Management Consulting Services blogs

Successful Mergers and Lessons Learned

janbeaven — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:30:06 -0500

At a recent meeting of Boston nonprofits, a community leader announced that a committee of concerned citizens was seeking to help multiple nonprofits to think about mergers.

Until recently, small social agencies successfully provided programs with a combination of state funds, private donations and foundation grants. Today, state contracts are rapidly shrinking, private donors have less capacity, and foundations cannot fill the gaps.

The community leader said his foremost concern in these times is constituents, not that organizational boundaries be preserved. If you are considering a merger, your first question should be: “Will our clients be better served by a merger?” The next question is “What will make the merger process work?”

In our experience with merger projects, Management Consulting Services (MCS) has learned a number of lessons. We would like to share our lessons with you if you are looking for a merger partner.

Important Features in a Merger Partner
In the past, organizations seeking a merger partner would have the luxury of a long courtship period, followed by lengthy negotiations leading to a prolonged implementation period. Today, the new partners are likely to be on a schedule more like speed dating. They must select the right partner and move quickly to realize the expected benefits.

How to Rate Program Effectiveness

Jan Beaven — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 18:26:43 -0500

Are our programs having the Impact we want? Do program Finances justify a program’s viability? How can we identify strengths and weaknesses?

Executive Directors are striving to cope with shrinking budgets. If programs must be cut or curtailed, what approach helps with decision making? Management Consulting Services (MCS) has developed a process and tools for program analysis. Executive Directors, and their Boards, have found the MCS approach to be helpful.

Step 1. Develop Program Assessment Criteria

The process begins with definition of the criteria to be used in evaluating programs. Recently, an MCS client agreed to the following criteria for its programs:

How the Economic Crisis Will and Maybe Should Change the Nonprofit Sector

Stephen Rockwell — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 10:29:08 -0500

"Most prefer the security of known misery to the misery of unfamiliar security." Sheldon Kopp

There is no doubt that a great wave of fear has fallen over the nonprofit sector and indeed the nation. The constant barrage of bad news, while tempered by the jubilation surrounding the historic inauguration in Washington, affects our psyches as we approach each day a bit more unsure than the previous. Einstein said that problems can not be solved at the level of analysis that created them and yet we try. We are attempting to solve problems in which the allusive answers seem to create their own host of other problems. Downsizing may temporarily help our organization, but how then will we continue to provide essential services? We attempt to expand our individual donor base, but if all nonprofits make the same attempt how effective will we be? The conversation about the generational shift in leadership change has shifted to a fear that the sector will lose its young and entrepreneurial talent to layoffs. In most cases there are no good answers, only better solutions.

White paper released by MCS: A snapshot of the effect of economic downturn on nonprofits

Gayathri Tirthapura — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:12:58 -0500

As a provider of strategic planning, strategic technology, and other technical assistance services to nonprofit organizations throughout the Greater Boston area, those of us at Management Consulting Services (MCS) readily see the impact of the worsening economic crisis on the sector. We recently conducted a survey of nonprofits in Massachusetts to gauge the impact of the economic crisis on the nonprofit sector in order for us to talk about the effects using some data rather than anecdotes. This report presents the findings from this survey.Following were some of the major findings from this survey:a. While organizations of all budget sizes anticipate the economic downturn impacting their organization, organizations with smaller budgets indicate that the impact will be greater compared to organizations with larger budgets.

Blogging the Economic Crisis: Why We Need A Department of Nonprofits

Stephen Rockwell — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 17:25:55 -0500

As we head for a changing of the guard in Washington DC, the Obama government will take over a country facing its toughest economic challenge since the Great Depression. Nonprofit staff and boards are worried as an impending financing challenge awaits the nonprofit sector in the coming year as donations, foundation grants and state funding are cut. Despite this perilous situation and despite having a huge role in the economy, the nonprofit sector is largely missing from the public discourse on the economic crisis. Nonprofit professionals and board members need to ask why we are not part of the conversation and how we ensure that our interests are going to be heard in public policy decisions that affect the sector.

Why the Nonprofit Sector Must Speak Up

While the Great Depression provided much of the impetus for government run safety net programs, social services are now largely delivered by the nonprofit sector. Over the last 30 years, government has devolved much of its traditional responsibilities to the sector (whether this is a good thing or not is a subject for a different blog). As the economic crisis takes hold, the demand for nonprofit human services, food from food pantries, and services in other sectors such as workforce development will increase dramatically. While demand is increasing, the supply of services will decrease as donors and state governments cut back. If our missions are to survive, we need a much stronger voice in public policy affairs.

Resources to Help You Find New Funders

Christina Yoon — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 17:45:54 -0500

Last week I was a speaker at the Boston Fundraising Summit, sponsored by the Center for Nonprofit Success. My session was focused on how to conduct successful research in the search for funders. Here is a listing of resources I prepared for the summit that may be helpful in your own work. Good luck!
Provided Free of Charge:
Guidestar (www.guidestar.org) - obtain IRS 990 forms for every nonprofit, including foundations; also lists board members
Grants Management Associates (www.grantsmanagement.com) - manages many local foundations and provides application guidelines
Bank of America Philanthropic Services (www.bankofamerica.com/philanthropic/grantmaking.action) - provides a searchable database of about 70 foundations for whom Bank of America is the trustee, co-trustee or agent.
Philanthropy News Digest (www.foundationcenter.org/pnd/rfp/) - sends weekly updates on new RFP's and has a searchable online database of RFP's
Association of Small Foundations (www.smallfoundations.org) - has a list of members organized by state, many with direct links to the foundation website.
Council on Foundations (www.cof.org) - has many useful links to databases and resources available online for grantseekers.
Cooperating Collections (http://foundationcenter.org/collections/) - free funding information centers in libraries, community foundations, and other nonprofit resource centers that provide materials and services in areas useful to grantseekers, such as access to Foundation Center's Directory.

In Defense of Overhead

Gene Lee — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:00:54 -0500

As 2009 approaches, it’s high season for annual appeal campaigns, and with the economy in a recession, these donations become absolutely more critical to keeping organizations going. It’s fairly common to see in these appeal letters or in an annual report, a chart or graph that captures and states the amount to which a donor’s contribution goes to direct services. This is usually done in response to the general desire from donors that every dollar go to providing services and not to operational infrastructure.
The question that agencies are compelled to answer is, “How much of my money goes to supporting services?” But the question itself, and answer to it, tells the donor nothing about how effective the organization is in delivering services or the impact it has in meeting social problems. The question also demonizes overhead, as Dan Pallotta, a writer and blogger about nonprofits and philanthropy says, “when in fact ‘overhead’ is what's required to build the infrastructures we'll need if we ever really want to solve the huge social problems.”
As a former program person and funder, you’ve never had to convince me of the need to fund overhead, and I’ve tried to educate others about the importance of it. So, here’s my appeal to donors as they (or even you) consider and respond to annual campaign letters to support overhead.
Dear Sir/Madam,
As you consider the many requests for your support, we want to make sure you’re aware of the significant contributions overhead plays in our organization.

Blogging the Economic Crisis: How Foundations Could Double Their Impact on Our Economy Now.

Stephen Rockwell — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 18:14:07 -0500

Change is in the Air: The Economic Crisis Affects Everything
The economic crisis is challenging long held assumptions in all the facets of our lives. After a lost decade in the financial markets, retirement portfolios are no higher than they were before the dot com boom and bust. The real estate market has likewise reduced wealth challenging the notion that homes are a means to middle class wealth. Higher Education is seeing significant reduction in their endowments and beginning to realize that the rate of increase of tuition over the last three decades is now putting education out of reach for many in the middle class. Similar unsustainable inflation rates in the health care industry will almost certainly require significant austerity measures in the next few years. Despite the growth of the health care industry, it fails to cover 47 million Americans with insurance (and perhaps many more as a result of the recession.) Universal health care insurance is almost assuredly on its way. The spike in oil prices and the change of consumer behavior provided what could be the final nail in the coffin for the American auto industry.

Non-profits outside U.S: A reflection

Gayathri Tirthapura — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 00:02:04 -0400

When I visited Bangalore, India, during the summer, I got an opportunity to visit 3 different non-profits and spend considerable time with the leaders of the organizations. Each of these organizations was founded by very passionate people who in all cases could relate very closely with the issues that the organizations’ constituents were facing and have grown considerably since their inception. I found many similarities between the challenges that these organizations faced and the ones that I commonly see within non-profits in the U.S. But I also saw a very important difference between what I saw in India and what I see in the U.S, which I hope to uncover in this blog.

Online Fund Raising: What you may not know...

Christina Yoon — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 09:43:23 -0400

I recently came across two articles that caught my attention, both having to do with utilizing the internet for fund raising. We all have questions like, "How effective is that online donation button we have on our website?" "Are the elderly, often the target population of a giving program, comfortable with going online to make their charitable gifts?" "What are some innovative approaches to raising money online?"

Networked Nonprofit Blog: How MCS Moved Completely to the Cloud and Why You Should Too.

Stephen Rockwell — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 10:57:11 -0400

Within the last year, MCS eliminated all of its technology infrastructure by moving our applications to “the cloud”. For those of you not familiar with cloud computing, its essentially hosted software applications and associated data on the Internet in a models. Such models are also known as “software as a service” or as IBM coined “on demand computing” (for more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing). MCS’s move is indicative of major changes underway in the technology world and could be a model for nonprofits.

I'll take a community organizer anyday

Gene Lee — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 10:18:29 -0400

When I first heard about Republican Vice Presidental nominee Sarah Palin's belittling comments about community organizers, I actually didn't believe that she said what she did. I didn't watch the original broadcast of her speech on TV, so I quickly got online and viewed a streaming video of her speech and read the transcripts of what she said. There it was: "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities."

TBF Report - Profitability as a Measure of Financial Health for NonProfits

janbeaven — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:29:47 -0400

What is the financial health of your organization? Recently, the Boston Foundation (TBF) report “Passion & Purpose” raised concerns about the nonprofit sector. According to TBF, nonprofits rightfully focus on mission – but they need to manage financially to deliver on their mission.

How much focus on outcomes is enough?

Gayathri Tirthapura — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:23:02 -0400

I’m traveling to Bangalore, India right now. I’ve been meeting some foundations involved in funding programs in the area of children’s education. Recently, I
was talking to a program officer at a mid-sized foundation in Bangalore. We were exchanging ideas about how foundations should measure the outcomes of programs they fund. How much outcomes measurements is enough from a foundation’s perspective? When non-profits are so tightly squeezed for resources, what is fair to ask from them?

"Technology Decisions in Capacity Building", Brown Bag Lunch August 13, 12:30-2pm

Michaelfire — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:57:40 -0400

*Title:
"Technology Decisions in Capacity Building"

Please note new time! 12:30PM TO 2 PM

*Brief Description:
Organizations that expand their programs should be aware of the strategic
technology options available to them, and the benefits and risks associated
with each option. August 13, 12:30PM TO 2 PM, (We supply drinks and cookies) Free.

*A more detailed description:
Join Annkissam and Management Consulting Services for lunch (we supply the
drinks and cookies) and a workshop on the kind of technology decisions that
nonprofits face when scaling up their program operations. It's a great
chance to learn and network over lunch, and the event is free.

Exciting Schedule of Training Events Announced for Summer, Fall

Michaelfire — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:58:36 -0400

Michael Richards writing (MCS Intern, MBA in non-profit management at Brandeis University's Heller School):

MCS is planning a couple of informative summer lunchtime
programs, and an exciting fall schedule of training and education events,
including the “Networked Non-profit Series”, a leadership development program
for IT managers and leaders, and a new series on “Information Technology for
Non-profits”.

Please be sure and bring your lunch for our first summer
brown bag networking and education lunches ("Drowning in Paperwork") on Wednesday, July 16 (there are 3 deli’s within half a block
of MCS, 6 Beacon St., Beacon Hill) from noon to 1:30pm, and again on Wed.
August 13 (exact title coming soon). Look here on the MCS web site
for discussion groups regarding these lunchtime programs.

Networked Nonprofit Blog: Measuring 2.0 Success

Stephen Rockwell — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 10:31:09 -0400

Nonprofit leaders are becoming more familiar with the 2.0 tools and strategies that are creating a new paradigm for constituency engagement. A simple look at a nonprofit employment website shows a proliferation in new positions with titles such as "online community manager" or "new media communications associate". Even if an organization has yet to adopt the new technology, there is a growing awareness of a brave new world in which the organization must seek to engage.

What's wrong with the grant application and reporting processes

Gene Lee — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:13:26 -0400

Nonprofit organizations face a common issue of needing to raise funds from multiple sources to support their programs. Unfortunately, grant applications from different funders usually vary in proposal format, documentation requirements and budget templates, which can present a significant challenge, particularly to smaller to mid-sized organizations. Moreover, applications for smaller grants often call for the same demanding proposal and reporting requirements as the larger ones, which often strain their limited capacity.

Weathering the economic downturn: Maintaining a robust fundraising operation during tough economic times

Christina Yoon — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:46:12 -0400

We've all seen it: donors are holding off on making charitable gifts, smaller gifts are being given, there are fewer new donors and campaigns are slowing down. Smaller returns on investments are squeezing individual donors and foundations alike. During such difficult times, what should organizations do to maintain their fundraising operations? Last week I attended a forum sponsored by Citizens Bank entitled, "Fundraising in a difficult economic environment" which featured keynote speaker Ruben Orduña, VP Development at the Boston Foundation. He offered up some practical suggestions of what you can do to weather the economic storm.

Trends in corporate philanthropy - Wal-Mart's example

Christina Yoon — Thu, 29 May 2008 17:28:58 -0400

A recent trend in corporate philanthropy has been for a company to be more strategic with its foundation giving by aligning it with the company’s brand and goals. Wal-Mart, one of the nation’s largest corporate donors has taken a big step in this direction. The company’s local giving has traditionally been managed by local stores, who have doled out small grants to local organizations and schools. However, in an effort to leverage its funds to achieve greater long-term impact, the foundation has set up new state-level funding pools to make gifts of $25,000 or more and has hired program officers to assess opportunities and the effectiveness of its grants.

A White Paper on "Developing Agents of Change" released by MCS

Gayathri Tirthapura — Thu, 29 May 2008 16:14:12 -0400

The focus of this paper is to describe the unique features of a youth programming model that is currently implemented by the "The Young Peoples Project" headquartered in Cambridge, MA. This programming model contributes to both individual and societal change. In summary they are:
• A focus on “peer to peer” knowledge transfer
• A focus on creating individual and collective purpose
• A focus on developing a sense of freedom about ‘work’
• A content based approach which contributes to both organizational capacity and program replicability
This paper also describes the types of outputs and social indicators that are emerging from a solid ten-year history of using this engaging program model.

From making a profit to making a difference

Gayathri Tirthapura — Thu, 22 May 2008 11:15:12 -0400

These days, there is a significant trend related to professionals moving from the corporate sector to non-profit sector. The most popular figure who has done this is Bill Gates himself. But have you ever wondered as to what it really takes to make such a shift in careers? Just in terms of skills and attitudes that one needs to possess for a career in non-profits, what is required? You may be prepared to take the pay cut and may possess utmost passion for helping the underprivileged but that may not be enough.

Networked Nonprofit Seminar: "Building Online Community Engagement Plans"

Stephen Rockwell — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:55:13 -0400

With all the new 2.0 technology, how do you decide what's right for your organization? A two hour strategic technology workshop will help you figure out how to engage you constituents online.

Register Now

Our Strategic Technology Practice Leader, Stephen Rockwell will present a hands-on workshop that will both teach about how nonprofits are using the latest 2.0 technologies and offer practical strategies for building online engagement for your organization.

Specifically we will cover:

Networked Nonprofit Blog: Technology Term Cheat Sheet for Nonprofit Leaders

Stephen Rockwell — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:12:14 -0400

MCS hosts leadership groups for nonprofit leaders. The group asked me to develop a list of terms for an upcoming training so that we're all starting from the same page. I figured it would make for a good blog post. Here's the cheat sheet:

Networked Nonprofit Blog: Your web and software infrastructure for less than $200 a year

Stephen Rockwell — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 12:19:49 -0500

Some funders and IT consultants claim that there is still a significant organizational gap when it comes to basic IT infrastructure. Such a story was true in the late nineties and into this decade, but it is a declining issue as a result of the amount of cheap or freely available software for nonprofits.
Much of this free software exists as software as a service on the web. The fact that the software is hosted on a website means that most of the processing for the software is happening on someone else's machine. This extends the life of your old computers since you don't need to upgrade to incorporate new software (unless you've made the mistake of upgrading to Windows VISTA).

Leader and Manager Survey

Michaelfire — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 22:34:31 -0500

MCS conducted several surveys of our customers this past year, both of the executive leadership groups and an internet survey of non-profit leadership, in an effort to find out how we were doing, and also to find out what services our customers would like to see offered. We have the results from 13 executives who have been in our Leadership Groups, and 82 respondents to our internet survey. Here is what we learned from you.
Responses from leaders were received from a wide range of organizations, in size, number of employees and volunteers, and in types of organizations.
Click Here to take survey

Networked Nonprofit Seminar: Building and Managing Online Community

Stephen Rockwell — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 11:06:07 -0500

Strategies for activating your community and keeping the momentum going

Click Here to Register

Start: 12/11/2007 - 11:30am
End: 12/11/2007 - 1:30pm

As nonprofit organizations change their web presence from "brochure-ware" to a more active online community, new strategies, new staffing models and new business processes are necessary to ensure effective adoption of the technology.

This seminar is structured for organizations that are considering or currently working to build online communities. Specifically, we will cover practical strategies that you can apply today to:

Deliver value to members and website users
Find hooks for online participation for each individual and constituency

Networked Nonprofit Blog: The Online Community Manager

Stephen Rockwell — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 14:27:40 -0500

Over the last couple of months, I have seen more and more job postings from innovative nonprofits that are hiring for online community manager positions. This is a welcome sign that we are fast reaching an inflection point in the adoption of 2.0 technologies. Whether creating new positions or adjusting current positions, nonprofits are adjusting their human resources to meet the growing demands of building online community.

There a number of skill sets that one ought to look for when hiring the online community manager:

Networked Nonprofit Blog: Tagging and Social Bookmarking

Stephen Rockwell — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 15:28:32 -0400

Tagging and social bookmarking are topics that are frankly fairly new to me. I have heard a lot about this new phenomenon, but admittedly have spent relatively little time engaged in developing and executing strategies around these Web 2.0 technologies. Given my lack of knowledge I started experimenting. Here’s what I have found out so far.

Tagging

Networked Nonprofit Seminar: Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) in a 2.0 World

Stephen Rockwell — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 11:56:06 -0400

Review of CRM solutions and strategies for leveraging your data to enhance your communication strategy

Sign up for the seminar on November 14

Whether a spreadsheet with names and addresses or a sophisticated corporate CRM solution, almost all nonprofits have some mechanism to track their donors, volunteers and other stakeholders.