Non Profit Organizations

Funding for Philanthropic Efforts Requires More Effort Than Normal

One sad fact in our capitalistic world is that funding for many worthwhile efforts is often difficult to obtain if there is not a direct profit opportunity to be had.  Non-profit’s and local community leaders need special assistance, especially in developing countries, to gain access to appropriate resources of capital devoted to their respective purposes....

By Tom Cleveland

Nonprofits, Get Over it: You Need to Plan, Too

Hmm . I’m guessing it wasn’t just random that planning for nonprofits came up a lot this week while I was traveling and talking to several entrepreneurship leaders and mentors. I don’t have data, just a hunch gathered from talking and tweeting and reading, but it seems like nonprofits, social enterprises and the like are...

By Tim Berry

The Triple Bottom Line: Evaluating Your Nonprofit

Planning software like Business Plan Pro does a good job of helping you evaluate the financial projections for your non-profit – how many donations you will need, what expenses you will have, and how many projects you will fund. But what about evaluating the effectiveness of your programs, efficiency in using your funds, and choosing...

By Bplans

Good Background Info for Nonprofits

I’ve been spending a lot of time (maybe way too much) with Twitter lately (you can find me there as timberry) so I feel like at least one of the good things about that is suggestions such as idealist.org, which I got from a Twitter friend and seems like a really good recommendation for people looking into...

By Tim Berry

Silver bells, silver bells…job satisfaction

“Silver bells, silver bells, It’s Christmas time in the city…” Nice melody, pleasing orchestration, cheery lyrics. This song is one of the “olde favorites” we hear every year in December. Of course, it’s not really that old…er…uh…well it is as old as I am, which explains why I remember hearing it all my life. “Silver...

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Blog Action Day 08

Today is Blog Action Day. Through out the day, thousands of bloggers will unite to discuss a single issue – poverty. The purpose? To raise awareness and initiate action on this very important topic. In keeping with that theme, I’m going to re-introduce you to Kiva. We’ve mentioned this company before, [Steve Lange wrote on...

By Bplans

Startup Success: Real Numbers, Real Voice, Real Help

How’s this for a startup success story? Avaaz.org started 17 months ago. It now has more than 3.2 million registered active members and last week raised $1.5 million in aid for Burmese cyclone victims in three days. Recognizing some problems with flow of aid through normal channels, founder Ricken Patel connected with Burmese monks to...

By Tim Berry

Help Where It’s Needed

The San Francisco Chronicle‘s Sunday front page ran a feature on Women’s Initiative for Self Employment, with the headline Female entrepreneurs needed the Initiative. The gist: A microenterprise training and microlending organization, Women’s Initiative has helped low-income women start or expand more than 1,600 businesses in Northern California. The nonprofit is based in the Bay...

By Tim Berry