,000 or more. I’m certain it’s $1 million or more now.

If you’re at a small organization, just getting started with personal giving and major gifts is enough of a challenge. It would be ridiculous to hold you to the standards of Princeton University.

​Let’s set some parameters for determining the size of major gifts at your organization.

​There are three important reasons for knowing how much a major gift is at your organization.

1. Donor Recognition
Special Donors get special recognition. Setting the Major Gift amount focuses your recognition efforts.
Knowing what a major gift is determines who gets recognition on things like Donor Walls.

Major Donors get personal recognition, like calls from a board member and a handwritten note from the executive director.
It’s nice to think that every single donor to your organization will receive a personal call and a handwritten note, but sometimes that’s simply not practical or even possible. Knowing your major gift levels will help you determine who must get the royal treatment.
You’ll want to acknowledge all donors, of course, but your major donors should always get VIP treatment.

2. Time Management 
Setting a major gift size helps you manage your time.  If it makes sense to go meet with a donor to ask them for $1,000, then that’s a major gift at your organization.
If you’re thinking, “No way!” then how about $10,000?
It’s a matter of time management. I don’t know many development directors who wouldn’t make time to visit with a donor to ask for $10,000.

Leadership level gift managers spend their time focused on donors who could give $1M or more, but we’re not quite there yet.

3. Accountability
The third reason for setting a major gift size is for accountability and tracking metrics. If your major gift levels start at $10,000, then you will be able to easily track how many $10,000 plus gifts you received this year.

​Now that we know some benefits of setting a major gift size, let’s determine what works at your organization.

Remember, gifts don’t have to be over six figures to be considered major, and they aren’t only for capital campaigns. There’s no better way to skyrocket your annual fund than to infuse it with some major gift power.
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This week’s action item will help you determine what constitutes a major gift at your organization.

Step 1: Run a list of your top donors.The simplest way to determine a major gift level is to run a list of your top 10 donors for the last 12 months. Exclude any foundations or corporations on the list. Let me say that again — you’ll want to eliminate any foundations or corporations from the list. (However, if you have donors who give from their family foundations without grant applications, it’s fine to include them.)

Also, exclude any extreme outliers or one-time gifts. In other words, if you received $100,000 from a bequest or in honor of someone, but it’s unlikely you’ll receive another gift of that level this year, don’t include it in your top 10.
Total up the donations from the top 10 donors (they may have given multiple times throughout the year – use their total giving in your calculation). Now divide by 10.

Step 2: Average your top 10.Take the average of the top ten donor’s totals from last year. Now round up to the nearest $5,000. If your average major gift level is $8,500, then round up to $10,000.

Remember, fundraising is an art and a science. In this case, there are no hard rules to determining what you consider a major gift at your organization.
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Be realistic yet optimistic when picking an amount. Be optimistic, because you’re growing your major gift program and you don’t want to play it too safe or small. Consider where you want to be 3 years from now, not simply where you are today. However, if you’ve never received a gift of over $1,000, then $25,000 is probably too high. Start with a more realistic number like $5,000.

LuCynthia Jones
​Leading Families Home

​Our colleague was awarded the Certificate in  Nonprofit Management.  ​Please join us in congratulating Gary on his accomplishment.  

​Welcome  to the C4NPR alumni community!

Gary Wiegand
​DECA Health

Program Brochure
Click here

Click here to apply now!

The online application closes March 16 at 11:59 pm
​

Erin Peterson
Tutor Smart

We are excited to announce the C4NPR 2018 Programming schedule.  In this short video, Associate Director Toni Shoola provides an overview of the opportunities  Click here to download the schedule one-pager and/or the full course catalog.

Questions about professional 
development opportunities?
Our Associate Director, Toni Shoola, can help you determine the best options available through The Center to reach your professional development goals.  Email Toni or call 419-241-9513

We welcome Al Onkka back to Toledo as a Thought Leader in the 2018 C4NPR Workshop Series.  Al opens the series with two workshops: Understanding Strategic Planning for Nonprofits (Jan 16)  and Facilitative Leadership (Jan. 17)

Our Associate Director, Toni Shoola, recently caught up with Al to tap into his experience and wisdom in the area of strategic planning with nonprofits.

Toni:  Strategic planning is a best practice.  What would you say are the benefits?

Al:  First off, nothing about strategic planning is easy and there are no shortcuts or quick answers. But the benefits outweigh the costs. Organizations that do strategic planning well have a clearer focus, stronger teams, empowered employees, and transparent management. 
 
Toni:  What are the impacts you have seen from organizations that have engaged in successful strategic planning?

Al:  How do we determine that a strategic plan was successful? In the end, it's the strength and impact of the organization. Strategic plans define the change an organization wants to make to be stronger and more impactful. Drawing an example from my work, one organization was anticipating both major changes in their environment and a key leadership transition. After strategic planning, they reorganized their structure to promote internal collaboration, weathered an election that put their national funding at risk, and managed an unanticipated leadership change, all while using the plan as a guide. The strategic planning sessions were the first time the board and staff had ever been together. Later, the staff told us that the these sessions kickstarted a cultural change in the organization. 
 
Toni:  From your experience, what are some common mistakes you have seen organizations make when it comes to strategic planning?

Al:  I see a few common nonprofit strategic planning mistakes. Usually, the people coming to me don't want to repeat them! Strategic plans fail when they aren't used. Any plan that is used is better than no plan. What contributes to a strategic plan gathering dust on a shelf? If organizations view strategic planning as a box to check, rather than a fundamental organizational activity, it won't be used. Likewise, many organizations are good at getting everyone together and completing a strategic plan, but they struggle with sustaining ongoing implementation planning. Then, everyone loses steam and feels like strategic plan was a failure. Strategic planning is an investment in the organization's future, but organizations often try to do strategic planning in the least amount of time when clearly more time would result in a better plan. Finally, organizations that don't include either the staff or the board in creating their strategic plan are missing a key voice and advocate. 
 
Toni: When you work with organizations, what are the predictors for success to optimize the strategic planning process?

Al:  Great question. This is really about assessing your capacity to use a strategic plan. It's one thing to check the box and do strategic planning. It's another thing to be able to use the strategic plan. Strategic planning is a management practice. Many nonprofits are not doing strategic management, they are doing survival management. They are being reactive to everything that's coming at them, rather than being proactive about what their direction is. This is just a reality in the sector that will never go away, but organizations that step out of reactive mode in order to strategic plan have a better chance of being proactive when possible. More specifically, organizations that understand that strategic and implementation planning are important and rewarding efforts and budget time and resources accordingly will be successful. In my work, we believe that organizations already have everything they need to strategic plan well, the challenge is to carve out the time and effort to do it.  

Toni:  Al, thank you for taking the time to share your wisdom and expertise in the area of strategic planning.  I can't wait for your upcoming workshop to take a deeper drive on the topic.
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Al Onkka is a principal consultant at Aurora Consulting, a Minnesota-based firm serving nonprofits. He works at the leadership level to help nonprofits plan for the future and evaluate their impact. Al has worked in the field of evaluation, promoting data-based decision-making and organizational learning, since 2009. He is inquisitive, analytical, good at connecting ideas, practical, and affable.
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Al earned his master’s degree in Evaluation Studies from UMN’s Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development. He recently served on the board of the Minnesota Evaluation Association and chaired the board of Rainbow Rumpus, a Minneapolis literary nonprofit.

​​Two of our colleagues were recognized for completing the Minority Executive Leadership Program.  ​Please join us in congratulating them on their accomplishment.  

​Welcome  to the C4NPR alumni community!

Kendra Smith
​Preferred Properties, Inc.

Regina Russell
​Area Office on Aging

Bonita Johnson
(Neighborhood Heath Association)

​​Congratulations to Kristal Barham (Mental Health and Recovery Service Board​) who was awarded her Certificate in Nonprofit Management.

We now welcome Kristal to our alumni community.

​Congratulations to Tonya Scherf (Camp Courageous & The Arc of NW Ohio, Inc.) who was awarded her Certificate in Nonprofit Management.

We now welcome Tonya to our alumni community.