YNPN Boar Retreat 2009

A couple of months ago I stepped down from the YNPN San Diego board because of my class load. At the time I was relieved to have one less thing on my plate. However recently Emily Davis, YNPN SD's, founder asked me to attend the board retreat since I've been with the organization since its inception.

The retreat was an amazing experience. I enjoyed being in a room full of 18 excited and passionate emerging leaders. I thought to myself during the retreat and I think I even said it out loud--I love this organization!! The retreat was so invigorating. Also, our retreat facilitator said we were really good at communicating with one another and we were good listeners!!

We created our strategy for the year, talked through some tough issues, and tried to be the board we have always wanted to be.

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Posted By Heather Carpenter to Nonprofit Leadership 601

YNPN 09: Being Thankful

From Heather Carpenter at Nonprofit Leadership 601...

The theme of the last session of the YNPN leaders conference was inspiration and gratitude. Chapter leaders from Chicago, NY, Twin Cities, DC, Denver, San Diego, Philadelphia, Kansas City, Cleveland, Austin, San Francisco, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, Louisville and Phoenix shared their favorite moments of the conference and what they planned to take back to their chapters.

Take Backs:

• Document more
  
• Implement best practices
• Brand who they are
• Revise Current Board Structures
  
• Add Advocacy voice element
  
• Share best practices and data
• Lengthen leadership pipeline
• Plan a purposeful path
• Bring Next generation advocacy issues to the local level
• Promote voice in the local media
• Keep momentum going
• Get Imodules (new website) up and running
• Refine mission and vision
  

Also, there was general appreciation in the room for the conference allowing them to:

• Learn from other chapters about communication and marketing
• Reconnect with the national board
  
• Participate in discussions at the national level
• Find out what the national board is doing
• Learn and find out new things
  
• Strengthen Chapter
• Be Inspired
• Receive Great information

I was also inspired to be a better leader and I was thankful to be in a room with all these amazing emerging leaders.

Here are a few of my peeps who also blogged about the YNPN Leaders Conference.

YNPN 09: Best Practices Every Leader Should Follow

From Heather Carpenter at Nonprofit Leadership 601...

Wow -- let me say that again -- Wow!! I just attended a session led by YNPN DC and I'm impressed. YNPN DC board members shared their best practices they use in their chapter that I think ALL Nonprofits should follow.

They have best practices for EVERYTHING, here's a taster:

• Procedure manuals for events
• Shared internal docs
• Integrated google e-mails
• An Email schedule (e.g. the 15th of the month they send out the newsletter)
  
• Tracking of Email click rates & open rates
  
• Program calendar (they set program dates months in advance).
• Consistent messaging
• Volunteer contributors to the newsletter that provide enriching stories.
  

Since I have an operations background I was eating this up, because these best practices make YNPN DC more efficent and effective!!

My all time favorite best practice was they have TALKING POINTS for everything. Since YNPN is a volunteer run organization, this is especially important and helps strengthen YNPN's message in the community.

The board also shared their planning for the future and exploration of a certification in nonprofit management for their members.

YNPN San Diego will definately use some of DC's best practices in the future!! I hope other nonprofits will too.

YNPN 09: Leaders Conference Closing

I sat down to write one of my final blog posts for the YNPN Leaders Conference and then saw how great Heather Carpenter's posts have been and decided to share hers instead....our thoughts and feeling on her last two blog posts are essentially the same anyway. :) Watch for upcoming re-posts from Heather here and on the YNPN San Diego blog. Be sure to check Heather out on her Nonprofit Leadership 601 blog of course.

I will say this...AMAZING! The conference was fantastic. I've never seen a group organize and execute so well on such a small budget and with so many volunteer resources. I am not surprised that it was YNPN San Diego who was able to accomplish this though since they are such a unique group of nonprofit activists.

I loved all the connections I made with some new folks; making face-to-face contact with people I know only through their email personalities; and reconnecting with so many old friends from Denver YNPN. It truly was a gift to be here with this fantastic group.

I'm certainly hoping to be back next year and planning on joining one of the national committees, perhaps the committee executing best practices, and becoming more engaged as time allows. I want to also thank all the folks who participated in the sessions I co/facilitated (social media, strategic alliances, and iModules). I had a great time with all of you and hope you found the information useful. I truly enjoyed serving as a guest blogger and tweeter (not a tweeker) and hope that I can help to serve that role again at other conferences.

Keep in touch and keep the movement strong to inspire, retain, recruit, and develop emerging leaders as a source of a healthy and vibrant nonprofit community!

YNPN 09: Ready for Day 2

I'm just getting the second morning started at the YNPN Leaders Conference with my coffee and oatmeal and am all ready for another exciting day. Day 1 was amazing and was no small feat to organize by the national and DC crowd. If you want to see how to organize a fantastic conference, gather some of the best minds in emerging leaders, and make it all happen with a smile and some fun - you've come to the right place.

Yesterday's speakers were fantastic. YNPN hosted everyone from Diana Aviv (President and CEO of Independent Sector) to Rick Cohen (National Council of Nonprofits) to Alexis Terry (BoardSource) to Frances Kunreuther (Building Movement Project - and one of my personal heros). Richard L Moyers praised YNPN for its amazing work and said that the $5000 the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation donated was the best $5000 they ever spent.

YNPN members ARE The future of this sector...we are creative, bold, entrepreneurial and worth every dollar donated and spent on resources like professional development and mentorship.

Day 2 promises to be another fun-filled and action-packed day. I'll be blogging and tweeting (ynpnsandiego) in the morning and then speaking at all three break out sessions this afternoon (yikes!). Here's what you can find this morning and where I'll be in the afternoon...

• Plenary session for YNPN National - great to see what national has been up to and how it will be planning to help support local chapters.
  
• YNPN in the media - very interested to learn more about national's plans and how we can replicate that at the local level.
• iModules Best Practices Panel (I'm a panelist)- This workshop will review YNPN's progess with iModules from launching the site last summer to where we are today.
• Using Consensus Organizing to Create a Community Centered Chapter (Heather Carpenter and I will present) - this workshop will discuss the consensus organizing approach one board member and on outside representative took to assist the YNPN San Diego board in creating a community-centered organization that meets the needs and desires of its members.
• Social Media as an Outreach and Fundraising Tool (I'm the presenter) - Use the power of online networking is the present and future of outreach and communications. Learn specific strategies to design an online outreach plan as well as solicit funds from individual through this session.

Look for me today and congrats to national and DC for a great and successful first day! Thanks to all the bloggers and tweeters too!

YNPN 09: Fundraising in a Tough Economy

Blogging live from the YNPN Leaders Conference. Be sure to follow my tweets too (edaconsulting or ynpnsandiego). Here are some notes and highlights from the session on fundraising in a tough economy. Enjoy!

Fundraising During Economic Uncertainty: Trends and Useful Tools in Philanthropy
Luke Driscoll from CCS Fundraising

Objectives of the discussion:

• Fundraising challenges
• Planning
• Customized tools

Where are we now?

• Give advice internally and listen to people's needs and interests
• Go back and look at what history told us in the past and what has worked to apply to the future.
• Look in the box to see what you are doing well and where do you need to “tweak.”

Basic Fundraising Stats:

• 74.8% comes from individuals
• 5.1% from corporations
• 12.6% foundations
• 7.6% bequests

Where do the funds go?

• 33.4% religious orgs
• 14.1% education
• 9.7% human services
• 9.1% foundations
• 7.7% unallocated
• 13.22% international affairs
• 7.4% public-society benefit
• 7.6% health
• Remainder in arts, animals, etc.
  

Growth of US Philanthropy

• Philanthropy has never gone down (flat or gone up); this year may be an anomaly.
• Philanthropy is a function of GNP not the stock market
• Use philanthropy facts in discussion to help support your recommendations. Use organizations like Giving USA and AFP as resources.
• Need to do a little amateur psychology to examine why someone would give. The more often we can check some of those “boxes” the better our chances of success

Why people don’t give or stopped giving:

• No longer felt connected; fundraisers need to continue to connect the donation to the impact; this is very important for donor engagement
• Only 15% stopped giving because of a lack of finances

Traits of a successful fundraiser:

• Passion and belief
• Volunteer leaders
• Sense or urgency
• Willing to take risks
• Strategic thinker
• See opportunities, when others see problems.
• Align donor interests with organization’s needs

Planning:

1. Reaffirm the mission and impact – how does your mission make a difference and why does philanthropy play a key role
2. Activity - cultivation and engagement (conversations, visits, event, communications, one-on-one briefings and meetings); ask donors for feedback and engagement
3. Motivate internal leaders: In difficult times, people are still making money; share activity for increasing funding; review fundraising efforts; teach how we can be more effective
4. Support each other – weekly moves management; seek creative ways to engage and energize staff – how much do you want to raise this week and what does your prospect list look like? Be realistic and set yourself up for success. Challenge each other in order to develop and accomplish goals.
5. Build the pipeline for long term cultivation – want the donor to understand who the organization is and what they do. Get board members engaged.
6. Expand your prospect base so your prospects turn into donors
7. Encourage challenge gifts as a strategy to promote activity; What can you tell people that you are doing well?
8. Share philanthropic information – similar orgs may have the same donors
9. Introduce gift options – payment periods; planned and deferred giving opportunities – be flexible
10. Explore diversification – look at competitors in the category – have balance and areas of growth

Final thoughts:

• Moves management - Know the number of gifts needed, number of prospects needed, gift range, names, dates
• Sharing good news and participation; remind people about the impact
• Cultivation events – bring people closer to the organization
• Different ways to get gifts – cash to stock to property to planned gifts
• If there is an elephant in the room (economy) than address it, but don’t highlight it if unnecessary
• Don’t decide the economic climate for the donor, ask question to understand the person and the audience that you are working with.

Thanks YNPN San Diego Volunteers!!!

In honor of National Volunteer Week, YNPN San Diego would like to thank all of the volunteers who have made YNPN San Diego’s first year in operation a huge success. YNPN San Diego volunteers can feel proud about their accomplishments in this past year which include growing the membership to over 400 members and holding numerous successful Meet and Greet events and Professional Development seminars. We look forward to another great year as we continue to engage and support future nonprofit and community leaders through professional development, networking and social opportunities. We hope everyone will join us at our upcoming events including our next Professional Development workshop - Powerful Partnerships: Intergenerational Coaching. We are also always looking for new members for our board and committees.

Find us on our blog, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn

Please show your support by considering a donation to YNPN San Diego today!

Powerful Partnerships: Multigenerational Coaching

How can we support the emerging leadership trajectory? How can multiple generations collaborate to advance our own personal and professional goals across the generational divide? From Nonprofit Congress, Powerful Partnerships: Multigenerational Coaching will pair 15 emerging leaders and 15 seasoned leaders for this hands-on session about supportive work relationships and peer coaching.

This workshop introduces a simple individual planning tool for professional growth; provides a set of coaching/mentoring tips; offers an opportunity to practice collaborative peer learning; and suggests some easy next steps to move participants towards their goals.

Emerging leader participants are asked to recruit and bring a seasoned leader to participate in this multigenerational exercise. Participants will be matched with folks outside their organization and the attendance will be limited to 15 seasoned leaders (35 and over) and 15 emerging leaders (35 and younger) so be sure to sign up early!

• 5:30 - 6:00 p.m. Networking
• 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Program
• 8:00 - 8:30 p.m. Networking

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TODAY!!!

Highlights from Next Gen Governance Discussion

From Heather Carpenter, former YNPN San Diego board member and workshop attendee...

I thought it was quite fitting that Rosetta Thurman recently wrote the blog post "From Entry Level to Leadership: How to Join a Nonprofit Board of Directors" since this and other issues came up during YNPN San Diego's Next Gen Governance professional development workshop last Monday evening.

In this lively workshop, participants brainstormed and discussed a variety of next gen governance issues including:

• Qualities of emerging leaders and seasoned leaders;
  
• Possibilities of multi-generations collaborating in governance, and;
• Gaps to multi-generational governance collaboration.

In order for successful mult-generational governance collaboration to occur, next gen and seasoned leaders need to recognize each others qualities and strengths and overcome multi-generational gaps (described below).

Qualities of Emerging Leaders
*Flexible *Enthusiasm *Tech *Diverse *Savvy *Web 2.0 *Perspective (Geographic) *New Funding Sources *Risk Taking *Fresh Ideas *Open-Minded *Urgency *Innovative *Sustainable/Green *Networks *Willingness to Fail *Competitive Energy *Committed *Resourceful *Academic Knowledge

Qualities of Seasoned Leaders
*Established networks *Sustainability *Resources through connections and networks *Knowledgeable *Experienced *Storytelling *Execution *Confident *Efficient *Grounded *For-profit/nonprofit experience *Lifetime experience *Vision *Realistic *Emotional Intelligence *Community knowledge *Reputation *Roots

Possibilities of multi-generational governance collaboration
*Viewing the whole picture *Movement *Balance *Organizational and personal growth *Exchange of knowledge *Inclusiveness *Commonalities *$ *Sustainability *Continuity *Maintaining/sharing *Innovation/discovery/strategy *Dynamic organization *Stability

Gaps to multi-generational governance collaboration
*Engagement *Dialog *Articulate possibilities *Awareness *Confidence *Ego *Credibility *Common ground *Ability to see different perspectives *Fear *Lack of opportunities *Undervalued-next gen/seasoned *Next gen learning before we jump *Looking beyond stereotypes *Open to innovation *Co-mentorship *Retention *Organizational dynamics *What is redifing a board *Embracing change *All knowing versus organizational learning *Valuing Change *Compromises

For more information on Next Gen Governance, visit BoardSource's research on the topic by clicking here.

MANY THANKS to the generous in kind supporters for this event:

RYAN FEINSTEIN, World Cafe Host

VITO DISTEFANTO, Photographer

CONGRATULATIONS to our gift drawing recipients:
Wes Lindquist and Jessica St. Clair.
Wes received a $25 gift certificate to Sammy's Woodfired Pizza and Jessica received a gift certificate for one training at Nonprofit Management Solutions.

You can enter to receive a drawing gift certificate by making a donation at our next event on April 16th. Save the date & be sure to register for our one year Birthday Bash!

THANK YOU to all of the amazing volunteers who put together this fantastic workshop. Be sure to check out the photos from the event on our website and on the side bar here.

Join YNPN San Diego on May 30 for our next workshop - Powerful Partnerships: Intergenerational Coaching.