We had an email come in today with a question that I thought was so good that I decided to post and answer it publicly. The question was:

"Hello, I recently had someone challenge me about why the term "third sector" is used as it implies that it comes after business and government. How do you respond when your brand is built on this term? Thanks!"

My response was:

Great question! Most societies categorize organizations into three main groups -- Government, For-profit, and Not-for-profit. Commerce and government have been around for thousands of years, but organized charity, as a well-defined category, has only been around for several hundreds of years. So, the first answer is that the community benefit sector is often referred to as the "third sector" because it is historically the newest on the scene. I should mention, too, that some people are beginning to refer to a "fourth sector" that is comprised of hybrid organizations or partnerships that in some way or other combine government, for-profit and/or not-for-profit organizations with the intent of positively impacting the community at large. The second answer is that the term "third" in this case doesn't have any rank-related meaning to it, like coming in third in a foot race would. And, finally, we recently rebranded and chose Third Sector Connector as our name because it is more global in scope.

I'm sure there are other members who can weigh in here, too, and we welcome all participation! What do you think about calling it the "third" sector?

Mark

A key to board giving is making sure that "giving" is an expectation up front. I encourage the organizations with which I work to develop job descriptions for their Board which are given to those nominated for Board positions in advance with a request that they return a signed copy acknowledging acceptance of the responsibilities outlined.

Norman Olshansky
NFP Consulting Resources, Inc.

I have recently launched a social network called JackTheDonkey.com, the community where your time online supports the charity of your choice.

JackTheDonkey.com is what some call a socially responsible social network as we donate 1.1 cents every impression to your choice of more than 20 charities from across Canada, the US, and the UK (paid at par depending where the charity is registered). Simply sharing, viewing or commenting on pictures or "deep thoughts" makes cents!

JackTheDonkey.com also takes a "softsell" approach to keeping the charities top of mind among existing supporters, while trickling into the consciousness of potential supporters, as the charities' Twitter feeds have recently been incorporated into their supporters' personal profile pages, viewable to the community.

There is another key component to the site that we are rolling out in the near future which will provide an additional stream of funds for the charities on jackthedonkey.com.

Attached are also links to a couple reviews of Jack that were posted recently on a couple startup related sites as well as some local press I was able to generate this past summer:

http://startupmeme.com/jackthedonkey- ... rt-your-favorite-charity/

http://www.killerstartups.com/Social- ... -a-charity-the-social-way www.JackTheDonkey.com

http://www.cjnews.com/images/stories/Heebonics/June_25_09.pdf

JackTheDonkey.com is free for members of the community and the participating charities...with this miracle of support coming from corporate sponsors.
Please feel free to contact me at stayintouch@jackthedonkey.com, on twitter.com/inyourfacebook or via jackthedonkey.com if you are in interested in chatting about adding your organization to the community where giving a poop about your favorite charities happens freely & regularly.

Philantropia Survey: International Fundraising – Now More Important Than Ever?

Philantropia invites your NGO to participate in a survey that plans to determine if international fundraising provides good opportunities for funding NGO’s.

The results of the study will be published in December of 2009, and will be made available through Philantropia.org, various list servs, and e-mailed to participants. The survey results will remain anonymous and no personal information will be released.

The link to the survey is:
http://www.esurveyspro.com/Survey.asp ... ff-4893-8a8d-f121486580a8

Please complete the survey as soon as possible, at the latest by November 30 2009.

If you know of anyone who may be interested in this survey, please forward this link to them.

Thank you for your participation!

If you have any problems accessing the link, or have additional comments or questions, please contact:

HOW CAN YOUR NON-PROFIT GROW EVEN IN DIFFICULT ECONOMIC TIMES?

Rather than just try to stay afloat in these tough times for non-profits, why not utilize a GREAT NEW RESOURCE to help train your key staff and Board members on how to grow by making the right strategic choices for your non-profit?


On December 15, NonProfit Fundamentals is releasing a NEW 5-DVD TRAINING SET for non-profits entitled "STRATEGIZING FOR NON-PROFIT GROWTH". The five 45-minute sessions are taught by non-profit coach Judy Almand who has been leading a variety of non-profits for the past 20 years, with positions including Regional Vice President of the American Cancer Society for half of Georgia and parts of South Carolina and Senior Director of the American Heart Association in Charleston, South Carolina.

The topics of the 5 sessions are

1. Evaluating Your Structure
2. Planning Your Future
3. Developing Your Resources - Board, Volunteers, Key Staff
4. Training Your Executive Team
5. Raising the Income
PLUS a Supplemental CD Rom filled with pre-tests, worksheets, and post-test evaluations to help your non-profit plan, strategize, and grow!

The training set will be sold for $350 but, AS AN EARLY RELEASE PRE-ORDER SPECIAL, THE ENTIRE SET, IF ORDERED BY DECEMBER 1, WILL BE OFFERED FOR $300 and will also include a bonus disc entitled "Donors. Find Them. Keep Them." The entire set is a great training resource for your office and one that can be used again and again with new staff and Board members.

For more information on the training set, visit http://www.nonprofitfundamentals.com

To take advantage of the special pre-order offer and discounted price, visit http://www.nonprofitfundamentals.com/preorder

For any questions or more information, please contact:

info@nonprofitfundamentals.com
or Judy Almand at jalmand@almandconsulting.com

I fully agree with what Susan says on this sometimes touchy subject in the nonprofit sector.

In my experience with nonprofits over many years, it's more important to stress for new or current board members the expectation that they will be willing, committed and enthusiastic participants in their organization's process of advancement --- from constituency building and relationship management to philanthropy.

The problem, I guess, is that once you get to the fund-raising piece, traditional wisdom says that a board member cannot be a credible solicitor of others until he/she has made his/her own financial commitment to the organization. That always has made a lot of sense to me! It also seems to make a lot of sense to the typical, prospect being solicited!

Board giving should never be a matter of shaming or bragging --- or even hounding! At the same time, the other "gifts" a board member brings to the table (i.e., time, talent) can and should count for something.

In the final analysis, the giving expectations for board members will work well only in direct proportion to the quality of the manner in which they are handled by the board leadership and executive staff. To be fair, those expectations should be calculated on individual ability/capacity.

Finally, I go back to my opening point: individual board member giving should be only the first step in the process of being involved in the advancement process.

Sorry to be so blunt here, but from the description of the problem, this doesn't sound like a CEO problem, it sounds like an Board Leadership issue.

In fundraising relationships are key, and it takes years (at least a few) to develop the trust and relationship that allows the identification, cultivation, harvesting and stewardship of major gifts. Especially with someone who moved from a different state, it's not reasonable to expect her or him to be able to do that in your community immediately, even before the current economic slide. This is especially true for local non-profits, because by definition, their appeal is probably restricted geographically.

Has the board lived up to its commitments to fundraise at the needed levels? Maybe your organization needs some changes at the board level, and one thing to look at is the actual fundraising productivity of the board.

Tony Poderis' website, www.raise-funds.com has a lot of valuable information on this topic, two of the Board Leadership and Fundraising articles can be found at:

The Beginning To All Fund-Raising: The Board Of Trustees
http://www.raise-funds.com/exhibits/exhibit47.html
http://www.raise-funds.com/exhibits/exhibit47.pdf

Duties And Responsibilities Of The Board Of Trustees
http://www.raise-funds.com/exhibits/exhibit48.html
http://www.raise-funds.com/exhibits/exhibit48.pdf

If you are in an area where the Combined Federal campaign is a possibilty, I would be glad to send you my CFC special report, which can be requested by going to www.cfcfundraising.com

In Kentucky, there are 5 regional CFCs, which raised a total of $2.4 million for non-profits. CFC monies are unrestricted, deadline for applications at the local level are in late winter, early spring.

Regards,
Bill Huddleston
www.cfcfundraising.com
Blog: www.cfctreasures.wordpress.com

The service Maberry offers is to gather the grant and funding information from various sites, compile the information, and deliver the desired categories of information to each person via email. Maberry performs this service for free.
more details at http://maberryconsulting.com

We are a local human services organization in a small town in the Kentucky and I'm the Board Chair. We hired a new executive director about 16 months ago after doing extensive face-to-face interviews, and carefully checking references. Because the CEO was relocating from another state just to take the job, we agreed to sign a 3-year contract. We're almost halfway through the contract period and things just aren't working out and our organization is really in trouble now, in part because our CEO hasn't done the fundraising that needs to be done in the community. We need to sit down and do a formal performance review and put the CEO on notice that there are problems.

Anybody have any suggestions for good evaluation tools to use (or self-evaluation) or ways to approach that conversation since it may ultimately lead to termination?

Thanks.

Lapsed donors don't always get the attention they deserve, and we all know that we need every donor we can get! We've gathered links from across the web with some great ideas for reactivating your donors and bringing them back into the fold.

10 Ways to Reactivate Lapsed Donors from Andrew Olsen at Fundraising Strategies

Fundraising 101 : 10 Things You Need to Know About Reactivating Lapsed Donors from Lawrence Henze at Fundraising Success Magazine.

An Alluring Proposition: Don't give up on your lapsed donors. With the right strategy, you can bring them back into the fold and it's easier than trying to win new ones from Cary Castle at Fundraising Success Magazine.

Tips on Calling Lapsed Donors from Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training.

Tips for Reinstating Lapsed Donors from the Direct Marketing Fundraisers Association

Lapsed Donors: How to Write a Fundraising Letter That Wins Them Back from Alan Sharpe and Sharpe Copy, Inc.

Getting Back Lapsed Donors from The Nonprofit Times

When is it time to kiss and say goodbye to your mailing list? by Sandy Rees at the Get Fully Funded Blog

Do you have any other links or tips that we should add to the list or any comments? Just log in and join the conversation!