Frisbee golf works any where.  You make the course yourself.  You decide how hard to make it.  What par to make it.  Does anyone know if Tigger Woods can play it?  I wish every kid could have a Frisbee like me.  I can play anywhere with it. 

There has been lots of talk during 2008 of a movement towards people being more socially responsible. However, is it more talk then action when view among the whole population. Part of the lack of social responsibility is the ease to which a person can participate. The ways that the media controls what information reaches a person places smaller organizations at a disadvantage.  The media market is about who  pays more.  The same happens with Google searches.  By nature most people want convenience, this includes obtaining information.  Nonprofits should take the initiative to send their message to their community on how people can easily participate. Do not leave it to the Ad Hoc Media to brand your message or get the word out.  Giving back does not have to only be in money. Let people see how they can participate. Let people hear how they can participate. State how a persons participation will create a difference.

Ignoring ones community only creates opportunities for negative results. Remember the media loves to report the bad and rarely the good. Generation Next is reaching out looking for a means to be socially responsiblity but needs motivation. The presidential race has provided many with an outlet. The media has been flirting with whether it is a fad or long term.  It is time for nonprofits to formalize their outreach to youth and young adults. Banks invest in reaching these individuals because the statistics show they are more likely to be with them for life and buy more products later. Colleges constantly reach out to their Alumni and the results show why. A nonprofit needs to invest in building their future donors and keeping those whom have been associated with the nonprofit in the past a part of the organization.

Remember this phrase:  “Out of sight, out of mind”

My son and I jointly have produced this article.

“A day to recognize a mother and being thankful for her.  You can have more than one.”

Whether through birth or other reasons we come to have special feelings for women in our lives.  While our feelings are not limited to one day, Mothers Day focuses each of us on a day to reflect the persons effect on our life.

Nonprofits whom provide services to women especially in the area of domestic violence or elderly should take advantage of Mothers Day to have donors honor their mother and support your nonprofit programs.  Your nonprofit should be specific on how the donation will honor the donors mother.  Remember to use your fundraising to be a year round communication tool.

How does your brand effect your nonprofits’s ability to reach Donors? What level of trust has your organization created for the donor? How well known is your brand in the community you serve? When branding include the logo and motto of your organization.

Bank of America Helping it’s Customer with the Economy.

Bank of America each month starting the first weekend in May is sponsoring nationwide free passes to the museum.  Now that’s a bank trying to help people have fun during this economic melt down. While they lost billions BOA is reaching out to help us all. My sons think its great to have this opportunity to be able to take advantage of these weekends as a family event. Promote in your community this free access to wonderful resources.

Check out their web site for the museum nearest you.

http://promotions.bankofamerica.com/museums/

Do you want to changed the business environment of your organization? Try the outline below.

1. List Your Barriers and Challenges

2. Evolution of the Non-Profit Business Environment (Supporters Working Together) List supporters.
   1. Donors
   2. Foundations
   3. State
   4. Federal
   5. City/Town
   6. Community
   7. Individuals
   8. Your Organizations Assets

3. Successful Approaches and Innovative Strategies

• Strategic Planning (Why do you exist? Whom do you not serve? Why do you not serve them? Why do you do things the way you do? Whom do you consider a competitor? When was the last time you asked a person you served what’s missing?)
• Whom do you serve: Geography, community, age and service type. Who shows up in the Service Plan?
• Day Job Syndrome (What is the organization’s capacity to change, evolve, develop vs. the day to day job)
• Maximizing Assets (Review your people, organization, effort, space, allocation of costs, labeling, cost allocation plan, assignment of job function, etc)
• Systematic Evaluation at Intake (How is it done thorough out the organization?)
• Cross Pollination of Expertise
• Continuous Quality Improvement
• Thinking Out of the Box
• Defining Outcomes
• Branding
• Co-location of Programs

How do you stretch a dollar at your nonprofit? You accept more in kind contributions. Know what you use consistently each month and letting the community know what that is, will provide a means for businesses to donate if they do not have the cash. It is amazing how quickly it adds up. For example, a specific toner cartridge costs $20 plus, a ream of paper $4, toilet paper $7 (family size), paper towels $6 (family size), gas cards, etc.

Use your web site and solicitations to inform a person or business how they can help all year long. If your nonprofit is only asking in November and December, your placing your request at risk of ending up in what i call the Maybe Motivated Pile.

In the last two months of the year I received 63 requests for donations from nonprofits and picked three. However, certain solicitations during the year stood out and received a donation to fulfill our family contributions.

My point:  Make giving a year long process and provide for many levels of opportunities to inform and have people participate in the organization.

It is important for a nonprofit to plan on how it is going to raise money or support for its organization. To help nonprofits in their outline of the planning the process I have provided 6 questions below.

1. Do you have a Strategic Plan?

2. Do you have a Development Plan?

3. Is the Development Plan incorporated into the Strategic Plan?

4. Can you describe for your nonprofit each outcome in three sentences or less?

5. Is each outcome for the nonprofit something that can be publicize?

6. Do you know what it costs the nonprofit to deliver each outcome?

If you answer no to any of the six, your nonprofit needs to improve to be more successful in raising money.

Just because some things cost a lot of money does not mean you can not buy it. By saving your small money each week it adds up to big money. When you buy the thing you want you feel like a genius. After you do that you feel proud of your self.

Money just takes time.

In observing Earth Day my six year old and I had fun in the woods.  His conversation went something like this;

“The world is perfect and correct when I am walking in the woods. Then, next winter we cut down trees and in the spring we use them to cook our food. Then we use the leaves to make the fire with. The planet is real. It is important for animals to live on the earth; us too.

Are we an animal??

We need to be nice to nature, do not kick nature and kill it. If we are nice to nature, it will be nice to us.  We take care of nature like pets.”

Our joint action: We planted 26 trees that were grown by us and involved no use of vehicle transportation  to an area effected by construction and used fallen trees to cook our dinner and conserve our use of foreign fuels.  Any organization with its staff or community can start trees in a small space to be used elsewhere locally.