Library
Click on categories below (document tags) to call up all documents in that category (number of documents is given in parentheses), or enter in Tag box. Type in a keyword below to find documents by a word in their title or description.
In addition to the resources in the Library, Valley Nonprofit Resources’ website has available publications that can be downloaded for free from its past projects – the MENDing Poverty conference series, Raising the Bar Project, Latino Multifamily Group Program, and Latino Multifamily Groups for Type II Diabetes Project.
America's Dirtiest Job: Nonprofit Telemarketer?
So many people hate telemarketing calls that there are whole websites devoted to ways to torment and infuriate the people making those calls. Are telemarketers evil fiends who should be despised and tortured whenever possible? Read this article featuring first-person accounts of individual experiences in nonprofit telemarketing.
America’s Nonprofits Get Out the Vote
New survey analysis on the prevalence of nonprofit voter engagement and its intersection with race, leadership, and community served. Seven in 10 voters say they think it is a good idea for nonprofits to offer voter support services, like voter registration, election reminders, and election day transportation. Additionally, nonprofits effectively reach communities underrepresented at the polls, including low-income, young, and voters of color. Finally, nonprofit voter engagement significantly bo
An Executive Director's Guide to Financial Leadership
There is a world of difference between financial management and financial leadership, and refocusing a nonprofit’s approach fiscal sustainability and agility is essential. Outlined in this expert guide are such activities as transforming annual budget analysis, deciding whether or not income diversification is appropriate, achieving a robust reserve, and equipping the board for effective financial governance.
An Open Data Overview
Should an organization be sharing the information it gathers about programs and services? There are benefits to doing so—and there are risks. Generally, sharing data is not common practice, but as funders increasingly demand information about the effectiveness of the organizations they support, more and more nonprofits are doing so. This article discusses how to share data.
Are You – Or Your Organization - Guilty of Trickle-Down Community Engagement?
“Trickle-Down” is when an organization bypasses the people who are most affected by a certain issue, engages and funds larger organizations to tackle these issues, and then hopes that miraculously the people most affected will help out in the effort, usually for free. According to this article, such an approach often sabotages community engagement efforts.
Asking Questions About Sustainability, Scale, and Systems Change
Asking Questions About Sustainability, Scale, and Systems Change is an article written by Ryan Glasgo & Sandhya Nakhasi for Stanford Social Innovation Review. The article details a flexible, mission-based approach for nonprofits trying to plan for scale, systems change, and sustainability at the same time.
Auditing Your Hiring Practices in 10 Steps
Is an article written for The NonProfit Times. In the article, authors Maxine Harris and Michael B. O'Leary provide some sample questions to help audit the hiring process and assess the extent to which it follows evidence-based practices.
Automatic Revocation of Nonprofits' Tax-Exempt Status: What Nonprofits, Grantmakers, and Donors Need to Know
Is a GuideStar report by Linda M. Lampkin of the Economic Research Institute. On May 17, 2010, the IRS began revoking tax-exempt status from nonprofits that failed to file three consecutive annual returns. This report provides information on which organizations are at risk, what steps affected organizations should take, and the impact this action will have on the nonprofit sector.
B Corporations and Their Implications for Nonprofits
Is a new article in the Nonprofit Quarterly that defines the B Corporation legal format and explains how such a structure might be relevant to nonprofits.
Balancing the Mission Checkbook: Depreciate Your Way to a Healthier Nonprofit
Asset depreciation is a tool that a nonprofit can use to build its organization's financial reserves. In this article, Curtis Klotz explains why a nonprofit might want to create depreciate expenses.
Battening Down the Hatches
Is an article written by Elizabeth Zeigler for Stanford Social Innovation Review. In the article, Zeigler shares nonprofit strategies for facing challenges and seeking opportunities with both intentionality and creativity.
Best Practices for a More Impactful Nonprofit Board
Is an article written for Smart Business Online. The article shares basic steps for ensuring that nonprofits stay aligned with their mission and put themselves in a strong position for the future.
Best Practices in Sending Year-end Statements to Donors
Year-end tax statements provide donors with a convenient summary of their charitable contributions. They also offer an additional opportunity for the nonprofit to express its appreciation. These simple guidelines will help guide such expression, and an example is given.
Best Senior Staff Development Idea We Have Heard in a While—Or Maybe Ever
This idea about finding the right professional development opportunities for talented people in an organization makes a lot of good sense on so many levels!
Beware Your Leadership Blind Spots
Even under the best of circumstances, giving feedback on a nonprofit organization's effectiveness to those in higher positions can be difficult. Yet nonprofit leaders need to make sure they're getting this feedback; without it, executives can overestimate their organizations' capacity and neglect areas that need improvement. This article offers insight into weaknesses that could be corrected and how to get feedback about them from staff.