Tag Archives: best practices

Organizational analysis could spur immediate opportunity

October 21, 2015Featured, Latest Newsbest practices, board leadership, Charity research, donor decisions, funding, governance, nonprofit, nonprofit analytics, philanthropy, smart giving, wise givingpete

Have you ever conducted a third-party review of the non-profit organization you manage? If you’re a board member, have you ever seen an organizational review of the charitable organization?

You can find suitable ways to review your charity’s financial operations through internet searches. We recommend you take a look at those. We also suggest you consider a unique analytic system we created. It’s called HealthCheck. It closely resembles your own visit to your primary physician, who will conduct a review of your health and provide feedback and make suggestions.

HealthCheck is designed to provide research and organizational analysis to help organizations make strategic decisions…and help donors make wise charitable giving decisions.

Benefit to charity leaders…

Board and staff members of nearly every non-profit organization want organizational growth…all want money. Not every organization can hire new staff or add a consultant, but they want expertise and leverage to attract new supporters and help build confidence and relationships with existing donors and volunteers. We created HealthCheck to meet these needs in an affordable and hands-on manner. By doing so, we form an alliance with non-profit leaders, where we essentially work alongside, determining and implementing ways to strengthen the organization.

Benefit to donors…

When donors consider non-profit organizations for their contributions, a number of factors come into play, including the donor’s relationship, belief in the mission, and geographical location. Many times, this isn’t enough information for a prospective donor to render a decision. We created HealthCheck to deliver existing and prospective donors with a resource they can easily locate. Knowledge derived from our 40+ years of non-profit and corporate leadership experience were used to design a research and best practices tool, which gives donors all the information they need and in five key organizational strength indicators.

HealthCheck analyzes specific strength indicators, including:

Data & Efficiency – Analyzing IRS Forms 990 to evaluate a non-profit organization’s financial performance in key performance categories. Upon analyzing performance categories, we assign a score as it relates to the organization’s efficiency, capacity, and overall financial health.

Finance & Fund Development – Non-profits have an obligation to act as responsible stewards in managing their financial resources. They must comply with all legal financial requirements and adhere to sound accounting principles that produce reliable financial information, ensure fiscal responsibility and build public trust. In addition, non-profits act as the intermediary between donors and beneficiaries and have an ethical obligation to ensure proper handling of funds to carry out their missions.

Governance – A non-profit’s leadership, represented by its staff and board of directors is responsible for defining the organization’s mission and for providing overall leadership and strategic direction to the organization. Each non-profit board should: ensure that the organization has adequate resources to carry out its mission and provide direction for the executive director and key staff; and evaluate its own effectiveness as a governing body and as representatives of the community in upholding the public interest served by the organization.

Human Resources – The ability of an organization to make effective use of the energy, time and talents of its employees and volunteers is essential to accomplish the organization’s mission. Non-profit organizations should place a high priority on exercising fair and equitable practices that attract and retain qualified volunteers and employees. Nonprofits have an obligation to adhere to all applicable employment laws and to provide a safe and productive work environment.

Public Information – Non-profits that provide information to prospective donors and other constituents promote informed and responsible philanthropy. Donors are better able to make decisions when they can learn a nonprofit’s purpose, who governs it, how it manages its financial resources, whom the nonprofit serves, and what progress it has made toward achieving its mission.

Here are the outcomes…

After a very small investment ($45), the process begins with executive staff (or a board exec) honestly responding to sets of specific questions. The process can be relatively short. It will take about 20 minutes to answer online-based questions, then 24 hours for NPcatalyst to conduct research and prepare its findings.

When completed, the organization will be presented with a charity rating score, much like a grade earned on a test. Scores will be earned in the various areas of analysis, accompanied by an overall score. Organizations which seek greater detail may purchase a “best practices guide” to received recommended action items to improve each area of operation. The guide is intended to help the organization raise the rating score to 100.

Donors and prospective contributors enjoy seeing rating scores to accompany the research their conducting on charitable organizations, but also recognize the organization’s desire to diagnose various areas of operation.

Click here to indicate your interest to learn more about the unique HealthCheck system or to order the analysis.

Amazing community opportunities in the Old Pueblo

August 13, 2012Latest NewsArizona, Arizona Oncology Foundation, Beads of Courage, best practices, board, board assessment, board development, board retreat, boardcheck, Branding, Business coaching, capital campaign, Career, charity, charity rating, Charity research, charity search, Coaching, community, community engagement, Consulting, corporate philanthropy, development, donor research, donor strategy, employee volunteerism, facilitation, Feasibilily Study, fraternity, funding, fundraising, Greek Life, HealthCheck, Internship, leadership, major giving, marketing, Media giving, media relations, Mentor Kids USA, nonprofit, online giving, Philanthropic advising, philanthropy, print, Print media, Public relations, Rebranding, service, southern Arizona, Speaking, special event, Strategic giving, strategy, television, Television media, TreeHouse Farm, Tucson, volunteer, Watchdogpete

Summer has been extremely busy for the NPcatalyst team. Rather than spend the warm months surfing waves in the Pacific or backpacking along the Tahoe Rim Trail, we’ve been serving clients and connecting with corporate and charitable leaders across the country.

This past weekend was spent in Tucson, where we met with numerous non-profit officials, social entrepreneurs, and new strategic partners. Here’s a brief list of our new friends:

Beads of Courage – an incredible organization which distributes beads to children being treated for cancer throughout the world.
TreeHouse Farm – an organization which provides an unforgettable experience for children recovering from cancer treatment, serious burns, and congenital heart issues.
The Haven – extraordinary organization which provides substance abuse treatment and housing for men and women.
Arizona Oncology Foundation – a new organization which provides support programs for cancer patients and survivors.
One-on-One Mentoring – an organization which matchs caring adults with at-risk youth.
Pima Prevention Partnership – provides practical solutions to address both individual and community problems, particularly substance abuse related.

They were all introduced to our services, particularly our online gifting tool, GiftingWishes, and our BoardCheck assessment resource.

Saturday was spent in a retreat with one of our new strategic partners. This soon-to-be-launched company will provide job recruitment, leadership development, and career development opportunities to both college students and employers. Much more to follow soon.

It was just another amazing weekend. We hope it leads to many opportunities to continue helping enhance the philanthropic culture in the Old Pueblo. Plus, we may have even landed a new job for a Tucson resident!

Thank you, Tucson, for your hospitality, heat, and spectacular sunsets!

HealthCheck rating tool gathering attention

August 24, 2011Latest Newsbest practices, charity, charity rating, efficiency, financial, fund development, governance, HealthCheck, human resources, leadership, Nevada, nonprofit, nonprofit management, NPcatalyst, Orange County, philanthropy, public information, Reno, Tucson, websitepete

The charity rating and best practice tool, created by NPcatalyst this past January, is becoming increasingly popular with non-profit donors, volunteers, and job-seekers.

The tool was designed to address two distinct, yet critical needs. First, it’s designed to rate charities in five management and performance areas, giving organizations an objective instrument from which to guide their goals and strategies. Second, it’s used as a research mechanism, providing donors with “insider” information, which they can’t immediately or easily find online or through non-profit manuals.

“Launching a new product in a tough industry, especially a product which we created, has been both exciting and difficult,” says Pete Parker, NPcatalyst’s managing partner. It’s taken a considerable effort to educate non-profit organizations as well as business, community, and philanthropic leaders to adapt this innovative tool. “I wanted to create a tool which gives donors a true and in-depth view of non-profit organizations, enabling them to make thought out and well-researched donation decisions.”

The HealthCheck tool analyzes and applies a rating score to organizations in five different operational areas. NPcatalyst publicizes the scores on profile pages create for each charity. “To promote the HealthCheck tool, I’ve been screening the financial efficiencies for organizations located in the three locations where we’re seeing the heaviest traffic of donors and leaders,” says Parker. To date, 200 organizations have been screened and featured on the NPcatalyst website.

As a result of social media marketing, professional networking, and personal connections, visits to the NPcatalyst website have tripled in recent months. “What’s exciting is that our non-profit profile pages are seeing the greatest growth…and we put very little effort into marketing the pages”, according to Parker. The profile page of the first HealthCheck client, Sierra Nevada Journeys, has seen a 205% increase in views in the last month. “My hope, and the goal of this thing, is that Jonathan (SNJ’s executive director) tells me that they’re seeing an equally impressive spike in contributions.”

The HealthCheck tool is available to all non-profit organizations with an active 501(c)3 status. While the financial efficiencies of each may be screened due to public information found online, organizations seeking the full rating and tailored best practices guide will be charged a fee. “I wish we could offer HealthCheck at no cost, but we run a business to help strengthen our clients”, says Parker. “There’s a great deal we offer in benefits, plus we’re happy to work with businesses and foundations looking to underwrite the fees.”

For more information about NPcatalyst or its HealthCheck tool, log onto www.NPcatalyst.com, email info@NPcatalyst.com, or call 775-333-9444.

Tucson charities added to ratings list

August 21, 2011Latest NewsArizona, best practices, charity, charity rating, HealthCheck, nonprofit, philanthropy, Pima County, southern Arizona, Tucson, wise givingpete

A handful of Tucson-based community-benefit organizations have been added to our charity ratings list.

Because of NPcatalyst’s connection to and long-time interest in Tucson, we have begun to screen local organizations and add them to our HealthCheck charity ratings list. The intent is to provide valuable “insider” and research-based information to potential donors, volunteers, and job-seekers, as they make their charitable decisions.

Thirteen of the initial 16 organizations placed on the ratings list have received an initial “efficiency” rating. The rating is a scoring of the organization’s finances as found in its most recent Form 990. Ratings range from Fair to Ideal. These organizations, and all other active 501(c)3 organizations are invited to participate in a complete HealthCheck process, where an in-depth analysis is conducted in the areas of Finance & Fund Development, Governance, Human Resources, and Public Information. The organization will receive numerical scores in each category, as well as an overall score. In addition, a best practices guide will be developed, providing suggestions for improvement in each of the categories.

Our HealthCheck process is very objective and has become an outstanding resource for private foundations, local businesses, and philanthropic leaders as they make their charitable decisions.

If there’s an organization missing from this list, drop a line to info@npcatalyst.com or 775-333-9444 and we’ll add it to our growing list of organizations to screen.

Bear Down!!!

NPcatalyst designing year-end giving campaign

August 15, 2011Latest Newsbest practices, charity, charity rating, fundraising, HealthCheck, non-profit, online giving, philanthropy, social media, wise giving, year-endpete

NPcatalyst has designed a campaign to raise funds for interested organizations through a unique year-end giving initiative. The campaign will remind and drive support from community residents, private foundations, and business leaders as they make contributions to organizations before the close of the calendar year.

Non-profit organizations (regardless of size, scope, sector, or location) are invited to participate in the innovative campaign, but need to enlist with NPcatalyst prior to November 1st. Through a small participation fee, each organization will receive:

an organizational assessment (charity rating) and best practices solutions guide;
invitation to participate in up to three fundraising-driven webinar training sessions;
inclusion in NPcatalyst’s social media and traditional media messaging;
direct positioning with NPcatalyst’s expanding roster of corporate, foundation, and philanthropic influencers;
an online profile, featured on the NPcatalyst website; and,
a special contributions-tailored profile on a soon-to-be-announced Campaign website.

Signing up well in advance enables the participating organizations to address areas deemed as weak or needing improvement, based on the charity rating score determined by NPcatalyst’s HealthCheck tool. It’s an organization assessment (or charity rating) tool, which analyzes each organization in five different categories, then provides a best practices solutions guide for improvement in each area. Click the following link – www.npcatalyst.com/healthcheck/ – and learn more about the HealthCheck tool which the NPcatalyst team created. Best of all, it’s a great revenue-generating tool. In fact, here’s a testimonial:
“What I’m coming to understand about the value of this HealthCheck process is not necessarily the rating itself (though that’s important), but the best-practices it ends up prompting. To that end NPcatalyst is doing great work ensuring that we’re adhering to those best practices.” – Jonathan Mueller, executive director of Sierra Nevada Journeys

NPcatalyst was founded to provide philanthropic solutions to both donors and the charitable organizations they support. Pete Parker, managing partner of the firm, has helped non-profit organizations raise over $30,000,000 through appealing and innovative annual, major, capital, and online giving campaigns. Most recently, the firm create a corporate engagement campaign which connected community residents in throughout northern Nevada with over 15,000 volunteer opportunities.

The year-end giving campaign is an opportunity non-profit organizations should seriously consider. To sweeten the invitation, NPcatalyst is offering the charity rating, best practices guide, public relations messaging, and year-end fundraising campaign at $375, a heavily-discounted rate from the $450 base price. With a targeted fundraising goal of $5,000 per organization, it’s an incredible opportunity. Taking advantage of this two-week offer, which ends on August 31st, requires each organization to send an email to info@npcatalyst.com or call 775-333-9444.