Six Ways to Fund Admin & Overhead Costs  

By Kay Sohl of Kay Sohl Consulting

Part 5, and final, in the Indirect Costs Series

Nonprofits confront a daunting starvation cycle that threatens both effectiveness and sustainability. Funders, charity watchdogs, and unfortunately some nonprofit board members, are trapped in paradoxical thinking. They seek to support nonprofits that achieve the highest standards for accountability, transparency, and diversification of financial support, while simultaneously insisting that the "best" nonprofits are those that spend the least on the management and fund development capacities that are essential to achieve those results.

Read the full article  

Save the Date! Nonprofit Advocacy Training 

Wondering if your organization can take a position on a bill that impacts your constituents? Worried how cuts in government funding will affect the work of your organization?

Join NAO and the Alliance for Justice to learn about the rules and regulations that govern how your organization gets a seat at the public policy table and advocates for its work. The workshop will be held in Portland on September 27, 2011. Save the date! More details to come!  

IRS Posts Revocation Lists 

On June 8, 2011, the IRS posted the initial Automatic Revocation of Exemption list on its website. The list names 275,000 nonprofits that have lost their tax exemptions for failure to file an annual return, including 3,733 Oregon organizations. The IRS has posted excel spreadsheets by state and The Chronicle of Philanthropy has a searchable database.

If your nonprofit is on the list, the National Council of Nonprofits has developed a special webpage and tip sheet on options available to you. The IRS has also posted information about how to request reinstatement of your tax-exempt status. Just make sure to carefully follow the instructions on the IRS website.

For general information on automatic revocation, check out this FAQ posted by Guidestar. 

Building Clout with Candidate Forums 

Hosting a nonpartisan candidate forum gives your nonprofit the opportunity to educate candidates and the public about the issues that matter to your organization and the communities you serve. Organizing or co-sponsoring a candidate forum can also help your nonprofit build relationships with future elected officials, making it easier to hold them accountable and giving you greater access to them once in office.

Join Nonprofit VOTE this month for a free webinar, "Nonpartisan Candidate Forums: Building Political Clout for Your Nonprofit," this Thursday, June 23 from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. (EST). Learn techniques for organizing an effective candidate forum, how to stay nonpartisan throughout the process, and tools to help you every step of the way there.   

2011 Nonprofit Salary & Benefits Survey 

We have teamed up with the MBL Group LLC to offer our members the 6th edition of the Nonprofit Salary & Benefits Survey. Based on data from 190 nonprofits throughout Oregon and SW Washington, this is an excellent resource for organizations to evaluate their compensation packages. NAO Members receive 10% off the survey price.

The Nonprofit Salary & Benefits Survey includes valuable benchmarking data on pay practices, benefits, and wages for over 86 positions and 14 benefit topics, including: pay increases and bonuses, medical coverage and prescription drug plans, long-term disability and retirement, and time off.

Contact membership@nonprofitoregon.org for more information, and to get the discount code to order your copy today!  

Learn more about NAO member benefits  

Update Your NAO Mailing List Preferences  

Planning for our 2011-12 training season is underway! We'll be sending out the schedules for our seven professional networks in early August. To ensure that you'll receive relevant information, view and update your mailing preferences today. Here's how:

• Follow this link, and enter your email address when prompted.
• Check your inbox for an email with the subject line "NAO's mailing list"
• From this email, click "Update your profile"
• Select the box next to the networks for which you'd like to receive information (you'll receive an eAnnouncement for each network session, about one per month)
• To receive the paper schedule by mail, review your contact information and add/update your street address (or leave this blank if you do not want to receive it).

Executive Searches

Our Executive Transition Services team is currently conducting executive director searches for Elevate Oregon and YWCA Salem. More information and job descriptions are available here.

Jan Masaoka of Blue Avocado is Coming!

Nonprofit guru and editor-in-chief of one of our favorite online newsletters, Blue Avocado, will be here September 14, 2011 to present two workshops: a morning program focused on board development and an afternoon program looking at financial sustainability. We are teaming up with WVDO to bring Jan to Portland for these presentations. Check out Jan's website, a great resource for tips on fundraising, developing your board, and meeting management challenges.

Learn more or register  

Call for Presenters

WVDO seeks workshop proposals for its next bi-annual fundraising conference this coming May 2012 in Portland AND for the continuing education workshops held January-December 2012. All proposals are due by August 12, 2011. Learn more.

2011 Portland Monthly Light A Fire Awards

Portland Monthly magazine would like to invite you to participate in the Seventh Annual Light A Fire Awards! We are currently accepting nominations for individuals and nonprofit organizations to be celebrated in the pages of the November 2011 issue of Portland Monthly. Nominations open June 24 through July 30.

This esteemed awards event honors outstanding individuals and nonprofit organizations working to make the Portland metropolitan area more prosperous, beautiful, healthful, and sustainable.  

For questions, please call 503.222.5144. To nominate, visit: www.portlandmonthlymag.com/lightafire.  

Free Training! Jackson County Library Foundation

JCLF offers free courses on using the Foundation Directory Online, a unique database of information on the more than 95,000 foundations, corporate donors, and grantmaking public charities in the U.S. Training courses will be held July 15 and July 22, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the RCC Computer Lab, located in the Medford Branch Library. To register, email the Library Foundation at info@jclf.org.

Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication

For 35 years, the Intercultural Communication Institute has offered professional development opportunities through its Summer Institute. Whether you are leading a global team, designing a new diversity initiative, preparing a course curriculum, or directing a study abroad program, you can anticipate lively and engaging conversations with others in your field. Register or learn more about the 2011 schedule   

2011 Pacific Programs

Apply for the 2011 Pacific Program of the Luke Center for Catalytic Leadership this September 18-23. Originally established by Dr. Jeff Luke in 1989 as a forum to cultivate catalytic leadership across all sectors--state, local, and tribal governments, nonprofit and private sectors--the program is rooted in the foundations of catalytic leadership. For more information visit www.thelukecenter.org.