Issue 3
June 14, 2002
NEWSNOTES is a monthly email newsletter published by Nonprofit Enterprise at Work. It includes items of interest to the nonprofit community in Washtenaw County and the surrounding areas, as well as resources available at NEW. Do you like NEWSNOTES? If so, please share this issue with friends and colleagues and encourage them to subscribe individually!
NEW would like to recognize the generous support of its partners:
| Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation | Ford Motor Company Fund |
| Pfizer Global Research and Development | The Power Foundation |
IN THIS ISSUE
| LEAD STORY |
| FEATURED ITEMS |
|
| REGULAR FEATURES |
LEAD STORY
Seventh Annual Nonprofit Excellence Awards Recipients Embody Best Practices
On May 22 Nonprofit Enterprise at Work was pleased to honor five organizations and one collaborative project at the Seventh Annual Nonprofit Excellence Awards. Two new awards were introduced this year --- the Internet Technology Innovation Award and the Award for Outstanding Contribution to Community Education. NEW would like to express many thanks to the historic Michigan Theater for hosting the event.
Award recipients in all four categories were as follows:
The Excellence in Management Awards recipients were Avalon Housing, Inc. ($3,500 award) and Huron River Watershed Council ($1,500 award). Awards sponsored by the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation and Washtenaw United Way.
The Kathleen Power Collaboration Award of $3,500 went to the Jurassic Dinosaurs & Other Friends Family Reading and Science Program, a collaboration between the University of Michigan Exhibit Museum of Natural History, Ann Arbor District Library, Ypsilanti District Library, Manchester District Library, Saline District Library, Milan Public Library, Dexter District Library, and Chelsea District Library. Award sponsored by Nonprofit Enterprise at Work.
The Internet Technology Innovation Awards were presented to the Ann Arbor District Library ($3,500) and the Student Advocacy Center of Michigan ($1,500). Award sponsored by SBC Ameritech.
The Award for Outstanding Contribution to Community Education, a $1,000 Washtenaw Community College scholarship, was awarded to Ozone House, Inc. Award sponsored by Washtenaw Community College.
Sam Kirkpatrick, President of Eastern Michigan University, delivered an outstanding keynote address.
You may have heard a lot of talk lately about "Best Practices" among nonprofits. This year's award recipients have shown the implementation of these practices, including:
1) Maximization of Available Resources
- The Huron River Watershed Council's nine-member staff coordinates a dozen programs and hundreds of volunteers, demonstrating that quantity can indeed be synonymous with quality.
- The Student
Advocacy Center of Michigan has effectively harnessed the power
of the Internet to provide free resources and advocacy assistance for
their constituents, students eligible for general and special public
education programs. The Center created an outstanding interactive website
that enables its small staff to reach far beyond what it could do otherwise.
2) Diversity in Programming
- Ozone House provides programming to over 21 middle and high schools in the county, and uses a variety of techniques to reach youth, its target population. Class presentations, Lunch Tables, and one-on-one counseling opportunities cater to the variety of experiences of teens in Washtenaw County. Ozone House also has an emergency shelter, individual and family counseling, life skills training, case management, transitional and independent living programs, substance abuse prevention, recreational activities, and leadership opportunities.
- The Huron River Watershed Council's programs span from hands-on citizen education to natural resource planning, making its mark as the only organization working to protect and restore the entire Huron River System.
3) Strategic Decision-Making
- The Jurassic Dinosaurs and Other Friends Family Reading and Science Program identified an open niche in the county's educational programming for youth, and instituted a winter reading program to involve both children and parents in the process of learning.
- Avalon Housing has advanced their mission through creative financing, and decided to change service providers in order to improve tenant services and cost effectiveness. Most of all, they embrace a broadly participatory decision-making process, ensuring that all stakeholders have a share in the success of Avalon's programming.
- The Ann
Arbor District Library created a technology tool that can be easily
replicated or passed on to other libraries for similar use. The creators
of the advance due-date email notices had foresight into what might
prove helpful to other organizations and developed their product accordingly.
4) Anticipation of Consumer Needs
- Both the Ann Arbor District Library and the Student Advocacy Center used technological enhancements to cater to an increasingly tech-savvy audience. Paying attention to trends among constituents often pays off in increased loyalty to your organization, more community support and greater awareness of your specific cause.
NEW applauds the work of these award recipients, and all those in our communities who work tirelessly to ensure the quality of the nonprofit sector. To learn more about these organizations and their "lessons learned," mark your calendar for the Conversations on Excellence series this fall.
Here are some resources on best practices to get your organization started:
1) Books: Numerous resources are available to borrow from NEW's Nonprofit Reference Library.
2) Websites:
- Best Practices for Nonprofits from Whatcom Council of Nonprofits identifies nine areas in which an organization's competence is critical for success, and gives suggestions for achieving best practices in those areas.
- Center for Excellence in Nonprofits provides background on process management also known as total quality management. Further resources on best practices are highlighted.
- The Center for What Works aims to share information among nonprofits, academics and investors. See their benchmarking primer.
- The Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management has a mission to lead social sector organizations toward excellence in performance. Hone your leadership skills with their online course. This is the source for leadership, collaboration and self-assessment tools.
- Nonprofit Enterprise at Work's SBC Ameritech WebConnect program provides free website development assistance to nonprofits.
- Npower Michigan aims "to help non-profits discover and exploit technology's promise."
- Network for Good offers a helpful "Working with Technology" section, and discusses how "technology can improve your organization's capacity and extend your reach to new donors and volunteers."
FEATURED ITEMS
Arts Minigrant Program
Minigrant Application Deadline July 1, 2002
The Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA) offers minigrants of up to $4,000 to Michigan nonprofit organizations for locally developed, high-quality arts and cultural projects that increase public access to art and culture. Nonprofit Enterprise at Work (NEW) administers this program for Washtenaw, Livingston, and Monroe counties.
The upcoming application deadline of July 1, 2002 is for projects whose START AND END DATES are between October 1, 2002 and September 30, 2003.
Please contact Daran Smith (734 998-0160)
with questions or to request a Minigrant Application and Guidelines. You
can also learn
more about the Minigrant program or to download the application forms.
Please note that applicants in counties other than Livingston, Monroe,
and Washtenaw should visit MCACA's
website to locate the regranting agency in their region.
Board Builders
Board Builders, NEW's board matching program, has recently initiated a new format for matching organizations with individuals seeking board membership. We are also pleased to announce its recent affiliation with boardnetUSA, an online database that supplements our existing matching services. Our work with boardnetUSA allows us to accommodate the governance needs of more organizations, and provides a convenient way for you to connect with trained community members seeking membership on a local board of directors.
Board Builders has scheduled orientation dates through December for organizations
interested in matching services. Organization orientation will take place
on June 26, August 7, October 16, and December 11. All sessions run from
4:00 to 7:00 p.m. Contact Board
Builders (734-998-0160) to sign up for one of these sessions, and
learn how to bring fresh faces to your boardroom.
Nonprofit Reference Library
If you know anyone wanting to start a new nonprofit, steer them to the Nonprofit Reference Library. Besides materials available to borrow, you will also find a book entitled "Starting a Nonprofit Corporation", available for purchase at $25. This collection of materials, from a NEW Center workshop of the same name, includes the forms needed for nonprofit incorporation in the state of Michigan and tax-exempt status from the IRS. Along with other useful background information, it includes a set of generic bylaws on a disk that can be adapted for a new organization. Contact Ann Gladwin (734-998-0160).
Managing for Nonprofit Excellence Spring Workshops
Recipients of this year's Nonprofit Excellence Awards will be featured in a series of brown bag lunches scheduled for Fridays this fall. Conversations on Excellence will allow them to highlight their respective projects and share management tips and insights on best practices. Mark your calendar for these free noon to 1 p.m. discussions. Look for registration information in our new fall workshop catalog being mailed in August.
- Friday, Oct 4: Kathleen Power Collaboration Award recipients: Josie Parker, Executive Director of the Ann Arbor District Library and Kira Berman, Education Director of the University of Michigan Exhibit Museum of Natural History
- Friday, Oct 18: Washtenaw Community College Community Education Award recipient: Mary Jo Callan, Executive Director, Ozone House, Inc.
- Friday, November 8: Excellence in Management Award recipients: Carole McCabe, Executive Director of Avalon Housing, Inc. and Laura Rubin, Executive Director of the Huron River Watershed Council
- Friday, November 15: Internet Technology Innovation Award recipients:
Eli Neiburger, Information Technology Manager and Glen Modell of the
Ann Arbor District Library, and Ruth Zweifler, Executive Director and
Laurie Flemington, Program Director of the Student Advocacy Center of
Michigan
NEW Center Building News
New Art: Come see the new exhibit of works showcasing the talents of members of Ann Arbor Women Artists. Paintings in a variety of media enliven the hallways of the NEW Center. All are available for purchase.
New Ramp: The new ramp from the sidewalk to the second
floor is a definite asset to the building. It has increased accessibility
to the center for people with disabilities and allows a safe exit in case
of an emergency.
Washtenaw County Nonprofit Resource Directory
The Directory
is a great resource for discovering the wide variety of programs that
are offered in the county. Find opportunities to collaborate with your
colleagues. Use the focused search to enter a variety of terms for a narrower
list of results.
Technology
Are you getting the most out of your website host? Huron
Valley Community Network is a local nonprofit that offers cost-effective
website hosting solutions to local community organizations. For just $25/year
HVCN can host your site and provide an array of related services (including
a content management system that will eventually enable users to modify
their sites without knowing HTML). Contact their webmaster
for more information.
REGULAR FEATURES
Nonprofit Bulletin Board
Visit NEW's Nonprofit Bulletin Board to post and view notices about free resources, fundraising opportunities, and other items relevant to the southeast Michigan nonprofit community.
Nonprofit Calendar of Events
Visit the Ring!Michigan Calendar to find and post upcoming nonprofit events. Just select a county below and GO!