Archive for February, 2008

The Sector Responds to the Foreclosure Crisis




Some of the country’s wealthiest foundations are developing plans to combat the growing foreclosure crisis, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The Ford Foundation, in New York, plans to support programs focused on reducing the number of homes that end up in foreclosure, and Living Cities, a New York consortium of major foundations and financial institutions that work to revive inner cities, is also considering how to support programs that will enable borrowers to keep their homes and get abandoned properties back into use.

“Every big funder is out there trying to figure out how to participate in systemic responses,” said George McCarthy, a senior program officer at the Ford Foundation. Mr. McCarthy noted that “no one can figure out where the opportunity lies” and how a foundation’s money can be spent most effectively.

As the country’s once-booming housing market enters its third year of decline, the home-foreclosure rate is soaring. Last year more than 400,000 families facing financial distress or holding problematic loans lost their home to foreclosure, a 50-percent increase over 2006, according to RealtyTrac, an Irvine, Calif., firm that tracks real-estate data.

Another 2.2 million or more families face foreclosure over the next few years as the crisis deepens, says the Center for Responsible Lending, a consumer-advocacy charity in Durham, N.C.

Among the few sizable grants so far is a $2-million commitment from the Open Society Institute, in New York, to help establish the Center for New York City Neighborhoods, a charity focused on foreclosure solutions.

“Philanthropy, I think, has been in a little bit of a loss about what to do about foreclosures,” says Rip Rapson, president of the Kresge Foundation, in Troy, Mich. “What’s so frustrating is that no one seems to have identified the one or two things that will make this situation better.”

‘Predatory Lending’

Also vulnerable to foreclosure are the more than seven million families with “subprime loans” — mortgages given to those with imperfect credit or income histories.

Many of these complex loans, created amid the frenzy of the housing boom, feature adjustable interest rates, where an initial low interest rate eventually resets to a much higher rate. Some of these mortgages were the result of “predatory lending,” where lenders willfully steered borrowers into loans beyond their financial means.

“What we are seeing right now is quite a number of households that have sought loan products for which they were not necessarily suited,” says Jeanne Fekade-Selassie, homeownership specialist at NeighborWorks America, a Washington community-development charity that has more than 240 affiliates nationwide. “While they may have been able to meet their mortgage obligations based on the terms of the loan at the beginning, when the loan resets they don’t have the means. This is one of the biggest influences driving foreclosures right now.”

Housing counselors who work for social-service and community-development charities, such as Catholic Charities and the National Urban League, are on the front lines in the effort to keep people from losing their homes.

Such counselors are trained to help homeowners who fall behind on their mortgage payments explore their financial options, which may mean trying to sell a house before foreclosure. Their services are free.

Some counselors can also work directly with lenders to restructure loans and develop alternative payment plans.

The demand for such services is skyrocketing.

A nationwide toll-free number — (888) 995-HOPE — that connects distressed homeowners with housing counselors received more than 140,000 calls the final quarter of last year — a tenfold increase over the call volume in the first quarter of 2007. The 24-hour hotline is run by the Homeownership Preservation Foundation, a five-year-old Minneapolis charity financed largely by the lending industry.

Part of the increase in calls can be credited to a major advertising campaign started last spring promoting the hotline, and created in partnership with NeighborWorks and the Ad Council, a New York charity that produces public-service advertisements.

“We’re averaging 15 to 20 calls a day for counseling and it’s hard to talk to everyone — our entire staff takes down information,” says Helen Moore, executive director of Neighborhood Housing Services of the Inland Empire, a San Bernardino, Calif., charity that serves distressed homeowners in an area where the foreclosure rate is more than three times the national average. “We need more help. We need more counselors.”

In December, as part of a federal appropriations bill, NeighborWorks received a $180-million grant aimed at bolstering charity-counseling services nationwide. The charity, which began distributing the money to counseling nonprofit groups last month, hopes it will help nonprofit groups assist an additional half-million households facing foreclosure.

Similarly, in November, Catholic Charities USA, in Arlington, Va., received a $1-million federal grant to pay for housing counseling services at more than 30 of its affiliates. Last month, Wells Fargo, the San Francisco bank, announced that it was giving $1.5-million to NeighborWorks and other charities that counsel homeowners.

Beyond Counseling

Mr. Rapson, of the Kresge Foundation, says just in the past few weeks foundations and charities in the Detroit area have begun meeting to brainstorm about additional ways nonprofit groups might focus on foreclosures.

“There just has to be something more proactive and impactful than simply providing housing counseling,” Mr. Rapson says.

One idea under discussion is to create a “foreclosure czar” in Detroit.

“City hall is increasingly interested in having one dedicated person that would be supported by the banks, foundations, and the community and stand outside city structures,” Mr. Rapson says.
The Center for New York City Neighborhoods, a $5.5-million charity effort begun in January by the City of New York, the Open Society Institute, banks, and other foundations, will offer counseling services and serve as a think tank to devise ways to deal with foreclosure issues, its supporters say. The charity has a board in place and is currently hiring staff members.

“We felt it important to create a charity with board leadership and a range of groups represented that could evolve over time and come up with new solutions and new directions in attacking the foreclosure problem,” says Shaun Donovan, New York City housing commissioner.

“Partnering with foundations gives us the ability to try new things and take risks in a way that can be hard for government to do.”

Legislative Options

Ultimately, some in the foreclosure fight say, the financial scale of the crisis — there are $1.3-trillion in subprime loans outstanding — requires new federal legislation and changes in lending laws.

But almost everybody engaged with the issue of rising foreclosures can agree on one thing: The problem is going to get worse before it gets better. And the crisis is now having a spillover effect, with implications for a wider array of charities.

For instance, the Women’s Center of San Joaquin County, a domestic-violence charity in Stockton, Calif., saw calls to its help line increase 12 percent last year, a jump the group says is directly connected to the region’s high number of home foreclosures. Foreclosure, or the threat of it, can destroy families, says the group’s executive director, Joelle Gomez.

“The housing market is still bottoming out and we are really bracing to see far more clients utilizing both our shelter services and our help lines and counseling,” she says.

It’s a similar story in Central Florida, another area particularly hard hit by foreclosures.

“Demand for all of our counseling services are on the uptick,” says Scott George, president of the Compassion Outreach Center, a religious social-service charity in Orlando. “When people face the stress of foreclosure it can come out in substance abuse, physical abuse, depressed kids.”

“Hope,” he adds, “has just been ripped out of so many people.”

Source: Chronicle of Philanthropy

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Governor Schwarzenegger Creates Cabinet Post for Volunteer Management




California is a state with frequent natural disasters and vast numbers of people who want to help. But Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says a recent oil spill in San Francisco Bay helped demonstrate that “volunteerism can be moved a notch.”

To that end, Mr. Schwarzenegger is creating a cabinet-level office for volunteer management, which his administration says is the first such state cabinet position in the country. He is scheduled to announce the move on Tuesday in Los Angeles.

Under the change, the governor’s commission for volunteerism, California Volunteers, will maintain its staffing and budget. But its executive director will gain expanded duties as a cabinet secretary, playing a role in disaster-related planning and response efforts and coordinating volunteers at disaster sites.

The office will also manage donations that flow into the state for disaster relief, a responsibility now held by the state’s Office of Emergency Response. It is the first time a governor’s commission overseeing federal money to manage volunteers — panels required by law since 1993 — has been elevated to a cabinet role.

In a telephone interview, Mr. Schwarzenegger said recent disasters had demonstrated that volunteers were “many times unable to do the kind of work they want to for the state because we are not as organized as we can be.”

He said his wife, Maria Shriver, who is the honorary chairwoman of California Volunteers, helped make the case for giving the office greater prominence and responsibility.

“I have a father-in-law and mother-in-law who have relied on volunteers their whole life,” Mr. Schwarzenegger said, referring to R. Sargent Shriver, the first director of the Peace Corps, and Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the founder of the Special Olympics. “It is something I am very familiar with.”

California, like many states, relies on volunteers in natural disasters and other emergencies. The state, always on earthquake watch, is also prone to wildfires and mudslides. Last fall, over 10,000 residents registered to volunteer in San Diego during the wildfires, and $23 million in private donations poured into the state.

But when 2,000 people showed up to help after the San Francisco oil spill, “they had good intentions but didn’t know what to do with them,” said Karen Baker, the head of California Volunteers, who will become the new secretary for service and volunteering.

The various California agency heads, Ms. Baker said, “didn’t have a fellow cabinet member to talk to them, and so the governor finally called me and said, ‘Get down here with me.’ It was chaos. There were monks who got arrested.”

The state is also facing a budget crisis, with a deficit of billions of dollars. Part of the role of the elevated office will be to drum up more private and corporate money for volunteerism efforts.

“We have no illusions of this being a substitute for government,” said Daniel Zingale, Ms. Shriver’s chief of staff and a senior adviser to the governor. “But we do believe there is a role for citizen engagement during tough budget times.”

Source: NY Times

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San Francisco’s Paid Sick Leave Requirement Adopted by Other States




San Francisco began the nation’s only mandatory paid sick leave policy one year ago. Now, a dozen states and the District of Columbia are watching San Francisco’s progress as they consider whether to adopt similar policies.

Last year, San Francisco became the first city in the country requiring employers to give their workers paid sick leave. But some are questioning whether businesses there can afford the mandate, which comes on the heels of other new benefits in the workplace.

Jeanette Jweinat, who works at the New York Street Cafe in San Francisco’s Mission District, is one of more than 100,000 workers in the city who are not currently paid for sick days. That will change Feb. 5, when all employees — full- and part-time, permanent and temporary — will be covered. And they can miss work even when they aren’t sick, but have to stay home to help a domestic partner or a family member.

In Jweinat’s case, that means caring for her 10-year-old son.

“You know, sometimes he’s sick and I have to go pick him up from school or he’s not feeling good and he needs the day off,” Jweinat says. “I just had to leave work. I had to take that chance. That’s more important, that’s my priority right now. So you got to do what you got to do.”

Employees will accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours of work. There are caps depending on the size of the business.

But businessman Bill Stone forsees a whole new set of bookkeeping headaches and added expenses to cover his 21 employees. Stone runs the nearby Atlas Cafe.

“Basically, it’s just going to make it more expensive to operate your business,” Stone says. “Small business is going to have to pass that cost onto their customers. Which is fine if everyone wants these kinds of things.”

Many details of the new law still mystify some employers, such as when and how an employee can use accrued sick leave, says attorney Nancy Berner.

“Part of what I’m hearing is simple confusion,” she says. “They’re calling and saying ‘what do I have to do to comply?’ And its not entirely clear. I try to give them the most conservative advice because I want them to comply and they want to comply. But it’s come up so quickly. It was on the ballot in November and by February fifth it’s law.”

Supporters of the new sick-leave law dismiss that complaint, saying that its merits were aired out during the November campaign, which was engineered by a coalition of mostly young restaurant workers. City Supervisor Chris Daly, who wrote the law, says it is a benefit to public health.

“Especially in the flu time of the year — which is right now — folks who are sick, especially with the flu, you don’t want them to go to work,” Daly says. “You want them to stay home and get better and not get their co-workers and customers sick.”

Still, the new law comes after San Francisco hiked its minimum wage to $9.14 an hour. That’s the highest local minimum wage in America. And the city still hasn’t phased in its requirement for employers to provide health coverage.

Atlas Cafe owner Bill Stone says all these things combined could strangle small businesses in an already expensive city.

“If we want independent restaurants and independent stores and shops you have to make it possible to survive, not just the big guys,” Stone says. “Like Starbucks and Wal-Mart and all those things that everybody hates so much. But if you make it too hard to run a small business, only the big guys are going to be able to do it.”

Meanwhile, city officials are taking steps to publicize the new law, which could further cement San Francisco’s reputation as a social laboratory.

Source: NPR

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How to Offer Constructive Feedback

By Dalya F. Massachi




“If your first draft is perfect, you’re probably doing something wrong.” (line often heard in my writing workshops)

Thus far, I have offered suggestions on planning and writing effective resumes and cover letters. This fifth column features tips on how to edit these (and other) documents by giving constructive feedback. You can use the ideas to help edit your own work or that of the employees or volunteers you supervise.

Editing multiple drafts is one of the essential secrets to putting out a document you can be proud of. If you put some distance between yourself and your first draft, you will be amazed at the things you can fix! In fact, every piece I write has improved by the third or fourth (or tenth) draft.

Remember: Your job as an editor is to preserve the writer’s original intent and style, while clarifying, smoothing out, livening up and correcting the piece.

Editing is all about finding the spots that work especially well, and then offering suggestions for how to strengthen areas of weakness. It’s a good idea to talk about the positive aspects of the document first, and then explore the challenge areas.

Here’s a handy checklist of basic things you need to make sure you cover. (Hint: You can also use this list as a cover sheet to attach to any document you need to edit.)

Step 1: Ask yourself these overall content questions:

  • Does the piece effectively achieve the writer’s purposes?
  • Does the piece contain all the information the reader needs to get a clear understanding of the subject, especially the key benefits and features?
  • Does the piece engage the intended readers? That is, is it reader-centered and not writer-centered?
  • Does the piece cast the writer’s work in the best light and position it as vital to the community and/or the reader?
  • Does the writer try to draw conclusions for the readers, or instead prompt their own sensory or visceral experiences?
  • How do you feel (your emotional response) after reading the piece?
Example: Does it leave you feeling confused, unconvinced, dissatisfied, frustrated, disappointed, or hopeless? These things are especially important to know in the nonprofit sector. After all, we’re not just out to share facts and figures, but also perspectives and solutions!

Step 2: Take a closer look at the mechanics of the piece as a written document.

Make sure that:

  • The piece is easy to read and understand;
  • The sequence is logical and flows well;
  • The tone is appropriate (and doesn’t shift around);
  • The piece does not include any clichés, awkward phrases, jargon, unexplained acronyms, or soap-box preachiness;
  • The headline or opening sentence captures the reader’s attention (or at least makes a good attempt);
  • The ending leaves readers with valuable information and the right attitude.
Step 3: Catch any typos and grammatical errors.

Don’t rely on your computer’s spell-checker! Many homonyms and incorrect words can slip through unnoticed. The best way to do this final proofreading is to print out the document and read it on paper with a colored pen in hand.

Strong editing can often make the difference between a barely passable document and one that shines. Polish makes perfect.




Dalya F. Massachi specializes in helping nonprofit professionals advance their missions through outstanding written materials. She has worked with community-minded organizations for more than 15 years: authoring countless successful marketing pieces, articles, and grant proposals; teaching popular writing workshops; and coaching professionals one-on-one.

Download her free tip sheets and subscribe to her free e-newsletter at:
http://www.dfmassachi.net
dalya@dfmassachi.net

NOTE:For many more writing tips, check out my forthcoming book, Writing to Make a Difference: 25 Powerful Techniques to Boost Your Community Impact. If you pre-order right now, you will get a pre-publication discount of 15% at:http://www.dfmassachi.net/wmd.html

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1-9-2008 How to Drive Traffic to Your Blog



With 1.4 blogs being created every second of every day, how can a blogger break away from the noise and gain some attention? It is not nearly as complex as it may seem. The first step is to decide who you want to speak with and what you want to say; why are you writing your blog? Your goal is to create a community that nurtures conversations. Although technology enables online communities, it is content, connections and the overall spirit of the community that will draw the right people to your blog.

Community in the age of social media isn’t about putting the message out there, it’s about conversation. Understanding your audience isn’t done through a sit down strategy session or focus group, it’s about listening to your audience tell you who they are and what they care about.

People find content through sources they trust. These sources can range from online news sources, to blogs, and their peers. Especially their peers!!

According to a new research report, “Engaging Advocates through Search and Social Media,” released in December 2006 by Yahoo! and comScore Networks, not only is social networking’s influence on marketing growing, but particularly vocal individuals are having more of an effect than ever.

Dubbed “Brand Advocates,” these are consumers who spread opinions via word of mouth, as well as over social networks, instant messaging, chat, photo sites and blogging. Such advocates have at least at least a two-to-one rate of converting an actual friend or family member to buy the same exact product or brand they support, according to the report.

Source: http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3624182

Network of Networks Social media is about interacting with community, more importantly a relevant and influential community.

It’s also about spreading conversations throughout the web to increase relevant visibility. We call this engaging the “Network of Networks.” Each of these communities has different cultures and rules as to how they communicate. Each social networking site is it’s own community. A person can be a member of more than one at a time. This enables a person to integrate knowledge and gain access to talent across multiple communities.

People are part of multiple communities!!!

Distribution of Content The smallest unit of media sharing is the link. Whether it’s a forum message, a photograph, a video, or a podcast, if there isn’t a unique link for each piece of content, there is no sharing.

Every bit of content should ideally have a constant, human readable, link that users can send to others.

Providing users with widgets lets them embed content, profile information, or other bits of functionality from your website creates value for your users while also creating visibility for your social network.

Take advantage of content creation on other social networks. The quintessential example: Flickr Make sharing part of the culture of your network!

The Impact of Social Media on Search Results Google’s stated goal: To organize the worlds information.

Google’s goal in action: To match the most relevant information with the people who are searching for it.

Traditional SEO techniques still apply for optimizing organic search! However Google’s SERP (Search Engine Results Page) is now a much more crowded place that combines content optimized through different strategies.

Results are showing up from:
• Blogs – A frequently updated web journal
• Del.icio.us – User centric bookmarking and social discover
• Digg – “wisdom of the crowds” source for popular news
• Stumbleupon – Web site rating and social discovery based on past browsing history of the network
• Photos - Flickr, Photobucket
• Video - Youtube, Metacafe, Break
• Podcasts - Audio distributed across the web, and niche oriented
• Twitter/Microblogs – up to the minute bite sized notifications from your network
• Wikipedia – Collaboratively created information resource with high SEO, and a culture that often successfully keeps SEO strategists at bay
• Yelp, CitySearch - User generated and social review sites that frequently rank high in search

Google is embracing the networks of trust and social relevancy being created by Social Media through various initiatives.

Roadmap for Creating a Thriving Online Community
1. Creating Compelling Content

2. Be yourself – People want to connect with others of like minds. They are not seeking out more marketing or sales pitches.

3. Be conversational - Blogging is about starting or joining conversations. People tend to respond better to informative but brief and passionate posts.

4. Stay on topic – You get to set the tone of your social network. You are the hosts of your site. It is important that the conversations stay focused on what the site is here to provide. You can provide additional information and value by providing links to external sites.

5. Add multimedia - Adding pictures enhances the experience of each post. You can set up a Flickr pool to simplify the process of sharing pictures within your posts as well as on various other sites. Videos provide an additional level of entertainment and brings the story to life. You can set up a YouTube channel and embed videos into all of your other various networks. Sites like Flickr and YouTube enable you to spread your content to various networks.

6. Link to other relevant conversations - In any good conversation, people speak, listen and respond. Blogging on the site is equivalent to speaking. Reading other relevant blogs is equivalent to listening. Linking to other relevant blog posts is equivalent to a virtual handshake and a response. As you read individual blogs that are relevant and of interest to you, pay attention to where they link within their posts and look for a blogroll. These are the roadmaps to the people you want to know and who want to know you.

7. Tagging – Almost all social media sites have tags. Tags are a way to categorize the content. Tags are very powerful within social networks because it provides the community with a way to link to others with shared interest. Use relevant tags and use many tags. The best practice is to start with the general category such as Dining or Sports and then add tags based on the details of the content such as location, event, date, notable people, and so forth.

8. Titles – Since people typically are scanning through content to see what captures their attention, it is very important that your content has relevant and enticing titles. Try to keep your audience in mind when writing a title. When they read the title of your post they are asking themselves “what’s in it for me? Why should I invest time in this post?” So the title must answer the “what’s in it for me?” question.

Some ideas include:
1. List Posts
2. How To Posts
3. What Do You Think?

9. Frequency of Post - It is important for your time management as well as for creating trusting relationships that you decide the frequency that best fits you. If you start off with several posts a week and develop a following, and then slack off for a couple of weeks, you will lose that following. It is OK if you can only post once a week. The key is to set expectations that your audience can depend on and stay consistent.

To many, social media seems overwhelming. There are so many tools to learn, so much content to filter through. The reality is social media makes life richer and much more efficient, once a person takes the time to learn how to navigate and begins to make friends with the natives.


Sherry Heyl

Sherry Heyl is the CEO and Idealist for What a Concept, the first social media agency in the Southeast. Her responsibilities include business development and collaborating with clients to develop online communities of raving fans by integrating streaming video, blogs, podcasts, RSS, and virtual worlds into communication plans for B2B, B2C, Non-profit and Higher Education organizations. Sherry has been recognized as a thought leader in social and collaborative technologies and trends through invitations to speak for many varied associations, conferences, and private events.

She was a key organizer of SoCon07, the first Social Media un-conference in Metro Atlanta and is currently planning SoCon08. Sherry sits on the board of the Atlanta Electronic Commerce Forum as the Programs Director, the board AiMA leading Association Partnerships and the National Advisory Board for KSU Communication Department. Sherry was a 2007 Nominee for the Women in Technology Woman of the Year Award. Sherry is a graduate of Florida State University with undergraduate degrees in Marketing and Creative Writing.

www.empoweringconcepts.net sherryheyl@gmail.com

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Keeping the Right People on the Bus: Turnover in Nonprofit Organizations



by Faye Dresner

I recently worked on a project that involved the topic of employee turnover and retention. In the course of the work, I read a lot of research about how to retain good employees in a work world that now perceives staying in one job longer than a few years as “stagnation.” As I was reading through all the strategies available to nonprofit employers trying to retain good employees, I wanted to shout out a word my three teenagers used to say all the time: “Duh!” Truly, so much of what I was reading seemed to be simple common sense. Of course, people want to be asked for their input. Of course, they want to be recognized and appreciated. Of course they want to be fairly compensated. And yet, I continue to hear stories of employers who micromanage, never say thank you, treat their employees with disrespect, and then scratch their heads in wonder (or don’t notice at all) as employee turnover rates continue to rise.

Employee retention is not rocket science. But it does take a concerted effort, dedicated resources, and leadership that understands that people are a nonprofit’s most precious resource. According to demographic research, more than ½ of the 76 million baby boomers could retire in the next decade and their replacements will come from a generation a little more than half the size, most of whom are already working. And to make matters more complicated, the U.S. Department of Labor says that 60% of 21st century jobs will require skills that 20% of workers have. Learning how to retain good employees isn’t a choice anymore. It’s an absolute must for any nonprofit that wants to be sustainable long term.

In case you have any doubts about the utter necessity of stemming the tide of employee turnover in your organization, all you have to do is look at the costs. Just a few of the costs associated with an exiting employee and the corresponding vacancy are:

  • the potential cost of temporary workers to continue the work

  • the loss in productivity when the work is either not done or reassigned

  • the cost of training and orientation invested in the exiting employee and the new hire

  • the cost of any severance or benefits for exiting employees

  • the cost of advertising and hiring for a new person

  • the cost of training and materials for the new hire

  • the cost of a supervisor’s time bringing a new hire up to speed on the work

  • the cost in lost productivity until the new hire is able to work at full capacity

And these are just some of the costs. Given the high price of turnover, it goes without saying that whatever costs are associated with retention strategies will pay for themselves in a short period of time.

So how does nonprofit leadership ensure that it’s best and brightest stay for the long haul? While there are no guarantees, there are proven techniques for giving your nonprofit the best shot at keeping the most people for the longest time. Some of them are listed below:

  • Make sure expectations, roles and responsibilities are clear

  • Give employees the freedom to be an active part in shaping their work lives

  • Build trust by working in partnership with employees, not by giving orders

  • Take a real interest in employees’ well being

  • Discuss career advancement and personal growth with employees and create a tangible plan to help them accomplish their goals

  • Give employees meaningful input into decision making

  • Recognize and appreciate your employees daily

  • As a leader, develop self awareness and seek ongoing feedback

  • Actively work on creating a good work environment

For more details on how to effectively combat turnover in your nonprofit, keep your eyes open in January for Opportunity Knocks’ Nonprofit Retention and Vacancy Report.


Faye Dresner

Faye Dresner is the founder of Dresner Consulting, LLC which she started to help tap the power of nonprofits and philanthropists to affect change. For over two decades, Faye has served in director-level positions with a variety of nonprofits which has taught her that when a person finds work that is personally fulfilling and life enhancing, both employer and employee benefit.

http://www.dresnerconsulting.com
fdresner@dresnerconsulting.com

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OK Spotlight: Nadine Trotter, Center for Black Women’s Wellness Office Administrator



Nadine Trotter is a five year breast cancer survivor. As an eight-year nonprofit veteran, mother of two and grandmother to a rising college freshman, life was a good until a routine examination this past year proved again positive for breast cancer.

Five years ago, Nadine detected the cancer early and opted for a double mastectomy. Choosing the procedure, she did not have to endure chemotherapy or radiation treatment, which at the time seemed a blessing.

During the time of her second diagnosis with breast cancer, Nadine interviewed and was offered a position with the Center for Black Women’s Wellness, as Office Administrator, a position she found through Opportunity Knocks.

The Center for Black Women’s Wellness is a community-based, family service center. The Center’s primary purpose is to improve the mental, physical and spiritual growth of women and their families and the economic growth of communities.

However, the news of Nadine’s diagnosis overshadowed the great news about her new job.
“I knew that I had to endure chemotherapy and radiation treatment for this second fight with cancer. The time off I needed from work and potential rise in health insurance cost the nonprofit will carry, compelled me to tell my new employer. I was unsure of my future at the Center,” said Nadine.

Yet, Nadine’s new CEO, Jemea Dorsey, relieved her of the anxiety surrounding her future at the Center by saying, “Welcome Aboard!”

“A CEO’s first reaction is to think how does this impact the organization? However, the Center is a safe place for women, a holistic place. How could we not be that same place for our staff member when it is our mission in our community? I told Nadine that everything would be okay,” said Jemea.

When asked how the mission of a nonprofit organization and staff treatment at times does not align, Nadine commented, “It starts at the leadership level.”

“Jemea could have chosen not to hire me with my condition, however she decided to fulfill the mission of the organization. An organization is characterized by its leader,” said Nadine.

At the Center, Nadine is learning health and wellness techniques that will aid her in her fight with breast cancer. She is also given paid time off for chemo and radiation treatment, which ends November 9. However, she wanted to come to work.

“I came to work everyday, said Nadine”. Having a job gives me purpose, lifts my spirits. Plus, the support from the Center and my co-workers has been a positive influence in my recovery.


If you would like to send and e-mail of support to Nadine or give accolades to the Center for Black Women’s Wellness, you can email her at nadine@cbww.org

Keep Talented Leaders




The issue of recruiting and retaining talented and committed individuals for nonprofit work is a daunting one that will have long-range and serious repercussions.

In its report “The Next Generation of Nonprofit Sector Leadership,” authored by Shelly Cryer, The Initiative for Nonprofit Sector Careers of New York University’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service offers the following recommendations for getting and keeping young, able people.

*Make the job challenging and rewarding. Give recruits the tools they need to succeed. Nonprofits are considered to offer little room for advancement, but use creativity to nurture talented staff.
*Review salaries and bring them as close to market rates as possible. Young workers need a “livable” salary if not a competitive one.
*Be creative with other benefits. Flexible work schedules, telecommuting, job sharing and tuition remission incentives are often coveted.
*Professionalize human resource activities and collaborate with other organizations.

*Organizations should budget for recruitment but should not consider “unspent salaries” of vacant positions as recruitment budgets.
*When appropriate, use the Internet to recruit. Technology allows for reaching a large and diverse applicant pool.
*Build internship programs and participate in work-study programs.
*Develop relationships with faculty members at area colleges. Individual faculty members can be a vital resource.
*Connect with offices of career services. Career services offices can help identify skilled young workers who have appropriate academic and work experience.

Source: Nptimes.com

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Nonprofit Job Interviews



If you’re trying to fill a job in your non profit organization, an interview is a vital step in finding the right candidate. It is important to collect all the important information you can from an interview and use it to make an informed hiring decision. When interviewing for a job in the non profit arena, we recommend:

  • Taking notes: Take a few notes to help you remember facts and impressions after the interview.

  • Build rapport: Provide a supportive and friendly environment that will allow the non profit job candidate to share information.

  • Listen: Actively concentrate on what the candidate is saying both verbally and non verbally.

  • Questioning: Ask different types of questions, including:

    • Open ended: Questions aimed at allowing the candidate to provide facts and information, describe and express opinions.

    • Closed: Questions which require only yes or no answers.

    • Double-Headed: Asking two or more questions at one time.

    • Self-Assessment: Questions used for the candidate to assess their past performance and qualities.

    • Probing: Follow up questions to probe a particular area in more depth.

Interviewing tips for jobs in non profits


When interviewing a candidate for a job in your non profit organization, keep in mind the types of questions that should not be asked, such as direct or indirect questions relating to:

  • Race, color, sex, national origin, age

  • Political or religious opinions

  • Disabilities, illness, or disease

  • Workers’ compensation history, arrest record, garnishment records, filed grievances or discrimination claims

  • Marital status, dependents, and family plans

  • Physical characteristics




Non Profit Job Search



In the past, non profit job searchers have had difficulties finding a comprehensive source for available non profit jobs in their area and around the country. Traditional job databases don’t dedicate the necessary amount of resources to discuss the differences between non profit and from the private sector jobs, and additionally, they don’t provide the extra qualifiers non profit employers need to search for and find the right candidate. Opportunity Knocks recognized this and has developed an exclusive non profit job board and candidate database aimed at matching qualified applicants with non profit organizations.

Complete your non profit job search with Opportunity Knocks


Whether you are searching for a new job or looking to advance your career, the Opportunity Knocks non profit job search tool allows you to locate the right job in minutes by scanning hundreds of listings for free. Individuals who are conducting a non profit job search and who are eager to work in the non profit sector have a tendency to want to give a lot of themselves to their chosen profession. Our goal is to make it easier to find the organization in need. So, what are you waiting for? Start your non profit job search today.


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