Good to Great for nonprofits

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I had the opportunity to read Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don'tby Jim Collins with folks at MEDA a couple of years ago.

Now, on a recommendation from friend and fellow blogger Rudy, I will order and read Good to Great and the Social Sectors: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great which addressess the nonprofit sector and addresses whether or not the business model is the solution for nonprofit sector organizations.



According to Collins, “…the inherent complexity [of nonprofit organizations] requires deeper, more penetrating insight and rigorous clarity than in your average business entity.”

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Comparing Accounting Software for Nonprofits

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I am often asked about entry level accounting or fiscal management software--either entry level or how to move to something more specialized to solve a special need or issue. This article, A Few Good Accounting Packages: Nonprofit consultants recommend accounting software packages, from techsoup.org, confirms what I have told many of our clients and expands the list of potential products and lists some features and benefits of the various products.

Most of the clients with whom I speak, choose QuickBooks as their entry level accounting software. If your organization needs to develop a system for fiscal management, reporting you may want to consider whether QuickBooks Premier Non-Profit Edition 2006is right for you. Click through to the link and read some of the details.






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Compassion Capital Fund (CCF) Targeted Capacity Building Program

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The announcement for Targeted Capacity Building Grants for faith-based and community based organizations was released tody by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Organizations with the current group of sub-awardees, trainees, and coaching client organizations MAY qualify to apply for such a grant. Click on the title of this post to read the announcement and let's talk about the possibilities.

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What is Cultural Competency?

Welcome back! My own framework for what is cultural competence starts with this:

"Do to others as you would have them do to you."

--Jesus

"…love your neighbor as yourself."

--Moses
In a world of may cultures that is shrunk by communication, travel and migration, in order to reach across cultural divides we need to understand the point of view of other cultures around us.

Often talked about in academic circles and health care fields cultural competency, from Georgetown University's National Center for Cultural Competence:

Community Engagement

• Cultural competence extends the concept of self-determination to the community.
• Cultural competence involves working in conjunction with natural, informal support and helping networks within culturally diverse communities (e.g. neighborhood, civic and advocacy associations; local/neighborhood merchants and alliance groups; ethnic, social, and religious organizations; and spiritual leaders and healers).
• Communities determine their own needs.
• Community members are full partners in decision making.
• Communities should economically benefit from collaboration.
• Community engagement should result in the reciprocal transfer of knowledge and skills among all collaborators and partners.

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Meeting the Collaboration Challenge

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Financial Reporting and QuickBooks for Nonprofits

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If your organization needs to develop a system for fiscal management, reporting you may want to consider whether QuickBooks Premier Non-Profit Edition 2006is right for you. Click through to the link and read some of the details. If you are a World Vision CCF organization, you may want to talk to your coach/mentor to help you make the right decision.



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Yahoo Group Now Available

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You may now sign up for the World Vision CCF Yahoo Group. The CCF sub-award application and financial survey documents are available there for download.

You have to sing up and be approved as a member to access the information there.

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Ten Questions about Public Funding

Welcome back! If you are thinking about competing for public funding, check out the article--click to link to it:

10 Questions to Determine Whether Your Congregation is Ready to Compete for Public Funding

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Correction to Los Angeles Zip Codes that qualify

Welcome back! 90047 in Los Angeles is qualified to apply in a competitive process along with the others for a subaward grant. Here are some other details:

World Vision plans to make

• 20 to 25 awards in Pomona (zip codes 91766 and 91768) and South Los Angeles (zip codes 90008, 90043, 90047, and 90062)
• The range of awards will be $5,000 to $15,000
• Proposal Deadline is July 14, 2006
• Announcements planned September 1, 2006
• The sub-award grant period is September 1, 2006 through February 28, 2007

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World Vision Tools for Transforming Communities 2006 CCF Grantee Sub-Award Information

Welcome back! Theresa Lu was using information from this text in a handout that I used in the various orientation meetings in both Los Angeles and Pomona. This should help you conceptualize a project for the sub-award program.

World Vision in Los Angeles (WVLA) will provide several capacity-building grants to competitively selected grassroots organizations in parts of Pomona and South Los Angeles that participate in the Tools For Transformation project to help build their capacity to serve their communities.

The sub-awardees will be faith-based (FBO) and community-based (CBO) organizations that provide services including programs for the homeless, re-entering prisoners, children of prisoners, at-risk youth, addicts, elders in need, families transitioning from welfare to work, and healthy marriage programs. These sub-awards will increase capacity and sustainability by building infrastructure. Ideas for use of sub-award funds:

Capacity Areas and
Examples of Potential Sub–awards

• Leadership Development

Funds for board development training, volunteer training or development of standard operating procedures, succession plan development

• Community Engagement

Funds to support a process to develop cultural competency, community needs assessment or asset mapping

• Program/Service Development / Management

Funds to help set up evaluation / monitoring systems, training to enhance programs/services

• Organizational Development

Funds for a financial review or audit, assess financial/accounting systems, upgrade software and/or equipment, long range strategic planning, 501(c)(3) application, formal organizational audit

• Funding/Sustainability

Funds for a consultant to assess/recommend fund development strategies, to support a new communication / cooperative network among service providers

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Coming Soon to your computer screen!

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Watch here for upcoming information about how to join a Yahoo list serve so you can communicate wiht other CCF beneficiaries.

From Yahoo groups I will be able to upload the handouts from session and the application for subaward document. Please feel free to communicate by leaving a comment here.

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Fundraising Training--More Information

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On Friday, May 5 (in Los Angeles) and Friday, May 12 (in Pomona), 2006 I am the trainer for the Tools for Transforming Communities program at World Vision, funded by the Compassion Capital Fund.

I have more information than can possibly be communicated in the 3 hour session, and there is plenty that can best be seen on the internet, rather than printed on paper.

This post will direct those interested in more information to the source of the material. After the session, I may post another entry with answers to questions that come up during the trainings. Please feel free to post a question here using the comments feature.

I found this interesting piece on running a successful carwash at the City of Los Angeles' website: HOW TO RUN A SUCCESSFUL CAR WASH FUNDRAISER, By Lance Winslow III, February 1999, This edition is a product of
The City of Los Angeles, Department of Public Works, Storm Water Management Program and The Car Wash Guys, For more information, please call the City of Los Angeles, Stormwater Hotline at: (800) 974-9794 Or visit us at: www.cityofla.org/san/swmd. You can download a 45 page document that helps you organize a carwash to raise funds. Interesting.

For more information on the California Nonprofit integrity Act of 2004 (SB ) you can read Charitable Trusts--California Department of Justice--Office of the Attorney General and you can download an informative summary from that website.

Information about getting a permit to do fundraising events and mailing in the City of Los Angeles is available from the Los Angeles Police Department. Interestingly, it took about 8 telephone calls to the mayor's office, city council districts 10 and 8, county supervisor's office, county public affairs office,several searches on the City's web site. None of these found the information that was needed. A google search with: "fundraising permit Los Angeles" is what got me to the Los Angeles Police Department's information here.

Information about nonprofit management and resources from the City of Los Angeles.

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Meeting the Collaboration Challenge

Welcome back! Collaboration is an important component of fundraising. These two books give excellent background and solid framework for how your nonprofit can partner with business to generate income: philanthropic, transactional, and integrated support.



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