Mitchell Kapor Foundation Weblog

CompassPoint and the Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training (GIFT) are pleased to announce that they will offer another year of the Fundraising Academy for Communities Color focusing on nonprofits based in communities of color in Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano Counties. The deadline to apply for this seven month academy is Friday, August 20^th.

The Fundraising Academy helps people of color led nonprofits that are primarily supported by foundation grants or government to build a base of supporters from the communities they serve and advocate for. With the worsening local and state budget crisis, grassroots fundraising is even more important- to raise money and to galvanize advocacy efforts.

The Fundraising Academy for Communities of Color helps individuals and organizations from communities of color to raise the funds they need in a more sustainable way, through diversity of sources and strong relationships with community donors. The academy has been successfully offered four times in the San Francisco Bay Area, and most recently in Los Angeles.  Over 80 organizations have completed the academy and participants consistently report that their experience in the academy has significantly shifted their groups approach, strengthened their skills to raise money from individual donors, and increased their goals and results.

For a complete description of the academy: Academy Program Information

Hear what past participants have to say:  Experiences in the Academy

To apply now or before August 20: Click Here

Thanks to the support of several foundations, the East Bay Fundraising Academy for Communities of Color is 90% subsidized.  If accepted, participating organizations will contribute a participation fee of $500 – $2,000 based on annual operating budget. The academy provides 8 full days of training and peer learning, 15 hours of one on one coaching, and Kim Klein’s new book “Reliable Fundraising in Unreliable Times” and a years subscription to the Grassroots Fundraising Journal.  Please review the academy information and discuss the investment of time and money in this program with key members of your organization before you apply.  Then, seize the moment and apply!

Image source: beyondwar.ning.com

Deadline Extended to 7/12

I just sat in on a webinar entitled ‘Affordable Video Production for Nonprofits’.  It was hosted by Nonprofit Webinars, a company that provides all kinds of low-cost and free webinars to nonprofit organizations.  In just an hour, I learned some cool information that I wanted to pass along to you.

Online video is becoming more and more prominent.  The webinar speaker cited a 2009 study from the Pew Research Center that showed that far more people were using video-sharing websites, like YouTube, than even social networking sites, like FaceBook and Twitter.  That being said, it’s understandable that lots of nonprofits are trying to boost their video presence.

Here are four unique vide0-related opportunities out there for nonprofits:

1. Flip Video Spotlight Program -  provides steeply discounted access to selected Flip Video products to qualifying charitable organizations. To start, charitable organizations apply online to become a Participating Partner. If approved, Participating Partners join our online community and receive access to the Flip Video Spotlight storefront. For each Flip Video Ultra camcorder purchased through the storefront, Flip Video Spotlight donates a free unit.  Click HERE for program guidelines.

2. YouTube Nonprofit Program – provides premium branding capabilities and increased uploading capacity, the option to drive fundraising through a Google Checkout “Donate” button, a listing on the Nonprofit channels and the Nonprofit videos pages, and other benefits.

3. Animoto – produces creative and unique videos from your photos, video clips, and music for free!  They have a professional option available for a quarterly or yearly fee.

4. Lights. Camera. Help. – nonprofit organization that is dedicated to encouraging other nonprofit and cause-driven organizations to use film and video to tell their stories. They do this through education, volunteer match programs, screenings, and an annual film festival. The goal of the volunteer match is to connect nonprofits in need of films with film makers who are willing to donate or discount their services.

If you’re curious, check out these tools to try your hand at using video to promote your organization’s mission.

Last week, Justin, Carmen, and I had the unique opportunity to attend Ernst & Young’s Northern California Entrepreneur of the Year Award ceremony in San Jose.  We were guests of the founder and CEO of Universal Giving, Pamela Hawley, who was one of the finalists for this prestigious award.  Pamela was recognized for her social entrepreneurship in creating an organization that allows people to give to and volunteer with top-performing projects all over the world.  We are proud of Pamela’s work and were excited to attend the event on her behalf.

Some of the other entrepreneurs being recognized were the founders of Method Products, Inc., Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan; the founder of the Flip video camera, Jonathan Kaplan; and the co-founders of SunRun, an organization that provides solar installation to consumers at no initial cost, leasing the equipment to them, making it easier for folks to live sustainably.  These were just a few of the amazing entrepreneurs we heard about.  One of the most amazing entrepreneurs was a 13-year old boy who created a special gate to be used with sliding doors.  Amazing!

The most important thing I took away from this event is that it doesn’t pay to just come up with a great idea.  We need to put ideas into action in order to add value to the communities we live in.  In the words of Thomas Edison, “Vision without execution is hallucination.”  Be inspired.

Pictured in photo: Carmen Rojas, Pamela Hawley, and Tiffany Price

The San Francisco Foundation, in collaboration with National Community Development Institute, has launched a new directory of San Francisco Bay Area capacity builders of color.  This database includes all kinds of consultants and technical assistance providers of color, many of whom specialize in working in low-income communities and communities of color.  The directory was created to help community-based organizations, nonprofits, and foundations find consultants of color and to assist local consultants of color in marketing their services in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors.

My favorite feature of the website is the Specialty Search.  Using this function, you can find consultants who specialize in everything from community organizing to health and technology.  This directory is a much-needed resource, so get the word out to your friends and colleagues.  If you or someone you know would like to be added to the database or have comments and suggestions about the database, please provide feedback using the ‘Contact Us’ link on the database website.

Image source: The San Francisco Foundation website

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the Council on Foundations Conference in Denver under the theme of “Intersections: Social Change, Social Justice, and Social Innovation.”  I got to hear great presentations and to network with some inspiring people, and the conference was filled with a stunning cadre of speakers like Al Gore, Geoffrey Canada, Ben Jealous, and more.

I started the conference with a session starring the Kapor Foundation’s Mario Lugay on ‘Organizing for Impact: Making the Case for Advocacy and Organizing.’  During the session, I listened to various foundation folks talk about their organizations’ efforts to integrate advocacy and social justice into their missions.  One foundation told a horror story of program staff wanting to do more progressive funding but having to ‘hide’ their social justice agendas in conservative language that got presented to a conservative, high-powered board.  Most of the board members had served 15-20+ years with no term limits. The board finally approved a 16-year term limit this year, but existing board members start the countdown anew.  After hearing this story and others like it, I am even more proud to work for a foundation that wears social justice on its sleeve!

I got to witness three great individuals get awarded by the Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE), including Rashid Shabazz and our own Cedric Brown!  The third person was Crystal Hayling, ABFE’s James Joseph Lecture Award recipient, who mentioned the following ‘5 Things We Know But Keep Forgetting‘ in our work efforts.

1) Take more risks. Heart-stopping risks.
2) The time is now. Re-envision relationships and communities. The problems we’re facing are big and require new, outside-the-box approaches, conversations, and partnerships.
3) Design matters. Hayling mentioned the power of design in the example of an innovative $20 blanket solution to the high death rate of third-world low-birth-weight babies due to the unavailability of $20,000 incubators.
4) Technology is just a tool, but it’s a power tool.
5) We need new leaders. Hard power is getting people to do what you want.  Soft power is convincing and inspiring people to want what you want.

These are just a few nuggets I took away from the conference that I wanted to share with you.

Image source: Council on Foundations website

I’m pleased to announce another great learning opportunity for nonprofits.  I have been collaborating with Darlene Hall, Ph.D., from Intersections Consulting to deliver hands-on program evaluation workshops to a few of our key partner organizations.  Darlene also delivers these workshops to the larger nonprofit community and recently announced new program evaluation workshop dates.

This is a two-part training designed for nonprofit leaders who want to strengthen their skills in understanding the role and purpose of evaluation.  Leaders will have a chance to identify obstacles to the evaluation process, and learn ways to create an evaluation culture inside their organization, and learn about methodology, data collection tools, and basic analysis.  The two-part training includes opportunities for hands-on work on logic models, developing a evaluation plan, including an outcomes-based evaluation plan, and question development.  In order to keep the trainings interactive, participants will learn in a small group setting.  Trainings are held in the community in public transit-accessible locations in downtown San Francisco and downtown Oakland.  In these economically challenging times, Darlene tries to keep registration costs reasonable and accessible for nonprofits.  So, it only costs $50 to attend one workshop and $90 to attend both.  Of course it’s recommended that you attend both in order to get as much as possible from the experience.  The dates, times, and locations of the workshops are listed below.

Workshop 1:

5/20/10 Camp Fire (405 14^th Street, # 204, Oakland) 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

5/21/10  The San Francisco Foundation (225 Bush Street, 5^th Floor, SF Room A, San Francisco) 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Workshop 2:

6/15/10 Camp Fire (405 14^th Street, # 204, Oakland) 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

6/23/10 The San Francisco Foundation (225 Bush Street, 5^th Floor, SF Room A, San Francisco) 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

To register, please use this form: PrgmEvalWkshpRegistration.

Image source: http://www.utexas.edu/academic/diia/assessment/iar/programs/

I just found out about this opportunity today and wanted to get the word out to interested folks.  Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group is offering the webinar: Integrating Social Media Into Essential Organizational Functions.  If you’re available from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. tomorrow and you’re interested in using social media for your nonprofit, you should check out this opportunity.

Here’s the session description:

In this session, we will look at the old way of doing business, before social media, and the “new” way of doing business. We will look at concrete examples of how nonprofits (and a few businesses) are integrating social media into organizational functions to improve the bottom line. Specifically, this seminar will focus on ideas for integrating social media into the following organizational function areas: human resources, program development, internal communications, member services, training, fundraising, and stakeholder engagement.  This seminar is intended for the nonprofit organization (or business) that wants to utilize social media, and has a level of familiarity with it.

During the webinar, we’ll discuss:

• Issues of cultural adoptions of social media, and best practices for adoption
• How social media affects all organizational functions
• Examples of function integration with social media
• The ROI of integrating social media with each organizational function
• Examples of fully-integrated “social” organizations
• Questions and answers

Takeaways:

• Understand how organizations can utilize social media in the areas of internal communications, service/program development, human resources, fundraising, and stakeholder engagement.
• Best practices for social media cultural integration
• One idea that you will implement in your organization
• A list of resources for exploring social media integration

Image source: http://denniswolff.wordpress.com

On Tuesday, May 18, the Foundation Center will be hosting a free training on Proposal Writing Basics (2:30-4:00 pm) followed by another free session called “Meet the Grantmakers: Funding for Educational Technology” (4:30-6:00 pm).

The proposal writing session will cover the following topics and more:

• What are the key components of a proposal to a foundation or corporation?
• Who should sign a grant request?
• How should the proposal be packaged?
• Should you contact a funder if your proposal is turned down?
• Where can you find more information on proposal writing, including sample proposals?

At the Meet the Grantmakers session, you will learn about Silicon Valley-based grantmaking initiatives regarding innovative uses of technology for the success of students and teachers.  Some foundations provide cash grants, technology, equipment, and professional development training to a wide array of educational programs, including K-12, higher education, after-school programs, etc. Local funders are also investing to increase educational attainment and contribute to the development of a skilled, diverse technology savvy workforce in the future. Attend the session to learn all about it!  In addition, a Silicon Valley Community Foundation grant is sponsoring the provision of free copies of The Foundation Center’s Guide to Proposal Writing and refreshments to all attendees.

Panelists for Meet the Grantmakers will include Miguel Salinas, senior manager, Adobe Youth Voices, Adobe Systems Inc. with other panelists pending.

Event location:

Santa Clara County Office of Education
1290 Ridder Park Drive
Milpitas Room
San Jose, CA 95131-2304