Tangent Charity Resources

Introduction

In this article, I will discuss what a Voluntary Export Restraint (VER) is and how it is used.  We will look into where and why this was first started and how it affects countries both positively and negatively.  Also we will look at a few key facts about this topic and a video to help explain it. 

The Idea in a Nutshell

Voluntary Export Restraint or Restrictions (VER) is a government imposed limit on the quantity of goods that can be exported during a certain period.  These restraints are usually agreed upon by the importing country and exporting country to keep everyone happy.  VERs have been around since at least the 1930s, and can be applied to textiles, steel, tools, automobiles, etc. In 1981, the U.S. auto industry was threatened by Japanese vehicles.  So, a VER agreement was made to allow Japan to export 1.68 million cars to the U.S. annually.

The Top Ten Things You Need to Know About Voluntary Export Restraints

1.            VERs are agreed upon by importers and exporters.   A bilateral basis is used             to control the amounts of goods that are transferred from one country to             another country.

2.            As a result of the Japanese/American VER agreement to limit the number of             cars exported to America, American buyers suffered.  They were forced to             buy less economical vehicles made by American auto-makers.  Those             consumers who still opted to buy Japanese vehicles had to pay higher prices.

3.            Textiles were also regulated by VERs between the United States and Japan.              The VER was agreed upon to decrease the amount of cotton that Japan was             sending to the U.S.  This VER turned into the Multi-Fiber Agreement in the             1970’s and was phased out in 2004.

4.            Because a VER is not usually a voluntary decision by the exporting country,             the WTO decided to phase out all VERs over a four year time period.  This             was a result of the Uruguay round of the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs             and Trade) in 1994.

5.            Foreign producers agree to VERs because they fear that harsher restrictions             will be placed on their trading abilities.  They fear damaging tariffs and             import quotas will follow if they do not agree to the VER.  A VER is used to             make the best out of a bad situation.

6.            VERs do not benefit consumers because they have to pay more.  When VERs             are implemented, the domestic producers benefit because it limits the import             competition.

7.            A VER was used to control the number of raw and processed tuna being             imported to the U.S. by Japan.  Tuna was the second largest Japanese import             behind raw silk.  The VER implemented unilateral restraints on tuna exports             to the U.S. from April 1952 to March 1953.  This was the first VER post World             War II.

8.            A VER on cotton textiles left a legacy of bitterness between the United States             and Japan.  Between 1956 and 1960, Hong Kong’s imports of cotton             increased from $ 7 million to $ 63.5 million.  The United States increased their             profits during this period and the Japanese experienced a great loss.

9.            VERs became a topic of interest during the Kennedy administration.  Some             people felt that VERs were used inappropriately and that they should be             issued less frequently.  This led to many changes in the International Trade             Policy.

10.            In 1967 the Trade Expansion Act, accelerated the use of VERs.  This created a             right to equal compensation for those countries that were affected by the             United States’ decisions to issue so many VERs.

The Video Lounge

This video shows the negative effects of having too strong of a VER. The U.S. is making a claim against China to the World Trade Organization for limiting the exporting of raw materials.

http://www.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=106753

My Take

I believe that VERs are still relevant because when used properly they can keep prices and the economy in balance. Trading between countries can be kept satisfied by the use of VERs. By agreeing to limit the amount of goods exported to a country you can successfully keep that trade barrier open.  Importing and exporting are a huge part of everyday business and VERs help keep possible feuds between nations at a minimum.  VERs are like that quick an easy fix that lasts long enough to find a permanent solution. 

References

Benjamin, D. K. (1999). Voluntary Export Restraints on Automobiles. Retrieved September 22, 2010, from Property and Environment Research Center: http://www.perc.org/articles/article416.php

 McClenahan, W. (1991). The Growth of Voluntary Export Restraints and American Foreign Economic Policy. Retrieved September 20, 2010, from h-net: http://www.h-net.org/~business/bhcweb/publications/…/p0180-p0190.pdf

Suranovic, S. M. (2006, June 2). Textile VERs. Retrieved September 20, 2010, from International Trade Theory and Policy: http://internationalecon.com/Trade/Tch10/T10-3B.php

Voluntary Export Restraint. (2010, September 8). Retrieved September 17, 2010, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voluntary_Export_Restraints

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Contact Info: To contact the author of “Top Ten Management on Voluntary Export Restraint” please email Brant Dill at brant.dill@selu.eduor brant.dill@yahoo.com.

Biography

David C. Wyld (dwyld.kwu@gmail.com) is the Robert Maurin Professor of Management at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. He is a management consultant, researcher/writer, and executive educator. His blog, Wyld About Business, can be viewed at http://wyld-business.blogspot.com/. He also serves as the Director of the Reverse Auction Research Center (http://reverseauctionresearch.blogspot.com/), a hub of research and news in the expanding world of competitive bidding. Dr. Wyld also maintains compilations of works he has helped his students to turn into editorially-reviewed publications at the following sites:

Management Concepts (http://toptenmanagement.blogspot.com/)

Book Reviews (http://wyld-about-books.blogspot.com/) and

Travel and International Foods (http://wyld-about-food.blogspot.com/).                

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Written by David WyldProfessor of Management, Southeastern Louisiana University

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Article by Joseph Raats

Non profits provide a unique role in the community that they assist. They perform this role by providing specific services that are part of their mission statement and commitment to others.

Often non profits are able to preform these services by using dedicated volunteers in their community and through the use of limited paid staff. These volunteers often help to sort clothes, deliver meals, help disaster victims, etc. In addition, non profits use volunteers to provide administration for the non profit and provide fiscal accountability.

Another important action required for non profits to execute their service to their respective community is through fundraising. Fundraising for non profits needs to be creative and distributed.

Creative Fundraising

Fundraising by non profits needs to be creative. This is due to the fact that there are more non profits than ever serving in any given community. The reality of this fact is that these extra non profits are limited in the amount of financial dollars available in the community. Creativity in their fund raising efforts will check that the non profit has the financial resources to control and offer the services that they are committed to provide.

Creative fundraising by non profits can be defined as fundraising that goes beyond the conventional way of requiring for financial support. Examples of creative fundraising by non profits include adding a well-known celebrity to a typical golf tournament to increase the number of participating teams. Another example of creative fundraising by non profits is to actively allow the financial supporter to interact with those that are served. This can be completed through a sponsorship program where toys or food is delivered by the donor directly to the family of those less fortunate. Of course, permission needs to be gained from the family that is being helped.

Distributed Fundraising By Non Profits

In addition to creative fundraising by non profits, there needs to be a full diversification of financial support received by the non profit. This simply means that the non profit cannot depend upon one stream of income to accomplish their mission statement.

Therefore, fundraising by non profits should include seven basic sources of financial support. Those seven area are through the writing of grants, major gifts, support from companies and corporations, federate campaigns, mail solicitation, gifts-in-kind and special events.

To fully implement distributed fundraising by non profits there also needs to be a shared vision and practical execution of this fundraising plan. This requires that all paid staff, service delivery volunteers and administration volunteers see their role as fundraisers within the organization and do their maximum to accomplish their role as fundraisers.

Joseph Raats is a seasoned entrepreneur and former owner of a leading Title and Escrow Company in Arizona and Nevada for 13 years. He was instrumental in that company’s successful handling of billions of dollars in Escrow Transactions.For more informationClick here.

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Voluntary disclosure program is basically an agreement, which offers the taxpayers an opportunity to correct incomplete or inaccurate information previously provided by them while dealing with the CRA. Such opportunity does not come with any prosecution or penalty. In order to make a voluntary disclosure you need to complete the Form RC119 or the taxpayer agreement for such disclosure programs. You need to attach the form along with the supporting documentation during disclosure submission. It is advised that you hire an experienced attorney to help you with the voluntary disclosure. This will eliminate all chances of mistakes in filing such exemption claims. Such a professional will help you with the paperwork. In addition to this s/he will be able to help you in following appropriate procedures to mail or fax the documents to the TSO (Tax Services Office).

Did you know that to be approved under the program there are four basic criteria to meet? Those are -

1. The act of disclosure should be voluntary. In case the CRA approaches you to file a return or request information about already filed returns, the program will not be considered as a voluntary.

2. The form and the agreement paperwork should be complete and correctly executed. You can take the help of an experienced attorney in this regard. An IRS attorney is generally experienced in dealing with such documentations and filings.

3. The tax debt you present to the CRA should involve a penalty.

By meeting all these criteria you will qualify for a voluntary disclosure. There are many advantages of filing such disclosures, like:

1. One of the major benefits of voluntary disclosure is that in this the taxpayer files and pays all dues along with the interests in respect to “lookback period”. Prior to the lookback period, the respective taxation authorities will exempt all penalties and punishments. However, you should remember that the period varies from one state to another. Nevertheless, it is a period of about 3-4 years.

2. The disclosure is generally filed in a confidential basis. To the authorities, the taxpayer appears only as a case number. So, if you are filing for such disclosures, you can rest assured that no amount of personal information will be leaked. Your identity will not be disclosed until a legal voluntary disclosure contract has been completed. You should hire an experienced lawyer to scrutinize all your paperwork before submitting and for supervising the confidentiality of the entire process. Such an expert will also help you with appropriate consultation and guidance throughout the program.

So, are you planning to file voluntary disclosure? NY houses a couple of reputed legal firms, which comprises experienced tax attorneys.

If you want lawyers who can help you with voluntary disclosure NYarea? You can trust IRS Medic which is a law firm that comprises experienced tax attorneys.

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Article by Kevin Thorn

The deadline to apply to the IRS Voluntary Disclosure Program now over; however U.S. taxpayers still can file a voluntary disclosure under the IRS normal procedures.

In 2009, the IRS and U.S. Department of Justice began its highly publicized investigation into Swiss bank UBS AG and U.S. accountholders who hid these assets from the U.S. Government. However, the investigation did not end with UBS. The IRS made it clear that offshore tax evasion is still a top enforcement priority. The Department of Justice has gone after taxpayers regardless of the amount-even taxpayers with assets of $ 20,000 or less in offshore accounts.

U.S. taxpayers with offshore assets and accounts are legally bound to disclose these interests to the U.S. government on their Form 1040, U.S. Individual Tax Returns, and file a corresponding Form TD F 90-22.1, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR). If IRS agents uncover that a taxpayer has not reported an interest in an offshore account or income accruing on such accounts during the course of an audit, the IRS may impose excessive penalties including the greater of $ 100,000 or 50% of the offshore account balance for willful failure to file an FBAR for each account. These penalties, compounded with interest and fraud penalties, can essentially wipe out the taxpayers foreign assets. In addition, taxpayers could be vulnerable to criminal prosecution and jail time for tax evasion.

The IRS announced in March of 2009 the creation of the IRS Voluntary Disclosure Program to motivate taxpayers to come forward and disclose their offshore accounts in exchange for lesser fines and the promise not to refer the case for criminal prosecution. As an outcome of the pressure on UBS and other offshore banks, thousands of U.S. taxpayers with previously undisclosed offshore accounts took advantage of the Voluntary Disclosure Program and applied before the October 15, 2009 drop dead date.

Although it may be too late to apply to the IRS Voluntary Disclosure Program, there is still time to file a voluntary disclosure under the IRS regular guidelines. There are a many positive outcomes to filing a voluntary disclosure as it is far better to disclose to the IRS than to have the IRS discover you. Almost identical with the Voluntary Disclosure Program, a traditional voluntary disclosure also allows taxpayers with previously undisclosed foreign accounts with a way out-potentially dodging the most severe civil fines and criminal prosecution.

Furthermore, those U.S. taxpayers with undisclosed offshore accounts should be aware the voluntary disclosure process is complicated and sensitive. U.S. taxpayers are encouraged to contact a tax attorney who is skilled at resolving disputes with the IRS as soon as possible to determine whether or not to file a voluntary disclosure with the IRS.

For example, if a U.S. taxpayer has already been investigated and contacted by the IRS, it may be too late to file a disclosure. Therefore, time plays a significant factor as the IRS continues its pursuit of undisclosed offshore account holders. The window of opportunity is closing on the ability to receive the reduced penalties and possible incarceration for those who file. Seeking the advice of proper counsel truly is in their best interest.

For more information on this Voluntary Disclosure Program or for assistance in participating in the program, please contact Kevin E. Thorn at the Thorn Law Group in Washington, D.C.

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From religious organizations to universities, there are more than 1.4 million non-profit organizations in the U.S. with more than 12.5 million employees working behind the scenes to run the show. The non-profit sector expends $ 120 billion in annual personnel costs and represents $ 340 billion in total annual budget outlays.

This means that if you manage to obtain a position with a religious organization, hospital, university, foundation, or other non-profit organization, you can expect stability, salary growth, employment growth, and a variety of jobs to choose from.  Non-profit management MBA holders may work as: assistant director of fundraising, program analyst, program director, program officer, marketing/research associate, director, community outreach coordinator, finance director, director of information systems or director of public relations.

Top earners in this field are usually management personnel, and most hold a non-profit management MBA from an accredited college or university. Many management professionals in the non-profit sector earned an undergraduate degree in business, obtained entry-level employment in the field and continued working on an MBA while gaining valuable hands-in experience.

Today’s MBA students have the option of obtaining their degree on-campus, online, or through a blended format. Blended formats allow students to complete half of their degree on-campus and the other half online. Blended and online formats make it easier for students to work full-time in the field while pursuing an advanced degree.

When searching for online or traditional programs, students can go by word of mouth or reputation, perform a Google or Bing search, or search college directories such as Bizdegrees.com. Princeton Review is an excellent source for lists of top business colleges as well as U.S. News and World Report. Both on-campus and online business and management programs have been accredited by some of the following agencies:

-The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)

-The Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP)

-The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA)

Many online programs have also been accredited by:

-Distance Education Training Council (DETC)

-Council on Occupational Education (COE)

Regional accrediting agencies include:

-Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

-New England Association of Schools and Colleges

-North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

-Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

-Southern Association of Colleges and Schools

-Western Association of Schools and Colleges

If you come across a school that has not been accredited by any of the agencies listed above, check the U.S. Department of Education website at ED.gov for a complete list of recognized accrediting agencies.

Non-profit management MBA programs prepare students for a career in management by teaching everything from business computing and business finance to principles of marketing and principles of management. Online curriculums should require the same courses as on-campus programs, so be sure to check the course listings for the online program you have chosen before beginning the application process. The following is a list of non-profit management MBA courses to look for:

-Business Computing

-Business Finance

-Business Statistics

-Effective Career Management

-Entrepreneurship

-Human Resource Management

-International Business

-Legal Environment Business

-Organizations: Structures & Behavior

-Principles of Management

-Principles of Marketing

-Writing and Speaking for Business

To learn more about Non-Profit Management MBA programs, including curriculum info, program info and common MBA coursework, visit bizdegrees.com. To learn more about career trends and salary potential for non-profit managers, visit the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Written by WJContent

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Everybody knows how important charity organizations are in the world. But do you know how important it is to rate charity organizations? Before donating to charities, most of us want to know that our charity donations are going to people that need help, and not merely being absorbed by inefficient charity organizations. That is why it is so important to pay attention to charity ratings, before deciding which charity organization to give your money to.

Instructions

Step 1 Once you’ve decided on which charity organization to support with your hard earned money, you should go to the website, charitynavigator.org. I’ve included the link below. This website keeps track of tons of information on different charity organizations and can tell you which charities are best at getting your donation to people in need. When you get to the website, enter the name of your charity into the search bar at the top of the screen. Step 2 If you want the quickest review of your charity organization, look at the Overall Rating field on the page. Charity organizations that receive four stars or more are very efficient and definitely worth donating to. Perhaps, the second most important part of the charity ratings are the charts titled Expense Breakdown. On these pie charts, you want to see the program expenses take up a far larger amount of the circle than administrative expenses or fundraising expenses. If this is the case, it signals a good charity rating. It means that the charity organization is giving most of your money to the people that it claims to be helping. Step 3 But what if the charity organization that you had hoped to donate to doesn’t turn out to rank high in the charity ratings? No problem. If you scroll to the bottom of the page, charity navigator always gives suggestions for other charity organizations that do similar types of work to the charity that you requested. Once you find other charity organizations that you would like to donate to, you can see how these charity organizations stack up in the charity ratings.

Tips & Warnings Remember that donations to charity organizations are usually tax deductible.

Written by ccard123

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Article by Oscar Hill

Charity Procuring – Lending Hand to a Needy

The principle of a charity shop differs from place to place. For instance, it’s known as thrift retail store, resale shop, hospice shop inside Usa and Canada, Opportunity (op) store in Australia and New Zealand and 2nd hand store in Malaysia. Thus, charity searching is actually a retail authority set up by a charitable organization with an intention of fundraising. Australia Charity is extensively known within this respect.

Charity retailers typically promote unusual assortment of famous individuals. Nevertheless along with the passage of time a lot of new ideas in charity procuring have aroused. A lot of charity stores at this time work inside the kind of on the internet purchasing malls the place individuals can buy solutions of their selection while donating.

There are several new concepts arising in charity procuring that happen to be gaining attractiveness daily. Considered one of them is procuring to get a bring about. This kind of concepts deliver regular browsing suggests to its clients while a portion of your sum spent by the buyer is donated to his own selected charity through the list. This sort of procuring charities have their online existence e.g. AusCause (Australian Procuring Charity) and iGive (US Charity Shopping Charity). Precisely the same treatment is staying followed by several charitable organizations for raising Australia Charity.

Charity Browsing In Australia

While in the really hard situations, the charity organizations need to guide the deserving along with retain their very own sustainability. Charity purchasing is frequently meant to help the individuals dwelling on the limited or fixed income, thrifty people today, collectors, patients, establishments, and men and women affected from all-natural disasters and so forth. Shopping from US thrift retailers has attained a wide attractiveness of a slang expression, thrifting. Similarly the level of popularity of Australia charity purchasing is earning huge status across the world.

A few of the chief charity (chance) purchasing groups in Australia would be the Salvation Army – buying and selling as Salvos, the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul – trading as Vinnies, the Brotherhood of St. Laurence, and also the Red Cross.

These groups play a pivotal purpose in an effort to strengthen the cause of Australia charity. Apart from this, a few of the regional religious and secular charitable organizations also contribute in direction of Australia charity by working opportunity shops. The most common among them are ‘missions’ and ‘animal shelters.’

A lot of get the job done may be done on Australia charity given that the former ages and nonetheless is in progress. Charity shopping provides a platform in addition to an assisting hand into the inadequate, needy and impacted individuals on the society. In order to help you save humanity and also the planet earth from more destructions, we must join hands to do the job jointly for this noble result in.

Charity Browsing as well as Thrift Life-style by Lettice Wilkinson presents an universal summary of charity, opportunity and thrift browsing keeping in vision the top charity retailers around the globe. She also points out the difficulties, strategies and motivational forces behind this one of a kind retail sector.

The creator has presented her examination of charity shopping right after paying summers of 2008 when browsing hundreds of charity stores in Edinburgh, Bradford, Kent, Bristol, London, New york and Sydney. Thus, it is a pleasant tutorial that highlights illustrated private stories of the option store practical experience right now.

charity shopscharity shopscharity shops

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Donating charity is no doubt a blessing to those who need help. It is an affordable act by absolutely anyone on earth, including the poor. Charity donations can be given in the form of monetary or non-monetary. Depending on how comfortable you are financially, you can donate from as low as a penny to millions of dollars. If you can’t afford at all the monetary way, I am sure you can spend a minute or two praying for those who are less fortunate. Whichever way you choose to donate, it warms the cockles of someone’s heart.

Nowadays the existence of charity organization springs up like mushrooms after the rain, but how do you decide which charity organization to donate to? Forbes shows you how.

In the past 12 years, Forbes has prepared annually a special report on the financial efficiency of charity organizations in the America. The report, which is also called the America’s 200 Largest Charities, intends to assess how efficient charity organizations in making best use of donor’s charity donations. 3 financial efficiency ratios are used: charitable commitment, fundraising efficiency and donor dependency.

Let’s find out what these 3 financial efficiency ratios mean.

Charitable Commitment

Charitable commitment shows you how much of a charity organization’s total expense went directly to the charitable purpose as opposed to management, certain overhead expenses and fundraising. The higher the ratio, the better. Take note that gift-in-kinds charities would attain higher ratio in this measurement if they receive large amount of gifts of goods. This means that they will spend lesser in buying goods hence incur lower overhead cost. The average of this year was 86%, unchanged.

Fundraising Efficiency

Fundraising efficiency indicates the percentage of gifts left after subtracting the cost of getting them. The higher the ratio, the better. Again, gifts-in-kinds charities organizations have an advantage in this ratio and a 100% ratio is achievable. Forbes has long recommended the public to take a harsh look at any charity organization with a fundraising efficiency below 70%. The average of this year is 90%, a slight drop from previous year’s 91%.

Donor Dependency

Donor dependency tells you how much a charity organization depends on your charity donations to break even. The annual surplus or deficit is subtracted from gifts and the figure is divided by the gifts. The higher the ratio, the more the charity organization depended on your charity donations to break even. A rating higher than 100% means the charity organization ran a deficit.  In contrast, a ratio below zero means the charity would have broken even without any charity donations at all. Forbes explained that donor dependency was largely affected by investment performance and is the most volatile of the measures. The average of this year is 92%, a drop of 3% from last year.

According to Forbes’ list of America’s 200 Largest Charities, the 10 most efficient charity organizations in chronological order are United Way, Salvation Army, Feed The Children, AmeriCares Foundation, Food For The Poor, Catholic Charities USA, American Cancer Society, World Vision, YMCA National Council of The America and Feeding America. Ranking was based on the combination of charitable commitment and fundraising efficiency ratios while donor dependency was used as a tie-breaker.

Remember though there is no absolute way to assess and compare the efficiency among charity organizations due to their different categories and sizes. So choose wisely with your due diligence and do some research in addition to Forbes’ report.  Among others, I donate to Food For The Poor.

Related Articles:

Charity Organizations – Food For The Poor Strives To Meet Basic Human Needs

Children’s Charity – 15 Easy Ways To Help Increasing Children’s Charity Fundraising

Written by Sock Nye TanA Happy Freelance Writer

Ruth Liptrot joins 100 naked women for a charity calendar photo shoot. Please visit chanceforrosie.org.uk Read blog here: news.five.tv Video Rating: 3 / 5

Article by Richard Einerhann

A charity is a non-profit organisation set up in order to promote a public benefit. Philanthropic organisations are not automatically considered to be a charity as there are strict requirements set out in charity law. A company and commercial solicitor can assist in the creation of a charity.

The Charities Act 2006 states that only charities with an identifiable benefit for the public or part of the public can be regarded as a charity. For example, an organisation that has political objectives or takes part in political lobbying is not a charity. Registered charities are regulated by the Charity Commission. A charity is required by charity law to register with the Charity Commission when their annual income exceeds

My guest post today is from Randy Seitz, a 17 year veteran of community and economic development specializing in new industry attraction, local industry development, workforce development, and international trade.  Randy currently serves as the President and Chief Operating Officer of the Oil Region Alliance of Business, Industry & Tourism. Randy is taking the traditional approaches of ‘non-profits’ and turning them on their ear – challenging status quo in every aspect of his operations. I’m inspired by Randy’s innovative thoughts on turning a non-profit into a self-sustaining entity.  This is a fabulous example of defying Gravity for all of us.

I have recently finished the development of my agencies next five-year strategic plan.  Our 2 main goals were to become substantially more efficient in the way that we achieve our corporate mission and vision, and to become financially self sustaining in the next five-years.  The plan’s success is going to require that the organization adopt a change in the way they normally operate and to redefine how they generate and develop funds.  In other words, we have to challenge the status quo and defy gravity to achieve major success.  That is why I have recently purchased, for my entire management team, a new book by Rebel Brown called “Defy Gravity.” The book defies the status quo and provides practical advice to help corporate leaders avoid crash-and-burn strategies of yesterday.  I highly recommend this book to all CEOs struggling with change; change in how to implement new and unique ways to take organizations to new heights.

Rebel suggests that the way we’ve always done it may be limiting our success and I agree!

Status quo in the nonprofit world is fund development.

Traditional fund development is simply the acquisition of resources to advance the mission of an organization.  It is the process by which an organization uses fundraising to build capacity and sustainability and it is part of the strategic marketing of a nonprofit organization.  Fund development has two sides though; it is not only concerned with raising money, but also in developing reliable sources of income that will sustain the organization through the realization of its long-term mission and vision. Successful fund development requires a strategic plan that relates funding to the purpose and programs of the organization.  However, I contend that in these tough economic times nonprofit organizations must radically change its view and take the concept of fund development to a whole new level.  They must, as Rebel Brown teaches in her book, Defy Gravity… challenge the status quo!

It is my contention, in these tough economic times, that nonprofit organizations are becoming a burden on the business community.  It seems that individual businesses are being hit over and over and over again by local nonprofit agencies for donations and memberships in mass numbers. Everyone from chambers of commerce to the humane society is asking for small business support.  Now, these are all fantastic, mission driven organizations that are doing wonderful things to improve the quality of life in their respective communities, but unfortunately they rely heavily on donations from small business.  As the economy weakens there is less and less of this money available by small business to support these groups and the competition for these dollars among all of the nonprofits in a community is at an all time high. There is simply not enough money to go around and I am afraid that you will see many nonprofits closing their doors over the next several years unless they make a fundamental change in the way they operate. I believe that nonprofits just can’t continue to operate using the same old model.

The solution to this problem, which I have adopted and I am encouraging other nonprofit CEOs to also consider, is how we look at social entrepreneurialism.  Social entrepreneurialism needs to be looked at in a whole new way.  Social entrepreneurialism is typically the use of traditional entrepreneurial techniques to address a social issue or cause.  I want to challenge the status quo, defy gravity, by looking at social entrepreneurialism as a way for nonprofit organizations to develop new funding sources through for-profit means.  I want social entrepreneurialism to be defined as a nonprofit organization creating and operating a separate for-profit venture to support their nonprofit mission.  In other words, any profit from the new venture would go to support the long-term mission and vision of the nonprofit.  Therefore, the nonprofit would require less money in private contributions.  For example, the humane society can market and sell a private-label brand of dog food in grocery stores nationally.  The YMCA could market and sell exercise videos in the United States.  An economic development group could develop and sell commercial and residential real estate. By adopting a new way of operating, there would be the potential to generate millions of dollars in revenue for these groups that could go towards the long-term financial sustainability of the nonprofit.

The organization that I serve, serves the entire community through the creation of new jobs and investment in the region and the promotion of the area’s assets to attract tourists that spend money with local merchants.  For the most part, we are considered a member-based organization.  The funds that we raise come primarily from among the members themselves and are used for the purpose of sustaining the organization’s needs.  For example, the money required for our programs and operations is collected in the form of fees paid to belong to the organization, or in the form of donations.  There is a high degree of correlation though between the economy and membership.  Therefore, if the economy is bad, we can expect membership to be lower.  Simply, the organization requires funding to maintain its service to the community year after year.  So, there is no way that we can rely completely on membership dollars and still survive long into the future.

In addition to membership dollars, we must also rely on a small base of government support for specific tourism and heritage preservation programs.  And, the fact of the matter is, that often we must raise funds from a variety of sources just to maintain our budget. That is why I feel it is so important and crucial to create a fund development strategy that allows the organization to generate new revenue through for-profit means.  You can see how, as an organization, it would make sense for us to develop and sell commercial real estate as a way to generate new revenue.  The more money we can generate on our own, the less money we will require from the community.  This is a new and radical way to look at nonprofit fund development, as well as, social entrepreneurialism, and is definitely not the status quo, but is, none the less, necessary if the nonprofit wants to survive in this new economy.  This is a way for the nonprofit to take their destiny into their own hands; to become less of a burden on society, and to gain long-term sustainability in tough economic times.

Thank you Rebel for confirming our strategy and giving us the tools we need to execute this plan and move our agency forward; far into the future!  

Rebel Brown consistently challenges the status quo to deliver optimum solutions and high velocity growth for her clients. She combines the strategic expertise and tactical savvy of a global Corporate Strategy, Launch and Turnaround Expert, along with the leadership and motivational skills needed to get the job done.