Get the tools you need with Idealware's seminars

		February 2014 Upcoming Idealware Training We've heard your requests loud and clear: You want more toolkits and courses. We're happy to oblige--and with a little effort, we've already kicked off one course with two more already coming up before spring has even sprung. Our courses all run from three to 10 weeks, depending on the topic, and are designed to take you from the beginning of a project all the way through to the end by covering everything you'll need to know along the way. We know that the keys to success include learning practical strategies, real examples, and personalized advice derived from experience, and our toolkit courses combine all of this support into one neat package. Just last week, we kicked off From Audit to Redesign: The Complete Nonprofit Website Toolkit. If you're curious about what one of our "toolkit" courses looks like, this one's a great example. Because there are a lot of steps to consider when it comes to redesigning your website--and many avenues you can take to accomplish them--we give you everything you need to make informed decisions about your website in one course, whether you're making a few tweaks or doing a complete overhaul. Although The Nonprofit Website Toolkit is now in its second week, it's not too late to sign up. As with all of our toolkits, every session is recorded, so you can catch up and review whenever you want and as often as you want. This particular course is 10 weeks long, so you still have plenty of time. We have several more toolkit courses (and a few shorter webinars) coming up to meet your tech training needs. If you've never taken a class with Idealware, we think the toolkits are a great place to start. You really get to know our trainers, and you walk away feeling like an expert, with a finished product to show for your time. back to top New Course: The Social Media Policy Toolkit February 19 to March 5As social media transparency and two-way conversations become the norm, many nonprofits are racing to develop social media policies that govern who does what, what's OK (and not OK) to say on behalf of the organization, and how to handle sticky situations. But even more than legislating these details, the process of creating such a policy can help you and other leaders in your organization engage in important discussions that will mature your organizational culture and better position you to take advantage of the tools and opportunities at your disposal. In this new course based on our popular Nonprofit Social Media Policy Workbook, we'll explore why the process is as important as the product, how to make these conversations productive and strategic (and maybe even fun), and why a social media policy is an important milestone of digital maturity. We’ll spend an entire hour on each of the following topics: responding to comments (especially negative ones) and personal voice vs. professional voice. Throughout this course, we’ll rely heavily on conversations and examples to help you create a policy that fits your organization. EveryWednesday, 1:00 - 2:00 PM EST, $95. Read More or Register>>> Want to learn more about this course? Check out the short promotional video we just posted here: http://youtu.be/nk6ZkHMrCio New Course: Mastering Your Mix: A Practical Approach to Integrated Communications March 19 to April 16Between more traditional channels of communications like direct mail, email, and newsletters, and all the new channels you’ve adopted—like social media, multimedia, and blogs—there’s a lot to think about when it comes to your organization’s messaging. How do you create and maintain a consistent voice across so many channels? How do you coordinate your various communications to work in tandem rather than competing, engaging constituents and inspiring them to take action rather than confusing, overwhelming, or annoying them? This brand new course is the perfect complement to our popular publication, A Practical Guide to Integrated Communications: A Workbook for Nonprofits. Over five weeks, we will help you to define your categories of communications, explore their roles in your messaging, and assess your current state of effectiveness before walking you through the planning, scheduling, and implementation stages. Along the way, you’ll learn to measure the response you’re getting to adapt your techniques for better results, and ultimately learn to holistically integrate your communications. Every Wednesday, 1:00 - 2:30 PM EST, $200.Read More or Register>>> Single Seminars Thursday, February 20 - Getting Beyond the Like: Social Media EngagementPeople “like” you, but what is that actually doing to support your organization’s bottom line? We’ll talk critically about how you can move constituents up a ladder of engagement from a simple “like” to actually get them to do something for your organization. Sign a petition, attend an event, join a movement and yes, even donate—it’s possible to get your constituents to do all of these things as a result of social media actions, but it’s not easy. Armed with case studies, industry research and plain old common sense and experience, we’ll work together to recalibrate your social media mindset in order to provide more value and cultivate a deeper commitment. 1:00 - 2:30 PM EST, $40.00. Read More or Register>>> In Person, Portland, Maine: Wednesday, March 5 - Tech and Donuts: Practicing Practical Program EvaluationFunders need evaluations that demonstrate how you're meeting your stated outcomes, but gathering the proper data can be complicated. However, all organizations should be able to know how they’re doing. We’ll walk through how you can evaluate your programs by showing what data might already "live" in your systems, presenting a practical approach to measure outcomes, and giving you strategies to grasp the effectiveness of your organization's programs. In this new spin on the Maine 501 Tech Club, which we’re affectionately calling “Tech & Donuts,” we’ll talk about our perspective on program evaluation, and why it’s so important. Having worked onUnderstanding Software for Program Evaluationand The Reality of Measuring Human Service Programs: Results of a Survey in the last six months, program evaluation is a topic near and dear to Idealware’s collective hearts, and we look forward to hearing your experiences. As an added incentive, we’ll be bringing donuts and coffee from Little Bigs in South Portland, another favorite of Idealware, to help you get through the second half of your work week. This is a casual meet-up at our office in Portland, Maine, and we encourage you to bring a friend or fellow nonprofit staffer, and meet some of the folks from Idealware in person. 8:00 - 9:30 AM EST, FREE. Read More or Register>>> Thursday, March 6 - FREE: 10 Ways to Integrate Your Communications You know that you should integrate your communications, but how do you get started? How do you take different channels with different audiences and allow them to shine individually while creating a cohesive voice for your organization? Let us help you with 10 steps that can get you going in the right direction. When we released A Practical Guide to Integrated Communications: A Workbook for Nonprofits, we were very pleased by the response. However, integrated communications is a dense, often confusing subject, which requires a little extra time upfront to get moving in the right direction. In this class, we’ll go over ten of the most straightforward, bang for the buck steps you can take to start making your communications work together for the biggest impact. 1:00 - 2:00 PM EST, FREE. Read More or Register>>> Thursday, March 20 - Getting Started with Email Fundraising Fundraising via email requires an understanding of a number of different elements--designing an email campaign, writing an email, avoiding spam filters, broadcast email tools, online donation tools, and more. We'll walk through what you'll need to know to design your own email fundraising campaign. 1:00 - 2:30 PM EST, $40.00. Read More or Register>>> Check out our website for even more great online training: www.idealware.org/online-training back to top You received this email because you signed up for Idealware updates. If you are no longer interested in hearing from us, click here to unsubscribe. Idealware | One Pleasant Street, Suite 4E | Portland ME | 04101

New Guide Helps Funders Adopt a Transparency Mindset

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
Cheryl Loe Communications Project Manager The Foundation Center (888) 356-0354 ext. 701 communications@ foundationcenter.org	Catherine Lennon Communications Director European Foundation Centre +32 2 508 3075 clennon@efc.be
New Guide Helps Funders Adopt a Transparency Mindset Philanthropists Indicate That Openness Leads to More Effective Social Change in "Opening Up: Demystifying Funder Transparency" New York, NY — February 6, 2014. As funders face an increasing demand by the nonprofit sector, the public, and governments to be more transparent, a new GrantCraft guide released today in collaboration with Glasspockets provides practical advice for funders to publicly share various aspects of their operations, work, and knowledge. Opening Up: Demystifying Funder Transparencypresents real-world case studies that demonstrate the value of foundation transparency in strengthening credibility, improving grantee relationships, facilitating greater collaboration, increasing public trust, reducing duplication of effort, and building communities of shared learning. The guide joins a growing collection of resources published by GrantCraft, a joint service of the New York-based Foundation Center and Brussels-based European Foundation Centre that taps the practical wisdom of funders to develop free resources for the philanthropy sector. "The research we conducted for this guide demonstrates that funders who openly communicate about their work are finding it to be a win-win strategy," said Jen Bokoff, director of GrantCraft at the Foundation Center. "Grantees, funding partners, the public, and philanthropy professionals themselves all benefit when foundations make their work and their knowledge broadly accessible." A commitment to transparency means a foundation is making available information on aspects of its work, including past grants awarded, the grantee selection process, performance assessments, and strategy documents. In addition to web sites, foundations are also employing social media, video, conferences, publications, and other media to share knowledge about their work. Funders profiled in the guide listed many benefits of transparency, such as gaining efficiencies in time, receiving better and more appropriate grant proposals, and increasing effectiveness based on feedback loops and greater awareness of peer efforts. Other key insights in the report include: Seventy-five percent of survey respondents reported observing an increased demand for funder transparency over the past five years. Numerous interviews with funders and an analysis of blog posts and survey responses indicate that true transparency comes down to a mindset, one in which funders believe they are most effective when they approach all aspects of their work by saying "let's publicly share this." While transparency can be challenging for many reasons, including limited staff time and potential vulnerability, funders interviewed agree that sharing what they know and creating space for dialogue are essential to accelerating change. The guide is divided into five sections, each of which addresses a key aspect of transparency: sharing grantee data, sharing performance assessments, improving relationships, improving the practice of philanthropy, and recognizing opportunities for connecting. Each section explores transparency with funder stories, a list of challenges, action steps, and discussion questions. The guide does not advocate for a "one-size-fits-all" approach, but rather, uses qualitative research to show how each foundation can determine a level of transparency for itself that is appropriate, beneficial, and part of an ongoing process. The guide is based on an international scan of the field, and one of the real-life examples comes from South Africa: Jason Hudson, the Shuttleworth Foundation's chief information officer sums up its strategy as follows: "We have a mildly aggressive obsession with being transparent. We open up our financials and share our planning, learning, and relationships as we go along. It's not easy and, at times, quite uncomfortable, but by doing this, we hope to have partners who come with better ideas, offer improvements, and even run with things on their own. That's what we want." Opening Up: Demystifying Funder Transparency is complemented by online components, including podcasts and the complete results of the transparency survey. Knowledge tools on the Foundation Center's newly-redesigned Glasspockets web site help foundations incorporate transparency activities into everyday practice, and an ongoing conversation can be found at theTransparency Talk blog. The Glasspockets site is also home to a new videothat makes the case for foundations to be transparent, as well as an infographicthat reveals trends with foundations and social media. Opening Up: Demystifying Funder Transparency and related resources were funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. It can be downloaded for free atwww.grantcraft.org/transparency. About the Foundation Center Established in 1956, the Foundation Center is the leading source of information about philanthropy worldwide. Through data, analysis, and training, it connects people who want to change the world to the resources they need to succeed. The Center maintains the most comprehensive database on U.S. and, increasingly, global grantmakers and their grants — a robust, accessible knowledge bank for the sector. It also operates research, education, and training programs designed to advance knowledge of philanthropy at every level. Thousands of people visit the Center's web site each day and are served in its five regional library/learning centers and at more than 470 Funding Information Network locations nationwide and around the world. For more information, please visit foundationcenter.org or call (212) 620-4230. About the European Foundation Centre The European Foundation Centre, founded in 1989, is an international membership association representing public-benefit foundations and corporate funders active in philanthropy in Europe, and beyond. The Centre develops and pursues activities in line with its four key objectives: creating an enabling legal and fiscal environment; documenting the foundation landscape; building the capacity of foundation professionals; and promoting collaboration, both among foundations and between foundations and other actors. Emphasising transparency and best practice, all members sign up to and uphold the European Foundation Centre Principles of Good Practice. For more information, please visit www.efc.be. View Press Releases The Foundation Center • 79 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10003 • (212) 620-4230

Nonprofit Knowledge Matters | Perspectives on Nonprofit Leadership

Vision: Looking Back to Look Forward by Tim Delaney Most people know that the transitional month of January is named after Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and endings who looked both backwards and forwards at the same time. But how many of us know about the power of the Janus Effect? I certainly didn’t, until reading a brilliant book, The Leadership Challenge, by James Kouzes and Barry Posner. In it, the authors recount the Janus Effect research that can help nonprofits. Corporate CEOs were divided into two groups and asked to: “think of things that might (or will) happen to you in the future” and “think of things that have happened to you in the past.” In answering the questions participants were to list 10 events, attaching dates to each event. But the order of questions was switched. Group A was asked to think of the future first; Group B to think of the past first. When comparing results, CEOs in Group B – which first thought of the past – consistently envisioned twice as far into the future than those in Group A that looked at the future first. Since reading The Leadership Challenge many years ago, I’ve enjoyed tapping into the power of the Janus Effect in various ways that you can use, too. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. In fact, here’s how our staff at the National Council of Nonprofits recently invoked the power of looking to the past to sharpen our view of the future.

Lead In! by Jennifer Chandler In the popular book, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, by Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook, Sandberg urges aspiring leaders to “believe in yourself,” “give it your all,” and never doubt your ability to navigate conflicts between your personal and professional lives. By doing this Sandberg believes you can rise to a leadership position, and once there, make changes that will benefit others who come after you. While it may not be her primary message, she asserts that it is a leader’s obligation to leave the workplace a better place for those who follow. While spending a day with nonprofit leaders recently, I was reminded of Sandberg’s assertion. We were going through the familiar process of identifying challenges and opportunities for a SWOT analysis, when the discussion settled somewhat uncomfortably on the challenge of succession planning as a widespread challenge that no one wants to talk about, but everyone worries about. ​With the candor often shared by executive directors who are relieved to find themselves with peers, bonding over shared war stories, succession planning was described as “the one issue NONE of my board members will look in the eye” and “the biggest, baddest vulnerability we face.” Stories were shared about the death of a founder, leaving an organization in such chaos it almost closed its doors; the challenges of cross-training an organization with only three staff members; and the risks of being the one to raise the issue if you actually plan to stay in your job. It was clear that for this group of leaders, succession planning touched a raw nerve.  Read on for more leadership insights

Clean up! To start off the New Year with a clean slate, or at least a clean database, we invited Steven Shattuck ofBloomerang to share with us his tips on, “3 Ways to Clean Up Your Donor Database in 2014.” Your donor database is a living, breathing ecosystem. Contained within are thousands of individual needs, expectations and passions. Tapping into the unique giving personas of your donors is impossible when your database consists of one giant lump of donors, each of whom receive the same letter template via one communication channel. Those fundraisers who have mastered segmentationare able to communicate on an individual level, unlocking the true potential of every donor in their database. You can do it too, and the beginning of the year is a great time to get started. Read on for three ways to clean up your donor database for 2014

eNews:Keep yourself busy through winter

January 2014

What a month! January has flown by for us at Idealware, as we're sure it has for many of you, while winter, on the other hand, seems like it's been here forever. We're inching closer to spring with every passing day, but for much of the country, there's still plenty of winter to be had. Since Idealware is based in Maine, we get winter, and wanted to throw together a number of good resources to help you pass those days until warmer weather and clearer skies return. 

We'd also like to ask a favor. We recently sent out our 2014 Community Survey, which closes tomorrow, January 31. If you haven't completed it yet, we'd love it if you would. It should only take five minutes of your time, but it will tell us more about what you think of our reports, trainings, emails, or any of the other ways we interact with you and help us to serve you better. You can take the survey here.

Last week we kicked off our first course of the year, From Audit to Redesign: The Complete Nonprofit Website Toolkit. This five- session class is spread out over 10 weeks, and covers all the high-priority issues you face when considering a website redesign. Though the class is under way, there's still time to sign up. As with all of our webinars, every session is recorded, so you can catch up and review at your own pace. Not your cup of tea? We've got six more intensive courses planned out between now and July that might be more to your taste, starting with The Social Media Policy Toolkit right around the corner.

Earlier this week, we released our newest report, a look at how every day nonprofits in the human services field are evaluating their programs. The report is the result of a survey of our constituents and site visits to several local organizations here in Portland, Maine. The results were fascinating, and shed some light on the often misunderstood topic of nonprofit impact-measurement. Download it here for free.

To cap things off, we recently updated an article on phone systems, are hosting a 90-minute class on boosting your social media engagement, and have a whole lot more for you to pass those chilly days. Read on to see what we've got in store.

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Reports and Articles

The Reality of Measuring Human Service Programs: Results of a SurveyThe public conversation about measuring programs is often theoretical, focusing on what organizations could or should do rather than on tactics for success. At Idealware, we were curious about the opposite—what specific tactics are organizations using to measure their programs? What are the barriers? To find out, we created and distributed a survey to human service organizations on our own mailing list—generally small to mid-sized organizations—to learn how they were actually using technology to measure and evaluate the outcomes of their programs. 

To augment survey results, we selected three organizations local to Idealware for site visits and interviews with them to understand their strategies for measuring programs.
Download the Free Report>>>

Phones on a Shoestring BudgetNewly updated for 2014. If your organization is considering a new phone system, should you go with traditional service or Voice over IP (VoIP)—and what does VoIP even mean in this context? Should you buy hardware to manage multiple phone lines, or one of the growing number of other software-based solutions? 

We talked to a number of nonprofit IT specialists about the best choices for affordable, reliable phone systems and compiled the information and recommendations they shared in this article to help you decide.
Read the Free Article>>>

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Training 

The Social Media Policy ToolkitWednesdays, 02/19 - 03/05 1:00-2:00 PM (ET)
As social media transparency and two-way conversations become the norm, many nonprofits are racing to develop social media policies that govern who does what, what's OK (and not OK) to say on behalf of the organization, and how to handle sticky situations. But even more than legislating these details, the process of creating such a policy can help you and other leaders in your organization engage in important discussions that will mature your organizational culture and better position you to take advantage of the tools and opportunities at your disposal.

In this new course based on our popular Nonprofit Social Media Policy Workbook, we'll explore why the process is as important as the product, how to make these conversations productive and strategic (and maybe even fun), and why a social media policy is an important milestone of digital maturity. We’ll also spend an entire hour on each of the following topics: responding to comments (especially negative ones), your social media values, and personal voice vs. professional voice. Throughout this course, we’ll rely heavily on conversations and examples to help you see the results of creating your own social media policy.
Read more or register >>>

Getting Beyond the Like: Social Media Engagement
Thursday, 02/20 1:00-2:30 PM (ET)
People “like” you, but what is that actually doing to support your organization’s bottom line? We’ll talk critically about how you can move constituents up a ladder of engagement from a simple “like” to actually get them to do something for your organization. Sign a petition, attend an event, join a movement and yes, even donate—it’s possible to get your constituents to do all of these things as a result of social media actions, but it’s not easy. Armed with case studies, industry research and plain old common sense and experience, we’ll work together to recalibrate your social media mindset in order to provide more value and cultivate a deeper commitment.
Read more or register >>>

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On the Horizon

Just because we've had a busy January doesn’t mean we don’t have a busy February, March, April, and May planned out. For starters, as soon as our Social Media Policy Toolkit wraps up, our next course,Mastering Your Mix: A Practical Approach to Integrated Communications, begins. Based on our popular workbook, this course will help bring some of those conceptual ideas into reality for your own organization. Not only will we walk you through the process of integrating your communications, but you’ll have personalized guidance from one of the workbook’s lead authors.

Outside of the training realm, we are putting the finishing touches on a brand new report that looks at the landscape of apps for the Salesforce.com platform. This report will break down the full, complicated app marketplace to what is most valuable to nonprofits. Co-written by the same team that brought you the Consumers Guide to Donor Management Systems, and featuring the same accessible guidance, it won’t be much longer until you have your own roadmap to meeting your needs by building on top of Salesforce.com. We're also including a directory of consultants who specialize in Salesforce.com for the critical step of implementation. And our latest-and-greatest update to the Field Guide to Software for Nonprofits is under way, with a publication date of early spring. 

As always, be sure to keep an eye on our Twitter, Facebook, andblog to keep tabs on what's going on at Idealware. Things move fast around here, and we want to make sure you get the resources you need right away. Stay warm.

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Upcoming Webinars & Events

Budgeting Process Best Practices for the Small Nonprofit [Lunch & Learn Webinar]  Presented by Michelle Jarvais, CFO and Elizabeth Mathews, Sr. Accountant, NYCON February 21st, 2014    11:00am to 12:30pm EST Free for NYCON Members Only; $50 for Non-Members Register A good budgeting process engages everyone who is responsible for that budget and implementing its priorities. Even in a small nonprofit this process can get complicated. As budgeting decisions are, of course, driven both by mission and by financial need, both fiscal; and senior program staff participation is a necessity. The process should include enough time for review of the strategic priorities and goals of the organization and also allow for review, feedback, revisions, etc. Managing this process is a serious responsibility across different "teams" within your organization - or for a small nonprofit - may include everyone on staff!  Then - once a budget is in place - how do you manage this "living, breathing" document? Because as we all know, things change frequently in the world of a nonprofit. Participants in this workshop will learn practical tips to start, manage and stay on task during this critical process and throughout the year. "Get to Know Us": NYCON Membership Benefits Orientation [Webinar]  Presented by Valerie Venezia, VP of Membership & Marketing, NYCON  February 21st 10:00am - 11:00am  Free & Open to All  Register Today  In our "Get to Know Us" Sessions, NYCON staff will tell you a lot more about our membership benefits - and answer all the questions you have regarding our process, costs and what you get for FREE.     We will be talking about these benefits... Nonprofit Training, Education and Professional Assistance NYCON empowers our members with the best practices, policies, and procedures as well as information on ever-changing regulations, funding, accountability and more.  Cost Savings Solutions for Nonprofits NYCON leverages the purchasing power of thousands of nonprofits to bring you economies of scale on everything from Office Supplies to Fundraising Software. The Nonprofit Voice in New York State NYCON represents our members on the local, state and national level, giving voice to small and medium sized nonprofits everywhere. Find out how NYCON Membership will benefit you by attending this 1-hour session. Complying with the Nonprofit Revitalization Act:  Practical Webinars for New York NonprofitsPresented by David Watson, Esq, Sr. VP of Legal Accountability Services, NYCON and Michael West, Esq., Legal Advisor, NYCON  Various Dates: February 2014 - June 2014 .Webinars are held from 11am to 12:30pm.   Register Today The Nonprofit Revitalization Act is a landmark change in the Not-for-Profit Corporation Law of the State of New York and will usher in a modern era for the operation and governance of nonprofit corporations starting July 1, 2014. As always, here at the New York Council of Nonprofits, Inc. (NYCON) your one-stop tool box and soap box we eagerly anticipated the updated statutes and have prepared a practical webinar series to address your immediate needs in the updating of your bylaws and governance materials. We encourage all of our Members to take advantage of these webinars. Part 1: New York Nonprofit Revitalization Act Part- Steps To Compliance - An Overview A comprehensive overview of the Act to take place with a plenary Q/A portion to be held in February, April & June. This offering will provide you with an overview and a practical set of actions to take to amend your bylaws to meet the new standards of the Act. Dates: February 27th, April 24th, June 26th Part 2:  New York Nonprofit Revitalization Act: Implementing YourCompliance Checklist - Whistleblower, Conflict of Interest, Committees & Executive Compensation: These webinars will be held In March and May will be a more detailed and focused on the various topics included in the Act that are new and have implications on Board governance in general and your operations specifically. Click here to register. Dates: March 25th and May 20th      Cost: FREE for current NYCON Nonprofit Members; $79 for Non-Members. All webinars are from 11:00am to 12:30pm.   Your Spring "Check Up": Conducting a Governance Self-Assessment [Lunch & Learn Webinar] Presented by Susan Weinrich, Vice President of Organizational Development Services, NYCON March 28th, 2014   11:00am to 12:30pm EST Register Organizational assessments, in general, provide an overview of a nonprofit's status and capabilities with respect to successfully meeting current obligations and potential to more effectively and efficiently accomplish its mission. It is an evaluation of a nonprofit's condition or situation within a multi-faceted and continually evolving context. Assessments can identify areas and provide recommendations where corrective actions, improvements or other changes are necessary and/or will yield the greatest benefit to the health and success of the nonprofit. In this NYCON webinar our presenter will be focusing specifically on how to assess your organization's Governance structure and process to ensure compliance and to ensure that these mechanisms are delivering the maximum return on your staff and board members' investment of time and resources -- and ultimately making the most impact on your nonprofit's mission.