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Greetings to Our Nonprofit Partners,
The Nonprofit Effectiveness Group is pleased to help jumpstart your new year with the following resources, opportunities and upcoming events. We thank you for all of your good work in Greater Boston and across Massachusetts last year and look forward to partnering with you in 2014!
Sincerely,
Jennifer Aronson, Senior Director, Program & Nonprofit Effectiveness
Katherine Westlund, Manager, Nonprofit Effectiveness
Leigh Handschuh, Program Associate, Nonprofit Effectiveness
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Giving Common Tips for your Organization
Review tips about how to promote your nonprofit's profile on the Giving Common!
- We enhanced our search to make finding your nonprofit easier! With 850 nonprofit profiles and counting, we boosted the Giving Common's search function to make finding profiles easier and more targeted. Log on to your profile and check out the geographic areas served (based on this map), operating budget, NTEE categories and keywords listed to make sure that finding your nonprofit is simple. The new search function works on mobile platforms, too!
- New year, enhanced transparency! Make it effortless for donors and the community to find information about your board, best business practices, financials and programs. Keep your Giving Common profile updated and provide a link to it from your website. We created an easy-to-use downloadable Giving Common seal to add to your website here.
- The Yellow Notepad will be removed from Giving Common profiles in late February! The yellow notepad is currently found on each tab of the profile in the area in which you edit the profile text. It is a place where you may have written notes to yourself while working on your profile. Please save any important items from the yellow notepad area that you would like to keep before it is removed. We want to be most helpful in responding to your Giving Common-related questions on this topic and others, so please e-mail us and we are happy to assist you.
- We share your nonprofit's information nationally to save you time and help you manage your branding across many platforms! Every few months, your profile data updates from Giving Common to your GuideStar record and numerous other national platforms. To update, enter data into Giving Common for these many benefits! Don't forget to submit your edits or e-mail Giving Common staff so we can make your edits visible to the public.
Reminder: The first- and last-name fields on the General Information tab must be completed by February 10 for silver status with GuideStar Exchange.
The Giving Common
The Giving Common, a major initiative of the Boston Foundation, is an in-depth database of nonprofit profiles that funders, donors and the general public can search by issue area, geography and other variables with the option to "donate now." To get started or learn more please visit www.givingcommon.org. |
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Opportunities
Were We "There at the Beginning" for Your Nonprofit?
The Boston Foundation will celebrate its 100th Anniversary in 2015! As we work on various publications and projects that reflect the Foundation's impact since 1915, we are seeking stories from Greater Boston's nonprofits about their history with the Foundation. Was the Boston Foundation "there at the beginning" with an early grant or other support for your organization or idea? If so, you are invited to e-mail Barbara Hindley, our Director of Publications and Marketing, and let her know. Be sure to include your contact information.
Do You Know a Classroom Superstar? We're looking for talented Boston teachers who have big ideas, creative solutions or innovative classroom practices to present at the Boston Foundation's third annual EdTalks, which will take place on Thursday, May 8. The EdTalks series allows teachers to share their best practices with a large audience of local education and business leaders. Candidates must be currently employed by a K-12 district, charter, or Catholic school in Boston and spend at least part of their time directly with students. In addition to classroom teachers, eligible entrants include specialists, support staff and coaches. Apply here or nominate an educator by February 23. Please e-mail Emily Gelber at the Boston Foundation for more details.
Nonprofit Finance Fund Requests Survey Feedback
The Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF) is seeking input for its annual Nonprofit State of the Sector Survey. This anonymous survey takes 10 to 15 minutes to complete and asks about your organization's recent financial and management challenges. Results are used to promote positive change, create policy recommendations and shed light on overarching nonprofit sector challenges with funders, government officials, nonprofits, media, lending institutions and many others. Take a look at last year's survey highlights and access and complete the brief survey here. The survey's findings will be announced in April.
Connect Your Nonprofit Project to Student Volunteers
Need an extra set of hands to complete a project at your nonprofit? Net Impact is now accepting applications for Projects for Good, a program that connects nonprofits with students interested in using their skills on pro-bono projects. Projects for Good offers nonprofits an opportunity to post a well-defined project to its online portal and then connect with students or student teams interested in fulfilling the project request. Read more about Net Impact's Project for Good program and post your nonprofit's project online here. |
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Funding
Letters of Inquiry Accepted from Nonprofits Supporting Women and Teen Girls
Womenade Boston is accepting Letters of Inquiry (LOIs) until January 31 from organizations that work in one of two grant-making categories: teen girls ages 12-22 or women ages 22 and older. Womenade supports philanthropic efforts that raise awareness and funds for programs that positively affect the lives of women and teenage girls in the Boston area, defined as municipalities inside Route 128. Click here to read more about the grantmaking guidelines, proposal and schedule.
Third Sector New England Is Now Receiving Applications for the Inclusion Initiative
Third Sector New England is accepting proposals for the Inclusion Initiative, which is designed to enhance collaborative, community-led solutions to solving the persistent and systemic problems that perpetuate poverty and inequality in the region. The deadline to apply is January 31. Nonprofits can access the RFP and online grant application here.
Rutland Corner Foundation Accepting Proposals
The Rutland Corner Foundation is now accepting proposals for its 2014 grant-making year, highlighting its commitment to helping and sustaining programs serving girls and young women ages 11-20 within Greater Boston. The Foundation specializes in supporting programs that address girls' and young women's developmental stages, challenges and needs that are aligned with the foundation's values and guiding principles. Please click here to submit your application no later than February 3.
Bruce J. Anderson Foundation Support for Youth, Environment, Preservation and Arts
The Bruce J. Anderson Foundation, a supporting organization of the Boston Foundation, is accepting grant applications, due February 7, to support nonprofits providing young adult treatment, research and suicide prevention; environmental protection; historic and archival preservation and the arts. The Foundation provides grants ranging from $5,000 to $12,000 to nonprofits on Cape Ann and in the communities of Harvard, Ayer, Groton, Pepperell, Shirley and Townsend. Please click here to access the grant RFP and read about previously-funded programs.
Talent Plus Celebrates 25 Years with $25,000 Award
In honor of its 25 year anniversary, Talent Plus will honor one organization with a $25,000 Significance Award. As Talent Plus begins its 25th year, it wishes to recognize organizations that compel others to create significance. The Talent Plus Significance Award aims to recognize one nonprofit organization that leaves a legacy of significance in their community. You can learn more and apply for the Significance Award here by March 1.
Citizens Bank and NECN Seek Applicants for Champions in Action Grants
Citizens Bank and NECN invite local nonprofits focused on Strengthening Communities through Family Support to apply by March 7 for assistance under the Champions in Action program, which provides financial, volunteer and PR support. Benefits include an unrestricted $35,000 grant, coverage from NECN, PR support, ads in Citizens branches and ATMs and volunteer support from Citizens colleagues. Please find details here, where nonprofits can enter their zip code to access grant details and the application.
Mass Humanities Public Squared Annual Challenge Grant Application Available
Mass Humanities recently announced a grant to reassert the necessity and value of the public square in resolving the issues that confront us today. This $25,000 grant will involve the collaboration of two (or more) organizations determined to build a "public square" around an important subject that addresses a crisis in our society and in so doing, multiply the impact of conversation on our collective culture. The deadline to submit a Letter of Inquiry is March 21. Please find eligibility details, guidelines and materials here. |
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Events
Massachusetts Nonprofit Network Policy Roundtables
Various Dates, February - April
The Massachusetts Nonprofit Network (MNN) invites nonprofits to share their input about the sector's needs and opportunities in an upcoming slate of policy roundtables held across the Commonwealth. Your input at these roundtable meetings will be used to help craft a Massachusetts nonprofit legislative agenda to share with gubernatorial and other statewide candidates and develop a public policy agenda for the next legislative session. These free events will be held February through April and are open to anyone interested in learning more about, or helping to form, an agenda that strengthens Massachusetts's nonprofit sector. The Boston Foundation will serve as a host for the roundtable held February 26. Waitlist registration information for the February 26 roundtable can be found here. Click here to find a complete listing of all available dates and to register for a roundtable discussion nearest you.
Reading and Interpreting Financial Statements
Thursday, February 6, 2014, 9:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
The Essex County Community Foundation will host a workshop in Danvers specifically designed for nonprofit staff and volunteers tasked with financial management. The workshop will provide an overview of financial statements, then will dig deeper into how to review these documents to assess the overall financial health of your nonprofit organization, as well as how to interpret the data, draw conclusions and incorporate this knowledge into your organization's strategic decision making. Additional details and registration information can be located here.
How to Maintain Not-for-Profit Status
February 11, 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Lawyers Clearinghouse, in partnership with Goodwin Procter LLP, Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and Alexander, Aronson, Finning & Co., will host an upcoming seminar to assist nonprofits with understanding how to maintain their status as not-for-profit organizations. Click here to learn more and to register for the seminar.
The One-Person Development Shop
Thursday, February 13, 9:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
The Essex County Community Foundation will host an upcoming workshop in Wenham designed to help one-person development staff learn the basics of fund development. Topics will include basic development functions, fundraising resources and tools, time management, and prioritization. Additional details and workshop registration information are located here.
Successful Donor Cultivation and Stewardship
Thursday, February 20, 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Join Associated Grant Makers for an upcoming session about relationship building, donor-centered education and ongoing communication with major donors.The workshop will explore the motivation, interests and needs of major donors, tips on ways to invite them in and strategies for building philanthropic partnerships. Click here to learn more and register.
Outcomes Management and Data Visualization for Nonprofits
Various Dates, March - May
Mark your calendar to join co-hosts Boston Cares, Associated Grant Makers, ESC New England, hack/reduce, and Tech Networks of Boston for a training series about outcomes management and data visualization. Workshop topics will include Programmatic Outcomes Management for Nonprofits led by Kathryn Engelhardt-Cronk on March 25; How to Use Strategy, Measurement and Data for Successful Outcomes in a Nonprofit, led by Beth Kanter on April 30; and Data Visualization of Outcomes for Nonprofits, led by Georges Grinstein on May 28. All workshops will be held at hack/reduce in Kendall Square.Contact Deborah Elizabeth Finn,Senior Strategist at Tech Networks of Boston, by e-mail with questions or to receive an event invitation.
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Resources
Explore Giving USA's 2013 Report Highlights
Interested in learning more about how nonprofit giving fared nationwide last year? Giving USA recently announced the release of Giving USA 2013, The Annual Report on Philanthropy in America for the Year 2012. Explore useful data points about total giving for 2012, who gave and who received funds, changes in giving, key factors driving philanthropy and more. Follow this link to download a free copy of the Report Highlights and learn more about giving trends across the nonprofit sector.
Need a place to host a meeting?
The Boston Foundation is pleased to invite community organizations to use our conference room space for meetings at no cost to you. Conference rooms vary in their size and style. Reservations can be made for Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Reservations can be made up to 30 days in advance. More information is available here. |
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