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In the Titanic Recession, Which Nonprofits Get the Lifeboats? Editor notes issue #78

Editor's Notes • April 12, 2012 • forward article

Now that we have all become experts on the Titanic, we all know that third-class (steerage) passengers died at substantially higher rates than first-class wealthier passengers. But did you know that nonprofits that serve poor people are failing at much higher rates than those that serve the general population?

In fact, nonprofits that provide "the most basic anti-poverty services for the poor and homeless failed at around twice the rate of more mainstream services," according to the UCLA Center for Civil Society in its recent report on nonprofits in Los Angeles County (and we have no reason to think that other areas are different). And even more telling is this: that among nonprofits serving the poor, those located in African American neighborhoods failed twice as often as anti-poverty organizations in other neighborhoods.

What a sad story this tells about our society in general, and about funders in particular. A sobering statistic is that in terms of foundations, fewer than 16% of grants are targeted to low income communities (National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy).

We suspect that one reason (of many) for the relative lower amounts of foundation funding is -- unexpectedly -- the focus on innovation, social enterprise, outcome metrics, and the coolness factor. Innovation: when serving the poorest in our communities, we know the answers; we just need more money. Social enterprise: in only very, very rare cases can a nonprofit make money by helping the poor. Outcome metrics: funder pressure for outcome metrics forces nonprofits to serve those who can most readily "improve" -- which means serving folks that are relatively better off. And the coolness factor: a start-up run by well educated, cool, high-energy young people is more fun to fund than a long-time provider run by community-embedded nonprofit staff.

Sometimes we need to choose nonprofits because they are doing the most important and pressing human work, not because they are the most innovative or have the best metrics, or because we know and like the leaders. I am guilty of this in my own personal giving, and I pledge to be different. -- Jan Masaoka

* This issue features a blockbuster article from Kim Klein, in which she discusses her Christian faith, an article on Real-Time Evaluation, and a Board Cafe article on how many people should be on a board. Plus: how to make mini-weapons of destruction (and fun) in your very own office.

* What a great response to our last issue with special 4-day discounts for Blue Avocado readers. More than 90 people took advantage of book discounts and more than 1,235 signed up for webinars. Terrific!

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Coming Out as a Christian

First Person Nonprofit • By Kim Klein • April 8, 2012 • forward article

Kim Klein is a legendary speaker on fundraising, taxes, social justice, and community-building. She is well-known as a leftist and open about being a lesbian. Here she comes out in a different way:

Recently I shocked some colleagues whom I like a lot. This is what happened:

Colleague A: Can you believe that Santorum? He's such a clear example of why any intelligent person leaves religion behind."

Colleague B: "There are some well meaning religious people, but you have to wonder about someone who believes all that stuff."

Me (here's where I shocked them): "Actually, I am religious." An embarrassed, awkward moment ensued.

A: "You mean you are spiritual." (that's okay)

But the truth is that I am not only spiritual, I am religious.

Let me compare coming out as a lesbian with "coming out" as a Christian:

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Getting Real About Real-Time Evaluation

Feature Articles • By Clare Nolan and Fontane Lo • March 29, 2012 • forward article

Every once in a while a field creeps closer to actually being helpful to nonprofits. Thanks to evaluators Clare Nolan and Fontane Lo for explaining a type of program evaluation -- and how to make it work for you.

Have you ever had an evaluation conducted for a program, and then waited months—or even years—for the findings to come out? When you finally got the evaluation report, were you annoyed because you had already changed the program significantly?

You’re not alone! Traditional evaluations emphasize proving whether or not a program has worked. This requires a rigorous study design (with things like interventions and control groups), and findings are typically issued after all data are collected and thoroughly analyzed. That approach can mean a long time frame that makes the results useful for proving something to a funder, but less useful to a nonprofit earnestly trying to improve its services.

Real-time evaluation (RTE)

Fortunately, the field of evaluation has evolved and other forms of evaluation have emerged that emphasize . . .

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What's the Right Size for the Board?

Board Cafe • By Jan Masaoka • April 1, 2012 • forward article

Dear Blue Avocado: We have 18 board members, but we are wondering if we should try to keep such a large board.

At our upcoming board and senior staff retreat we will be discussing what size our board should be to be most effective. Help!!

By the way, we share credit with you for our great success in recruiting six new dynamic board members using your "Blue Ribbon Committee" method outlined at a session you led at a California Wellness conference a couple of years ago. Thank you! Signed, Nina Dooley, LINC Housing, Long Beach, California

Dear Nina and LINC Housing: You've hit upon the single most common question asked of experts on nonprofit boards: What's the right number of people to have on the board?

We're tempted to answer: "17. That's the average board size in the United States so it must be right."

Actually, the real answer is . . .

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New Employee Rights Posting Requirements for April 30, 2012

Ask Rita in HR • By Ellen Aldridge • April 15, 2012 • forward article

Dear Rita: I was told that most employers have to post a notice regarding employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) effective April 30, 2012. But I thought the NLRA applies to union relations. We are a tiny nonprofit and our employees are not union members so I don’t know if the posting requirement applies to us too. What happens if we don’t post it? Signed, Tiny

Dear Tiny: This new NLRA posting regulation applies to all private-sector employers who fall within the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). (Remember: nonprofits are part of the private sector.) Many nonprofits will find it easy enough simply to put up the poster, which can be downloaded free in many languages here.

Whether or not the NLRB has jurisdiction over your nonprofit -- and can require you to post the notice -- depends on whether your interstate commerce exceeds . . .

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3-Minute Vacation: Bring Your Local Pub to You!

Nonprofit Life & Style • By Susan Sanow • April 9, 2012 • forward article

April is a very competitive month. The NCAA basketball tournament (and all of the office pools that come along with it) has just wrapped up, baseball season has begun, NHL hockey playoffs are in full swing, and the NBA basketball post-season is right around the corner. So let’s bring a competition out of the pubs and into your office with a nice game of office darts.

To get started, you’ll just need some common items from your desk or office supply room: push-pin tacks, rubber bands, sticky notes, tape, and paperclips. To learn how to fashion these items into darts, click here.

For the record, we never encourage violence in the workplace. No throwing the darts at each other. Nor do we encourage throwing darts at pictures of media folks, rival sports teams, politicians, or funders. Here are a few dartboard images to use.

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