Nonprofit Congress

We want to send a heartfelt thank you to everyone who picked up the phone over the last few days to encourage your Senators to support the Baucus-Grassley Nonprofit Capacity Building Amendment.

Your time and efforts have really made a difference. The amendment, attaching this important program to the Serve America Act, was also co-sponsored by Senators Kerry (MA) and Snowe (ME). Thanks to your efforts, last night the Senate adopted the Nonprofit Capacity Building Amendment by unanimous consent. This would not have happened without the tireless efforts of nonprofit leaders like you across the country. This is just the beginning of demonstrating what we can do as a sector when we come together. Thank you.

But our work is not done. The National Council of Nonprofits is part of the ServiceNation coalition striving to get the entire Serve America Act passed. Therefore, we ask you to renew your calls to your two Senators TODAY to get them to vote to pass the Serve America Act.

After you have made those two important calls, please read the press release and view Senator Baucus' floor statement in support of the amendment.

Thanks again for your leadership from communities across America!

Nonprofits: America Needs You

Now more than ever, America needs its nonprofits to be strong. But nonprofits cannot be healthy when demands for services are skyrocketing while resources are also nose-diving. Here is how YOU can help your nonprofit and others:

The U.S. Senate is debating TODAY whether to pass two measures that would help nonprofits and volunteers. Contact your Senators RIGHT NOW to deliver this simple two-part message:

1) The Senate should ADOPT the Baucus-Grassley Nonprofit Capacity Building amendment to the Serve America Act.

The Nonprofit Capacity Building amendment will help community-based nonprofits get needed training and assistance through an innovative matching grant program. (See our website for more details.)

2) The Senate should PASS the Serve America Act.

The Serve America Act (S. 277) would expand the number of AmeriCorps members, create new service opportunities, and make other resources available to help local communities across the country. (See our website for more details.)

To help local communities, WE NEED YOU to contact YOUR government officials to deliver the simple two-part message above.

Please make these quick phone calls RIGHT NOW:

1) Call both of your two U.S. Senators (click here for a map with easy phone numbers)

2) Call the White House (which can help influence this in a positive way): (202) 456-1111

Thank you. By lifting our voices together, we can make a difference for our communities.

For months, news coverage has revolved around the economy and the wounds it inflicts on everyone from factory workers to investment bankers. And for months, nonprofits have been digging deeper into their arsenals of creativity and resourcefulness to keep their communities afloat. Despite mountains of gloomy news, there are still good stories about nonprofits, focusing not on "charity work" or "the needy," but on connections and relationships-among individuals, families, volunteers, businesses, governments, and other points in a tightly woven web. These are not nonprofit stories, but community stories.

Storytelling emerged onto the nonprofit communications scene with a roar, drawing the attention and expertise of many specialists in the field. Unlike generalizations or statistics, it provides context, emotion, and an opportunity to relate to others. Here are just a few resources that can help draw out the stories of your work to connect with clients, donors, volunteers, policymakers, and other community members.

• Five Questions Nonprofits Should Answer with Stories - An excellent (and brief) post from Kivi Leroux Miller, an expert in the field of nonprofit communications and marketin
• Why Bad Presentations Happen to Good Causes - Andy Goodman, noted communications expert, offers this free e-book that offers a research-based (and humorous) take on how to improve storytelling within the context of speeches and presentations
• Put Persuasive Storytelling to Work for Your Nonprofit - This article from Nancy E. Schwartz provides several tips on telling effective stories
• 5 Nonprofit Storytelling Lessons from a Master of Hip-Hop - This blog post shares some tips on using storytelling as a vehicle for social change

What storytelling resources do you recommend? Share them on the Nonprofit Congress website.

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The Public Awareness Working Group, formed after the 2006 Nonprofit Congress, has rolled up its collective sleeves to take on not one, but two projects: one long-term and one short-term.

• The long-term project explores the concept of "reframing" the nonprofit sector to escape from traditional-and confining-ways of talking about our work, from the term "charity" to the unbalanced coverage of nonprofit scandal and fluff. Currently group members are researching funding possibilities to work with the Frameworks Institute, pioneers in reframing, in a focused study of how the sector is described and perceived.
• The short-term project is practical rather than theoretical-the compilation of a nonprofit awareness toolkit to help small and midsize organizations raise awareness of their work and their causes. The toolkit, to be released in 2009, will be structured around three goals: an awareness campaign, a fundraising campaign, and a public policy campaign.

Contact Elizabeth Clawson for more information about the Public Awareness Working Group and its projects.

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Nonprofit Congress Blog | The Nonprofit Congress Blog has been busy in February with several new posts, including a roundup of awards and fellowships, posts from our Outreach and Communications interns on why they entered the sector, and a trio of tools for evaluating the effectiveness of your communications. Want to be a guest blogger? Contact Elisa Ortiz.

IssueLab: Bringing Nonprofit Research Into Focus | Each day nonprofits worldwide produce insightful and valuable research on complex social issues. IssueLab makes it easy to locate, access, and engage with this extensive and diverse body of knowledge. Learn more about IssueLab and check out the National Council of Nonprofits' posted research. 

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Philanthropic Capacity Building Resources Database | This unique database contains more than 400 descriptions of capacity-building programs being carried out by U.S. foundations. You can browse through program profiles or search specifically for programs in a variety of categories. Learn more. 

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In 2007 the National Council of Nonprofits decided to convene the national meeting portion of the 2009 Nonprofit Congress in New Orleans. Since then, our nation's economy has collapsed, hurting nonprofits and the communities we serve. This brutal economic storm, and the opportunity for significant change that is before us, challenges us all to embark on new, high-impact strategies that are bold, smart, efficient, and effective.

Now is the time to reinforce our sector's value to our elected officials. Therefore, we have strategically reformulated our approach for the 2009 Nonprofit Congress. In lieu of conducting a conference in New Orleans, we will convene a national gathering of state nonprofit associations coupled with a lobby day in Washington, DC, to seize the momentum of the new administration by carrying the vigorous, unified voice of community-based nonprofits to Capitol Hill. America needs to hear from us now, so through this strategic reformulation we will be strengthening and amplifying our entire sector's presence and voice in order to secure a more robust future for all of America's nonprofits.

To learn more about this reformulation, please read our full statement.

Thanks for all you do for your local communities through your service with nonprofits.

Cordially,

Tim Delaney
President & CEO
National Council of Nonprofits

Five days from now, Americans will look to a new leader for change and progress in our country. Leadership has long been a priority of the National Council of Nonprofits, and we are committed to providing resources of all kinds to help present and future nonprofit leaders strengthen the sector. Here is just a sample of how the National Council promotes leadership on the grassroots and federal levels:

• In early 2008, through our Nonprofit Congress initiative, we introduced Work With Me: Intergenerational Conversations for Nonprofit Leadership, a first of its kind, hands-on workbook to help nonprofits recognize and leverage the expertise of all generations. Nonprofits across the country have taken advantage of the workbook and our training sessions to strengthen their staff teamwork, and therefore to better achieve their missions (see below for two great examples).
• In November, we unveiled an online resource, the Nonprofit Economic Vitality Center, that is helping nonprofits weather the economic storm by sharing resources like case studies on restructuring and the role of your board during a crisis.  
• Just last month, we submitted a series of recommendations to President-elect Obama's Transition Team, which had requested the organization's insights regarding ways the federal government can work better with nonprofits. Among these recommendations, two aim to empower nonprofits through leadership: by extending loan forgiveness to current employees and by making it more affordable to hire new ones. 
• We also recently joined the ServiceNation Organizing Committee. ServiceNation is a campaign to inspire a new era of voluntary service in America. As part of the organizing committee, we have committed to mobilizing our constituencies in support of service and providing feedback to the committee to ensure that you are represented. Want to know more? Contact us or visit the ServiceNation website.

Read more below on how nonprofits are investing in leadership to get the most out of their best assets - their people.

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The Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations (LANO) has long been known for its outstanding training and capacity building programs. This year, LANO will build on that reputation by offering a series of training sessions around the state based on the National Council's publication Work With Me: Intergenerational Conversations for Nonprofit Leadership. In a unique collaborative partnership, LANO and the National Council worked together to develop a train-the-trainers session for LANO staff and on developing this statewide program. LANO will roll out these trainings to a select group of nonprofit leaders within the next several months. Keep your eyes open for more information on this program so you can learn how to become a better intergenerational leader.

The Provider's Council in Massachusetts has been leading and facilitating trainings, programs, networks, and workshops for leaders of all experience levels throughout the last several years. In particular, they've used workshops from Work With Me: Intergenerational Conversations for Nonprofit Leadership at two of their annual conventions (the most recent workshop conducted at their 33rd Annual Convention & Expo drew more than 50 participants), as well as with their Emerging Leader Network and Human Resources Roundtable. The Emerging Leaders Network will continue to provide space for networking, professional and leadership development, and info on nonprofit trends. To learn more, visit their website or check out this flyer (PDF).

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