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Spring Newsletter
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Dear friends,
The theme of our first 2010 newsletter is NEW - as in, new optimism, new opportunity, new approaches, new partners, new levels of engagement, and a new openness to trying things different and, well, new. John Kenyon gives some practical ideas on how to be good listeners in social media efforts, which to many are still very new challenges. Eleanor Smith shares her expertise on how nonprofits can frame their work in new ways to ensure donors realize the impact of their programs. Melissa Lamson is offering a workshop to help board members and staff think differently about diversity - beyond checking off boxes on a matrix.
We strongly urge you to participate in the new Northern California Nonprofit Compensation and Benefits Survey - deadline is March 26! The information contained in this report is invaluable as nonprofits consider their resource allocation and consider salaries for new or current positions.
We are eager to introduce you to Olive Grove's newest partner, Dan Costello at Farallone Pacific Insurance Services. Olive Grove and Farallone are working on a new collaboration and we will be introducing you to additional partners in the coming months. If you are interested in working with a truly engaged, service-driven partner who will not just renew your policies but will actively engage your leadership and organization in risk management, understanding your exposure, and fixing issues that are driving your insurance costs up, you need to talk to Dan. Their motto is "programs not premiums" - and in this environment, wouldn't you like to have an opportunity to shift some of your costs from insurance premiums to supporting your mission-based activities?
Finally, we alert you to three groups we love: Resource Bank, a new way of banking your values; Connect the Dots, an organization that helps nonprofits find new paths to reducing their environmental footprint; and doGoodr, an innovative approach to connect those in need and those offering assistance.
We look forward to hearing your ideas on what is NEW and exciting!
Happy reading,
Emily
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New Themes Emerging
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by Emily Hall
Over the past 18 months our work could not have been more diverse:  helping an arts organization better understand their business model and develop more sustainable
strategies; advising an all-volunteer organization as they recovered
from near bankruptcy; working with a 100% consensus-based organization
to select the Executive Director who is replacing a beloved founder;
coaching a first-time Executive Director on how to focus her time
effectively; assisting a city commission to chart a path after all
funding and real authority dissolved in the budget cuts; advising a
corporation as they roll out a free product that has the potential to
improve child nutrition globally; coaching a number of founders through considering next steps for succession and leadership sustainability; facilitating merger conversations and strategy processes; crafting creative fundraising and messaging plans;
and dozens of others. We
have worked with organizations that have been around for mere weeks and
those with 60 years of success, with budgets of $1,000 to $25 million.
Every challenge, opportunity, consulting process, and outcome was unique, but some common themes emerged:
Openness to considering new ways of operating and challenging long-held assumptions Choosing strategic focus over trying to meet every need Embracing opportunities to collaborate in significant ways Board members re-engaging and doing very hard work under challenging circumstances Willingness to ask the hard questions that previously were pushed aside Securing financial support from foundations and major donors to do the work and ensure the organization was poised to emerge stronger and deliver greater mission impact.
As
we move through 2010 we are only seeing these trends deepen. We are
grateful to work in partnership with nonprofits, governments,
philanthropists, businesses and individuals in this exciting and truly
transformative work, and are inspired by the engagement and commitment
of our clients. If you feel you or your organization could benefit by
partnering with Olive Grove to identify options and make informed
decisions, please contact us - we would be honored to work with you.
| Emily Hall founded Olive Grove Consulting in 2002 and serves as its President, aligning the needs of
clients with a network of over 35 consultants and partner firms in Northern California and nationally.
Emily has provided strategic consulting services to community leaders, nonprofits, boards, corporations, government and philanthropists for nearly two decades. She has consulted to organizations of every size, sector, stage of development, and mission focus.
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You Should Hear What They Say About You
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Listening Effectively with Social Media
by John Kenyon
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 "Social media is content created by people using highly accessible and scalable publishing technologies. At its most basic sense, social media is a shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content. It's a fusion of sociology and technology, transforming monologues (one to many) into dialogues (many to many) and is the democratization of information, transforming people from content readers into publishers. Social media has become extremely popular because it allows people to connect in the online world to form relationships for personal and business use." - Wikipedia
Nonprofits are all about relationships. As the above definition says, social media helps organizations form and strengthen relationships online. Nonprofits need all of the supporters they can find and social media facilitates engaging new audiences as well as knowing what people are saying. If you are not listening via social media, you are missing out on potential donors, valuable resources and important insights into how your organization is viewed.
The Conversation
To utilize social media successfully, nonprofits have to change the way they communicate. There is a communication paradigm shift with social media, moving from a monologue to a dialogue. With social media, nonprofits need to shift from blasting their messages to engaging in conversations and building relationships.
In order to have a conversation, organizations must not only talk, they must listen. I like the line about "You were given two ears and one mouth, so you should listen twice as much as you talk" - this is especially true with social media. Listening involves not only monitoring social media sources, but looking at your website and email metrics to understand what content resonates with your audiences.
First things First
While social media provides exciting opportunities, the foundation of an organization's online presence is its website and email communications. A website is the world's window into an organization and email is how organizations keep in touch with stakeholders online. It makes little sense to engage in social media activities if an organization doesn't have an effective website.
Tools (such as Google Analytics) that help an organization monitor website traffic and tracking tools integrated into bulk email software (such as Constant Contact) are where an organization must start. If an organization does not know their top five website pages or their three most popular email topics, they have some work to do before going down the social media road.
Listening via Social Media
The primary tactics of social media are: Listening, Participating, Sharing Your Story, Generating Buzz and Engaging with Community Building & Social Networks. As an organization goes up this ladder of activities, the time and resources needed increases as shown here:
Listening is the first step an organization should take towards getting involved in social media. There are several tools that can help an organization listen to social media activity: Google Alerts, Technorati, RSS readers and Twitter.
Google Alerts allows monitoring of words and phrases relevant to an organization, such as the org name, names of their leaders, names of authorities and/or thought leaders in their field and keywords that cover their area of focus. With these alerts, organizations are notified when the words or phrases they choose are mentioned on the internet. Tip: Put phrases and names in quotes, such as "Emily Hall" - without the quotes you would get every mention of anyone named Emily on the web. See alerts.google.com.
Technorati is the Google of blogs. It not only tracks blogs, but assigns them an "authority" rating based on a variety of criteria including number of readers, inbound links to its content, etc. It is important that organizations "listen" to blogs that cover their focus area. Go to Technorati and enter in words or phrases that cover the area(s) of the org's work, (i.e., "youth arts San Francisco"). Technorati will then return a list of blogs that cover or mention the words/phrases. A user may then sort the listing by authority number and review the top 30 or so that come up and see which ones might be useful or important for him or her to follow. See www.technorati.com.
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a way for websites and blogs to push out or syndicate their content. An RSS feed provides the content which viewers access via an RSS reader. Once an organization identifies the blogs and websites it wants to follow, they can then add them to (subscribe to them via) an RSS reader. Rather than a person visiting his or her 15 favorite blogs/sites to see new content, an RSS reader automatically gathers that content. People subscribe to a website's RSS feed which then sends out (syndicates) new content when it is added. As shown below, an RSS reader shows the headline and part of the post or story, allowing users to scan for content that interests them. See www.whatisrss.com.
Twitter and Twitter Search - Using search.twitter.com, organizations can search for their org name and important terms to see what people are talking about. For example, the American Heart Association recently conducted a search on twitter for "stroke."" It gave the organization valuable insight into what people are saying and helped them refine their program and messages. Searching for keywords on a regular basis is a great way to keep abreast of the conversations people are having. (Beyond listening on Twitter, having a presence on Twitter allows organizations to connect to others who are interested in their mission and to hear about resources they might otherwise not know about). www.twitter.com
I encourage all organizations to use these tools to begin listening. Even a few minutes a week can provide valuable insights and new connections. Below are a few additional resources. I wish you all the best in your online endeavors.
Related resources:
WeAreMedia.org - Social media curriculum for nonprofits
Beth.Typepad.com - Beth Kanter's blog
johnhaydon.com/twitter-jump-start-the-complete-guide-for-small-non-profits/ - Twitter Jumpstart Guide for Nonprofits
NTEN.org - Nonprofit tech webinars, reports, discussions and annual conference
Idealware.org - "Consumer Reports" for nonprofit software
TechSoup.org - nonprofit tech articles, community discussions
John Kenyon is a technology educator and strategist who's worked with nonprofits for over 18 years providing advice, teaching seminars and writing articles about technology. He authored the Effective Online Communications chapter in the new book Managing Technology to Meet your Mission (Wiley, 2009). In 2009 he helped build and deliver the We Are Media workshops on social media for nonprofits. He has been a featured speaker across the US, England, Australia and online. Follow him on Twitter @Jakenyon and his blog at www.johnkenyon.org.
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| Why Bother with Logic Models and Theories of Change? |
| by Eleanor A. Smith |
 In this current economic environment, competition for social benefit resources has become intense: individual and institutional philanthropists alike are demanding more evidence than ever before that an organization has made a difference-or can demonstrate that it at least has the ability to make a difference. The Obama Administration recently began a search for exceptional, results-driven nonprofits.
One way effective nonprofit leaders demonstrate their ability to deliver results is by articulating their group's theory of change. This is a high-level summary--phrased as an if-then statement--relating an organization's work directly to the group's vision. To graphically depict the flow from current efforts to desired futures, a logic model can be used to identify the links between inputs and outputs and a trail of results from preliminary and intermediate changes to long-term results. These tools empower leaders to communicate quickly and easily exactly how the dots are connected from here to there.
The development of these tools involves a process of research, reflection, and strategic thinking. Creation of a logic model and theory of change surface underlying (often unspoken) assumptions and often illuminate the need for validating the group's approach through research into best practices. This iterative process enables leaders and staff to ground their theories in field research, compare their knowledge and beliefs and, together, develop a working theory and model of how they intend to produce and document outcomes. The resulting tools are then translated into an evaluation design for ongoing data collection and analysis to fuel continuous learning and performance improvement.
As suggested above, the tools can also be used in any or all of the organization's fundraising and marketing communications. If tailored for internal and external audiences, they can provide a clear and compelling case for the organization, showing how and why the group does what it does, how it will realize its mission, and how lessons learned will be captured and integrated. In addition to more successful communications and greater evaluation capacity, the process of developing these tools (and the tools themselves) will increase organizational transparency and accountability-attributes of exceptional nonprofits.
Eleanor A. Smith's passion for assisting nonprofits to strengthen their programs led her to professional development courses in evaluation and benchmarking from the Evaluators Institute, Rensaellerville Institute and others. Combining her strategic planning expertise with new skills, in 2007 she created a successful half-day workshop on strategic program planning and benchmarking. Eleanor offers "What Does Success Look Like?" workshops to the public at Bay Area nonprofit support centers and privately to nonprofit groups.
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Special Workshop Offer
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Enabling Change Through Diversity and Inclusion
by Melissa Lamson |
 Change happens when a cultural shift in mindset occurs...
In this workshop, participants will learn how Diversity influences the norms, values and expectations people hold and how this impacts the way an organization functions.
In order to successfully enable change, we must get an understanding of the organizational culture through the people working there. For example: How do people feel about working together?
What communication practices does leadership use?
What work-styles are acceptable?
Once understood, we can begin to create a more inclusive, yet professional, community that embraces and leverages Diversity to its benefit. One in which our leadership is aware and sensitive and our staff is content and productive.
After this workshop, participants will be able to: Understand how change occurs and what motivates others to change. Describe Diversity & Inclusion and its value to an organization. Identify the needs of diverse individuals and groups. Detect the need for change in their own organization. Create a strategy for developing an authentic and productive community through Diversity & Inclusion.
Date: May 6th, 8:30-12:00pm
Location: 540 Ralston Ave., Suite 2C, Belmont, CA
Before April 1st: $145 per person
After April 1st: $195 per person
Pay now With Paypal or make a check payable to 'Melissa Lamson', send to 2060 Hull Avenue, Redwood City, CA 94061
Melissa Lamson is the Founder and President of Lamson Consulting and an award-winning diversity consultant with over 15 years of experience. Having led projects in over 30 countries, Melissa is a inter- and cross-cultural expert who promotes diversity and inclusion as a change management tool. She can be reached at melissa.lamson [at] lamsonconsulting [dot] com
Integrating Cultures Embracing Diversity Enabling Change
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Olive Grove's Latest Partner
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Dan Costello, President - Farallone Pacific Insurance:
For over 25 years, Dan Costello has devoted himself to building a unique reputation in insurance from the ground up. For two decades he worked for Costello & Sons Insurance Brokers, first as an employee, then as a salesman, and ultimately as its president. In 2005, Dan sold his interests in Costello & Sons and started a new company: Farallone Pacific Insurance Services.
Now Dan heads an insurance organization that is completely responsive to the objectives of its clients-businesses, individuals, and nonprofits. The Farallone vision encompasses a wider range of specialized services and risk management techniques than most other agencies. With 28 employees and over 3,800 clients, Dan's group prides itself in excellent customer service from an organization that is socially and environmentally conscious.
Under Dan's direction, Farallone consults with leading Bay Area businesses and nonprofit organizations to manage risk, focus on workplace safety, and establish safe practices for employees, volunteers and the public. His experience has led to numerous seminars covering topics that range from unusual risks faced by educational institutions to managing workers compensation claims. |
Organizations we Love to Introduce to our Clients
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Founded by renowned entrepreneurs, business leaders and highly experienced bankers, New Resource Bank
understands how excellent banking can empower businesses, organizations
and individuals to make greater impact on their efforts.
We
are dedicated to providing the best banking by offering the highly
personalized services of a community bank along with the convenience
and security of a large bank.
Core Focus:
- To provide attentive and customized banking to entrepreneurial businesses, developers and professional service firms
- Deliver tailored products and services to non-profit organization and foundations to further their goals
- Give
individual customers personalized service, attractive rates, banking
convenience and a tangible way to support their community through every
day activities
Special Promotion for Nonprofits:
Nonprofits receive a higher interest rate on checking and money market accounts.
New
Resource donates $25 to nonprofit customers for every checking account
opened by their employees and friends. Donations will be made after
qualifying checking accounts have been open for six months.
Nonprofits can save up to $164.95 on monthly fees and $100 in set-up charges compared with usual rates.
Contact Gary Groff for more details: gary.groff@newresourcebank.com
Connect the Dots is
a nonprofit effort dedicated exclusively to helping nonprofit
organizations lower their environmental footprint. Our Green Start
program helps nonprofit organizations realize immediate reductions in
water usage, energy consumption and waste production. We accomplish
this by leveraging existing incentive and rebate programs as well as
offer community sessions to challenge deep-rooted habits around
resource consumption. Our clients save on operating costs, which in
turn encourages them to pursue other greening projects beyond Green
Start. We aim to move the nonprofit community, regardless of their
specific focus--health and human services, education, arts and culture,
etc. more efficiently and expediently down the path towards
environmental sustainability.
doGoodr is
a free web "posting" site to help those in need and those offering
assistance find each other. Searchable, user-created posts link
directly back to your own website, photos, videos, project description
and donations page. The wealth created by doGoodr advertising revenues
and micro-donations is shared with the user community through grants.
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Participate in the 2010 Nonprofit Compensation Survey
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from Bob Orser
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There's Still Time to Participate in the New and Improved Northern California Nonprofit Compensation and Benefits Survey
Due to many requests for more time, we have extended the deadline to participate in Fair Pay for Northern California Nonprofits: The 2010 Compensation and Benefits Survey.
The deadline is now Friday, March 26.
This annual survey will help your organization:
- Set fair salaries and benefits to attract and retain the best employees.
- Evaluate industry standards for compensation for a range of positions.
- Budget and plan for the cost of adding new staff members.
- Analyze your own jobs and compensation.
- Stand up to the scrutiny of an increasingly skeptical public.
- Compare your salaries and benefits with others in your community, not with organizations
totally out of your local economic market.
- Help document your organization's rationale for setting executive salaries, as now required
by IRS Form 990.
Submit your response by March 26 and your organization will be eligible to purchase the survey report at 67% off the regular price.
To find out more and to participate, visit the NCA website at www.nonprofitcomp.com, email us at survey@nonprofitcomp.com or call us at (510) 645-1005.
Hope you can help us out.
Thanks for all your help!
Bob Orser
Nonprofit Compensation Associates
PO Box 10737
Oakland, CA 94610
Telephone: 707.310.4857
Fax: 575.758.8314
Email: bob@nonprofitcomp.com
website: www.nonprofitcomp.com
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Recent and Current Clients
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In recent months we have had the distinct pleasure of working with wonderful clients including:
Asian Women's Shelter
Biotech Partners
California Exhibition Resources Alliance
Chitresh Dance Company
City of Oakland - Commission on Aging
Club One - Clinton Global Initiative
Department of Children, Youth and Families - Roots Initiative
Engaged Community Silicon Valley
Family Emergency Shelter Coalition (FESCO)
GreenTown Los Altos
Jack London Aquatic Center
Legal Community Against Violence
Marin Art & Garden Center
Peninsula Clergy Network
Peninsula Jewish Community Center
Peninsula Partnership Leadership Council
Rebuilding Together San Francisco
San Francisco Child Abuse Prevention Center
San Francisco Tsunami
The LaChris Connection |
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Olive Grove Consulting, LLC
650-591-4155 |
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