Archive for April, 2010

Should employers be allowed to check your credit?




By J.H. Huebert
I debated that question on CNBC’s Street Signs today:

Of course employers should be allowed to check applicants’ credit. Why should they look only at the biased information you put on your resume? Credit reports provide a fuller picture.

My debate opponent, consumer advocate Joe Ridout, pointed out that there aren’t any statistical studies that show a correlation between bad credit and employees who rip off their employers. But why should we need such studies? How about a little common sense, which tells you that, say, someone who is routinely late in making payments just might be late for work?

The consumer advocates’ argument rests on the assumption that businesses are irrationally discriminating against applicants with bad credit.

But if we just assume that businesses are greedy and care only about making money — which, I think, the consumer-advocate types normally would grant us — then why would they spend money on credit reports that have no value? Do “consumer advocates” really believe that they not only know what’s best for you and me, but also know what’s best for businesses’ bottom lines?

Finally, let’s not forget the people with good credit and what a great service credit reports perform for them. A clean credit report lets you carry your good reputation with you wherever you go. Because of this market innovation, it doesn’t matter if you move to a new town where you don’t know the people at the bank or at your prospective employer’s office. They can check your report and see that, to that extent, you seem to be dependable.

It would be a shame if misguided activists and pandering politicians took some of this benefit away.

Source: Christian Science Monitor

What to Expect When Switching to the Nonprofit Sector





Nonprofit work, from fund-raising for local charities to leading international aid organizations, is popular with career changers who, after years in business or feeling disaffected in their jobs, want to give back or infuse their work with meaning. Leaders advise retraining, or at least ­readjusting your for-profit worldview.

JOB MARKET
In this economy, it’s anybody’s guess. But if history is a guide, the field will outpace employment rates in commercial and government sectors. Even with marketplace uncertainty, forecasters at the Center on Wealth and Philanthropy at Boston College stick by the lower end of a 2005 estimate of $21 trillion to $55 trillion in charitable gifts through 2052. The Bridge­span Group (www.bridgespan.org), which helps executives make transitions to nonprofits, says the field will need 640,000 new senior managers by 2016 — worst-case scenario, 330,000.

EXPECTED EARNINGS
Salaries vary with an organization’s size, location and scope but can be 20 percent to 50 percent less than in the for-profit world. Career changers with nonprofit degrees or certificates can add $20,000 to $40,000 to earnings, with a starting salary that could reach $60,000, according to the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Chief executives draw an average of $115,000, up to nearly $1 million for major foundations.

Women, who make up more than 70 percent of the nonprofit workforce, earn significantly less: those who are fund-raisers make an average $66,626, compared with $85,848 for men.

WHERE TO GET TRAINING
Case Western Reserve, Indiana University, Seton Hall and the University of San Francisco are the seniors of the field, with nonprofit degrees and certification established in the late 1980s and ’90s. Since then, the number of schools has “mushroomed,” says Roseanne Mirabella, a professor at Seton Hall, who has compiled details on 292 undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs (academic.shu.edu/npo/). Regis University has a Master of Nonprofit Management degree that can be earned completely online. Columbia just began one in fund-raising management through its school of continuing education. New York University created its Master of Science in Fundraising in 2006 and also offers courses for professional credentials as well as certificate programs.

Source: NY Times

Nonprofit Sushi Introduction





Welcome to Nonprofit Sushi! At Nonprofit Sushi you can find perspective, opinions and advice on issues affecting the nonprofit sector and careers…in the RAW!

An introduction to Nonprofit Sushi from it’s main contributor: Chelle Shell:

I am very excited to announce the launch of Nonprofit Sushi, Opportunity Knocks’ latest column. This column will contain no holds barred articles from several contributing writers on different topics: how nonprofit professionals can reach their fullest potential in the job market, issues affecting the job market, the state of unemployment, and a variety of other subject matter that is of interest to job seekers.

There’s no sugar coating, whining and certainly no crying in Nonprofit Sushi. I think my articles in particular are going to need a preface. There will be other contributing writers for this column but if you are a bit weak in the stomach or not open minded to hearing things in the raw, then my articles probably are not for you.

The content of Nonprofit Sushi is not necessarily the opinion of Opportunity Knocks, and sometimes not mine either, but facts are facts and that’s what I’ll be giving you. These articles are invitations to spirited conversations. We certainly don’t expect everyone to agree with me or each other, but we do expect meaningful discourse, so be vocal, but please share your views respectfully…. I know I will! Now that the disclaimer I was forced to write is over, please read the latest article in Nonprofit Sushi, Looking for a Job? Search Smart

-Chelle Shell

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Value of volunteer time grows





Volunteer time has become more valuable, and nonprofits are counting on more volunteers, according to a new estimate.

The estimated value of volunteer time grew to $20.85 an hour in 2009 from $20.25 in 2008, says Independent Sector.

It also says over one-third of nonprofits surveyed reported they increased their use of volunteers between November 2008 and March 2009, and nearly half expect to use more volunteers in the coming year.

Nonprofits employ roughly 12.9 million workers, or nearly 10 percent of the American work force, and account for roughly 5 percent of gross domestic product, Independent Sector says.

In 2008, volunteer labor amounted to the equivalent of 6.9 million full-time employees, increasing the charitable workforce by over half.

Roughly 61.8 million Americans, or 26.4 percent of the adult population, gave eight billion hours of volunteer service worth $162 billion in 2008, the most recent year for which data from the Corporation for are available.

A Great Way To Showcase Your Work To a Prospective Employer





By: Dalya F. Massachi

Recently, a nonprofit marketing specialist came to me with an idea.

She had been working as the marketing director for a large nonprofit that needed a new image (let’s call it Organization X). Several decades after its founding, Organization X was about to step onto the national stage and needed a fresh identity to match: a new name, new logo, new materials, new website, etc. The specialist had been hired to take on this huge re-branding effort.

After a few years, the economic downturn finally took its toll on the organization and our friend was laid off. (You might know what that’s like from personal experience!)

She suddenly found herself back on the job market, with her updated resume and cover letter in hand. But her creative mind was working overtime and she wanted to go above and beyond. Her idea was to put together a brief piece that would spotlight the amazing job she had done at Organization X.

Basically, she wanted to market herself. She started with a resume and cover letter, but knew she could demonstrate her work much more thoroughly if she had more than just a few lines to work with. She wanted to go deeper.

So we worked on a 4-page piece that walked the reader through each major element of the re-branding project she had completed for Organization X. She also worked with a graphic designer to illustrate the piece with actual samples of her work.

The result? A compelling document she can include in any jobseeking package she delivers. That might mean in person (e.g., at a job interview or at a networking session), as an email to send upon request, on her website, on her LinkedIn profile, on her Facebook page, etc.

You can do this too, whether you are looking for a staff job or a consulting gig. Artists usually show prospective employers their portfolios, and you can do something similar (in 1-4 pages). The 6 steps you’ll need to take are:

1) Identify a recent major project that demonstrated your skills, abilities, knowledge and professionalism. It is bound to already appear on your resume and in your cover letter.

2) Think about the problem you solved. What was the situation like before you started? What were things like after you stepped in? Try labelling them “before” and “after.”

3) Outline the steps you took to solve the problem. Did you have to do initial research? How did you marshal the needed resources? What special talents or skills did it take to get the job done — and done well?

4) Explain WHY it worked. In the case of our friend the nonprofit marketing specialist, she outlined the specific features of her re-branding project that made them each especially effective.

5) Tell how it stuck. To have a lasting effect, your project had to get incorporated into the organization. How did your colleagues, supervisors, and clients respond (over time)? Maybe you even got some press or Internet coverage. If you have testimonials to share, go for it!

6) Consider graphics that will help tell the story. Got any pictures that can illustrate the success? If so, use them.

I am sure you have worked on a project recently that you are especially proud of. Get creative with how you showcase it, and you will stand out from the crowd.

NOTE: I love reader email! Please share your comments, questions, experiences, and insights below.

About the Author
Dalya F. Massachi specializes in helping nonprofit professionals advance their missions through outstanding fundraising and marketing materials – online and offline. A lifelong writer, Dalya’s first Letter to the Editor was published in her hometown newspaper before she was even a teenager. For nearly 20 years, Dalya has worked professionally with community-oriented organizations as a sought-after trainer, writing coach, grantwriter, journalist, and organizer. She has crafted countless successful marketing pieces, grant proposals, and news articles. Dalya’s award-winning book, entitled “Writing to Make a Difference: 25 Powerful Techniques to Boost Your Community Impact,” is available at a special discount for OK readers (http://bit.ly/kna7RA). Her website and free tip sheets and e-newsletter are at: www.dfmassachi.net.




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What Makes Donors Give: a New Study Offers Clues





Affluent donors, and those with more years of education, are more likely to be motivated to give to causes that allow them to “make the world a better place,” rather than to groups that meet basic needs, according to a new study whose results were presented here today at the annual meeting of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

That was a key finding of a study of 10,000 Americans whose results were summarized in a speech here by Una Osili, director of research at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.

The study examined motivations to give among people in different regions of the country as well as examining those who had similar ages, education levels, and incomes.

When all the donors in the study were examined together, nearly 18 percent said they made charitable gifts to meet basic needs, while 16.6 percent said they wanted to make the world a better place and 12.5 percent said they wanted to make local communities better.

While donors’ geographic regions did not appear to influence basic charitable motivations, their ages, incomes, and education levels all did.

Donors with more years of formal education and those whose household incomes were $100,000 or more, for example, were more likely to give to make the world better and less likely to be interested in meeting basic needs. The same was true of younger donors.

Donors with a high-school degree or less were more frequently motivated to meet basic needs and to respond to the idea of the poor helping themselves, Ms. Osili said. Donors with higher incomes, she said, are more concerned with making the world better by making a measurable difference than in solving stubborn social problems or preventing them from taking root in the first place.

Source: Chronicle of Philanthropy

Work Values So Retro, They’re Cool




By Joanne Fritz
I’ve been intrigued by the CBS TV show this season, Undercover Boss. CEOs of big companies lightly disguise themselves and go to work in the trenches with their employees. A camera follows them around under the cover of filming a documentary about new employees on the job.

Inevitably, these bosses (they have included the CEOs of a national sanitation company and a large convenience store chain) learn that their employees have a lot to teach them, and that the jobs they manage from above are a lot harder than expected. It is a heartwarming celebration of the rewards of hard work and the enduring ability of so many people to bring enthusiasm to the most menial and tedious of jobs.

I was reminded of the TV series when I read the Time Magazine review of a new book, Success Made Simple: An Inside Look at Why Amish Businesses Thrive, by Erik Wesner. It seems that the failure rate of Amish businesses is less than 10% in the first five years. That compares with 50% of small businesses in the U.S. that fail over the same time period.

Wesner thinks that the success of the Amish, despite the lack of most modern conveniences such as the Internet, has to do with attributes such as:

  • Amish business owners have a close relationship with their employees, often saying, “I’d never ask an employee to do something that I wouldn’t be willing to do myself.” They frequently jump in and do the dirty work, which, Wesner says, “…helps align their interests with yours.”
  • The Amish provide superior craftsmanship that goes back to an earlier era. Thankfully, that quality is still desired by consumers and other businesses. Two Amish brothers manufacture luxury leather goods for Ralph Lauren out of their barn in Pa.
  • The Amish have a rigorous work ethic, no matter how tedious the task. Working close to home and with family helps a lot too.
  • The Amish are also flexible enough to work outside their own environment, when necessary. One Amish businessman owns two businesses in Philadelphia, a 55-mile commute from his farm where he gets up extra early to feed the horses. He moves easily between the urban and rural worlds.

    What do Undercover Boss and the Amish have to do with running or working in a nonprofit? A lot actually. I loved Wesner’s comment that the Amish “don’t need an M.B.A. to run an effective business….There’s life in commerce for those more dedicated to the Golden Rule than the Golden calf.”

    Nonprofit managers and employees would do well to take the lessons of personal responsibility, hard work, and a cheerful attitude to heart. After all, they really do engage in work that matters.

    Source: About.com - Joanne Fritz

    • Should 40% of job seekers be sent to jail?





    This week a woman was jailed for 6 months for forging references and lying on her CV. This is astounding considering a survey commissioned by Tate, specialists in office support recruitment, has revealed that over 40 per cent of people have at some point lied or made slight exaggerations on their CV to get a job.

    Jo Edwards, Tate’s Managing Director said, “increased incidences of people falsifying their CVs isn’t surprising, especially with the slow rate of change of unemployment. Utilising a recruitment agency’s expertise, including comprehensive assessments, behavioural interviewing and referencing, is essential when identifying anomalies in job seekers’ applications.”

    With unemployment rates reaching the highest level for 14 years, job applicants are embellishing CVs in an attempt to mislead employers and secure a job in this competitive market.

    There is an expectation that false claims made by job applicants will continue, as the official unemployment rate is now at 7.8 per cent. The only way to truly know whether an applicant has the relevant level of skill and experience that they say they have, is via thorough competency based interviewing and corresponding background checks.

    Source: Onrec.com

    Comment below.

    Boston Plans to Ask Nonprofits for Additional Help





    Boston hospitals, universities, and other tax-exempt nonprofits may be asked to contribute tens of millions of dollars more to city coffers to help pay for basic municipal services such as police and public works, the Boston Globe reports.

    After fourteen months, a mayoral task force made up of representatives from government, the nonprofit sector, academia, and organized labor has nearly completed its evaluation of the city’s PILOT program, under which nonprofits voluntarily pay cash and provide services in lieu of property taxes. Because each agreement in the program is negotiated individually, payments vary widely, with some groups paying millions and others paying significantly less. The city is pushing nonprofit institutions to gradually increase their contributions to the program to 25 percent of what they would owe in taxes if they were not exempt, a change that would more than triple the amount currently paid by some of the city’s biggest landowners. Indeed, according to preliminary figures, the new formula would increase payments by hospitals and universities in the region by almost $25 million over the next five years.

    To soften the impact of the proposal, officials have suggested that institutions could cover up to 50 percent of their payments by offering community programs such as free prostate cancer screenings in public housing or scholarships for area high school students. The city recognizes that “these are challenging times, which is why what is being discussed would be a change phased in over time,” said Lisa Calise Signori, Boston’s director of administration and finance. “The services the city provides can’t be borne by taxpayers alone.”

    For their part, hospitals and universities have argued that higher payments in lieu of property taxes would force them to lay off workers and pass on to students and patients higher tuition and medical costs. “We want to do everything we can to make sure that the city is on sound financial footing and not laying off police and fire [fighters],” said Conference for Boston Teaching Hospitals executive director John Erwin. “We realize the predicament the city is in, but we are also in a similar predicament.”

    Ryan, Andrew. “City Asks Exempt Sector for Help.” Boston Globe 4/06/10.


    Source: PND

    AmeriCorps Funding Opportunities





    CaliforniaVolunteers (CV) is pleased to announce the 2010-11 Request for Application (RFA) for funding to support partnerships that will engage individuals in addressing unmet community needs throughout California. Grants are awarded to organizations that will operate solely in California.

    AmeriCorps grants support organizations that use volunteering and service as strategies for addressing national and community needs while fostering an ethic of civic responsibility. In return for their service, AmeriCorps participants, known as members, may receive a modest living allowance and other benefits while serving. Upon successful completion of their service, members receive an education award that can be used towards existing college loans or to pay continuing education costs. AmeriCorps grantees recruit, select, train and manage their own AmeriCorps members, design and operate their program and are responsible for providing funds and other resources to match the federal funds they receive through their AmeriCorps grant.

    AmeriCorps funding comes to California through two separate funding streams: formula and competitive funds. CaliforniaVolunteers receives formula funds from the Corporation for National and Community Service (Corporation) through a population-based allocation. Subject to the availability of federal appropriations for fiscal year 2010, CV anticipates the availability of approximately $14.5 million in state formula funds to award new, recompeting, and continuation AmeriCorps state grants. Competitive funds are awarded through a national competition to programs that have competed successfully at both the state and federal levels. The Corporation estimates that $363 million in competitive funding will be available for the national competition to support funding requests. Successful applicants will receive grants to support AmeriCorps member positions that will engage members in service to meet critical needs in California.

    To apply for 2010 AmeriCorps funding, please consult the 2010 Request for Applications (RFA) and accompanying Application Instructions. For more information on CV policies guiding the grant application and selection process, please see the California AmeriCorps Program Guide.

    To apply for 2010 AmeriCorps funding, please consult the 2010 Request for Applications (RFA) and accompanying Application Instructions.

    Source: California Volunteers

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