Is Your Nonprofit Trustworthy

It’s that time of year when individual nonprofits, the United Way, and alternative organizations to the United Way are sending letters and are working with employers to solicit donations.  New nonprofits seem to be popping up to ask for funds.  The public often assesses nonprofits simply by familiarity, word-of-mouth, the visibility in the community or increasingly by websites and Facebook pages.  Something new has popped up to turn our direction toward nonprofits, #GivingTuesday, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.  It urges us to volunteer and donate in our area rather than simply spending our money on Black Friday.   

Since the public values nonprofits because we trust them, you might want to consider what your website and Facebook page says about you.   Are you transparent in your actions and do you tell donors how you use donations? 

The first stumbling block is whether the public can tell you are a nonprofit.  This summer I donated some materials and photos to four historical societies.  I’m familiar enough to know that historical societies are nonprofit, but I’d be hard pressed, except for the donate button, to know that two of the four were nonprofit.  Some nonprofits, particularly colleges use the term private, but this confuses the situation as for-profit colleges have come under serious scrutiny.  In a study I did of 104 nonprofits, I searched for the words nonprofit, non-profit, not-for-profit, charity, tax-exempt, 990, 501(c)3, or United Way member.  A little over half had such an indication.  A visitor to your website could look for an annual report, a link or a post of 990 form, or even a page that states how donations were used.  Only 39% indicated the purpose for donations.  Perhaps, less specific, your nonprofit could have a code of ethics, a list of board members, its mission, or even historical information to let visitors know of your status.  If you are missing some of this information you are not alone. 

Could a potential donor find your executive’s name, email, or phone number?  In my study, many nonprofits made it difficult.  I think contact information is sometimes missing because we all get bombarded with emails, but if email is overwhelming, a phone number would help. 

Being transparent and trustworthy is your function.  For a small nonprofit, it will mean re-working the website to ensure you are clearly identified as a nonprofit.  Once done, the type of information I am talking about should be more or less permanent with updates yearly for, say, an annual report. You’ll be more likely to connect with young people who are less familiar with the differences between government, private and nonprofit sectors.

I visited GivingTuesday.org and GuideStar, the search that provides 990 forms of nonprofits,  I did not find any indication that GivingTuesday  was a nonprofit except that it was founded by the 92nd St Y and many people listed on the website have given money to support it.  When I emailed the website, I learned that it is a "project created and run by the 92Y Belfer Center for Innovation and Social Impact."

What did you find missing at your nonprofit’s website? 

For assistance, please contact me at Management.Vision 

Sunshine Week and Corruption

Sunshine Week and Corruption

This week is Sunshine Week, Mar 15-21, 2015. I've had a number of conversations with people who have bandied about the word corrupt as in the system is corrupt.  It normally means that an official is or is thought to be taking money or making money under the table deals, but it seems to have blossomed into a word that means that officials, the agency and more broadly the system doesn't serve the people or citizens.  They serve themselves. They hide in a bureaucracy of rules  

The antidote is sunshine; another word is transparency, ensuring that the public has information available simply because officials are conducting public business.  This week, Sunshine Week (Mar 15-21) promotes this idea.  Our town and city officials are very much aware of the their responsibilities under the Maine Freedom of Access Act through training provided at various MMA and Town, City, and County sponsored meetings and workshops.  If you have ever received an email from any town official, it states that the email is likely to be a public record.  Maine law makes almost all meetings public and all records public, even drafts of minutes of a meeting.  As one might expect there are some exceptions; an employee evaluation and disciplinary actions except the final written decision.  

The legislation, although comprehensive, needs to be reviewed periodically as we move from one new technology to the next.  Just as we receive Emergency Management push notifications of missing children, schools have begun to use push notifications to let parents know about school closings. These parent phone numbers are probably confidential but emails may or may not be confidential. 

Many organizations are putting more and more information on the web giving us greater access but right now our Freedom of Access Act is passive.  It limits the destruction of records but still puts the burden on the citizen to request rather than making it public policy for communities and schools to easily make available information.  The actions of the Governor of New York shutting down a commission to investigate corruption when it got too close to his allies and his office, explains why we need to be more active use of the newest technologies to communicate with citizens.  More eyes creates participation. A commission is after the fact when the perception or corruption has already occurred.  Gone are the days when involvement in government is reading the newspaper.  governments need to maximize their connections to citizens.  Then we can hope that the meaning of corruption will not expand.