Zimmerman Lehman : News and Workshops

News
For current news of interest to the nonprofit sector see below.

Upcoming Public Workshops by Zimmerman Lehman
These workshops are open to the public and hosted by different nonprofit resource centers. The fees are set by each center. Current workshops and details.

Alerts
For policy issues of concern to the nonprofit sector see below.

Test Your Nonprofit I.Q.
Each month ZimNotes features a nonprofit quiz. Regular ZimNotes readers should have no problem answering these questions; for those that get them wrong you may need to review older ZimNotes articles or check our free resources section.

CURRENT NEWS OF INTEREST TO THE NONPROFIT SECTOR

Feeling the Squeeze
Bob Zimmerman is quoted in Chronicle of Philanthropy about Capital Campaigns: "Feeling the Squeeze: some capital campaigns falter as the economy sours." Bob remains optimistic "that campaigns can be successful now. The economic downturn is hurting nonprofits but not in the way most of them think. They take the downturn as an excuse not to do fund raising. I hear a lot of whining and moaning about the economy, but the best way not to raise money is not to ask for it." For full article you may need a subscription to access.

Internet is Changing Philanthropy, Advocacy, and Politics
Convio sponsored and recorded a panel discussion on Converging Campaigns: How the Internet is Changing Philanthropy, Advocacy, and Politics with Facebook, Rock the Vote, Nationwide Grassroots, American Cancer Society and others to listen to the Webcast.

Want to Connect with the Millennials?
OK maybe you are a boomer who didn't know what to call the younger generation. Now you do--people who reached adulthood at the turn of the millennium are the "Millennials." Read the transcript of a recent discussion that took place on how to have your nonprofit connect with them.

See past ZimNotes News Items for the nonprofit sector.

Upcoming Public Workshops by Zimmerman Lehman

Ann Lehman will present at the Progressive Consultants Network meeting on "Advocacy for Board Members: What is it? And why should I care?" Ann has been involved with advocacy for over 30 years. She works as a senior policy analyst for the SF Department on the Status of Women and brings her advocacy background to her work as a partner at Zimmerman Lehman, a consulting firm working exclusively with nonprofits. She is the co-author of Board Members Rule: How to Be a Strategic Advocate for Your Nonprofit and Boards That Love Fundraising. The meeting will take place at Solano Grill and Bar at 1133 Solano Avenue in Albany (cross street Kains). Tuesday, July 22nd, from 5 to 7 pm. Please RSVP to judithkatz@yahoo.com. Background material. A similar presentation was conducted for the CBO Center Policy Day in March. You can download the materials from Workshop: Board Members Rule.

See recent and private workshops by Zimmerman Lehman.

Each month ZimNotes features a nonprofit quiz. The correct answer is below. Regular ZimNotes readers should have no problem answering these questions; for those that get them wrong you may need to review older ZimNotes articles or check our free resources section.

Our newest challenge...

Which of the following questions should be answered yes before you initiate a capital campaign?

a) Does your agency need a building, a piece of land or a piece of equipment?
b) Does your board have the capacity to make large contributions to the campaign?
c) Are board members ready to pursue friends, relatives and colleagues in the campaign?
d) Have the board and volunteers been trained in how to ask someone for a big gift face-to-face?
e) All of the above

Answer: All of the above

If your answers to the above questions are "Yes, no, no and they'd rather face root canal than ask for major gifts," you're probably not ideally situated to conduct a capital campaign. The fact that you need a building, a piece of land or a piece of equipment does not necessarily mean that you should launch a capital campaign. For more information on capital campaigns see "Are You Ready For A Capital Campaign?"

The full Test Your Nonprofit I.Q. quiz

ALERTS

New Resources: Campaign 2008 and V3 Campaign
The Chronicle of Philanthropy has compiled a new resource called Campaign 2008 with information about where the candidates for the White House stand on the issues that matter to nonprofit causes, information on getting the vote out, and the rules about the laws governing nonprofit involvement in political and advocacy activities. Another good resource on these issues is V3 Campaign whose motto is "V3 will make the voice of the nonprofit sector heard, its value realized, and its votes counted in EVERY election in America by Inauguration Day, January 20th, 2017." It's worth checking out their website to see the cool flashing statistics on the home page about nonprofits (such as 14 million folks work and 80 million volunteer in nonprofits every year).

IRS Getting Tough on Governance Issues
If anyone thought that the IRS is backing off governance issues, they are sadly mistaken. An IRS spokesperson recently said they will spend more effort monitoring the "efficiency and effectiveness" of nonprofits. IRS would try to "create and enforce a standard to ensure that organizations spend in line with their resources," a so-called commensurate test - to determine whether nonprofits are using their money in an acceptable way. Allegedly Congress and the public are frustrated that nonprofits with significant assets are doing little or nothing that would be considered "charitable;" in particular they point to educational institutions that are hoarding large endowments. See "Putting Charity to the Test: IRS considers controversial measure for charitable activity." Lawmakers are also considering tougher penalties for groups that fail to fill out key lines of the Form 990 and for groups that fail to accurately report information on the form and may revisit plans to calculate ratios that show how much of a nonprofit's revenue is used to fulfill its mission versus how much pays for executive salaries and fundraising costs. In addition the Postal Service is talking about making nonprofits reveal fundraising costs in more detail than is already required by 990s. "Proposal to Improve Disclosure of Fund-Raising Costs Debated." You may need a subscription to access.

See past ZimNotes Alerts for policy issues that affect nonprofit sector.

Copyright 2008 Zimmerman Lehman.