Board Building - Begin the Year with a Plan

Join Bryan on March 5 in Fishers

If you are a board leader, you either have plans for this year or are assembling plans for the year ahead. One of your priorities is likely to increase board member engagement. I work with and speak to hundreds of board leaders each year and that is the #1 topic. Reasons for low board member engagement are many and options and alternatives to increase engagement are also numerous. Please plan on joining us and bring another board member and your Executive Director. This training will build from the BoardSource "Board Building Cycle" standard training but we are allowing extra time for discussion. The event is next Tuesday, is hosted by the Hamilton County Leadership Academy, and will take place at the Delaware Township Community Center on 131st between St Rd 37 and Lantern Rd from 8:30-11:15 or 11:30am so you can still get to a lunch meeting. Register online with credit card at www.hcla.net or by phone at 317-379-1879 or email jdoyle@hcla.net

Welcome Bloomerang!

We are really excited to have Jay Love back in the fold again as a sponsor with Bloomerang. Jay has been an innovator in fund development software for more than two decades and Bloomerang is breaking new ground in both ease of use and donor retention. We partnered on a great webinar two weeks ago that drew nearly 100 participants. I asked Jay's team to share a brief overview of their fast growing new company and encourage you to visit their website, learn more about how Bloomerang can help to measure and increase the engagement of your donors, and say "Hi" to Jay J. 

Who is Bloomerang? We create simple tools, and teach simple principles, that help passionate people and non-profits reach, engage and retain the help of donors who share the same beautiful vision of a better future. We've taken the knowledge from world-renowned fundraising professor Dr. Adrian Sargeant and the technical expertise and skill from trusted thought leader Jay Love to create Bloomerang.

What is Bloomerang? Bloomerang listened to what non-profits wanted in a database CRM. We have pooled together the latest in best practices for fundraising, loyalty, engagement and retention to create a ruthlessly simple solution that generates real-time action plans to decrease attrition and increase revenue. Our solution is clean, focused and cloud-based to deliver maximum results, maximum utilization by your team and maximum flexibility with no need for additional technology spending on your part.

Learn more about Bloomerang at bloomerang.co/features.

IUPUI Nonprofit Expo – Feb. 28 Exhibit or Attend

Charitable Advisors is excited to again be a promotional partner for the IUPUI Nonprofit Expo on Thursday, February 28, 2013, from 1 to 4 p.m. in Room 450 of the IUPUI Campus Center (420 University Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46202).

This event allows IUPUI students, alumni, and other community members interested in nonprofits or public service to meet with various nonprofit, government, and community partners to hear about the internship, volunteer, and job opportunities they offer. Last year, more than 45 organizations exhibited and several hundred people attended. There is a small fee to exhibit, attendance is free.

For more information or to register your organization to exhibit for the IUPUI Nonprofit Expo, visit www.spea.iupui.edu/npexpo. Contact Rachel Hathaway at npexpo@iupui.edu with any questions.

IUPUI Nonprofit Expo - Feb. 28 Exhibit or Attend

Charitable Advisors is excited to again be a promotional partner for the IUPUI Nonprofit Expo on Thursday, February 28, 2013, from 1 to 4 p.m. in Room 450 of the IUPUI Campus Center (420 University Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46202).

This event allows IUPUI students, alumni, and other community members interested in nonprofits or public service to meet with various nonprofit, government, and community partners to hear about the internship, volunteer, and job opportunities they offer. Last year, more than 45 organizations exhibited and several hundred people attended. There is a small fee to exhibit, attendance is free.

For more information or to register your organization to exhibit for the IUPUI Nonprofit Expo, visit www.spea.iupui.edu/npexpo. Contact Rachel Hathaway at npexpo@iupui.edu with any questions.

Do Board Member Term Limits really help achieve long-term effectiveness for nonprofits?

By Danielle Clore, Executive Director, Kentucky Nonprofit Network

In over ten years of consulting, I can't think of a single issue as controversial as term limits for governing board members. I get it - I really do see all sides of this issue. I understand the organization's hesitance to "lose" great board members (or less than great board members, but generous donors) through term limits and rotation. I also understand the feelings board members have, especially founding or very long-term board members. There are several reasonable arguments that can be made to ignore the best practice of term limits for board members and trust me, I'm fairly sure I've heard them all. But only twice in ten years of consulting have I been persuaded that this is in the best interest of the organization - and in those two instances, this was only a short-term fix. I counseled the organizations to keep their eye on the prize - an effective board.

Read the full post and learn more about the Ky Nonprofit Network.