1. List Your Priorities of Programming Ideas
2. Elements to Use in Action Steps/Approaches/Strategies (Working Together)

• Strategic Planning (What, where, when and why baseline)
• Maximizing Assets: People, Organization, Effort, Space, Allocation of costs, Labeling, Cost allocation plan, Assignment of job function.
• Referral and Intake Systems
• Cross Pollination: Using resources already available and maximizing capacity.
• Whom do you serve: Geography, community, age and service type. (Who shows up in the Service Plan or the Strategic Plan?)
• Reality Check on ability to serve
• Equal Access Goal (Where are the cases? Where are the resources?) Geo coding for allocating resources. (Transportation weight to consider. How do you manage yourself to complete all of your daily tasks?)
• Low Lying Fruit
• 20-40 Minute Rule
• Day Job Syndrome (Capacity to change, evolve, develop vs. the day to day job) (Capacity to change, evolve, develop vs. the day to day job)
• Investment Risk Scale of Capital (Can what I am committed to doing be used for something else if I am wrong?)
• Management Choices for change vs. Institutional Choices for change
• Defining Outcomes
• Branding: Ownership, reporting, sharing, confidence and leadership
• Communication: web, telecommunicating, Co-location, transparency, team responsibility, and risk
• Continuous Quality Improvement (How do you learn?)
• How do you compete? Niche vs. General and Narrow vs. Broad. What does your mission allow?
• Who are my Funders?

1. 1. Donors
   2. Foundations
   3. State
   4. Federal
   5. City/Town
   6. Community
   7. Individuals
   8. Your Organizations Assets

If you are interested in overcoming barriers check out the previous post:

http://mynonprofitwebsite.com/blog/2008/04/30/nonprofits-evolution/

Is Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina onto something? They recently created a network of international hospitals for its insurers to use by partnering hospitals in Thailand, Singapore, Turkey India, and Ireland. The list continues to grow. A key component for measuring quality is whether the Joint Commission International, an arm of the Joint Health Care Commission that accredits US hospitals, approves the hospital.

With the costs of procedures at foreign hospitals being substantially less than US hospitals and the state of health of individuals at these hospitals no less than US hospitals it seems that money does not make a better quality of care.

In many comparison studies on health care of the US and other industrial countries where there is universal health, the US population does not live longer or have better outcomes, wait times or successes. The only difference is that the US system is the most costly.

A shift to using the health care system of the world seems like opening competition to the US health care system may just be a way to lower costs. However, buyers beware, it is very difficult to sue for malpractice in many other countries.

One aspect of opening the health care system that I would advocate be assigned to insurers, is the liability that they yearly certify that the appropriate accreditation is current and that procedures be pre-approved to ensure the health insurer referral system documents are current.

With the credit markets tight and the variable rates jumping from 3 percent to 11 percent, nonprofits are in a financial squeeze.  The credit market is not acting rationally and has frozen just about every sector in some way.  An approach proposed was to allow a nonprofit to bid on its own bonds.  This effectively allows for manipulation by the seller of the bonds and the recent financial market problems should have taught all of us that there should not be more possible ways for manipulation allowed, regardless of the type of organization.  If a nonprofit has sufficient monies to bid on its own bonds then why create more debt.  Since most of the bonds are related to hospitals and schools the reason for the bonds is to pass on the debt to the consumer even if they raised the money already.    The cost is passed on to individuals in the form of higher medical costs and tuitions.

Immigrants depend on their network of trust for advice.All of us are programmed to work towards the American Dream of owning our own home. The government is supposed to protect everyone from predatory practices, illegal practices and outright fraud. They just do not have the staff to adequately police the billions involved.

The government has been trying to create a resolution to support the investment field from collapsing. The end result was not supporting people from losing their homes. It did not attack the issue that home prices were inflated, interest rates calculated to be misleading and considered predatory when the entire math was done.

There has been little discussion about taking legal action against the originators of the loans. Investors of the securities like any shareholder should sue the creator of the loan for providing loan securities that were not worth the house value. In turn, the homeowner should have loans at reasonable rate for what the house is worth minus what they have already paid.

When rules are broken or an individual is abused, it is the government’s duty to protect its citizens in the future and provide its citizens recourse to correct the harm done to them.

Regardless of what ones opinion of how an individual got into the situation of a predatory loan, billions were made on the backs of these individuals. It is why the investment industry called it Sub prime. The investment community created the mess and now needs to deal with the consequences of inappropriate practices. The practice of reselling loans into securities and not taking possession of the property is a secret that must be address. The beneficiary should be the homeowner and/or your organization.

To the degree an organizations can step up and buy housing today under foreclosure and short sales is a good opportunity. Create affordable housing at a level where a living wage can afford it. The investor is not interested in becoming a landlord. Offer a price you can afford and use for staff under a living wage. Submit bids for as many deals as you can afford and wait. A firm known deal is better than no deal. Remember in foreclosure and short sales the investor or bank is trying to walk away with the lowest cash loss possible and will write off the amount they cannot recover on their taxes. So are they really losing? Do not feel sorry for them when negotiating. Play hard and protect your interest in affordable housing for your employees and the community.

Science has provided an outcome for which no organization is prepared. The chance of survival after a brain injury has become increasingly likely. However, that does not match the resources available for long-term or permanent care being needed. The costs are enormous and living in the community requires resources to be developed in many cases from scratch. Surviving a car accident or a war injury are two of the largest growing areas. Just in the past two years for the US military 30,327 individuals were diagnosed with injuries sufficient to be labeled wounded. Another 20,000 were not considered wounded but have brain injuries. The military, government and nonprofit sector are ill prepared to handle the volume of need. So those in need wait and despair.

Which organizations can provide the will and commitment to build the capacity?

Most organizations do not function seasonally but seem to make raising money a seasonal focus.  Thereby creating donor fatigue during the November and December months.  I have received 19 solicitation since I began counting November 1st.  I have kept three to think about and one I sent a donation. 

The one pattern I have begun to use to separate among nonprofits are those that have large endowments and pay large salaries to its management compare to those that have low salaries and little or no endowment. 

Harvard University will get no donations until they stop using loans in the financial aid packages for many students.

Salvation Army has one of the largest endowments and does not report its information via guidestar or as a 501 c 3.  It hides behind the fact that churches arenot required to file a 990. 

Red Cross pays lots of high end salaries and is too general on what services they actually provided in a state.  I got the neighbor solicitation, while I would support my neighbor and community, the Red Cross solicitation does not keep it local.  There are plenty of local groups that will better serve the effort.

So what’s an organization to do?  Be specific about whom your going to serve, the outcome your trying to achieve, and communicate more often then once a year. 

When does a contract fail you? When words in the contract are not defined.

For example, in Coldwell Banker’s Exclusive Right to Sell Agreement, a seller owes the fee if ” During the term of this Agreement a Buyer is procured ready, willing and able to buy the Property or any part there of, in accordance with the price, terms and conditions of this Agreement”.  Nowhere in the agreement is there a definition of what “this Agreement” means.   I have the knowledge of one individual who received a letter from the Coldwell Banker Realtor demanding their fee. A year later between legal fees and settling, with neither side admitting anything, the cost is $23,000.  Come to find out, regardless of what the Sellers were told verbally by the agent, the seller should have written it into the Agreement, regardless of the Realtor’s assurances, that it was the purchase and sale agreement.  It could mean “the offer”.

Another example is the expiration of an offer. It is important to realize that the strength of your position is only to the degree that you maintain control. In an agreement, deadlines and options can be the critical components. If provisions have not been met, it may be wise to let the offer expire. It will certainly make sure everyone involved is paying attention and that your serious.

Do not let a realtor or anyone else push you to automatically exercise an extension or accept an option unless you have an attorney who represents your rights and they have advised you of the pros and cons. You must clearly understand what will happen with your actions. It is your responsibility to ask your attorney questions to make sure you understand what the results of your actions could be.

Therefore, if it is not clear to you, do not sign until the language means such to you.

Circle Lending now called Virgin Money is a great resource for creating personal and business loans between between associates, relatives and friends. http://www.virginmoneyus.com/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx

Governing Magazine:  A resource on states and localities.  Great for keeping the pulse on what is happening in states and localities.   http://www.governing.com

Nonprofit Quarterly:  A magazine that provides valuable management information and proven practices. The information is cutting edge, relevant and useful.    http://www.nonprofitquarterly.org

Mission Fish:  The easy way on Ebay to convert in-kind donations into cash or a new way to invigorate your fundraising efforts http://www.missionfish.org/ForNonProfits/fornonprofits.jsp

An Association is usually incorporated as a 501 (c) 6 organization. It works on behalf of its members. The strength of an Association is based on its membership. The larger the membership, the more success the Association will have in producing greater results. A nonprofit or individual should pay a membership to join an Association if there are clear and measurable benefits to being a member.

The most simple measure is, “Will my organization save money or obtain additional funds by the actions of the Association?” Group purchasing is the quickest and easiest way to see results immediately. These actions create more funds by decreasing costs.

Property insurance, health insurance, dental insurance, visioin insurance, utilities, billing services, retirement plans, human resource services, accounting services, consulting services, development services, office supplies, security, bottled water, food, equipment, web services, information technology services, banking services, audit services, construction, and employment assistance programs are just a few examples where group purchasing can decrease costs.

The other part of an Association’s effort is lobbying and clearly educating elected officials. A key role they play is providing a clear voice on the economic impact of their member organizations and the criticial areas of concerns.

So take advantage of Associations where it makes sense. Make sure you never pay more than it costs your local, state or federal government for a service or product.

Correctly allocating costs among an organization’s programs can be one of the most challenging aspects of non-profit book keeping. It may seem simple enough: whatever you spend to pay a program’s staff and purchase the supplies that they use will equal the cost of the services they provide. Well, these may be the program’s direct costs, but they don’t represent its true cost. There are other expenses, too often overlooked and under funded, that contribute to every program’s bottom line.

Indirect costs (also referred to as “Administration and Support Costs”) are expenditures necessary to the overall management and operation of an organization. These include costs associated with general record keeping, business management, budgeting, board activities, legal expenses and other tasks that are not specific to any one program—including just keeping the lights on. Indirect costs also generally include the salaries and expenses of the organization’s chief officer and his or her staff.

Cost allocation is a way of accounting for each program’s share of these indirect costs. There are four generally accepted methods:

(1) Simplified Allocation Method
This method allocates indirect costs by use of a distribution percentage derived from a program’s direct costs, i.e. total employee compensation and other expenses. In other words, a more expensive program will account for a larger share of the indirect costs.

(2) Modified Direct Method
This method is similar to (1), but employs an additional allocation process for certain direct costs that are shared among two or more programs.

(3) Multiple Allocation Base Method
This method is used when a program, affiliate or subsidiary is different from an organization’s other activities and receives a disproportionate amount of administrative support. In these cases, the formula for figuring the allocation is not one-size-fits-all, but instead varies by program type.

(4) Approved Federal Indirect Cost Rate
Many non-profits that receive Federal assistance have approved Federal indirect cost rates. These rates are very useful in budgeting, particularly when developing a Federal grant proposal.

Whatever the size or complexity of your organization, you should choose your cost allocation method carefully. Indirect costs are an important piece of price setting that can make the difference between a successful organization and an unstable one. Understanding indirect costs can also help you increase efficiency and distribute your organization’s resources in a way that maximizes program outcomes.