An executive decision; three things the charity CEO salary maelstrom taught us and what to do about it | nfpSynergy

An executive decision; three things the charity CEO salary maelstrom taught us and what to do about it | nfpSynergy: n our research with the public through our awareness monitor CAM, we see that how charities spend their money really matters. Of course, there are those who say the public shouldn’t care about overheads and should focus on impact. Well you live in your ivory towers and we will keep trying in the real world that the public inhabit. Again and again and again, the public tell us that the size of CEO salaries, the level of ‘admin’ costs and how their money is used really matters to them.

How To Talk About Fundraising Costs | The Agitator - Fundraising, Direct Marketing and Advocacy Strategies for Nonprofits

How To Talk About Fundraising Costs | The Agitator - Fundraising, Direct Marketing and Advocacy Strategies for Nonprofits: ike it or not, far too many folks judge a charity by its cost of fundraising and ‘overhead’.

From regulators to the media, from charity watchdogs to far too many nonprofit boards — and even some fundraisers themselves — the false metric of ‘cost of fundraising’ has created a big mess of misunderstanding.

Fortunately, the industry is waking up and finally seems motivated to deal with the issue.

Marketing for Nonprofits: Innovation is Overhead

Marketing for Nonprofits: Innovation is Overhead: Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Innovation is Overhead
My bestie, Laura Caligan, shared this brilliant thought with me today.

"Innovation is overhead."

Understanding Nonprofit Overhead Costs - Memphis Daily News

Understanding Nonprofit Overhead Costs - Memphis Daily News: A public discussion is stirring on the topic of nonprofit overhead and the extent to which overhead costs should influence giving. The three leading sources of information about nonprofits recently issued a call to action asking individual and institutional donors to stop using “overhead” as the measure of a nonprofit’s success. GuideStar, Charity Navigator and BBB Wise Giving Alliance have issued a call to donors to move beyond the “Overhead Myth.”

Why Can’t We Get Over Overhead? - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly

Why Can’t We Get Over Overhead? - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly: hat slapping noise you hear every holiday season is the sound of philanthropic experts briskly applying palms to foreheads as they watch the perky nightly-news broadcaster reminding viewers to be generous, but to give only to groups that spend far more on programs than on overhead.

The program/overhead distinction, though denigrated for years by the most articulate and determined nonprofit professionals, simply refuses to die. Somehow, the general public doesn’t want to let go of it.

Why not? Will the simple-minded rubes whose donations constitute the overwhelming majority of charitable giving in America ever realize that it’s a meaningless if not downright pernicious distinction? Will they finally turn instead for giving guidance to the shiny new outcomes metrics upon which our experts have been beavering away?

Valerie S. Lies: It's Time for Real Talk About Real Nonprofit Overhead Costs

Valerie S. Lies: It's Time for Real Talk About Real Nonprofit Overhead Costs: This is a welcome development for donors and nonprofits alike. For too long the laser-like focus on nonprofits doing more with less when it comes to overhead and administrative expenses has unnecessarily limited their abilities to fulfill or expand their missions.

To be sure, ratios can be a measure of an organization's effectiveness and should be used as one of a set of tools to identify mismanagement or malfeasance. But we ask charities to do too much with too little to achieve effective ratios. It's time we start looking at an organization's outcomes -- in addition to what they spend to achieve them -- when determining where our charitable dollars go.

Oregon Sets 30% Program Spending Benchmark for Charities - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly

Oregon Sets 30% Program Spending Benchmark for Charities - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly: NPQ has had a number of stories on overhead lately, including our blockbuster today where three prominent organizations are calling for an end to the overuse of overhead as a measure of grantworthiness but what about when nearly no money of what is raised goes to program? Oregon has now enacted the nation’s toughest law on spending by nonprofits. The law will pull eligibility for the state charitable tax deduction for donations from charities that do not spend at least 30 percent of their donations “to support their mission.” Charities that fall short of the 30 percent threshold are required to disclose that information or face a penalty of up to $25,000.

Given recent debates within the n

The Overhead Myth Campaign - A GuideStar Initiative to Improve Donor Choice

More on Overhead Costs

In a historic move, the leaders of the country’s three leading sources of information on nonprofits – GuideStar, Charity Navigator, and BBB Wise Giving Alliance – penned an open letter to the donors of America denouncing the “overhead ratio” as a valid indicator of nonprofit performance.  
The Overhead Myth Campaign - A GuideStar Initiative to Improve Donor Choice

Launching a campaign to end the Overhead Myth | GuideStar Blog

Launching a campaign to end the Overhead Myth | GuideStar Blog: My nonprofit friends, it’s time we changed the conversation about “the overhead ratio”: the percentage of your organization’s expenses that go to administrative and fundraising costs.

For too long, we’ve let a few bad apples—the rare cases of outright fundraising fraud—confuse donors about what matters when judging a nonprofit.

Why Can’t We Get Over Overhead? - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly

Why Can’t We Get Over Overhead? - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly

Overhead Costs Pose Dilemma for Charities 6.3.2013

News: Overhead Costs Pose Dilemma for Charities 6.3.2013

By Suzanne Perry

Last fall, the International Rescue Committee mailed an eight-page newsletter to supporters that highlighted the work it was doing to help people displaced by famine, drought, and conflict in Africa’s Sahel region.

It included photos, articles, interviews, and statistics—and a prominent pie chart labeled: “IRC efficiency.”

Charity overhead stats are useful, but not in the way you think | Humanosphere

Charity overhead stats are useful, but not in the way you think | Humanosphere: Overhead has become a totem in the humanitarian world as charities and aid organizations seek to spend the most on services and the least on administrative costs.

Good Data Help Ensure Collaboration Success

massnonprofit.org ::: The potential benefits are obvious: better service to clients through program synergy, lower overhead costs via economies of scale, increased scope of service, or simply letting someone else do something that they’re better at. However, there are complexities at every turn, and critical decisions need to be made in every phase of the process.

This is why using data to help shape the collaboration process is so important.

Charities Must Battle Myths About Overhead - Opinion - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

Charities Must Battle Myths About Overhead - Opinion - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: Charities Must Battle Public Misconceptions About Overhead Costs

By Dan Pallotta

Nonprofit organizations build movements that mobilize people to fight the worst forms of human suffering. But when it comes to dealing with the systemic issues that undermine its true potential, the nonprofit sector has no movement to mobilize itself.

And while nonprofits speak for those who cannot speak for themselves, they have no national voice to defend against investigative reporters, lawmakers, and others who attack them—often maliciously and incorrectly—for spending too much on executives’ salaries and on the overhead and infrastructure expenses it would take to grow.

Groupon raises money through online fundraising campaigns - The Washington Post

Groupon raises money through online fundraising campaigns - The Washington Post: Groupon raises money through online fundraising campaigns

The AFP Blog: Better Than We Thought?

The AFP Blog: Better Than We Thought?: The Nonprofit Overhead Cost Project actually found that average fundraising and administrative costs for most nonprofit subsectors, was less than 30 cents. Most charities understand what it takes to keep the show on the road. What we fail to do is to communicate that to the public.

Four Ways to Make Your Grant Appendix Shine

Four Ways to Make Your Grant Appendix Shine: Four Ways to Make Your Grant Appendix Shine

Document illuminated by overhead lightMay 2012

Whether you're an established organization familiar with the grant process or you are a new nonprofit venturing into the state or federal grant writing realm for the first time, chances are you're overwhelmed by the amount of information requested by the funder—and the herculean efforts it can take to gather everything by the deadline. Narratives and budgets are critical elements, but just as crucial in importance—and sometimes overlooked—is your proposal's appendix. "How in the world can I gather all of this information in such a short period of time?" you may ask. "What happens if I’m not able to obtain all the necessary components before the deadline?" There's one simple answer: your grant will not be selected for review, and all the sweat equity and sleepless nights you and your staff have invested in the project will be for naught. Following are four "Do's and Don'ts"—some basic, helpful tips to ensure your application is in A form—elements that will make or break your proposal.

Is Overhead a Good Yardstick for Nonprofits? - NPQ – Nonprofit Quarterly - Promoting an active an engaged democracy.

Is Overhead a Good Yardstick for Nonprofits? - NPQ – Nonprofit Quarterly - Promoting an active an engaged democracy.: Outspoken and direct, Jack Shakely, the president emeritus of the California Community Foundation, says in no uncertain terms that administrative costs—the measurement people most often use to determine a nonprofit organization’s worth—is a poor means of evaluation. In this LA Times editorial, Shakely writes that it doesn’t help that charity raters with their “top 20 lists” propagate this notion, as do nonprofits that perpetuate it by brandishing their administrative overhead costs on their websites or promotional material. For nonprofits trying to create social change or to solve large problems in society, why would a simple number—the percentage of an organization’s budget dedicated to administrative costs—determine how effective it is?

Four Ways to Make Your Grant Appendix Shine

Four Ways to Make Your Grant Appendix Shine: Four Ways to Make Your Grant Appendix Shine

Document illuminated by overhead lightMay 2012

Whether you're an established organization familiar with the grant process or you are a new nonprofit venturing into the state or federal grant writing realm for the first time, chances are you're overwhelmed by the amount of information requested by the funder—and the herculean efforts it can take to gather everything by the deadline. Narratives and budgets are critical elements, but just as crucial in importance—and sometimes overlooked—is your proposal's appendix. "How in the world can I gather all of this information in such a short period of time?" you may ask. "What happens if I’m not able to obtain all the necessary components before the deadline?" There's one simple answer: your grant will not be selected for review, and all the sweat equity and sleepless nights you and your staff have invested in the project will be for naught. Following are four "Do's and Don'ts"—some basic, helpful tips to ensure your application is in A form—elements that will make or break your proposal.

Wine Swigging For Charity - Forbes

Wine Swigging For Charity - Forbes: he nation’s largest charity wine auction cherishes its reputation for fiscal rectitude. “Overhead is covered by ticket sales or private donations, and every nickel raised under the tent goes to the kids,” Clifford says. Early-childhood education; medical, behavioral, and oral health; and out-of-school and hunger-prevention programs are the primary grantees, and each must reapply annually. In 2012, NCEF will pass out 25 checks totaling more than $8 million—proceeds from the auction and other events. (Remaining funds go toward long-term initiatives.) The foundation estimates it has helped improve the lives of more than 150,000 children. Worth toasting, indeed.